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! 

Writer's block

A writer's block, that’s what they call it. 

I’ve been suffering from it lately and I’m fed up with it. I haven’t blogged for almost two weeks! Normally ideas for crochet projects pop into my head all the time, with no time to finish them all. Normally I have to fight my enthusiasm for all the things I want to craft, but right now I’m only fighting my laundry and dishes haha.

It might be due to the fact that all is grey and rainy here in Rotterdam:

I need some sunshine and warmth. Someone buy me a tropical island please! I look like an Eskimo when I walk the dog fighting harsh cold wind and even hail. It does give me an excuse to make some more knitted softness though,…..

….

Nope, even that doesn’t inspire me enough, *sigh*. But, there is one thing that offers some light to the end of this tunnel:

Hexipuff mania!

They are my salvation. No thinking how and what, just puffing away. Each one a small little project with its own colors, squishiness and flaws (look at the huge pink one, it needs to go on a diet haha). They are all unique and I love them. I take them with me all the time. I still have to make the perfect hexipuff bag, for now they are in a little felted pouch that I made.

I wanted to do dome felting after I saw this post on the Crochet with Raymond blog. I will defenitely make another felted bag for my needles! This one isn't perfect but it’s nice and soft, it's like the puffs are sitting in a cloud. 

When you are working on you puff you can turn the hem and the bag will turn in to a basket! 

I even took my hexi-kit with me to dinner with my little brother, eating my favorite dish: sushi! You should have seen the faces of the people sitting next to our table: “why is she making a picture of a little wooly…thingy?” Hilarious!

I have 14 hexipuffs right now, and they just continue growing in numbers. I wanted to make a pillow with them, but now I really want to make a quilt. I really keep it up it will be a reall big ol’quilt by the end of 2012. I’ll keep you posted on the hexi-mania.

Speaking of which, tune in again for my next post. My blog has 50 (!!) followers, my oh my, and that needs some celebration. I'll be organizing a giveaway and the price will be very special and it has something to do with the kindness of Miss Tiny Owl Knits.

See you soon and let’s hope this writer's block will disappear as well as the rain.  

Yarny day

Hi lovelies!

It's been a while! I have had a very busy time. I went to Lowlands (many Dutch will know it), a music festival. I didn't sleep much and now I am a bit sick :-(. At least I don't miss much sun, cause it is of course raining here in holland.

Since it feels like autumn, I had the urge to make "kruidnootjes". A Dutch treat eaten at the "Sinterklaas" fest. This fest isn't until the 5th of December, but I couldn't resist. So I baked a handful and eat almost all of it *wooops*. Aaaah, the smell of fresh baked delicious cookies. A big pot of tea and a little bit of yarn to go with it, aaaaaah what a bliss.

Oh, if you are wondering how to make these cookies, here is the recipe:

100 grams of selfraizing flower
50 grams of dark caster sugar
40 grams of butter, chopped in small pieces.
1 teaspoon of mixed spices (koek- of speculaaskruiden voor de hollanders)
a pinch of salt
2 table spoons of milk

Mix all the ingredients and heat the oven at 175 degrees. Make small balls of about 1 cm of the dough and put them on a baking tray. Bake for 15 minutes.

The spices that are used can be bought mixed in holland. I don't know if you can get these spices in different countries. It consists of cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, white pepper, gingerpowder and cardamom.

Well, I have a long way to go before I can show you another ta-da moment (to speak in Lucy terms ;-)) so I better get going!

Lots of love,

Suzanne....and sleepyhead Puck, haha:

Clear view

Today was an amazing day, one that you would like to stretch as much as you possibly can. The weather is truly summerish and makes sitting on a terras heaven on earth. After our chores for the weekend (some serious cleaning and some jobs involving boytoys like drills and hamers), we (me, my love and my parents) were of to eat "bitterballen" *a dutch treat* and drink wine at the SS Rotterdam. It is a cruise ship that has found her final destination in the harbor of Rotterdam. The city made her into a hotel and she has many restaurants to enjoy.

 

It's pretty impressive and once you get on the deck, it gets even better. Because the view is stunning:

It's been a perfect weekend, I hope you enjoyed yours just as much. Have a great sundaynight and I'll talk to you soon!