Blackbunny is knitting

Taking a break

2008-06-04T18:22:00.003+01:00

My blog is just over 1 year old now, and as much as I like to read other blogs I feel less compelled to blog myself lately. So, I decided to take a little break.

Some of you continue to check my blog now and then but nothing is happening here LOL !

I will be reading and commenting on your blogs though and if you want to see what I'm up too, you can always check Ravelry and maybe leave me a comment there if you like, I'm blackbun over there.

Now I won't leave you without some pictures now !

I spun some beautiful soft grey merino/alpaca/silk roving into this fingering weight 2-ply yarn.

The picture does NOT do this justice because it has silver sparkles in it which don't show here.

It's almost like the yarn Nancy describes in this post on her blog !

I love it ! I also started to knit something with it, my first selfmade yarn knit up, that's so cool !

It's a simple lace pattern for a little scarf, only just started so I can't make much of it yet.

The roving was from Enchanted Knoll, 3 oz and 377 yards.

Here is another handspun project, I'm making a cowl (since everyone seems to make one nowadays) of roving bought from Allspunup. Not finished yet either. Seems like a case of startitis here.

And yet some more handspun, now it get's boring doesn't it ?

This is from 80/20 merino/tussah silk which was buttery soft . I have no idea how much yardage I have here, I lost count when I was winding it on the niddy-noddy. Yeah counting can hard sometimes.

So for now I will leave you with this. I have had such a good time with you and want to thank you for al the kind comments you have left here. It's greatly appreciated !

Wishing you all the best,

and keep on knitting !!!!!!!!!!!!

I have been drawn

2008-04-21T11:22:00.005+01:00

To my wheel lately. It is like if an invisible magical thread has been spun between my and my wheel. If I start spinning I can't seem to stop, I don't even allow myself to drink or eat something while spinning. What do you think, can I call this another addiction ?

I have been knitting too, something for my sister's birthday. It's a scarf made from 1 skein of Handmaiden Sea Silk in the color "Mermaid". It has a silvery sheen on the purples and blues, which indeed could resemble a Mermaid's tail. Just the colors she loves.
I made it in about 1 week and finished the day of her birthday. Phew, that was close !
I don't have more pictures because it was wrapped in a hurry, but I can tell you she was VERY pleased with it.

The Vertical Drop Stitch Scarf

It's very simple to make, I'll give you the pattern here:
With 3 mm needles (or US 3) cast on 44 stitches.

Setup row, right side: K1, *p2, k1, yo, k1, p2, k2 ; rep from *, end with p2, k1.
Rows 1, 3 and 5, wrong side : P1, * k2, p2, k2, p3: rep from *, end with k2, p1.
Row 2 and 4, right side: K1, * p2, k3, p2, k2: rep from *, end with p2, k1.
Row 6: k1, * p2, k1, drop next st. off the needle and unravel down to the yo six rows below, k1, p2, k1, yo, k1 : rep from *, end with p2, k1.
Rows 7, 9 and 11 : p1, * k2, p3, k2, p2 ;, rep from *, end with k2, p1
Rows 8 and 10 : k1, * p2, k2, p2, k3; rep from *, end with p2, k1
Row 12 : k1,* p2, k1, yo, k1, p2, k1, drop next st. off needle as before, k1 ; rep from *, end with p2, k1.

Cast off : work row 6 or row 12 omitting the yo's, then cast off.

This is what I have been spinning lately: above is appr. 207 yards of a 2-ply (DK weight) made of 4.0z merino roving I bought from FrecklFaceFibers at Etsy. I made it so that it will knit up in stripes. I hope.

Below is a thick and thin spun singles from a batt bought at Loop also an Etsy store. It has lots of colors in it with all kinds of little scraps of fabric and glittery stuff. I had so much fun making this ! At first I was afraid to touch the batt, it was so pretty and I was afraid to mess it up, but then decided not be such a chicken and just DO it. I am rather pleased with it, I have absolutely no idea what to make with it, but it is fun to look at it and touch it now and then. I also have no idea how many yards there are in this because I didn't have a niddy noddy when I wound it.

This is a single ply lace to fingering weight yarn, made from 4 oz of Australian superwash merino roving called Choco Raspberry. It's from Zen Yarn Garden . It has reds, pinks and brown in it and I am hoping it will enough to make this . Mimknits has not released the Persephone pattern yet, but it seems a perfect match to me.

Then I promised a long time ago to Sereknitty to post 7 random facts about me. Well here we go:

* I was born 46 years ago in Gouda, so yes you could say I am a "cheesehead" or a "kaaskop" as we say in Dutch.

* We lived on the banks of the Hollandsche IJssel, and when I was a little girl I used to swim across it. Imagine, a tidal river with a strong currant and big boats. I never ever allowed my children to swim in it.

* My father was a roadworker and used to take me with him on Sataurday mornings when he had to a job. So if you need someone who can pave your garden, just call me !

*I am very fond at all kinds of animals with 1 big exception. Spppppiders, brrr..... They give me the creeps. I have nightmares about them, really, just ask my DH.

* Addicted to chocolate, that's what I am. Can't live a day without it !

* As a real Dutch girl I ought to love herring, raw with onions. But... I don't, I find it really disgusting. If I see a herringcart I am not tempted to stop there as my DH does, just the thought of it, yuck..... As a matter of fact I don't like fish in general.

* Besides a yarn addicition I also have a shoe addiction. If I see a shoestore I just have to visit it, which often results to....new shoes.

So to top it off I think it is time for another blackbun picture. Isn't she cute with her head in my hand ? She just loves to sit like this and lick my hand from time to time.

That sure took me long enough !

2008-03-31T13:36:00.004+01:00

Finally I have returned to blogland !
I'm sorry it took me so long but I just didn't have the energy to put up a post. It has been a long time since I felt like this, with a total lack of energy to do anything at all. It started after I had the flu and I just didn't seem to get over it. On top of that my father got ill and had to have some tests in hospital. Thanks to those who showed their concern for me, it was greatly appreciated. But today the sun is shining so who could ask for more !

The Gust scarf from Knitspot is ready, can you see the first plum tree blossoms behind her ? The yarn is from Smatterings, it's the lovely Arequipa in the Atlantic colorway.

And to prove that spring is really here , a daffodil.

Even the goats are happy to be outside today.

I have done some serious spring cleaning in my projects. I have frogged everything that was not to my liking, including the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. I already had some doubts about the size, I was afraid it would be too big. So I took it of the needles to measure it and it was just as I had feared, it was about TWO sizes too big. So of to the frogpond it went. As well as some other projects that I didn't like anymore.

Instead I started with a new project that I loved the instant I saw it about 6 months ago. It 's "Smoulder" from Kaffe Fassett from Rowan Magazine 31. It took me ages to finally get all the colors that I needed because some of them are discontinued and it was very hard to find them on the internet. But a couple of weeks ago the last of them came in and I could start it. The back, 2 fronts and half a sleeve are already done. I love it ! Maybe not so anymore after I have to weave in all the ends, there must me about a million of them. But untill now I do, and most important I think it might actually fit.

This is the back, with all the ends tucked under it ( to not discourage me )

Finally I want to show you the Navajo plied yarn I spun and dyed myself. It's just a little skein, I have no idea how much yardage it has but I'm sute I can make something small from it.

Oh and Sereknitty I havent't forgotten about the random facts, I will post about that next time, promise.

A Rose is a rose is a rose.........

2008-02-12T14:05:00.000Z

Next week is my birthday and I already got my present ! A Majacraft Rose spinning wheel. I'm so happy with her, she is spinning like a dream. I'm not yet, but with a lot of patience and practice I'm sure I will learn to make some nice yarns on her.

Don't let the picture fool you, it seems even but in reality it is not. There are parts in it when you pull it of the bobbin the yarn just falls apart. I need to put more twist in it so it seems, but everything is still very new for me. Next saturday is my next lesson and I'm sure I will learn a lot more then.

Not a lot of knitting has taken place the last few weeks, first I got the flu which left me with a very bad cough. I had several sleepless nights because of that, so I felt extremely tired and it somehow had a very bad effect on my back too. I couldn't stand up straight for several days. I looked like an old rasping woman . Really, I was so glad I finally felt better, but then...I fell of the stairs. Now don't laugh, it really did hurt ! A lot... Lots of bruises, a sore arm and a eh bum (which came in close contact with every step) But i'm fine now .

See, I even knit some more on the sock. The pattern is called something like "coffeebean" it's very simple but I can't handle anything complicated on a first sock.

Eldest daughter asked if I could make her boyfriend a scarf. Preferably black and something with a cable. The Reversible Cable Scarf was the most appealing pattern to me, because it has a pattern on both sides as the name already suggests. Very handy if you're male and don't care to take a look if the right side is on front.
I used Rowan Pure Wool Aran in black, on 5 mm needles.
The yarn knits up nice but the color was kind of depressing. The weather was also grey and dark and I wasn't feeling too well so I was really glad to have it finished. Just in time for him to wear with the spring weather we had over here the last couple of days haha. Well he can wear it next winter I guess and maybe winter will return for a few more days.

Can you see that there are 2 cables on one side and 3 on the other ?

I made myself a promise that only after I finished it I could cast on for Gust, Anne's new scarf pattern. The yarn is from Smatterings, a lovely alpaca/silk in the color "Atlantic". I also ordered another color, "The Blues". This is just what I needed to cheer me up !

And to cheer myself up even more I ordered something at The Woolen Rabbit too. Opulence merino/silk in "Moroccan Spice" and some yummy roving in "Tupelo Honey". Mmmm, georgeous.

Fearless

2008-01-23T10:50:00.001Z

Because I have started my first sock ever !
It's not much of a sock yet, but I still consider this as Fearless Knitting. As this is the year of fearless knitting in blogland I decided to join the ranks. It seems awfully small to me though, I'm afraid it will never fit my rather shapely calves. I am using Regia Uni, mainly because this is the yarn what is used in the pattern. I am still fiddling a lot with the yarn and 5 dpn's. I know a lot of people use 4 dpn's to make socks, but this pattern also uses 5, it's from the sockmaking book I bought a while ago. It just needs some time to get used to it I guess.

And another fearless thing for me to do was to learn how to spin. Last Saturday was my first spinning class and it was such fun to do ! There were four of us, with me the only one who had never done this before. The class started with a lesson about different sorts of wool, silk and cotton. Then we learned how to wash and comb raw fleece, we also got a bag of unwashed fleece to take home with us so we can prepare and spin this at home. Since I don't own a spinning wheel I had to rent one so I can practice and make enough to ply in the next lesson in which we will also dye it. I used a Majacraft Rose there but took a Majacraft Suzie home, it makes quite a difference to me. I still have a lot of trouble not to overtwist it on this one. I keep adjusting the wheel but it not quite to my liking yet, I guess you could say I prefer the Rose over this one. Maybe, just maybe I can ask one for my birthday next month !

On the knitting front I started a Melon Scarf from VLT in a bright dark pink. I really needed a bright color to knit with because the days are gray and depressing here lateley with rain and hard winds most of the time. With unusual high temperatures it almost seems like fall. I am using Nature's Palette fingering weight in the color Indian Paintbrush, lovely yarn to work with.

The pattern is really easy, I don't even need a chart with it. So it's also suitable for TV knitting. I really like the overall effect this pattern creates.

Juno is ready

2008-01-11T14:31:00.001Z

And I am really happy with her !

Pattern: Juno Regina
Yarn: Silk/merino laceweight yarn from the Plucky Knitter in color "Platinum"
Needles: US 4, 3,5 mm.

This was such an enjoyable project ! The yarn was a delight to knit with, the pattern was easy to follow and the result was everything I hoped for. The yarn really had a lot to do with the pleasure, Sarah really knows how to dye a yarn !
It's as light as air but still quite warm because of the merino while the silk gives it a subtle sheen. It also looks good on my red coat which isn't really as red as in the picture BTW.
I asked my DH to take some pictures of me wearing the shawl but they all came out blurry. I wasn't wearing the coat then in case you were wandering, so he couldn't have been blinded by it !
Wearing this coat makes me happy on days like these, it has been a really gray and rainy day here. And it looks like the coming days are not going to be much better.

Here is another picture of it with some more detail.

This one also came of the needles recently, it's one of the scarfs from the book Scarf Style , Misty Garden. The yarn is from Habu : Mohair Tam in aqua blue. I can't remember where I bought it, but it's VERY soft and warm. I used 4 balls for it, I just kept knitting untill I ran out of yarn.
The picture above is the most accurate in color I think.

I'm glad everything is back to normal now, everyone is either back at work or at school. And from what I have read on other blogs I'm not the only one who was glad the holidays were over .

Anyway, exciting things are about to happen. I am going to take my first spinning lessons ever next week ! I can hardly wait ! Last November there was a knitting and needlework fair where someone was demonstrating a Majacraft spinning wheel. I asked if they also gave spinning lessons and they wrote down my name and said they would contact me when they would start a new group. Last night they called and asked if I was still interested, silly question offcourse ! So saturday the 19th I will have my first lesson. If you would have asked me a year ago if I wanted to spin, I probably would have said no. I always thought it was kind of oldfashioned and not something I was interested in at all. But after reading all kinds of blogs where lovely things were created with handspun yarn I changed my mind. I really want to give this a try, maybe I won't like it, maybe I'm not good at it all, but at least I tried. And maybe one dayI will knit a shawl with my own handspun yarn !

Now Juno is ready I can continue with this: Simurgh from Anne. I started this a few weeks before Christmas, but then all the Christmas knitting had to be finished so I only did a few repeats so far. The yarn is Wollmeise laceweight yarn in Veilchen, a dark blue/purple color, very hard to capture in the right color.

I blocked it out a bit so you can see the shape of the feathers here. The yarn is slightly thinner than the pattern asked for but I am going to make the biggest size so it will still be big enough.

2007-12-31T15:04:00.000Z

On this last day of the year a quick update . The Christmas presents were all well received and in full use already. Because I had already packed this hat for DH I didn't have the chance to take a picture before it was unwrapped. He really needed a basic hat which wasn't to bulky and was nice and soft to the touch. I'm very glad it fits ! While knitting I wasn't convinced it would be big enough, so it was excitement to the end :-)
I washed it because this yarn really needs that. It's Colourmart Cashmere which is sold on cones, the yarn is still oiled from the machines it was spun on and doesn't show it's true beauty untill it's thoroughly washed.

Pattern: Seaman's Cap by Needle Beetle
Yarn: Colourmart Cashmere, DK weight from singles, colour Denim Indigo
Needles: 4 mm, US 6

Eldest daughter kindly asked if I would make her a matching hat to go with her scarf ( see previous post). I showed her some patterns on Ravelry and this is what she chose. Only thing is it's not knitted but crocheted. My crochet skills were a little bit rusted so to speak, so I had to do it over a couple of times to get it right. It fits my head ( no, no pictures of me with a hat on this blog !) and mine is just as big as hers so I'm sure it will fit. She hasn't seen it yet, I hope she will like it.
Sadly there a no modeled pictures to show, they were all too busy or not in the right mood to pose. But I will make them, I have my ways...

Pattern: The Darling Diva's Snow Day Hat from Through the Loops.

Yarn: Manos del Uruguay,colour Kelp.

Crochethook: 5 mm.

I always get kind of sad on the last day of the year, yet another year has flewn by. Opportunies and chances are gone, new ones still to come. Oh, I won't bother you with boring intentions , but I will share just this one with you. I truly intend to spend more time knitting than spending time behind the computer and when I knit I want to enjoy every minute of it !

Wishing you all a Very Happy New Year !!!!!!!

It's almost Christmas.....

2007-12-23T12:04:00.000Z

And even if I didn't intend to do Christmas knitting I did give in at the last moment. Everyone seemed in need of something when suddenly the cold set in.
Eldest daughter wanted a warm, thick scarf. So I made her one.

Pattern : My So Called Scarf
Yarn: Manos de Uruguay, color 7325 "Kelp", 2 skeins
Needles: 8 mm, US 11
Modifications: I made it wider (because she wanted it that way) so it turned out shorter too.

Middle daughter was in desparate need of some warm fingerless mitts, I searched for some patterns and this one seemed to fit the bill.

Pattern: Fetching Yarn: Posh Yarn Emily, color Mmmm. Yarn held double to create a thicker fabric. Needles: 4,5 mm, US 7 dpn's . Modifications: I added 2 more repeats at the arm and 1 more repeat at the fingers to make it a bit longer. Her fingers are much longer than mine which are more child size. Or plump and short is also a way to describe them.

Youngest daughter always has to leave early for school on her bike. She complained about her cold ears so when Kirsten offered this pattern I knew it was just right for her !

Pattern: Thorpe Yarn: Manos del Uruguay, color 113, Wildflowers. Needles: 5 mm, US 8.

It's not finished yet, I still have to attach the trimming to it, but it is still drying after I gave it a bath to soften up the yarn a bit.

After Christmas I will show you the hat I made for the husband, I alreay packed it before I thought about making a picture of it. The last week has been quite hectic this way,that is what happens if you don't plan ahead and start knitting with only 1 week to spare. Now it's time to celebrate ( and do some shopping and baking) so I'm wishing you all a MERRY CHRISTMAS !!!

It's cold outside !

Of little scarves, little men and little houses

2007-12-07T09:17:00.001Z

First I would like to thank you for all the nice comments you are giving. I can't reply to them directly (thank you Blogger) but I cherish them all !

After seeing Anne's pretty little scarf I really got inspired to make something like this myself. Anne is so talented, she knits with amazing speed ! Have you seen her newest shawl design ? It's so pretty !
This kind of color for a scarf would be perfect to match with several sweaters and I just happened to have some yarn in this colorway. Really, the stash I have is getting out of control, I am afraid to show it to anybody ! But I didn't want it to be a shameless copy after all, so I searched through my pattern books and came up with this :

Pattern: Scroll stitch pattern, page 200 from Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns, volume 1. Yarn: Posh Yarn, Eva 4-ply, 55% silk 45 % cashmere in color Bronze ,I used 1 1/2 skeins. Needles: 4,5 mm.

I used 5 repeats for this scarf with no side stitches and slipped the first stitch .

So far Juno has been growing slowly but steadily, I am almost through 3/4 of the pattern now. And no, I haven't abondoned my cardigans, I am picking them up from time to time. Maybe next time I will have something more to show you.

And this has been growing too, it doesn't look like much now but I hope it will look like one of these little men in the end. And that he will be finished in time for Christmas.......

The Yuletide Gnomes from the Bumper Book of Knitting.

I found some very cheap (acrylic) yarn in the little shop nearby. You won't be able to find a 100 % wool in this shop, and the owner never heard of handddyed yarn in her entire life. She doesn't even know what a rowcounter is, or a cable needle when I asked for these. Oh well, thank goodness for the internet !

Before I started knitting again I was making miniatures. I had a very good friend who also liked to do this and we came together every two weeks to make things, drink tea and chat a lot. Last year this time a very unexpected phone call came, she died very sudden from a stroke. Since that time I haven't picked it up again, I can't find the pleasure in doing this anymore. It will come back I'm sure of that, but I need some more time I guess.

This is the dollhouse I build together with the help of DH. We made the outside together, the inside is decorated and made by me. I also made the flowers in the garden with paper and moss. Sadly it doesn't quite look like this anymore, we moved it upstairs this spring when we redecorated the livingroom and a certain black little rabbit had access to it. She ate most of the moss and shredded the flowers to bits...... I still love her. *

Granny standing in her kitchen, she is wearing a little cardigan I knitted for her. This is really the tiniest thing I ever knitted !

A closer look at the garden with the rabbit hutch and the chickens on the lawn. It really looked nice ONCE didn't it ?

* I hope she enjoyed it !

A shawl for my new coat

2007-11-28T12:06:00.000Z

Well I meant to show you pictures of this sooner, but somehow I can't seem to find the cable for uploading pictures to the computer. I had to buy a cardreader and now I'm sure I will find it very soon now I have this one, but now I can use this for the other camera as well. On top of that the pictures I took earlier were deleted from the camera. Youngst daughter loves to make pictures with the new camera and this is what happens if you can't connect to your computer right away !

I bought a new coat , it's grey and I didn't have a nice comfortable shawl to go with it. So I looked into my stash if I could find something matching. I had some balls of Noro Silk Garden, not all the same color but in the same colorway. I really like the idea of the striped Noro Scarf from Brooklyntweed but wanted a wider scarf, more like a shawl. And after searching through Ravelry I came up with the idea of another Clapotis. This was done on size 9 needles ( 5,5 mm)
and with 5 skeins Noro Silke Garden in three different colors, alternating between 2 yarns every two rows. Sorry, I threw away the ballbands so I can't give any colors.
I think it matches quite well, I still have to block it but to be honest I really like the look of it as it is.

Last week I went to a wool and needlework fair in Rijswijk where I purchased these: KnitPicks Harmony needles. Can you believe that, over here in the Netherlands, on a fair !
I bought them from Storm op zolder or "Stormintheattic" on Ravelry. She just received the day before the fair and it turns out she is the distributor of KnitPicks over here. I didn't hesitate very long, I just had to have these........

and these as well. DPN's in all sizes, because......

I bought this as well. A Dutch book on how to knit socks from Wolhalla . Everything I want to know is in it, now I just have to start, someday soon I'm sure.

The yarn is also from Storm op Zolder, 2 laceweights and green sockweight.

The same day this arrived from Maple , some beautiful handdyed and handspun Alpaca. It's soft like butter.

And yesterday I received another package. Yeah I know, it seems like Christmas over here.

But when Monkeemaker was selling some of her monkeys I just wanted to have one real bad !

Even the paper made me smile.

Look who has made it across the Canal ! HP15 has arrived safe and sound and brought me some candies too. Well actually he tried to eat them himself as soon as I opened them, didn't even bother to unwrap them. I can tell you this guy will be a handfull !

And this is proof that you should never leave a ball of yarn unattended on the floor while a bunny is hopping around !

A package

2007-11-13T10:23:00.000Z

Opening a box is always very exciting ! What's in it ? Is it exactly as you hoped it would be or is it way different than what you thought it would be ?

I was having high hopes for this one. But unpacking wasn't that easy with the help of a very curious little black bunny.

Caught you !

This was send to me by One Planet Yarn & Fiber and in it was the kit I had ordered from them for the Cluarach Stole from Knitspot that Anne so wonderfully designed. The yarn is Lanas Puras Melosa in fingering weight, color Eggplant. I already made something with this yarn before, my Clapotis (scroll down) and really liked the way it knitted up. So the yarn itself wasn't a surprise but the color was. Darker and richer than I thought it would be, the color is even darker than in the picture, and I just love it.

I loved it so much I just wanted to wind one of the skeins into a ball right away so I could make a swatch with it. But o horror, look what I found when I put it on the yarn swift.

A tangled mess ! Not just a quick wind for this one. It took me quite a while but I got it untangled in the end. I just had to break the yarn once, that's all. I just hate it when it's such a mess, it makes me nervous just to look at it. I checked the other skeins but the are fine, so I was just unlucky to get this one I guess. It also didn't show on the outside so I don't blame One Planet for this, they just couldn't have known.

A swatch was made but I haven't cast on for it yet because I found this new pattern on Ravelry.

I'd better not check Ravelry anymore, this site is driving me crazy !

It's the Juno Regina Stole from Knitty. I had this wonderful Platinum gray merino/silk from

the Plucky Knitter waiting for the right patern to come along. It's a fairly easy pattern once your through the buttom part. Just repeat the same 2 rows over and over again.
It's very hard to capture the color in this yarn, silver gray with greenish and brownish parts in it. Trust me, it's very pretty !

When this one is finished this one is also waiting in line and Anne is designing the most wonderful shawl ever right now. And just let's NOT talk about all the wonderful sweater and cardigan patterns that are waiting out there, waiting to be knitted. By me.

Not enough....

2007-11-09T09:41:00.000Z

Yarn to finish the Tulip Baby Cardigan. I only had to finish the cuff of one of the sleeves and part of the i-cord around the neck when I ran out of the main color. So close ...but not able to finish it.
I had to mail to Socktopus to ask her if she would send me a bit more. She very kindly mailed me back right away and send the yarn out right away. It seems that there were more problems with the amount of this color, the rest was more than enough, and she would make sure this would not happen anymore in the future. Unfortunately it took for more than a week to arrrive so it wasn't finished in time to give it to the new parents on our family visit.

Pattern: Tulip Baby Cardigan from Dream in Color
Yarn: Dream in Color Smooshy in several colors
Needles: 4 mm and 4,5 mm.
This was an easy to follow pattern even if I never knit an i-cord before or on 4 dpn's.
Yes, I can now knit on 4 dpn's, so socks should also be a possibility now. They are very portable projects aren't they ? No, stop ! Don't think about socks for a while yet ! My to do list is already way too long ! And there just aren't enough hours in the day for all the things I long to do most.
I already have a problem with blogging on a regular base, I always try to keep up with the blogs I love to read most but most times I just don't have enough time to sit and write up a post of my own.

But anyway, here is another finished item. My double dayflower scarf. A free pattern to be found here in a PDF file.
I used 4 balls of Noro Silk Garden in color 228. I might even make another one in a different color some day. It really was a joy to knit this, the pattern was easy to follow and with the bigger needles ( 5,5 mm) it just flew by.

Here is a picture made in Brugge. We had a wonderful time there, walking along the canals and the old buildings. It reminds me of Gouda, which is very close to my village. There are far more old buildings here, it's on the list of the Unesco Heritages.
We went to see the only yarn shop Brugge seems to have, but found it closed for the 2 days we were there. Well it wasn't meant to be I think. Instead we took home some of these......

Mmmmmmm.

Baby knits

2007-10-26T17:36:00.000+01:00

These fabulous little balls of yarn came in a kit from Socktopus all wrapped up in pretty pink tissue paper in a silver package. It's the Tulip Baby Cardigan made from Dream in Colour Smooshy yarn. And smooshy it is ! It's so soft , perfect for a little baby.

No I'm not making this for myself , althoug I almost wished it was. It's so cute ! I was hoping to get a reason to make this little cardigan ever since i first saw this and now there is one. There is a new baby girl in the family so I ordered the kit Monday morning and got it on Wednesday. Shipping from the UK is normally very quick but this was super quick ! I cast on right away and now have this finished so far. The sleeves still have to be made but I had to wait for some dpn's in the right size that I didn't have. So Wolhalla came to my rescue and send them to me right away, they came in the mail today.

I'm in a kind of hurry to finish this in time because next week we will be visiting our family and I want to give it to them then. Isn't it cute ? Or did I say that already ?

More colourful knitting was done. This is the Double Dayflower Scarf made in Noro Silk Garden color 228. If you want the pattern you can visit Nancy. She made 2 beautiful versions of it herself and made a free pdf file of the pattern.

The knitting on Imogen was on a little hold because ( again) I didn't have the right size circulars for this one. Luckily I found out that I could order KnitPicks needles at Get Knitted in the UK . It's impossible to order from KnitPicks if you don't live in the US or have an adress in the US to send it to. Unfortunately when I ordered them there was a Postal strike in the UK so I had to wait a little longer to get them. I do have a basic set of interchangeble needles because my FIL visited the US early this year and brought them for me but the size I needed wasn't in it.

The leg is doing MUCH better, so now I can walk around again. Which is a good thing because next week we will be going to Brugge in Belgium for the weekend. A gift from our daughters because we were married for....25 years. Yeah that's right, 25 years together already with my hubby (and still love him to bits). And isn't this such a sweet gift from them, 2 nights in a hotel with breakfast, such luxury !

Just wanted to show you my youngest daredevil, isn't this a great picture ?

New starts

2007-10-16T09:20:00.000+01:00

After finishing the Drops Jacket I really felt like making myself another cardigan or sweater. While reading through one of my favorite blogs http://seedstitch.blogspot.com/ I stumbled upon the Imogen cardigan from Perl Grey. It´s knitted in one piece and sideways, so after it's finished it will be quite a gamble if it fits or not. Scary ! I ordered it from Ebay in the color Mineral.

The back is already finished and now I have to start the sleeves . This is on size 10 needles , 6 mm. The yarn has wonderful colors of browns and greys, the picture really doesn't do it justice. !
And a joy to knit with too ! It's Aran Alpaca from Fleece Artist, a wool/alpaca blend and very soft. The stripes will be showing sideways.

Right now I have a lot of time to knit. Forced knitting time really, because I have to sit a lot due to a injury on my leg. I tore a muscle in my calf and walking is quite painful at the moment. How this happened ? Nothing spectacular, just a little step backwards and auch ! So while I sit and knit the rest of the family has to take over some of my tasks, like doing the groceries and cleaning the house a bit. I love to see others work don't you ? No, I'm not a slavedriver, really I'm not !

And what about this ? Oh, it's nothing, really, just another little cardigan I started too.

It´s Brier from Rowan Magazine nr. 36 in Rowan Yorkshire Tweed 4-ply in Slate and Dale of Norway Baby Ull in Black held together. The back is knitted in two halves and sewn together later with the seams facing. The back is ready and the left front is on the needles now.

Told you I had lots of knitting time right now !

P.S.

I was tagged for a book meme by Wanda from http://fiberjoy.wordpress.com/

1. Hardcover or paperback, and why ? Hardcover books are my favorite, they tend to stay neater, no floppy ears and such things.

2. If I were to own a book shop , I would call it....I really have no idea, but I love those old English bookshops, so it would definitely look like one of those.

3. My favorite quote from a book ( mention the title ) is... This is a quote from Deepak Chopra that really appeals to me : A man's goodness is truly measured by what he is, not what he does.

4. The author ( alive or deceased ) I would love to have lunch with would be... Stephanie Pearl-McPhee aka The Yarn Harlot. I really love her sense of humor AND she could teach me something about knitting too ! I recently bought her book Knitting Rules , very funny.

5. If I was going to a deserted island and could only bring one book, except for the SAS survvival guide, it would be... It's not really a book, but I would bring my little album where a lot of people,who I loved and have now passed away, have written a little poem in. It's from my childhood and very, very dear to me....

6. I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that... would hold up the book and turn the pages for me when I'm in bed , reading and tucked away under the blankets......

7. The smell of an old book reminds me of...the holidays spent with my grandmother where I visited the library almost every day. I read loads of books when I was a child.

8. If I could be the lead character in a book ( mention the title ), it would be...nobody I guess. I am perfectly happy with the life that I live.

9. The most overestimated book of all times is...probably the Da Vinci Code ?

10. I hate it when a book ...... has many errors in it, or is badly written. It also bothers me when I borrow a book from the library and it is filthy , people should ought to have some respect for books.

Danielle ( knittingmom) you are hereby tagged !

Let me show you...

2007-10-09T07:32:00.000+01:00

the finished Drops jacket !

This took me longer than expected, despite the fact that it was knit on big needles and the pattern was very easy.

It's almost 3 weeks ago since my last blog post and this is almost the only thing I knitted on during that time. I felt there wasn't anything worth to show you exept some dull grey unfinished parts. Knitting this wasn't very inspiring to me really. First there was the issue with the yarn, it's a kind of a loose fiber, with hairs flying around if you unwind it. This started to make my eyes become sore ( like there was sand in them) and my hands red and itchy. So I had to stop after shorts periods of knitting and let it rest for a while. I still liked the effect of it though so I thought I'd better move along with it. What else to do with such a big amount of bulky yarn ?

Then I had to redo the back part because it came out too big, despite the fact that my gauge was correct. Lucily I was only about halfway when I discovered this. So then the front parts and 1 sleeve and the knitting was done except the collar. So I thought...

When I went looking for buttons I found out that I forgot to make the buttonholes ! Really how stupid can you be ? So I ripped back one of the fronts and made some buttonholes. Finally ready to seam it together and to block it.

I gave it a good soak in Eucalan, but boy what a smell came out of it ! Very sheepish ! Some rinsing and another soak didn't change things much so I decided to just let it dry and hope the best of it. After 3 whole days of drying it still wasn't quite dry. I took it out and left it to dry a bit on a drying rack so things would speed up a little. Finally I was able to put the buttons on and take some pictures of it in it's finished state.

Some details.

And a picture youngest daughter took of me. I don't look really hope in it, want to know the reason why ? The sun was shining directly in my eyes AND I had to keep an eye on Hubert who was planning to jump up at me with his dirty hooves. Besides I always look awful in pictures, really I do ! That's one of the reasons I don't have many of myself, and because I'm mostly the one taking the pictures.

Beware of the monster goat !

I'm not sure about the result yet, maybe it's just too bulky for me. I DO like the pattern though, I only found out after I already bought the yarn for this that there is also a version in this pattern with thinner yarn. Maybe I will try again some day and then I will make the sleeves a bit shorter too. Now they are something in between 3/4 and full lenght. I don't feel sorry about it being not quite what I expected it to be though. It really was a good experience and it's good and warm for wearing outside, but it's far too hot for inside wear.

Pattern specifications:

pattern: Drops 103-1 jacket in Eskimo

yarn: Garnstudio Eskimo, color 14 Dark Grey

needles: US 11, 8 mm.

Just couldn't resist.

2007-09-19T15:58:00.000+01:00

The temptation was just too big ! When I saw this jacket at Ravelry I was immediately taken with it. Before I knew it I had orderded the yarn ( really I couldn't help myself ) on sunday evening. This morning the package arrived and I just HAD to cast on ! I made a swatch first just to be sure it was right. It is the yarn that is used in the pattern but you never know !
This is going to be the Drops 103-1 jacket http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/en/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=103&d_id=1 I am using the Drops Eskimo in color Dark Grey # 14.
The finished versions are very nice, it's a very versatile jacket, to be worn casual on jeans but also nice on a skirt. Besides this knits up VERY quick, this is the result of less than 1 hour work.

The yarn is a 100% wool and is very soft and fuzzy. I don't know how spinners call this but it seems like fiber straight from the batt to me.

The Tangle Yoke isn't forgotten, I just started a sleeve on 2 circulars. This is the first time I am knitting in the round, so it's not going very fast yet....

BTW the stitch markers from the last post are from Etsy http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5130205 go and take a look.

Middle daughter is doing fine ! So are we.....

Empty nest

2007-09-11T07:57:00.000+01:00

It's quiet in the house. Oldest daughter is back from her holiday but went to college the day after so will only be home in the weekends. Youngest daugther is back to school and middle daughter has left the nest. She is now living in her own little house. It's very close by but still...it's so strange to have one leaving for good. I'm happy for her, she was ready for it but I guess I wasn't yet. I'll get used to it but it will take some time.

The last two weeks were hectic, helping her to move and clean. Some shopping had to be done for all the things she needed. She was kind of lonely too so we went to the animal shelter and took home a sweet cat for her. It was my gift to her for her new home, so I was sure she wouldn't be lonely.

And look what came in the mail ! Yes, it's the VERY LONG AWAITED yarn !

I could hardly believe it when I opened the envelope ( sorry no picture of it, I was in too much of a hurry to open it ) but there they were, the yarns I ordered almost 7 months ago.

The middle one is not quite what I expected it to be, it was described as silver/dark blue but it is a silver/purple yarn. It is still beautiful though. The one at the bottom is a verly lovely silvery green, called Eucalyptus. Very nice and soft, I could make a lovely shawl out of that one.

This one is also not quite the color I ordered but I got one extra little hank of cashmere in the same color to compensate for that.

So this is a closed case now. I can knit with it if I want to, but I just don't know if I want to yet. Anyway, Im glad it's finally here.

This is what I have been knitting on for the last two weeks ( oh boy, it's been two whole weeks since my last post, I've been a bad blogger lately) the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the last IK issue. It has been ripped a few times because I had some troubles with the gauge. If I was to knit it on the gauge that was stated I had to go down 1 needle size but I didn't like how it felt then. This is a yarn that is not quite easy to unravel, it is clinging to each other and if you knit this in a dense way I'm afraid it will be a felted cardigan after a few washes. They didn't call it Felted Tweed for nothing I guess. Now I did the ribbing on the size of needles to get gauge ( 1 size down) because I didn't want to rip this out AGAIN and the stockinette part on the size suggested. This meant I had to decrease in the first row of stockinette because it would have been to big otherwise. Hope this till makes sense. I'm also making it a bit longer because it will be a bit short for me otherwise. I really prefer a cardigan that goes OVER the waistband of my trousers.

I really like my stitchmarkers : coffeebeans !

* The yarn I am using for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan is Felted Tweed from Rowan, color Cocoa.
The ones that I got in the mail are Tess' Designer Yarns.

The Bolero

2007-08-28T07:27:00.000+01:00

There was a deadline for finishing this. It had to be done before oldest daughter left for a holiday to Turkey.
So I knitted like crazy to finish it, and just made it in time. Pffff, I'm still wiping the sweat of my brows..

Pattern: Bolero from the book Feminin Strik ( a Danish book ) by Lene Holme Samsoe

Yarn: Lima from HP Gruppen, a linen/cotton/viscose blend.

Needles: 2,5 mm and 3,5 mm .

After not having made a cardigan or sweater in a adult size for , well let's say 20 years, I am quite pleased with the result. It actually fits, and that was more than I had hoped for. I had a hard time following the minimal directions given in the book. There are no diagrams, no measurements given so there was some frogging. Finding the right color ribbon also turned out quite difficult, there was not a single one that matched the color of the yarn. So I had to be a little creative, I dyed it in tea. Normal teablends didn't give the right color, still too brownish. BUT I had a little teabag that was a gift with something in a Cherryblend which was just right. The tea looked a lot like blood, so if you have any Vampire feelings I will gladly give you the brand. Not my cup of tea ...

I didn't block it, it didn't need it but there also was no time.

A close-up of the ribbon closure.

After she had left, with the bolero, I took some time to relax ( an hour or so ) and cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. But somehow I only managed to knit a couple of rows so there isn't really something to show yet. Instead I will show something else that I made and designed a while ago. A little bear. I used to make bears a couple of years ago but I haven't made one for a while now. I don't know why, because they are really fun to make. But this one seemed in need of a scarf and hat so I made hime some.

I thing he looks quite pleased with them.

Yes, I know he has big feet !

Clowning around.

2007-08-23T07:44:00.000+01:00

It's so much fun to watch our goats, they're always clowning around. Always up to something, like stealing apples from the tree.

This is Hubert in action, mommy Fleur is watching and encouraging her son. "Come on boy, you can do it ! Oh, and pick me one too !"

Hubert is 5 years old now and we all loved him since the day he was born. He loved to jump on your lap and take a nap there. Now, you really don't want him to do that anymore because he is HUGE !. We had him neutered so he could stay with us as we were very attached to him. And believe me a non neutered male goats really smells so poor Huub had to undergo this to be able to stay. Yeah, I know, I felt sorry for him too !
When they are neutered they grow a lot bigger than normal , see what I mean ?

You really don't want this on your lap do you ?

Always in for a little snack ! Hubert is on the right, Fleur his mommy in the middle and Daisy on the left. She is their niece, her mom passed away a couple of years ago.

Hubert, trying to eat my Crocs.

The grass is always greener on the other side !

And there are also times to relax, that is when they are not trying to brake through the fence, or try to molest the trees or..... you name it.

The little bolero is almost finished, a half sleeve to go and then the edging has to be done. I would like to have this finished by tomorrow before she leaves for a holiday to Turkey.

These lovely yarns came a little while ago and I hadn't showed them yet. Some more Plucky goodnesses. Merino/silk laceweight in Patinum Blonde from Sarah. you can find her Etsy Shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=106560

This is Platinum Blonde.

And some more in Wuthering Heights, a deep red crimson color. Just lovely !

An update on my last post : I called the lady in question yesterday and she promised to send them ASAP. Keeping my fingers crossed !

I did ask her for a refund in my emails but she never responded to any of them lately so I decided to call her. She said she didn't check her emails regularly, can you believe that with a yarn business ? She was all apologisies and she had been sick and very busy and kept talking abut how sorry she was. I just wasn't tough enough to ask her for a refund on the phone. Coward !

What to do ?

2007-08-20T14:00:00.001+01:00

Over the last year I have done business with several yarn dyers in the US, and they never ever let me down ! I have experienced only good things and the people I contacted were always very kind. Judy from Smatterings, Sarah from the Plucky Knitter and Deb from Fearless Fibers to name a few. Kim from the Woolen Rabbit, Chris from Briar Rose Fibers, oh my this list is growing fast ! Always helpful and ready to answer any questions.
Untill now ! I am in the middle of a very bad experience with one of the well known yarn designers in the US. I won't mention her name (yet) where I placed an order in February , yes FEBRUARY, for quite an amount of money. I STILL haven't received my yarns, while she charged my creditcard more than two months ago. I send her numerous mails to inquire about my yarn, she either doesn't answer them or tells me she has been away, sick or is working on it. I really don't know what to do anymore. Threaten her to publish her name in blogland ? I really could use some advice here.
So please, if you have any ideas let me know.
I don't like to nag about things and am always polite, too polite sometimes, to people but she has reached my limits over here. Let me tell you that.
Hey, feel better already now that I could get this of my chest.

Time is slipping through my hands

2007-08-17T17:48:00.000+01:00

The last two weeks have flown by, I feel like I don't have that much time left before summer is over. Let's just hope there are some nice weeks left so we can spend some more time outside. I really missed that this summer, for me that's the ultimate summer feeling. Eat dinner outside and then sit and relax untill the sun goes down. There were only a few nights when the weather was nice enough to do that.

Very little knitting has been done, MS3 has been on a hold because I wasn't sure if I liked the way the pattern was turning out. The last clue has been posted today and I finally made my mind up. I am going to knit it in the alternative version because this appeals to me more. I also really like the version as given in the clues but I'm afraid I won't wear it when it's finished. It's expensive yarn I am using and I don't want to waste it. So know I made my mind up I can continue with it.

I have been doing some translations in the meantime I wasn't blogging. Danish to Dutch translations to be precise. I saw this book, Feminin Strik, on a blog somewhere and I really liked the patterns that were in there. I figured that if I could find a good translation site I could give it a go and buy it. I found some here http://www.heirloomknits.com/translations1.shtml and this was very helpful too http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Danish&to=English

The book came and I was really charmed by it, translating it however was far more diffult than I thought. It took so much time ! There were no diagrams with measures in it to follow, only written instructions. Where needed there are charts , but only small ones for the lace and cable patterns. I found a pattern I would like to knit but then oldest daughter saw the book and begged me to make her something first. How could I refuse ?

She picked the Bolero ( so totally her ) and then came the quest for the yarn. I really wanted to make this in the yarn described because it was diffult enough to translate plus it has been really AGES ago since I last knitted a sweater. Like 12 years or so ? And that was only a small, very simple childs sweater. And why was I so stupid to start something like this in Danish ?

Well the back is finished now, after I had to rip it out once because it was too big. I have now started on the two fronts, I am making them at the same time so they end up the same way. Hopefully.....

Here are some pictures I took from the pages of the book. The photographs in it are just beautiful as are the patterns in it. I want to make them all.....

The one pictured underneath has some lovely lace panels on the front that continue up in the hood.

They all have a romatic touch to them.

But before I start one of these I want make the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the new IK. English is far more easier to understand than Danish and I really want to make it somewhat easier for me. I already bought Rowan Felted Tweed in Cocoa for it yesterday. It has blue speckles in it, and is really soft..

A detail picture I took from the magazine ( I love my camera ! ) such lovely cables.

The Kauni cardigan is also something I would like to make one day but I never knitted Fair Isle before. A steek ? Never done that before either. The nice lady at the yarn store in Nieuwpoort told me she would be very hapy to help me with that, I can just come to the shop and she'll help me with it. And guess what, they even sell Kauni yarn over there too ! They only have one color in stock for now but more is coming soon . I bought the rainbow yarn online a while ago and it is now waiting patiently for me to start with it. But I'll be satisfied with looking at the colors in the meantime. They're happy colors !

Rip back...

2007-08-03T22:07:00.000+01:00

40 rows to be exact ! I had to rip back the MS3 from row 227 to row 187 because I made a very noticable mistake. At least to me it was ! The point of the needle is showing the point where I went wrong. Well it shows clearly without the needle too :-(
I was happily knitting my way into clue 4 when I noticed something was wrong. I tried to ignore it, showed it to husband and children who said it didn't show and I would be crazy to rip it back. Knitted a few rows more, went to bed and checked again this morning. I decided I couldn't live with it so rip back it was......

I'm almost to the point where I was before, not quite but still close. Well what are a couple of hours of knitting compared to the fact that you have to look at your own mistake for who knows how long ?

This is what I started....

2007-08-01T07:25:00.000+01:00

Thank you all for your kind comments on previous posts, I appreciate them SO much !
If I don't reply on a comment you gave me, please do forgive me. I receive them through my e-mail and Blogger doesn't always allow me to respond to them. But they do mean a lot to me !

During the holiday I managed do to some knitting in the early hours while everyone was still asleep. I always wake up early, yes EVEN on my holiday ! I just can't seem to get used to the idea of being allowed to sleep as long as I want then........ The others didn't seem to have any problems with that ! The youth slept untill we called them for breakfast ( more like brunch to me ) with fresh baked bread from the bakery. Mmmm, that's what I love most about those holidays, go to the shop every morning where there is that wonderful smell of bread in the oven !

This seemed like a good mindless knitting project to take with me, the chevron scarf everyone in blogland seems to be knitting lately. I really the look of this, with the two variegated yarns that seem to clash when you hold them side by side but then work up really nice when knitted. I even ordered the yarns for it I liked most: Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Lucy and Foofaraw.

And I took enough yarn with me to start the Wool Peddler Shawl. I bought this lovely yarn from Judy (from Smatterings) and started it with that, but I soon realized I most likely wouldn't have enough yarn for this. I saw this beautiful shawl knit by the Woolen Rabbit, if you scroll a bit down the page you'll see it http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/thewoolenrabbit/2007/06/index.html She knit this out of two skeins ! I bought three and still don't have enough ! I don't know how she did it but I can't for sure. So, I ripped it and started again with some other yarn I brought too. You never can take along too much can you ? It's a merino/tencel fingering weight yarn called December Beaches. Appropriate don't you think ?

A nice reminder of the North Sea, with some of the shells found at the beach. There is also a shawl in the book called North Sea, maybe next time ?

The Mystery Stole stayed at home but I could have taken it along after all. Still have to do some catching up on it, I just finished clue 3.

I took these pictures with my new camera, A Canon Eos 400-D. In the US known under the name Digital Rebel I believe. Not a very portable camera to take along in a small handbag but I really like to learn to work with a camera like this. I already wanted to buy one a couple of years back when my previous camera was stolen from my house ( along with the jewelry my mother and grandmother left me after they passed away, makes me sad every time I think of it) but the price was huge then, so I chose something else. This camera was used so much by everyone that it shows signs of use, the lens is not working properly any more. Besides that it always seemed to be gone whenever I wanted to use it. So this one will be mine, and mine only !!!!! Just in case certain people are reading this too, you knever know !

Holiday's are over

2007-07-27T08:19:00.000+01:00

We had a lovely week over at the sea in Domburg. We even got some sunburn ! Yeah really! Who would have thought that considering the weather we had over here the last couple of weeks ! We really were quite lucky in the amounts of rain we had, the rest of the country had some serious problems in having huge amounts falling in a short period of time. WE had some nice sunny periods in which we headed off to the beach !
So, no complaints about the weather from me !

Taken when the tide was low. These rows of poles are for the protection of the beach, they brake the waves so the sea doesn't damage the beach too much .

Shells are scattered in the sand......

And we had some lovely sunsets....

I even managed to do some knitting. Pictures will follow soon, but I am having some problems with my camera and I am out to buy a new one today.

I was asked to give some more details about our new horse, so if you would like to know more about him , read on.

His name is SouSou and he is a seven year old gelding. He is about 5.3 feet tall ( 1.63 m ) measured at the withers. His color is black, but he turns brown in summers. We don't know exactly what kind of breed he is ( he doesn't have a pedigree) but we think he is mostly a breed from the Netherlands that is called KWPN. The daughters mostly ride dressage with him and youngest daughter also loves to jump, which he really seems to like ! He is a very sweet natured horse, not nervous at all. That is the main reason we chose him because he will have to participate in our rather hectic traffic if we take him out for a ride.

And he is a very handsome fellow offcourse !

Going on a holiday !

2007-07-12T08:44:00.000+01:00

Tomorrow I will be leaving for a holiday to Domburg in Zeeland. That's at the NorthSea shore, so it will be a beach holiday. If only the weather would cooperate....
So there will be no posting for a while now and no MS 3 too. I don't have enough ( concentrated)time there to knit on it AND I can't print the clue... Here's a last shot of it for now.

There will be some new yarn waiting for me at home when I return, some lovely Ball and Skein yarn from Judy http://smatterings.typepad.com/ in the Golden Fern colorway.

Such beautiful Fall colors !

And these merino laceweight yarns from the Plucky Knitter, she has a Etsy store over here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=106560

Blue Heron to the right and Palace Ivy on the left, mmmmm so soft !

And on special request: a horse picture.

This is Sousou, a 7 year old gelding. He is brown right now, but is black in the winter.

Maybe the plums will be ready when I come back....

She will be anxiously waiting for me to come home too. Awww.......sweet Lieffie !

See you all in a while !

First clue is finished

2007-07-03T17:40:00.000+01:00

This has been a realy busy weekend. First of all youngest daughter turned 15 last Saturday !
Happy Birthday honey !
On top of that the new horse that we bought for her and middle daughter was brought that same day. They were really excited about it ! Some preparation was needed before he could come and live with us so I have been busy doing all kinds of things, like scrubbing his stable REAL good, making him a comfy (woodchip) bed to sleep in, buying him some food, checking the fences and so on. We were mostly concerned how he would get along with the other ponies, but we shouldn't have worried at all. He's just a laid back goodbehaved fellow. I'll post a picture of him sometime.
And Friday was offcourse THE day all the Mystery knitters had been waiting for, the first clue was posted. I managed to cast on Friday evening ( over here in Europe we had to wait for the afternoon to upload the files) and knitted a few rows then. Sunday and Monday I had some more time and finished the first clue yesterday evening. Still have no idea what the theme is but I like it already. The yarn knits up so nice, it's ever so soft and cuddly.

Here you can see some of the beads I used.

And because it was her birthday here is a picture of youngest last year on our holiday.
She doesn't know I posted this....

And oh, I almost forgot !

I got tagged ! By Nancy from http://gettingpurlywithit.wordpress.com/ You should go and visit her blog ! She is such a talented knitter, photographer and storyteller. She started knitting when she came to the US, she is also from the Netherlands, to live with her husband. Please leave her a nice comment if you go and visit her blog because you can imagine she sometimes can get a little homesick........

This is what I had to do :

You go to Wikipedia and type in your birthday month and day. Then you post 3 events, 2 other births and one holiday that occured on your birthday. And tag 5 other bloggers....

February 18

Events:

1913 Pedro Lascurain is president of Mexico for less than 1 hour.

1929 First announcement of the Oscars

1930 Clyde Tombaugh discovers Pluto

Births:

1516 Queen Mary I of England.

1827 Alessandro Volta, Italian physicist.

Holiday:

Chinese New Year 2007.

Are you already scared you might be tagged next ?

I also have been invited by Ravelry this weekend, so I have been uploading pictures and spend hours and hours looking and searching . This could seriously take a LOT of your time ! But it is realy a big source for finding out all kinds of things you want to know about patterns and yarns.

MS3

2007-06-27T19:50:00.000+01:00

Together with more than 3200 others I signed up for the Mystery Stole 3.

I think it will be fun knitting the same project with so many others. For me this is the first time I join something like this with NO idea of what it looks like.

This is the choice I made for the yarn and beads.

Jade Sapphire 2-ply Cashmere in Silver Pearl with silverlined 8/0 crystal beads.

First I wanted to knit it with the Zephyr in Vanilla as suggested and as many others seem te be doing too. I made a nice swatch with it ( as suggested too) but somehow it didn't appeal to me.

It seemed nice to stay in the theme ( black, white, greys) and I also had the cashmere lying there. I thought it would be too heavy for it but when I also swatched it , the difference in size wasn't that big at all. It is more dense than the Zephyr, but I hope it still looks good.

You're welcome to give your opinion !

The two swatches with the Zephyr on top and the cashmere below, both after I blocked them.

A close-up of the cashmere.

This is something entirely else I started while waiting for the KAL to start. As if I don't have anything else on the needles at the moment, ahum.

A little while ago I bought some handspun Alpaca with a little glitterthread added to it from Madge http://northstaralpacas.blogspot.com/ It was on my desk so I could admire it every time I was sitting at it, and could think up something suitable for it. I looked through my patterns but couldn't find anything. I didn't want it to become a plain scarf, the yarn deserved more than that. But also because the glitterthread isn't very comfartable wearing against your skin. Then suddenly I remembered I had this:

The Diamanta pattern from French Girls. But where did I leave it ? I had to search very hard for it but finally found it at last. The original is knitted with Kid Silk Haze together with 1 thread of Lurex Shimmer ( which is discontinued ) on size 13 needles ( 9 mm )

The effect of this is VERY lacy. I am knitting it on size 11 ( 8 mm ) with a worsted weight yarn so the effect is different but still nice I hope. I just finished the first repeat. If you notice the bottom of the shawl, it's knitted sideways BTW, you can see that this first repeat is smaller than the ones on top of that. I'll just have to wait and see how the final result will be.

It's done !

2007-06-23T14:42:00.000+01:00

She really took her time to dry !

36 hours to be precise.
Thursday evening I gave it a good soak and then blocked it. It needed many pins , one for every edging point. I used some welding rods from my husband as blocking wires ( always comes in handy, a man with a lot of tools ) and fixed these with pins too. I had to do this in the attic which is the only space in the house with : a) Carpet to pin into, b) a large enough area to block such a large shawl, and c) I can leave it undisturbed.
Because of the bad weather ( lots of rain) it just wouldn't dry quickly. Every time I checked it it was still damp, but this morning, after 36 hours of drying, finally THE moment had arrived.
It wanted to be unpinned !

Sorry no blocking pictures, it is really dark in there so they didn't work out.

My youngest daughter took these pictures of me modeling the shawl, they are a little blurry because she was in an exteme hurry and didn't feel much for the whole idea. Well 14 year olds, you get the idea....

Hanging from the side of the bed.

This is my favourite shot, with the light from the window shining through.

A close-up ( again)

The bottom edging (oops, the right point is a little bit shorter blocked, or its just a croocked picture)

Butterfly-edging

Draped across the bed, this a lits-jumeaux size so you get an idea how long it is !

Pattern: Morning Glory shawl by Knitspot http://www.knitspot.com/ Yarn : Briar Rose Wistful, 1 1/2 skein.
Needles: US 9, 5,5 mm.
Start: May 25 , 2007, Finish June 23, 2007. I was almost halfway when I discovered that the colors of the 2 skeins that I had weren't matching. I had to order new yarn and start all over again. So the time knitted on this is less than 3 weeks. Modifications: 1 repeat less of the mesh pattern, otherwise knitted as described . Length: 77 ", Width 24".

Well what more can I say about ? It was a very enjoyable knitting experience due to the fact that the pattern was very well written and the yarn was heaven to work with. A part of me is feeling sorry that it's over, on the other hand I'm really glad it's done and I can finally see the result of my labour.

Grafting lesson

2007-06-21T14:48:00.000+01:00

The knitting part of the Morning Glory is finished and now I just had to graft the two halves together. Sounds easy, but I have never ever grafted before !

So what I needed was a really good tutorial, with pictures please ! In my Victorian Lace Today book were some instructions but when I tried them out they just didn't make any sense to me.
After some searching I remembered I had seen it on someone's blog a little while ago. But where ? I knew it had something to do with socks but that was all. Well I finally found it here
http://nonaknits.typepad.com/nonaknits/2007/06/sidewinders_the_1.html#more
( I'll have to learn how to make a proper link someday)
I printed it out and started with trembling fingers. I just didn't want to ruin it. I know, I know I should have made a test piece first but I just wanted to finish it so badly !
And guess what, it really worked !

Can you see the join, right in the middle ? I hope it will show even less after blocking but it will do for me. I'm really happy this worked out so well.

So now all I have to do is to weave in the ends and then I can start blocking ! I will post blocking pictures later.

Orchids, a Rose and a Kiwi.

2007-06-10T19:39:00.000+01:00

It has been VERY hot over here , especially Thursday and Friday. If you moved as much as a toe you would start sweating , yak ! That's the downside of living in a country like mine, the high humidity when it's hot. Friday evening we had a huge thunderstorm and that ended the heat.
When it's that hot and icky I don't like to knit. Sweaty hands and a warm shawl in your lap are not such a good combination.
However Saturday was a rainy day and I really wanted to make a start with the pattern that Anne from http://knitspot.com/ released last week, the Orchid lace scarf. I just HAVE to make this ! With a greenhouse full of Orchids this one is just made for me !
Don't worry, I haven't abandoned the Morning Glory. The first half is ready and I already made a start with the second.

I had just the right color yarn for it, a perfect match with this Orchid.
If I had to make one for every color we have in the greenhouse I would end up knitting an endless heap of scarfs I'm afraid. There are so many colorvariations !

Because of the heat I decided to do some dyeing instead.
Yeah, that's right, I wanted to copy Judy , hahaha !
Well no way I can achieve something like those lovely yarns !
Just take a look at what she made , georgeous aren't they ? http://smatterings.typepad.com/
No I did it my way, the messy way. I ordered some Kool-Aid a while ago to dye some yarns from which the colors were not like I had imagined them when I bought them. They were stuffed in the back of the closet and since the weather was great do dry them I thought I would give it a go. If I would mess up no harm would be done. I didn't like them as they were anyway.

First in line was this, it's a cashmere lace yarn which was originally was a very pale, dull pink. No color at all in fact. This is how it turned out.

The variegated look wasn't on purpose, I just didn't add enough dye to the water !
I had read a tutorial on Knitty how to dye with Kool Aid and it said you had to add a package per 1 oz. But if you wanted a lighter color you could use less of it, so I did. I used only 4 instead of the 5 needed because the water seemed so VERY PINK ! Instead of making a totally different color I just wanted a brighter one. Well, it is brighter but for a first time I was happy with it.

Then I had this brightly colored orange yarn, which was supposed to be a Cognac. I couldn't think of any other color than to turn it into a red. More packages were added ( I learned my lesson) and it became a bright red yarn ! The only thing that happened with it that afterwards the yarn was tangled in itself, so when I wound it up it broke several times. Now I have four little balls instead of 1 big ball. But hey, I can still use it !

A while ago I had ordered some cashmere yarn, I believed it to be a green. It was more a neon yellow than green when it arrived, and I just don't like anything in that color !
I added some blue dye to it, but it became a VERY bright green. I didn't like it at all, so what to do. I only had a few colors of the Kool Aid to play with and I had to tone it down somehow. I added some Grape to it very carefully untill it was about a color I could live with. Since this was a variegated yarn already some parts turned brown. It reminded me of a kiwi when I started winding it. The brown doesn't show in the picture but in real it does.
I liked the dyeing part, but I just messed around, not exactly knowing what I was doing. I guess I need a lot more lessons before I can make something that vaguely resembles Judy's yarns.

I've been busy...

2007-05-30T16:12:00.000+01:00

It's been more than a week sincemy last post and a lot has happened.
My livingroom and kitchen were out of reach for me for 3 days, it was impossible to live in it.
That meant no cooking too !
The floors were sanded and waxed, so we couldn't walk on it . This also meant that we couldn't go upstairs because the stair is in my kitchen. I know this a strange place for a stair but it just happens to be there. Middle daughter had to climb a ladder to get into her room, we were lucky and could use the front door as our bedrooms are downstairs.
So it was kind of hectic, and on top of that I have a terrible cold. Running nose ( I hate that), watery eyes, sore throat and soar all over my body.
I couldn't use my own computer with my pictures on it too, but all is back in place now so it is time to take some rest :-)

This almost seems like a picture from one of the previous posts doesn't it ?
Well I can assure you that this a new start of the Morning Glories Wrap with new yarn from Briar Rose. It arrived super fast ! The same day it was wound up and on the needles again. I am happy to be knitting this again, the yarn is a different color, more purples and plums with some gold in it. It is really soft and works great together with my rosewood needles.
I prefer knitting with straight needles, I am what they call a "thrower". My right needle is tucked under my armpit, it is kind of glued to it. I keep my yarn in my right hand, and let it slide through it. I don't wrap it around my fingers or anything, then I "throw" my yarn around the needle. Probably a funny sight to all the US knitters who seem to hold the yarn in their left hand and knit mostly with circulars BUT it works for me !

Nice stitch marker isn't it ? There were two of them in the same colors as the yarn as a gift from Chris.

This wonderfully soft Alpaca yarn is handspun by the very friendly Maple from North Star Alpacas. Here is the link to her Etsy Shop : http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5001683
She sends the yarn with a picture of the Alpaca whose yarn it is spun from and with a lovely smelling piece of lavender soap. This was from the cute looking Beau !

And this from Rouge, spun together with a thin lurex yarn for a shimmery effect. If you look closely you can see it. It was just so lovely I couldn't resist. I never bought handspun before, but it is really beautiful. So special to have your own Alpacas, spin their yarns and then knit something from it.
I know what I want for my birthday now ! My own Alpaca and spinning lessons !

Yesterday this arrived too. Two laceweight yarns from Wollmeise from Germany.
The bright blue one is called "Vergissmeinnicht" and the very dark blue "Mitternacht".
These are 100% wool, it is her "Babygarn" with more than 1500 yards per skein. She also sells to International customers !
http://www.rohrspatzundwollmeise.de/flash_content/rohrspatzundwollmeise.html

I love how this was wrapped up with the little feather and the extra little skein.
Now I'm off to knit some more, I have to do something with all those yarns after all !

Moving on

2007-05-20T15:28:00.000+01:00

After my last post I needed some comfort knitting so I decided to start something new with a really soft and yummy yarn with a bright and sunny color. 100 % cashmere is enough to make you happy again isn't it ! I bought this yarn a while ago at Posh Yarn from the UK. Here is the link to their site http://www.poshyarn.co.uk/index.html

They update every Sunday at 6 PM (GMT), if you want something from the shop you'd better be ready behind the screen because these yarns really sell out quick !

I decided to make something that was not too difficult, so when I visited Dee's Blog from Posh Yarn and saw that she was going to make the Fir Cone Triangular Shawl and was looking for someone to join her the decision was easily made.

Knitting outside in the sun, what could make you happier ?

Maybe seeing these tiny little birds, hidden away in their nest between the Orchids ?

For weeks we have been carefully moving around the nest, careful not to disturb it. Their parents are used to having people around it and wait untill we leave for a moment to feed the little ones. It's alway quite clear when they are fed, loud chattering welcomes mom and dad when they arrive !

Today they flew out.

Goodbye little birds, have a save journey !!!!

The Rhododendrons are in full bloom now and it's quite busy around the bushes. Dozens of these

are zooming around them, searching for honey. It wasn't easy to capture one of them on camera becausethey won't sit still for a moment.

When the ladies arrive I know summer isn't that far away any more.

Nine of them are standing in the meadow in front of our house. Just to give you an idea how close this is..........

This is the really ancient milking machine the farmer who owns the cows is using. This thing should be in a museum ! Really, this thing is so old and oldfashioned nobody uses something like this anymore. But is has something nostalgic about it I think. Every morning around 5 AM he starts the (damn) thing. Thump, thump,thumpumpumpumpum........ We all wake up for a moment and then turn around to fall asleep again. Middle daughter and youngest daughter sleep at the front of the house, we sleep at the back. We don't mind, they well....let's just say they accept it.

The ladies are already waiting at the gate for him when he arrives with his car and trailer with oldfashioned milkbarrels in it . No worries about milk quotums for this farmer !

When we sit outside in the evenings we can hear the cows graze and ruminate ( I hope I looked this up correct because it sounds like some kind of dirty word to me!)

Everything is still and quiet and we just sit there and listen ......

About the Morning Glory Wrap : new yarn is on its way !

Not happy !

2007-05-17T11:34:00.000+01:00

In the previous post I told about how happy I was with my Briar Rose yarns. Well that's over !
At the moment I am feeling very unhappy and that is an understatement.
See the picture below ?

Do you see the difference between the left and right ball ?
I decided to wind the other skein I have in a cake and then I found out that they are not the same AT ALL !
The one at the rigt is more rusty with greens and the other has more pinks and golds. In real the difference is even more obvious.
I don't know why I didn't see this before I started to knit with it. Must have been the heat of the moment I guess. How could I have missed this I keep asking myself this again and again.
With the yarn itsself is nothing wrong, it knits up like a dream, the skeins just don't match.
So I can't continue to knit with it anymore because one ball is NOT enough to finish it.
Yesterday I almost made it to the final repeat of the first half.....
I will have to rip it, but not just yet.............

Finally some rain !

2007-05-15T20:42:00.000+01:00

It's raining over here ! Can't tell you how happy I am with that !
It hadn't rained for more than 8 weeks, now that is so not normal for this time of year.
Everything just stopped growing. The grass wasn't just that green anymore. All kinds of measures were taken to prevent the damage to nature. I am living in a country where we are surrounded by water but still we were having lots of troubles. We have a huge waterbassin where we collect rainwater to water the Orchids but it was completely empty. Never happened before in spring. We also have a well that we use in case we run out, but this was also empty. Now this has never ever happened before so But now it rains....... and I enjoy it.

When I saw the Morning Glory Wrap that Anne http://knitspot.com/ made from Briar Rose Wistful I really wanted to make this one. The yarn was already on my wishlist but I had already given up on it to ever get my hands on one of their yarns. It said clearly on their website that they don't ship internationally, so as the good and brave girl that I am (ahum) I accepted this and didn't inquire any further. But... I needed a little push and now that I have it I wanted to knit with it rightaway ! Honestly wouldn't you ?

A little trip to the US to go yarnshopping is also HIGH on my wishlist but not quite as easy to realize as ordering some yarn. If only I could visit just one of those big yarn and fiberfestivals, just once...
Well the yarn was petted and admired and wound into a cake so I cast on for the wrap saturday evening.
I have just finished the first repeat of the Morning Glory pattern, there are four repeats in total for the first half of it. I did one repeat less than was stated for the mesh pattern and I think I will also do one repeat less on this one. Otherwise it will turn out too long I'm afraid. I have very short legs...
I added a picture of it, as always the colors are not quite right, it's darker in real. I seem to have problems with reds on my camera. A well known problem for most cameras as I understand. It also shows a lot of yellow in it, but it's more a gold/greenish kind of color.
The yarn is knitting up great anyway on my rosewood US 9 needles or 5,5 mm for me.

The knitting with beads was so much fun that I wanted to make something else with them. I still had this in my stash. Handmaiden Sea Silk in Berry with megatama beads in 4 mm. The pattern is the Gothic Leaf from Sivia Harding. It's also in one of the Babara Walker books, not sure in which one.
So with two new projects just started and the ones still on the needles I will be busy for quite while.

This River Rocks !

2007-05-08T12:29:00.000+01:00

The River Scarf is finished.
I am very pleased with the result, it came out just as I had hoped. The knitting with beads was really fun to do, a bit heavy at he end because this one weighs a lot ! It has more than 1550 beads in it !
The Silken is a dream to knit with, this yarn is buttery soft and shiny.

Pattern: River Rock Scarf from No Sheep for You.
Yarn: Handmaiden Silken in colorway Paris. I just just over 1 1/2 skeins.
Beads: Matte Gold 6/0 from http://www.earthfaire.com/
Needles: 4.5 mm, US 7.

I have included a selfportait this time, for the ones who are reading this blog. So you know who you are dealing with ;-)

A while ago I ordered the pattern for the Morning Glory Wrap from Anne at http://knitspot.com/ . It is knit in a yarn from http://www.briarrosefibers.net/ I had visited their site for numbers of times but it said they didn't ship internationally. I was quite disappointed about it at the time but I set it beside. When I left a comment on Anne's blog she told me I could always ask Chris at Briar Rose if they were willing to sell to me. Chris was very nice and emailed me back right away, no problem she said. Well to make a long story short I ordered QUITE a bit. A large box arrived finally last week with these wonderful yarns in it. I took one skein of each of them to make a picture of them, so there is more !

On top is Wistful, an Alpaca/Merino/Silk blend. This is for the Morning Glory Wrap.

At the right is Legend, a Merino wool with 1550 yards on the skein. This is only half of the skein here, the other half is already wound into a cake.

The two at the bottom are Sea Pearl, a merino/tencel blend. These have a wonderful sheen over them and the colors of all of these are really georgeous !

But if you buy yarns internationally it sometimes CAN get caught up at Customs.

That's what happened with this shipment too ! I had to pay the postman guy almost $ 80,--

Oops !!

I hard to swallow loud and hard, cause I never expected to have to pay that much !

This isn't normal I think, so I won't be ordering for any large amounts anymore.

The postman also brought me this:

Sundara Silk Lace in Cherry Blossom.

A beautiful Cattleya Orchid to look at, wish you could smell it though. They ought to make a perfume of this !

It really is spring now, the duck who lives in the pond in front of our house has little ducklings !

They are so cute !

Wished I had something finished....

2007-04-30T07:49:00.000+01:00

But I haven't.
I had this really fierce pain in my neck and shoulder for a couple of days. I don't know what caused it but I wasn't able to do anything. No ironing, cleaning the house ( not that bad ) no sitting behind the computer for more than 10 minutes AND NO KNITTING ! Which is bad !
The good news is that it is getting better every day, yesterday evening I even managed to knit for a while.

Today is Queens Day in the Netherlands. We celebrate the birthday of our Queen. Actually it is the birthday of her mother, but she decided whe should always celebrate on this day in honor of her mother. I think it's comparable with July 4th or Canada Day.
In the streets are flea markets where little children sell the junk they don't want anymore. They always come home with new junk though... And there are free markets where you can sell everything you want : food, music, any stuff you can imagine. My youngest daughter is going to the village with her pony and is going to make BIG money with him. Little children have to pay for a ride on him. And they always stand in line for this !
Everything is colored orange today because that is the color of our Royal Family (I told you Judy) so now I am off to put out the flag ! Red, white and blue with an orange vane.

Hmm, guess he has his eyes closed in embarrassment !

The storks

2007-04-24T12:07:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I went to Nieuwpoort, a small little town with a rampart build around it. In the year 1600 a huge battle was fought out here and it is known in the Dutch history as the Battle at Nieuwpoort. Quite a historic place to visit, but the main reason to visit was the yarnshop that is located here. Well OK, the town looks very nice with lovely old houses and very old trees but all I really wanted to see was the shop, it's called "de Schapekop" ( sheepshead). They mostly sell quilt fabrics and embroidery but a small part of the shop is reserved for yarns. Sorry, I forgot to bring my camera, I could have taken some lovely pictures for you.

The fun part begins when you have to take the ferry across the river, this is always something special for me. In this area there are lots of storks, they build their nests on wagonwheels high above the ground.

Over here they tell little children that a stork is delivering babies, and that if you see one circling above your head you might expect one to be delivered soon...
So I'd better watch out and hide !

The shop sells mostly Rowan and Colinette, but they also sell the yarns of a lady from Groningen who grows her own angora goats, shears them, and after the yarns are spun handdyes the skeins herself. She doesn't spin the yarns herself, she sends them to a mill in Denmark where they are spun together with a merino. So its a mix of angora goat/merino wool, a sport to DK weight I guess, with around 330 yards per skein. They don't have tags on them so I don't know who made these. The shop owner , who is very kind by the way, told me this, otherwise I wouldn't have had a clue. There were also some skeins in the natural colors and mixes of greys. I only wished I had taken some of the greys too. I can still go back there..

These are the laceweight yarns I bought at http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/ merino/silk Zephyr yarns that are handdyed by her, on the right is Elderberry Gold and left is Cracklin'Rosie. Very soft muted colors, both with hints of gold in them.....

And this is what I started with the ArtYarns Cashmere, a multi-directional diagonal scarf.

You can find the pattern over here :
http://douma.net/Karen/knitting/Accessory-Scarves/Multidirectional_Diagonal_Scarf.htm

The Rock River Scarf is almost halfway done by now, I hope to have it finished by the end of the week but it is quite hectic over here. We are going to re-decorate the living room. This weekend we have start some major things. The whole fireplace has to come out, then build in a new one. After that is finished the wooden floor has to be sanded and painted again, so everything has to go OUT. Everything, including the things in my kitchen ( which I can't use for 3 days, not that bad ) After all that is done there is still the wallpapering ........

I'll be busy for the next couple of weeks I'm afraid, but not with knitting

I'll leave you with a picture of the ever so curious miss Lieffie, who doesn't want to pose for the camera but is always willing to help me out with "untangling" my yarn.

Finally some time to blog

2007-04-16T17:36:00.000+01:00

And to show the finished Japanese Feather Scarf.

Pattern: Japanese Feather Scarf from Knitspot at
http://www.knitspot.com/wp-content/uploads/siteGraphics/knitspot_porfolio.pdf
Yarn: Merino & Silk handdyed-yarn from Judy at http://smatterings.typepad.com/
Aegan colorway, 3 skeins.
Needles: US 6, 4mm straight wooden needles.

The color in the picture is a little brighter then it is in real, but the sun was shining really bright these days ! The wheater has been really hot the last week, and I have been busy doing all kinds of things outside. Like bathing the goats ! They had lice, they have this every spring and we have to bathe them to get rid of these little bugs. One of them also had scab and because this is highly infectious to the others, especially the two young ones we had to do something about it right away. And because the weather was fine we did this:

Can you tell they really LOVED it ? Not...

Today a package arrived from One Planet Yarn & Fiber. I won the third prize in the contest in their shop and this is what I ordered at them with my discount.

A HUGE skein of yarn for the Soft Wavy Wrap from Fleece Artist. I knew it would be big, but this big ? This will make a soft cuddly wrap to snuggle up in on the couch. If I ever get a chance to use it myself I doubt it. With 3 daughters around in the house who love soft blankets I don't think I will make a chance. And it is in their favourite color too ! Ooo, this yarn is soooo soft.

I also ordered some Seasilk in Berry and Glacier.

Here is the start of the River Rock Scarf from the book No Sheep for You. I have completed the fourth repeat of the "rock" pattern here. The Silken is a very nice yarn to work with, it is a very strong yarn, essential with the heavy weight from all the beads. I am knitting this one according to the pattern, since I have never worked with beads before. I think it is quite nice to try this out. Always in for something new !

Now I still have to learn how to knit a sock though.......

Little bonnets for your Easter Egg's

2007-04-05T12:31:00.000+01:00

When I was at the supermarket yesterday I picked up the free magazine they distribute.

Inside I found these funny little bonnets for your Easter Egg's. There is still some time left to make them ! So if you are interested, I have translated the instructions for those of you that don't speak Dutch. For the Dutch people who are reading this : it is in AllerHande from AH.

Instructions for Easter Bonnets:

This is for the short version:

With US 8 needles cast on 24 stitches with two strands of yarn (if you are using thicker yarn you can use it single) They didn't provide any details about the yarns they used so I guess you have to find out yourself how many stitches you need to cast on ( you can alway swatch it on a egg)

Knit 4 rows in ribstitch ( K1, P1 )

Row 5: continue with US 6 needles and decrease 3 stitches divides over the row.

Row 6: purl.

Row 7: knit

Repeat rows 6 and 7 to row 16.

Row 17: K2, K2tog to last 2 stitches, then K2. There are 14 st. remaining

Row 18: Purl.

Row 19: K1, K2tog to last stitch, K1. There are 8 stitches rem.

Row 20: Purl.

Row 21: K1, K2tog to last stitch, K1. There a 5 stitches rem.

Continue the following 11 rows without decreases. Purl 1 row, Knit 1 row.

Cut the thread ( leave enough yarn left to fix the point ) and pull the yarn with a needle through the remaining stiches and pull tight. Close the seam with the same thread. Then you can fold the top of the bonnet in half and wrap the thread around it a couple of times so it stays fixed. (See picture)

Weave in loose threads.

Long tail version:

Make as previous one, exept make no more decreases from row 19. Continue with 8 stitches and knit 20 more rows. Finish the same as the previous one but do not fold in half.

You can decorate it however you like, embroider something on it, sew on some beads or some feathers. Use your imagination.......

I cast on two more scarfs:

This is going to be a long, narrow scarf in Handmaiden Sea Silk, color "Pinata".

Some time ago I was Googling for Sea Silk and happened to come across a picture of a scarf made in this pattern. I can't remeber the site but I did remember where the pattern came from.

It is in Barbara Walkers "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns" on page 219. It is called the Vertical Drop-Stitch, a very easy pattern with a nice effect.

I cast on 44 stitches on US2 needles.

A close-up

Second is a scarf in a Worsted Weight Merino. I bought this yarn on Etsy from laughingrat.

It has about every color in it you can imagine exept red. The colors are a little bit darker than it shows in the picture but I find it very hard to capture the colors when I'm taking pictures.

The pattern is from Li's weblog http://lifesastitch.typepad.com/

It is called the Herringbone Rib, if you leave her a comment she will gladly send you the pattern !

And again a close-up..

I'v got my sock yarn !

Now I need some circulars to knit them ! I am the proud owner of these KnitPicks needles, but they only go from size US3 ! I need smaller ones for socks.. So now I will have to order Addi Turbo's online, because they don't sell these near me. The socks will have to wait......

And so does the next project I have my eyes on :

The River Rock Scarf from the book "No Sheep for You". I pre-ordered the book at Amazon but it took ages to get here. Finally this week it arrived and it was really worth the wait. There a quite some things I really would like to make some day, the Tuscany Shawl in particular.

I bought this lovely yarn for the River Rock Scarf, Handmaiden Silken in "Paris". It is buttersoft and has a beautiful sheen on it ! Oh, how I love all those wonderful yarns out there waiting to be bought......... by me?

Thinking about socks

2007-03-29T07:25:00.000+01:00

On almost every blog that I read I see socks. Beautiful socks in wonderful colors and textures. Socks everywhere I look. And everybody is talking about much fun they are to knit and how they are so easy to take with you while travelling and how warm and comfortable they are, and...........
So why not knit one too ?
I have a confession to make : I vowed never to knit a sock in my lifetime anymore !
But after a few months of seeing socks eveywhere I kind of changed my mind.
I think I am ready to knit A SOCK !!

Now to understand my "socktrauma" I will take you back in time.
As a child I was on a VERY oldfashioned school. I learned how to write with pen and ink in a slanting handwriting for example. Boys and girls were always separated when playing outside and in handcrafts too. The boys had to carve wood and the girls had to do needlework.
They clearly never heard of emancipation.
We had a very nasty teacher, she was the headmistress of our school. Not a kind woman to say at least. We were taught how to knit, to darn and to embroider. Amongst all things we had to knit babysocks. We had to buy our own yarn for this special project so my mom and I went out to buy some. It was an acrylic yarn ( still remember the color: mintgreen) and we had to knit with metal dpn's. Well the agony of knitting that sock that came out HUGE ( it fit me at the age of 11 ) made me vow never to knit a sock again. And with acrylic yarns as a matter of fact. The sound that the yarn made when I was knitting with my sweaty hands, headmistress with her mean face looking at me, is till sending shivers down my spine.

Now all of you made me change my mind ! You can all be proud of yourselves !

But where to start ? I do own some dpn's, metal ones brrr.... Inherited from my mother and grandmother, but somehow I don't think I will be using these, hehe.
I already have some sockyarn, Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in a ( don't laugh) lightgreen.
But I don't have a tutorial, I really don't remember after all these years ( almost 35 ) how to knit them anymore. I also don't want to start right from a pattern, I need something with clearly written instructions.
What is the easiest way to knit , with dpn's or with two circulars ?
There are many books about sockknitting, but what is the best if you have to get started ?
So there are a lot of questions and now I have to go figure out the answers. Wish me luck !

Finally there is something I would like to show .

Yesterday our dwarfgoat Ingrid gave birth to twins. It's a boy and a girl, aren't they CUTE ?
Here they are about 30 minutes after they were born, already standing !

Tulips, a bunny and a view .

2007-03-27T07:53:00.000+01:00

Real Dutch tulips in the spring, aren't they lovely ?

They are so cheap over here that I have several bouquets in the house, every time I buy some new. There are so many colors to choose from ! Yellow, red, orange, purple, pink and you also have the striped ones with the pointy petals. Do you see the one below, it has a double flower on the stem !

Spring has really returned over here, with temperatures way beyond averge in March. So everyone is enjoying the sun ! Look at this sleepy bunny with red ears from the heat. I tried to get a picture of her when she was fast asleep, baking in the sun, but she is so alert I alsmost never get one. When the nights are getting warmer I will put her in her own mansion outside, but that will have to wait for a while. I also enjoy her company very much and when she is outside I wont't get to spend that much time with her. Hmmm, that sounds a bit selfish..

This is the view from upstairs. Well nothing strange about that you might think, but this view really makes me sad !

Just 2 years ago my view was totally different than this one. There were green meadows with cows and horses grazing as far as I could see. Now the city of Rotterdam where we live close to has decided that they needed to build more house, and this is just what they have been doing for the last couple of years. This is what I will see in the future, nothing but houses ! There used to be a lot of birds of prey circling above the meadows and some owls too. They are gone..... With over 6000 houses that are going to be built over here there is nothing here for them anymore, so they moved to a better place I hope. There are still a couple of pheasants that live in the meadow next to my house, they often come on my terrace to eat from the food I put there for the birds. But also these birds might have to move, because we have to move too !

Our own village also wants to build new house where we are located! They plan to build 600 new houses over here as well.

I know there is a shortage of houses in our country, with over 16 million inhabitants in such a small country it is unavoidable. But why over here ? I really love my house, the greenhouse, my garden and the freedom we still have here. I know that compared to some of you there is not a lot of nature around my house left but to most of the people that live in the Netherlands this is something they can only dream of.. Especially in this part of the country where we are living: the western part. It is getting real crowded over here. Then why not move to a another place ? Well, it's not that simple, we can't take the greenhouse with us, and that is our living. Besides we can't sell unless it is to the village we live in. They have put a decree on it, so nobody can sell their properties. This is to make sure that nothing is sold to developers.

But it may take up to five years untill they start, so untill then we keep on going. And when the time comes to move, we will start somewhere else, where we have room for our ponies and dwarfgoats to graze. But it still makes me sad though.

On the knitting front, not much news, expect for the fact that I decided to frog the Scottisch Thistle shawl. I didn't like it enough to continue with it. The Japanese Feather Scarf is growing steadily.

2007-03-22T08:21:00.000Z

Some yarn to show you...

First some Art Yarns Cashmere 3 , "color 123" with lovely shades of greens and blues. The yarn exists out of 3 separate strands which makes it a bit difficult to knit with. You have to take care that you catch all of the yarn and don't poke your needle between the strands. I have bought this at KnitPurl on-line so didn't see it before I bought it. If I had known this before I probably wouldn't have bought it, how lovely the colors are or how soft it is . But hey this is what can happen if you buy on the internet unless you saw it in real before.. or did some more research.

Another problem showed up when I knitted a swatch out of it. Because it has very even divided sections of color, it effects the color divide in your knitting. Do you know what I mean ? I will try to explain as good as a can ( sometimes it can be frustrating to explain things in a foreign language !) One side of the knitted item will show up with only greens and 1 side with only blues.
( I found out ! This is what they call pooling !) That is when I am knitting something straight ! So the best thing to do with this is probably knit something diagonal or a-symmetric with it. I will have to figure out what to make of it. Any ideas ?

Next is this wonderful yarn: Terra in Dark Indigo from The Fibre Co. In real it is much darker than on the picture, the color is like a very dark blue jeans, with some lighter blues in it. It is 60% Merino/ 20% Baby Alpaca/20 % silk with 100 yards per skein for size US 9 needles. I bought 6 skeins of it so it will make a nice scarf, most likely to be Hypoteneuse right now. But things can change..

Next time I will show another lovely yarn I bought at The Woolen Rabbit but the battery of my camera is empty right now and someone forgot to charge the spare one. So maybe tomorrow.

The rhythm of knitting lace

2007-03-20T08:39:00.000Z

This scarf really does have a rhythm. I find it very relaxing to just sit and knit row after row after row.
Everything seems to match, the combination of the wonderful yarn, the wooden needles and a good pattern. I listen to the sound that the needles make when I knit SSK's and K2tog, a soothing and relaxing sound to me. The longer I knit , the more relaxed I become. I like to work on it when it is quiet in the house, no TV or Radio on, just the sound of needles working... the sound of something thats is being created. I like that sound !

Just in case if you are wondering where I found the pattern for the Japanese Feather Scarf, it is in Barbara Walkers A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns or it can also be found at http://knitspot.com/

Stretched out for a good look at the pattern.

This is made last Sunday when it hailed over here. No Spring anymore for the next week or so I'm afraid.

2007-03-15T16:17:00.000Z

Spring is in the air !!

Over here the temperatures during daytime are rising to 14 degrees Celsius ( 57 degrees Fahrenheit). So the weather is fine..

And so is Clapotis, I have finished it even if I haven't knitted much the last couple of days. It is far to lovely outside to stay in. But the evenings are still cold, so then is the perfect time to knit. It has grown to 70 "long ( 175 cm ) and 6"wide ( 15 cm). I could have made it a bit longer because I haven't run out of yarn yet, but I thought this was long enough for me. I'm not that tall, so this is perfect. The color reminds me of Fall though, the colors of pumpkins...

This however, is all like summer to me...

It reminds me of our holiday last summer in Greece, at Corfu.

That's us in our hired sailing boat....

It makes me want to go back to that wonderful clear blue sea!

Anyway, this is the Japanese Feather Scarf that I cast on for instead of Palette. I think it looks much better this way. The scarf has wavy sides, also a reminder to the sea, just like the wonderful blue color. I have knit this far with one skein so I have finished about 1/3 of it, it will make a 150 cm I guess, without blocking. So it will no doubt grow even longer after that.

No Palette anymore.....

2007-03-11T14:30:00.000Z

Yesterday I was knitting along "happily"on Palette for a few hours. I was stretching it out after a while to look how the pattern came out when this HUGE hole appeared ! Sigh... It was in the first section of the scarf where I must have slipped a stitch, maybe with the pass stich overs.
Well there was only one thing left to do, rip the thing out ! There was no way I could ever get it back on the needles right, because this has a pattern on EVERY row with yo and knit togethers.
I already had a couple of false starts with it so I decided to choose another pattern, one with WS rows without a pattern for sure. I don't like it when you have a pattern on every row, I have to take a break every now and then.
Haven't decided what yet.

Palette and Clapotis

2007-03-09T13:47:00.000Z

When the yarn arrived this week that I had ordered at Judy's from Smatterings and I then saw this pattern at the Knitty Spring 2007 I knew right away what to make of it .

It is called Palette, here is the link http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring07/KSPalette.html Even though the yarn that I have is not like the yarn in the pattern I thought it would work for it. What do you think of it ? Shall I continue ?

I have only done a few rows so far, but you can already see all the lovely shades of blue in it.It is merino/silk and slightly heavier than laceweight, this color is called "Aegan". I am knitting on size 8, 5 mm. straights. I also bought 3 skeins of another color, called Peony. Alreay wound into balls !

And here is another project going along : Clapotis, the mini version of it. Started last week with Lanas Puras Melosa in Fingering Weight, color Sunset. The yarn is thinner than called for in the pattern but with a few more additions in the increase section it is not too small. This will not be very thick or wide scarf, and that is just what I wanted it to be. I want to make a full sized one after this, because it is such an easy knit. I can watch TV and knit, so I will save this one for the evenings. Other patterns which require more attention I will mostly knit in the daytime, upstairs in my spare room, with only the rabbit hopping around...

Here is a picture of Clapotis with in the foreground one or our Phalaenopsis Orchids which we grow for a living. So these are paying for my yarn I guess.

This one is standing in my livingroom and its flowers are almost 5 inches wide ( 12 cm ) In total it has 25 flowers and a couple of bulbs that are not open yet. Georgeous !!!

And look what I got in the mail today ! 3 hanks of lovely colored variegated Prism Lace Wool, colors from left to right are: Antique, Sierra and Fog.

More work in progress

2007-03-04T06:53:00.000Z

Here is one more project I am working on. When I see all these I didn't realize that I am knitting on so many different things at one time. ( I didn't take pictures of some of them yet, so there is more to come). I just feel a little overwhelmed when I see them listed out here.

After years of non knitting I saw an ad in the newspaper about a SNB meeting in Rotterdam. When I saw that I felt the urge to pick up the needles again. I had saved all of my knitting needles and received the ones of my mother and grandmother when they had passed away.

I began searching the net and found out that there were all these wonderful things that people all over the world were knitting. And what about all these wonderful yarns ! Available worldwide, even for me in this little country where knitting is not overly popular.

Now with so many yarn available and all these wonderful patterns my head just overflows with ideas and I just keep putting new things on. I'll just have to finish a couple of these before I start something new..

And destashing where everyone is talking about is not an option for me. I didn't have a stash at all, but it is growing VERY fast ! Trust me, the postman has his daily stop here at the moment

My DH is starting to mutter about it, so are my children. "Mom, here is the postman with a package for you, AGAIN ......!!!"

This a project I only started a few days ago, The Scotch Thistle Lace Stole. I am using a Alpaca/Silk laceweight yarn from Blackbunnyfibers, although this a laceweight yarn it still has a lot of body so I made a swatch on 4 mm. needles and it came out just right. The yarn has shades of blue and slate. In the close-up you can take a better look.

Not too busy, what do you think ? The pattern shows a much darker yarn with more variegation in color, so I thought this would work out OK. I am still not quite convinced, although the yarn is lovely to work with. It is really soft and doesn't split. With all these 3 purled together stitches that is worth something.

And last I just wanted to show a picture of my black bunny. She is almost 2 years old now and we have had her from that she was 4 weeks old. She was my daughters first and she named her Lieffie.(pronounced as something like Leafy in English) It means "sweetheart" or "honey" in Dutch. And so she is ! After my daughter went to College I was the one to take care of her, and the she became sick. She had a severe head-tilt, which means she suffered from vertigo and couldn't walk. She kept falling and her head was tilted sideways, it was so sad to see her like this. I had to give her medicines a couple of times a day and also I had to feed her. I spend hours sitting at her cage and stroking her and telling her not to give up. She was only 4 months old then.
Luckily she has recovered and only has a minor tilt in her head left, one of her ears is drooping to the side. She looks cute this way. I became very attached to her in this period. During the day she wonders around in one of our spare rooms in the house, she is litter trained and never drops anything on the floor. She just hops inside in her cage to do "her thing". At nights she stays inside her cage with her stuffed toy to keep her company. I often sit on the floor on a pillow and knit with her for a while. When she gets bored of me knitting and wants to be pet, she starts to knibble at he points of my needles or starts digging in my yarn. Not that nice of you Lieffie....

Lieffie, I dedicated this site to you !!!!!

and knitting ofcourse.........

I've won a prize !!

2007-03-03T07:56:00.000Z

I won third prize in a contest on http://www.oneplanetyarnandfiber.com/. I feel so lucky I won because normally I NEVER win something when I enter a contest. the prize is a 15% discount on my next order, so now I will have to think hard and long what to choos
I ordered some lovely yarn from them :Lanas Puras Melosa in laceweight and fingeringweight
It is a 100% merino wool from Uruguay and is really very soft. The two skeins in the back are fingeringweight , color Sunset. In the front left is laceweight Truffle and the one on the right is Rose Sand. It is very hard to catch the colors but the laceweights have very subtle shades of colorchanges.

I finished my FIRST lace shawl last week, the Forest Canopy Shoulder Shawl, from http://ma2ut.blogspot.com/2006/09/forest-canopy-shoulder-shawl.html . It took about two weeks from start to finish , but I didn't block it untill I had some blocking wires. I had never blocked something before so this was quite a challenge for me. I think it turned out quite nice if I have to say so myself. Please judge yourself......

It was fluttering in the wind, so it was hard to take a picture but this was the best way to get the color right.
The yarn I used is Sea Silk, color Amethyst. It took a little less than I skein to knit this, I added
two more repeats to the original pattern, maybe I could have added one more but was afraid to run out of yarn. Detail of the edging.

WIP

2007-03-02T20:10:00.000Z

Several projects are on the needles. I am working on Ene's scarf from Scarf Style, this is knit in Lisa Souza's merino fingering weight yarn in Vert de Gris on 4 mm circs.

Next on the needles is Midwest Moonlight, another project from Scarf Style. This one is knitted in cashmere from Colourmart UK, fingering weight. It is light blue with little speckles of darker blue in it. This yarn will bloom after washing and will be VERY soft...

A new knittingblog is born

2007-03-02T07:38:00.000Z

Well, I don't know if anybody out there is waiting for this, but here it is. My own new blog !
It will be about what I am knitting or will be knitting .
Hope you will like it.