Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

I feel much the same as Monika. The beautiful colors are slowly running out, and the amount is often only enough for small projects. Those are usually good for blankets, pillowcases, or using up scraps, like the flip-flops… since I’m also on a yarn diet. I’m trying to hang in there a little longer.
Sometimes I find myself eyeing new yarn, but then I know for sure that if I bought any, the “old” yarn would just sit there unused.

I like to crochet often with mercerized cotton yarn from Järbo (it used to be Bianca yarn, but that’s no longer available), Schachenmayer Catania (I only have a little left—I bought it in Germany once), then these bobbles (a cotton and acrylic blend), and yarn from Katja (Jaipur)—
so mainly cotton yarn. The more colorful, the better—both bright and pastel colors.

I rarely crochet with dark yarn.

Velpke

Naumburg/S.

Oh dear, this makes me sad too now that I’ve read this. I only knew her as Elizzza, and I liked her videos. I also have patterns by her.
Now all her “little sheep” (that’s what she called her crochet- and knitting-loving fans) will be mourning her. I just can’t get over it. Rest in peace.

Wow, what a beautiful display of flowers. That really lifts my spirits in this cold weather.
Thanks for sharing—it gives me a little taste of spring, which is great.

A little something in between

Just a little something I crocheted again from these Amigurumi yarn balls. Super quick to crochet. I checked the time—it took me a good hour to make one flip-flop.
My husband snatched up the yellow-and-purple one right away because his road bike is exactly those colors. He says it’ll go on the back of the saddle.
I just couldn’t stop crocheting, which is why I made so many. The one with the flower on it is for me.

Here you go

Wow, I Googled it too. It’s amazing what this woman does—and especially how she makes it. And the result still looks authentic, not cheesy. Really good.
That’s actually high-level crochet art.

It would also be a great project for using up leftover yarn.

Thanks, Petra, for clearing that up for us.

Have a wonderful, creative weekend, everyone!

Hi hi,

Monika, your DF Easter bags look amazing. The effect is incredible. I like them.

Ines, your egg warmers are getting prettier one after another. They really make you feel like spring.

I can show something again too, a leftover yarn project. It really lasted right down to the very last stitch. I only had this one ball of yarn, not even quite 50 g. The handles are made from another leftover.
The ball of yarn looks so unassuming, and then while crocheting, the wow
effect
My question: I wanted to sew this flower on too—on the side or in the middle, or leave it off completely? What do you think?

Do you mean this, ines?
I made the pretzels in the shape of rolls. Same ingredients.
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/136804/brezelrezept-von-marion
Hope it turns out well.

Hello dear nostalgia fans,

I found a few more treasures that were in my cassette box.
Among them were badges for “good knowledge,” “Collective of Socialist Labor,” and even old GDR checks.
A birthday card to me from my grandma, who has since passed away,
my old insurance card, and my car registration card for a Lada 2107 back then. Oh man.
The little metallic notebook was a gift from my aunt once (sadly, she is no longer alive either).

Hi everyone,

wow Sonja, your Easter bags look absolutely adorable. I’d love to just snatch them right out of the forum. So cute.
I can’t quite pull that off yet.
I’m already excited to see Monika’s results. They’ll surely look just like the original. She’s practically a pro, just like you.

That new hat for your husband is really something to be proud of. I mean, if your husband doesn’t like it, then I don’t know what will. It’s got a little pattern but is still understated—I definitely like it, even though I’m not really a hat person myself.

Well then, happy crafting!

Hey there,

Krea_Tina, yeah, I know what that is. I also like to write by hand, and when I take notes somewhere—like a baking recipe or something similar—I’ll copy it out in calligraphy afterward.

It’s true, we have so few opportunities to write these days. If I find a crochet pattern online that I might not be able to copy (sometimes that’s not possible), I write it down by hand. I have special A5 graph paper notebooks at home where I keep all those patterns.
Or if I’m drawing (those Zentangle or doodle drawings), I use these adult coloring books. So I have plenty of opportunities to hold a pen in my hand.
It’s a lot of fun.

Even back in school, I used to love drawing letters on graph paper with those colorful highlighters and adding sort of “shadows” with a black pen. I still enjoy doing that today.

Hi Belinda,
if it’s the Emily doll with the purple sweater, I have that pattern too.
The body is crocheted starting right from the legs.
So, crochet both legs, join them with a chain stitch, and keep crocheting straight up—that forms the body. Take another look at your pattern.
Otherwise, as Monika already suggested, write to the author directly.

Best regards

That’s lovely, Marion, how you’ve bundled up your little Mäx. With this weather, he definitely needs a warm sleeping bag like that.
We don’t have quite as much snow here (though there’s more further up), but it’s freezing cold. It definitely felt like -20 degrees, but at least we had some sun.

I can totally relate to you guys shoveling snow, and it makes me smile a little, too.
Spring is definitely on its way.

I always think it’s wonderful when you still have your autograph book.

Just like you, Marion, I had two. The first one (which was completely filled) got lost during one of our moves. It’s frustrating because it had the most beautiful pictures and sayings in it. I still haven’t found the other one. Unfortunately.

That makes me admire your old treasures all the more. Exactly—we used to collect and trade these pictures, especially if they had glitter on them.

Exactly, Marion—butter and jam on top; that’s how I like them.

Easter bunnies sound good. Thanks. I’ll make them.
I had to search for your recipe here in the forum again. I’d forgotten to write it down.

Since I didn’t have anything to go with my coffee, I quickly baked some. My husband will be home soon, and then we’ll really enjoy them.

I wish you all a lovely afternoon

Good afternoon,

Your snowy landscapes look really interesting. I can’t help but laugh because you’ve gotten more snow than we have here in Norway.
Today we have glorious sunshine and blue skies, which I love so much, but... it feels like -20 °

Hi everyone,

I’ve been baking again. It’s Marion’s pretzel recipe.

I made rolls out of it. They’ll be served with coffee.

That reminds me of something else.

We had art class in school—I think we used to write with this Redis pen (is that what it’s called?), and it was called a “pull-out ink pen,” that’s right.
There were different kinds of nibs for writing, which let you create beautiful effects when writing in cursive and so on.
Do you guys still remember those fountain pens you had to fill with ink from a glass inkwell?
Oh man, those were such exciting school days!

Yeah, I’ve heard of hand lettering, too. Your first attempts already look great.
Some of the stuff you find online—there are some real works of art out there. It’s fun.

I still really enjoy writing by hand today. Greeting cards, especially. The more ornate the handwriting, the better.

In school, you always had to take notes quickly or copy texts off the board before the teacher wiped everything away. At home, I’d then rewrite everything neatly, sometimes filling entire notebooks. Everything carefully color-coded or underlined with a ruler. I was very particular about that. #laughs# I always got top marks for neatness.

My mom also learned German script back in school. I can’t always read the cursive version of it, but I can read those old fairy tale books with that old printed typeface, even though we never had that in school. I started school in 1970.

I love anything that’s ornate.

Nice, Ines. I just stopped by the “bakery.” Your storage basket looks really pretty. Did you use a specific jar for that? I like the shape.

It smells wonderful in here again

Mmm, delicious, Monika, I’ll stop by. Your rolls look really tasty, with seeds, just the way we like them. They’re already starting to look like the real thing, like the ones we can buy here in the frozen food section.
But yours are fresher and tastier.

ines, your herb bread looks delicious too. Those are some interesting ingredients, not so easy to get here in Norway. I often have to improvise.
Then enjoy your meal, and have fun grilling. It’s something different from doing it only in summer, anyone can do that :-)

I wish everyone here a lovely afternoon,

now I can finally give a detailed update again. It’s so hard to do this on my tablet—I usually just use it to upload my photos.

First of all, thank you so much—and you’ve all been so hard at work again.
Some lovely creations have come together here once more.
Easter is just around the corner, and you’re already busy crocheting and knitting your Easter decorations.
The chick family turned out so cute, with the little ones and their little hats.
I really like these egg cups, too—they’re a pretty eye-catcher.

Monika’s DF test knit piece already looks great. Maybe it’ll be an Easter gift bag? I’m curious to see how it turns out.
Your little star and the teddy bear in matching outfits are so cute

I’ve been wanting to crochet a dragon myself. For me, everything has to be one size smaller, and I need a looooooot of time. My list is sooooo long, but with my “yarn diet” leftovers, I can only tackle small projects. The color selection isn’t that big anymore.

Ina, you wanted to know how I crocheted the little blanket. It’s all crocheted on—nothing sewn. Crocheted all in one go.
I’d finish one stripe, then start the new color and keep crocheting in the c2c pattern. I found a video online that explained the joining process really well, and it works great. When I reached the end of a row (i.e., the edge of the blanket), I used to always make slip stitches; now I chain 3 to end up at the end of a “square,” make 1 slip stitch, and continue crocheting as usual.
I’m always bad at explaining things.
If I’m crocheting up the stripe now and want to join the second stripe to the first, I finish the “square” at the end of the round, then make a slip stitch on the first stripe (into the space between two squares),  then 3 ch, and go up into the next space between both squares, make 1 sl st, turn, and 3 ch, then finish the square with 3 dc, etc. It’s hard to follow me. I know, but it works once you get the hang of it, and it looks neater in the stitch pattern.

My tunic is on hold for now. I don’t really have a plan for how to continue crocheting it. Somehow, the tunic is a little too wide for me. Maybe I’ll just keep crocheting it like this and give it to my mom when it’s finished, if it fits her.

My granny square doily is about 56 x 24 cm.

That’s all from me for now.
I hope you guys aren’t too snowed in. It sounds like there’s a lot going on over there—total chaos. You have more snow right now than we do.
We know that feeling all too well.

Best wishes, Andrea

Hello everyone,

Once again, I’ve crocheted up some leftover yarn.
Kruemel is happy with the little blanket. I just crocheted it haphazardly.

Here it is

Here are some glass marbles and 3 glow-in-the-dark
bouncy balls
What you can still find in some corners?

Good afternoon

There’s a lot going on here again. You only miss one day, and so much happens. So I don’t forget anyone, a big shout-out to everyone 🤗😍 great

I’ve got something to show again too. I found this while tidying up: my teddy has a jacket now. It was originally for another amigurumi.

A sunflower child, based on a free pattern from the internet


This doily was inspired by a picture in the gallery

I also found something else from my school days.
My mom gave this to me back then. It’s made of metal. It has the multiplication tables on it. You can turn the middle part and read the result. It was very helpful for math problems.

You don’t see things like this anymore. I’m taking special care of it.

Until recently, I hadn’t heard of it either, but it’s taking the whole world by storm and is a total blast.
It’s a real earworm. There’s an online tutorial video showing the dance steps. It’s seriously awesome.
Not hard at all.
The Corona Dance—you can dance together while keeping your distance.
You can find videos of it all over the internet: people dancing at the fire station, in the hospital, at a nursing home, at the airport... Check them out.

Have fun with it!

Hey Arni,
that’s funny. It’s kind of like the world’s turned upside down at your place.

We had one of those ready-made “farmer’s breakfasts” straight out of the bag—with an egg added—and it tasted so good.

Tomorrow we might have pork tenderloins with homemade mashed potatoes or rice on the side; I’m not quite sure yet.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend with lots of cooking and baking ideas!

Happy birthday

Best wishes, Bastelfan

Hello, sweet tooths

Wow, that cake is absolutely amazing. You almost don’t dare cut into it.
Arni, your apple cake looks totally delicious.

For a change, we’re having muffins again. Fresh from the oven

Well Ina, looks like we were both writing at the same time. I was faster :-)

You said it. Exactly, so many terms come to mind.

"Frösi" was that magazine "be happy and sing" with Manne Murmelauge.
- We also collected recyclable materials (Do you have bottles and waste paper?)
- I still like eating Schlagersüßtafel today
- dodgeball (in PE class, I hated it), there was that medicine ball too, what was it called
- wall newspaper at school, everyone had a turn
- blackboard duty (1 boy and 1 girl each time - in alphabetical order in the class register, it was your turn to wipe the board, empty wastepaper baskets, )
- Pioneer afternoon (I didn’t like going, it was in free time after school)
- mini bike, or folding bike as it was called. Mine was blue, and I still had it for a long time until shortly before the fall of the Wall
- Fassbrause, that was delicious (raspberry and woodruff flavor)
- sherbet powder
- Mecki lollipop sticks in a paper bag
- cream wafers for 20 pfennigs at the bakery (two wafers, with white or pink cream in the middle)
- yes, Kaufhalle or Delikat shop
- those colorful suckers or lollipops, and those whistle lollipops with chocolate inside

oh man

There’s also a book on a....n about "forgotten things" or something like that, things that existed back then. A guest at the hotel had this book, quite interesting.

Well, I wish you all a lovely afternoon, keep reminiscing.
I’ll have to make dinner soon, we’re having pizza

see you then

Oh, how wonderful to see your old treasures. You can count yourselves lucky. I knew one of those sayings too, from my mom’s autograph book.

That reminds me of another saying from my own album:

If life gives you a bump,
Don’t shed a tear.
Laugh your head off, sit on it,
and dangle your legs.

I thought it was so funny in that Berlin dialect.

My long-term memory still works.

Do you still remember Steckhalma and those bouncy balls?

Exactly, little by little it’s all coming back to me.

Those little boxes drawn with chalk and playing “stone throwing”—we loved playing that.
Those glossy pictures—we called them “family album pictures.” I still have some lying around somewhere; you used to be able to buy them. I loved the textured feel of those pictures, and if they had glitter on them, so much the better.
I had a xylophone, too. The letters A–E or something like that were engraved on it, and you could play “All My Little Ducks” and lots of other songs.

Monika , it’s nice to still have your autograph book. Unfortunately, mine somehow got lost during all the moves—very annoying. We loved that.
I had a kaleidoscope like that, too. It was so beautifully colorful, and all the patterns that appeared inside. Do they even make those anymore?

I can still remember some of the sayings from the poetry albums:

“Whoever writes in this little book,
I ask you to be careful.
And if you tear out a page,
our friendship is over,”

or:

“If you have a girlfriend,
you have to understand her,
and not always focus on her flaws here and there.
Be loving, and forgive—
you’re not flawless either.”

“If you rely heavily on someone in your life,
approach them with caution before you confide in them.
Look them often and firmly in the eye to see if their gaze is open too;
often a person’s words are deceitful, but their eyes are not.”

“Don’t judge a person
after half an hour;
there are churning waves on the surface,
but the pearl lies at the bottom.”

Sooooo beautiful, and somehow true.

Hello at this late hour,

yes, the good old days, they were so nice, and as a child, playing outside was always an adventure. That's true, it was never boring.
We jumped rope too. Normal jump rope on our own. Then 2 people each held one end of the rope, and the 3rd person was in the middle, always jumping over the rope while it kept moving, sometimes fast, sometimes slow. I can't explain it very well now. Most of you probably know what I mean.
Does anyone still remember those spinning tops with a stick and string?

I still have a jump rope, but from today's time (it was a more modern sports set with 2 small dumbbells and an expander too). I use it now and then, a bit of exercise at home.

Back then in PE class we had those wooden hula hoops. But you can't find them anywhere anymore. I wanted to buy one, but there are only these plastic hoops that you click together into a ring, and I don't want that. The wooden ones were good.

I think last year I ordered the book "Our Childhood - Dolls, Puzzles, Gummitwist" from a....n, where you can "dive back into" your childhood again.
That immediately reminds me of that diver again. It had a hose attached with a mouthpiece. When you blew into it or drew in air, it would dive down in the water or come up. Do you still remember it?

Monika, I always played exactly this string game with my mom. I can still do some of it today. No idea what it was called. Maybe "cat's cradle".
I had this "sliding puzzle" for a long time too, all gone. Too bad. You had to sort/slide the numbers 1-15, I think. Then there were those black wooden dominoes or Mikado, peg solitaire. Riding a scooter or tricycle. Oh man, I could list sooooo much more.

I still played that Sandman game with my children.
My grandma had one of those little cup games. As a child I had this "Little Master Hammer". It was a kind of mat where you could hammer wooden pieces (circles, triangles, rectangles) onto it, really with little nails and a little wooden hammer. I loved doing that. Metal construction sets with real little screws.
Unthinkable today, because of small parts - choking hazard. The toys were somehow more authentic, made of metal, plastic, wood.

Then I had a little plastic board with raised lines on it, where you could press the plastic letters and numbers onto this track. The letters had a little notch on the back, and that's how we learned to read and write through play.
That plastic clock for learning to tell time, with those plastic gears on the back and colorful numbers on the front. My mom used it to practice telling time with me as homework.

Or a slate and chalk, I had that too. I played "school" with my brother with it.

So now I'll stop. The list is getting longer and longer.

sleep well, and nostalgic dreams

It’s so nice to dive into N(ost)algic times.

I just made myself a hot lemon drink because I’m freezing, and the ’90s show is still on the radio—that kind of fits, doesn’t it?

Ina, you can be proud to still own such a nostalgic device. We had a similar tape recorder (I can’t remember the name right now). I had cassettes for a long time too, but by now none of it exists anymore. A shame sometimes. Especially the hissing and crackling, just like with old record players—that really was something.

Tangled tape, cassettes and a pencil, pressing the record and play buttons at the same time—we could certainly “sing a song” about that. It was simply part of it. That was our youth.

There were 60- and 90-minute cassettes back then. Often the last song wouldn’t fit on the tape anymore, which was annoying. Exactly—when the radio presenter started talking right in the middle, you’d press “Stop” again, rewind a little...and on it went.

Oh, it really was a lovely time somehow. Today’s young people can’t really relate to that anymore.

Just like Chinese jump rope, building a tent out of wool blankets and a clothesline, the sandbox, the climbing mushroom, hide-and-seek, ringing doorbells...flying kites (made from packing paper with wallpaper strips, tail made from newspaper). Playing the triola...

Oh my, Ina, you’ve taken us on another trip back in time—but a lovely one.

Now have sweet dreams of the Sandman :-)

I wish you all a lovely afternoon,

I didn’t check in for one day, and there’s so much to admire. You’re full of anticipation about what new things there will be again today.
Honestly, I was so excited to see the hat from Monika’s little star. It looks so pretty. It fits perfectly, without needing to fold it up again at the front.

Ina, your ball cover looks nice and colorful and great. A real eye-catcher in your conservatory corner. Couldn’t the two halves also be closed with some Velcro? Or would that not hold if you sit on it?

Wollbaerli, your hat turned out very beautiful too. Great.

I’m just imagining all our babies wearing this hat, sitting in a row next to each other, all beautifully colorful.
Now they all still need a sweater, shoes, and pants.
My other doll, "Susi", is still waiting for pants too.
Unfortunately I didn’t get anything done today. A rest day, so to speak. Tomorrow I’ll continue.

Wishing you all a lovely evening

dievomdeich, that’s such a heartwarming story. I’m speechless now, too.

That’s another way to make people happy. Sooooo lovely

Monika , and I thought I was just having some initial trouble with the pattern. That puts my mind at ease. Well then, let those needles fly—I’m excited to see what you come up with.

Have a lovely Sunday!

Wow, Akela, what a masterpiece. This would be perfect for my mom (her zodiac sign is Leo).
It really stands out beautifully against the black background.
I like it a lot.

dievomdeich, wow, these are real works of art. Way too good to eat. Thanks for sharing. You did a great job.

Oh yes, Monika. Black Forest cherry cake. I’m already looking forward to the recipe.
We’re a bunch of crazy cake ladies, but it’s fun.
Is it maybe similar to the “Donauwelle”—is that what it’s called?—with cocoa batter, cherries sunk into it, buttercream, and then chocolate glaze on top? A real calorie bomb, but damn delicious.

I’m just imagining right now how we’d all get together and host a cake bazaar. Everyone brings their homemade cakes and tarts, and with the proceeds, we all treat ourselves to something nice.

This baking thread is wonderful, because I love trying out new things when it comes to baking.
We’re all excited, Monika—thanks in advance.

Marion, mmm, your cake looks delicious. I like plums, but I can only bake with them here when they’re in season. You can’t get fruit in jars ready for cakes here, and the selection of frozen fruit is minimal, unfortunately.

Well, enjoy your treats.
We’re done with our coffee, and the fruit flan is completely gone. Half on Saturday, the other half today.

That was too fast

Hi everyone,

I did it. Just finished it. Now Kruemel won’t have to freeze anymore.

Those pendants look great. Awesome!

Good evening, dear cake lovers,

One cake is more delicious than the next.

Akela, your apple crumble cake looks really delicious—and it rose so high! Or did you use more crumble topping? Yum, yum, yum.

Monika , exactly—I’m a real sweet tooth, too. Anything sweet—and you can’t even tell by looking at me yet. My husband always licks the bowl clean, so I have to leave a little extra in there than usual.
Do you use raw marzipan? I can buy that here too—it would be perfect for my husband. I don’t like it myself. I’ll have to check out your recipe right away. Thanks in advance.

Enjoy your treats!

Mmm, it smells so good here in the forum. So many delicious things.

For a change, we had peach fruit flan with whipped cream again.
It tasted delicious.

I wish you all a wonderful weekend too. Have fun crafting, unless shoveling snow gets in the way.
I know what that’s like, but for you, snow has become such a rarity, and that makes you happy, especially for the children.

Here it’s -13 degrees, dry cold air, but sunshine. So cold that your fingers almost stick to the metal mailbox *laugh*. Over the next few days it’s supposed to get down to -15 degrees. Siberian cold. It’s going to be frosty.

dievomdeich, yes, it’s always annoying when such young people can’t get anything done anymore. We “old folks” have to step in, and they still laugh at us.

Don’t let the weekend be spoiled for you.

Best wishes from no-longer-so-snowy Norway.

Good morning, everyone!

I’m always happy when I’m here on the forum, reading your lovely comments—it’s so nice how we motivate each other. We really are a fun group of crafters.
Maybe once we’ve gotten through all this with C....a, we’ll be able to meet up in real life for a cup of coffee—with the baby *laughs*

Monika, I’m really curious to see what your hat for Sternchen looks like. You’ll easily finish that in a day.
Ines, I hope you get better soon. That kind of one-sided movement—and maybe it’s still unfamiliar to you—is tough on the body. So get well soon so we can admire your new creations again. I’m glad you all like the hat, too. It doesn’t look so bulky anymore.
Marion, thanks again for the tip about the 80 stitches—it fits the head perfectly.
A forced break like that is a bummer. I hope everything gets sorted out soon so you can get back to your hobby.

Now, one more question. With the hat, once it’s knitted together, which side do you use for the front and which for the eyelet row? I’m always puzzling over that. Does it even matter, or do you use the “nicer” edge side?

For the eyelet row, I didn’t really dare to pick up the stitches with the knitting needle—or how do you guys do it? I used the crochet hook, crocheted a round of stitches, and then picked them up with the knitting needle and knitted them. It worked great.

Next, I thought I’d knit a cover for this gummy bear jar from Ina. Now I remember how to knit again.
The little booties can wait for now.

Have a lovely weekend
see you around

it’s -13 degrees here today, with dry, cold air and sunshine.