Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

Monika , yeah, that’s true—she looks so natural with that sweet little face; you just have to love her.
I’d love to take her to bed with me, but my husband’s not having it *laughs*

Hey, Wollbaerli,
Krümel is 46 cm tall, has a soft body (I love floppy dolls), and there are 2 batteries hidden in her back.
She has several touch-sensitive spots on her body and hands—when you press them, she says “Mama” and “Papa.” She laughs, cries, blinks her eyes, and she even snores and then closes her eyes.
But when I lay Krümel down, she doesn’t automatically close her eyes.

I have so much fun with her. If you give her the bottle, she really sucks on it and blinks her eyes. Just so cute.
She’s not just for little doll moms. With her, you become a kid again yourself.

Thank you so much, dear Monika, for the recipe—they look delicious.
Maybe I’ll bake a batch tomorrow just to try them out.

Wow, I’m just as excited as you all are. Even I’m still amazed by all the things Kruemel can do. So my dream has come true.
The outfit alone is already so cute. I’m sure I’ll enjoy this little one for a long time.
We practically have “triplets” here on the forum, if I’m not mistaken.
I still can’t believe she’s here. Yippee!

Hi everyone,
I’m soooo happy. We’ve got a new addition to the family. Let me introduce you to Kruemel—she’s moving in with us starting today. Isn’t she cute?
She was born here in Norway and comes with all kinds of accessories. It’s totally crazy. I’ve already told my parents that they’re now Grandma and Grandpa. Kruemel is such a sweet little rascal, and she makes us all laugh

It’s me. Just popped in here for a quick look, and lo and behold, something new to marvel at.

Arni, your Woodstock looks so cute. I love Snoopy stories

Monika, oh, mmm, yummy, mini Amerikaner pastries. I always loved eating those in Germany. Of course, I’d definitely love to have your recipe so I can bake a little taste of home here. You can’t buy them anywhere around here—they don’t know them here. All the cakes and chocolates here are extremely sweet anyway. I’m going to virtually snag one right now. Sorry.
Your sweater’s almost done. It’s amazing how fast you can knit.

Well, good night, see you tomorrow

Andrea

Thank you so much, Marion. It only took me a day to make this.

Every now and then, I need little side projects to work on in between. Crocheting on just one piece all the time wears on my patience. This way, it’s more fun.

Best regards, Andrea

Have a wonderful Sunday,
everyone—so many new creations have already come to life. It’s always a pleasure to admire your work.

Petra Perle , that potato with a face looks a little creepy. As Ina already said, it could be straight out of a fairy tale. It reminds me of those talking magic trees with faces—I could totally see that crocheted.

Ina , thank you, and thanks for your idea. So far, my cat blanket is sitting on top of my laptop.
The felted slippers for Oscar look so cute standing there on the shoe rack—totally adorable, those tiny little slippers next to the big shoes. With the colorful sailboats, he’ll learn to tell “left” and “right” right away. Great. He was surely happy about his new slippers at Grandma’s. I’d love to have grandchildren, too.

So keep up the good work, everyone. Let’s see if I can continue crocheting my tunic today—if no last-minute ideas pop up that I want to try out first.
But first, I’m having a latte macchiato, since the coffee machine is working again. The valve was broken.
I’ll check back in later. Take care,

Andrea

I’ve been crocheting with leftover yarn again. This c2c pattern works great with these squares.
I found a better way to join them together in a video. It looks a bit neater somehow. This was so much fun that my tunic had to wait. It turned into a small pillowcase, and my pillow fits perfectly inside. I’ll add a ribbon or button as a closure.


Back side (bottom picture)

Thanks, Josefa—I wish the same for you.

We still have snow here, but it’s freezing cold—I think it’s supposed to get down to -11 degrees. It’s cloudy, so I’ll probably just lounge on the couch and do some crocheting or something—we’ll see what I feel like doing.
My husband will surely keep working on his model train layout.
I think it’s nice when both partners have a hobby.
If the sun does end up coming out, then of course we’ll go for a walk.

Have a relaxing weekend, everyone!

Hello, all you hardworking knitting and crochet friends,
hello, sweethearts,

First of all, thank you so much for the feedback. This is crocheted using single crochet stitches; the colorful yarn is practically crocheted right in, and you don’t need to weave in any ends—those will become the fringes later.
Exactly, tapestry technique.
I don’t know yet what I’ll use it for. I wanted to hang it on the wall, but then the fringes would have to be at the bottom.
It’s actually too nice to use as a placemat, but it’s sturdy enough. We’ll see. Now that I know how to do it, I can experiment with embroidery patterns as templates

Monika, exactly, like with Ina’s blanket with the threads as fringes.
I’d never heard of Dorn therapy either. Learned something new again. It definitely has its advantages when someone in the family can do that, like your husband.
I know that thing with pressing those cones on certain points from videos by Lie... and Pra....
I used to go for massages and acupuncture before कोरोना, and it did me a lot of good.
There’s definitely something to it.

a-mano, the hat looks great. It reminds me of a ladybug too. For younger children, I could also imagine adding "antennae" to it. I like it.

Wollefaden. The glove has beautiful colors. I could also imagine it as a sock. Unfortunately, I’m not really into knitting socks. The main thing is that it keeps you warm, and I hope your hand gets better soon.

Well then, I’ll get back to crocheting my tunic, but first I’ll have a cup of coffee when my husband gets home from work.

until then
lg Andrea

Even at this late hour, I still have something to show you. I finally finished it. It was a store-bought pattern, and just before I finished, I was about to lose my motivation, but I bravely persevered. As promised, ta-da—here’s the result


and I’m still just getting started on my tunic

Hi Gaby , welcome!
Just being part of it is what counts, and you can do it, too. I’m sure of it.
At first, I thought, “Well, maybe three months,” but then it ended up being a whole year.
Together, we can all do this.
Of course, I couldn’t resist chocolate—that wouldn’t work for me, since I love snacking so much.

I just checked—it’s actually been a whole year since January 4, 2020, that I haven’t bought any yarn. Yippee! I’m officially joining in. It’s crazy.
Of course, I’ll keep working through my stash—it’ll last a while longer, mostly for smaller projects, but that’s okay.

Monika, I’m jealous of you—getting yarn as a gift. But then you’ll have to work through even more yarn than before :-)

Every now and then I do get the itch, and I browse through online shops. But then I think, no, I have to use up my stash first. Exactly, Monika—you’re only cheating yourself.
With this cold weather, sitting at home on the sofa, those skeins are slowly but surely disappearing.
I’m so happy—I’ve already stuck with it for a whole year. And the best part is, you can already look forward to buying more supplies again.

We can do this!

Good evening, everyone,

Wollbaerli, you really do have a lovely big collection. But that teddy bear in lederhosen, if I’m seeing it right, is absolutely amazing. I thought I had a lot, but I’m not the only one. Oh, that’s so nice. Thanks for showing us.
Monika, you were lucky again with that back pain. Yes, things like that can happen quickly: one wrong move and that’s it. But don’t be sad; we do have more snow, but it’s not good for building a snowman either, what a shame. I want a snowman on our patio too. It’s just powder snow.

But today was overcast, with a bit of blue sky, not much, but it was freezing outside. My husband said it was -12 degrees this morning, feeling like -20. I only went to the mailbox and took the Christmas decorations into the garage, and after that I first had to make myself a hot tea.
Right now I’m crocheting a tunic for myself (pattern from here), and on the side I’m working on another little crochet project; it’ll be finished soon, then I’ll show it to you.

It’s nice when you keep popping in here, and once again so many wonderful things have been made that you can admire.

Well then, see you tomorrow
Andrea

I don’t really have any resolutions, but I have plenty of wishes: that hotels will finally be allowed to reopen, and guests will come back—then I’ll have work again;
that we’ll finally be able to travel to Germany again (to go on vacation, hug our parents and kids again, and meet up with old school friends). That’s what I’m hoping for. Good health for everyone, and that we’ll get the virus under control.

We're all out of pretzels. Time to make more. Instead of pretzels, I decided on the spot to make rolls out of the dough. We'll have them with coffee. I'm curious to see how they turn out.

Well, today we’re getting glorious sunshine again, but it’s freezing cold—it feels like -10°.
This is what snow looks like; I’ll send some over virtually to all of you who haven’t gotten any from Old Man Winter 😉

Hi everyone,
After Monika showed off her many teddy bears, I decided to take a
group photo of my own “residents” too. They’re all scattered around here.
Only the ones at the top are sitting on the couch. The moose in the front snuck into the picture. He’s so cute and really special. My husband gave him to me when we first met. They all have their own stories. 
The one on the far right in the middle—the little beige one—I got from a good friend; he’s also a bit of a nostalgia fan, with movable arms and legs. My former bowling buddy gave me the red cuddly teddy for my birthday once. The polar bear in the middle is from a flea market (20 years ago)

Here they are

Here’s my little scarf made from fringe yarn. It keeps me nice and warm. I think I only knitted knit stitches.

If I can make you happy, then I’m happy.
Yeah, days like this with snow and sunshine—I just love them. Bundled up warm, and then when you get back home, it’s so cozy and warm, and then coffee and pretzels—what more could you want?

Warm regards

I still have this “treasure.” First edition, 1987, Verlag für die Frau

Welcome, Hilde,
Your sign turned out absolutely beautiful—very inviting.
Was it entirely from one embroidery pattern, or did you put together your own design from several patterns? I really like it—especially the holidaymaker in the camping chair; that would be my favorite motif.

Best regards
Andrea

Fringed yarn is actually better suited for knitting—the fluffiness really comes through, and it looks better than when crocheted. I used to knit back in the day, too. The best thing to make is a long, wide scarf; even with the fringes, I could still see the stitches.
When I get the chance, I’ll dig out my little scarf and take a photo.
I still have quite a bit lying around. I need more time for everything—and 10 hands—to finish all my projects.

Thanks, Ina—I kind of took you all along on my winter walk, so to speak. That way, you could experience a little bit of that winter feeling.
We had coffee afterward, but instead of fruit cake, we had those delicious pretzels.

Have a nice evening, everyone!

Thank you, Marion for the pretzel recipe.
Fresh from the oven (I got 2 trays out of it). Three pretzels have already been eaten. Oh man, they are so delicious. Now I have a stomachache.

Sunrise and blue skiesRocksView of the fjord, the other sideThe ski slope is in the center in the background

Ina, this already looks interesting. As far as I can tell, the pattern consists of sc and ch. I always call it the “yarn-eater pattern,” but the effect is sooooo beautiful. Or are you using different patterns as well? After all, the year is long. You’ve used some gorgeous colors.
It already looks fun—your little jars filled with that beautiful yarn—and you even had some helpers for it. I’ll have to keep your yarn-selection system in mind if I ever crochet something big and multicolored.

I found the pattern. It’s in the magazine “Dein Kreuzstich,” issue 2/2008.

Petra, yes, it’s all embroidered with cross-stitch, but very finely (using only 2-strand embroidery thread). I had lots of those A4 cross-stitch booklets. But I have no idea where the pattern with the boy came from. It’s been too long.
Your angel looks interesting, too.

Hey there,

Ines , well, that sure looks wonderfully wintry. Thanks for sharing. I really love it when the trees are covered in snow like in the picture on the left. It has such a fairy-tale feel to it.
We’re also getting some sun here. It doesn’t show up very often. The next few days will bring more gloomy, snowy days again.

Marion, :-) I didn’t even notice “without yeast.” I would’ve realized that while baking.

We’re going to take advantage of the sunny, cold weather right now for a little walk. If I try your pretzels, I’ll post a picture, of course.

Until then
, Andrea

This is what it looks like here today. The sun is peeking out now and then, but it’s -4 °. We’re going to take a short walk. I’m sure I’ll snap a few pictures.

There is so much to admire here again. Goodness.

Monika, your sweater looks great with this striped pattern. I like colorful sweaters too, but with lighter colors. Unfortunately I can’t knit raglan, but you make it look super quick. I’m excited to see what it looks like when it’s finished.
Your doll-and-teddy corner looks funny. That one doll is huge—how many cm, or maybe even meters, does it measure? All of them are dressed so nicely. Wonderful.
Marion, you have such a pretty nostalgic doll carriage for Mäxchen, a great eye-catcher, and he looks so sweet in it.
Thanks also for the pretzel recipe. I’ll try it out soon. Maybe tomorrow, we’ll see.
Ines, wishing you a speedy recovery.

Sleep well then, see you tomorrow
Andrea

Embroidery is also one of my old hobbies. I could actually pick it up again sometime. I’ve had an embroidery piece of Norway waiting to be finished for years. It’s such a delicate piece. Someday.

Here are my works from days gone by. Very finely embroidered.

I haven’t heard anything about curfews where we are. Just business as usual.
We spent New Year’s Eve on our own, too—we got cozy on the couch, decorated the table a bit with a garland, tea lights, snacks, and some delicious food, and watched the New Year’s Eve show with Pilawa. At around midnight, we toasted the New Year and my dad’s birthday with my parents via WhatsApp. Then we went to bed around 1:00 a.m.
Strangely enough, there were a bit more fireworks here than in previous years (by Norwegian standards—you can’t compare it to the fireworks in Germany, though it’s still less). We didn’t hear anything about an outright fireworks ban; we all live far apart, after all. They don’t have those dangerous rockets here because of all the wooden houses.

Yeah, I always feel sorry for the poor animals, too; they hear everything even louder and more intensely than we do.
All in all, it was quiet.

Thank you all. I’m sure I’ll be adding a few more crocheted flowers soon. I’ve got plenty of scraps, after all. I’m already excited to see your finished flowers.

Marion, your pretzels look really delicious. I could bite right into them.

Have a lovely evening

Monika, yes, your little Mäxchen is really cute and so adorable. I checked out a....m right away—they deliver here to Norway too, but 10 euros for shipping? I’ve already added it to my list. Thanks again for the tip.

Hello everyone,
We took it easy on the first day of the new year, and I finished something right away too.
The pretty flower by Ina. I crocheted the pink flower with very thin size 10 thread and a 1.75 mm hook, with a foundation chain of 50 stitches, and the red one with size 12 thread and a 100-chain foundation chain. The beads only in the center were intentional. Thanks to the great pattern,
threading the beads was a breeze. Here are my two flowers

First of all, I wish everyone here a healthy New Year, but above all that we all stay healthy.
I hope you all had a good start to the year, and continue to have lots of fun here in the forum.

Best wishes and Happy New Year
from snowy Norway today

Andrea/Bastelfan

my very best birthday wishes from me too, all the best for the New Year 2021, but above all good health

Warm regards, Andrea

Thanks, Petra. Happy New Year to you too, stay healthy, see you next year

Best regards

Wollefaden, wow, that set for your little Mäxchen looks great. He looks really cute in it. And Mäxchen is such a sweet little guy. I like him too. Have you had the doll for a while? Can you still buy it somewhere?
I still need to dress my doll too. Your set is knitted, right? I’m not very practiced at that anymore.

Ina, thank you for the free pattern, that’s very kind of you. This way we all benefit, a little comfort during these difficult times, and it puts a smile back on our faces. By the way, I’ve already started on your pattern. I’m on the beaded row now. Thanks to your detailed instructions, I managed it. As soon as it’s finished, I’ll show it here. It looks great, and it goes quickly.

a-mano, your sock already looks fantastic. Kudos to anyone who can do that. Nah, knitting socks isn’t really my thing, but I do like wearing knitted socks. I was given a pair once, and I like to wear them as bed socks :-) hehe

So, my dears, in case I’m not online again, I wish you all a good start to the New Year despite everything. Stay healthy, and let’s all hope we can get back to normal soon. At least being able to visit each other and finally travel back to our home countries again.

Good night, or good morning, I’m going to sleep now.
See you next year

Warm regards from Norway
Andrea :-)

Hi everyone,
you really fall behind if you don’t check in for just two days.
Ina’s flowers with beads piqued my curiosity, so I gave it a try myself. But mine are nowhere near as pretty as hers.
Here’s my test piece.

Thank you, Akela, for this detailed explanation. Now I know what I did wrong: using that settled starch instead of pouring it off.
Learned something new. I’ll remember that next time.

Petra, how do you make dough dumplings? Sounds delicious, too.

You all had a super delicious Christmas meal. I like mushroom goulash, too—I’m getting hungry.

But mostly slush—it's too warm for this time of year and for Norway

Here’s how my homemade half-and-half dumplings turned out. They fell apart a bit, but they still tasted good. I didn’t have any cornstarch, so I used flour—probably not enough. Next time.

We’re not superstitious, but somehow you still end up sticking to some of these beliefs.
I’ve heard that one, too—you’re not supposed to leave laundry hanging between New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day, because you’d be carrying the “old, bad” stuff into the New Year, or someone might hang themselves. It sounds kind of creepy, but I really don’t hang any laundry out then.

A boyfriend I had back then once gave me a pair of shoes, and… we’re not together anymore.

My ex-mother-in-law once said that if it rains on the bride’s veil, the marriage won’t last—and that’s exactly what happened to me. It rained that day, and we got divorced.
It’s crazy.

Maybe it was just a coincidence that it happened to me.

Thanks, Ina, for cheering me up a bit. Yes, that’s right—I was happy to be back in Oslo again, among people, so to speak, despite the rainy weather. A small consolation.


Andrea

Hi there too,

I usually crochet smaller dolls, but many larger crochet dolls have a "wire frame" inside their bodies. So, reinforce the arms and legs with wire (wrap the ends with tape). Or there are pipe cleaners—you can wrap them with craft batting to stuff and stabilize the arms and legs while keeping them movable.
Sometimes it helps to just put a piece of cardboard in the soles of the shoes so the doll can stand.
You could also stuff the legs a little more firmly and evenly so no lumps form.

I hope these tips help you out.
Have a nice Sunday

Good evening,
you’re already hard at work again. The holidays are almost over now; I hope you had a good time, even if it was a bit different and quieter than usual.

Ina, your flower looks so great. Did you thread the beads beforehand, or crochet them in as you went along? I’d love to know, because I still have so many wax beads lying around here.
Arni, your New Year’s Eve decoration turned out beautifully. You can always use lucky pigs.

Oh, how nice—you watched "Aschenbrödel" too. It’s a must at Christmas. I’ve seen it sooooo many times too. I even have it on DVD (it was a gift from my husband). We always watch it together.