Tuesday 26 October 2010

Finishing off and new products

3 comments:
Finishing off is what I have been doing for the last couple of weeks. I have so many ideas whirling around in my head, so many patterns I drool over, and so many almost finished projects to sew up. So, I have stitched, hooked and knitted the finishing touch on more than a dozen items. Mr MacOlsson has been coerced into photographing the end results.

First off, I have decided that since the days here in Sweden are much colder AND shorter, that TEA is the order of the day. With that in mind, I have tea cosies, or tea cozies as our friends across the pond say, in a variety of different shapes and sizes, colours and fabrics, in knitted, crocheted and fabric versions. My beloved Marimekko prints feature heavily here. The colours are so vibrant, the patterns so unique, that its hard to describe them. Look for yourself!






















My parents were over for a week, and Mum borrowed some needles and wool, and rustled up this lovely purple and cream tea cosy, from a vintage pattern, no less! She has a similar tea cosy and has generously given me her vintage pattern.

























And then, there is this pretty one. Its crocheted from Finnish yarn, bought there this summer when we visited Moominland. Don't tell, but its actually sock yarn, and the colours are just so pretty together, I thought it a shame to make socks and made this instead. It fits on my biggest teapot - a great chunker of a pot I bought in Ikea when I first moved to Sweden. Actually, I think it was my first "household" purchase here, which goes to show how high a pot of tea ranks in my life!


And last, but not least, my cute little icecream sundae tea cosy. Also a crochet, also a vintage pattern, its made from double stranded merino wool, and is so soft. I found a cute 4 cup tea pot at our local recycling centre, and it is a perfect fit. I couldn't decide how to embellish the top, so it ended up being a "cherry" rose.










Now, to the new products. I have mentioned this fabulous blog before.. and have bought several of her patterns for darling skirts, dresses and more. The other day, while drooling over her gorgeous pics, I spotted a pattern for crayon rolls. Now, along with my large yarn stash, I also have a slightly smaller fabric stash. And, I also have three little MacOlssons who love to draw, and who always lose their crayons. So, I purchased the pattern and made this.









The oldest little MacOlsson likes her Crayola Twisters, so of course, I had to make a Crayola Twister Roll Up. The same pattern, just a bigger piece of material.











That's not all. Carried away in my sewing machine daze, I decided I should also have some cute holder for my bag. Go in to GOOGLE and type in "how to" and you find innumerable patterns and ideas for what you want to make. I ended up with a little purse or make up bag, and of course had to make another one just to see if I could. I like them both, but the second one is my favourite. The fabric is Laurel Burch Fanciful Felines.....oh, so pretty and unique.



All of the items are available for sale in my etsy shop and since I'm featuring tea cosies, all the cosies for sale have reduced shipping until the end of November.

And lastly, PLEASE leave a comment. I'd love to know what you think. Thank you

Monday 11 October 2010

Memories and Mushrooms

3 comments:
I know I've already written about mushrooms, but really, there is such a harvest to be picked in the forest right now, that any self respecting Scottish woman married to a half Finnish man really has to write some more.

Mushrooms grow all over here in the forests which are just around the corner anywhere you turn. We live in a commuter town about 45 mins from Stockhom, but 5 minutes from our house are hunting grounds which abound in blueberries, lingon and MUSHROOMS!

My friend's parents in law own some of these hunting grounds, and 2 weekends ago her husband and mine were there for 3 hours mushroom hunting. My husband came back with a huge grin on his face, exultantly declaring he had never seen so many kantarell mushrooms before. He proudly presented this basket to me.





So we cooked some and dried lots, to enjoy the gorgeous golden taste in stews and soups and sauces this winter.

The memories?

Well, many moons ago, before we had little MacOlssons, the two of us attended a soup making evening class. It was a dark cold evening, but for 4 hours our group made 12 different kinds of soup, bread and wontons to go with them. The unanimous favourite was hazelnut and kantarell soup, served with warm bread.

So Mr MacOlsson, the romantic that he is, made a huge pot of hazelnut and kantarell soup, baked the gorgeous bread and we enjoyed it as much as we did 6 years ago. Only this time we enjoyed it with our three little MacOlssons.

Please leave a comment below:)