Never did show you how we spent our last summer vacation, did I? Now I can’t wait for summer to arrive – totally had enough of winter. Our plan is to head for the Skerry west of Sweden (sorry, it’s in Danish, but check out the pictures anyway, it’s amazing…).
It’s March 1st tomorrow, and we will have to do with the pictures from last year for a while still, so here they are:
The rest of the pictures are right here. Summer, sun, sea, sand, swimming. Can’t wait!
The pavement and the streets were glazed with recent rain that had just started to freeze, and the first kilometer was more about skating and keeping my balance than it was about running. After that it got better and I had quite a nice run, though it was not a fast one.
I started running again a few weeks ago after the very snowy period we had here in Denmark and all the illness we had in the family. And if you’re thinking about getting out there running, I really just want to bring some encouragement to the table, because it may be cold and dark, and I may be tired in the evening, but I am genuinely enjoying my runs! I use the running app Endomondo for my iPhone to track my routes, which also adds motivation by enabling me to compare and share my runs. Also, during my last run, Mads discovered the peptalk function in Endomondo, and receiving messages like “Run faster you lazy bastard”, and “You go girl” in my headphones during my run just cracked me up.
Anyway, most of the snow is gone, but it’s still winter here with the temperatures that follow. Last weekend, we all went for a walk in Køge Marina. Mads and I recently learned that we’re first in line for a space there that fits our boat, which is brilliant because it means we’ll have our boat (wrote about it here) much closer to home when summer and sailing season arrives.
Don’t you just long for summer now? I do. We are seeing more of the sun, though, so I guess we’ll do with that for now.
I could tell you long stories about my pneumonia that went on all through Christmas and New Years, or how I can’t seem to quite get rid of my cold and get back on top – but I won’t. (Just did, didn’t I – that’s because I’m still just slightly bitter about it…)
Instead I’ll show you what I’ve been sewing since we finished my new sewing room. Which I entirely love, by the way. Every time I’m in there, one of the girls comes along and wants to sit next to me at the wonderfully long table, doing something creative. Sort buttons, draw drawings, or play with boxes of sewing equipment. I have no doubt I will be spending many hours in there with the girls, enjoying some nice times and cups of tea.
The first one is a fleece sweater that I made once before – #11 from Ottobre Design 04/2007. Ronja outgrew it and passed it on to Frida, so I wanted to make a new one for her. This below is the first one I made almost 3 years ago – don’t think I ever posted it on the blog, so here it is:
And this is the new one that I finished this past weekend. I used polar fleece from Stof & Stil, which is really thick and soft – more so than the ordinary fleece which I used for the first one.
I chose the green colour, and then I appliqued a tree on the back to just give it a bit of a girly twist. Ronja seems to love it, and it is heavenly soft and warm, so I think it’ll be just as loved as the first one. 
Then I made a couple of night gowns for Frida. The first one was made in a desperate attempt to make use of my Christmas vacation even if I was sick all the time. I wouldn’t recommend that kind of sewing, though – I had to undo quite a few seams, after joining the pieces wrong. Anyway – it turned out ok.
And this is the other one – much less troublesome. The pattern for both night gowns is Onion 20021.
My new woven label from MinaNamnBand.se is attached on the back:
Christmas Eve came and went. The pixies have been up since December 1st, and the girls have each counted down by opening a small present every day. In case you don’t all know, in Denmark we celebrate Christmas on the evening of the 24th, which was yesterday. In spite of the vast amounts of snow that doesn’t make crossing the country (or the continent) any easier, the whole family managed to get here - our mothers, my older brother with his family, my younger brother, and Mads’ sister. Mads had prepared the bestest Christmas dinner, and everybody ate way more than they could, which is exactly the way it should be. We lit the candles on the Christmas tree, danced around the tree singing Christmas songs, and presents were distributed generously to the great (over-)excitement of the three children. I think we had a wonderful evening.
Today we went for a walk – not a long one because it is sooooo cold here at the moment. We have been down to minus 18 degrees Celsius which is around 0 degrees Fahrenheit, and though it’s not quite that cold now, it’s still freezing outside.
Now everyone left, we almost have the house back to normal, and Mads and I are enjoying a quiet evening. And I want to show you my new SEWING ROOM. At least that’s what I call it. It’s been work in progress for a little while:
So, check out my new hide out slash creative space!
The entire room, which will be serving as our bedroom as well. The new cabinets are all IKEA kitchen cabinets.
My table – my sewing machines are still under the table, but that is just because I haven’t used the room much yet – we only finished it a bit more than a week ago, and it’s been Christmas, you know.
2.7 meters of oak table top – I got this from Homeworks.dk, and I’m actually quite happy with their service. Most of the places that sell table tops the measurements I needed, are considerably more expensive.
Room for my patterns and sewing magazines.
Full closet for fabric, tools and all kinds of stuff that I need for my sewing.
I really love the room, and I can tell I will be using it a lot for all kinds of stuff – Frida has already spotted the opportunity to come sort her mother’s stuff, while I’m working with something else in there. LOVE it! I couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present.
So there it is – A Very Merry Christmas to all of you guys out there!
This is what it looks like outside at the moment. The calendar still says November, and it’s hard to believe the amount of snow we have – even for Denmark, this is rather extreme this early in the winter.
Mads isn’t at home tonight, so I have been spending the entire night wrapping presents for the girls’ advent calendars – yep, all 48 presents are now wrapped. Tuesday nights I’m going to get out the pixies and tie the presents to them – the girls are going to love it!
This week has been a busy one, but Mondayevening we were at IKEA, shopping for the bedroom. Hopefully this weekend we will have time to start building. But for now, I think I’m off to bed. Have a great weekend!
Yesterday afternoon, while Mads was working on the preparations for installing the exhaust hood in the kitchen, the girls and I went to a nearby playground. The weather was beautiful, which was such a thrill after what seems like an eternity of grey weather.
Frida finds it hard to move around with the amount of snow we have, her legs just aren’t long enough yet… We did have a lot of fun though, but it was freezing, so we eventually headed home to get warm, make tea, and sink our teeth into the yummy muffins we made before we left.
Earlier in the day, while Frida had her nap, I made dresses for the girls’ dolls, Lise and Laura. I don’t make many things without a pattern, but I didn’t have one for these – it’s actually fun to make such tiny garments.
The fabric is from Stof&Stil, and the buttons were given to me by my sister-in-law who lives in Amsterdam – aren’t they sweet? There’s velcro below the straps, so the buttons are just an embellishment. The dresses were a huge hit, so I’ll probably make more for the dolls sooner or later.
