*in the core of winter

It's minus 13 degrees at the moment. Almost every morning I go up the attic after I made fire in the stoves and have a moment on the balcony to experience the sunrise and observe the first birds flying around. People are heading by busy in their cars, but nature seems unimpressed by the stress of humans. February feels here more like the core of winter and not like we are coming to an end of it. The continuous low night temperatures keep the spring flowers here for the longest time waiting in the ground. I work a lot on my needlework projects and am reading several books at once. And slightly, but only slightly I start to daydream about the new gardening year.

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*Easypeasy Bandana

Some close-ups of the knitted little triangle scarf that I finished recently. The pattern is from Susanne Müller (Paulastrickt) and you can download it for free on her ravelry page. I used thinner wool and needles, so I had to add stitches in the middle part to make it fit for me. It turned out super practically and so soft. At the moment I wear it day and night. When I was a teenager I had a similar vintage baby blue handknitted scarf that I had always with me, but sadly it got lost somewhere and I still think of it and wanted to create something similar for a long time. 

By the way, my moth hatched at the beginning of the week. It turned out to be a silver Y moth. I had to release it into nature, because I'm not able to provide food for it, but I hope it will make it despite of the cold temperatures. Here it is sitting on my arm for a last goodbye.

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*Horse cushion

The pattern of the horse cushion is from the Japanese craft book "Crochet with Sonomono: Animal Cuddle Amigurumi" and with every project I learn a little something new. Like here – the spots on the horses body are crocheted and not embroidered. Have a nice weekend!

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*A horse & a cozy scarf in the February winds

{Music: Every little thing – Oak Studios + Berceuse – Alexandra Streliski + About us – Gåel}

February is usually a very stormy month here. For the longest of my life it was my least favorite time of the year, but this has changed completely since we moved to the countryside. I love how the from winter tamed grasses are shining in all different red and orange tones when the sun is out and the beauty of the bare trees and the pale but so clear skies. I finished two further needlework projects and today we finally got some snow! The first snow in the new year. A wonderful surprise!

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*between the snowy sunflowers

Mein Herz ist nun so rein,

dass es gleich viel zählt, ob es stirbt

oder singt.

Es kann das Buch des Lebens füllen

oder das Buch des Todes.

Beide sind unbeschrieben für mein Herz,

das denkt und träumt.

Gleich viel Ewigkeit wird es in beiden finden.

Herz, es zählt gleich viel: stirb oder singe.

{Juan Ramón Jiménez}

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*captured light

We are having stormy days again

and all I want to do,

is cuddle up in a blanket,

letting the needles dance in my hands.

Hours for hours

until the sky is pink again

and the crows become silent.

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*Fabulous rose flower cushion

This is my third "Fabulous rose flower cushion" that I made over the years. I really love the design! It is from the book "Crochet home" by Emma Lamb. This time I did not use buttons for the opening, instead I crocheted strings and I really like how it turned out.

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*A winter fairy tale & Crocheting a fabulous rose cushion

{Music: Into white – Cat Stevens + Epilogue – Two Lanes + Signal – Koshun Nakao}

The fairytale-like winter weather made me feel like entering a long awaited dream. I crocheted a "Fabulous rose cushion" and poured candles from wax remnants again.

Ps: Yes, our Christmas tree is still up. And no, I was not freezing at all outside, I had at least 5 layers of clothes on.

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*A glimmer of spring & the caterpillar in the salad

After the frost days the weather changed drastically, we had at least 16 degrees, the birds were happily twittering while the rabbits were enjoying the uplifting sunshine on the field behind our home.

Recently I have found a tiny caterpillar in my salad from the grocery shop. It was too cold to put it outside, so I placed it in a terrarium with some more salad and twigs. It was eating non stop until one day it started to crawl around a lot, seemingly searching for something. On the next day it was surrounded by a thin construct of threads, it obviously started to pupate. I never had the possibility to observe such happening so closely, I mean all the different stadiums. It's utterly fascinating! You could still see through the net construct, the green caterpillar changed into a brown, more solid pupa. I will for sure follow the process further and hope I will be able to see how the butterfly or moth will hatch!

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*Wintry triangle scarf

Close-ups of the wintry triangle scarf that I finished last week. The pattern is from the Japanese magazine "Motif recipe for crochet". I instantly fell in love with the design! For some reasons I had to crochet two extra granny squares to make it work. It fits in perfectly the frosty weather, don't you think?

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