I'm back !

Hello ! 

I'm back or I think I'm back to this little space and I've missed it. 

I know I've said that in the past. . . but life gets in the middle, doesn't it ? 

Or 2020 gets in the middle . . . let's not talk about 2020, right ? 

Let's talk about our creative life and how grateful I am to have the hobbies I have. 

Since I wrote here last time I have evolved as a maker, a lot. . . 

I now have discover also the love for embroidery, and increase my passion for patchwork. 

but what I love the most is that I have so many crafts to fall into depending on my time availability,

depending on my mood and depending on where I am also. 

Like knitting is very portable, but sewing isnt, but then patchwork can be portable too, right ? 

Today I wanted to pop in to show you my latest creations which combine all of my passions at the moment, 

I love Christmas, is that a secret ? 

I know some people dont love it and to be honest I think what I love most is the run up to Christmas, 

more than the week where all is concentrated. 

I love October, November and December . . . I love the coziness of those months, I love it when is cold. 

Then, I know, I live in Madrid where we have gorgeous winters . . . I just love winter in Madrid. 

It is cold but we have blue skies and it is sunny for the most part. 

But I love rainy days too. .. there is something very romantic about rain that I love. 

I'm babbling . . .

Back to my creations. 

I was saying they combine all my passions. 

Xmas, embroidery, sewing, patchwork and knitting. . . 

The knitting part is because the bags are made to be project bags for knitting projects. 

But that is what I had in mind and what my moment of RELAX is. . . knitting. 

These are now up on my Etsy shop. 

Aren't they cute ? 

I think they are adorable ! 

I'm working on more but this all the Xmas fabric I had left at the moment. . . 

It was my dream to make my little Etsy shop and that dream stands now more than ever before. 

My main job is in the tourism industry . . . so that is now . . . well, let's leave at quite quiet. . . 

So back to my happy place. 

I have enjoyed so much making these bags, 

and 

I hope someone loves them too and makes someone as happy as I have felt while making them. 

By the way. . . while I was making them I was listening to Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong . . . .oh ! 

and dreaming of a better world, or a better future for all. 

Well now, I better go pick up my son from soccer training. . . 

I do hope you are all well and safe 

and that you find solace in your crafting. . . 

What has been your favourite thing to make this year ? 

Take Care and Stay Safe, 

xEva 

 

Evolve. . . . knitting, hand dyeing, new projects...

Hello !

Anybody there ??

First thanks for the followers that have not clicked the 'unfollow' button :-) and the ones who have, well, I totally understand them.

I have been away from my little space here for so long. . . so much has been happening in my little creative and crafty mind. . . I have evolved into so many things. I still feel I 'm trying to find myself if that makes sense ?

I like trying everything I get my eyes on, I'm curious by nature and want to know how things work, how is it done, I like solving misteries. . .

I learned to knit socks because it was an utter mystery to me. . . often times once I resolve the mystery of it I go on to something else. . .

Crochet stayed in my life for a few years and in fact all my life on and off. . . and knitting seemed to be just out of reach. I learned to knit when I was a child, I must have been 10 or 11 ? I can't really remember but I remember it not being a nice experience. I knit a scarf in 2x2 ribbing. . . how did that happen ? I wonder when I rescued the scarf from a bag with old things. . . .

The thought that I could not get passed knit and purl stitches stayed with me and so the idea of doing just that bored me.

Anyway, I picked up my knitting needles again 3 years ago and knitting has stayed with me and crochet was abandoned there and then (not forever though) but 3 years on I just can't put knitting down. . .

I have made cowls, hats, a cardigan, 3 shawls, socks. . . not very much to be honest as I'm a slow knitter and I spend more time ripping back than actually knitting on something :-)

I have now started the so called 'cozy memories blanket' although for me is not about memories but about using scraps or 'minis' I have dyed myself. . . I have been experimenting with dying yarn (yet this is another mystery solving for me). . . . the colour creation has proved fascinating for me, so much fun (I need to write a post about this). And yesterday I could see this also reflected on my kids.

Yesterday we had one of those nowadays rare free afternoon . . . .and we all needed calm and a quiet time. We made 'homemade' painting using corn flour, water and food colouring. My kids loved mixing the colours and try to get as many different colours as possible. Once the colours were mixed they were done with it, the fun was over. Mixing the colours is supposed to be only the preparation so that they could paint with them afterwards, but no, no painting happened.

I leave you here a few pictures of my blanket and the newest shawl I have started, and also the plan is to start this week this cardigan for my daughter.

Above is the French Cancan Shawl I have made for my mum

These are my first hand dyeing experiments, using food colouring which I will talk more about in the future, as I have also now have started selling full hanks hand dyed by me in my Etsy Shop

This is green ball is one of my favourites, the colour is not as bright as it looks on my screen, it is bright but not as much

 This is how my hand dyed yarn blanket is looking . . . so far

This mini here is also one of my favourites. . . .not sure why but I got lots of these pink/lilac minis, my hands and mind just seemed to mix the colours into these most of the time. . . 

And this is the new shawl I've casted on. . . I started this 3 times so far. The yarn is lace (2 ply) and I'm not used to working with such fine yarn. I was knitting with 3.5mm needles but the project did not call me, I was being put off . 

I changed needles to these zings 2.75 mm and I'm loving it !!

the pattern is this one. 

And just yesterday I bought this pattern in Ravelry to make it for my daughter. . . .

That is it from me for now, hope to post sooner this time :-)

Thanks for reading !

xEva 

Creative Blog Hop

I have been quite relax about my blog lately and one of the reasons is time lacking and another 

is also probably I am still with that urge to knit and crochet more than using my computer for anything apart from work. 

What has got me to my computer and blog today ?? 

A Blog Hop invitation by lovely Elizabeth from Elizyart Blog. 

I think Elizabeth and I both started our blog around the same time and we have been in regular contact since them. . .and we both live in Madrid (Spain) !! She has created some lovely things and made gorgeous crochet shawls !! If you have not visited her blog please do so now and enjoy some lovely crochet !!

Now, I have to answer 4 questions, here we go !!: 

Question #1: What are you working on at the moment?

I'm always working on several things: this pictures below are solid grannies. 

Crocheted Curtain Ties - Recoge Cortinas a Ganchillo

Hello dears !!

Hola a todas !!

I hope you have been well. . . I have been a little bit out of blogland and concentrating on other things. 

Espero que hayáis estado bien. . . yo he estado un poco apartada del mundo blog y concentrada en otras cosas. 

Instagram is handy, quick and there is where you can find me lately. 

Instagram es muy rapido y conveniente, en cualquier sitio o momento puedes poner algo o echar un vistazo a lo que otros pone y es donde me podéis encontrar últimamente. 

I have also been very sad. . .on 11th May I was having a look at the blogs I follow and I read this post from this blog ... and I cried. 

También he estado triste. . . el 11 de Mayo dando un repaso a los blogs que sigo 

lei esta entrada . . .y llore

I have felt a very deep empathy with both mothers but specially with Jacqui at BabyBoyBakery as she is also in Instagram. 

He sentido una profunda empatía por ambas madres pero especialmente por Jacqui de BabyBoyBakery

Why ? - I have a boy 4 months younger than her Ryan and so he is of a very similar age, we seem to do very similar things with our kids. . . and the very scary fact that sometimes no matter what you do you just have no control over what can happen to them...

Porque ? - Tengo un hijo 4 meses menor que su Ryan, hacemos cosas muy parecidas juntos.. . 

y lo que mas miedo da es a veces no importa el cuidado que tengas de ellos que simplemente no tienes control sobre lo que les pueda pasar. . . 

Why do I follow her even if eve

ry time I read something I cry and feel incredibly frustrated,angry and sad at the same time about something bad ever happening to a child ?? 

Porque la sigo si cada vez que leo algo de ella me siento increíblemente triste, enfadada y frustrada al mismo tiempo ? todo esto por el hecho de que algo malo le pase a un niño ?

She asked from day one through her best friend for support , help , prayers for her and her family to deal with the loss and she asked for her son to never been forgotten. . . when a mother is so humble to ask for all of this I could not do other than offer what I could. 

Desde el primer dia podio a través de su mejor amiga apoyo, ayuda y oraciones para ella y su familia. Para poder sobrellevar la perdida y podio que su hijo nunca fuera olvidado. . . cuando una madre te pide algo tan humilde yo no podia hacer otra cosa que ofrecer lo que pude. 

All I can give her is Kindness and sweet words. I only leave her messages on IG or her blog. . . it is all I can do to help them and I know at this moment she needs to feel the love of people around the world and that Ryan will not be forgotten. 

Lo unico que puedo ofrecer es Amabilidad y dulces palabras. La dejo mensajes de apoyo en Instagram o en su blog. .  .es todo lo que puedo hacer para ayudarles y se que en estos momentos necesita sentir el calor de la gente de todo el mundo y que Ryan no caiga en el olvido. 

As for the sharing part they have also asked for, this is my contribution and I share it with my dear followers: YOU 

Así que esta es mi contribución, compartir la historia con vosotros y la vida de Ryan

It is hard to change subject but in the midst of all this I have also finished my curtain ties. 

Uff !! Es difícil cambiar ahora el tema, pero en el medio de esto también he terminado el recoge cortinas que empece en Abril. . . 

The inspiration came from lovely Sandra at Cherry Heart's Garden Curtain Tie backs. By the way, have you seen her Crochet Corner ??

La inspiración viene de Sandra y su Recoge Cortinas. 

Por cierto habéis visto su Crochet Corner ??

To be honest I started this without knowing where I was going. I also really, really , really wanted to make the crochet puff flowers. . . and use them somewhere...somehow. 

Para seros sincera empece este proyecto sin saber muy bien donde iba. 

También tenia unas ganas tremendas de hacer las florecitas de punto puff

y queria usarlas en algún proyecto . . . de alguna manera. 

For the crochet puff stitch flowers there are lots of videos in YouTube and I have now forgotten which one I have used. . .

Para las flores use un video de You Tube pero ahora no me acuerdo de cual . . .

Then I kept seeing crocheted hearts and I really wanted to make one. . . after several tries I found this one and I loved it. 

You can find the pattern here

Después vi muchos corazones a ganchillo y quería hacer uno . . . después de probar varios encontré 

este y me encanta.

Podeis ver el patron aqui. 

I have used Natura Just Cotton Yarn, 100 % cotton yarn. 

You can buy the yarn at my Esty Shop

He usado hilo de Natura Just Cotton, 100% algodón. 

Podeis comprar Natura en mi tienda Etsy. 

I then added some wooden beads from my daughter's necklace making set. . .for some weight 

Después añadí algunas cuentas de madera del juego de hacer collares y pulseras de mi hija. . . para que tuviera un poco de caída y peso. 

And this is how they look on the curtains. . . 

I could not get any decent picture. If I opened the window there was too much light and if I closed the shutters it was too dark . . . 

They do brighten my window in my home office and I love having some crochet beside me. . . 

Y así es como han quedado. . . 

No he podido sacar una foto en condiciones. Si abría la ventana había demasiada luz

pero si cerraba las persianas era muy oscuro. . . 

Pero si que alegran esa esquinita de mi oficina en casa y me encanta tener algo hecho de ganchillo mientras trabajo. . . 

Now I will have a wonder around your beautiful blogs. . . 

Durante estos dias ire visitando vuestros preciosos blogs . . .

Thanks for visiting once again. . . 

Muchas gracias por visitarme de nuevo. . . 

x Eva 

Loopy Loo Poncho - Finished !!

There is so much going on at the moment that I find it hard to keep up with blogging. . . and 

sometimes lately I was so much into making things that to blog about them was a second priority. 

Then, I don't usually talk about news or politics, but lately. . . 

what is wrong with this world ?? - so many bad news in the news lately

Neighbours that hate each other and cannot leave in piece, lack of respect . . . but things that affect me specially are those that involve children. . . 

People, why cannot they leave children to their mums ?? in piece and let them have a normal childhood. 

I'm sure you have all seen the terrible news in Nigeria. . . I just can imagine how helpless the mothers must feel and my heart aches for them. . .really. . .

Sometimes I feel that if women had more presence in governments and conflicts, I don't know but we might have a different world. . . or maybe I'm just a dreamer

Now, to a lighter subject. 

I have finished the Loopy Loo Poncho !!! 

Ultimamente estoy muy ocupada con muchas cosas y así que casi no encuentro tiempo para manteneros al día de lo que voy haciendo. . . y a veces, sobre todo últimamente estoy haciendo tantas cosas que prefiero estar haciéndolas que ponerme con el blog...

Luego, normalmente no hablo de política o noticias . . .pero últimamente

Que le pasa al mundo ?? - tantas malas noticias

Vecinos que se odian, falta de respeto entre pueblos. . . pero cuando hay niños involucrados entonces me tocan la fibra sensible. . . 

Que le pasa a la gente ? Porque no pueden dejar a sus niños con sus mamas ?? en paz y dejarles tener una infancia como es debido. 

Estoy segura de que a habéis oído hablar de las terribles noticias de Nigeria. . . solo puedo imaginarme por lo que tienen que estar pasando sus madres y cuando lo pienso me da dolor de corazón por ellas. 

A veces pienso que si hubiera mas presencia femenina en los gobiernos, conflictos, etc no se pero creo que igual tendríamos un mundo un poco diferente. . .o quizás soy una soñadora. 

Ahora vamos con algo mas liviano

He terminado el poncho Loopy Loo para mi hija !!

No, it did not take me so long to finish it. . . I have finished for over a week now 

but I did not have the finishing thread that goes around the neck line. 

Sandra made two lovely versions of it, this one and this one I loved both of them but I wanted to give this one my personal touch in something. 

No, no me ha llevado todo este tiempo terminarlo . . . lo tengo acabado desde hace mas de una semana pero como no tenia pensado que hacer como cinta para el cuello pues no os lo quería enseñar a medio terminar. . . .

Sandra hizo dos preciosas versiones, esta y esta y me encantan ambas pero queria darle un toque personal al mio. 

and so I made two little crocheted balls (first time I made these) and I quite like the result. . . 

What do you think ?? 

Así que he hecho dos bolitas de ganchillo (mi primera vez) y la verdad es que me gusta bastante el resultado

Que pensais ? Os gusta ??

Yarn Used: 

Merino Woolly DMC

Very Light Pink - 041

Blueish Green - 073

Aquamarine - 074

Raspberry - 054

Hook : 5 mm as I crocheted on 2 strands of yarn all the way. 

Have a lovely week ! 

xEva  

Lana Usada:

Merino Woolly DMC

Rosa Muy Suave - 041

Verde Azulado - 073

Aguamarina - 074

Frambuesa - 054

Ganchillo: 5mm - y lo he hecho con 2 hebras de lana. 

Que tengáis una Feliz Semana !!

xEva 

Atardecer Poncho & Dublin & Northern Ireland Trip

As promised, here is my latest make. This is the Atardecer Poncho, pattern here

I made it with: 

Natura Just Cotton Yarn

Colour 03 Sable

Just over 2 skeins = 108 gr

4.5 mm hook

I love the colour as it goes with nearly everything, specially as lots of my summer clothes are white, sand, beige, etc. . . 

Como prometí, aquí os enseño mi ultima creación. 

Poncho Atardecer, patron aqui. 

Lo he hecho con:

 Hilo Algodon Natura Just Cotton 

Color 03 Sable

un poquait mas de 2 ovillos = 108 gr

ganchillo del 4.5 mm 

Pin it, share it, spread the love. . . 

Podeis hacer un pin (Pinterest), compartirlo . . .

Before I forget let me tell you I'm so excited as I have had my first 4 sales in my Etsy shop !! hurray !!

And now a few (just a few. . .) pictures of my last trip to Ireland and Northern Ireland. 

We went from Dublin to Belfast and stopped at Downpatrick Cathedral, where St. Patrick's remains are believed to be buried.

Antes de que se me olvide dejarme que os diga lo contenta que estoy ya que he tenido mis 4 primeras ventas en mi tienda Etsy !!! hurra !!

Y ahora, algunas fotos de mi ultimo viaje a Irlanda e Irlanda del Norte. 

Fuimos de Dublin a Belfast  paramos en la Catedral de Downpatrick, donde se cree reposan los restos de San Patricio. 

Apart from the Cathedral there is a lovely gift shop and cafe and the food is quite nice. 

Then we went on to Mount Stewart House & Gardens. 

The house is of neo-classical style and is currently undergoing a major restoration project.

Aparte de la catedral hay una agradable tienda de regalos y un cafe donde se come bien. 

Después visitamos la Casa y los Jardines de Mount Stewart. 

La casa de estilo neo-clasico esta en proceso de una gran restauracion. 

The gardens are so romantic and the sun was shinning for us so it looked even more beautiful. 

Los jardines son tan románticos . . . y el sol brillaba para nosotros así que estaban incluso mas bonitos

Giants Causeway, simply amazing. . . .

La Calzada del Gigante es simplemente increible . . .

We also went to Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge,

these are the cliffs seen on the way to Carrick-a-rede rope bridge

Tambien fuimos al puente de cuerda de Carrick-a-rede, 

y estos son los acantilados que se ven en el camino. . . 

I did not have the nerve to cross it. . . I did not feel brave enough, 

I'm more and more afraid of heights as I get older . . .

Yo no me sentí valiente para cruzarlo. . . según me hago mas mayor mas miedo

me dan las alturas. 

Then we returned to Dublin and visited Trinity College. . . 

Después volvimos a Dublin y visitamos Trinity College . . .

And the most amazing library I have ever seen. . .

Y su increíble biblioteca, una de las mas espectaculares que he visto. . . 

Hope you have enjoyed seeing the pictures, 

Espero que os hayan gustado las fotos, 

I will be back soon to show you the Loopy Loo Poncho I am making for my daughter and also

to show you this finished, by the way, they will be curtain ties. . . :-))

xEva 

Volveré dentro de poco para enseñaros el Loopy Loo Poncho que estoy haciendo para mi hija, 

y también esto terminado, por cierto, es para recoger unas cortinas. . . :-))

xEva