advent calendar

There are some traditions that you'll never get tired of. The holiday season is my favorite time of the year and some of my best childhood memories are getting up in the morning and being excited about what awaits me in the advent calendar. Starting the day with unpacking a little present is a great mood lifter on those dark December mornings... I'm super excited about the advent calendar my mom made for me this year!

It's 24 (Christmas eve in Germany is celebrated on the 24th) individually packed little somethings to brighten up my mornings. I love how cheerful and bright it looks! I hung it above my bed and it's the first piece of Christmas decoration in my room - seen that it's December 1st I should really start decorating our apartment for Christmas!

I'm really excited about the gorgeous lace ribbons, strings etc. that I get to re-use for packing Christmas gifts :)

52 craft projects // reading mitts

I knitted these mitts in class over the past couple of weeks, along with two big Christmas gifts. These mitts are fabulous for in class knitting/on-the-go knitting because they don't require a lot of attention and they're small enough to take them everywhere.

I bought the yarn a couple years ago. Originally, I wanted to use it for a sweater. But I didn't buy enough yarn and the yarn is discontinued so I've been using it for smaller projects like this cowl. I love the color of the yarn but it doesn't feel very alpaca-y. I'm glad I didn't end up making a sweater out of it because it's way too scratchy for my taste.
Check the ravelry project page for yarn information, etc.

This is project #32 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

upcoming craft fairs

I'm gonna be at three craft fairs within the next two weeks to (hopefully) get to know lots of new knitting friends and convince some more people that knitting can be stylish and fun and is certainly not a hobby for people 80+.

If you're a local I'd love to see you! Say hi if you get a chance to come to any of the craft fairs. Here are the details:

Martinsmarkt in der Freien Waldorfschule Göttingen
Samstag, den 23.11.2013 von 11-17h
Arbecksweg 1, 37077 Göttingen

Adventsmarkt in der Wilhelm-Busch-Mühle in Ebergötzen
Freitag, den 29.11.2013 ab 17h
Mühlengasse 8, 37136 Ebergötzen

Adventsmarkt in den Göttinger Werkstätten
Samstag, den 30.11.2013 von 11-16h
Elliehäuser Weg 20, 37079 Göttingen

Hope to see you there!

chocolate almond slivers

I needed a gift for my grandma the other day. She's one of the people who always claims she has everything and doesn't need anything (new). Of course I couldn't show up without a little something to her birthday party so I made these super quick and easy chocolate covered roasted almond slivers.

The key to making tasty chocolate almond slivers is good chocolate. I made a batch with milk chocolate and a batch with dark chocolate. Here's how I like to make these:

Ingredients:
100gr chocolate
100gr almond slivers
patience

Directions:
1) Roast the almond slivers in the oven at 200°C (390°F) until they're brownish, tossing the almonds occasionally so they roast evenly and don't burn. It took about 10 minutes in my oven. 2) Wait for the almonds to cool. 3) Melt the chocolate. Add the almond slivers to the melted chocolate and stir. 4) Using a teaspoon, make little piles of chocolate covered goodness on a baking sheet. 5) Wait for them to dry. I made these in the evening and got to taste them first thing in the morning. Tasting these is a great way to start your day.


ps: Thank you so much for all your nice comments on my last post. I have the best readers and I'm really grateful for your support!

as seen in... Jane Austen Knits 2013

A couple months ago I was contacted by one of the editors of Jane Austen Knits. First I thought it was spam because quite honestly, how would JAK editors know about my teeny tiny corner of the internet?
But turns out it wasn't spam and one of my knitting notions pouches matched their Coffee & Tea theme for the products page!!!
Of course I sent them one of my pouches and pretty much forgot about it because quite some time passed and I didn't hear anything back from them.

In October I was contacted again with an attachment of a digital copy of my pouch on their product page. Naturally I had to order the magazine because it's the first time that FroggedDesigns is in print media. Also, I love JAK! So many awesome patterns... I plan to knit Jane's Dancing Stockings and the Damask Mittens. Oh and I looove the Oval Pelisse by Annie Modesitt but it's pretty unrealistic that I'll ever knit it.

ps: It feels really funny to write 'as seen in ___'. I would've never imagined that my humble blog/shop would be mentioned in a magazine!!

52 craft projects // patchwork pillow

Remember this quilt top I shared in September? I had some leftovers from the jelly roll so I decided to use some of the scraps to make a pillow case.
I used the same plus patchwork pattern to make it match the lap quilt (which I hope to finish and post this month). Of course it's impossible to take pictures of anything handmade without Lina photobombing at least one of the pictures.

The pattern super simple and great for beginners: simply cut one 6.5 x 2.5" and two 2.5 x 2.5" pieces of fabric for each cross. Using jelly rolls is really great if you don't like cutting or you only have a limited time and don't want to spend hours cutting and measuring. They're expensive but they make it super easy to finish a small project like this in one evening.

For the back I used an old sheet that my mom dyed a light blue. I decided to add a simple envelope closure because it was getting late (my ability to think at 1am is slightly limited) and after a crappy day I wanted to feel like I did something productive and finished a project, instead of adding just another wip to my to-do list.
I'm really happy with the way this pillow case turned out. I used a cheap ikea pillow but I underestimated the size of it. It looked really small when I bought it…

I still haven't used up the whole jelly roll so I've been thinking of making a grocery shopping bag from the very last leftovers. Who would've thought that I'd get three projects out of one $30 jelly roll?? It's not super expensive if you think about the value you get out of one jelly roll :)
This is project #31 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.

52 craft projects // empire snood

I love fall - it's usually the season of creating for me. Pretty much all through November and December I'm busy planning and making Christmas gifts. I'm currently knitting a cardigan for my dad (he knows already because I had him choose the pattern so I'm not revealing a secret here…) but as much as I love knitting big projects, I really appreciate a quick and easy knitting project that gives you instant gratification.

So when I was contacted by We Are Knitters a couple weeks ago and asked whether I'd like to receive one of their knitting kits in exchange for a review I couldn't refuse. I received the empire snood kit in a beautiful packaging only days later. Although they ship from Spain it was super fast and only took three days!

Knitting kits are great for beginner knitters, because they include everything you need for the project. Yarn, needles, pattern, a link to their homepage with lots of how-to videos and tutorials and even a tapestry needle!

But to be quite honest, I was glad it was a kit because even though I've been knitting for years, I didn't own 15mm needles. Knitting with big needles was definitely outside my comfort zone but after only a couple of rows you get used to it. But be aware - huge knitting needles are not suited for knitting in class because they take up a lot of space ;)
The needles are made of beechwood and are super smooth and really light considering their size...

I was able to finish the cowl in two evenings with lots of interruptions; if I had been more focused I could've easily finished it in one evening. So if you're looking for last minute gift ideas… this cowl is a quick knit (or just give away the kit and convert a friend to knithism!).

My beautiful friend Hyunji offered to model the cowl - isn't she beautiful?! I think the cowl suits her really well and we've had a lot of fun shooting these photos on campus. There might have been a couple of guys whistling and staring at us...

The yarn is made of 100% Peruvian wool and it's super soft and warm. You can also purchase the yarn separately so if you'd like to knit another pattern or make up your own. I'm secretly dreaming of a big snowy owl using this yarn because it would be sooo soft. Sigh…

Detailed yarn information etc. can be found on the ravelry project page.

Please note: I received the knitting kit for this project from We Are Knitters for free in exchange for this review. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.
This is project #30 of 52 craft projects I'm attempting to complete in 2013. You can see all the other projects I've complete so far here.