Monday 29 February 2016

On my Virtual Sofa - Bärbel from My BABS Design


Today I have the pleasure of chatting with Bärbel from My BABS Design

Welcome Bärbel, please tell us a little about who you are.

My name is Bärbel Stauffer, also known as Babs.
I was born in 1957 in Germany and this is where I grew up.
Since 1994 I live in the vicinity of Lucerne, Switzerland.
I am married and have two adult children and two grandchildren.
I live in a multiple generation house with a wonderful view of the Swiss alps. 
My in-laws live in an apartment, my daughter and granddaughter live in an apartment and my husband and I live in the other apartment in the house :)

I don't have much free time for myself as I happen to be the contact person for everyone living in our house ;)

I look after my granddaughter 5 days a week whilst her mom is out at work. We also have a large dog and a cat who also need to be cared for by me.

In the image above you can see me in my favourite place in the summertime.

My mother and Grandmother taught me how to knit and crochet from an early age on and it is something I have always enjoyed.

I used to own a store that offered Patchwork fabrics and courses but my passion has always been with crochet.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of my children and grandchildren. I am also proud of myself for being able to, at the age of 55, open my shop and offer my own, unique patterns on Ravelry.

The yarn that I offer in my shop has something very unique about it.
Every skein is energized with fine energy frequencies and Tachyon energy. 

My BABs design

Has there been people along the way who have influenced who you are today?

Yes, there have been quite a few. When I was 26 years old, I met a group of people who introduced me to Reiki and other energetic systems. They worked intensively with angels and other alternate methods of healing.

I have been a Reiki Master and teacher since the last 20 years and this has helped me live my life in a very different way. I am open to all new experiences.

How important is the Handmade Movement to you?

Very important :)
My gran taught me how to crochet at the age of 5 and I knitted my first pullover at the age of 9. I think that everything that has to do with Handwork (knitting, crochet, crafting, woodwork) all enrich our culture.

Everything that we are now making and creating, was also a part of our grandparents lives, and we can pass these traditions and talents on to our children and grandchildren.

My 6 year old granddaughter can already crochet and is busy creating her mother a potholder for Mother's Day.

For me, relaxation means sitting down in the evenings and grabbing my needles or crochet hook and being inspired. This is when most of my ideas for new patterns arise that I sell in my online store and in Ravelry.




If you had three wishes, what would you wish for the "Handmade" Movement?

Everyone helps everyone :)
A whole lot of new, interesting Ideas.
And that everyone who creates can charge fair prices for their wares.
Unfortunately at the present time, all handwork is rather under priced for it's value!

Thank you so much for your visit Bärbel, it has been a pleasure to have you here :)

Where can my visitors find you on the web?

You can find me here:

In my Online Store







Bärbel has generously donated 3 beautiful prizes to this year's event!



That means three of you taking part in the KAL will have the chance of winning something special from her!

What will you have a chance at winning?
You will have an opportunity to see the prizes that Bärbel has offered in an upcoming post tomorrow.


If you can't wait to win some of her beautiful yarn, you should head over to her shop and browse :)

You can find out when her Prizes will be up to be won in the draw here on the Blog as well as in the Sock-Along thread on Ravelry.

All you need to do to win a prize yourself is to cast on and bind off a pair of socks in a month.

Every three months (end of March, June, September and December), 3 winners per draw will get chosen from all the finished sock entrants of the previous three months.

I hope you will consider joining us for this super sock-along, it is so much fun already!

Come back soon for some more fluffy wonderfulness when I reveal the gorgeous prizes you will have a chance of winning!

See you soon.
x




Friday 26 February 2016

FO Friday Fun

fo friday fun

My February Socks are off the needles :)
I love them and am actually wearing them this morning - they are so comfy!

wunderwolle

sea wall socks

These are my Sea Wall socks
They are a lovely pattern from Tin can Knits and I knit them with Wunderwolle Sock Yarn.

I can't wait until Tuesday so that I can cast on my next month's pair of socks!
Will you be joining us in our Sock-Knitting challenge in March?

You can find out more HERE if you are interested :)

Do you have something to show off this Friday?

Feel free to link your finished projects of this week below.
Have a super weekend.
x

Thursday 25 February 2016

Tutorial Thursdays Month-Long Linky Party


Welcome back to another month of linking fun!


February is here and with it a lot of romance and craft making!


Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!


I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.
I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

Marigolds' Loft



Wednesday 24 February 2016

Progress


It is always nice to look back on last weeks' progress photo and actually see a difference in the projects shown there :)

Let me jump right in to this weeks' projects.

avalanche

Over the weekend I was in the train for a couple of hours and managed to make some good progress on my Avalanche.

In 11 more rows I will start my short rows for my hem so I can't wait to begin with that :) (I love short rows!!! Do you?)

sea wall

wunderwolle

My February socks are finally entering their final stages.

I am getting a bit impatient in their progress because:

1. Next week I would like to cast on my March pair
2. I want to use my "knitting time" this week to work on my Avalanche :O

I am hoping that I will have these off the needles by Friday so that I can share them in all their glory.

(Do come by on Friday and share your FOs on the linky with me too, I would love to see what you have managed to complete this week!)

Talking of my March Pair:

spinnwebstube tweed

I have decided on my yarn for my Owlie Socks.

This is some Tweed that I received from Rita @ Spinnwebstube for last years' sock subscription.

It has lost it's yarn label unfortunately, but I think it was a unique skein especially for the sock club.

She has some other gorgeous sock yarns available in her Tweed selection and it really would be worth your while browsing there :)

I am actually considering adding another colour tweed for the heel and toe, I will mull it over for a while, I have a couple of days to still decide!

As you can see my beader is loaded and ready to go too.
I am not sure if I will be beading all of the eyes in the socks but I will see how the sock progress appeals to me.

sock-along 2016


It would be amazing if you decided to join us for the March Sock-Along.
There are some amazing prizes too.

To take part, all you have to do is to cast on a pair of socks (you can cast on a pattern of your liking or join us knitting the Owile socks) no earlier than March 1st and bind off no later than March 31st.

Share your cast on and FO images in the Ravelry thread for the month of March and you will be added to the draw which will take place at the end of March.

Don't forget to tag your projects with sockalong2016 on Ravelry and #sockalong2016 on Intsagram.

I will be sharing this post with all my weekly creative friends, so pop on there and be inspired :)


Monday 22 February 2016

3 Tips on How to care for your Natural Fibres

tips on how to care for your natural fibres

Over the weekend I visited a course to delve a bit deeper into the various natural fibres available to me as a knitter and weaver.

It was such an interesting course, especially as I got to feel various plant and animal fibers - it was every fibre fanatics dream :)

I also managed to pick up some great tips for handling fibers and I thought I would pass some of those on to you, as I am sure some of you may find them as handy as I did!

Soak linen before you wash it!

Linen or Flax is a plant fibre that loves water and gets its' strength from moisture.

To keep your linens relatively crease and crinkle free it is a good idea to soak your linen fabrics and end products before putting them in the washing machine.
This strengthens the fibres themselves and helps them to wash easily.

By placing the linen fabric dry into the washing machine, you ultimately torture your fibres for a while until they manage to soak up enough water. This allows for breakage of the single fibres which is visible through deep creases which are no longer removable as the actual fibre is no longer repairable!

Bathe your Silks!

Treat your silks like you would treat your baby....
It doesn't like to be thrashed around in a washing machine or scrubbed and wrung out between hands.

It likes to be treated with care and to be lightly swished from side to side in some luke warm water.

Rinse your silk fabrics in the same fashion and then roll it into a dry towel and press the remaining water out of the fabric. 
Iron on the lowest setting whilst still damp for a gorgeous finish :)

Wool/Yarns and Acacia wood

By placing your yarns in an acacia cupboard or drawer you can eliminate fish moths, as they do not like the oils that emanate from the wood.
You can also place discs or cubes of the wood in your yarn storage but be sure to sand it now and then so that it can release its' fragrance again.

Another tip for your yarns is a bag of lavender buds. This has the same effect as the wood.
Freshen your bags with some lavender essential oils now and then.

Do you have some tips that you would like to share?
Leave a comment below, I would love to hear from you!

See you soon
x

Friday 19 February 2016

FO Friday Fun

fo friday fun

Welcome back to another FO Friday Fun.

This week I also have something off the needles and would like to share it with you.



Here is my Baa-ble hat :)

I love this hat, it was a lovely pattern to work on and knit up really fast.
I used Drops Nepal and reduced the stitches to 90 for the body using Susan B. Anderson's modification tips. They worked out to be perfect :)

I think I may have found a hat that kinda fits my head - Hooray!


Do you have something to show off this Friday?

Feel free to link your finished projects of this week below.
Have a super weekend.
x

Thursday 18 February 2016

Tutorial Thursdays Month-Long Linky Party


Welcome back to another month of linking fun!


February is here and with it a lot of romance and craft making!


Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!


I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.
I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

Marigolds' Loft



Wednesday 17 February 2016

Grey and Purple


This week's WIPs are two, one-coloured projects which I realized whilst taking the pictures :)

Let me jump right in:

avalanche

sidispinnt

This is my avalanche which is growing very nicely indeed.
It would be true enough to say that I really can't stop knitting this project, which is very odd for a sweater!

I don't know if it is the gorgeous yarn which I am knitting it with, or if it has to do with the easy pattern knitting, or if it is really a combination of the two.

Anyways, I am thoroughly loving this weekend project and look forward to knitting a bit more on it this weekend :)

I am onto the body section now and will be starting the hem section soon (not sure if that will happen this weekend as this will be train knitting, so we will see how I progress :))

Next up:

seawall tin can knits

wunderwolle


I haven't had much chance to knit more on them this week, but hopefully will be remedying that after this post is up :)

I have turned the heels (did a boomerang heel - german short row heel) and am now on my home stretch.

Now that I have a lot more "knitting" stitches it should progress quite quickly.

How are your socks coming along?



Did you see what is up for grabs in the March Draw for 3 lovely winners?

You can find the prizes HERE

My Baa-ble hat is off the needles and will be shared with you on Friday.

Do come by then and share your FOs for the week with us all too :)

I am sharing this post with all of my usual, creative friends so pop on over there for some great inspiration.

See you Friday.
x

Tuesday 16 February 2016

Sock-Along Prizes for the March Draw

Sock-Along 2016 March Prizes

The first draw for this year's Sock-Along is coming up at the end of March.

The prizes have all arrived and are ready to be given on to their new homes :)

At the end of March there will be a draw where 3 participants of the Sock-Along will win one of these amazing prizes.

To be eligible to win you have to have cast off a pair of socks in the same month that you cast them on :)

Post your cast on (no earlier than the first of each month) and bound off images (no later than the last day of each month) in the Ravelry group

Haven't you joined in the fun yet?

There is still loads of time :)
The Sock-Along runs for the whole of 2016 and every 3 months there will be a new draw!

In the March Draw the three prizes up for grabs are the following:

spinnwebstube


wunderwolle

and some super squishy sock yarn from Wunderwolle

tin can knits prizes

And a pattern Ebook of your choice from Tin Can Knits

Good Luck!

The winners will be announced in the first week of April 2016!

Monday 15 February 2016

Sock-Along Prizes up for Grabs - Spinnwebstube

spinnwebstube

Last Monday I introduced you to Rita from Spinnwebstube

She has offered some amazing prizes to be won by those of you taking part in this year's Sock-Along.

Let me share with you these gorgeous goodies that are up for grabs!


This is her unique sock yarn number U151.
It consists of 75% superwash wool, 25% Polyamide.
It weighs 100g and has a length of 420m
It has beautiful orange tones to this yarn in varying degrees.

spinnwebstube boots sock wool

It consists of 44% Superwash Wool, 42% Cotton, 14% Polyamide
It weighs 100g and has a length of 400m
This yarn has a gorgeous blue tone with white/silver speckles

Dots and stripes spinnwebstube

Look at this beauty!
I think this is some stunning yarn, I absolutely love the colour on that black background don't you?
This skein consists of 75% Superwash wool, 25% Polyamide
Rita has different variations of this yarn, each of them prettier than the next!

And her last prize that she has so kindly donated:

Holz und Stein sock needles

These exquisite "Holz und Stein" ebony DPNs.
These needles are 15 cm long and are 2.5 mm thick

All of these prizes will be up for grabs throughout the Sock-Along for the duration of 2016.

(If you can't wait to try out some of this yarn yumminess then head over to her Site and purchase some for yourself today)

The first of these prizes will be in the draw taking place at the end of March.

You still have loads of time to join in the fun!

Come and share all your cast on and finished object images for the month of February in the Ravelry Group HERE

You can share your images on Instagram too - just use the Hashtag #sockalong2016 and / or #marigoldsloft so I can find you ;)

Good Luck!
x

Friday 12 February 2016

FO Friday Fun

fo friday fun

Do you have something to show off this Friday?

Feel free to link your finished projects of this week below.
Have a super weekend.
x

Thursday 11 February 2016

Tutorial Thursdays Month-Long Linky Party


Welcome back to another month of linking fun!


February is here and with it a lot of romance and craft making!


Get creative and share your craft tutorials with us all!


I would love to see them, so share them below :)

Feel free to link up all your crafts below.
I look forward to visiting all of the links I find below.

If you would like a button for your site feel free to use the one below:

Marigolds' Loft



Wednesday 10 February 2016

Work in Progress


I love that feeling when you look at your WIPs from the previous week and see that they have grown, don't you? :)

Let me jump right in:

avalanche

This is my Avalanche.
I have closed my work in the round and am close to separating for the sleeves.

I really am enjoying this project. I think it has a lot to do with the gorgeous yarn, it makes it really easy to knit with :)

baable hat

Here is my Baa-ble hat :)

I love how fast this project grows. 
I am only knitting this project every Monday at our group and am hoping to have it close to finished by the end of next Mondays evening!



This pair is also growing quite steadily :)
I am managing to knit my 10 rows a day on the pattern and will be finishing my 3rd pattern repeat today and then will be turning the heel.

How are your Sock-Along Socks growing?

If you haven't yet joined in there is still ample time to get those February socks on and off the needles before the end of the month!

I would love to see your projects grow :)


At my sewing group this week I have started a new project.

I am planning on sewing the dress you see in the image, with the fabric you see.

What I didn't take into consideration is that each stripe is a bit different to the next one, which means I have had a LOT of work cutting out the pieces so that that are coordinated throughout the dress :O

I look forward to seeing it's progress next week.


And lastly, I wanted to share my warp that I wound last week. It is so colourful it brightens my day when I look at it.

I thought others of you who may also have rather grey weather today may need the rainbow too :)

Reading-wise: Well, I am doing really badly bookwise this year.....

I am still busy on the book I got for Christmas from Jas!

I am just so busy with our Renovation and work that at night I drop into bed and go straight to sleep!

I will be sharing this post with all of my creative weekly friends, so pop on over there for some great inspiration :)

See you soon
x
(Do come back on Friday and share your FOs with us all)



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