Blue Knitted Mittens

I took a glance into my basket of yarns and found some unfinished business. A half-finished sad little mitten was hanging around with the yarn balls thinking about if it ever would be a real mitten someday. Actually that mitten has been laying around ever since last winter when I thought it would be nice to knit mittens for my husband for Chrismas. However, I had too little time back then and I decided to give him something else.
Well now the half-finished mitten is finished and so is his brother :)

I combined two patterns for these mittens and that is because I started making a model were every finger is individual but I found that it was too hard for me so I found a pattern with only the individual thumb. Here is the free pattern for mittens with individual fingers and here you find the free pattern for the mittens with only individual thumb.

The yarn I used is acrylic and it has its positive and negative features for sure. The positive features are the strong bright colors that is not very common in cotton yarns or wool, at least not where I live. The negative features are that the garment you make will almost always get uneven on the knitted surface unlike wool or cotton who will stay firm amd smooth.

Easter Decoration - Easter Witch for the Window

Next weekend it is Easter and for this post I made a fun Easter Witch decoration to hang in my kitchen window :)
In Sweden some people celebrate Easter the Christian way in remembrance of Jesus Christ's passion, death and resurrection. However, in recent times, the Passover for the common man have lost much of its religious content and has become a secular family celebration were old folklore, ancient Nordic traditions and Christian traditions are all mixed.

"Easter witch" is according to old Swedish folklore, witches who traditionally fly on brooms to Blåkulla, the Brocken, on the night before Maundy Thursday to feast and then return on Easter Sunday. According to Wikipedia, ever since the early 1800s it is common in Sweden that children dress up as Easter witches, knocking on the doors in the neighborhood wishing everyone "Happy Easter" while giving away homemade cards and drawings. In exchange they get some candy or pennies. 

In Sweden we also put birch twigs in a vase and decorate it with colorful feathers (the twigs are initially connected to Jesus' entry into Jerusalem, and the palm leaves sprinkled in front of him on the ground).

        
When I was a little girl my mother made a little Easter Witch like this and I remember it very well always wanted to make one for myself one day. Well this was the day - or days - because it took me about three days to make it from start to finish. 

I will not make a tutorial for this doll but I will give you all the parts you need to make it. You will need:

• Pantihose for the head
• Cotton wool for the head filling (my doll's head diameter is approx. 5cm)
• Needles
• Yarn for the hair (Put four of your fingers together and wire the yarn around them. Sew the upper loops to the head. Cut the lower loops to get single threads. 
• Sewing thread for eyes, mouth and freckles
• Fabric for the dress (the fabric I used you can find at Fabric-World or in Sweden at Ohlssons Tyger)
• Fabric for the headscarf (a triangle) and the apron
• Fabric for the body and arms (my doll's body is approx. 10cm *5cm)
• A branch (about 20-30 cm) for the broom handle
• Small twigs for the broom bristles cut in 7 cm length