Wip Wednesday: Continental blanket

I'm a "thrower", a very inefficient one for that matter. 

For the non-knitters, there are different ways to knit. You can throw the yarn or pick it.  I manage to increase, decrease, yarn over, slip stitch and make cables and bobbles. But, it takes me forever.

I only made small/quick projects so far, mainly hexipuffs and projects with big chunky yarn, it didn't bother me too much that I'm quite slow. 

Have you seen this post on Crafts from the Cwtch? It inspired me to take a critical look at my knitting skills. As you all know I am much more skilled in crochet and knitting is still a bit of a struggle. I learned the basic purl and knit stitches from my mom and from there on I found my tutors on youtube. However, now that I am making a nice long scarf with a tiny needle size...well, it got me thinking. 

So, I want to challenge myself to learn a more efficient way of knitting: continental knitting (or picking). 

I checked out Youtube for some tips and tricks but the biggest help were some of the ladies at the knitting meetings I attend here in Rotterdam. I thought I was able to knit continental, but it appeared I twisted my stitches. Thank goodness for the tips and tricks from more experienced knitters! 

So now the only thing left to do is practice, practice, practice. What better way to do that than knitting a blanket? 

 

Blanket details: Dining in the Dunes blanket

Needle: 6.5mm circular needle

Yarn: Katia Alaska, Drops Andes

Pattern: Improvised squares: Cast on 18 sts, knit 32 rows in garter stitch. Some squares are just knit the rows, others are all in purl stitch. 

I found the color inspiration for this project just around the corner at Hoek van Holland.

I just hope I have enough yarn to make a blanket that is big enough to snuggle under after dining in the dunes in summer. I can't wait for the first beach picknick! 

Take a peek at Tami's Amis for more WIP Wednesday projects. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope to see you soon! 

Crafty Easter Link Party, Part 3

Welcome back for another link party!

I hope you had a wonderful week and a lovely weekend! Mine has been great, lots of friend-time. Yesterday a dear friend stopped by and we had a picknick in the parc and today we'll be visiting another dear friend for her birthday! Oh how I love these weekends!

Sun is shining, so I will keep it short and enjoy a little time in the sun with a cup of coffee.

You all saw my little Easterbunny, but he is such a model! He loves flowers too, daffodils picked from the parc. Ssssssssh, don't tell anyone I did that ;-).

Did you made some crafty Easter projects or did you see some things that inspire you? Share them with the rest of the posts!

Finished Object Bunny Friday

The weather is amazing right now, 19 degrees, sun and no wind, perfect. 

After a busy day with a job application and some chores it was time for a wee bit of knitting on the balcony.

A new project is started, but more about that on next Wednesday. Today it is Friday, so I will share a little finished object with you. Do you remember this book I talked about? 

I made this little Easter bunny, want to see how he turned out? 

Isn't he adorable? I really love how he turned out (smugness alert). He feels right at home too. 

He loves to cuddle....

He loves to show his little pom pom tail...

And loves to hang out. 

I really had a hard time making this since I never made a knitted doll before, crochet dolls are easy as pie for me. This project required to learn some new techniques.

 It took me some frowning and some struggling but I love how soft it is in comparison with crochet work. Crochet dolls are a bit more stiff and this is oooh sooo soft and cuddly. I really start to love knitting more and more, who would have thought? 

For the project details check out the project on Ravelry here. 

Thank you all for visiting and thank you for the many many lovely comments on my Beekeeper's quilt progress. It warms my heart :-). 

Please check out Tamis Amis for more Finished Objects!

Early WIP Wednesday, puffy puffy

Yes I know, I'm posting this on Tuesday. Tomorrow I'll be having a busy day and thus I will already show you my work in progress.

Hexipuff count: 72

Pattern: the Beekeeper's quilt

Yarn: too many to mention

The beekeeper's quilt is indeed progressing. 

I'm up to 72 hexipuffs right now

Don't they look cozy all together? 

More and more color is popping up in the collection and more will come. I like how the look is starting to become a bit more light and vibrant. I will be adding some more bright colors I think. 

I really love this project and I think I will really be able to make a quilt and not just a big pillow. This project is going all the way, it will grow slowly. At the and of 2012 I hope to have around 350 hexipuffs, wish me luck! 

For the scarf....no progress at all! Shame on me. But, I do have a ta-da post to share with you all later this week! 

No hop over to Tami's Amis for some more WIP's! Have a great day! 

Crafty Easter link party, part 2

Welcome (back) for another Crafty Easter link party!

I hope you all had a wonderful week and weekend. Mine was pretty crafty and full of inspiration. I have many new ideas for new projects, but I will resist knitting them as I want to knit some Easter projects and my scarf (link) first.

Last week I went to the library and I always take a small detour to the craft department before claiming one of the few study spots that are far far away from the land of toddlers. I love kids and I love parents that read to their children, but not when I’m trying to study. Fortunately our library has six floors so I can isolate properly. Anyways, I went to the holy shelves that often some great craft books for me to discover and what did I found?

An Easter knitting book by Arne and Carlos! I have been eyeballing this book for a while, but I didn’t want to buy it since I’d rather buy a book with more general patterns. Now I could borrow it and find some inspiration.

I will first share some pictures, I adore the vintage style of the patterns and the pictures.

The book isn’t available in English as far as I know, you might know the authors from 55 Christmas balls to knit. I love the pattern designs, but I don’t think it is a book for beginners. I am a beginner in knitting and I am working an Easter bunny.

I find the pattern is missing a lot of instructions on how to do something, maybe it is more clear if you have knitted more dolls. I’m a beginner in knitting and this is the first doll I knit so it is hard for me to grasp the idea. Also all the patterns are worked with 5 double pointed needles and I’m not a very big fan of working with tiny yarn and 5 needles. Instead I knit this bunny with a circular needle and stitch markers. It sometimes took some match, but in the end I figured it out.

Would I buy this book? No, it is lovely to browse through but I would rather spend my money on some more clear written patterns.  Do I love my finished bunny? A big YES, I’m pretty smug about this one since I had a lot of trouble with the pattern and in the end I was able to do it.

Well, I hope you have some projects to share too. I sure have to make some Easter eggs soon, I’ve seen some pretty cute ones last link party!


I've decided to keep the old links, since there is a lot of great crafts and it would be nice to be able to look at them. In the last link party you will be able to vote on one of these links to see which one is the winner of this small link party!


If you have participated in the last link party, feel free to join this one with a new entry. 

✿✿✿ Have a great weekend ✿✿✿  

I hope to see you all on Sunday for another link party!

WIP Wednesday Malabrigo scarf

Project details Heaven Scarf

Pattern: Favorite Scarf Ever by Lisa Bruce

Needles: Knit Pro Circular needles size 3.5 mm

Yarn: Malabrigo Sock yarn Solis

Progress: Steady but slow

It is growing, but sloooowly. No surprise, the needles I use are size is 3,5 mm. 

This scarf is also going to need some serious blocking when it is done. The nice lacy pattern only shows if one stretches the scarf. This is going to be fun...I kind of hate blocking, especially bigger projects. But I guess there is no other option, the result will be worth it. For now it is just knit knit yarn over double decrease knit knit etc..........

For those of you that didn't visit Creainthecity this week, check out my last post. I organise a Easter link party, so if you made anything Easter/Spring related don't hesitate and share with the rest. There are already some really cute projects of other blogger that you can check out!

If you are planning to do some Easter crafting, you could come back. Next Sunday will be a new Easter link party. 

Now back to the link party we all enjoy right now, WIP Wednesday at Tami's Amis. Hop over to spot some pwetty projects!!!!

Crafty Easter Link Party/Contest

It is time for a little fun! 

Four weeks until Easter, just enough time to organize a link party. What is a link party you ask? You link a post of your blog to this blog for all readers to see, don't worry its pretty simple. 

How does it work?

I will organize a link party every week starting on Sundays (except for the first one, that one starts right now!) and ending on Saturdays. So you can enter your links the whole week. 

When can I enter?

Since this is an Easter link party the post that you link to has to be related to Easter or spring. You can post about a Easter craft project (knitting, crochet, yarn dyeing, sewing, scrapbooking, you name it) or pictures of things that inspire you (for example a picture of some nice springflowers or your kid painting Easter eggs). As long as it is somehow related to Easter. 

What about the contest mentioned in the title of this post?

The last link party will start on Sunday the 1st of April (not a joke) and this time you will be able to vote on your favorite. So the post you link there will be your entry for the Easter contest. This could be a new post, or a post that you shared before in a previous link party. 

Will there be prizes?

I organize this event mainly for the bloggers to get together, but of course there will be a little surprise for the winner of the last link party. I'll share this later on ;-). 

Here is my Easter project for this week:

Hopsalots by a pattern of Tiny Owl Knits. It is a great beginner pattern knitted on straight needles, details about the project and the yarn used here on my Ravelry project page. 

Feel free to grab this button

Where are you waiting for? It's your turn, link your Easter post! 

Edit: I added an example of how the link will appear. 

Easter patterns

Easter is almost there and I thought I should share a few of my favorite Easter patterns. I'm not sure if I will be able to make them all, but I hope it gives you some inspiration. 

Image source: Tiny Owl Knits

Hopsalots! I loved this pattern ever since I discovered the Tiny Owl Knit designs and I finally started knitting them. More about this one when they are finished.

Image source Lion Brand Yarn

Some cute little crochet Easter Eggs, great way to use you're scrap yarn. 

Image source: Purl Bee

These adorable knitted eggs and chicks are great Easter decorations. You can find them here at Purl Bee, do check the other patterns (many many great ones).

Image source Inese Andzane

Cute felted egg cozies. 

 

Image source Anna Hrachovec

And last but not least, tiny bunnies! 





Happy crafting! xoxo 

Crafty Easter

Hello lovelies!

My creative mind is talking Easter. Easter and spring, including eggs, bunnies, chicks and flowers. The Easter virus is spreading around blogland like wildfire. Just this morning when I wanted to write this post, I saw a post on one of my favorite blogs Crafts from the Cwtch. She made a little Easter egg with the cutest colours. 

And guess what? I made the exact same thing, from the same pattern. You should really check out this pattern, there are also chicks on this page. Simply adorable. 

I have some wild plans for Easter, but I will have to hurry since it is less than a month away. Maybe you want to join a little Easter Crochet/Knit along? 

If more people like the idea I could host a little Mr. Linky party every Sunday until Easter? Tell me if you like the idea, I kind of miss the "One a day" link parties (I sure hope Carole is ok...). So maybe this could be another way to stay in touch with many lovely bloggers. 

I will post some great patterns for Easter tomorrow so you get some inspiration, whether there will be a link party or not :-).  

Next to some Easter decorations, I also have a wearable Easter project on the go. These belong to something that is hopping a lot. Can you guess what it is? 

Thanks for tuning in and please tell in a comment whether you'd like a link party hosted here. 

Malabrigo = Yarn heaven

Yes, I'm in love with this yarn. Do you remember me rambling about what to do with my Malabrigo yarn? Thank you for sharing your thoughts about what to do with it, it was helpful! I bought the yarn for socks and in the end I changed my mind. This yummy yarn is going to be worn as a scarf:

This is also my WIP wednesday project to share with you all. 

The pattern is called Favorite Scarf Ever by Lisa Bruce and can be found on Ravelry for free (isn't the internet a wonderful place?). 

The yarn I used is of course the Malabrigo Sock yarn and I use my new knit pro circular needles size 3.5mm. They knit like a dream. 

Anyone else ever used malabrigo? It's my first time and although it's far from cheap, it is really worth it. 

Of course the Beekeeper's quilt is been growing too, I made 7 (hooray!) but I send 3 all the way to Canada for a hexipuff swap! If you want to join check the Tiny Owl Knits forum here. I can't show pictures since I want it to be a surprise for the receiver so I will show a few that were just made for me:

Do you like them? 

Can't wait to get a full basket of these little squishy guys. Thanks for stopping by, see you all next week!

Edit: It is Wednesday, so you can now check the other WIP Wednesday projects at Tami's Amis!

Monthly Mosaic

Hi lovelies,

I have been slacking a bit on posting, it has been a wonderful week and weekend. Mr. L. had a week off and it is so lovely to be spending time together. Unfortunately the weather wasn't co-operating, so we didn't go outside a lot. 

We visited my mother and sister in law, the latter is mommy of a little one year old. I wish I could show you how cute he is, but I'm not fond of posting pictures of other people's children on the internet. 

We also visited my parents and since they live on the coast, a little trip to the beach couldn't miss. It was foggy, very foggy. You couldn't see what was at the other end of the beach. It had something magical to it. 

I didn't even post my monthly mosaic! So here it is, the February mosaic:

It has been a wonderful month. A lot of hexipuff madness, some romance and a few finish objects including bunting and a head wrap. February has been about frost, snow and ice, but March will be about spring and I can't wait to see her blossom. 

Thank you for stopping by! Check in tomorrow for some new hexipuffs :-D and a peek of my scarf in progress.