A blanket for the little one

When I got to know that I will have a baby I certainly wanted a diaper bag… Lucky me we have a great variety of them. And I knew I want to make something very special for my little one. Something she will keep when she has grown up. Maybe dedicated for her first little one?! As I am a passionate knitter what you could read here and here. I decided to knit a cosy, warm blanket, where I could wrap her in when it’s cold. Which keeps her comfortable anywhere we go, which gives her the feeling of being home while traveling. So I grubbed through my different knitting books, Internet places and at last found this pattern at twist-collective (an on-line knitting-mag, which I really like). It is my first piece I knitted in the steek-method: At technique you use when you want to knit fair isle. You knit the piece in round and after sewing across the steeks you can cut it with scissors and you will have a flat piece. I knitted monkey and ring square like this, then put them together by knitting a double layered edge. I enjoyed knitting it very much. To much. As I got a heavy tendon sheath inflammation… But it was worth it! I thought about my little one in every loop I knitted. All my love is in that merino blanket:) But see here how it looks like:

Hope she likes it and keeps it a long time!

Gift Wrapping

As you already know I made some crochet stars for the Beuteltiere Christmas present wrappings. For those who want to see again, click here. But you don’t know our christmas wrapping paper jet. It’s perfectly cooperate identity Beuteltiere brown turquoise:

And the company who is producing these beauties I did not introduce till now too. Bad girl as I am. The paper is coming from stewo, a paper factory based in Switzerland. And what should I say: Fabulous designs.

There new catalogue for next year is out now and we have hard times, deciding which style we should choose for spring/summer! You can download the catalogue here as a pdf-file.

Happy present wrapping everybody! Who still needs a present: Beuteltiere On-line Shop.

(pics froms stewo, linked to their source)

Christmas Crochet

Last weekend, travelling by train, I could wallow in vince: Looking for new crafting magazines at the station bookstore. The best: They had mags in french, spanish and english as well. Yipiiee! I spotted the new Marie Claire idée and a special edition of Verena about knitting socks.

I HAD to buy them Flipping through the pages I fell in love with crocheted christmas ornaments. And lucky me, the nice lady from Iceland gave me 3 skeins of her beautiful wool I showed you yesterday. So I grasped my hook and started. See here my results:

Maybe some of you remember that I tried some christmas stars/snowflakes last year too, see them once again here and on our tutorial site here. Enjoy!

(pics from magazines linked to their sources, other pics from Marsupialia)

Wristwarmers – Pattern one

Hi all, as I promised in my last post, here is the pattern for the wristwarmers. Click here to download. Or see it on our Pattern, tutorial and recipes site. It’s available in German today.

I will write it down in English tomorrow Kisses!

About leather. Part 4

Grain patterns

The grain side  is the smooth side of the leather which is mostly worn on the outside because of its appearance and its easy to clean qualities. The look of the leather is influenced by the pattern how hair, wool and plumes grow on the skin. Every animal has its own characteristic leather.

Calf leather:

From male or female calf (max one year old) that are mostly nourished with milk. The leather with a fine grain is suitable for shoes and bags. Calf hides are 0,7 to 1,7m² and weigh about 12kg.

Calf leather

Cow/Bull leather:

One hide’s average weight is about 30kg and is 2 to 6 m² big. Because of its size clothes and furniture coverings can be easily made without many seams. But it is as well suitable for bags because of its tensile strength. The best part of the hide is the back of the animal, because of the hides regular thickness. Bull leather can thin and lightweight or think and heavy depending of how many layers have been split.

Cow/Bull leather

Goat leather:

Goat leather is more close and dense than sheep leather. That is why it is tough and soft. Goat leather has a visible line on the back. Compared to sheep leather  goat hides are longer and more slim. Goat leather not covered with colour tends to stretch and widen that is why it is not suitable for tight clothes.

Goat leather

Pork leather:

The pig’s bristles penetrate the whole skin. Because of that pork leather is more permeable for water than other leathers. Pork leather has a big variability in structure between side and core parts of the hide. Pork leather is mostly used for suede leather in many different colours. The very soft pork leather is suitable for leather shirts, vests, dresses and coats and it is the cheapest of all leathers.

Pork leather

Sheep leather:

A loose texture that contains a lot of fat.Because of this it tends to split and break. Sheep leather is characterized by many holes for the hairs that are placed in an irregular way. Contrary to goat leather, the natural grain of sheep leather is still visible after treatment of the leather. Characteristic for sheep leather is the very wide shape of the hide which is advantageous for further  processing. Sheep leather  is usually sold as Nappa or Suede leather and is mostly used for clothing.

Sheep leather

(pics from Lederpedia; linked to their sources)

To all the Mummies and future Mummies

Dear Mummy, where do you put all your baby stuff: your nappies, your extra clothes your baby bottle? In a cotton bag hanging on your stroller? Beuteltiere have an alternative for you: Fantastic diaper bags that don’t look like a bag for babies? Our fantastic Petunia Pickle Bottom diaper bags! We love them although we both don’t have a baby. They have fantastic patterns in many different colours with funny names, two different material types (one called Glazed and the other one called Brocade), a box for moisture whipes, a tiny little bag for the pacifiier, clips to fix them at the stroller, a mat to lay the baby on… all what mummy wants. And they are enormously chic. Have a look!

Touring Tote – Sparrows on the Seine

Shoulder Bag – Devonshire Dandelion

Touring Tote – Tourmaline Roll

Shoulder Bag – Afternoon in Katmandu

And since last season they have diaper bags for men as well that we will get end of the month. By the way: a client told us that Brad Pitt is using this as well! I want Prad Pitt to come to our tiny little shop and by a new one, please!!

(pics from Marsupialia)

Extraordinary, cosy interior knitting

To all knitters out there! Look at these fabulous knitted pouffes! They are so great… great colours, great pattern, great details, great photos! I love them.

They have been designed by a dutch textile designer called Liset van der Scheer, who is working on carpets, bathroom textiles, curtains… all kinds of textiles. And the company that produces them under the name ‘Bonnet’ is Casalis Carpets from Belgium. Their carpets look great as well!

Many thanks to Tessa from Flannel Apparel who wrote about these a few days ago and I found so brilliant that I had to show them to you.

(photos from http://www.casalis.be/ )

Get the Tutorial!

As I promised you here I now present you the tutorial for the great pattern I used for the scarf. Load it down in German or in English.

You will find it in the sidebar on your right under marsupialia patterns as well. Enjoy and give a notice when I made mistakes!

(images by Katrin Hufer for marsupialia)

Perfect Blue

Today I want to show you one of my latest selfmadebreedings: a scarf. the special thing about: it´s for a man. “Please nothing itchy, scratchy. It should be soft and gentle and not to thin.” My instructions where given.

I choose a very soft merino wool in a dark maritime blue to fit to all clothes and outfit styles. To realize the thickness i use a pattern which is called “Netzpatent” in German. Any English translation is appreciated, just comment it below! Here you can see front (on top) and back (bottom):

It creates a nice voluminous piece.

To knit this scarf takes time but in the end it seems nearly double layered. For those who are interested to knit it as well: I will post a pdf soon, in German and English, if you like and maybe you get a scarf ready for your beloved to Christmas?

(images by Katrin Hufer for marsupialia)

The stars are on their way

to their new homes. Fare Well and don´t talk to strangers on your way! When you are in your new families: Behave yourself and be nice to the pets

And for those who hadn´t the chance to get one made by myself: Here is the crochet-pattern for download in English and German.