One a day: Somewhere over the rainbow...

At the beginning of my hexipuff journey, I'd never thought I would last. Of course I had to join the crowd in making these little hexies, but they would probably end up as a pillow and nothing more. 

Then more hexies were made and I started asking myself what my goal was. Lots of knitters asked me the same thing; what I was making with these cute little squishe thingies? I had more than enough for a pillow so I wanted to make something bigger, so I got this idea:

A mini quilt so I can sit in the window! Wouldn't that be awesome?

But then I realized something....

This is a pretty cute idea, but....

.....I already have enough for hexies for this idea and I'm not ready to give up knitting them! 

Look at all the colours...

There is no way I am calling this a FO yet! It will turn in a gorgeous quilt of at least 400 hexies! Yep, you are going to see them some more. I am so in love with this project, and it is perfect for summer knitting. No big bulky project on your lap, just your tiny DPN's and a little skein of sock yarn. 

Speaking of sock yarn...

I dyed another miniskein after being inspired by this post at Pumpkin spins, rainbow style. I don't know why I never did, it turned out very cute and bright. I can't wait to knit it into a hexie. 

Hop on over to Carole's place for more One a day projects. 

One a day - joining the fun again!

Hello lovelies,

Just a quick post to join the fun over at Carole's place. She is organizing a One a day link party again! The idea is that you pick on of your projects that seems a bit hard to get finished, mostly bigger projects that need to be done one bit at a time. A great way to get the project (finally) done is to finish one little piece everyday. For example a row of a crochet blanket or a knitted square. Hop on over to the Gingerbread girl blog for more details and for other participants :-). 

My One a day project will be the never ending Beekeeper's quilt. I started this at the end of 2011 and the goal is to get it finished before the end of 2012. I started off great and knitted many puffs every week....

....

But somehow they got lost behind when crafting time became scarce. At one point I even didn't have any sock yarn left to make some. So last week I finally ordered some creamy sock yarn that I could dye in my own color combo's. 

Doesn't look like much yet no does it?

Aaah, that's much better.

Making these little cuties!

The best part of making hexies, having a basket full of squishe soft little bundles of joy to put your hands in. I just want to eat them!

Which brings us to a total of 96 puffs! My oh my, I still need so many more and I can't wait to see this project grow! I still have so many ideas like making some with embroidery or little beads on them! 

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!

One a day 9: Hexipuffs around the world

Hexipuff count: 58

Pattern: the Beekeeper's quilt

Yarn: too many to mention

Tuesday is always a bit about hexipuffs here at Crea in the City, but today it was all about hexipuffs. 

I made 6 puffs this week.

Made from soft dyed merino yarn and I have some hand dyed mini skeins on the needles:

But what makes this Tuesday so special is the little package found in the mail this morning, all the way from Stamford! I didn't expect any mail, so it was quite the surprise. 

Then it hit me, the Tiny Owl Knit Hexipuff around the world swap!!!! I participate in a hexipuff swap on Ravelry. The idea is that a package with 5 hexipuffs travels around the world. When you receive the package you take a number of hexipuffs and replace these with hexipuffs from your own stash. And so I had to choose some puffs....mmmm, it was a hard decision but I picked three:

I really like them and look at the little ducky! There was also a little bag of lavender, I couldn't just let it be and it had to be mine. Mmmm, lavender. This is going to fill a hexipuff for sure. I did find out my hexipuffs are pretty big, I might need to make some with less stuffing. 

Well, I'm off to pick/make some puffs of my own to put in the package!

PS: I'm not sure if there will be a post today, but on the older post on the Gingerbread Girl blog you can find some more blogs that participate in the One a day group. 

One a day 8: Hexipuff addicted

Hexipuff count: 49

Pattern: the Beekeeper's quilt

Yarn: too many to mention

I made 6 hexipuffs this week and frogged one (it was white and therefore died/dyed *haha*), all made with yarn dyed in my kitchen. It is so much fun that I don't want to make any other hexipuffs! To come up with some color I get inspired by so many things and I thought it would be nice to share them.

Inspired by one of my favorite blogs, she uses a lot of wonderful blue and green and lives in a place with a lot of those colors nearby *jealous!*. 

Who doesn't l♥ve the food and the song by Jack Johnson

My favorite flower: tulips. Doesn't the color make you want to eat it?

Check out Gingerbread Girl for more One a day projects.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I managed to make 2 hexipuffs (amazing huh? Yes, that is sarcasm). One of these is very special; it is made with my own dyed yarn!  It was an exciting experiment and although I didn’t expect anything fancy, it turned out very nice! Yes, I am pretty smug about this, sorry 'bout that. Want to see?

Eeeeeeeeek, I totally love love love it! It is even in Valentine colors, how convenient. I plan to make many many more hexipuffs with my own yarn. I’ll keep you posted if I made some more!  

Speaking of Valentine, only 15% of the Dutch participate in Valentine activities. I understand why many people are skeptical about this widely commercialized day. Pink and red are in every window, all the stores trying to seduce you with mostly ugly things. Is it really a day for your loved ones or for buying hideous pink bears with sparkles? 

Some people state that you should cherish your loved ones every day and not just on Valentine’s day. I couldn’t agree more. Since this weekend Mr. L. hasn’t been very well, flue has got a grip on him. 

So a homemade smoothie full of fruity goodness, some honey and yoghurt was presented for him in bed on Sunday.

No Valentine's day for me! It will be just like a normal day, except for those that need a little push to express their (secret) love. Did you ever sent a real Valentine's card to a secret love? I did as a teen, anonymous. Good thing I didn't state my name...the guy in question revealled a few weeks later that he fancies man. Bummer,  hahahaha.

Even though I don’t really agree with Valentine’s Day, it started to itch. Maybe it would be nice to do something...It wouldn’t hurt to give Mr. L. a little surprise right? A small thing, not really special. A card maybe? Or some flowers? 

In the end I even made some gifts...yep. Miss Valentine Boycott made gifts. 

I made some fresh peppermint scented bath salt (this was so fun to do, I will definitely make some more!) and heart shaped cake pops. Within 15 minutes Mr. L. ate almost all the cake pops and enjoyed a nice hot footbath which made the whole room smell fresh and minty. He was beaming with happiness with his feet in the water, in his hands a book and a hot cup of tea (he is still a bit sick, so tea will do!). It made me feel kind of good about myself, yes yes, that is smugness again. 

Ok....ok......maybe I do believe in Valentine's day, after all what's better than surprising the one you love? 

One a day 5: Spread the love

Hexipuff count: 39

Pattern: the Beekeeper's quilt

Yarn: all kinds of scraps, but also new yarn! A lot of Lana Grossa. 

I made 9 puffs this week and I bought some yarn. Thank you for all the suggestions that you gave in the last One a day post, a lot of you suggested moss green and yellow. I bought some mustard yellow and fluffy mossy green! I also bought some printed merino lana grossa of which I already have a few other colors. I am still looking for some pretty pink sock yarn, the search continues!

Last week I received a wonderful surprise, I was nominated for beautiful blogger award by Sarah from CraftsFrom The Cwtch. Thank you so much Sarah, especially since you inspire me in many ways. Take a peek at her blog to know why. She is a very kind and creative person and has a great taste in patterns and projects to knit or crochet.

To spread the love in blogland I will pass on this award to another wonderful blogger. I had to give it a little time, since many of you have a beautiful blog but finally I made a choice.

I give the Gingerbread Girl blog the beautiful blogger award. Carole, the person behind this blog has brought many bloggers together with her One a day group. Every week progress is shared and comments are given on various projects. I met many lovely people through this group and I think this is what makes blogging a great experience. So a big thanks to Carole for bringing us all together!

Next to organizing this group event every week on Tuesday, Carole is also a beautiful person. She is has her ups and downs as a person, crafter and as a mommy which she shares with her readers. This makes her blog very personal and lovely to read. It hasn’t been easy for her lately and although she is a very positive person by nature I hope this award will make her smile even more today.

So check out her blog here and you will also find the other One a day Projects. 

16 hexipuffs and 50 followers

I think many of you feel the same way, having a blog changes how you look at things in live. For some reason you start to notice the small things that seemed insignificant before.

Treating yourself with some homemade cake and coffee, capturing the dog dreaming about running wild on the beach, the joys that come with the seasons like flowers and chestnuts.

This is one of the things that make my blog a special place where I can look back at a lot of special moments and gives me the chance to see special moments of others! But what makes it a really special place, are the other residents that are part of this little town in blogland. They show love, support, interest and more love.

 I appreciate it so very much! We’re nearing the end of 2011 and I never would have imagined that my blog would become an important part of my life. So I want to celebrate that 50 lovely people are following my blog at the moment. I also want to say a BIG thanks to you all!

So I am organizing a giveway, hurray! Since I am obsessed lately by all the pretty patterns of Tiny Owl Knits and enchanted by the magic of hexipuffs, the prize of this giveway will be a pattern of your choice from Tiny Owl Knits! I emailed the creator of these wonderful patterns and she was thrilled about the idea so this giveaway is a gift from Miss Stephanie herself! She is just the sweetest person in the world….ok maybe the second sweetest person (my mom’s the sweetest ;-)). 

Look for example at these ones. Just a tiny selection of all the wonderful patterns she made, look here for all the patterns she offers. 

So, what do you have to do if you want to win a free pattern? 

Leave a comment stating which small thing you recently enjoyed. 

State which pattern you would like to receive. 

I'll be drawing a winner randomly from the comments, but it has to be a comment from a follower. This is a 50 followers celebration after all. No worries, new followers can also participate!

You can participate until Friday the 23rd of December. I will announce the winner the next day.  

I'll leave you with a photo of a sweet little hexipuf, I have 16 right now! It was stolen by my dog, look at his face! He just knows it's mine, hand it over now naughty dog!

Hop over to Gingerbread girl blog for more crafty talents! 

One a day: changes

My last One a day post was in October, shame on me! I have been making a few pebble, put I didn't make one a day at all! I don't enjoy this project as much as I thought I would. And the fact that I just started a knitting journey doesn't help either. I love to learn new things and knitting is one of those. I never thought I could manage two needles instead of one hook. It looked so confusing and difficult, but fortunately we are blessed by Youtube! 

So, I have 21 pebbles right now and I have decided to leave them for a while. They are grey and sophisticated, but what I need is a bit of craziness and color. 

So, I will start a new One a day project....

Picture taken from Tiny Owl Knits on Ravelry

I tried, I tried so hard NOT to get infected by the virus going around the knitty world for a while now; the beekeeper's virus. But I just cannot resist anymore. They are too soft and squishy. 

I joined the Tiny Owl Knits Group on Ravelry since I am currently knitting Mr. Fox! And once I joined the Ravelry group I just got sucked right in the madness. It's such a crazy (in a good way) bunch of people over there, all very enthusiastic and helpful (although most of the people on Ravelry are haha). I love that the group is very active and lots of exiting things are going on. 

Picture taken from Tiny Owl Knits on Ravelry

I can see what you're thinking right now: if you can't keep the pebble rug going, how on earth will you continue working on a beekeeper's quilt? Well, I must admit that is exactly my concern. So I decided not to make a quilt, but one (or two) pillows. That should be a fine goal right? 

For those of you that don't know the beekeepers quilt, I want to direct you to a little video that the designer made. See  if you can resist making them after you watched ;-). 

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

Tuesday's Tallies: New project reveal

Well hello there lovelies!

It is finally Tuesday and I can show you my new project! I will not talk too much about it and show you some pictures instead.

All grey and green colored woolly pebbles. 

They are soft...

They are squishe.....

And they will be growing in numbers. 

Because I will need a lot of these little pebbles! The purpose? Something like this:

This is a picture I found on Ravelry and later also on Pinterest. You can find it here, there is also a pattern that you can buy for these pebbles. I didn't use this pattern, since I know how to crochet a ball and I just made them not perfectly round by randomly increasing or decreasing a bit. I just make them up as I go. They are filled with fiber fill and they are so quick to make! 

The goal is a rug, I am not sure what size. It would be great if it could be bigger than the one shown above. We will see! For now I'll focus on making one a day and not being distracted by other projects. Although I have a few other small projects that I will show soon! 

Check here for more One a day projects! 

One a day Tuesday's Tallies: Tada moment!

Hi darlings!

What a week, autumn has really found Rotterdam. The wind won't give my little plants on the balcony any break and it makes my umbrella totally useless from protecting me from all the rain that has been pooring. Not really my favorite kind of weather, but autumn also has a sunny side. Sometimes the sun peeks through the clouds just long enough for me to take a stroll with the dog hunting for chestnuts. I love chestnuts so much! They really represent the change of the seasons for me and the color, my oh my the color! 

Next to getting these pretty little fellows, I harvested my carrots. They were on my balcony for months and this is the result:

A bit disappointing to be honest, they didn’t even tasted sweet. Bummer! A well, on to the part you all have been waiting for: my One a day Tada moment! I think it is pretty and I love it! Sometimes finished objects disappear from my home as a gift for friends and family (for example my scarf went to my mom and my bunny went to a cousin), but this time I am sure it will stay right here! It just took me too long and it has been an amazing journey with all of you supporting me. So here it is:

I have started this project on the 30^th of August 2011, so it took me one and a half month. I used Super Durable Breikatoen No. 10 for this project, which is a 100% cotton 3 ply yarn and a 2.0 mm crochet hook. You will need a whole skein and a tiny bit of a second one. 

The project is 1,5 meters long and I choose to make it slightly bigger than my table. 

The pattern I used is this one. I just used the flowers and made the project into a table runner. 

The pattern is Japanese so for the ones that don’t use a chart, I have written the pattern down of one flower:

1.       Chain 8 and slip stitch in the first stitch to form a circle

2.       Ch. 4, *dc in the next stitch followed by a ch. 1* repeat until you reach the end of the circle and join to the 3^rd stitch of the chain 4

3.       Ch. 8, *skip 3 stitches and dc in the next (so skip a ch. Stitch, a dc and a ch. Stitch of the last round)* and repeat. At the end of the circle join in the 3^rd stitch of the chain 8.

4.       Ch. 1, sc in the same stitch, *ch. 2, dc in the 3^rd stitch of the chain 5 of the last round, ch. 3, dc in the same stitch as the other dc (so the 3^rd stitch of the chain 5), ch. 2, sc in the top of the dc of last round* repeat and join into the sc at the end of the round.

5.       *Ch. 3, 3 dc’s into the first stitch of the ch. 3 of last round, ch. 3, 3 dc’s in the 3^rd stitch of the ch. 3, ch. 3 and join in the sc of the last round.

And that’s it. You can join the flowers as you go by joining the tops of the flower petals with a slip stitch.  I must say, it sounds a bit difficult when reading the pattern and I highly recommend using the chart. So much easier ;-).  


Well, that was my first One a day project. Of course my tallies will go on, since I have thought of a new project. I will tell you all about it next Tuesday. Check here for the other great One a day projects! 


Edit: The diner set is the "Jokkmokk" from IKEA. It is very tiny, which is very convenient since we have a small appartment. Of course it made my live also much easier when making this table runner haha. 


Edit2: Some of you might already want to know what kind of project the next One a day will be, why not take a guess? I'll give a hint, it is also for the home and it is NOT similar to the table runner.