Friday 21 December 2012

FO Friday: You can leave your hat on!

Winter is here and so I needed a hat, a quick one. So I found this pattern. This free pattern by Katharina Nopp is calles wurm and is knit using one of my favorite yarns, Lana Grossa Cool Wool Merino.

I rushed to the yarn store, bought me two skeins of this yammy yarn and got started!

It was so easy and very quick and so warm for your ears.





I made the smallest size and even in small the hat turned out a bit slouchy, but this is just the way I like it!

Hop over to Tamis Amis for some more FO's! 


Friday 23 November 2012

FO Friday: Beaded cowl

First of all, thank you for all the warm welcome back comments. I feel very lucky.
 
Now, time to share some knitting! Remember that I had to frog the last project and started all over? 

I finished it!
 
I even made some new friends.



It is oh so soft made of one skein of Malabrigo lace. Check out the project page on my Ravelry for all the details. 



I'm loving the pattern, nice and simple. Want to know how I did the beading? I used a tiny crochet hook. Check youtube for a tutorial. 





One skein of the lace yarn is enough for this cowl and I can highly recommend it. It makes it an affordable project.

Hop over to Tami's Amis for some more finished projects.


Thursday 22 November 2012

Thank you

Hello lovelies

Life is rushing by...

...So very very fast. 

I've been away from blogland.




People asked me if I am well, if everything is ok.

Don't worry, all is well. Just a wee bit busy.

I'm working two jobs, I've been named Maid of Honor by one of my best friends and of course there is also some crafting going on.  

Something had to give, blogging was the first thing on the list. I didn't find the energy or the time to write and I didn't feel inspired anymore. 

But I'm back! I don't know how frequent I'll post, but the spirit is high!

Thank you all for your kind words, I'm sorry I made some of you worry about me. It warms my heart. 




Wednesday 12 September 2012

Frogging...

The last couple of weeks have been pretty busy. Work, chores, visiting friends and lots of outdoor activity. 



Mr. L. and I even had some quality time.




We visited the "wereldhavendagen" which is world port days in English, meaning the city buzzing with lots of visitors and ships.




We also visited some ships and Mr. L. was mostly excited with the warships.




Boys will be boys, right?


Back home it was time to knit in the spare time. Remember this project:




Great pattern, great yarn, beads.....





Not so great!!! They are waaaaaay to heavy for the delicate lace weight yarn. I asked the ladies of my local stitch and bitch (a little knitting get-together) what to do and they suggest I could put on some beads at the other side of the cowl too. 


Of course I ignored them, thinking it would turn out fine with beads at one side....



Well, it didn't. 



So, I frogged it. 


And then I started again.



Yes, I frogged more than fifty rows just to start all over again. 





The good news is, I found some new beads. Much smaller ones of course. 





Unlike the other bold and funky beads, these are neutral, calm and soft color tones. It has a different feel to it now, a bit more sophisticated.


I'm still thinking to add a pop of bright color in there to spice it up a bit. So I might visit the craftstore today to see what they have to offer. What do you think?


Calm, neutral and sophisticated?


Or a bit funky, perky and fresh?



I can't wait to finish it so I can show it to you properly.

For project details check my project Ravelrypage.
For more great WIP's hop over to Tami's Amis!



Thanks for stopping by! 

Friday 31 August 2012

Here comes the rain...

After posting some summer pictures full of sunshine the rain has come in Holland. 


It made me feel a bit sad, summer over already? No more chances to put on a lovely light summer dress and slippers, back to long sleeves and boots. 


But fortunately one of my dear friends stopped by yesterday and she was delighted to see the nights get longer and the temperatures dropping.


According to her, it's time to get cozy, visit friends, drink a hot cup of tea and eat lots of brownies. 


She is so right, it made me feel all ready for colder times. But my house isn't ready yet, so it is time to get this   crib autumn proof!

So I bought some scented candles, like this cinnamon one.



And I received the IKEA catalogue.



I'm a big fan of IKEA and around 80 % of the furniture we own is by IKEA. Not very unique, but it is perfect for a small apartment like ours. 

For me autumn is also the time to browse through all my pictures taken in summer to remember all those special moments. I take lots of pictures as do most bloggers, but they often stay digital. I thought it was time to make them tangible. 

So I made an album, which gets me to my Finished Object for this week. 


I crochet the cover...


...Lined with some fabric and a blanket stitch. 

I just made a piece of fabric big enough for the outside of the cover using the stitch from this pattern with some scrap cotton yarn. 

It felt so good to crochet again. I hope to do some more when I find the time to order some new yarn (new yarn...my heart just skipped a beat). 

I still have to embellish the cover a bit, don't you think? Do you have any suggestions? 

For some more FO's, quickly visit Tamis Amis!


Tuesday 21 August 2012

Catching up...


15 July was my last post



For more than a month you haven't heard of me. 





But I think you all figured it out, didn't you? 




We made a little trip...




...It even included some knitting on the go... 




...And some amazing views. 







Enjoying the clear gentle sea...




...Some refreshing beverages....




...Some delicious food...





We even made some new friends...




I had a wonderful time in Croatia but of course I missed out on all the fun in blogland. So I'll try to catch up with you all via the One-a-day post on the Gingerbread girl blog. Because I took some yarn with me and got some hexies done. It wasn't much, but at least I was able to do some. Can't wait to get my needles clicking again! 





Lot's of love,


Suzanne


Sunday 15 July 2012

A 2nd year of projects update #1 Sock Megalomania


Well, here it is. My first sock ever. 


Knitting it was so much fun, I couldn't resist trying it on all the time. 


There is only one problem....this sock is waaaay to big for me. I have a shoe size 40/41 (size 7.5/8 in the USA), but my feet are very slim. The pattern I used stated to cast on 64 stitches for my size, but since my feet are slimmer than normal feet I cast on 60 stitches. Still the sock turned out way too wide, my gauge was a little bit bigger so I might have to use smaller needles. 

Anyone else ever made socks that were too big? 

I think I will let this project rest until I know what to do. Make a new pair or finish another sock this side and donate them to my boyfriend (he is not a big fan of purple though ;-)). 

You might have already seen the baby booties that I finished and I also started another project on the list. A little sneak peek: 


Take a look at the Ravelry group page for some more updates! 



Friday 6 July 2012

FO Friday: Baby booties

I have a small finished object for you to see. It is one of my projects on the 2nd year of projects list and it was a fast one. 


Little baby booties.


Knitted straight on a pair of 3.5 mm needles with some scrap acrylic yarn. This pattern is a gift and I know it deserves some soft baby merino but I wanted to get this project done on time. Also, acrylic is easy to wash.


They are grey and if it would be my baby these would be made in the most colorful sock yarn, but since this is a gift I had to tone it down. 


They are in the 3 months size, since the baby will be born in summer and these would be a little too warm. 

Want to make them too? Find the free pattern on Ravelry here.  


Want to drool over some yarny projects? Check out Tami's Amis for some awesome Finished Objects. 

Wednesday 4 July 2012

WIP Wednesday: New yarn is in!

Malabrigo 100% Baby Merino Yarn.....


Yes, I am in love. This yarn from Malabrigo was already soft, but this is soft on a whole other level. 

I never used lace weight yarn before, it is this pattern that is on my 2nd year of projects list. The colour is polar morn and it is this soft pale blue/lilac and I am in love with it. 


I stole borrowed a teeny tiny crochet hook from my mom, a size 0.60 mm. to add teeny tiny beads to the project. Now the only thing needed are the beads, they are pretty hard to find around here.

So not yet a real WIP here, but I just had to share this yarn with you all ;-). I'll keep you all posted on the progress, check out Tami's Amis for some more WIP's. 

Sunday 1 July 2012

A (2nd) Year of Projects: change of heart

Source: Crafts from the Cwtch

I've seen A year of project posts all over my favorite blogs the past year and I always wanted to join the fun but I somehow never did. All was new for me in blogland back then, so I guess my attention was drawn my too many things.

This year however, I will definitely join. I started this blog with some crochet love, but after seeing the Beekeeper's quilt I knew I had to start knitting. That was when things changed.

I have had a big change of heart the past year and this will be my theme for A 2nd Year of Projects.

Warm feet
I was all about crochet, knitting was complicated for me. When pattern browsing on Ravelry, I only looked at crochet patterns. One of my first projects were baby booties.



Cute as they are, I now discovered the knitted booties and they are all too cute. So, first up the list is to make a knitted version of baby booties and I found just the pattern:


© picture by Wileycomma

Next to these tiny little booties, I also still need to make my first real pair of socks. A year ago I would never wanted to make socks, they didn't appeal to me at all. But now I can't wait to have my first grown pair finished.

Maybe this pattern will do:


© Erica Lueder


Sweater fest
I also never wanted to make wearable things, I thought I would never be able to make something that would really look good on me. The past year I've made a couple of accessories but not a something like a sweater or jumper. So I bought myself a pattern book with lots of sweaters to knit and I also have a hoodie pattern from Tiny Owl Knits so I have 2 on the list:


© Tiny Owl Knits


© tanusik


Doggy love
I really want to make a little dog sweater, but it is far to warm now for our little furry friend to wear something wooly. So I'll remind myself in autumn to make something for Puck by putting this pattern on the list:



Shall I Shawl? 
What is the magic about shawls and scarfs? I never understood, until recently. I'm not sure what it was that changed my mind about making shawls, probably all the gorgeous ones that I saw on other blogs. So a shawl is on the list to. Maybe on of these three:


©  Martina Behm


© Veera


© Veera
Bead it!

Something I've wanted to try for a while now, adding beads to knitting. I think it looks stunning. For example take this pattern:




Christmas knitting
Since this is a year list, there should be some Christmas knitting. I tried to make them last year, but it didn't work out. Better luck this year on these cute Christmas balls:

© Yarnjungle
A great way to learn some fair isle knitting and I also might add some beads to them. 

It's magic
It is also time for some new techniques like illusion knitting. I've seen many gorgeous patterns and I want to try this scarf:



Looks like a normal stripy scarf this way, but when you look at it from a different perspective it looks like this:




Well, those are the patterns that are on the list. Yes, I know. These are not the most original choices, many of you already knit these patterns. But this way you can support me ;-). 

Can't wait to see everybody else's list! 


xxx Suzanne