Guest blogging today!

Today you can find me Guest blogging at Clover & Violets. Read more about their "A Season by Hand" series in this post. And please come and visit to see other guest bloggers too.

Are you a new visitor from Clover & Violet??? Welcome!!! I am delighted to have you here. I am currently on vacation and will be back mid August. Feel free to tip toe around My Rose Valley, there might be a bit of dust bunnies in the corners but over all it is a quite cozy place that I call my happy place. Enjoy your visit and hope you will come back for more in August.

Kärlek
Annette

Holiday preparations

What WiP to bring? At 4 am tomorrow morning we leave for the airport to fly to Sweden. I will disconnect with you all for about 3 weeks. I still take yarn orders in my Yarn Shop but they will not be processed until I come back. Visit my Yarn Shop for more information. I will occassionally check my Inbox but not very often so please don't be offended if I don't reply to any questions you might have. We will be without Internet connection most of the time so that is what it is... Cold turkey for me who are used to be constantly connected. H-E-L-P! Actually it is going to be wonderful. :D

Finally all the suitcases are packed it is only my holiday crochet project that needs to be organized... Hmmm. But which WiP should I bring with me?

The shawl is for a friend of my Mama, a woman who is a bit poorly. I don't know her but after hearing all the stories from my Mama I started on this shawl for her a while ago, to keep her warm on chilly summer evenings I thought. I think I will finish it soon if I bring it along now.

The pot holder can come with too as I want to write out the pattern for it. And I would love to make some more in different colors. And I need some. I am like the shoe maker who walks around in broken shoes... My pot holders are awful.

The Sweet Hearts are always fun to have on hand. Quick and easy to make and turn into garlands to give to friends that I visit. It is also a project I can share with Nelly Bo who loves to crochet them.

The Maybelle Squares are just WAITING to be joined together. I need some more squares for what I have in mind. A very convenient WiP to bring and incredibly fun. A lot of Tilda yarn fun!!!

The hanger covers I think will stay... I can finish them off when I get back. And then there is a stripy project in my head that I would like to try... Hmmm. And my hand piecing hexagons...

So many projects to choose from. I will keep my hands busy this holiday for sure.

And before I go - don't forget - on Thursday 18th of July
you can find me over at Clover & Violet's guest blogging.
Come visit!!!

Happy Summer everyone, see you when I get back in August.

Kärlek
Annette

Me guest blogging at "A Season by Hand at Clover & Violet"

Upper row from left: A Seson By Hand at Clover & Violet, Announcement post,  Clover & Violet.
Middle row from left: Lots of Pink here,  Patchwork n' Play, Why Not Sew,
Bottom row from left: Sew Lux Fabric, Jenniffier's Sometimes Creative Life, Plum and June

I am invited to guest blog over at Clover & Violets wonderful sewing blog. The blog's authors are Jennie and Clara, mother and daughter, who loves to sew and make patchwork. They design their own patterns and also has a 101 Embroidery and a 101 Sewing series teaching you all the basics and advanced techniques of these crafts. It is just a wonderful place to visit.

This summer Jennie is moving house with her family across the USA and during this big move Jennie and Clara has organized a summer guest blogging series called "A Season by Hand at Clover & Violet" where many crafters are invited to share their summer crafts, tutorials, WiPs and fabulous Sponsor Give Away's every other day to keep the blog alive.
I have been invited to share a crochet post on the 18th of July, yep... Write that down because I need you to come over and support me over there. I would lie if I said I wasn't nervous because I am. But nervous is good. That mean you are alive and living it!!!

Please visit Clover & Violet and check out their "A Season by Hand at Clover & Violet" schedule to see if you know anyone of the other talented guests. And like I said, I am up on the 18th of July and I will share my Sweet Heart pattern as a garland. Yesterday I took the last few photos for the guest post, today I will do my last editing of the actual post...

Kärlek
Annette

My Scandinavian Homespun home - vintage plates

It makes me so incredibly happy to find beautiful treasures like this in a flea market. These vintage plates with hand painted flowers takes me back to my childhood summers at my Dad's summer house in southern Sweden. His house is an old traditional red Swedish big cottage with white corners and almost everything in it is from auctions and flea markets.

I have always admired his collection of odd plates, cups and glasses... Odd chairs, bed linen, table cloths and tables. I am a girl who fancy the thought of simple living, the way life used to be before we got over cluttered with technology, toys, material things and just stuff.

I am making my home a Scandinavian Homespun home... It is a slow process but every step towards my dream home is a moment of joy for me. These plates are a perfect addition to my odd number of blue and white plates and they will be deeply loved and treasured for years to come. I love the thought of having my breakfast cereal, yogurt on these plates... I love the thought of serving delicious pasta dinners on these plates. Five. Just enough for my lovely family.

Kärlek
Annette

I rather walk around naked

Someone told me on Instagram that she was bummed she spent her last pennies on clothing the other day so that she now can't splash out on Tilda yarn from My Rose Valley Yarn Shop. I told this someone that I rather walk around naked with a basket full of wool like this if I had the choice. Clothing is over rated. This basket is pure bliss. Don't you agree? This someone knows who she is. I still smile at the memory of this IG moment.

All 50 colors of the wonderful Swedish Tilda yarn is now stocked in My Rose Valley Yarn Shop ready to be shipped. Make your order today. I ship worldwide. Payment through PayPal. You can find more information and a complete color chart here. Welcome!

Kärlek
Annette

PS The Maybelle square is a pot holder in progress. Pattern up soon.

This and that

School is finished. Emmy let go of her balloon with her address tag attached to it and we all watched it rise to the sky with all the other children's balloons. It is a sweet tradition. The idea is that we don't know how far it will fly and no matter where it lands we hope someone will find it and send us a letter. A little bit like a message in a bottle but more like a message in the sky. :D

I have been hooking some but mostly re-organized things after the 2 crazy last weeks of school. Why is it that EVERYTHING has to happen the last two weeks of school? And when you have three kids... Well, you are doomed to fail at least once. I failed twice this year, forgetting pick-nick bags and excursions... But now all that is over.

I am watching my garden recovering from the storm, beautiful roses in the sunset. The weather is finally hot and we have been hanging out on the beach this weekend. The water is freezing and it took my love more than 2 hours top finally get in... There has been a number of drives to the motor cross track and Luca Bo is a natural, jumping and going fast already. And I am continuing my regular Cross Fit training and the other day I was challenged by this "flipping tire" exercise that I never thought I would be able to do. It weighs 80 kilos. Yep! I flipped almost 40 times. I am sore today.

I am putting small flowers in jars and vases and am unpacking my Tilda yarn delivery. I did a quick update of my Yarn Shop page with a new color chart until I have a proper web shop to reveal sometime after the summer. Please come and visit. I ship worldwide!!! You will be knocked out by the color beauties I have in my shop now.

So things are pretty good around here. I am hanging laundry and thinking life is great.

Kärlek
Annette

Tilda yarn delivery

Yesterday I received a BIG delivery of the wonderful Tilda yarn for my online shop. This yarn have been sold out in 22 colors at the manufacturer for months and I've been patiently waiting for the delivery... This time I have ordered 50 different shades!!!

And what else to do when you get this much yarn delivered to your front door? Some yarn play of course. Mixing wonderful  blue and pinks in a stripy pattern for a hanger. I am already planning the next color combos to play with. There is no end. My head is ready to explode of great color combos and crochet patterns. And then I have to stock my shop of course.

I ship worldwide. Stay tuned to make your order as soon as I re-open My Rose Valley Yarn Shop. This is so exciting.

Yarn used in this post are:
No 71 - Blue, No 572 - Light blue, No 05 - Creamy white, No 63 - Cyklamen, No 44 - Raspberry, 
No 40 - Pink

Kärlek
Annette

Instant snap shots

I have always captured my life in pictures, collected them on film rolls, developed and attached them in albums... It used to be a long process... And then digital camera came and the pictures became even more, but they stayed in my computer or on CDs...  I didn't see them very often.

I discovered the blog world and my blogging became a picture and writing journal for me, a book of my crafty life and country living, struggles and laughter. And then I got a Smart phone and tried out Instagram... W-O-W! I love Instagram.

Isn't it just fabulous how we can snap a shot with our Smart phone and instantly put it up to tell a picture story to a friend? How these pictures of crafts, kids, nature, dinners and cups of coffee makes us all connect world wide and feel the moment? How we suddenly are not alone. There is always someone there to click "Like" that flashes up on the screen and its like having a friend present in the room... I think it is great. And the conversation is awesome. So cheerful, happy and supportive. It is by far my favorite social media for the moment. Instagram is just that - an instant telegram to the world. Spontaneous. Loving. Fun.

Follow me on Instagram if you would like to see what is going on between my blog posts. You will find me under the name MyRoseValley. Todays picture potpurri is a collection of last week, a little bt of everything but  a lot of hooky love.

Kärlek
Annette