RECAP: 12 PROJECTS OF 2018

So here we are in 2019! I set a goal for myself last year to do 12 DIY projects, and so thought I'd do a little recap of how that went. I'm quite happy to say that I ended up completing eight projects. Well, I technically completed a few more than that, but I never did a blog post on them so I'm not counting them. Either way, I didn't make it to twelve, but I'm still pretty happy about how this goal went, as I feel it did wonders to reboot my creativity. So here's a rundown of the projects I made:

My first project was this wool roving wall hanging (above) that I made in January. I'd never made anything like it before, but I had such a good time making it and loved the result! It's currently hanging in our living room and love it so much. Might make a similar one in a bigger size in the future?

The second project was a fox costume for Oscar. I made a simple tail and ear set out of yarn that I brushed with a comb to get a faux fur effect. Such an easy technique, and so fun to make. Oscar wore this as part of his outfit for a dress-up event in his daycare when he went as Mikkel Rev, a beloved Norwegian children's character.

For my third project, I made these matching bib and teether baby shower gift sets for some friends who were expecting babies. They were so easy to make and I loved how they turned out. Such a perfect way to use up scrap bits of fabric, too. Would love to make more of these in different fabrics.

For my fourth and fifth projects, I went on a bit of a macrame spree, and made two macrame plant hangers as well as some macrame teethers. Both were made out of materials I already owned, which was also pretty satisfying, and I discovered a new (to me!) craft that I ended up absolutely loving.

For my sixth project, I decided to step away from the textiles for a little bit and made some gilded tea light holders for autumn out of some old glasses and a bit of gold leaf.

For my seventh project, I got my sewing machine out and made these plushies based on Mac Barnett and Jon Klassen's kid's books Triangle and Square. Oscar was a huge fan!

For my eight project, I made a couple of ghost tea light holders out of clay for Halloween. We don't have a whole lot of Halloween decorations, so these were a pretty fun addition.

Honorable mentions: I also knitted quite a few things this year (not sure why I decided not to include knitting projects in this?), and completed the following knitting projects in 2018: matching hats for Oscar and Graeme, the Homestead shawl, 2 x Tjukklua hats, and this sweater (though I technically started that one in 2017), the No Frills sweater, the Skappel sweater, another Anker sweater, the Tiril sweater, the Tjukklendar sweater, another No frills sweater, two Christmas stockings and even more hats, hats, and five more hats. 2018 was probably the biggest knitting year for me to date, so much so that I decided in 2019 to start a new instagram account for my knitting, so if you'd like to follow along you can find me on @hildeandherknitting. Looking forward to another creative year!

OUR FAMILY CHRISTMAS BOOK

We're getting nearer and nearer Christmas! I've spent the past week knocked out by the flu, so feel like I already have a lot of Christmas activities to catch up on. Good thing I finished buying all my Christmas presents in November! While I'm getting my Christmas crafts organized, I thought I'd share this little memory book I started a couple years ago.

In 2014 and 2015 I made whole albums dedicated to the month of December, inspired by the December Daily concept. In 2016 however, I started making albums for the whole year (here's 2016 and here's 2017--2018 is almost done!), so making a 2016 December album felt a bit redundant. I love the idea of documenting Christmas traditions though, so I decided to make a separate Christmas album inspired by this post that I came across years ago.

Finding an album I actually liked proved to be more difficult than I'd thought. There didn't seem to be a whole lot of options out there, and the ones I could find were a bit dated and just not quite what I had in mind. So I thought about DIYing it. I thought about just having a project life-style album and adding to that each year. I even thought about getting a book printed with pages ready to fill in. Eventually I settled on getting an album with blank pages and pockets. The blank pages are obviously for journaling, and in the pockets I'll keep Christmas cards. I love that this gives me a lot of freedom for doing whatever I want. I'm sure my tastes will change over the years, and I'll have years where I'm feeling super creative and years where I just want to make a couple of notes, and either way it'll be so special to look back on. If I want to write a ginormous essay detailing everything one year, I can do that. If I just want to fill the pages with photos one year, I can do that too. The book I ended up with is one of these personalized books from here.

I decided to backtrack and start in in 2015. This was the year we got married, so it seemed like a bit of a natural starting point. I insist on taking a Christmas family protrait every year, and I love seeing how our family is growing! This is already such a special album to bring out each year, and I'm already so excited to be adding on the 2018 pages. To be continued!

CURRENTLY IN NOVEMBER

lying on the couch, sick. Go figure, Oscar and Graeme were sick last week so obviously it was gonna hit me sooner or later.

travelling to Stockholm tomorrow! I must admit I was a little bit more excited about this before I got sick, but I know we'll have fun still. We've never been before, so travel tips are welcome!

watching Bodyguard and so hooked. Sitting at the edge of the couch with each episode, and really hoping they make another season.

appreciating these cozy evenings in front of the fireplace

prepping for Christmas. I kinda feel like I didn't put enough effort into Christmas last year, so I'm planning on making up for that this year. Christmas cards have been ordered and I'm almost done with Christmas shopping!

drinking hot lemon with honey. Heal me.

THE TIRIL SWEATER

I have a pretty long to-do list of knitting projects I plan on making, but every now and then something comes along and I get so excited about it that it ends up getting pushed ahead of everything else. This sweater was one of those. I usually take a while in deciding wether or not to knit something and which yarn to use, but the same day I came across this pattern I went straight to my favorite yarn shop, bought the yarn and started knitting. The whole sweater came together in less than two weeks, and that's even though I was knitting other stuff at the same time too!

The pattern is from Sandnes Garn, designed by Tiril Eckhoff, and I knitted it in Sandnes Garn's børstet alpakka yarn in white on 6 mm needles.

CLAY GHOST TEALIGHTS

Hope everyone had a fun Halloween last week! We decorated pumpkins, got dressed up and went trick or treating with a neighbor. I think Oscar thought it was a bit scary at times (it was his first time trick or treating!), but he definitely appreciated all the lollipops that were being handed out!

I've been incredibly slow at decorating for fall this year. Usually I at least have a few pinecones and conquers kicking around the house by now, but this year all I've got out are some candles that I basically have out all year anyway. So to make our home a tiny bit more ready for Halloween, I decided to make these little cuties.

I got the idea from here, and just used some white air-dry clay that I rolled out and shaped into ghosts. I used a straw to punch out the eyes. After that I just let them dry for a couple of days and then added some led tealights. They were pretty cute sitting next to our giant pot of candy on Halloween!