Latest Forum Posts by: Bastelfan

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.

Thank you all. I was happy to do it.

Monika, no, I didn’t win anything. The ticket cost the equivalent of less than 3 euros. It was a total waste. I would have been happier with some candy.

I’ve been following along with this mug gift thing. They even have the names of the months on them. I’m so happy for you, Monika. It really is a lovely gift. Enjoy your coffee in them.

Warm regards

Well, I don’t want to get involved here, but I’ve also bought patterns from Polly and Paul, and I haven’t had any problems. I have to stick up for Polly on this one.
We’re like one big family here—everyone respects each other—and I find your tone very hurtful. There are other ways to express your frustration.

These pictures were taken in mid-December, when I went to Oslo to pick up my Julegave (Christmas gift) from the hotel—brace yourselves, it was a scratch-off ticket



Best wishes from Norway
Andrea

First of all, I wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Here’s what it looks like where we are right now. These photos were taken one day before Christmas Eve.
A December walk along the Drammenfjord. The dark photos were taken against the sun—that was intentional.

   

I used to embroider a lot of cards with thread art like this; now I do it every once in a while.

Your card looks really chic—not too “overdone.” The recipient is sure to love it.

Happy birthday today—stay healthy.

Best wishes

Hi everyone,
it’s amazing how quickly you’re finishing your projects.

Monika, I’m thrilled—that looks great. I really like the dark-and-light-blue color combination. I can’t wait to see the finished hat.
ines, your yarn has such a pretty color gradient, and it looks so cozy. I would definitely have crocheted a cozy scarf or a triangular shawl with it—I love those shades of purple.

So keep on crafting, everyone, and enjoy your coffee, stollen, or cookies.

Warm regards from me

ines, I’ll join in with the congratulations. Your cake looks delicious—I’d love to try a slice right now.

Diana, pretty new profile picture, I like it.

Best regards
Andrea

No, I didn’t eat it all. There’s still enough left for everyone.
Over the next few days, I might bake that sheet pan gingerbread again.

Tomorrow I’ll prepare our rolled roast for Christmas, and the day after tomorrow I’ll pre-cook the sauerkraut and red cabbage so things don’t get too hectic.

Have a good night, everyone!

I’m so happy about that. Here you go

Hi Josefa,
I admit, I don't have one at all, even though there are various versions and beautiful shapes.
Sure, it annoys me when the ball of yarn rolls off the table. As a cheap alternative, I use regular plastic containers. I have a tall round one with a Christmas motif; a Bobbel fits in there too, and that works really well.

Best wishes and have a lovely afternoon

My bundt cake is fresh out of the oven. The whole apartment smells like it. For a change, I didn’t bake cookies.
Even the sun is coming out today. We’ll enjoy it later with our coffee.

That shop probably doesn’t even exist anymore. I can’t find it either.

Ines, your chef looks great, too.
Thanks for the feedback. I wanted to show you this newspaper duck here—it was from an English pattern.
As for my test piece, I don’t know what to do with it yet.

But I wanted to show you this as well. It actually came together by chance. It’s actually two UFOs: a little star and a gingerbread man’s head. With the hat on, arms, and legs adorned with beads, my little star man is complete—made with glittery yarn.

The blanket looks really great, Ina. The subtle colors go together perfectly. Did you knit each row with a new color? I could also imagine this as a runner in the hallway or something similar.

Hope your Stollen tasted good :-)

I found this online. I’ll call him Fridolin. Done. He looks kind of funny, doesn’t he?

I just finished a little Christmas decoration as a gift for our landlord. She always gives us a little something, too. I don’t think I can go wrong with this. Just add a little card, and it’s done. The little toadstool really spices things up. I still had some decorative moss left over.

Good morning, everyone, or good afternoon

Crafting is really wonderful—and when you can bring joy to others with it, it just makes you feel so much better.

Oh, little Nala the kitty is just so adorable. I love cats, and little ones even more. I hope she gets used to her new surroundings quickly.

I’ve finished another sample piece. This is the pattern by Streifgetier, the SnowWhite scarf. That’s 50 g crocheted so far. Unfortunately, I only have one skein left. My main goal was to test the pattern—I’d tried it before, but it didn’t work out so well. But now

I did some research myself and looked up “temperature blankets” online. It’s pretty interesting.
Here in cold Norway, we’d probably only use “cool” colors because it never gets that hot. :-)
But I had an idea. You could put together a color scheme on a scale of 1–12 and use two dice. Every day, you roll the dice once, and whichever number comes up—that’s the color you’d crochet or knit. It’d definitely turn out really colorful.
It would make for a fun forum CAL for everyone. At the end, everyone shows off their finished blanket.
I imagine that would be a lot of fun.

I have the entire bottom row of our Kallax unit filled with yarn. That’s 6 of these fabric boxes full. Sorted by yarn cakes, cotton crochet yarn, thin crochet yarn, leftover yarn, unfinished projects, and crochet magazines.
So it’s easy to keep track of. That’s a lot of yarn by my standards, though it’s slowly dwindling thanks to my “yarn diet.”
I actually take up much more space with my bead boxes and accessories.

Thank you all so much for the positive feedback. I always crochet these squares together—it’s more fun than sewing them together.
I’m already thinking about what to crochet next.

Monika, your flamingos already look great, and they’re so neatly knitted. I can’t wait to see the final result.
ruth, your penguin and the little pig look so cute, even with the baby—awesome!

Well then, I wish everyone a cozy evening. See you tomorrow

Bye-bye
Andrea

unfinished cardigan finished

Here are my crocheted pieces before they’re finished

You’ve all been so productive again. You’re really making me curious about this double-faced knitting. I looked into it for crocheting too—knitting seems easier to me, but I’m a bit out of practice with knitting. I’ll stick with crocheting for now.
But I have to tell you, my bath mat project using leftover yarn is finally finished. At one point I almost gave up, but I bravely persevered. Some of the leftover yarn was really just barely enough for a few rows.
I’m going to add a non-slip
rubber mat to the back, which I’ll then sew on.
Here’s the finished piece.

That’s lovely, Marion. Just give it a try, and I promise you won’t be able to stop because it’s so much fun once you get the hang of it.
I also crochet a lot from photos because the great patterns inspire me.
I’m already looking forward to seeing what you make.

Best wishes and have a lovely week
Andrea

Good advice was hard to come by. But...

Thanks, Ines, for the seltzer tip. I know that from seltzer cake—it turns out nice and fluffy. I’ll try that next time, but for now I had to bake another batch of my S-cookies—they were all gobbled up. Cookies are just sooooo delicious, and they disappear fast.

Well, Ina , I don’t know either. Maybe your scale is broken :-) :-)

Thanks for sharing. I like your mushroom better than mine. Your mushroom cap looks more natural, and the decoration is lovely. Great!

the needle broke

I didn’t check in here for just two days, and so many great things have been created.
Monika, your teddy bear Oscar looks cute in his new sweater. The colors and the pattern—great.
Ina, your capes look absolutely gorgeous, and that pretty ball gown on the middle Barbie. I’d love to be a model for you, too. Awesome.
Bergli, your suitcase full of slippers looks so funny. Hope you have good sales.

I’m still working on my project—crocheting with leftover yarn. Now it’s time to crochet around the edges and then join the individual squares together. It might turn into a bath mat. We’ll see. So I still have some work to do.

Dear Josefa,
and everyone else here in the forum, I also wish you a lovely Advent weekend, with homemade cookies, little candles on the table, the scent of mulled wine, cappuccino, or a winter tea blend in the air, or the fireplace crackling away.
Make yourselves comfortable, keep your needles clicking, listen to Christmas music, and so on…

With warm regards from Andrea