3KCBWDAY5 - Something Different: yarn planting

Hello and welcome to my fourth post in this lovely blog week! I'm enjoying very much so far, you too? I never post this many in one week, the posting isn't that hard to do but I'm behind on reading your blogs! I'll catch up and take a peek at all your lovely blogs, since that is what makes blog week so fun!

Enough with the rambling.

I think all knitters and crocheters would love to be able to buy a wide variety of yarn, but in times of financial crisis one cannot afford to visit the local yarnstore every week. So, you have to be creative. No problem for us crafters, right?

I might have a solution for all our problems. Free yarn.


Free?



Yes! Free!



You can multiply all the yarn you love.


How, you ask?



Yarn planting!

Here's a little tutorial on yarn planting.

Most of us keep our yarn in boxes, baskets or cabins away from the light. But what if you didn't? Get your favorite yarn and put them in the window. Hello sunshine!

Now you will have to have a little patience, but after a week your yarn will start to sprout!

This is the moment to plant your yarn. I only have limited space, since I live in an appartment. But don't worry, you will only need a small pot. You can even plant it in a pot in the window. Yarn does grow better when it has lots of space. My balcony is only suited for thin yarn, for bulky yarn you will need more space.

Once your yarn is planted just take care of it like any other plant. Some water, some nutricion and lots and lots of light. Especially the lighter colours. Dark colours can also grow in the shadow, like my blue yarn.

After some love you will see some plants growing!

I took one out that I planted earlier so I can show you how it looks:

I also got a yarn plant that is already full grown, every year in spring it gets little yarn flowers! So cute! The only sad thing is that these flowers don't give a lovely smell. Ah well, can't have it all right? 

So now I just have to wait until autumn, that is the worst part...the waiting. Little balls of yarn will grow slowly from the little flowers, similar to the way orange grow. The more you wait, the bigger they will get. Once autumn has arrived I will be able to harvest all my pretty yarn just in time for cold weather. Perfect for knitting! 

Just a little note, you can't plant acrylic yarns. They have to be organic, so any wool type and cotton. 

Can't wait to see all your yarn plants growing, tell me if you've grown your own yarn plants. I'm curious to see different type! 

Have a great day! 

3KCBWDAY4: Knitting temperatures

The weather here in Holland is pretty stable, it’s not extremely cold in winter and the summers are not hot at all. We get some lovely sunny weather but also rain

I’m just a beginner in knitting and crochet, it’s been about a year since I started this wooly adventure. The projects I choose are more a spur of the moment thing. I read blogs, check pinterest and ravelry and I see pattern that I just HAVE to make regardless of the weather.

Like this table runner:

Made from cotton and this would be a great summer project but I made it in Autumn, just because I liked it. 

Sometimes a gift is made for a birthday. Like this scarf I made for my mom made in September:

Sometimes cold weather does make me in need of some warm wearable projects. I tend to get really cold ears even with a hat so I made a little headband this winter:

Of course I wouldn't have made this in summer, but projects purely inspired by the temperatures are pretty rare. 

I do look forward to knitting on the beach! Last summer we didn't go on vacation, we stayed in the Netherlands and the summer wasn't too great. No knitting/crochet on the beach and I grew up near it so I very much enjoy going to the beach (even when it rains). This year were going to Croatia!

We're going by car so no luggage restrictions (helloooo suitcase full of yarn ;-p). Can't wait to knit in the sun like I do on my balcony:

Projects I knit outdoor have to be small though, now big blankets and such. Only when the blanket can be made in individual  parts. How about you? Where is your favorite outdoor knit/crochet place? And what kind of projects do you make?

3KCBWDAY3: My Knitting Or Crochet Hero

First of all, thank you all for the all the lovely comments and compliments I got on my picture yesterday. It's been a bit overwhelming! I enjoyed all the creative posts a lot, it was so much fun!  

♥♥♥

Day 3 of the blog week, yet another lovely topic. Everyone is asked to write about their knitting or crochet hero. My ultimate knitting heroine is definitely Stephanie Dosen from Tiny Owl Knits, no doubt about it.

Some examples of her pattern, Source: Tiny Owl Knits

Her designs are soooo magical and creative. Just looking at them makes you want to get your needles out. 

I didn't knit when I started this blog, I only used crochet. Knitting wasn't really appealing to me, to difficult. Her beekeeper's quilt made me want to knit and I learned it just for that pattern. Look at all the colours and patterns! 

Of course once I got the hang of knitting more projects by here design followed. 

I learned felting with this little free felted ring pattern and later also made felted slippers (purple bunny slippers that you seen in the Monday post). 

What I also love about this designer is that she is such a nice and inspiring person. She made a group on Ravelry that grew into one big happy family. It's a very active group with lots of things going on, so many warm people have joined. Just recently I joined in a swap and it was so much fun! I got the most amazing things from my swap partner (more about that next week). This might all sound a bit cheesy to some of you, but people that joined the group know that it's true!

Stephanie helps when you don't understand her pattern (which doesn't occur much since I think they are very well written) and she response to any email very quick. 

She also has a blog here where she shares some bits of her life. I hope she will publish some new patterns soon, some birdies told me that she is writing a book. 

I love her patterns so much that I even made a New Year's resolution to knit 12 Tiny Owl Knits projects this year. I made 4 so far and the beekeeper's quilt is a work in progress for the rest of the year. 

The fourth project is something I haven't shared on this blog yet. It is a fox stole! It is soooo cute and I get a lot of lovely comments when I wear it. Although some people also look a bit puzzled at me.

Do you like it? 

The dog didn't like it too much:

Don't attack the fox you silly dog! If you want more info on the fox stole check it on my Ravelry here. 

Next on the to-do list are these:

Picture by Tiny Owl Knits

I already bought the pattern and felting yarn, so it's won't be long until I can share these with you! For those that wonder what these little houses are, you can store hooks and needles in them!

Picture by Tiny Owl Knits

Isn't that adorable?

Can't wait to see your heroes, if you want to find more blogs that join the blogging week google 3KCBWDAY3 and you'll find them. 

Thanks for stopping by! 

3KCBWDAY2: Photo Challenge

When I woke up this morning I looked in the mirror and realized....

Copyright CreaintheCity

...I have a yarny hair day.


♥♥♥♥♥♥



Edit: Thank you all for the lovely sweet comments and compliments so far! Don't you just love blogweek? Such a wonderful community. If you like the picture you can vote for it here. You can only nominate one picture, so I would wait a bit until you've seen some more posts today and then choose one from all the lovely blogs that participate! 

Knitting and Crochet blog week: Kick off! 3KCBWDAY1

Hello dear readers and hello to new visiters from blog week!

How nice of you to stop by. 

It has begun, prepare for a post every day here @ Creainthecity and at a lot of other blogs. I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, since the first topic is already a very exciting one:

COLOUR

Don’t we all love love love colour? It is the thing that makes a 100 projects all made by the same pattern different. Colour gives you the opportunity to adjust something to your taste, to spice something up or to tone something done.

Colour is one of the main things that attracted me to crochet guru Lucy of Attic24, it was here stunning work that made me steel the crochet hook from my mom’s sewing kit.

Source: Attic24

Rainbow colours in every project she makes, it looks so bright and happy.

But…totally not my style. So when I started crochet the colours I choose were mainly brown, beige, white, blue, green en purple. No yellow, no red, no orange. 


This is my granny stripe blanket:

Not quite as vibrant and gorgeous as the one Lucy made. Hers is just stunning! But a rainbow blanket like hers just doesn't fit my taste. I like it in the picture, but I wouldn't want it on my sofa. 


So I choose the more boring calm colours. This blanket was started long ago and it never got really finished. I liked the colours, but there was one thing that annoyed me. The order of the colours, the same pattern over and over. I figured that I liked a more random way of putting colours together. Like in my latest blanket:

 I like it when squares of a blanket can be connected all randomly (well, it looks random, but most of the times it involves hurting of the brain a bit). Still a lot of beige, green and blue. Not very adventures huh? 

I was never a bright colour person and sock yarn was very underestimated. I liked one colour items especially for wearable projects:

Again some blue used for my woodland hoodlet. 

And some purple for my Hopsalots. 

But then.....

Something changed me....

The beekeeper's quilt.

I spotted the original beekeeper's quilt on Ravelry and I was enchanted by it. 

Source: Tiny Owl Knits

I never saw colours used so well, so many vibrant colours and still the overall look was something that really appealed to me. So it was done, I started my own quilt:

With some fear in my eyes I started using yellow, red and bright pink. And you know what? I have fallen head over heels for sock yarn. I love the way it knits, how the colours pop totally random. 

So a side project next to my quilt was a scarf made of posh Malabrigo sock yarn: 

For me colour is a journey and I find it one of the hardest parts of knitting. Colour can make or break the end result. I still find lots of new colour combinations and get a lot of inspiration in nature, food, on blogs and of course on ravelry. 

What kind of colours do you like? Bright? Rainbow? Soft? Dark? And were do you find your inspiration?

Finished Object, fringe blanket

Hellooo lovelies!

It’s been a while, hasn’t it? No worries, all is well. Just a bit busy, I just got a new part time job and it has been a bit overwhelming. Although I have to learn a lot and it isn’t always fun, I’m really glad I got it. I’ve been searching a long time and I’m still looking for a full time job but it’s a start. Enough about that, this blog is my resort and it does not involve work ;-).

I finally have a finished object to share with you again. My blanket I shared at WIP Wednesday a few weeks ago is all done. 

I enjoyed making this so much. I didn’t use a pattern, it’s just garter stitch squares joined by sewing. The best part is that I didn’t buy any yarn for this (new year resolution: yarn diet. So far so good), so my stash has shrunk quite a bit.

This blanket is for my dog since the old one was just worn out.

It seems that after some sniffing....

and checking it out.....

 He was very pleased with it!

I added a little single crochet edge and then little fringes.

Just cut two 13 cm long pieces of yarn

Insert your hook in one of the single crochet stitches.

Fold the two pieces of yarn and pull them through the stitch, not all the way just until you have a loop. Pull the tails of the pieces of yarn through this loop and your done!

Take a peek at Tami's Amis for some more Finished Objects. Next week I'll be joining the blogging week so a lot of posts will be popping up here, how exciting!

Have a great weekend!

Colour boost

I have been very absent here in blogland, I’ll try to catch up with all of your lovely posts that I wasn’t able to read yet.

I have been visiting my parents during Easter and it was heaven. We ate, we drunk, we watched some movies, we talked and we laughed.

I love how my parents really appreciate a good meal, they make the most gorgeous dishes and not just during Easter or other special occasions. They taught me to enjoy food, to value it. The word diet is strictly forbidden and although all the ingredients used are fresh and full of vitamins, there is always some cream, butter or oil in the mix. That is why I never worry (too much) about what I eat, as long as I cook with fresh ingredients and lots of veggies all will be fine.

My mom always makes sure a very very wide variety of ingredients is present on the table, veggies, fruit, nuts, fish, meat, you name it! She always says you should enjoy everything but in moderation. She is so right. I am very grateful of being able to enjoy food so much, since not everybody is really able to do so.

So, after this ode to food I should share some food with you:

This is a salty cupcake made with goats cheese and spinach and believe it or not, it was really yummy!  

But food was not the main attraction of the trip to my parents, we went sightseeing. Many tourists travel far to see the tulips in Holland and they are just in our backyard. I must say, they are truly beautiful.

A sea of yellow

And they smelled nice too! Yep, I beheaded Mr. L. Sorry honey :-P. 

But not so nice as these. Oh mighty purple, hyacinths! The smell was superb! 

Look at these, they are like flames! 

Don't you love it? I really like Holland on days like these. 

I hope your Easter was just as nice as mine. Knitting or crochet didn't happen, except for a little gift for a friend which I cannot share because she might see ;-). But I'll catch up soon with hexipuffs, a scarf and my doggy blanket!  

Craving

The pile is growing, I love making this little blanky so far! In fact, I am a bit sad that my stash is shrunk so much already. Soon the last bits of my thick creamy yarn will be knit. The blue is all done for and so is the yellowish green. Some brown is still left, but that's all! 

It was just to practice continental knitting, a little side project, but it has grown on me and now I'm very fond of it. My number of hexipuffs is suffering from it and so is my Malabrigo scarf. I should return to those soon since they call me, I hear them screaming: "knit me, knit me!"

It wil be finished soon, this blanket won't be very big since I only use some leftover skeins. I think it will just be sufficient for a tiny dog blanket, a welcome thing since his current blanket is turning more and more smudgy (nope, washing doesn't help either) by the day. 

I tried taking the blanket off the sofa, but that wasn't a very smart idea. This dog wants needs his blanket, he even started squealing until I put it back were it belonged (that is, according to the dog). 

I think he would be pretty pleased with the new blanket. It is more dense and soft. The colors are much more sophisticated, although I don't think Puck will care about that part. 

Although one part of me really wants to take out more colors and make this a real big blanket in which I can snuggle. It has been much colder lately. Bring out the blankets! 

I've been craving these past days. Craving for baked goodness. This little cupcake looks a bit funky with the  candied lemon peels on top of the mascarpone, but it was superb! Sweet with the whiff of sour and the softness of creamy Italian delight. 

And are you familiar with these little sweeties? The're a Dutch dish called "Poffertjes", the're basicly mini pancakes made in this special pan. 

Just with a little icing sugar and butter...what a bless! 

I hope to speak to you all soon, I have been a bit absent this week. I'm so sorry. Thanks for stopping by and I wish you all a lovely Easter weekend!!!!