Piccola

Last weekend I visited my LYS and got a few mini skeins as a present. Aren't they adorable? Only 12 gram each and just about enough to make a nice leftover bookmark 'Piccola' from Yarnissima. Now I have doubts about using the other mini skeins because they are so cute!

I'm spinning around , move out of my way ................

I started knitting only 1 year ago and I really thought that I would never try spinning my own yarn. My mother did spin her own yarn about 30 years ago and made us awfully, itchy sweaters. I hated them and I could not get rid of feeling that spinning yarn was only for people in the alternative society. But, after knitting one year I began to understand the love for all kinds of wool, the feeling of it, the smell, the softness of the fibers and slowly I surrendered.

Last friday I went to Jeanet Koek for a 1-day workshop and I loved it. She told me all about spinning wheels, learned me how to spin, we made some bats together with a drumcarder and I just had a lovely day. I bought a second hand Louët (a Dutch brand) spinning wheel from Jeanet but I also spun on an Ashford wheel and I loved it. I promised myself that I can buy myself a new one after one year of practising on the second hand one.

It's a really bad picture but I will replace it later:



My very first meters of yarn, ugh :D but it's mine!



And the merino batts I made on the drumcarder.



I really, really loved it! Thanks Jeanet for a lovely day and you will see me back again to learn more about spinning and dyeing untill I can make my own sock yarn!

Chocolate cake

'My therapist told me the way to achieve
true inner peace is to finish what
I start.

So far today, I have finished two bags of
M&M's and a chocolate cake.
I feel better already'



By Dave Barry

I found this poem in the last issue of Flow Magazine where you can also download this beautiful writing paper.

Still winter

I long to see the first signs of spring but it really is still winter, we had snow, agian. Sometimes we have winters with hardly any snow (quite normal in the Netherlands) but this winter we had snow since december the 17th and each time when it is melting and we think it is really gone now, it starts snowing again. We had our full share now. It makes the world look quiet and peaceful but enough is enouh! I wanna see the sun again and go out for long walks without the risk of falling over and over again. It was a perfect time for knitting though.




During Christmas Holiday we visited my in-laws in Ghent (Belgium). Ghent is a lovely historical city and I always love it to loaf about the streets and watch people, do some windowshopping and hop in a little bistro for lunch or diner.




Lovely Belgian Linen and lace.............




And of course I bought some yarn at the best Yarn store of Ghent, "Stoffenidee". You can see some pictures at a the blog of colleague-blogger called Yarnlot who lives in Ghent. I bought myself some Noro yarn. Everyone seems to love it so I have to try it myself. I love the colours. I also bought a skein of Araucania, 3 skeins of Hacho (I adore them!) and 2 very special spools of a camel hair and silk mixture from Bart&Francis. In a local bookshop I found a lovely book about knitting flowers.



For my birthday last december (I turned 41 on the last day of the year!) my DH gave me this Yarn Swift. I still ask myself if it is really my present because he doesn't have to sit with me for hours to help me wind my skeins anymore :P But I'm still very happy with it!




After all those days of snow and dark days (and having the flu twice this winter) I needed a touch of spring and bought myself these bluish purple primulas. Every year when I see these lovely flowers on my table I know that spring is not far away.




Have a nice Sunday!

x0x0x

Work in progress

We are changing our garage (attached) into a new kitchen. A builder did the construction work but we decided to do all the rest. Unfortunately we are not making a lot of progress. Sometimes we can't seem to find the time to do as much as we would/should but we will get there in the end! I always dreamed about an Aga cooker and I finally got one. He is standing there all by himself, covered in dust (you poor thing) but he's already working and keeping the whole annex quite warm and he cookes like a dream!




We layed bluestone tiles, recently made a ceiling and now we are sanding and painting and sanding and painting and......... We are using only classic colors of Farrow & Ball. The kitchen will be in oak and the working tops and sink are in bluestone. It will be gorgeous, in the end........I can hardly wait to decorate the kitchen with my collection of bowls and pottery. This is only a small part of my collection :)






I had a lovely day off. I did all the cleaning in the morning and took some me-time in the afternoon to listen to some music, knit a little bit, read some magazines etc. It was one of those days that I don't mind the pouring rain and dark skies.

Happy knitting and enjoy your weekend!

x0x0x

Project bag

This is my project bag and I am in desperate need of some little project bags to separate all my projects. This bag is quite big (the picture doesn't show) and it feels like some kind of black hole! It contains about 7 different projects, all my knitpick needles, a box of nicknacks and some books. Any suggestion for a nifty pattern for little projectbags that also looks nice?



Enjoy your day and happy knitting!

xxx

Mad Max

Not really so mad at all, actually, he is the funniest, most cudly and cutest cat I ever had. Max had a surgery last week. I don't know how to explain it exactly in English but I'll give it a try. He had a herpes virus that caused a problem with his eyes. The eyelid somehow was suddenly to wide and his hair was constantly in contact with his eyeball and caused a lot of damage. So they removed a little skin beneath his eye and the problem is completely solved. The eye itself is already fully cured. He wasn't supposed to scratch at the stitches so I stayed on the couch for two nights to make sure that he wouldn't. Who is the mad one here? :D




I almost finished my second Gail I showed earlier and started a new sock, the Twinkelberry but I'm still not sure about this pattern and the yarn or the combination yarn/pattern. I have about all the free patterns available on Ravelry but still can't seem to find my perfect pattern.



Only one more workingday left and then my weekend starts! Yoohoo!


Happy knitting!

xxx