can you believe it... i finally finished my granny square blanket!!! for real!!! 

i chose a very simple, double-crochet edging. i think it frames the squares nicely without demanding too much attention.

some facts:

-it was made with 40 balls of Phil Coton 3 in 5 different colours and a crochet hook size 2,5mm
-it measures 180x115cm (so it would fit a single size bed)
-it contains 416 squares
-it traveled with me toAix-en-Provence, Marseilles and Amsterdam and was my on-the-go project for many, many bus-, train- and carrides
-it took me 2 years, 6 months and 5 days to finish it
-it was my first crochet project ever, and one of the reasons i wanted to learn how to crochet

-it is so gorgeous and i can't stop looking at it! :)

lessons learned:
-i will never use cotton yarn for a project like this again. it makes the blanket heavy and it doesn't give a lot of warmth. a cotton blanket is more the kind of blanket that looks great on a bed, or thrown over the sofa. unfortunately not the warm and cuddly kind...
-if i were to crochet a granny square blanket again, i would probably use another joining method, like the “join-as-you-go” method. it took me so much time to crochet the individual squares together!

-weaving the ends in before you start putting the squares together is a good idea... look at all those loose ends i still have to weave in. eugh! ;) i hope there are some good tv-shows coming up...

there has been a serious baby boom going on amongst our relatives and friends, which is why i decided to stock up on the hand-made baby gifts. i tried crocheting some baby booties and i even knitted a tiny baby-sock, but i wasn't happy with the results. i needed something easier and faster. this is when i stumbled upon this pattern by a la sascha. after that, these booties flew off my needles!

 i made three pairs so far, and i love them! i made them in various sizes and colors, embellished them with some buttons or a neon trim... a simple pattern that is quick, easy, cute and adjustable to your own taste (or the taste of the parents-to-be)... just perfect! :)

since my summer swap for mina arrived at her place about a week ago, it's time to show you guys what i made for her! i've been wanting to show you my gift for some time now... :)

(the first two pictures are taken by mina)

since mina likes baking (and i love making jam) i made two kind of jams for her, melon-mango and mirabelle-plum. summer in a jar! i also made a crocheted sunglasses-case (if anyone would like the pattern for this case, please do tell! i figured it out by myself and it needs some refinements here and there but i love the outcome so i'm very willing to share ;) it could also be used as a pouch for pens, make-up or whatever) and a crochet bookmark. and to top it off i included a doily, some felted balls, retro photographs, lemon drops and a card. :)  i had the best time thinking about the gift and putting it together, i'm definitely in for the next swap.

you can see the other lovely summer swap gifts here.

one thing i love about france, is that they have great bookshops. i always look for craft books in france! i found several good knitting books in a small store in chambéry, and loads of great patterns in the phildar store, too bad they are in french! but cross stitch patterns are pretty universal, and there are somehow more good cross stitch books in france, so i usually end up buying those. :) i found two great books, one about cross stitch samplers and one with fancy alphabets. i love anything typographic so i just had to buy these.

when we came back home, i immediately looked for my cross stitch work that was hidden in my unfinished-objects-drawer, so now i'm cross-stitching again! :) i forgot how much i liked cross-stitching, i think it's been a year since i last touched this project. 

when this one is finished and framed, i might start a new cross-stitch project, i'm thinking about a poster-sized cross-stitch work featuring a quote, to fill that empty frame in our living room. i want to try and design it myself using the books as inspiration. but first things first, i've got a lot of projects going on again (bad habits...) and i might want to try and finish some UFO's before making more... ;)