zaubernuss - witchhazel

the rest of december

i'm very sorry about not finishing the daily advent calender posts. i caught a very nasty bug that left me unable to do anything but lie in bed and stare into space for a while. my limbs were aching so i couldn't knit and looking at the computer screen was painful to my eyes...

now i've decided to wrap up the rest of the advent calenders in one longer post instead of writing short ones and posting them in a row.

let's start with the kids' kitchen roll calender:

roll number 21 is wrapped in the last of the delicious looking chocolate wrappers. this stack of pistachio and vanilla garnished stars looks just so yummy...

this one finishes off the trio of chocolate wrapper rolls.

roll number 22 is covered in glossy cardstock and decorated with gift wrapping ribbon. somehow this one seems very vintage to me - like an old ornament from a hundred years ago - but i don't exactly know why...

roll number 23 is possibly one of my top favourites. it's covered in gold paper and it wrinkled when i glued it, which gives it a lovely texture but the trims are what i love about it: they are wallpaper and i found them in one of our old homes in a drawer that hadn't been cleared out - so i felt free to keep it... i would never stick something like this to my walls but it's gorgeous and i'm almost reluctant to use much of it in my crafting for fear of using it up...

the last roll is about a third longer than the others (although we have not yet found anything to put in it for christmas eve that actually fits properly - usually the little gifts tend to stick out at the top because they don't fit inside the roll). i covered it in a stripy tissue box, went over each stripe with colour coordinating glitter glue and then decorated it with some ribbon and tiny bells. the pattern for the holly leaves is by Lucy @ Attic24.

this is the lovely warm and spicy looking yarn from the 20^th all knitted up.

i loved the look of this ball and it knitted up beautifully too - so cheerful and colourful!

i instantly saw that the 22^nd yarn has the same pattern as the 3^rd and the 10^th. (this one even happened to be right above number 10.) the colourway made me think of a frosty landscape with a stormgrey sky and an icy wind... i love these colourways!
EDIT: i've just checked again - these are from the Sweet & Spicy 3 collection. i just didn't realise it the first time i looked - don't ask me why as it's very obvious when directly compared...

this one has very beautiful colours. it took me a while to see that it's the same pattern as the 21^st from further up the post because the colours are so very different. but when i looked at it carefully i noticed that there are three colours between the contrasting stripes and the colours before and after said stripe are always the same...

now, the last one was a real christmas present. i was so happy when i saw this one! this is the kiwi yarn from the opal Sweet & Spicy 3 collection. i used a ball of this for two pairs of socks in the summer and then there was a tiny bit left that i used in scrahappy socks. i was a little sad when it was all used up and now there is more and i didn't have to buy a whole new ball...

that makes me think now: did they use mainly new yarns for the calender or mainly old ones or an even mixture of both? it doesn't matter really... usually keep an eye on the upcoming opal collections anyway, just out of interest (and because i know what it's like to hunt for yarn that's sold out in most places because it's from a year ago and it's awesome and i didn't know it existed until i accidentally saw a picture of it somewhere).

there they all are. i love the look of my blankie...

this is what i have so far. i have not decided yet if i want to make a rule of using each yarn only once or not. i guess it will depend on the yarn: if the pattern repeat is very short i will probably use the same yarn again only much later, if at all, but if the patter repeat is much longer than what i need to make one square i will use it again. look at the greenish square in the third row, third from the right: i know the yarn goes on into pink, yellow and blue - another square with this yarn will took totally different... then on the other hand, if i use different yarn for each square i will have to use about 200 +/- different yarns to get the size blanket i want and that might take longer than i want it too.

i hope you all had a wonderful, joyful and enjoyable chistmas (and that you all stayed healthy)!

i'll be back again soon with some more yarn, socks or other crafting...

love and hugs!

december 20th

roll number 20 is the third and last of the ones i did with Dylusions stamps and ink sprays, coloured with metallic gel pens. i love all of them and think they make a very nice trio...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yesterday's yarn made very pretty stripes. i just adore this shade of green and i love it in combination with this tealish blue-green (although it looks very blue in the photo).

oh, look at these colours!

rich and warm and spicy... (and i already know that it knits up lovely because i've already knitted the square.)

i'll show you tomorrow, along with more squares of the next row if i manage to make any more before i post again. i hope you are all feeling christmasy and not too stressed. (and if you do feel stressed - try not to worry, it will all be wonderful!)

love and hugs!

december 19th

roll number 19 is wrapped in gorgeous metallic ornaments that have swirly "twigs" to hang from and stars all around on a matte background. the paper i used for it is a gift wrapping paper i picked up at the supermarket a few years ago because it was so pretty. (i don't use bought gift wrapping paper to wrap gifts actually - i prefer to use recycled material such as saved wrapping paper from gifts we got, wallpaper samples, newspaper, etc.) and i made a flamboyant bow with golden twirly ribbon.

yesterday's yarn is looking really cool!

the last teen-door...

vibrant, christmasy looking colours - love the shade of red and the bright green...

... and the red and white striped sock on the ball band. classic... (these are still missing in my collection - red and white striped socks i mean. but when i make those i'll want them thigh high and a matching witch's outfit, including an awesome hat and lace up boots, to go with them.)

i'll be back tomorrow! love and hugs everyone!

december 18th

roll number 18 is a very simple one - just gold paper with doodled snowflakes in metallic and white done with paint pen. (with those paint pens that have a huge rounded felt tip so you can't do any sort of fine detail work.) this is also one that might be worth working on more. just adding some more layers to make it nicer...

this is yesterday's square. i love it! lots of great colours, made me think of birthday confetti. and i was right: there is another square already that has the same pattern in a different colourway. there are three pairs already if i'm not much mistaken... i'll show them all at the end of the post.

door number 18 is on the first side of the cube where all the doors are open already.

tone in tone today...

but that's perfectly fine since there has been so much colour already. a little black and white is always a nice contrast...

now i want to show you the squares that i'm sure are brothers and sisters:

with these two i'm pretty certain because the yarn started at almost the same spot in the colour repeat and it was instantly visible. turquoise is red, white-red is white-purple, orange is blue, green is yellow and white-purple is white-yellow.

the pattern of these instantly reminded me of the patterns that the Opal Sweet & Spicy yarns create. (i checked - these are not from any of the three collections that have been released yet, nor from the upcoming Fresh & Juicy collection. yes, i am weird about that...) but i'm sure the pattern is the same with these two squares. both have that strip with white and black, a gradient that goes from a pale to a vibrant colour (aqua and fuchsia), both have a white stripe after that section and then continue with a contrasting colour, which is pink-coral and blues.

now, i might be wrong about these. it's harder to tell because they have less of a structure in the pattern but both of these yarns have this rainbowy theme that swings from colour to colour and then back again without actually going in a circle. i noticed it when i looked at the orange/yellow and the blue/aqua sections. it's probably easier to seen when these are knitted in the round or stripes, anything that does not change stitch count anyway...

i don't even know exactly why i care about or am interested in that sort of thing actually. i just notice... i have a yarn thing - but that's commonly known - haha!

less than a week to go! i will be sad when the daily yarn surprises are over... but i guess it will be easier then to go back to other things that need doing... hahahaha!

see you all tomorrow! stay cozy - it's snowing here right now. love and hugs...

december 17th

one of my favourite rolls. i love all the ones i made using Dyan Reaveley's Dylusions line. for this one i used an awesome holly stamp and ink sprays on old book paper. i coloured the stamped images using metallic gel pens and i love the effect: you see all the colours even though it's tone on tone and the red berries show too. great products, really! (i'm just a fan - i'm not getting paid for promoting or anything.)

i love yesterday's yarn! i love everything about it: the colours, the order in which the colours are organised, the brightness, the green speckles in the teal and crimson... i have to keep my eyes open to see if this yarn is coming up in an opal collection any time this year. i want a full size pair of socks in those colours!

as promised: the start of row three. i actually wanted to add another square after taking a picture of yesterday's yarn but then i had so many things to do that i didn't get to it yet. but i like the two that i made already. i used Hot Socks and Drops Fabel and i really did pick them at random. no selection whatsoever. i just reached into the basket and pulled them out.

i wonder if they actually knitted the i-cords for the numbers or if they are computer generated...

such great colours again! i'm happy!

i'm going to inspect the square from this yarn very carefully because i suspect that it might create a pattern that came up already only in a different colourway. i think i've detected two patterns already that are present in two different colourways each....

i'll be back tomorrow. love and hugs!

december 16th

roll number 16 is covered in lovely silverish pearly fabric and some crochet lace trim. i really like this one although i should not have used wet glue to adhere the fabric. it soaked through in a few places and now i would certainly use double sided tape instead of glue...

(sorry, bad lighting.) i liked the softness of yesterday's yarn - it felt very flowery.

this looks very promising! and look at the cute birdie on the ball band!

lots of brilliant colours - i can't wait to see how this one knits up!

i'll show you tomorrow along with what i've added to the third row already. see you then! love and hugs...

december 15th

roll number 15 is covered in some of this matte paper that feels a little velvety again. i doodled a snowy hillside with falling snow on it using a paint pen. i don't know about you, but i have yet to find a white paint pen that i'm happy with. i have a pretty good white gel pen but that's not suited for every surface. paint pens seem to be difficult to make and find... anyway, this one is not my best work but it's nice...

yesterday's square is really cool i think - the yellow and orange really spike it up and the yarn has great potential to look funky in the round too.

look at those lovely shades of green! how beautiful!

this colour combination instantly made me think of wisteria climbing up an old garden shed in summer when the crickets chirr... i really like wisteria (and crickets) and i'd love to have some in our garden if it wasn't poisonous.

i hope you are all warm and comfy and happy knitting or crocheting or whatever else it is you enjoy doing on cold winter evenings... love and hugs!

 

december 14th

i used a pretty tissue box to cover roll number 14. that's a quick and easy yet effective way to decorate something (as long as you don't mind the fold lines that are in boxes even when you flatten them out).

this is yesterday's all blue yarn knitted up. it looks great next to the brown square.

now there are only two more doors left on the adorable picture with the snowy glowy village...

i am resigned...

... but the yellow and orange streaks look very promising...

now that i'm into the second row i'm very tempted to work on the third one sort of parallel - just because it's so much fun! (and if i keep making just one square a day it will take for ever and i tend to lose interest in projects that take for ever.) i'm almost certain i'm going to give in...

i'll show you what i did tomorrow. love and hugs everyone - stay cozy!

december 13th

today's roll is very simple: just some design paper and because i felt like it looked too much like summer at the time i made it, i added some hand-doodled golden stars which didn't exactly make it look much better in my opinion. but today i thought i could actually just work on it a little more, you know: more doodling, maybe some sparkle in the right places, etc. to make it look better.

yesterday's square, square number 12, is the last in the first row of my blanket-to-be. i like how the yarn knitted up - it seems to be less structured than the others were but that might be different when knitted in the round with a normal sock-stitch-count.

this is what the whole thing looks like so far. it's roughly 140cm long and i love it! and the ball band paper chain is getting longer too...

i felt that today's door looked really bright and cheerful.

my jaw dropped and i actually had to laugh when i opened it though...

it's blue! all blue... the ball band is really cute though. and on top of the first square, the brown one, the blue fits quite perfectly actually so i'm not complaining.

i have a slight suspicion that my yarn is doing this on purpose: i'm sure they hop around inside the box and switch places...

love you all! consider yourself hugged!

december 12th

roll number 12 is covered in a different colour of textured glassine paper. i used this on roll number 5 already if you remember. i had to use the flash today. the light inside was simply not enough to take a picture. it's absolutely pouring down outside, icy cold streaks of heavy rain coming at a 45° angle... but at least the flash brings out the texture of the paper. can you see the scale-pattern and the tiny stars sitting in between? i really like that pattern...

here is yesterday's circus square. i love how it knitted up. especially the green and white stripes with the yellow speckles.

door number 12 has a slightly wonky looking 1. don't laugh at me but i turned the cube over to all sides and looked at all the other doors very carefully to make sure i really do open the right one.

not that i'm complaining or anything, but it does seem like these little balls of yarn are a little heavy on the blue and red/pink...

maybe all the other colours are hiding behind the other half of the doors i have yet to open. i'm sure this yarn will look great though, just as all the others have so far!

stay warm and cozy everybody! love and hugs and see you tomorrow...

december 11th

today's roll is covered in a chocolate wrapper again. i remember this chocolate tasting very interesting indeed. it had spruce honey in it which has a very strong flavour and tastes and smells very much of christmas...

yesterday's yarn is very nice! i love it and want to see it in the round as well. i'm sure it makes fabulous patterns.

so much colour! yay!

i instantly thought of circus and carneval when i saw this yarn.

i'll show you what it looks like knitted up tomorrow of course. love and hugs and happy knitting, crocheting, crafting, or whatever else you enjoy doing!

december 10th

roll number 10 is one of my less favourite ones. i think it's one of the first i made too. i used some metallic cardstock which would have been fine i guess but i have no idea what i was thinking when i added that fabric trim... interestingly enough, T says it's one of his favourites.

i didn't really get to a lot of blue with yesterday's yarn so it does look a little christmasy after all...

door number 10 - i really like that the numbers are shaped with colourchanging i-cord by the way.

this colourway is looking very promising i have to say...

lovely shades of pink and mint coming up!

have a great day! love and hugs...

december 9th

roll number 9 is decorated with this adorable reindeer giftwrapping paper. the whole design - craft paper, gold, red and black - is very well put together and i'd love to be given a present by this cute little guy on ice skates. i added some lace trim too...

i enjoyed knitting with yesterday's yarn. i like how the colours come out and i'm also looking forward to seeing this yarn knitted in the round - looks like it could be a nice irregular stripe pattern.

this is rather christmasy looking, but i did glimpse a touch of yellow under the next section of blue...

... we'll see what else i hiding in this little ball of squishiness.

i'll show you tomorrow. see you then and have a nice friday evening!

december 8th

i'm running very late today, i'm sorry about that.

today's roll is very elegantly covered in silver paper and white lace. i attached the lace with some kind of glue-dot-tape. i figured it was the most invisible way to glue the lace without adhesive showing everywhere.

yesterday's yarn knitted up. this one is very similar to the 2^nd one i got - they look like they could be two different colourways of the same pattern design. i like it.

door number 8 is in the sweet village scene again.

look! there's rudolph on the ball band!

i love this one! the colours remind me of an older opal yarn (from 2011 or 12) that i liked very much... i'm very much looking forward to seeing how this one knits up!

love you all! feel hugged and see you tomorrow...

december 7th

for roll number 7 i used some matte paper i found in my mum's stash as well. it was in a very retro looking folder and there were lots of other colours. this paper feels very interesting. i never know whether i like it or not - it's almost, but just almost, a little velvety...
i used paint pens to sketch some candles and fir sprigs.

yesterday's yarn knitted up just lovely i think.

today's door has an upside down elf on it...

bright and vibrant colours again!

i have to say i'm very much looking forward to knitting the yellow section and seeing what comes next...

i'll show you tomorrow. love and hugs!

december 6th

roll number 5 is one of my favourites i think. i love the style of this one. i used a page from an old book and ink sprays and stamps from the Dylusions line by Dyan Reaveley. (i love her style!) i used glitter glue to colour in the stamped twinkle lights and a white gel pen to make them "light up".

it's St. Nicholas' Day today. it's a day in advent the kids look forward to because as legend has it St. Nicholas comes to each house where nice children live to bring them sweets and other good things. in austria we don't hang a christmas stocking that is filled at christmas but i have a theory that the christmas stocking thing actually comes from St. Nicholas's Day. traditionally, as in: the olden days, every one in the family cleans their boots on december 5^th and puts them out on the front porch (or at least outside the bedroom door). St. Nicholas stops by when everyone is asleep and puts chocolate, gingerbread, sweets, fruit and nuts in the boots that belong to nice people, while those that have been naughty only get lumps of coal and twigs. when we were kids my siblings and i did clean our boots actually - or at least some years - but these days kids tend to get their sweets in little bags made of jute (because St. Nicholas is said to carry a big jute sack on his back). i remember one year my sister and i got wonderfully warm and cozy housebooties made from sheepskin that were stuffed with yummy things and sat at the end of our beds when we woke up.

some people ask a relative (or hire someone) to dress up as St. Nicholas to come and deliver the goodie bags in person but as far as i know most children are more intimidated than delighted by this. i remember when i was little my cousins' grandpa (not the one we had in common) used to dress up and he always seemed to be so very tall and he has such a deep voice - i was usually quite scared...
a hired St. Nicholas comes to kindergarten every year - T's always very excited about it and not afraid at all.

(don't imagine St. Nicholas looking like Santa Claus. St. Nicholas wears a bishop's robes and hat.)

for my kids i made these felt stockings and hung them up with the rest of the advent calender and in the afternoon we're going to have a nice tea with chocolate, cookies, nuts, oranges, candles and maybe a few christmas carols...

i got the pattern for these from this book that i just had to buy a few years ago...

this is yesterday's calender yarn knitted up. this one will look really nice in the round as well.

this is what i have so far. still looking a little wonky but it will be fine once i start the second row. after today's square is added a quarter of the calender will be done already! once i have ten in a row i will measure if it's wide enough to see if i can start the next row.

door number 6. it's ridiculous how much i adore these little doors...

it seems my blanket is getting a blue streak...

... with lovely shades of frosty greyish blue, mauve and lavender. how beautiful!

i love you all! consider yourself warmly hugged and i'll be back tomorrow...

december 5th

roll number 5 is dressed up as a present. i used some sort of textured glassine paper that i found in my mum's paper stash when she was sorting through some stuff... i taped some ribbon to it with double sided tape and curled up the ends.

here is yesterday's yarn. i really like the colour combination on this one. the red appears much more random in the photo than it actually is - it's a beautifully bright red with a tiny touch of coral which goes very well with the shades of turquiose and blue. i've decided that i'm going to have to make some colourful striped socks with some of my calender yarn after all - but after christmas when i've used each one for a square. i'm interested to see how this colourway looks in the round...

door number 5 - i love the big smiling moon very much!

don't ask me why but this little ball of blue and brown yarn instantly made me want a big mug of hot chocolate with a shot of caramel syrup and a dusting of cinnamon...

now, i'm not the hugest fan of blue on it's own, especially not of navy and marine or blues that are just blue and nothing else - although i seem to have a lot of blue pieces of clothing. but certain combinations and especially certain shades of blue are just plain awesome! and blue and brown absolutely has to be one of them...

see you tomorrow! love and hugs!

december 4th

roll number 4 is covered in the cover of some exquisite chocolate my brother got us all for christmas a few years ago. this particular chocolate was filled with something delicious that had been made of pink champagne, cinnamon, aniseed and cardamom...

this is yesterday's yarn squared up. i was very pleasantly surprised by the change from soft pink to this lovely deep plum colour...

door number 4 is on my favourite side of the cube:

i really like this snowy village scene. it looks so friendly and welcoming with all the lit up, glowing windows... and the snowflakes are really pretty... (you can see some close up in the door-picture.)

(sorry - it's blurry again. it's really hard to get a decent photo in the afternoon now...)

another brilliant combination of gorgeous colours! i'm very exicted to see how this knits up. i'll show you tomorrow of course =)

until then, enjoy whatever you do! love and hugs!

december 3rd

roll number 3 looks nice i think. i used the thin cardbord from a tissue box to cover the kitchen roll. i like the colourful print very much. it's sort of quirky but looks a little like ice stars and flowers on frozen glass, that's why i thought it was appropriate for christmas themed crafting. by the way: all of the holes for hanging the rolls are reinforced with eyelets so they don't rip.

this is yesterdays yarn knitted up. it's a lovely rainbow that swings from a rich pink to a light blue and back again. i had to knit this square twice as well because for some reason i managed to have the decrease off center... counting stitches is hard... the whole thing looks a little wonky but i think it will straighten out once there are more squares and i'm almost sure at this point that i want to add some sort for border to the finished blanket which will give it stability as well.

door number 3! R was very much in love with the snowman just before...

this is my favourite ball band so far which is not so difficult actually, as there were only three so far.

look at those gorgeous shades of pink and blue!

first i thought i wanted to tape the ball bands into my project jounal but then i changed my mind. i took the first two out again and made this:

a paper chain! it will be finished on christmas eve, just in time.

love and hugs to you all! keep relaxed and enjoy the season! see you tomorrow...

december 2nd

number 2 is probably one of my least favourite rolls to be honest. it was one of the first ones i made i think, if not the first one... the green paper was really gorgeous: very soft and slightly textured and if felt like a mixture of tissue paper and cloth. it didn't take the glue well though. at that point i wasn't very experienced with various papers and glues yet - now i'd probably know better and wouldn't use wet glue with paper like this... prettifying it with a gold paint pen didn't work either and the whole thing is kind of ugly-ish. i'm very pleased with my numbers though and at some point, when i feel inspired, i will replace the few rolls that i don't like so much with new ones. (or i let the kids craft and use what they come up with - if it's worth looking at. mean, i know...)

this is yesterday's yarn knitted up. i made the square twice because i wasn't happy with the number of stitches and the resulting size the first time. i use 55 stitches on 3mm needles and there is enough yarn to make a second one later, when the blankie is bigger...

here's door number 2.

(sorry, i had to use the flash - the beautiful colours of the yarn didn't show at all without it. very bad weather and light this morning...)

love and hugs! see you tomorrow...

december 1st

it's the perfect start to december: it's snowing! (although temperatures are supposed to climb up to scorching +6°C today and the weather forecast says it's going to rain later.) but there's a dusting of snow in the garden and on the roofs and that's very exciting - especially for the little ones who wanted to go and build a snowman immediately of course...

december 1^st means advent calenders!

i made this one from kitchen rolls years ago, when T was very small. the first year we actually used it, i think he was 2 years old, i didn't want to put in too much chocolate so we used special pieces (like traffic signs) to add to his duplo lego collection instead. this year, i admit it, it's stuffed with chocolate for T and R to share because i didn't have the time and energy to go and search for little toys that would a) not cause them to fight, b) not break instantly and end up in the trash and c) actually be nice and useful. so chocolate it is this year (and since T had a chocolate one last year too i think he was looking forward to it as we are rather restrained with sweets in general.)

this is number 1. i covered the roll in fabric and lace trim, die cut the number tickets from the Tim Holtz Ticket Strip Die, numbered them by hand and each roll has a little black fabric bag at the bottom to hold it closed. (using fabric was easier than gluing on a cardboard or paper base. you just have to untie the bow and the sweets topple out. that way you can also tell which ones are empty already - the untied ones.)

i haven't had my own advent calender in years but this year i just had to have this one by Opal. i pre-ordered it in june or july because when i realised towards the end of november last year that these even existed they were sold out everywhere... it's sitting on a side table on top of a stack of some of my favourite christmas and winter picture books. there is a little 15g ball of yarn behind each door.

door #1! (sorry - it came out a little blurry but when i noticed that i had already opened it and couldn't retake the pre-opening picure.) each side of the 30cm cardboard cube is decorated with a christmas themed illustration and the numbers are placed randomly.

each little ball has its own specially designed christmas or winter themed ball band. i will collect those and put them into my sock project journal.

there are some lovely people in the facebook knitting group i'm a member of who own yarn shops and they've confirmed what i think to have read somewhere that the retailers got the folded boxes and the assorted yarn to go in them but had to assemble and fill them themselves. that's why i know that i was lucky enough to pull out the only not so great colourway on the first day - haha! at least i know all the others will be wonderful and pretty and gorgeous! (and i don't have so much of a problem with brown actually - we'll see how it knits up.)

these balls are so small and cute! R was all excitement, snatched it up, cuddled it and called it "baby yarn"...
i think this is how we yarnoholics end up with such massive yarn stashes: a little snippet of yarn at the bottom of a yarn basket or box or bag starts to wiggle and lengthen, then it winds itself into a tiny littly ball that just keeps growing bigger and bigger, protected by the warmth and cosyness of the grown skeins and balls, until we find it and think: "when did i buy this?" haha!

i'm going to do my best to use all the yarn from the calender in one big thing and to actually do it before christmas. i want to make a mitred square blanket and if i have to add to it from my leftover stash once all the calender yarn is used up that's fine...

i'll show you the first square tomorrow when i open the second door.

i hope you all feel the christmas spirit, have it cosy and warm and can knit, crochet or craft to your heart's content!

love and hugs to you all!