A yarn pincushion

I'm still trying to bust my stash of 4 ply cotton and today I made this:

 

 

You can check out the pattern Ravelry.

 

It's really fast to make and I embellished it with a little umbrella button my mom gave me.

 

I need to find a few more projects like this to use up my stash of cotton  because I only have really tiny amounts in different colours left over.

 

~

 

Last week my purple pineapple shawl got featured on the great site the train to crazy! I am so happy to have been a featured creator there and now this great button

 

is going to be on my blog:)

Matryoshka love

Before I start my post today I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who follows me and takes time to leave comments on my blog.

 

Recently I've asked some questions in my posts and the response I get is wonderful :) Thank you so much for taking time out of your day to come read my blog and leave your thoughts, I really do appreciate it so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

 

 ~

 

Now, my post today is about Russian Matryoshka dolls. I love these dolls.

 

 

That's mine. My husband bought it for me from a Russian travelling ballet we saw last year. I love the way each doll nests inside the larger one and the beautiful way they are painted. I loved this one when I saw it and while there were some really ornate painted ones on sale I wanted this one. The girl who sold it to us said it was the traditional peasant dress doll.

 

Knowing I like these dolls, for my birthday earlier this month one of my friends got me a couple of matryoshka related things:

 

 

A note book and a ceramic doll which is hollow inside. When I saw the ceramic doll I thought about using it as a holder for my stitch markers but I had a bunch of sewing needles rolling around loose in my sewing drawer and they all fit perfectly so this is my new sewing needle holder:

 

 

When I saw a cute post over at Annaboo's house with a pattern to make a crochet matryoshka I knew I had to give it a try!

 

Here's my version:

 

 

 

Isn't she sweet? Look at that little face:

 

 

I had everything I needed to make the pattern and used up some stash cotton yarn and a little piece of fabric I'd bought to try and make myself a summer shirt with.

 

I tried to draw on the mouth to look like the traditional dolls one.

 

Here's my matryoshka family:

 

 

Have a great week everyone!

 

 
 
 

A WIP and sequins everywhere....

Here's a WIP I'm working on:

 

 

This is the pattern:

 

 

It's older than me! But just as lovely today as it was back when it was published.

 

It's a baby shawl but so far I think it would be really pretty as a doily too.

 

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At the weekend I bought some really shiny pink and purple sequins and this morning I wanted to have a closer look so I got the plastic tray out and started pulling at the sticky tape that was holding it together and......

 

 

 

....that happened! Sequins everywhere!

 

 

All over the floor too :(

 

But half an hour later I'd got them all organized into tidy little bags

 

 

much better :)

 

I'm thinking about what I can make with them right now. What would you do with them?

Pascua shawl and earrings

 Happy Tuesday everyone! How's your week going so far?

 

Here's one of my new shawls hot off the hook :)

 

 

 

I actually finished it over Easter so I called it Pascua which means Easter in Spanish.

 

I saw something I though was a really good idea a couple of weeks back in a new store:

 

A jewellery hanger that is just like a regular clothes hanger.

 

 

Here it is with some earrings I made a couple of weeks back. They are the same color as the shawl :)

 

 

I don't really like the color of the hanger and I'm thinking of painting nail polish on it or crocheting around it to give it a different look. What do you think? Should I leave it as it is or do one of those two things?

 

Talking of nail polish, I'm still amazed at all the different things I see on pinterest when it comes to nail art and it's inspiring me to try different things.

 

I have my nails like this at the moment:

 

 

It feels like a real spring look :) We've gone from winter to summer in two days here in Madrid. On Friday it was cold and I had my winter coat on and then by Sunday we'd reached 26 degrees! I feel like I blinked and missed spring!

In love with a shawl

Here is my latest shawl

 

 

Even though I made it I can't help but stop and look at it and think wow :)

 

 

The pattern is so beautiful. (It's a free Drops pattern called Tranquility if you're interested)

 

 

The yarn is 100% silk DK and was a joy to work with. It's my second shawl with this yarn and I've still got one cone of it left - I'm already planning my next shawl!

 

 

And what do you think of my model?

 

 

After much pondering I finally decided to buy myself a mannequin and I am SO glad I did! She's the perfect model, never complains ;) She arrived this morning and I wasted no time in taking some photos!

 

Here was the before pic of the shawl:

 

 

Silk really gives in the  blocking process so when I was making the shawl I wasn't too sure when to stop.

 

 

Over Easter in Granada I found a new yarn shop that I'd not been to before so I just had to call in :)

 

I got some cotton thread

 

 

and a new hook

 

 

I've not used Knit Pro soft grip hooks before. Knit pro wooden hooks are my favourite so I hope that this one being the same make will be just as good! How about you? What hooks do you like best?