Wished I had something finished....

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

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

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

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?