March Projects: Part 2.

Dear users, dear authors,
here is Part 2 of the March projects.
Keep having fun. Part 1 can be found via the link .

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UFO Week starts on March 25.
The awards ceremony will take place around April 1–2.

All your favorite highlights—UFO Queen, Best of the Leftovers, Shopping Queen, etc.—will of course be back in March as well.

Since we’re continuing here, I’d like to thank Mel for the explanation about chenille yarn.

And here’s my finished picture:

Wow, that turned out really great. A truly beautiful photo—you can be proud of it.

I just finished my Mother’s Day gift, too.



It’s a shawl for my mom.

Ida, your picture really does look just like your photo.
It turned out great—and you finished it so quickly, too.
You’ve really been busy

Sofie, your shawl probably looks great too, even though we can’t see much of it. Your mother will surely like it.

I’m still making baby shoes and chickens.

Thank you both so much!
Sofi, that shawl has a really beautiful pattern. I also really like the colors—they’re just like spring!

Ida, your embroidery turned out really beautiful.
Sofie, the pattern and colors of your shawl are also great—I’m sure it took a lot of patience. Your mother will surely be very happy with it. My poncho sweater is also coming along nicely. This time, though, I’m not using a special pattern—just plain stockinette stitch—because I think cable patterns look too thick and bulky with chenille. I’m using different colors for a change.

Seeing your beautiful embroidery, Ida, reminds me that I haven’t done any embroidery in ages.

I’m really on a roll with my tablecloth right now.
I just need to finish crocheting this current round. Then I’ll add two more, take the next photo, and measure and weigh it.
That way, the tablecloth can be recreated either completely or just in part.

I also picked up my embroidery needle again this weekend. @iglinz, you definitely inspired me with your spring picture. I’m not quite finished yet.



And then we went for a walk today. We had a brief taste of spring today. The frogs in the lake must have sensed it too and were busy sunbathing and looking for mates.

OMG, you’ve all been so busy! Things are really hopping here—how cool! :)
You’re away for just one day, and there’s already so much to see.

Mel, what you’re saying about your yarn sounds really good. So far, I’ve only worked with synthetic chenille yarn, and I’ll definitely never do that again. I haven’t tried it with cotton yet.

Ida, your embroidery turned out great. I could imagine that some people would want something like that too. It’s quite an art that you were able to recreate it so well from a photo.

Sofi, I think the pattern on your scarf for your mom is very pretty, and I love the colors too. Your mom will definitely be thrilled with it.

Marlen, I’m excited to see your tablecloth. Sounds really good.

Petra, your embroidered bunny is cute, too. I remember embroidering little Easter cards myself many years ago. They were a big hit with the recipients. If I had more time, I’d really love to start doing that again. It’s really contagious. The toads are out and about again here, too. Unfortunately, we saw a lot of them yesterday on our walk that hadn’t made it to the pond. In the spring, the baby toads are always hopping around our garden. They’re totally cute, and we’ve already built a barrier so they don’t all tumble down the basement stairs and we have to go pick them up.

I was also busy over the weekend and finished knitting the sleeping bag for Sternchen. There are three different ways Sternchen can wear it. I don’t have a photo of one of them yet, but I can show you two of them here. Doesn’t she look absolutely adorable in it?

I’m absolutely thrilled at how much has already been accomplished in just one weekend. Yes, the colors of the shawl are really beautiful—red is my mom’s favorite color. The pattern is by Veronika Hug, from the internet.
It was spring-like and warm here yesterday, too, but today it looks gloomy and rainy again, and it’s gotten much cooler.
Since I liked the pattern for the shawl, I’m now making a second one for myself, in a slightly different version.

I haven’t checked this thread for a few days, and already so many beautiful things have been created! It’s amazing what you all are making! I can’t even list everything individually, but I really like it all.
I always make embroidered pictures as Christmas cards, too, because I usually don’t like the ones I buy. Looking at your flowers, Ida, I think I’ll try embroidering a few flower designs as birthday cards. That’s the great thing about cross-stitch—you can pixelate any image and then stitch it afterward. The only thing missing is the time to do it...

I actually like the Gobelin stitch best—when I do any embroidery.

Thank you all so much for the compliments on the picture. It’s just so much fun—the next one is already in the works. But it’ll probably take a little while yet. In 3 days I’m heading to Vienna, and I’d rather take something with me that doesn’t require too much concentration. A simple shawl, maybe.

By the way, I went to the lake once last week, but I haven’t seen any frogs yet this year.

Some really great things have been created again... I didn’t have much time this weekend, but the farewell gift for my coworker is finished.


And the gift for my parents is also finished.


It includes a bottle of Piccolo sparkling wine and two plastic glasses. 

Sandra, your Snoopy turned out great, and the wedding anniversary gift looks really nice, too. The bride is especially pretty.

You’ve all knitted, crocheted, and embroidered some truly beautiful pieces again.
I admire your embroidery projects—embroidery isn’t really my thing.

By the way, we’ve been hearing quacking in our garden pond for a few days now, too.

You’ve all conjured up some amazing creations again. Nothing’s happening here yet, but our mason bees hatched yesterday. It’s always so lovely to watch them busily gathering pollen and immediately starting to raise their young. There’s a constant buzzing and humming on our wall, and I absolutely love watching them.

I’m slowly running out of space when it comes to photographing my tablecloth—and I haven’t even used up a fifth of my yarn cake yet:



Frogs, mason bees—slowly but surely, spring is on its way.
After a long hiatus, sparrows, great tits, and blue tits are showing up at my place again.
And they get fed all year round.

Sandra, even though you had no time, you’ve still managed to get quite a lot done. Both gifts turned out great.
And your tablecloth is sure to be beautiful too, Marlene.

That tablecloth looks great. I’m really curious to see the color gradient.

A Snoopy... Very well done.

Have a sunny day, everyone!

I love Snoopy—and you really nailed it, Sandra :)

Thanks. Yeah, I’m really proud of Snoopy.

I actually wanted to crochet a jacket for Anton using oddball yarn and leftover yarn. I didn’t have enough yarn, and it was ugly anyway. Now I’ve thrown it away and am crocheting a hand puppet again.

Do you ever get that too—when all your electrical appliances seem to die on you at once?
The microwave had been acting up for two years already—now it blew a fuse and smelled like something was burning.
The switch on my blender, which is almost 30 years old, isn’t working anymore either.
The digital TV receiver smelled strangely like something was burning and had no sound left...
And to top it all off, my husband’s right windshield wiper gave out while he was on the highway… the left one was still working (thank goodness!!!), but the right one was lying across the windshield.
So we made an appointment at the repair shop for the next day—but the next morning, the car wouldn’t start, so we called the ADAC.
The alternator’s shot, too.
All of this within a week…
Hopefully that’s it now… I’ve had enough!

But here’s some good news:
My tunic is finally finished!
I stuck with it!



All the work paid off, and I really love it.
In the end, I even unraveled 8 rows of double crochet from the length because it was already so heavy—it now weighs 750g.
Just need to weave in the ends...

As much as I’d fallen in love with the yarn in the store, I cursed it just as much while working with it.
At first, I’d crocheted a dress using a 4.5 mm hook, but the weight on my shoulders caused the stitches to stretch apart unattractively.
So I started over with a 2.5 mm hook, and that’s how the tunic came to be.
The viscose yarn is very smooth and barely twisted, so I usually crocheted three rows, unraveled one row, then realized I hadn’t caught all the strands and had to unravel everything back to that point… It felt like I’d worked with this yarn four times and really couldn’t stand the sight of it anymore.
But now it works for me—sticking with it paid off.

For my next project, I’m using felting yarn; that’ll go quickly—and I want to see quick progress.

You’re showing some really beautiful things here—whether it’s the Snoopy, the sleeping bag, or even the embroidered piece—the blanket and the shawl look great, too.

I received this felting wool as a gift—the colors are sooo awesome!

Plus, it’s coming along really fast with size 12 needles… by the way, it’s supposed to be a bag.

I’m curious to see how it looks after washing.

Oh Sandra, your Snoopy and your bride and groom turned out really well. Both are works of art in their own right.

Marlene, your tablecloth is really taking shape beautifully. Great!

Claudia, your tunic turned out great. Congratulations on your perseverance!
Yes, that whole thing about devices staging a mass suicide—I know that too. Luckily, that feels like decades ago now. All our appliances are behaving themselves, and some of them are really quite old by now. Our car, though, is currently in the shop. The exhaust finally had to be replaced after 11 years.

Ah yes, the neglected yarn. Yesterday I pulled out two balls of a thicker acrylic yarn that had been lying around for a long time and started knitting a swatch. My goodness, it sheds like crazy. I don’t even want to think about the microplastics that are released when it’s washed. Today I decided to throw it away. It’s just no fun—especially when there’s soooo much lovely yarn waiting to be turned into pretty projects. Sometimes decisions like that just have to be made.

I still have to tell you something about the doll clothing set with trousers and a sweater. My granddaughter and I shared a birthday yesterday. I got a video of her unwrapping the presents, and I really had to laugh. She’s used to getting knitted things from me. This time, though, it was the dolls’ turn for the first time.

She unwrapped the trousers, held them up in front of herself, and her comment was: "But those don’t fit me at all." And she was grinning from ear to ear: "They’re for the baby!" So at first she thought of her little sibling—and only then of her doll.

Sweet, isn’t it?

 

Now my little Laura has a new outfit too! (Schlüttli cardigan by mowi19, pants from a Filati baby model, little hat by strickbiggi.)

That turned out beautifully, Wollbaerli!

Christina, your Laura is absolutely gorgeous. The clothes look great and suit her perfectly.

Christina, your Laura is so cute—she looks just like a real baby.
You did a wonderful job with the outfit. I think the colors are absolutely beautiful.

Monika, the story about the doll clothes is really cute.

I’ve almost finished the felt bag—it just needs to be felted… I paired the wonderful, colorful felting wool I received as a gift with a solid color. That was really fun and went really quickly....



I also received this skein as a gift for “planned pooling” and am currently testing it out… it’s a technique where I have to work a lot with the tension of the yarn… has anyone else tried this before? I find it pretty exhausting—it requires my constant attention. Any distraction means I have to rip it out, because then the pattern no longer lines up...
It takes some getting used to for me, but I really like the result...

Claudia, your projects turned out really beautiful. I also really like the pattern in both of them.
I’ve never heard of this technique before; it sounds difficult. But the result is impressive. What are you planning to make from it?

I’m still working on the little sleeping bag for a 20-cm-tall baby—the doll by Linja. I’ve kind of lost my motivation for it over the last few days.

And then my husband had another great idea, which I put into action right away.

We’re now taking drinking glasses with us in the RV. And we’ve been going back and forth on how to store them in the cabinet so they won’t break. Bubble wrap came to mind. And what did my husband say? “You could just crochet covers for them!” I’ve already finished two glasses, and they look really great. Four more glasses are still waiting to be covered. I’m making two of each in matching color combinations. The next ones will be dark red, white, and orange.

It’s a really nice garden project. Spring has arrived here. :)

Here’s what the finished glasses look like:

Are you ready for UFO Week?

I like your husband’s idea, Moni, and how you brought it to life :)

Thanks, Marlene! :)

Apparently, no one here has any UFOs to show. Thanks to these monthly threads, I certainly don’t have any at the moment. Air traffic has been suspended for now. ;-) But it’s possible that the little doll sleeping bag might fly into April as a UFO.

I’ve crocheted covers for two more jars. Tomorrow I’ll take photos and show them to you.

Have a lovely evening, everyone, and enjoy your crafting!

Christina: Laura looks absolutely adorable.

Claudia: I’ve never heard of planned pooling before, but the pattern is lovely.

I like the bag, and the Tunisian piece looks really good too.

Monika: The jars are great.


I’ve finished my next hand puppet now:


I have to stop for now. I’m out of skin-colored yarn.

This week I’ll be using up scraps, and next month I’ll be ordering yarn
I’ve really gotten a lot done.

I wish you all a lovely evening

Sandra

Sandra, you’re really great with your hand puppets. I haven’t quite figured out what kind of character this is yet. A robber, maybe? It reminds me of *The Robber Hotzenplotz*—I used to devour that book, and so did my son.

I wish everyone a good night!

It’s actually supposed to be a witch. But my mom also said it looks male. :-)))

Christina, I’ve already admired your doll accessories in the gallery—so cute!
Monika, your jars look really summery in their covers!
Sandra, the witch is beautiful too, even if she’s more of the masculine type ;)
I’ve tried planned pooling before, too, but it’s too fiddly for me—I got annoyed with all the constant unraveling when the tension wasn’t right.
I don’t have any UFOs either; my poncho sweater is a work in progress, and it’s just taking a while. The front is almost done.
I’m not stressing about it right now—it’s supposed to be relaxing, after all. I’ll be going back to work at the end of April, so I won’t have as much time for crafts since I always have to work from the afternoon until late in the evening. But I’m really looking forward to the change of pace :)

Sandra, doesn't your "witch" have a beard too? At least it looks that way to me, so I was thinking more of a robber. Maybe he would have preferred to become one. ;-)

I've now finished the next two glass covers. They look like this now:



And now I can also show you all 3 versions of the doll sleeping bag. It's already in constant use with my little star. 


And this is what it looks like without the little star:

Monika: The jars look great.

The second way of carrying the sleeping bag is the one I like best. It turned out really great. 

 The witch is wearing a headscarf. In the photo, it might have looked a bit like a beard. :-)

Ah, now you can actually see that it’s a witch. Upon closer inspection… she doesn’t look anything like a robber anymore. It turned out great, Sandra!

Since there isn't enough skin-coloured material left for a hand puppet, I'm continuing to use up my scraps.

I've made a baby rattle.

You’ve all been working hard again.

Sandra, your witch turned out beautifully again—even if you can only see it better in
the second picture. Your rattle is also very pretty.

Monika, the idea with the jars is great. I really like them—they’re exactly my colors. Sternchen looks pretty again in her lovely sleeping bag.

Mel, I’m already looking forward to seeing your poncho sweater.

I don’t have time to finish a UFO. Maybe I’ll manage it again next month.

Sandra, I just love your puppet figures! It really makes me want to design some myself someday!
Monika, that sleeping bag is really cute! I’d love one like that for a real baby, too.

I’m back to sewing again right now. Once spring comes and we’re spending more time outside, I won’t have time for it anymore. (That’s the advantage of crocheting and knitting—you can do them outside, too!)

I just finished a little dress for an acquaintance’s daughter’s first birthday. I’d simply fallen in love with the fabric: There was just enough left over to make a matching reversible beanie.

Oh, you’ve all been so hard at work!
Ruth, I envy you—I wish I could sew, but I guess that’s not going to happen in this lifetime...
I just whipped up a little something. I got the inspiration from my husband, who has a terrible cold. He just called me to ask if we still had any nasal spray at home—his fell out of his pocket (again) and broke.
Without further ado, I grabbed some leftover cotton yarn and crocheted a cover for the nasal spray bottle. I hope broken bottles are now a thing of the past :)

Ruth: That dress is totally cute. I feel the same way as Mel. I can manage to sew in a straight line, but that’s about it.

Mel: Your cover for nasal spray drops is awesome. So creative.  

Mel, that idea with the nasal spray cover is great! When you have several people with runny noses in the family, you can tell whose spray belongs to whom!

I’m not really that great at sewing. I always make very simple things—no zippers, pockets, or appliqués. That’s because my seams always end up crooked. But really simple patterns with good instructions to go with them—I can handle those.

Wow, Ruth, that little dress turned out really lovely. It kind of reminds me of when my son was little and I used to sew a lot back then.

Sandra, your rattle is cute, too. You’re really on a creative streak.

Yes, the doll sleeping bag can also be used for a newborn. And the size can be easily adjusted so it fits bigger babies, too. I’ll finish the little sleeping bag this week, too. It’s for Linja’s little 20-cm-tall baby doll. She’ll get it when her little sister is born.

I’ll show you the last two glass cozies tomorrow—they’ll be finished by then. I wish you all a lovely, cozy evening. Keep those needles moving! :)

Mel, I just now saw your crocheted cover for the nasal spray—we must have been here at the same time. That’s really a great idea. Yeah, our husbands… they give us some really good ideas.

You’re all so hardworking! I’m gone for just a few days, and everything’s already finished. Awesome!
I was in Vienna for a few days, and I started a pair of socks there. I didn’t have much time to knit, though—this is all I’ve got so far:



I also have a UFO. I think I started it in January, and I’m about halfway done now. So I definitely won’t finish it by the end of the month!

Ida, feel free to take a break every now and then—you’ve earned it. :)
We’re not running a competition here, after all. I’m just always happy when I stop by and see something new being shared. Your sock starts look pretty.

I’ve actually finished the last jar cover and the mini sleeping bag, too. It turned out so cute. I’m really looking forward to giving it as a gift.

Here’s what it looks like now—with a doll inside. This doll is part of a pair that Linja is also getting. This one represents her little sister, and the bigger one represents her herself. I’ll show you those too.

So here’s the mini sleeping bag:




And here are the last two jars in their covers:

Ruth, you did a great job on that little dress.
Mel, the little bottle cover is a great idea.
Ida, your socks are sure to turn out beautifully.
Monika, I like your little sleeping bag. The doll is so cute, and Linja is sure to love it.

You always have such great ideas.

Yes, the little doll is really super cute, and so is her bigger sister.

I was actually without a project for a while, but without my knitting needles—that’s just not possible. So I came up with a new project and have already started it. Since the baby is due at the end of May and time flies until then, I’ve started a summer cardigan made of thick cotton (75 m LL). It already looks very pretty—take a look:



The cardigan is being knitted using only natural colors—beige, light brown, and brown. At the bottom, I’ve knitted in a heart-shaped lace pattern, and the rest of the pattern will be a very simple one using purl and knit stitches. The cardigan will also have a hood. That’s really practical in the summer for a very tiny baby.

The cardigan will probably only fit for the first 3 months; by fall, there’ll be one made of wool. But that’s okay, because the cardigan will then fit Linja’s big doll. I’m already looking forward to when it’s finished.

I wish all of you here a wonderful weekend. We’ve had spring weather here since today, and I’ll be back to working in the garden and knitting. I’m really looking forward to it. :)

That little jacket is absolutely adorable, Mowi. Yes, spring is gradually arriving here too; it’s still a bit chilly, but the sun is shining and it’s supposed to get warmer. I’m already looking forward to the warmer temperatures, because today I’m heading to an Easter market in the countryside with my parents—to a Baroque castle—and it’s so much nicer when it’s warm and sunny.

Another visit to the Palmengarten is coming up.

To keep me from getting bored on the trip there, I’m bringing along a “travel project.”
Lisa gave me the idea: a doily made with filet crochet featuring hearts.