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!

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!

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.

Yesterday, early in the morning we had another heavy snow fall. I had been looking forward to all 4 of us going for a walk, but as Frida had a terrible cold that came with a fever, and Ronja wanted to do something else, I decided to leave them all at home while Frida took a nap and just bring my camera.

I decided to head in the opposite direction of the toboggan run and the crowds, so my feet led me to the woods and the fields. Usually, there is a gravel road that leads to the woods, but at the moment everything is so covered with snow that you just can’t see where the trail is supposed to be. I took my guess and made it there anyway.

Making my way back, I thought I’d take a shortcut, but as I haven’t done that before, the “shortcut” ended up leading me to knee-high snow in the middle of a field. Lifting my boots high and sinking deep again with every step was exhausting, but now and again when I stopped to listen, everything around me was just really quiet and beautiful.

I was terribly tired yesterday – the impressions from spending an entire Saturday at a bloggers meet-up, in an atmosphere of inspiration, warmth, excitement and creativeness were still very fresh, and the lonely walk was a nice way to collect my thoughts.

I eventually found the path I was looking for to get me back home. Frida was feeling really bad yesterday evening, and her fever reached new heights, so today I’m taking care of her at home. She looks terrible and is a bit more whiny than usual, but other than that she demands entertainment – just as usual.

The sun showed itself yesterday! Following days and days of nothing but greyness, it was quite amazing to see the long shadows that were cast on the snow. I was driving in the car with Frida, and she complained about getting the sun in her eyes. Complained! Of course, I had to tell her to get her priorities straight – not sure she knew what I meant, though.

I made her this dress a few days ago, and I love it – it looks even cuter on her. I’m sorry to say it’s made from Onion 20022 again, but seriously this pattern has been worth every øre (penny or dime would sound better, but it just wouldn’t be true) I paid for it. Check out everything I made from the pattern right here. This dress is made from Hilco velvet (love, love, love it) from Malika & Rosa and cotton from Joel Dewberry found at Fabric.com.

Now, it’s Friday night, and I’m looking forward to the weekend. Let’s do a quick wrap-up.

Mads will be home in an hour or two after a few days of work in Stokesley, UK. Remember the photo of Ronja in the Lucia parade? Well, it just won a global Christmas season photo contest in my company, and an iPod Touch will be arriving in the mail soon. Nice. Also I have realized that there are job opportunities out there, and some of them seem not so far off – so now I just need to find the right one, and get it! It’ll be a nice weekend!

Yesterday we went for a walk in the park by Vallø Castle, which is not far from here. The sun was shining and – well, look for yourself.

My Valentine’s card from Mads

Ronja made snow angels

Frida was suspicisous of the snow

And the park looked as pittoresque as ever.

What a nice way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

We did go sled riding the other day (Frida’s first), and it was lots of fun, even though the girls were too tired to be at the toboggan run for very long. Afterwards we went home to have some hot chocolate – Frida hasn’t tasted this before, and while she was skeptical when first looking into the cup, the next two cups went down within minutes! It was sooo funny to watch her while devoting her entire attention to her new obsession!

And now I want to thank Mette for giving me this award!

The award is all about nearness, and I really appreciate it. Mette herself has a wonderful blog (in Danish) about her life, crafts, and her three beautiful boys. I’m going to pass on this award to other blogs that to me are synonym with nearness.

So go check out the following:

Lille-Ursus – I have been following her blog for as long as I’ve been sewing, and her warm descriptions of family and friends, as well as her attention to detail and things that make her happy – these things make me want to give her this. Also, Ulla gives out a lot of herself to her blog friends, and I’m proud to be among them.

U-handblog – One thing is her amazing generosity when it comes to all of her awesome tutorials. But really, because this award is about nearness, I also chose her because of the way she writes her tutorials – not too formally, but rather like you’re with her in a room having a laugh about the challenges on the way. That’s quite a skill you’ve got there, girl, and it’s a pleasure to read your blog!

MADE - because when I read Dana’s blog, I feel like she’s talking to me. Her pictures add an atmosphere of intimacy, and last but not least – I love her creations.

Colorfool – they’re hit by life at the moment, so the blog doesn’t come 1st priority, but when she posts, there’s plenty of nearness.

That’s all for now – but hey, I made something for you guys! More about that tomorrow – and remember the coupon code for Fabric.com is still valid!

Ronja gave me this little bird feeder Christmas before last, and it has been hanging there in the Japanese Cherry Tree ever since. I love the colours on it, and when the rest of the world is white it really comes into its own! I think I’ll go put a new fat ball on there a bit later - now that there’s snow all over the place.

Ronja’s swing set has hibernated for the day.

And I wonder if this will ever start again?

Maybe we will have time for a sled ride with the girls this afternoon, when I’m off from work? Let’s see…