Room with a view

Hello, hello!

I hope you are all very well, happy and enjoying the beginning of Spring (or autumn, depending on which hemisphere you live in).

I had a sudden realisation that since I moved house, I haven't shared the lovely view I have from our new flat. So here it is. We have a view on this gorgeous old house, with the snow-capped mountains behind it and, on a good day, a bright blue sky. We also have an interesting view of the rest of the mountains and a view up the road where if I'm lucky I can see (and sometimes hear) the neighbour's geese and chickens.

Anyway, back to the house. It's a very old house, dating back to the time of Voltaire, who owned a château just down the road. But the house in the picture didn't belong to Voltaire, it belonged to his neighbour and they really didn't get along very well. I heard that Voltaire did everything he could to bother them. Unlike Voltaire's château that now belongs to the state, this house is still privately owned. The shutters are closed almost all the time though, so it doesn't look like anyone lives there. But still, I love to see it when I open my own shutters every morning.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

My first doll!

Hello there!  My amigurumi activity has until now been solely devoted to toy animals (and a robot) and until now I'd never made a doll. For many years I dreamed about sewing a rag doll but nothing ever came of it, so when I found this pattern I decided to give it a try. The pattern calls for quite a heavy yarn which, going from some of the comments, makes rather a large doll. So I decided to use Debbie Bliss eco baby yarn (sports weight, somewhere between 4ply and DK) and a 3mm hook, and my doll is 26cm or 10 inches tall. I'm not extremely happy with her hair, but never mind. 

Here she is in her underwear! Her legs are really the same length, even though they don't look it in this photo. 

I made the dress from my own pattern, and I'm making some shoes for her too. I remember how much fun it is to dress your dolly. Made from organic cotton, she will be for sale at the organic market at the end of May.

I also finished this keyring at the weekend:

It's a small version of my very own owl pattern. I used some left over Catania yarn and a 2.5 mm hook to make this 8cm/3 inch cutie. I love the result you can obtain from this yarn/hook combination, but it's a bit hard on the fingers and takes a lot longer to make than you'd imagine. Worth every minute, though.