Tuesday's Tallies: a knitty distraction

It’s Tuesday already! The pebble has increased in numbers to 17 pebbles. Yep, I only did 4 this week Shame on me! But I have a very good reason.

A lot of distraction this past week, we had a holiday here in Holland! What better way to celebrate autumn than with having some free days. Free days is great, but it didn’t provide us with a lot of ‘free’ time. I had a little mom and me time (which was very necessary, I see her so little since I starting living together with my B-friend). We had a little baby-sitting day with my cute nephew (he is now 10 months) and it went well! *Mr. L. and I are not really baby persons yet*. Next to these nice events we had one very special day, we went to the forest with my parents, brother, uncle, aunt and kin. We went to Putten, a cute little town with a lot of nature surrounding it. We go there every year. 

The wooden cottage looks like it comes straight from a fairytale.

We made some pumpkin soup on the fire.

We walked through the trees and stopped sometimes to spot any hiding wild life and to make some pictures. Strike a pose little bro! *yep, the giant is my little brother*

Do you see the Viking hat? I made that one with a combination of patterns. I will try to find some time to put it on paper.  In the second picture I sort of attacked my bro with the intension of knocking him over...I failed....miserable haha. I look a little like a horse, but I thought it was a good picture to show the spirit of the day! We had great fun. 

So a lot of activities going on, but there was still time to snuggle on my sofa with a little project. But it wasn’t crochet I was most busy with, I started knitting again! I went browsing on Ravelry and I knew I wanted to make something with cables. They have such a sophisticated feel to them. So I started to make a pillow cover based on this pattern. I only make a front with yarn and use fabric for the back. I haven’t found the right fabricyet, so not really a tada. But it won’t be long!

Since this went pretty well (I never worked with cabels before, so I was a bit proud), I tackled another ‘scary’ knitting project….Double pointed needles! Aaaaaah, they are so scary! Working with two needles is already double the amount I used to work with and now working with FOUR?! But I really, really, really have wanties for warm mittens like these…and they can only be made with circular or dpn’s.

I'm not sure if this will work out, but I’ll keep you posted on the progress of this project. 

Sigh, I think I will continue my stripy granny blanket tonight. So easy, so fast! 

Thank you for all your lovely comments and support! Check here for more inspiring One a day projects. 

xxx Suzanne

Saving Saturday: Moss Madness

As a happy couple that just started to live in their first home, money is easily spent. There are so many things I would like to add to our little appartment. Some things are old (and not in a nice antique way) or just plain ugly. A lot of these were moved from my college dormity room to our new appartment. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful since I got a lot for free from family and friends. But now I would like some stuff I actually LIKE haha.

But in times of crisis we cannot just run to the IKEA and buy a new sofa and a bunch of decorations. So one has to be creative and patient (especially patience is a challenge). There are many things to make your home cozy and comfy without spending much money on it. I love the challenge of creating something with little resources. Therefore I want to have a new topic: Saving Saturday. Leaving you with a tip every Saturday to make your home even more wonderful!

Let's kick off with an autumn decoration tip. I love to add a little touch of season to the house and what better way to do so than with all the free goodies from nature! One of the things I totally love is moss. I found some amazing things on Pinterest: 

Look at the bathmat, the moss grows from the water that comes from your feet! How amazing. Although this is a very nice idea, I don't think the b-friend will be thrilled about this idea (he is always a bit scared of possible bugs and mold and sometimes he has a point -_-). The use of moss in some decorative touches to the house is more practical.

So I went to the parc with a spoon *yes, a spoon...I don't have a shovel* and I found myself some green fluffy moss! I spooned my moss into a bag and I found also some mushrooms! Wiehoe. What a nice bonus. Back home I put them in a nice little tray, added some of the chestnuts I picked up earlier this week and a candle, all done! 

Very easy to do and I think you can always find some moss no matter where you are. So take a nice long walk and go get yourself some moss! Don't forget to spray a little water over the moss every day. Be careful with mushrooms, a lot of them are toxic. You don't want your kids taking a bite of them so keep them out of reach or out of the house! I don't have any kids around here so I don't have to worry about that. Of course I have a dog which is a bit stupid but not THAT stupid... 

Although he might surprise us ;-)....

Big kiss and I'll soon be back with my new One-a-day project reveal. Thank you for all the lovely and sweet comments about my table runner! It was an amazing journey. Oooooh I'm so exited about the next one. It's going way faster than I anticipated and it is going to be on my hook for a looooooooong time. It's a big one. 

Talk to you soon!

Moments to Treasure

Hello dears! 

How was your week? Mine was great! Especially one day in particular. I went to visit two dear friends of mine and we had a wonderful time. I went by train, which offered me the possibility to start with the birthday gift for my mom. I am making a scarf with this beautiful yarn in a blue-purple-gray-ish color, I love it. I am seriously considering making one for me as well! The pattern is a bliss, although it is a Japanese pattern the signs are easy to understand. With a hook of 6.0 mm it goes super fast, my scarf was starting to shape after half an hour! The yarn is so soft, it is super easy to work with. *Sigh* What a lovely in-between-blankets-project haha. 

Just sitting in the train resulted in quite some progress:

But that wasn't the nice part of the day! We went walking in the forest, just the three of us. Talking about a wide range of topics, from funny stories to serious matters. No sounds, except for the birds and the wind. We needed nothing more.

 

It had something magical to it.We are very close friends, and it always feels like coming home when we are just with the girls *sorry boys haha*. I love them dearly. They are more like sisters and there is nothing too much for them. 

They are such beautiful and powerful women. But girls will stay girls, goes after we came back it was time for tea and some sweets! They made cupcakes and I got a present:

Hurray for mustache madness!! The mustache mug is the present, isn't it aaaawesome! They know me too well ;-). Now, enough of the chatter. The house needs to be cleaned, I need to study a lot and then have the opportunity to take the dog for a long walk since the sun is shining *it was officially the rainiest summer ever measured in Holland*. 

And after cooking, eating, cleaning up again...............I can crochet again and enjoy the weeeeeekend! Have a nice weekend too! 

Lots of love, 

Suzanne

flower bom

Today we made another nice walk, this time in the dunes at the coast of Holland. We (Mr. L, little Puck and me) visited my parents and they live near the beach in Katwijk. Sometimes this city girl needs some nature! And next to the millions shades of green I found myself inspired by all the flowers that were blooming. From white, to purple, to orange. But especially the shades of yellow and pink were striking! I might some pictures so you can love them too. 

Pretty huh? Mr. L. is finally out fishing and will stay out camping, so that means I have some time to crochet left moehahaha. Well, I wish you a great weekend! Big kiss from Puck and me!

Beautiful, isn't it? But it is not a sunset, it is a sunrise! Today I woke up early, at 05:00 AM to be exact. Mr. L. wanted to go to the beach to find a fishingspot and fishing involves alarm clocks ringing before the sun is up. I could have stayed in bed, but since I love the beach I joined Mr. L. in a short trip to "Hoek van Holland". The beach was deserted and there was nothing but the sounds of waves, birds and the rustling of the wind. *Sigh* I think you noticed by now that I am quite romantic haha.

 

This beach has a massive pier into the North Sea. When you walk all the way to the end of it, you get the feeling you are surrounded by nothing but water, wind and seagulls. 

I love how the waves remove all the footprints and there was no trace of us left when we left the beach. I found another treasure once we got back to the car . Teeny tiny frogs! Look how cute! They probably live in the dunes and just stopped by to say, hello.

And of course I also have a small crochet project I would like to share:

It's a pincushion and I really like it :-), let me know if you like it too! Do you have a nice pincushion?



Hope you had a great start of your day as well, lot's of love,

Suzanne

Sun is shining, weather is sweet...

Another day with so much to enjoy. The sun was peaking finally through the grey clouds, birds were singing again and I could smell these cute little pink roses and freshly cut grass *I luuuuv this smell*. It's amazing how nature finds her way in the concrete jungle of Rotterdam. That's what I like most, the little pleasures that can be found and since nature has to fight here, it feels even more like a treasure when you find something. 

But not all is well in the city centre. When I do my groceries or go to work, I always come across escalators. And to be honest, I am a bit phobic for these moving stairs. The scariest is the moment when you go on the escalator and off it. I'm paranoiac that something will stick in the moving horror. Luckily I didn't have shoelaces in my boots today! 

I survived, time to get that blanket done!