Christmas: coffee, cookies and angels

Christmas really is getting close now.

 

Are you enjoying this time of year? Everywhere is looking beautiful right now with pretty decorations.

 

We decorated our home at the weekend and I have made a little crochet decoration:

 

 

 

 

A cute little angel!

 

 

 

 

 

This is from a Drops pattern. As with all Drops patterns, it is really easy to follow and the outcome is exactly as I had hoped :)

 

 

 

 

I used craft cotton and a 4mm hook for this project.

 

 

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Remember the christmas cookies I wrote about last week?

 

Well, they were so delicious I went back for some more!

 

 

 

 

 

They are so beautifully decorated. Next week I am going to make a birthday cake and I'm thinking of making a plain sponge cake and trying some really special decoration with colours and edible decorations :)

 

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Another typical Christmas treat I like to enjoy at this time of year is a Starbucks Christmas coffee.

 

They are really sweet and a little bit sickly but I love to have one while walking around Madrid admiring the decorations.

 

 

 

 

 

I had an orange moccha coffee. I love the christmas cups. Can you see my name on mine? :) 

 

 

Look how pretty the advertising board is:

 

 

 

 

And here is the centre square in Madrid all ready for christmas :

 

 

 

 

I LOVE this time of year!

 

 

~

 

Are you nearly ready for Christmas?

 

x

 

 

 

Cookies, coasters and cushions

Yesterday it snowed for the first time in Madrid this season. It's feeling very festive and I love to wrap up warm in crochet and winter boots and go for walks in the evening.

 

Yesterday we stopped by a bakery that sells the most delicious, home made cakes and bought some Christmas cookies.

 

 

 

When it's cold out there is nothing nicer than being at home with a cup of something hot and some sweet treats :)

 

 

 

Can you see the coaster under my mug of coffee?

 

It was one my mom made for me a while ago:

 

 

 

It's so pretty. She had a hard time following the pattern but I think it was worth the effort. It is shaped like a lily and she made it in the colours of the Spanish flag especially for us!

 

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I'm not a big magazine reader...apart from crochet ones of course :) But my mom reads a lot and often cuts things out of them for me.

 

A while back she gave me this cut out:

 

 

 

 

It is a step by step guide to making a pin cushion.

 

I've seen a few of these on craft blogs that I visit and always thought how pretty they were so I just had to give it a go!

 

I got the materials together :

 

 

 

 

Technically this is an upcycling project because the fabric I used it from an old t shirt. I have a new craft related addition to add to the ever growing list

 

1. Yarn

2. Hooks

3. Buttons

4. Beads

5. Fabric

 

and now

 

6. a huge stash of old clothes

 

I look at them and think that the fabric would be great for an upcyling project so I put them to one side and now I have a huge  mountain of old clothes!

 

I told my dad about this and he added to my stash with 47 of his old silk ties! 47!!! They are really nice and I want to use them for something specially so I am searching pinterest for a great idea to use them with.

 

Anyway, back to the pin cushion....

 

The pattern called for a perfect circle and I am terrible at drawing on fabric so I came up with a solution:

 

 

 

 

I used a huge mug as the template!

 

 

Sewed the pieces together with my machine and then by hand added some purple thread to finish it off:

 

 

 

 

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

 

x

The winner is.....

It is time to draw the winner of my giveaway :)

 

 I took my yarn bucket that I made in June which is full to the brim of WIPs and yarn:

 

 

Wrote the name of everyone who had entered on a piece of paper.

 

And put the pieces of paper in my bucket:

 

 

 

This was so much fun because it reminded me so much of taking part in raffles when I was little :)

 

I pulled out a piece of paper and the winner is......

 

 

Hannapat from the blog Cosmos and Cotton!

 

So, Hannapat please let me know you address so I can get this on it's way to you:

 

 

 

 

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And today is Thanksgiving so I want to say a very Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers! I hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones.

 

x

Snowflakes and spindles

It's starting to feel very wintry here. I honestly really like this time of year and prefer colder days to hot ones. I am a total homebody and love nothing more than being at home with  my husband on a cold night :)

 

The change in weather has reminded me that Christmas is just around the corner. I've made two crochet gifts so far shawl one and shawl two :) But now I've started to make some decorations:

 

 

This is the first one.

 

A little snowflake taken from the book Beyond the square crochet motifs by Edie Eckman. This book is so great. There are so many great motifs to chose from, perfect to make a unique afghan. You've still got time to put in on your Christmas list for this year and hope Santa brings you a copy :)

 

I added some plastic beads to the snowflake to give it a bit more shine. The yarn is light blue cotton crochet thread size 5 with a thread of silver lurex running through it.

 

 

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Does any one use any antique hooks for their work? I haven't crocheted with one but my mom showed me these 3 on my last trip home:

 

 

They belonged to her grandma.

 

The first two are retractable:

 

I'd never seen hooks like them before, They are so thin and delicate.

 

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And here is my next project:

 

 

I was given a spindle and some beautiful roving. It is the perfect colour for me isn't it? My aunt chose it for me and she definitely knows what I like :)

 

It'll be the first time I use a drop spindle and I've been watching YouTube videos to get an idea of how they work but I would really appreciate it if anyone could give me some advice or hints? I keep taking the roving out and wanting to start to make my own yarn with it but at the same time I don't want to mess it up!

 

 

 

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Don't forget to stop by my giveaway! There are 5 days to go before I draw the winner of these 3 gifts:

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

x