Pagina's

31 december 2011

Bye bye 2011…


Best wishes for 2012!


I hope the new year will bring you lots of friendship, love and happiness!


I hope the new year will be a year filled with laughter and fun!


I hope the new year will be really creative and full of inspiration and ideas!


I hope the new year will be a happy year, one without worries and pain!


I hope the best days of 2011 will be the worst of 2012…


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Lots of love, Zjizjipke!

29 december 2011

I made a cake!


Finally I can show you my first homemade cake!


I made it especially for my mums birthday, she’s one of those unfortunate people who have to celebrate between Christmas and New year.. Just when everybody has enough from the eating too much, drinking too much and sleeping too little, you invite them for another party :-)


So why a cake, I hear you say… Well, it’s not one suitable for consumption! It’s a crochet cake!!


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I found the pattern in a really cute book about Amigurumi, ‘Superlieve figuurtjes zelf haken’ or in English: crochet super cute figurines. For the cake itself I followed the pattern to the letter, only using different colours. The decorations, I chose myself, just crocheting some flowers, because she loves them…


At first the cake looked like this:


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Then the candle was made:


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The decorations in close-up:


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And we can proudly say: she loved it!


Love, Zjizjipke!

26 december 2011

10in11, the end…


In the beginning of the year talked about 10in11 a project from Peachy. The idea was to make a list of 10 things you wanted to create in 2011 and to blog about your progress. I posted the results of my year onto the blog in Dutch, so I’ll post a translation here for my readers abroad.


With pain in my heart I have to admit my 10in11 list wasn’t very successful… Shame on me!!


I started out very enthusiastic with crocheting my ripple-blanket and getting my blog online, but around April-May I took a big blog and creativity breakdown… Well, breakdown is such a harsh word, let’s just say other things needed my complete attention. If I mention through nose and lips that I’ve found myself a boyfriend in May, you’ll probably understand why my time online and crocheting became rare…


All is well with the boyfriend, but I really missed my blog and crochet hooks and sewing machine, so I divided up my time a little more fair :-)


Now for the end results from my list:


- Starting blog. Check! Maintaining blog. A little less check, but I have high hopes!
- Heating pads with grains. Nope... All the ingredients are present, but I didn’t start yet...
- Make skirt with thrift store fabric. Nope, my sewing capabilities aren’t there yet… Maybe 2012?
- Make a bunting. Check, crochet star-bunting for Christmas!
- Cath Kidston purse. Nope, the trial version is halfway done, so again 2012 probably…
- Cover for the cats pillow. Nope, but she claimed number 7 from the list, so she has a nice place to sleep ;-)
- Ripple-blanket. Check!!!
- Crochet flowers. A few, for a soon to be presented project … So maybe half a point?
- make a skirt from an old pair of jeans. Again no, but I made one from an old sweater (so maybe half a point?)
- Socks. Nope! Tried and failed... But someday!! At the moment I’m crocheting gloves…


Final score: 4 out of 10. Ooooh, failed! Better next year! Promised!


Love, Zjizjipke!

24 december 2011

Merry Christmas!


We wish you all the very, very best, most amazing Christmas ever!


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(photo taken in Finland)


Love, Zjizjipke!

21 december 2011

A Merry Tree-less Christmas!


No Christmas tree for us this year… Because my apartment is located on the top floor and the elevator is busted for months on end now, I really don’t feel the urge to drag my tree up all those stairs!


But off course, decorating is a must! So I promoted one of my orchids to the wearer of ornaments :-) My hooky-star-bunting can cheer up the wall, lights and baubles in a vase will make the picture complete…


Non-orthodox, purple and orchid Christmas looks something like this:


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Merry Christmas to you all!!!


Love, Zjizjipke!

19 december 2011

Oven baked pumpkin soup!


Yesterday I made some pumpkin soup! Yummy!


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What do you need?


Pumpkin – onions – garlic - olive oil – herbs – water – stock cubes – leftover veggies


How to?


Just cut one pumpkin in large chunks, don’t peel them yet, put them on an oven tray. In between the pumpkin put some garlic cloves (also not peeled!), one or two onions cut into four. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with herbs (thyme, rosemary, salt, pepper, oregano,… use whatever is within reach!). Put in the oven until tender (about 40 min on 180°C).


Scoop the tender pumpkin out of the peel and throw the good part, not the peel ;-) in a cooking pot. Also add the soft onion, squeeze in the garlic (just squeeze them out of their jacket). If you have some veggies left that need rescuing, put them in (I had a lonely poor tomato lying in the fridge). Add water (depends on the size of the pumpkin, just put it under water) and stock cubes and let it boil for ten minutes.


Blend the mixture, add extra water and herbs according too personal taste. Mine was a bit on the spicy side (small pumpkin, lots of herbs…), so I added a nice dollop of cream before serving.


Enjoy!!!


Love, Zjizjipke!

17 december 2011

Blankie the First!


Remember the crochet blankie project? I sort of promised the Tadaaaaah-post by Christmas and it seems I’ve even got a week to spare… ;-)


So…


Tadaaaaaaaaaaaah!


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It’s finished! Even with my wrong calculations and ending up with a yarn shortage, my DIY sabbatical and other stuff going on, Blankie the First can finally be introduced to you all!


Conception: December 2010


Birth: December 2011


Length: 78 ripples or 170 cm (90 cm width)


Materials: 100% cotton yarn (Drops Paris) in 12 colours


Gorgeousness: unbelievable


Cuddliness: extraordinaire (according to the housecat that is, she claimed it…)


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Thanks again to Lucy from Attic24 for the pattern!


Love, Zjizjipke!

13 december 2011

Sweater changes career!

A few weeks ago I came across this really nice blog, Cleolidewij. Cleo loves to use old clothes and transform them into new, beautiful items.


One of her posts is a tutorial on how to make a skirt out of an old sweater and this is the one that inspired me!


So I was a woman on a mission…


In the thrift shop I looked and rummaged through piles of sweaters, hoping to find one in wool, in a greyish kind of colour… And yes! The thrift gods have rewarded me with the perfect sweater to cut up!


After apologizing (again) to my sewing machine for abandoning her for so long, I started on project ‘my new-old skirt’. With success! So tadaaaaaaaaaaah:


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It fits! I got lots of compliments when I first wore it, so I guess this is a winner…


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The red stitches were a nice detail on the sweater, so I kept that side intact.


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On the other side, I cheated a (little) lot… Because the wool stretched a little while sewing the dark grey borders didn’t line up… So I crocheted a little heart and used it as camouflage! You only notice it on the picture or if I’m standing still, so I’ll keep moving and it’ll be our little secret ;-)


Love, Zjizjipke!

6 december 2011

Hooky update!

Evening all!

I've been meaning to do an update on my crochet projects, but the weather is spoiling all the fun... I'm waiting for a reasonable amount of daylight to present you with some decent pictures. Sadly when I get home from work, it's dark and last weekend it was really gloomy and grey outside...

So I'm hoping for some sun next weekend, I just need a little bit, for the tiensiest amount of time! But belgian fall/winter has started, which means rain, clouds and wind... Cross those fingers!!

In the meantime you'll have to do with words, no pics... I've finished my ripple blankie!!! Yes, finally gave it the time and attention it deserved and now it's snoozing on the sofa :-) Blankie's the new favorite of the cat... I think she likes the colors!

I've also started a new hooky, blankie project. One with granny squares, lots of color with all white borders. And a present for my mom, it's her birthday this month. I'm crocheting her a cake! Only the decoration is yet to be created, the cake itself is all done...

So, pics will follow, I promise!!

Love, Zjizjipke!

2 december 2011

Oh boy!

Yep, I've found it...

And I caught it...

The Pinterest virus...

Oh boy! My to-do-list and want-to-have-list were enormous already, now they quadrupled!!!

I'm just looking for a good soul to invite me, because I see all that awesome stuff, but I can't pin... (Update: Thanks to Lisette from Studio SOIL for inviting me!)

Now, should I go and do something useful? Or wander around Pinterest some more? Ah, the dilemma!!

Love, Zjizjipke!