28-30.12.10 Little Button Loafers by Sylvia Schuchardt

Aren't they so cute?

I hope they won't be too small for poupik when he decides to come out.

I used a hook of 3.5 mm size.

When stitching the soles together, I used a hook of 4.5 mm and loose stitches in order to ease the beginning row of the shoe body. An important lesson I had, is that the work of the body is done CLOCKWISE, a critical information that I mistakenly ignored on my first 2 trials and I couldn't understand why the 2 booties where coming out so distorted??! I used a double cotton yarn to reach the proper gauge. For the strap, I added a one thread round with 2 mm hook of sl-st in the circumference, as I've seen several did in the finished Ravelry projects gallery.

For additional helpful information, check this link. One more lesson to take for the next booties is that I may need to try what roofth had said with regard to the shoe body , starting probably at the 5th or 6th stitch from the right instead of the 4th, in order to get the DCtog better aligned at the center of the booty for size number #1.

Finally, I find the result just adorable. Great design!

21.12.10 Deco Lotus Earrings for Maya

Another pair of this gorgeous design (1, 2) by Gwen Fisher.

19-21.12.10 A single Maiko Kage Flower Earring

For the moment there is only one single Flower earring. Let's see when I will finish the pair...

I used the version I beaded here. As can be seen in the earring at the left below.

20.12.11 Totally Twisted Triangles by June Huber

Based on the picture from the Bead and Button show, I tried to reproduce June Huber "Totally Twisted Triangles" earrings and this is the result. Not totally sure they are the same, because I don't know how they look beneath.

10.9 - 30.11.10 Ming the Grumpy Old Bear - designed by Susan B. Anderson

My mom kept with her from Algeria, a very old teddy bear she got in her childhood, that she used to call "Ming". The bear is about 60 years old now.

When I saw the cute grumpy old bear designed by Susan B. Anderson in her book "Itty-Bitty Nursery" pp.18-20, it very much reminded me of Ming.

For my little poupik growing inside, I decided to knit him this tiny bear. It came out about a third of the original Ming size. I need to take a picture of both of them together one day.

I used 3mm size needles and hook for the knitting and assembling, while I finally managed to sew all parts when coming back from Lyon, after having this project on hold for months, because I just hate the sewing part.

More information, can be found here.

The legs came out distorted, but I am too lazy to unpick them now. What I like in this bear is its face expression.

5.9.11

As promised, during this weekend, I finally pictured the source of inspiration for Ming Senior and Ming Junior.

20.8.11 Eshchar having some fun with Ming Junior. First hug to the teddy bear.

23.11.10 31st Surprise Birthday in Neve Shalom Forest

That is how my dear husband surprised me for my 31st birthday.

The "baladi" eggplant and giant tomatoes on the grill where just delicious!

By the way, this was the first time I finally wore Huib's autumn glory necklace that I beaded a while ago.

20.11.10 Yaar Bnei Brit, Harei Yeuda

Doesn't this trunk look like tasty golden toffee sweet?

This is a gall on a sage bush. I see an elegant queen.

and this is what we saw when we cut it.

10-11.1.11 Sweet-pea in a pod hat by Natalie Larson

Instructions for the Sweet-pea in a pod, can be found here.

I used Size 3-6 month, Needles 5.0 mm and 3.75 mm.

10-11.1.11

Using 5mm circular needles, I made the casting on for the 3-6 months size, however knitted up to 4.5’. Then for the decrease, I added a Knit round after Round 5 and 8. 

12.1.11 

With a separate thread I made the vines, using circular needles of 3.75mm size. In the Peas instructions, Row 1 should be Kf&b&f instead of Kf&b twice, so that it will sum up to 3 sts. I didn’t like the vines and peas result, even if they are smaller in proportion than in the original design. Seems too messy. 

14-16.1.11 

I thought that the open “Peas in a Pod” by Hansi Singh might fit better, but here too, even using size 2mm dpn, the peapod came out too big comparing the hat and I still don’t like it this way.

24.6-17.10.10 Charlstone Beaded Amulet Bag for Miranda

To make a long story short:

I wanted to thank my cousin for all she does for me and for offering me a beading book she had and wouldn't use, in ITALIAN!!! Such a perfect combination :-)

I Received the Mini Bag di Perline book by Patrizia Nave Cerutti on June 2010.

Nevermind that I was very disappointed from the book, to my opinion the projects are very poorly explained and the work isn't neat. Nevertheless, I asked Miranda to choose some project she liked from there and ended up beading her the Charlstone Beaded Amulet Bag.

I made some changes and added a Russian Rosette Flower, based on this free tutorial.

Added some Herringbone donuts and used the following twisted Ndebele spiral. You can also have a look at a similar embellished one, here.

I sent the bag to Italy, but it came back to Israel after a while because of customs issues. Miranda finally got it on the 14th of January 2011 and seemed to be very happy.

13.10.10 Sternenspitze/ Starlace Bracelet designed by try to be better (Sabine Lippert)

Thank you Sabine for sharing for free this beautiful design of yours!

I intended to do the wider version but got lazy so remained with the narrower version which became asymmetrical (pearls on one side and 4mm Swarovsky bicones on the other).

24-25.9.10 Weekend in Revivim

Edna, Omer's aunt, kindly invited us for what became a wonderful and unforgettable weekend in the Kibbutz where she lives and know so well.

We had a warm reception in her modest apartment, full of books and interesting objects from distant places where she traveled to around the world.

We kept on to the shared dining room of the Kibbutz, for Friday evening supper. From there, we had a visit to the local dairy followed by a private guided tour in different parts of the Kibbutz.

Early morning on Saturday, Edna took us to the olive nursery where she is working during weekdays. It was incredible to discover how many different occupations she was involved in during her stay in the kibbutz. It makes her life so various and interesting! This is really to admire when you see such knowledgeable people. For example, you can show her any plant you wish to and she will know to tell you what it is and how it is called.

From the nursery, we then arrived to some olive orchards where the lilies (חבצלות) were blooming.

Omer caught me chasing after a small praying mantis :-)

There are a variety of Ficus planted near the nursery and we could see also some abandoned greenhouses of the kibbutz that primarily served for lilies (שושנים) hydroponics.

The breakfast menu was: fresh tomatoes and cucumbers, Zaatar herb, excellent local olive oil, omelette with onions and Yami local "Hana Cheese" with olives and chives or with nigella seeds!

There are several parcs in the Kibbuts. One is the fruit trees parc with a small lilies hill. The other, is the parc of the intersecting trees (גן העצים המשתלבים) of Aharon Nave. The following pictures are only a small sample of this interesting art.

After fascinating talks about some of Edna's trips around the worls, we saw some pictures she took there. I was especially amazed of the Bolivian Uyuni white desert and the nice photo montage you can play with there.

Finally, at sunset, Edna took us to the Cactus and succulent parc to see a vast array of nature wonder with the artistic intervention of a member of the kibbutz, which I forgot the name.

We had to come back home, but I really wish to go back again to Revivim and see in more depth this cactus parc and the whole kibbutz.

In such a small place, it is amazing how many things there are to see and enjoy, no wonder Edna is so much connected to this place.

17.9.10 Experimenting with 5 based braided Challah

There is a great demonstration of braiding different braided Challah (3-4-5-6) by a Dutch baker.

If you like baking, I really recommend you to check this video.

I encountered it on Maryline Ayalon amazing and inspiring blog, Ma Blogeria. She also prepares extraordinary and very creative Challah.

4.9.10 Starbust hotpad by Loretta Schepp

Many thanks to Loretta Schepp for sharing this beautiful crochet pattern for free. Click here for additional variations on Ravelry.

4.9.10 Columbines Brooches for Liliane and Claire

2 more "crochet bouquet" columbine flowers (1st, 2nd, 3rd)...