holiday break

oh wow, Christmas came and went and I didn't even wish you guys a Merry Christmas here. I unintentionally took a blog break, between gift wrapping, last minute shopping, family gatherings, lunches and dinners (and food, lots of food !) everything was just happening too fast. How are you ? I hope you had a wonderful holiday with your family and friends. New Year's is a more relaxed affair, so now I can breathe again and properly wish you the best for this new year. I hope that 2008 will bring you everything you hope for, I have a feeling it's going to be a good one :)
See you next week. xoxo, T.



(the gifts are a little something for a dinner with friends tonight. I love the wrapping, super cute, isn't it ?)

color pencil sleeve

Sorry, no photos of the trip today after all. I didn't have any time to sort them out, but the trip was great. Toledo is beautiful, and Cordoba even more, I'll post details tomorrow, promise ...

In the meantime, because a certain someone opened her x-mas gift early, I can show it to you. I thought this sleeve for colored pencils would be perfect to go with the sketch book, and it was a design I had on my mind for quite a while. And the sleeve includes a pocket, which is closed by the two buttons (notebook by Muji, by the way). I have a few more gifts I wanted to show here, but those will have to wait till next week ...

now it feels like x-mas around here ...

The tree is finally up. We were a bit late this year with so much going on, but now it's done and Maggie couldn't be happier because she likes to steal the x-mas ornaments and hide them around the house (and that's why we only have non breakable tree ornaments ...)



I've been seeing so many lovely decoration ideas in blogland lately, but unfortunately I knew I couldn't make them all, so I decided to choose just one and stick with it.
And my favorite was definitely Alex's Owl Pennant (because I do love owls and these are so cute).



It was very easy and a quick project to make, and in no time I had my own pennant (mine says, of course, "Feliz Natal", meaning Merry X-mas in Portuguese).



And maybe, maybe, if I have some time left, I'll make some of Sarah's Stacked Christmas Trees next week, to join the above soft trees made last year. I do have some fabric leftovers I think would be perfect for that, and one can never have too many decorations, right ?





OK, that's it for this week. We'll be taking a short trip to Spain so expect some trip photos on Monday ...

Para a 100ª

foram mais estas capas (em patchwork para as meninas, e lisas para os meninos)





Livraria 100ª Página
Casa Rolão Av. Central
118/120 4710-229 Braga

Horário: 2ª a sábado, das 09:00 às 19:30

knitting report - counterpane pullover

The front piece is practically done, and now that I can finally see the whole pattern I realize that it's indeed quite pretty. The back is knit exactly the same, and I've already started on that. I was a bit concerned that it would turn out too large, even though I knitted the smallest size and in 6mm needles, but I think it's going to be ok after all (hopefully the yarn won't stretch much after blocking).

And Maggie is enjoying it too, it seems.



And here's a photo of another my so called scarf that I made as a gift. I love this pattern, the finished scarf is so warm and cozy (and this one actually stayed flat after blocking, contrary to the one I made for myself)



Thanks to everyone who made a purchase since Sunday. All orders will be mailed out tomorrow, and hopefully all will arrive before x-mas. And thanks to everyone who got back to me with their Ravelry ID, mine is taniaho (obvious, right? ) in case you want to add me.

shop update

Well, what was supposed to be a planned small shop update is actually not so small. I ended up making more bookcovers and none of the pencil sleeves, but that's how things go around here. I start out with a plan, but then when I'm cutting the fabrics it seems that they have a will of their own. So I stocked the shop with plenty of bookcovers (I hope) for everyone who wanted to purchase one for x-mas. And I apologize beforehand for the increase on the USD price (Euro prices are still the same as before), but with the conversion rate these days it's impossible to maintain the old prices. Anyway, here's what's on the shop now:

Patchwork bookcovers (trade paperback size)



A couple of the new model (also trade paperback size)



Paperback size covers



These I made especially for the guys, a simpler and more toned down version



And finally, some knitting needle cases



And this will probably be the last update of this year, unless I can finish some softies in time. If you make a purchase during the next days I'll try to have it mailed by Wednesday, since I'll be out of town on Thursday and Friday. We'll be taking a couple of days off to visit Toledo and Córdoba, so if you have any suggestions for us there please let me know :)

maine morning mitts

ahh, the maine morning mitts are finished now ... I knitted the other mitt while watching the first couple of episodes of Cranford last night. Has anyone been watching this ? I loved it, it was so funny and witty, and the acting which is brilliant of course.



Anyway, the mitts are perfect with this yarn. Snug and very, very warm. I think I'll knit another pair with the blue/green/purple yarn I bought last weekend.



I finally received my Ravelry invite this week too. I tell you, that site is addictive and I see myself spending a lot of hours browsing all the patterns and project photos, not counting the forums and groups which I haven't really taken a proper look at. Already I have 11 projects on my queue *sigh*. Are any of you signed up there ?



And I know it's Friday and I haven't posted that shop update I promised. But this week was terrible for taking any proper photos, so I'm hoping I can do it tomorrow morning. So the shop update will be during the weekend, and to redeem myself I'll even have a few more bookcovers than I had planned.

knitting report

humm, doesn't that look so nice ? Most of my yarn purchases are impulsive buys, I just look at all that beautiful yarn and can't help myself. So this was last saturday's shopping, some Gedifra Fashion Trend in purple, Debbie Bliss Merino in blue, some more of this yarn in a different color, and the long awaited Noro Silk Garden in color 245. All of these have projects in mind already, although as always I might change my mind a dozen times before I start using them.

Well, the Gedifra I cast on the same day, for the Scoop Neck Vest. I love wearing vests, I really do, and this one just looks so perfect.



And some more of my wips ... to complete my matching set I started on some Maine morning mitts, and I have to say it looks amazing in this yarn.



And the Counterpane pullover, which is growing very slowly. The yarn (Madil merino mix 100) is wonderful to knit with and the pattern easy to follow but not so boring that I fall asleep.



And this ? It's my latest knitting needle case. I bought a bunch of bamboo needles lately at eBay (something like 30 sets of DPNs and 15 circulars .. scary, right ? but I love bamboo needles and these were so cheap) and was at a loss on how to store them. I finally decided to make the usual needle cases, one for each set, and stamp the size number with some fabric inkpad so it would be easier for me to find the one I wanted (although all of the needles are clearly marked, which was a nice surprise). For the DPNs this works quite well, but for the circulars I'm still trying to find a good solution, so if you have any suggestions please let me know !

another (new) bag

Finally had the courage to cut up one of the beautiful fairytale fabrics I own. And it's Little Red Riding Hood, my personal favorite. I think I'll call this the "fairytale button pocket bag" ...

It went shopping with me and the girls on Saturday (lots of yarn shopping, which I'll show you later) and a quick visit to the local crafts fair where I finally met Rita, who makes the most beautiful quilts (and not only) also using these fabrics.

mais / more

... para a Centésima Página (#340-#346, disponíveis a partir de amanhã)



Went to see Delirium last night and it was amazing. Now we're already planning to go see Quidam next year...

Not much else to talk about, except that for once in my life I'm actually going to finish all my gift making and purchasing early and way before Christmas this year. Speaking of which, there will be some small shop updates next week (needle cases, pencil sleeves and bookcovers) in case you were wondering. Have a great weekend !

shop update (with bags)

(pocket bag nr 132 and messenger bags nr 133 to 138)





some were custom orders, and some are available at the shop now

still on knitting

It seems I'm obsessed with knitting these days. I'm still sewing (shop updates coming soon, I promise) but knitting seems to be my favorite stress relief. That and inline skating, finally. I've had this pair of skates tucked in the closet for months now and on saturday I had my first class. Amazingly I didn't fall that much, I could even manage some turns and learned how to stop (well, more or less). Anyway, I loved it, as you can tell, so I know how my next weekends will be spent from now on.

Back to the knitting .. Remember I was so sad that one of my favorite yarn shops is closing down by the end of the year ? Well, I'm still sad about that (I went there last week to stock up on Katia yarn by the way, and they're making some good discounts) but I followed Glaucia's suggestion and visited this new yarn store that opened up very close by, called Spa Tricot. It's small but lovely, and the owner Mafalda very nice and knowledgeable. She's currently stocking Gedifra and Schachenmayr yarn, but very soon she will also have some Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Mission Falls and Noro (Blossom and Silk Garden). I'm especially looking forward to see the Noro, I've been wanting to knit a Noro cardigan for myself for quite some time now.
Anyway, if you're nearby go check it out, it's definitely worth it.

Morada/Address:
Centro Comercial AC Santos
Avenida da Igreja, 15, loja 24

Aberto das 10 as 19 (excepto domingos)
Open from 10 to 19 (except Sundays)





And down below a few magazines I picked up at the Munich airport (Rebecca and Ottobre Design) and Kim Hargreaves Heartfelt pattern book. The Rebecca magazine is quite good, there were a few patterns I really liked (such as the dresses below), but unfortunately my German is very limited. I've enlisted the help of a friend, and slowly we're trying to make sense of the pattern instructions.






Now the Heartfelt patterns are all amazing. Kim Hargreaves was one of my favorite designers at Rowan, and I always feel like knitting all her designs. These two below are just a couple of my favorites.




And finally, some the knitting I did over the weekend. The scarf was finished sometime ago, but I finally made a hat to match. And following the same pattern, the first of the christmas gifts is now done.

Scarf: My so called scarf
Hats: Snowball hat, from Interweave Knits Fall 07

fo: juliet, foliage

Juliet is done ! It looks amazing, and it was such an easy pattern to follow ... and super quick to knit, too.
I knit the small size, but on 6mm needles (the pattern calls for 6.5 mm) and it came out perfect.






Also done and finally blocked is the Foliage hat. I have some yarn left so I think I'll knit a scarf to match very soon.




Now on to the next project ... and christmas gifts !