Latest Forum Posts by: mowi 19

First off, I hope everyone who isn’t feeling so great gets back on their feet soon.

That wool fence is awesome! I’m already known for covering everything in wool that doesn’t get out of the way fast enough... grin.

I wish everyone here a cozy, warm weekend with loooads of wool and the right needles. Or fabric and the right tools, for that matter.

I’m going to curl up on the sofa—with it being 10 degrees outside, I don’t feel like going anywhere. Plus, I’m not having the best day today; the sudden shift to cold weather is getting to me. But I’ll be fine. After all, there’s warm, woolly clothing.

Wow, you’re quick, Mel. And what beautiful colors you’ve picked out. I’d love them all, too. Of course, I’m also curious to see what you’ll make with them.

It’s definitely the right weather for yarn right now. It’s just 12 degrees here... brrr... and it’s staying this cold.

Now I wish you all a wonderful weekend with plenty of time to enjoy your yarn. I’m sure you all have enough yarn to keep you happy. New projects are surely already waiting.

Best regards from Monika

It’s that time of year again when we dress the little ones in nice, cozy, warm clothes. Leggings made from sock yarn are just the thing. They’re comfortable and keep the body nice and warm at the same time.

These leggings are easy to knit. They fit ages 3 to 5. Thanks to the turned-up cuffs, they’ll grow with your child for a long time.

Click here for the knitting pattern.

Dear Marlies,

thanks for your help. I have this special lid, and with it, you only preserve at up to 90 degrees. The instructions state a maximum time of 110 minutes.

I’ve now preserved them at 90 degrees for just under 1.5 hours and assume that’s fine. They’re in a jar with salt-vinegar-water brine and were cooked beforehand until al dente. That should be enough—at least I hope so.

Best regards from Monika

Warm birthday greetings from me as well—with best wishes for a happy, creative, and healthy year ahead.



All my love
Monika

I’d also like to send you my belated congratulations. And here’s a floral greeting to go with it.



All my love, Monika

These Christmas stars are very easy and quick to crochet. They can be used as tree ornaments, gift tags, table decorations, or appliqués.

Also a great project for crochet beginners with basic skills.

Go to the crochet pattern here.

Of course, I meant 90 degrees...

Oh great, Ina, that really helps me out. I’ll try that next.

Now I’m standing in the kitchen with a huge pile of green beans from the market… and I don’t know what to do next. I haven’t found any information online about how long, for example, the beans need to cook with the Tescoma set. 100 minutes seems a bit long to me.

All I know so far is that I have to parboil them for 10 minutes.

One option would be to cook them all the way through right in the pot in salted water with a little vinegar added. Then, so to speak, fill the jars with them while they’re still hot and preserve them. In that case, 45 minutes at 60 degrees should be enough, right? What do you or everyone else think?

Maybe someone reading this right now has some advice.

Thanks in advance, and best regards from Monika

That one looks especially nice, Inge. Somehow… elegant. :-)

Dear Ina,

Red cabbage—I’ve thought about that, too. We get it as a gift from a friend’s garden.

My question is: Do you fill the jars with the finished red cabbage just as it is? Or do you add water to it? Do you then place the jars in the Weck canning pot filled with water and simply boil them for another 15 minutes?

I’m very interested in this.

Thanks in advance, and best regards to all you preserving enthusiasts.

Monika

For a baby or toddler, you can knit a favorite companion for Christmas: this cuddly little bear. All you need is a few bits of leftover yarn, preferably cotton.

It’s very easy, and even as a beginner with basic knowledge, you can manage it without trouble. You’ll be delighted with the result.

Go to the knitting pattern here.

This scarf + collar is extremely practical—for her and for him. Especially if someone doesn’t like wearing a scarf, the collar can simply be pulled up and buttoned. Otherwise, it keeps the neck nice and warm, which is very welcome with low-cut sweaters or under other garments.

Beginners with basic knowledge can also give this a try. Everything is well described and leads to a lovely result.

Click here for the knitting pattern

Uuuuuhhh, that looks creepy, Ruth. Nah, I’m really not into all that spooky stuff at all. I don’t even get what the kids find so great about it. But whatever—I don’t have to love it. ;-) We didn’t celebrate Halloween when I was a kid, nor did my son when he was little—thank goodness.

The tunic is coming along in the middle section now, and I’m going to finish knitting it. Then I can finally move on to other things. To be honest, I’ve had enough of tunics for now. There’s nothing worse than working from a pattern where the measurements are off. Many hours of work go down the drain.

Now I wish you all a lovely evening. The rainy season has started here, and it’s getting cozy again in the warm living room.

Congratulations on your special day. Have a wonderful time and let yourself be pampered. Here’s a floral greeting that’s simply part of the occasion.



All my love
Monika

Hehe, Steffi, you’ll probably guess… there actually ended up being too much bought yarn in the swap package. Some of it has been worked up by Sandra. :)

Happy birthday! Have a wonderful celebration, and keep coming up with such beautiful ideas.



Warm
regards, Monika

Dear Kira,

I’d also like to join in the belated birthday wishes. May this new year bring you lots of joy and always provide you with plenty of yarn.



Warm regards,
Monika

I really love Drops’ yarns and usually buy them from Algawo(de). The price is good, and shipping is fast. It’s always so tempting to save on shipping costs…… do you know what I mean?

Ines, you’ve scored another great find with your yarn. I also included Camilla in the package—I think it was even the brown one, since that’s not really my color.

It’s so exciting to be on the edge of my seat here with every new arrival in the yarn package. Bathing in yarn… Mel, I’ll have to remember that. Sounds great!

I’d also like to thank you, Michaela. This is new to me as well, and I always enjoy learning something new.

Best regards, Monika

I finally did it! I unraveled it all the way down to where the pattern started at the bottom. Now I’m knitting another 50 rounds, and then the pattern will start at the bottom. I just didn’t like it—you were right after all.

I wish you all a wonderful evening.

Back to your little hedgehogs… we didn’t see ours at all this year, just his “traces.” ;-) So it seems he was doing just fine. We hardly had any snails, since it was way too dry. Now that it’s fall, we’ll start feeding our little hedgehog again. The food is already ready… but we’ll wait until it gets cooler. For now, he’s still finding enough to eat on his own.

Anja, I’m also curious to know how your little hedgehog is doing.

Well, you guys are really encouraging me… oh dear. And just last night, I actually picked up the stitches again—which was a lot of work—and kept knitting. My husband said it looks great just the way it is and that he’d leave it like that.

Then I took a long, hard look at the photo and decided to finish knitting it after all. Of course I’ll wear it, and I’m looking forward to it—next summer. I’ll probably knit one more row of eyelets at the very bottom and then call it done.

The colors stay in the same order, and I like that, too. But no—if I unravel all of this now, it’ll just turn into a UFO. And the yarn’s too good to waste on that.

Anyway, that’s not going to happen to me again. I wrote to the designer, but she replied (to Marion as well) that she doesn’t see any mistakes. So we can both still count—and there are definitely too few rounds in the middle section. With about twice that number, it would be about right.

I prefer to use Drops’ recycled cotton for this. It’s worked out really well and retains its color even after many washes. I just noticed that my son uses his a lot, and they still look brand new.

For all teddy bear lovers, this door hanger is sure to be a fantastic gift. Not only does it look cute, but it also reliably guards every room. When it shows red and “Stop,” the room is locked. Only when it shows green and “Free” are visitors welcome—or, for example, the bathroom and restroom are available.

Kids especially love it because they usually don’t have a room key. The Guardian Bear also works great for the door to your home office.

The Guardian Bear is super easy to crochet using leftover yarn. You can even use leftover buttons for the eyes. You’re sure to have a lot of fun crocheting it.

Click here for the crochet pattern





Note: If you prefer owls, you’ll also find a Guardian Owl in my pattern shop.

Oh wow, Petra, you have such beautiful handwriting! That looks great on the window. What did you use to write it?

Sandra, you have some great ideas, too! And I see you’ve transformed the yarn I couldn’t do anything with into something really pretty.

I’m feeling kind of the same way Anja sometimes does. I’m anything but happy with my tunic right now. By the way, Marion feels the same way.

The pattern specified far too few rounds for the stockinette section in the middle. I estimate there need to be about twice as many. So I tried to make up for those rounds at the bottom with more stitch pattern. But when I look at it now, I don’t really like it. The bottom part has far too much pattern. That would mean... unfortunately, unraveling it all the way back to the stockinette section and continuing from there. So many hours of knitting wasted! Grrrrrr..... This is what the tunic looks like now.

What do you think? Leave it as it is or unravel it? It’s the Aosta tunic from bunte_fussel. You can see the original there.



In any case, I’m definitely going to take it a bit slower from now on, because my arm has been hurting for the last few days. That meant a break from knitting. That was easy enough, since we were visiting my granddaughters and I didn’t get around to it anyway. To be honest, I’d really have to push myself to knit this big piece all over again.

Margitta, your socks look great, and you finished them really quickly. There’s a separate thread where you can show them off:
https://www.crazypatterns.net/de/forum/topic/163080/tauschpaket-diese-werke-sind-daraus-entstanden

Now I’m curious to see how things will continue.

Another advantage of secondhand clothing is that it’s already been washed. After all, new clothing contains quite a lot of toxins.

Heartfelt congratulations from me as well. Enjoy this day, because it’s yours alone. Let yourself be celebrated and showered with gifts.



Lots of love
Monika

Dear Sonja,

I just realized in the nick of time that it’s your birthday today. For now, I wish you a fantastic day filled with lots of wonderful surprises. Let yourself be celebrated and pampered—you deserve it.

For this new year of your life, I naturally wish you continued good health and that your ideas keep sprouting as abundantly as they have so far.

It’s wonderful to have you here—with your sunny disposition, you’re a real asset and just make everyone feel good. I’m so glad to have gotten to know you here.

Of course, flowers are a must today—here they are. They go perfectly with your name, because they shine just as brightly as you do.



Warm regards, Monika

You can knit these cute overalls for dolls sized 43–50 cm—very easily. Even leftover yarn is enough for this, and then they’ll turn out beautifully colorful.

Maybe you already have an idea which doll mommy would be happy to receive them for Christmas?

Here you can find the knitting pattern



This is what the pants look like when worn:

Margitta, I like the yarn you picked out, too—especially the bobbles. Those are right up my alley. Your shawl is sure to turn out beautifully.

Now the package can continue on its journey, and the excitement is building. The yarn that ends up with Ina at the very end would surely have a lot to tell about all the adventures it’s had along the way. :)

I’d also like to know how to add smiley faces and such here.

We’ll finally be spending the next few days with our granddaughters, so I’ll only be online sporadically until Monday.

Andrea, you’ve created another beautiful piece. Thanks for sharing it. :)

Oh, so you had quite a turbulent night, Anja. That sounds like quite an adventure. I’m just as crazy myself when animals aren’t doing well.

I once heard from a wildlife caretaker that wild animals are treated for free at the vet. Maybe your vet knows about this. It really surprised me.

In any case, I hope the little hedgehog gets back on its feet. I think it’s absolutely wonderful that you have such a big heart for animals and are doing such amazing work. Hats off to you!

We already do most of what you’ve written—at least 95% of it. We make almost everything ourselves. I love getting creative in the kitchen with whatever’s on hand. An 80-year-old friend of ours brings us delicacies from her garden every week. She has too many vegetables and can’t use them all. So we have a brunch with her—with homemade bread, our own spreads, and jam. She loves it, and it’s become a lovely ritual.

We only go shopping once a week, including a trip to the market, where I buy most of our groceries.

I haven’t bought any clothes for many years. I get them as gifts from my friend or from my swap group.

I’ve also been skipping the hair salon for a long time. I’ve always cut my husband’s hair myself. And since the pandemic, I’ve even been cutting my own.

Of course, laundry is always dried on the air dryer or in the basement. In general, our electricity bill is quite low compared to what I usually hear. At night, we turn off the DSL router. And we only turn on Wi-Fi when we’re using the computer—it uses a huge amount of electricity. We don’t have a TV; we watch movies on our laptop every now and then.

In the winter, we keep the heat turned down pretty low and just dress warmer instead. That also has the advantage of keeping the air from getting too dry, which can easily happen in overheated rooms. Since last winter, we’ve added some flowerpot heaters. They actually add 1–2 degrees of warmth. We use little warmers, each with two tea lights. We place a larger clay flower pot (without a hole in the bottom) upside down on top of them, and it warms up. I order the tea lights in bulk from a sustainable mail-order company to restock. They need to have a thicker wick; otherwise, they don’t generate enough heat. This has helped us get through the winter just fine.

Dear Margitta,

the anticipation is naturally building for all of us to see what treasures you’ll choose. Take your time—often, the items that are meant to stay with you only reveal themselves at second glance.

It really is something special to have such a large yarn package to choose from. It’s now become a special highlight here at CP whenever Ina announces a new swap package.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you once again, dear Ina—for the idea and, above all, for all the work you put into it.

Warm regards to everyone from Monika

Wow, Petra, that looks fantastic! I’m always amazed at the beautiful things that can be made from “old things.”

You can knit this children’s sweater made from sock yarn very easily while watching TV, except for a few small sections. It has no seams. The body is knitted straight up, and the sleeves are picked up from the side stitches and knitted on.

The sweater fits 4- to 5-year-old toddlers and keeps them nice and warm, even around the neck thanks to the knitted-on collar. The sock yarn gives it a pretty, unique pattern.

Go to the knitting pattern

Marlene, is that a glove with the fingers sticking out?

My tunic is almost finished now. But since we’re heading to Ravensburg to visit the kids on Thursday, I probably won’t be able to quite finish it. But there’s only about 8–9 cm left.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a mistake in the instructions for the middle rounds—Marion’s and mine turned out too short. I’m trying to make up for it right now at the bottom of the pattern. In any case, the result is already looking really good. I have a pair of Bermuda shorts that match the middle section perfectly. Maybe I’ll even get a chance to wear them this year.

This cute little sweater fits teddy bears measuring 25–30 cm. It’s knitted from the bottom up with raglan shaping. It slips easily over a teddy bear’s head.

The pattern is very simple. Every teddy bear lover is sure to love it.

Go to the knitting pattern

Oh Ina, what a great idea! We have those little bell peppers too, but not that many. We prefer to eat them fresh. But next year I could plant more of them, and then this recipe would be perfect.

This would surely also work with regular bell peppers cut into strips, right?

I usually do it the same way Veronika does. But it depends on the size of the images. Sometimes I just print the pages I need. I look at larger images on my laptop.

Wow, what a work of art! Yes, it reminds me of a kaleidoscope, too. I loved those so much as a kid.

Happy Birthday, and have a wonderful celebration!



Love, Monika

Potholders can also be a very special and pretty decoration. Not everyone has these lucky ladybugs, and they are a real eye-catcher in any kitchen. As pot gloves, they are extremely practical and love being used for hot pots or baking trays.

Even as a beginner, you’ll do well crocheting these fun kitchen helpers and have fun doing it.

Click here for the crochet pattern for the ladybug potholders

Small scraps are perfect for crocheting a diaper for a doll (43–50 cm). Every little doll mom will be thrilled and will definitely want more of them.

The diaper is also very easy for toddlers to use, since it has Velcro closures.

Just get started right away, and you can look forward to seeing the children’s eyes light up.

Click here for the crochet pattern for the diaper.

I find the topic of fidget blankets very interesting. Marion, yours look beautiful. That would be great for babies or toddlers, too.

Ruth, I’ve already admired your pretty door wreath in the yarn swap thread. It’s very decoratively designed.

Mel (Nadeleule), we’ve now added our first names to our signatures here. That makes it much easier to address each other by name. It’s optional, of course. :)

My tunic is in the final stages—yay! I’m now working on the pattern at the bottom. The stockinette stitch section in the middle dragged on for quite a while (and was a bit boring). But it was also nice to work on in the evenings while watching movies.

Have a wonderful summery weekend, everyone!

Dear Ina, I can definitely picture a mandala as a tablecloth. I’d love to give that a try, too.

Wow, that’s impressive—it looks fantastic.

That’s a great idea—I really like it. Your set looks fantastic, Inge.