I won!

Are you one of the thousands of The Art of Doing Stuff readers? If not, go there, now! It's a very funny blog with a whole lot of great DIY written by Karen, an hysterically funny lady.

Well, last week Karen held a great 5 day contest with 5 prize packages and....drum roll.... I won! Yes, little old me!!!!

I was lucky enough to win prize package #5 from Cattails Woodwork and Rough Linen! Let's just say that I'm over the moon! Woooooo!!!!

While I impatiently wait for my prizes, I have to get busy.

It's already the end of november, which means Christmas is coming very very soon!!!!!! I have a lot of stuff to do and to make! I've started my lists, one for what needs to be done to prepare the house (a bit of painting but mainly decorations, inside and out), another one for different menu possibilities and, of course, a huge list is for handmade gifts.

I already have 5 finished hats, I also have two on the needles, plans for knit and crochet mittens and machine knit scarves to match those hats and I have a great gift idea for my daughter that involves a bit of sewing!

I'll post pictures soon! ;-)

Wow, mind blown!!!

I've been crocheting since I was 4 and although I'm always learning new stitches, I thought I knew all the basics... Well, it turns out I was absolutely wrong!!!!!!!

While having a look on Pinterest, I stumbled across an intriguing pin. I clicked on it and learned a new way to start a row that's completely mind blowing.

I just had to share, the results are perfect!!!

Go watch how it's done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LxYpo-tyi8&feature=plcp

And she has a lot more methods to try out! Yeah!

Now, look how good it looks on a cowl I made this weekend. The join is exactly in the middle, can you see it? It's invisible! Isn't that great? And this isn't ordinary double crochet, but I found it easy to adapt the method to this stitch!!!!

        I love that stitch, it's really warm without being too thick. :-)

I also finished knitting the sleeves for my short green cape. They keep me a whole lot warmer.
I wonder why someone would manufacture a cold weather garment that only goes down to the elbows... Oh well...
This picture was taken before I had time to press the cape. I guess it was kind of bunched up on my lap while I was sewing in the sleeves... Oups...

Now, I need to get back to those secret Christmas gifts! ;-)