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.....

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

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

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

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....

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

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

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...

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.