Just-Do

Colored Circles

2012-02-24T12:08:00.001+01:00

Hello and thank you very much for the nice comments on my last post. Making these tops is so nice, that it inspired me to make another one. This time I’m not using a geometrical pattern, but circles.

As you can see, I already made quite a few of them!

Because it took me a long time, before I knew how to make perfect circles to applique, I ‘ll show you how I do it.

First you make a template out of cardboard, in the size you want your circle. Do this very meticulous.

Then you grab a piece of fabric, and as you can see in the picture, if your circle isn’t too big, the piece can be rather small! This is exactly why I keep almost all scraps in a box; they just might come in hand one day.

Now with a chalk pencil you draw the circle on to your fabric scrap. Then cut it out with a small seam allowance.

With sewing thread, make stitches around, and make sure your first and last stitch overlap.

As you can see, both ends of the thread are on the right side of the fabric!

Now you put in your template, and pull the threads.

Tie the knot and that’s it!!

Before sewing the circle on to my fabric, I only press it. I will leave the template in, until I actually applique, just to be sure nothing will happen to the shape.

Have a nice weekend!

Groetjes, Dorien

Color Circles

2012-02-22T11:43:00.001+01:00

This week I’ve been paper piecing a lot. The mini quilt I’m making so much fun to do, that I even started a second one.

In both quilts I’m making a kind of color circle, using scraps.

The first top is quite bold, the second has a much lighter appearance.

It is so nice to see what you can make with the same colors, the same kind of pattern, but just small differences.

Both tops are waiting for a border, but I can’t decide whether to use only a small binding (probably dark blue), or to make a border in strips, using the main colors in the top. I do know that I want both to have the same finishing. Any ideas?

Groetjes, Dorien

Give Away Winner!

2012-02-21T10:03:00.001+01:00

One day late, but today I want to tell you who won the pattern-give away. I put the names in a little bowl and drew :

Madeleine from Yarn-Madness

If you would be so kind to let me know your email-address, I can send you the Giverny-pattern.

The comments on this bag were very kind; thank you all!!

Groetjes, Dorien

Sewing again.

2012-02-16T10:25:00.001+01:00

Hello (again?!). I’m sitting here at my table (actually just the table in the living room), surrounded by a very nice pile of fabric scraps.

After all the knitting of the last few months, I wanted to sew again. So I signed up for the New Beginnings Swap. The idea is to make a mini quilt, sized somewhere between 15 and 24 inch.

The quilt I’m making now, is not for my swap partner, but just for me. It has been so long, that I want to practice before I make something to give away.

So I drew a kind of pattern,

and selected all the needed fabric.

I’m using batiks. Scraps from an earlier made quilt top, which I’m afraid is still lying on the shelves, waiting to be quilted.

Because I forgot to mention it in my previous post:

The give-away will end next Monday. So until then you have time to join!

Thank you for your lovely comments on the Giverny-bag. Hannah mentioned the pattern would do great as a pillow-cover. Great idea! The size is perfect for a 40 cm/16 inch pillow.

The pattern is available in my Etsy-shop.

Groetjes, Dorien

Giverny Bag and give away!

2012-02-13T09:49:00.001+01:00

The snow and cold weather of the last few weeks, have a great advantage. You have every reason to stay inside and knit. So much sooner then expected, I’ve tested my new pattern, made all the necessary changes, and now I can proudly present my new pattern: Giverny Bag

This time I used a solid denim color as main color, and a variegated yarn with pink and purple shades as contrasting color. The result is a totally different bag compared to the first one.

I really love the fact that by using different colors, you can make such different items. This way you can personalize the bag completely to your own style.

To celebrate this new pattern, I want to give away one copy. It is a PDF file, written in English, with charts.

If you want to join this little give-away, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Make sure I can contact you, either by email or through your own blog.

Groetjes, Dorien

Making curves

2012-02-08T11:00:00.001+01:00

It has been quiet on the blogging this last period. It is not that I don’t have anything to show or tell, but I just hadn’t the time to sit down and write. And then when I did find some time, it didn’t work because I have a new computer and not everything had been installed. So I hope this time it will work and I can actually post this post.

I have been knitting a LOT!! To test the pattern I’ve written for the Giverny-bag I’ve knitted another one, and it is now upstairs to get blocked. This weekend I can sew it together and next week I’ll show it.

What I can show is how my knitting needles look. My favorite kind of needles are wooden or bamboo needles, but not for sizes below 3 mm.

These are the needlepoints of some circular needles I used. They actually were once straight! Within a few rounds, I always manage to bend them like this and that is why I can’t use bamboo or wooden needles. Once I even broke a pair after knitting only 5 stitches!

Something else I want to show you are some pictures of skirt guards made by other ladies. When someone buys the pattern, I always ask if I can see a picture of the finished skirt guards, and some kind ladies actually send them.

I really love the diversity of the colors used. Thank you Lydia, Kate, Heidi and Ana for sharing!

Groetjes, Dorien

One bag, Two Bags!

2012-01-27T14:00:00.001+01:00

As you may well know, I’m a big fan of Swaps. I just love to put a package together for someone far away, and of course receive a box back. Last year I joined a Four-Seasons-Swap at Ravelry, and this became the most wonderful swap I’ve ever done. My swap-partner appeared to be a great lady, who knew just to send me the right things, and who made the most beautiful knitted items.

This week I received the last box. And, as I already told her, she really loves a grand finale! Apart from the candy and goodies she sent me, there was a beautiful bag she made. I am totally speechless.

Thank you Elsje!!

But this is not the only bag I want to show you. I finally finished knitting my own bag. Especially the strap took a lot longer than anticipated, but I’m quite happy with the result.

Knitting the strap I started with the lining in white. Then I added the stitches for the sides and bottom of the bag, and started knitting in-the-round. Then after casting of the last added stitches, again I knitted in white. Folding both white parts together, gave a nice lining of the strap. To prevent it from stretching I put a strip of fabric inside.

To test the pattern, I’ve started another bag, hoping I can finish the pattern-writing within a month. I’ll keep you posted.

Groetjes, Dorien

New Ideas

2012-01-18T15:58:00.001+01:00

Hello, how nice of you to stop by. As always, thank you for your lovely comments, some of them directly on my blog, but also some through email. I love reading them and appreciate them very much.

This week I’ve been working on a commission for another pair of skirt guards.

Draping it like this, brings lots of new ideas to mind, doesn’t it?

Although I’ve been knitting for almost 40 years (wow, now I really feel old!), I’m always looking for ways to improve my technique. A perfect source for this is YouTube. So many tutorials, so many ideas, that it is sometimes easy to loose track of time and spend hours watching. This time I came across something I really want to share with you. I know most of you love yarn a lot, but this lady loves a LOT of Yarn!!

Groetjes, Dorien

A sad goodbye

2012-01-10T16:15:00.001+01:00

Hallo! I can’t believe it has been a week since my last post. But what a week! This weekend we had to say goodbye to our host-daughter; her exchange year was over, so she had to go back to her own home in Costa Rica. All week was coloured by this leaving of hers. She had to pack, and because she could only take a limited amount with her, there was a lot of packing and unpacking, making choices about what to take and what to leave.
Sunday morning we brought her to the airport and with a lot of hugs and tears we saw her leave. We are so missing her!!

In between I’ve been working on the project I started last week. Although I thought I had the gauge correct, the piece just didn’t want to lie flat, so I had to ravel it all and start over. This meant not only a different way of increasing, but also making the chart again to fit in the flowers.

And now it is okay. Even though it hasn’t been blocked yet, I can clearly see the flat square shape of the piece.

Whilst knitting I had to make just a few adjustments, so now I’ve started another panel to see if it’s right now.

Groetjes, Dorien

A Fresh Start

2012-01-04T15:59:00.001+01:00

Every year I am wondering if I should make some new resolutions for the coming year. If I do, I’m usually far too optimistic. So this year, I’m not making resolutions, but I wrote down a few plans and ideas. No goals!! Just something to look at when I’m not having any inspiration.

One of the first ideas I wrote down, is to make new patterns. I really love to do that; the idea in my head, trying to figure out how to make something out of yarn or fabric, the errors which have to be taken care of, the surprises which happen when trying out something, trying to put the whole idea/pattern into something comprehensible, the testing.

So that is what I’m doing this week. Again I had an idea with flowers and variegated yarn.

First I had to make a chart for the flowers.

Not the best possible picture, but I guess you get the idea.

I’m using the variegated yarn as the main colour, and an off-white solid as contrasting colour.

So far it is working out perfectly.
To be continued!

Groetjes, Dorien

A New Year!

2012-01-02T19:57:00.001+01:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

I wish each and everyone of you all the best for this new year, and at the same time I want to thank each and everyone of you for visiting my little spot in blog-land and for all the lovely comments you have left me over the last year. I enjoy very much reading them and I appreciate them a lot.

This is just a part of all the finished items from last year. Sometimes I make these little mosaics as a kind of a mood board, to get inspiration from.

As for this year, I don’t know yet what direction I’m going. It will involve a lot of knitting, crochet and sewing, that’s for sure. I have quite some ideas for new patterns, but I’m not sure yet if they will work out the way I want them to. We’ll see.

Groetjes, Dorien

Merry Christmas!

2011-12-24T13:02:00.001+01:00

Just in time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

I wish you all happy days with your family and friends.

Groetjes, Dorien

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2011-12-20T16:46:00.001+01:00

It is about half past 4 in the afternoon, and already it is as good as dark outside. This time of year the days are just too short. Good thing that Mr Edison once thought of lamps! The little lights in the Christmas Tree are giving the room a glow all day and inside it is cosy and warm.

A little while ago I made a Christmas Stocking for a friend (haven’t shown it; I’m sorry), and my boys really liked it so I promised to make a few for our own bunch. And of course I forgot all about it!

Until this week. One of the boys asked me about it, and that was just 6 days before Christmas. And if I wanted to do it, I had to make 6 Stockings…….

So I bought some beautiful red flannel, and started to embroider the parts. They are not finished (at all!), but…. it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Groetjes, Dorien

Dutch Blue Bird

2011-12-12T09:30:00.001+01:00

Hello and thank you for your lovely comments. It is always a pleasure to read them and I appreciate them very much.

I had planned to make a post today with some pictures of Brussels, because I had planned to go there last Saturday. But Murphy’s law came by in the shape of a terrible headache so this trip was cancelled and hopefully we can go somewhere in the next few weeks.

As promised, I will show you the last few presents I made for Sinterklaas. The first one is a hat I was asked to make for our oldest son. He really likes to hide himself in almost every possible way, and this hat, …., well see for yourself:

He is actually a rather handsome boy to see, can’t you tell?

The last gift I made were a pair of socks for our host-daughter. She is from Costa Rica and there, even in the night, temperature hardly ever drops below 20 degrees Celsius. So you can imagine that she’s having a lot of trouble dealing with the cold nights we have. She is always wearing double pair of socks, even in bed.
Because she is a very girly girl, I decided to make a pair with flowers and with a little bit of purple and pink in them.

Pattern: http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/us/pattern.php?id=4801&lang=us
Yarn: Drops Delight.

On my table last week:

A really soft, brown fake fur fabric, a medallion with an embroidered bluebird and some Dutch cotton fabrics.

Can you guess what I made with them?

Right, another bag. I just love to make bags and to match different fabrics.

Groetjes, Dorien

Sinterklaas gifts

2011-12-05T14:40:00.001+01:00

Hello! How have you been? I know that I haven’t been around much lately, and I really hope to visit your blogs again soon.

This weekend we had our little celebration of Sinterklaas. A real Dutch tradition, where we exchange gifts. I always try to make at least one handmade gift for each member of my family, and this year that meant a race against the clock. But I did it!!

I won’t bore you with all the gifts at once, don’t be afraid.

The first thing I’ll show you are a pair of fingerless mittens for my son. He has his own route to bring newspapers, and because it is starting to get colder, he actually needs a pair of gloves/mittens. But with those it is almost impossible to get the mailboxes open and the papers in, so he wanted a pair of fingerless mittens.

Pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/treads-a-tipless-gloves-pattern
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Merino.

Next to the Linen Ridge Stitch, I really love the Lateral Braid, where the stitches are knitted in a horizontal direction. It looks wonderful and is really not difficult to do.

Something else I made was a cowl for our Chilean host-son. He has a hard time getting used to the cold outside, and is also not really used to wearing a lot of extra’s like scarves, hats or mittens. The hat and the mittens he already accepted, but he still goes out without a scarf and that is just not the smartest thing to do. So I made him a cowl. That’s easier to put in his bag when not needed, and will keep him very warm when wearing it.

Pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/burberrish-cowl
Yarn: Brooks Farm Yarn Four Play

And last but not least for today: a cowl for my husband. He has a beautiful black coat and didn’t have a scarf to match it, so I have chosen a warm grey yarn to make him a cowl.

Pattern: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cabled-cowl-6
Yarn: Online Linie226 Outland

Groetjes, Dorien

It has been too long!!

2011-11-25T13:48:00.001+01:00

Hello!! It has been a very long time since my last post. But sometimes life just takes over and that is what happened. If you have stopped by before, you might know about our family hosting an exchange student. Since three weeks we have another student in our family and in these weeks, we have also had two guests. So from a family of four we grew to a family of seven! It was so much fun to have all these kids in the house. Especially because they all came from different countries (Chile, Costa Rica, USA and Hong Kong) which made it a very interesting time. Right now we have ‘only’ two students left, and that is just fine. The girl has even started to knit!

In the meantime I’ve had little time to sit down with yarn or fabric, but I did manage to finish my cardigan.

Especially the rounding on the front panels is something I really like.

It is made by knitting a lot of short rows, starting with just a few stitches, and each row increasing the amount until you knit the whole needle. Because of the cable pattern, it meant a lot of counting, so not really a job to do after a long day. But I’m so happy with the result. Now I have to think about what kind of closure I want for this cardigan. I didn’t make any buttonholes. Maybe a beautiful pin would do?

Next week we are celebrating ‘Sinterklaas’ and that means basically a lot of gifts for everyone. I always try to make at least one handmade gift for each of my family members. So this year that would mean 5 projects. Two are now finished (I’ll show them later to prevent the receivers from already seeing them). One week and 3 projects to work on. I guess I won’t sleep much!

Groetjes, Dorien

New Bag!

2011-10-31T15:16:00.001+01:00

Hello! How lovely of you to stop by. It has yet again been a crazy weekend. Because she was having some trouble in her current host family, we decided to invite another exchange student. Not for a whole year, but just for the two months she has left of her stay in Holland. This meant a lot of rearranging inside our home, so that she can have her own room. Next Wednesday she will come, and then we will be with 6! I’m really looking forward to having her around; she is a very nice and bright young lady, and it will be great, to be not the only female in the house for a change.

And still there had been a little bit of time to craft. And I really felt like making another bag. As usual I started with collecting a bunch of fabrics and the first thing I did was to embroider a panel for the front of the bag.

As I went on, I kept changing the fabrics I was using, so I can’t show you the pictures I made at the start, because I ended up with a complete different bag as I originally started to make. For those who have been reading my little blog before, that won’t be a huge surprise.

This is the front panel. The center is embroidered and I tried to match the colours in the fabric surrounding the panel. I think now it looks quite nice.

The fabrics I used for the bag itself, are mainly woolen fabrics, a bit of tweed, a piece of loden.

The bag is lined with Sari Fabrics in different shades of red and it has a pocket with a zipper.

Maybe not the best possible picture!

Two extra pockets in the front of the bag.

Again it was a challenge to mix and match all the different fabrics and colours; but then again that is what I really love about working with fabrics.

Groetjes, Dorien

Jeans and Roses

2011-10-25T11:39:00.001+02:00

When a boy reaches a certain age, he doesn’t want to wear the pants his mother made anymore. Now he is fashionable. This means preferably designer jeans and and empty purse for his mom. But have you ever seen the kind of jeans these boys want to wear these days? Not one seam is straight, the waistband is somewhere halfway their behind and they look as if they have been lying in the garbage for a long, long time. The name for this kind of jeans says it all: twisted!

But son is in his own way conscious, and when he has outgrown a pair of jeans, or when his jeans is torn and can’t be repaired, he likes them to be used in a different way: a sleeve for his tablet.

A sleeve is just a rectangle, so even when it has to be lined, it isn’t that difficult. BUT NOT WHEN YOU HAVE TO MADE IT WITH THIS KIND OF JEANS!!!!!!.

No matter how you try to fold it, cut it, it won’t stay flat and it is not to be made into a rectangular shape. Because son wanted to keep the ‘identity’ of the jeans intact, it wasn’t an option to use the seam ripper.

In the end, I’ve managed to make something ‘almost’ rectangular and the tablet fits in.

The other project I finished was the embroidery I showed in my last post. As I already mentioned, I used the tutorial of Hugs from Helen. To go with the embroidery, I used colours which I usually don’t; romantic roses in creme, pink and green. But they matched perfectly.

The pocket on the other side, I made using the stitchery in the tutorial.

The only thing I didn’t think of, is that the armrest of my sofa, is quite wide.

So maybe I should make another one, but a lot bigger?

Groetjes, Dorien

New Embroidery Book

2011-10-23T15:37:00.001+02:00

Hello from a very sunny Holland! Last week we have been spoiled with quite nice weather, so I spend a lot of time outside.

Indoors I’ve been looking at this amazing book I bought at a craft fair last week.

It is written in French, but all the charts are so clear that that is not a problem at all. In this book the embroidery is all about haberdashery and the pictures are beautiful.

Of course I had to try a little embroidery myself. So I assembled a collection of designs from the book into this.

This little piece measures only 14x9 cm (5.5x3.5 inch) and was a lot of fun to do. I’m not completely sure, but I think I’m going to use this for an armchair caddy, using the tutorial by Hugs from Helen.

Groetjes, Dorien

Reggae colours

2011-10-17T16:47:00.001+02:00

Hello, or ‘hallo’ as we say it. What a beautiful autumn day we are having. Unfortunately I have to stay within reach of the phone, so I can’t go out for a long, long walk with Fleur. But, sitting next to the window, I can look outside and enjoy it anyway.

This weekend was so extremely quiet. My husband and I just didn’t know what happened to us. The boys were either on camp or working, so we had a lot of time on our hands.

This gave me the opportunity to work on the skirt guards.

Somehow the green looks very different than in reality, it’s actually a bit darker.

In the middle the 5-pointed star, made in single crochet. Instead of the usual flowers there are on both sides the yellow/gold stripes.

It is too bad that we don’t have a bicycle with 26 inch wheels, so I couldn’t make a picture of the skirt guards attached to a bike. I hope this will give you an idea of how they turned out.

Groetjes, Dorien

Trying to find someone who will listen

2011-10-13T17:06:00.001+02:00

This last week has been a strange week. It was as if life took over, without me having anything to say about it, or having any kind of control over my time. I don’t know how it works in other countries, but when I have to call any official, it seems to take hours and hours, before I even can talk to the right person. To get an answer to my question, is then of course not guaranteed, not by a long shot!

And I didn't need to ask just one question. Having a guest son for a year, from another country, means registration in our own city, making an appointment at the immigration service and trying to get all the paperwork done.

Luckily our guest son is great. He seems to mingle in our family wonderfully and is even already trying to talk Dutch on occasion. He goes to school on his bike, 6 kilometers. And he already noticed that the wind in our little country is always blowing in the opposite direction. The wonderful thing about having a guest like this, is that you automatically are noticing the strange and odd habits you have, both as a family and in your country. A real eye-opener.

There has been little time to craft this week. I just managed to finish the back-panel of my cardigan.

In the part between the side seams, I added a few extra rows in garter stitch. I didn’t do this along the armholes, because now the piece has a natural rounding; beautifully following the back.

The pattern is so far quite easy to memorize, so it is perfect to work on in the evening, when I’m a bit tired, and there is always a lot of noise going on.

Yesterday I got a new order for a pair of skirt guards. The question was to make them in the colours of the flag of Ghana, to honour the grandfather of the person who ordered them. Instead of flowers in the middle, these skirt guards will have just one black star. I can’t use my original design completely, but as a reference it certainly will work.

Groetjes, Dorien

Cables on my needles

2011-10-03T15:10:00.001+02:00

What do you do when the weather has decided to change into a kind of Summer when it actually should be Fall? Of course be outside as much as possible! So that is what I have been doing the last week. But then in the evenings, I really like to sit on the couch with a new knitting-project. I decided on this cardigan from Drops. I love the shape of it, and since it has been quite some time since I made something with cables, it kind of called my name! The pattern can be found here.

Instead of the brown used in the example, I decided on a dark-grey colour.

The yarn, Drops Alaska is quite heavy, but works beautifully.

On Ravelry I’ve seen discussions about the errors in Drops patterns. Over the years I’ve knitted quite a number of their patterns, and it is true that there is an error in most of them. But by carefully reading the whole pattern, I think it is possible to adjust the pattern where necessary, and in the end I’ve always been happy with the result.

Groetjes, Dorien

Dutch Mug Rug going on Tour

2011-09-27T17:10:00.001+02:00

Last week I was introduced to Laura of Quokka Quilts. She is organizing a ‘Mug Rugs of the World Tour’. The idea is to make a mug rug with a theme from your country or even the place you are. You don’t have to send it anywhere, so it’s not a swap or anything. Just make a mug rug to ‘represent’ your own country.

Of course, I couldn’t resist. To make this mug rug, I had immediately so many ideas. Should I use typically Dutch fabrics?

But what theme to use? There are so many typical Dutch themes, like windmills, wooden shoes, tulips. Those are the obvious ones. But there is also something like ‘gezelligheid’. A Dutch word which is hard to translate, but it means something like cozy, sociable, homy. It refers to the comfort of a warm house where you can snuggle under a warm blanket with good company and a mug of hot chocolat. This made me think of all the beautiful houses in Holland; they look (at least to me!) quite inviting and I love the different facades and rooftops. So that was my theme!

I made a little sketch and used it as a template for the houses.

For the house in the middle I used a piece of lace, because I really didn’t know how else I could make the white sides with all the curls.

It was a lot of fun making this little mug rug, and because I still have so many ideas to make more of them, I think I will do just that someday. For now this will be my contribution to the Mug Rug World Tour.

If you would like to make your own Mug Rug representing your country, in my sidebar you can find the button.

Groetjes, Dorien

Autumn comes with a cold.

2011-09-25T19:10:00.001+02:00

Hello! Totally unexpected I didn’t write on this little blog of mine for over a week. This week had one major theme: having a cold. Not just a little one; no a BIG one. And not just me, but almost every one in the house. So, all week I’ve been running around with tissues and cups of tea, sleeping in between. Not quite the week we wanted!

It did give me time to work on my acorns and pumpkins.

I added leaves in 8 different colours and knitted them all together into another scarf.

It really gives me a very ‘autumny’ feeling. And even though it looks quite ‘heavy’ it is very light and a pleasure to wrap around your neck.

I plan to go back to my usual routine as soon as possible, because after a few months of very little crafting (for me that is!), I have a very large pile of plans and ideas.

I hope you are okay and thank you for visiting!

Groetjes, Dorien

Pumpkins and Acorns

2011-09-17T15:28:00.001+02:00

Since the weather has really taken a turn to the fall, that is also the inspiration for my next project. Acorns and pumpkins.

Making a pumpkin like this is very easy. I made a little ball, and then after stuffing it, I pulled a thread from top to bottom and back, a bit tight, so that the shape became the shape of a pumpkin. A little leave and stem were added and that’s my pumpkin!

And a few acorns:

In the meantime the house is filling with this gorgeous smell. My son is again cooking one of his Jamie Oliver recipes, so tonight we are again going to have a wonderful dish on the table!

Have a great weekend!

Groetjes, Dorien

A Sunny Day!!!

2011-09-15T15:34:00.001+02:00

Hello! I hope you are doing okay. We are again, having a strange week. Even though school has started, and one would think that we would achieve on getting some kind of rhythm, that’s just not the case. A few of our family have gotten sick, and of course our guest from Chile has arrived. He is becoming a member of our family very quick and we all really like him.

Today we went for a walk on the beach. And it couldn’t have been a better day.

Actually I was surprised by the emptiness of the beach.

This week I haven’t been able to do much knitting or sewing; I’ve just been playing with some little acorns and pumpkins. Photo’s will follow soon.

Groetjes, Dorien

Where it all is going to be okay

2011-09-10T17:00:00.001+02:00

Hellooooo! It has been quiet up here this last week. We needed all our attention for our son and luckily it paid of. He is going back to school next week. I want to thank everyone who took the time to comment on my last post. Every comment gave us a great feeling of support and we really appreciate it.

In the meantime I’ve been working on the green version of the Sissinghurst Garden Cowl.

Again I used an effect yarn as the main colour, but this time the contrasting colour is a solid. In real it is a bit more yellow-green than the picture shows.

The effect of using different colours is incredible.

Last night I promised myself to keep awake until the pattern was finished. Especially the knitting-chart with the design was quite a challenge, but it’s done now. The pattern is available in my shop.

I will leave you for now with a picture of the desert our youngest son made last night. He made a meringue and added some cream and fruit. It was absolutely delicious.

His goal is to make all the recipes in one of Jamie Olivers cookbooks. The start of this project of his is absolutely very promising!

Groetjes, Dorien

About a brilliant boy!

2011-09-02T18:20:00.001+02:00

There is a lot of crafting and creating going on this week in my house, but not by me! I’m reading. Not for fun but because I want to understand what is going on. So in the library I found this book:

It appears that our oldest son not only has ADHD, but also this syndrome. This beautiful, radiant boy has gotten another tag. And what that means, became clear almost immediately, because again a school refused to take him. In three days the holidays are over, and he has no school to go to. Teachers think of him as a risk, and they don’t want to burn their fingers. Can you believe it?!

In the meantime, this brilliant boy has gone to the library himself to get his own pile of books.

Indeed; he’s the one who is creating. He finally found time to think about his mom’s birthday (a month ago), and he thought it would be a good idea to build me a new website. So all day long I get questions like what background-colour I would like, what links there should be, what kind of header I want, etc. He’s super enthusiastic and I really think this blog is going to look quite different in the near future! I’m just so very proud of him.

Groetjes, Dorien

Flowers wrapping around my neck

2011-08-28T16:44:00.001+02:00

Somehow this hasn’t been the best of summers this year. So no wonder I’m already in the mood to make scarves and cowls. Remember the cowl I was working on a few weeks ago. It is finished and I’ve written the pattern.

I really love the way all the different colours blend and make a harmonious piece. I called this pattern “Sissinghurst Garden”. Why? Because Vita Sackville-West was the first woman, to create gardens based on colour. She did that on her estate “Sissinghurst” and they are still open to visit. Because the outcome of this pattern is completely determined by the colours used, and because of all the flowers in the pattern, I thought this would be a great name.

Right now I’m testing the pattern I’ve written, and this time I’m using green shades. Only green shades, so it is becoming a completely different kind of cowl. I hope to finish it this week, and to have the pattern in the shop in time to be able to finish a cowl before fall starts and it gets colder.

Groetjes, Dorien

Something else.

2011-08-26T17:25:00.001+02:00

Hello! Last week we came back from our holiday, thinking we were going to have a quiet week at home, before everyone was going back to work or school. That is NOT what happened.

Two years ago, we were the host family of an exchange student from Italy. It was organized by AFS, an international organisation, for intercultural exchanges. The main goal of these exchanges is to learn about a different culture than your own, by living it for a year. It is an awesome experience, both for the student as for the hosting family.
We always wanted to do this again. But because our family hit some rough weather, we didn’t. Until now. Back just two days, we decided to invite someone in our home again for a year.

So my husband has been cleaning out a room this week, giving it a new fresh paint, and together we are making everything ready. In two weeks a boy from Chile will arrive and come and live with us. We are so looking forward to this.

Would you like to be a host too? I know that there is a shortage on families in the USA. You can read more about it here. For other countries I don’t know, but you can check AFS for that.

Groetjes, Dorien

Hello again and a winner!

2011-08-22T13:19:00.001+02:00

Hello! How are you? How nice of you to stop by. Today just a little, quick post to say hello, and to tell who won the roses-scarf in my give-away.

Last week we were in Austria, and every morning this was the first thing I saw after unzipping the tent. Not bad, isn’t it?

We had a lovely week with lots of sunshine, beautiful views and long walks into the mountains.

Now, about the give-away. I want to thank each and every one of you for the lovely comments. It seems that in common you like my knitting and crochet work more, than the bags and pillows I sewed. Not that I’m going to quit making them now, but it was just something I was curious about.

All the names I wrote on a card, and put them in a bowl. And the winner is (drum roll please!):

Teje

Congratulations Teje, and thank you so much for all of your lovely comments.

If you don’t know Teje yet, please go over to her blog and say hello, she is really a very inspiring person, and it is a pleasure to read her blog.

Teje, could you please send me an email with your address?

Groetjes, Dorien

Transitions

2011-08-07T18:02:00.001+02:00

Hello! I’m squeezing in a bit of time to make a blog post. Since I started making a cowl, I’m knitting almost all day. It is so much fun to see how it is growing into something I really like. But first I want to show you something else, but a bit the same too.

The picture above is a detail of a scarf I made last month. The pattern is based on an old 18th century embroidery pattern, which I found in the library. I changed it a little bit, in order to make it longer, a bit like a garland. That way it would be perfect for a scarf.

The squares I added, because the scarf would otherwise become very sweet and romantic, also because of the colours I used. With the triangles with squares on both ends of the scarf, I had the idea it became a bit more contemporary.

The whole scarf is knitted with only two colours of Drops Delight (06 and 14). Because of the colour transitions it looks as if a lot more colours are used.

The same happens with the cowl I’m making. I started with the same embroidery pattern, but since it is for a cowl, which is knitted in the round, a lot more adjustments had to be made. Basically, I had to redesign the whole pattern. Again I’m using two colours of Drops delight(12 and 09).

I started with a border in linen stitch with the blue/purple yarn, and then I switched to stockinette stitch for the pattern.

It’s obviously not blocked yet, but the way it is turning out is so great. I just can’t put it aside to do whatever else I should do. Now the big challenge comes. The bottom is quite wide, and to make it warm and cosy around the neck, I have to decrease the number of stitches. To do this in pattern, is not too easy, but I want this so much to work out, that I keep sketching and counting and drawing and erasing everything and starting over, just until I get it right.

Groetjes, Dorien

Celebration and a give-away

2011-08-02T14:03:00.001+02:00

Today there is a lot to celebrate! First of all it is my birthday. And have I been spoiled!! Last week I already got a huge box from Diane who is my swap partner in a birthday swap at Ravelry. I managed to keep it all wrapped until this morning, and it was amazing. Have a look for yourself.

Another swap partner is Elsje, and she surprised me also with a beautiful package, even though our swap is not birthday related.

Something else to celebrate is that I have 100 followers! And that I’ve been blogging for a little over a year now. And that I have written more than 100 posts. And that I have more than 100 sold items at Etsy.

All of this makes me so grateful and happy, and I want to share that with you. So I decided to do a give-away. This time I will be giving away one of my roses-scarves.

If you want to join, there are a few things I would like you to do.

First I think it would be nice if you are a follower of my blog.

Second, you need to leave a comment on this post. In it, I would love you to tell me what your favourite item is, from the things I made this last year. To help you, I made a mosaic with pictures of them.

You can join the give-away until August 20th, after that I will draw a name.

Groetjes, Dorien

New project(s)

2011-07-30T16:48:00.001+02:00

This last month has been a strange month. It has gone by so quickly; I can’t even imagine it is almost August. When this month started I really wanted to start a few new projects. I had lots of ideas, and wanted to try them. But that didn’t happen. For a good reason. I was asked to make a couple of skirt guards, and a roses scarf. Wonderful to do, but it took me so much time that all my ideas were lying on the shelves, calling me every day.

This week I finally finished the last item, and I could start with something new. But instead of starting with one of my previous ideas, I came across this cute little pattern at Ravelry, which I just had to use for a little garland. Luckily it is very easy and quick, so within a few hours it was finished.

Pattern for the heart can be found here.

This morning my husband surprised me with a beautiful bouquet. And my birthday isn’t until next week!

Then finally I started with a new project. Something I have had in mind for a long, long time. I’ve always been intrigued by embroidery patterns, and something I wanted to try was translating a border-pattern to a knitting pattern for a scarf or a cowl. The first attempt for this I did a month ago, and I will show pictures of that in a few weeks. I learned a lot from that project, and now I’m going to make a cowl.

Knitting in the round, asks for a pattern which repeats itself. So that is what I’m making now.

Well, back to the drawing board. I wish you all a very happy weekend.

Groetjes, Dorien

Dyeing Yarn

2011-07-27T13:42:00.001+02:00

Hello! How nice of you to stop by. Yesterday J. got back home from his camp, so the next days I am alone with him. And immediately the first day, we got to do what we both like so much: playing a game. We are the only two members of this family who like to do so, and I must admit, that it made me quite happy, when he asked me to play with him.

This picture was taken right after we started, so the piles with money on both sides are quite equal. Now we are taking a break, and I’m not brave enough to make a picture now!

This morning, I finally did something I was wanting to do for a very, very long time. It started with this:

Beautiful, soft Merino soaking in the sink.

made:

These jars were put inside a pan with a layer of water in it. I squeezed the water a bit out of the yarn, and put it in the jars.

All the yarn had to be soaked in the lemonade, and then the water had to be brought to a boil. Fire out, and wait until it has cooled of.

Then when taking out the yarn, it was clear where all the colour went:

I gave the yarn a good rinse, and now I have this beautiful coloured skein.

This is really a lot of fun; it’s clean and quick. Now only the kitchen has this rather sweet smell. Too bad, Kool Aid isn’t available in our country.

Groetjes, Dorien

Just saying hello.

2011-07-25T11:43:00.001+02:00

Hello!! I hope you are well. We haven’t vanished, but it has been quite a strange period. On the day the boys had their last day at school, we got a message that the oldest one couldn’t go to the school we had applied him for. So within less than a week we had to find him a new school. Not easy for a boy with ADHD! Most schools don’t want a challenge like that and come up with a lot of excuses.

At the end of that week we finally had found him a place. He does have to do some assignments and the exact class will only be known as soon as the school starts after the holidays. But at least he has a school to go to.

At first we weren’t planning to go away this summer. But after all the excitement we really needed a holiday. So we started looking and we got more frustrated by the day. It is so incredibly expensive to go away for just one or two weeks that we just couldn’t afford it. Then we found out about this company which makes tent trailers. We were immediately in love. Did some math and, yes, we bought one.

I had to take a picture from the web, but this is what it looks like:

It’s huge and because of the windows on the sides, there is so much light in there, that even inside it is as if you are out.

Last Friday we went to pick it up, and the plan was to go camping this weekend. Just the two of us, because both boys are away. Well, if you are in Europe you will know what happened this weekend, if not: let’s say even in the fall you would call this very bad weather! The wind was very hard and the amount of rain was incredible. Even temperature dropped below 15 degrees. Not great camping weather. And because we were only having two days, we decided to stay at home!

The plan is to go for one or two weeks, somewhere in August, so let’s hope it will be nice summer weather by then!

Something else now. Next to our house there is a very small alley. And this is the time that young seagulls are learning to fly. Quite dangerous if you get too close, because mother seagull will certainly attack you. Now there was this little seagull, who didn’t want to fly and tried to hide from his mom. So he hid in our alley.

Don’t ask me why, but in the alley there is a mirror. And this little seagull really thought he had company. He looked at himself, one way, the other way, did some steps to the left, and to the right, and had another, closer look.

But the other seagull didn’t really get it, so he got a bit of an attitude, and tried to get a reaction that way.

But the other bird was cocky too and so he really had to attack him.

This ‘fight’ of the seagull(s) took about 10 minutes.

Groetjes, Dorien

In my shoes

2011-07-13T15:14:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I read this blog on Etsy and I found this very fascinating. I would never have thought of using insoles to embroider, and give them a personal touch. There was more to read over here. Also a lot about symbolism is told.

Because I was wearing a pair of leather shoes, with bare feet, you can imagine what my next step was, after reading all of this. Because I just brought my embroidery machine to the shop for maintenance, and I really wanted a quick result, I skipped the embroidery part, and just made a pair of cotton insoles.

First step was to make a template that matched my shoe.

Then cut out 3 layers: front, back and a flannel layer in between.

After stitching them together I gave it one last fit in the shoes, and then sewed the binding on. Basically it is almost the same as making a quilt, but then much smaller.

The result: reversible insoles to keep my feet dry and comfortable.

I’m definitely going to make more of these, probably with a somewhat thicker batting than these, and with some embroidery on them.

The rest of this post is only for Dutch people interesting, so I will write it in Dutch.

Misschien heb je het al ergens gezien of gelezen, maar volgende week wordt er in Hoorn weer een weversmarkt georganiseerd. Absoluut een must voor iedereen die van wolletjes en aanverwante leuke dingen houdt. Er zullen meer dan 120 kramen zijn. Eigenlijk kan ik alleen maar zeggen: zorg dat je erbij bent!!

Groetjes, Dorien

A little bit of indulgence

2011-07-12T13:12:00.001+02:00

For my latest project I started with a few pieces of gingham fabric and some nice ribbon.

and some more ribbon,

And then I added a little bit of (machine)embroidery. Well; not quite a little bit. It took me more than 5 hours to complete this birdhouse. The pattern mentioned 103 minutes. But somehow everything went wrong. Thread broke all the time, the machine wanted oil, the kids kept interrupting, etc. At the end it was better to stay away from me, because I really needed to cool off a bit.

But it was worth it. I love this kind of patterns.

What it all was for?

the back

the front

Do you guess?

I’m spoiled with a brand-new, incredible tablet. And of course that needed a homemade sleeve.

Groetjes, Dorien

Flowers For Fleur

2011-07-08T15:12:00.001+02:00

Time flies when having fun. This is something my husband says almost every day. And it is so very true. This makes every day too short, because there are so many fun things to do. Last week I’ve been making skirt guards, and the last one of three is now finished. (except for weaving in the ends that is). And after all that crochet I really wanted to sew again. Just a little small project. So this is what I grabbed to work with.

But, before I show you what I made, I really need to show you what I got this week. I’m in a four-season-swap at Ravelry and this week I received my Summer-package. And it is so beautiful.

A knitted grocery bag. The pattern was also in the package. A skein of very soft, luxurious yarn in gorgeous colours. Candy, as well for me as for the boys. Butterfly picks, and funny pencils covered with the letter D. And the rectangular cheese-like item? That is a bar of soap, smelling great. Am I spoiled or am I spoiled?
(actually, this is the swap I made the hexagon bag for)

Now back to my little bit of sewing.

I cut a strip of fabric and sewed the ribbon on, folded it double.

Attached a D-ring and a buckle. And made the size adjustable.

And there you have it: a new collar for Fleur. And because her name means ‘Flower’, it had to have flowers.
A few weeks ago I tried already to make a collar, but I just wasn’t able to figure out how to do it; how to make it adjustable, strong and nice at the same time. Last night it dawned on me, and of course I immediately had to try it. In total I spend about 25 minutes on this, so that’s pretty quick.

For everyone who asked: my black eye is almost healed. Thank you for your concern and best wishes!

Groetjes, Dorien

PS I really tried to make a picture of Fleur with her new collar, but she is not in the mood today for modelling. Maybe next time!

Crochet Jewellery

2011-07-06T14:40:00.001+02:00

Sometimes I’m so amazed by all the beautiful, unexpected items which can be made. So for this post I looked on just two sites, Etsy and Flickr, for images. And it had to be crochet, and some kind of jewellery. The amount was astonishing. A lot is obvious, like a crochet flower-brooch. But these items are not less beautiful. But what I was looking for was more where the maker/designer had done something ‘out of the box’. Below a little collection of what caught my eye.

Crochet Earrings

Crochet Hoops

Contemporary Crochet Necklace

Crochet Ring

Crochet Necklace

Groetjes, Dorien

True Blue

2011-07-01T12:33:00.001+02:00

Hello!! How nice of you to stop by. I don’t know if you do the same, but every morning after waking up, I’m stupid enough to look in the mirror. Usually not a very pretty sight. But this morning; I really looked like a very scary scarecrow.

Yesterday, I wanted to say goodnight to my son, and while he moved towards me, I came his way, and guess what: bang! So now I have a cut eyebrow, and a blue eye.

Just to be safe, we went to the doctor yesterday evening. He glued my eyebrow, so now I have to wear a little tape for 5 days. Most difficult was to leave two very upset teenage boys at home. They were already in bed and had to go to sleep. And at a moment like that, they really are small and don’t want to be left alone. Hard for a mom!

Now some nice stuff. Remember the Blue Hexagons I showed a couple of weeks ago? They finally reached their destination, so now I can show you what I did with them.

I added a round with white and crocheted them together.

Found some matching fabric, and sewed it all together into:

Inside the bag I made two pockets, and it closes with a button. The hardest part was figuring out how to make half hexagons.

Now on my table: another pair of skirt guards. This time in a completely different colour scheme. The lady asked for brown and turquoise. I think brown is a very difficult colour to work with. It’s easy to make something boring with it, and I find it very hard to come up with an exciting colour combination.

First I made this swatch.

Brown and turquoise, but very massive. So this week I got the definite order and I started to crochet, but somehow I picked different colours and this is what happened.

Still brown and turquoise, but with the light pink shades it became a very light, happy skirt guard. I love this one and I can only hope the customer does too.

Groetjes, Dorien

Multitasking

2011-06-29T14:36:00.001+02:00

Multitasking. I’ve been doing it for years without thinking, like every mom does. Usually all goes well, sometimes it doesn’t.

This week I was doing so many things at the same time, that it looked like pure chaos. As well as far as it concerns my family, it made us laugh a lot.

Looking at everything on my table, I have to laugh too. Mainly because I like everything I’m working on.

Want to see?

First there is the fabric-kimono-basket I started last week.

I love the way the blue makes the kimonos stand out. But while working on this little bag, I was elsewhere with my mind, and I made some miscalculations. Now this little bag is only 6 inches high. I love the colours, but that is really too small, so I have to go and think of something to make it about 3 inches higher.

Also on my table, a birthday present. Can’t show too much, because the girl probably takes a peek now and then.

And last but not least, another pair of skirt guards. This time I’m making them with a different yarn, and that meant different counting because it is just a little thicker.

But I looooooooove it!

Remember the scarves I made with roses, and with flowers. It inspired Corina to make her own version, using a totally different technique. Go and have a look; it’s wonderful.

Groetjes, Dorien

Kaeskoppenstad

2011-06-26T15:15:00.001+02:00

Welcome. Please join me in a little tour through Alckmaer in the Middle Ages. First we enter the large tower, where the Town Crier welcomes us.

Then we enter a world we only know of stories.

Some beautiful people, but also people who are sick, drunk or very poor.

Where children couldn’t play, but had to work or were living in places they shouldn’t be.

Where people went on their last journey by boat and where the laundry was hanging over the street.

Groetjes from Kaeskoppenstad, Dorien

Warmth and Sun

2011-06-22T09:12:00.001+02:00

Thank you ladies, for all your kind and loving words. When life takes over, it is so wonderful to read your wishes. It’s heart warming and certainly helps me to go on.

Yesterday a very dear friend came by, just to bring me these

I never told her that sunflowers are my favourite, but she must have guessed.

I put the vase on the other side of the room, so every time I look in front of me, I can see them, and admire them.

Groetjes, Dorien

On my table

2011-06-20T11:46:00.001+02:00

Good morning!! As usual I started this morning with a cup of coffee. And although I have had this mug for quite some time now, I wanted to show it, because of the pattern.

See the design? It’s almost as if it is embroidered with a cute border of ribbons. I love this mug. Maybe some day I will try and make a mug rug for it, using the design on the mug.

This weekend I’ve been quite busy making another scarf with roses, like I made a few weeks ago. It is a fun project and because I can do it without thinking or using a pattern, it’s perfect in these days (sorry, can’t get into this, but life is not so great right now).

This is my table this morning:

On the right the scarf for weaving in all the ends. Just a few more and it will be done and ready for the shop. On the cutting board you can see the fabrics I’m using for the kimono-blocks. I’ve made four of them now, and because I don’t need another wall-hanging, I’m thinking of using them for another fabric basket. I’m using the one I have all the time, and it’s perfect as a project bag; not too big or small. And I can never have too many project bags, can I?

Just to be seen on the picture on the top left, is a red polkadot strap. It’s not quite the way I want it to be, but I’m trying to make a collar for Fleur. It has to be strong, because sometimes she pulls quite hard, and I want the size to be adjustable. As soon as I figured it all out, I will show you.

Groetjes, Dorien

Kimono-block, a tutorial

2011-06-17T15:30:00.001+02:00

A few weeks ago, I received this beautiful charm pack from the lovely Monica.

I really don’t know why, but these colours said “Kimono” to me. I’m always fascinated by the beautiful colours, fabrics and embroidery on Japanese Kimono’s. With these fabrics I thought I could make blocks with a bit contemporary kind of kimono.

So I started with drawing a square of 5 inches.

1/4 inch down of the top I drew another line, and 11/4 inch from both the left and the right side.

Then 11/2 inch down of the second line, I drew two lines for the sleeves.

The basic shape of the kimono is now ready. I decided that you would see the kimono on the back, but that the front panels should be seen too.

So from the bottom corners I marked a point at 1 inch. And from there lines were drawn to the opposite corners.

Holding the ruler along these lines, you can draw the collar.

And there you have it; a basic pattern for a kimono-block.

Because I wanted to use a few more fabrics per block, I thought it would be nice to make two kimono’s, overlapping each other.

Perfect for paper piecing:

Groetjes, Dorien

Making Swatches

2011-06-14T16:54:00.001+02:00

I hope you have had a great (long) weekend like we did. With both the boys out, we had a lot of time to be together again. We went to Amsterdam, had a lovely dinner in town, did some reading, watched TV together (we never do!) and enjoyed the quiet very much.

Now it’s all back to normal.

On my table: swatches.

I am asked to make a pair of skirt guards for a blue/cobalt cargo bike. So I started with this swatch, using bold, bright colours. But I think they are too bold.

Because of the colour of the bike, there was asked for black, blue, yellow, white and brown. So that made the next swatch.

A lot better, don’t you think? But while I was playing with these colours, I came up with another one, completely out of my comfort zone, but I love it!

Well, now all I have to do is wait and see if the buyer likes one of these colour combinations.

Groetjes, Dorien

Blues and Books

2011-06-09T16:52:00.001+02:00

Hello and thank you for your lovely comments on my potholders. It is so nice to see that it inspired someone else to make the same pattern: go and have a look at Monique’s blog.

In the last few days I’ve started to think about a few swaps I signed up for, and the birthday of my sister. For all these three ladies, I need/want to make something myself. For the swaps I have to, for my sister I want to, because it is so much more fun to give a handmade item, and I know she really appreciates it.

All three ladies have one thing in common: they all love the colour blue. Makes it possible for me to show a few pictures of what I’m doing.

I started with 5 shades of blue/purple and made a lot of flower like these. Then I made them into hexagons.

You may recognize the pattern as ’African Flowers’. The pattern can be found in a lot of places on the net. Some written, some with pictures. It’s not difficult, but I like it very much.

Now I’m going to join these hexagons into ……. I’m not going to tell, and I’m afraid it will take at least 6-8 weeks, before I can show. But I promise, by then I will.

Besides the yarn and hook, there is something else calling me. All day. All evening. Even in the night I dream about it. It’s a bit obsessive. It’s this:

I already was a huge fan of this author, but this story is indescribable. I love every single page. And lucky me, it doesn’t stop after two books, there is a third one too!! (I just had a look, but it seems the English translation won’t be out before October).

Next weekend, both the boys are out on camps, so I guess I will have enough time to read the whole story. YAY!!

Groetjes, Dorien

Simple and quick

2011-06-06T16:39:00.001+02:00

Watching the finals of Roland Garros, I needed a quick and easy project. So I grabbed my bag with cotton, a hook, and just the most amazing pattern for potholders I ever saw.

It’s a pattern which challenges you to use all the colours in your stash.

You make a front and a back side. I made the back in the same colour as I used for the outlining. Then they are easily crocheted together.

The pattern is by Jennifer Martin and can be found here.

Groetjes, Dorien

Roses are red, and pink, and white.

2011-06-04T12:21:00.001+02:00

The fact is that I don’t have green fingers. I don’t like to garden and when I have a plant in my living room? Well, let’s just say it would have been better off in another home.

So it is quite a miracle, that my flowers are growing and blooming in the most amazing colours. They only don’t smell that much!

Yesterday I finished another scarf. Indeed, with the roses I made last week.

Little rosebuds in three shades (off white, soft pink and fuchsia), and roses in the same colours and in red. The leaves are in three shades of green.

It’s made with alpaca wool, very soft, not itchy at all.

Even though it really is quite a lot of work, I’ve already started making new flowers for yet another scarf. Somehow I want to find out how many variations are possible with this idea.

The scarf is in my Etsy-shop.

Groetjes, Dorien

With a little love and care.

2011-06-02T17:17:00.001+02:00

First of all a big thank you to all you lovely ladies, who left a comment. It’s always a question for me, to take the time and reply to a comment, or to use that time to create, to read your wonderful blogs, and leave a comment there. There are so many amazing blogs to read, that I could fill every single day just doing that. So I try to do sort of a combination of the above; every day I read a couple of blogs, I leave a couple of comments, reply on a couple of comments on my blog, and then I always feel I have stayed way too long at the computer!! Sometimes I really wonder how some of you do this; you make many more blog posts then I do, I read your comments on so many blogs and the amount of projects you work on (and FINISH!!!) is amazing. Don’t get me wrong; this is not envy speaking, it’s just me wondering.

In the meantime, I have given my little rosebuds a lot of love and care, and guess what? They have grown into beautiful, gorgeous roses!

Never knew they could grow this fast!!

The green leaves around the rosebud, are made exactly the same way as the leaves underneath the grown rose. The only difference is the direction in which you go and attach them to the bud or the rose. Holding the rosebud downwards, you work clockwise. With the rose, you work counter clockwise and in both cases, the leaves are attached with a slipstitch into the middle of the flower petals.

Groetjes, Dorien

No bed of roses

2011-05-31T11:20:00.001+02:00

How beautiful are roses? I never have been able to say why, what it is, what makes them the most beautiful flowers around. But I really love them.

Making them is a completely different story! It was my idea to make another flower scarf, but this time only with flowers looking like roses and rose buds. So I tried the patterns in the books of Lesley Stanfield, but somehow they didn’t work this time. Whether it was the yarn I’m using, or just me; I guess that’s not too important. I had to make something up for myself.

Four different rosebuds, some crocheted, some knitted, some using both techniques. But none of them is exactly what I wanted. So I tried some more and came up with a final pattern, where I crochet the whole rosebud, and only the stem is knitted.

This way, it really is a little bud, still partially embedded in the green leaves.

Groetjes, Dorien

What does a girl need??

2011-05-29T15:34:00.001+02:00

Housekeeping is not my favourite way to spend time. But there is one exception; ironing! I just love to do that. Put some music on, clear the table to put all the piles on, and iron a couple of baskets away. But this week my back was hurting so much, that my husband didn’t want me to do it. Usually, I’m quite stubborn and do it anyway, but this week he was home so many days, that there wasn’t a moment for me to do it. And he did! So sweet! It took him like forever, but he managed to get everything in the closets by the end of the morning.

And he did all of it; even the fabrics I got last week! How amazing is that.

This month there was a sale of Drops yarn in Holland. Quite a lot of the different yarns of Drops-Garnstudio were for sale with 30% off. And because I really like to create things, just with what I have in stash, I should have a large stash, don’t you think? Well, any excuse is welcome to go and buy some lovely yarn.

There are a few varieties of Drops I already have almost every colour of in my stash, but this last year I started to use Delight, a beautiful fingering weight yarn with fabulous colour transitions. So I indulged myself and bought a few skeins.

some blues

some green and brown

purple shades.

Well, to be honest, I just bought every shade they had……

twice….

Now what more does a girl need then a husband who does the laundry and a basket full of yarn??

Groetjes, Dorien

A fabric basket filled with extras

2011-05-26T09:57:00.001+02:00

In this post I showed you the little basket I made for the Fabric Basket Swap. It was a secret swap and the person I had to send my basket to, was not the same as the person who made a basket for me. Last week a got an email reveiling who was making a basket for me, and yesterday a rather big box arrived. It came from the lovely Monica. She appears to be a very talented and creative quilter, and she made me the most awesome fabric basket.

Some beautiful pieced flowers,

In a vase with some reverse applique on it.

made together this lovely picture

I love the way the black and white fabric is used; it’s almost like a framed painting. Inside the basket and on the back there are two pockets, and the quilting is impeccable.

But that was not all!! As I said, a rather big box was delivered. As Monica already mentioned in her email, she wanted to add some extra goodies, and she did:

A beautiful charm pack (Dilly Dally by Me & My Sister Designs), a bundle of bright, colourful fabrics and a matching black and white fabric (Night and Day by Robert Kaufman).

One of the things I learned this year since I started blogging, is that swapping is addictive. But this way it really feels more like having my birthday.

Groetjes, Dorien

Zomerkoninkjes

2011-05-23T17:28:00.001+02:00

While I was working hard this week to finish both flower scarves, I decided to treat myself on some delicious strawberries. The first time this season I had them, and it is always such a wonderful treat, don’t you think?

Not only do they taste wonderful, they look great too! That made me wonder, if there would be any handmade items on Flickr with strawberries as a theme. Of course there were.

1.Strawberry Clock 2.Strawberry Gift Set 3.Strawberry Quilt Bag 4.LHN Strawberry House
5.Crochet Strawberry Tea Set 6.Fabric Covered Buttons 7. Strawberries 8.Strawberry Pincushion 9. Turkish Slippers 10. Strawberry Mittens 11.Strawberry Sachets 12. Strawberry Train

Groetjes, Dorien

Words

2011-05-21T10:49:00.001+02:00

Writing the last post, it never came to my mind that you lovely ladies would respond with so many compliments. I even felt a little embarrassed. All I wanted to do, was express my amazement about how wonderful things are going.

Almost a year ago I started to write this blog. And from the start I wrote it in English. The reason for this was not so much to be able to get more readers, but mostly because I wanted to practise my English. And of course, I got stuck quite often. Certainly in the beginning, but still, Google Translate is a very good friend.

Also from the beginning, I have read every single comment and loved all the nice things that were said. And on occasion, there were words used which I didn’t know, and had to look what they meant.

The Wordle contains words I had to search. I kept a little list from the beginning with these words.

Thank you ladies, for helping me to improve.

Groetjes, Dorien

All you have to do is ask!

2011-05-19T10:30:00.001+02:00

All my life I’ve been making things for my friends and family. And almost as long as that, they have been saying that I should try and sell the stuff I make and try and make a living out of it. I don’t think the last will ever happen, but I did open a shop a few months ago on Etsy. At first only for the pattern for the skirt guards. And I was so amazed when people not only found my little shop, but even bought the pattern. And still, every time someone buys it, I’m so thankful and it gives me so much joy.

Then, when I was going on, making new stuff, I started to put those items on Etsy too. For example this flower scarf:

It was sold within a few days, and then the strangest thing happened. Someone asked if it was possible to make another one. And while I was answering her mail, another message came, asking the very same thing.This was totally new for me; people who I don’t know, who live on the other side of the planet, asking me to make something for them!

So on my table right now: lots, and lots of flowers, waiting to become a scarf.

Groetjes, Dorien

Trying to get back to an ordinary life

2011-05-16T08:55:00.001+02:00

Hello! Good to see you. After a week without blogging, it’s time to catch up. Thank you all for your lovely comments on the little camera pouch.

My sister and I had a fabulous week in London. The weather was very NOT British; we had sunshine all week and not one drop of rain. Temperatures were great too.

We started the week by travelling by coach and boat.

This was in the magazine I read in the bus. And that is exactly what I intended to do!

The trip from Calais to Dover is always so nice. And the sight was so clear that Dover could already been seen when leaving Calais.

And in London, we visited all the known tourist attractions. So I’ll just show you a couple of pictures as an impression.

Groetjes, Dorien

I’m going on a trip and I’m going to bring ….

2011-05-07T15:26:00.001+02:00

Three posts in a row! I think it’s the first time I managed to do so. This time I’ve quite exciting news! As I mentioned in the title: I’m going on a trip.

When gathering everything I need to bring, I discovered that I don’t have a cover for my camera. So, a little bit of last minute sewing was required.

Just a rectangular box? Looks a bit boring!

So I did something else.

Much better, don’t you think?

Now, where would this little cover go with me? I’ll give you a hint.

Do you already know?

Yeah!!! I’m going to London!!

Hope to see you again next week!!

Groetjes, Dorien

Sampler progress

2011-05-06T12:01:00.001+02:00

Hello (again)! I’ve been working a lot on my little embroidery panel and I just wanted to show the progress so far.

Remember the picture of the Alphabet in this post, I decided to use a bit of the border.

I didn’t really want to use geometrical designs on this little sampler, so I came up with a few flowers (yes, I know; there are a lot of flowers involved lately!).

There’s a little space left to fill, and I’m browsing through all the designs in my beautiful books. It’s hard to choose.

Maybe a windmill; after all, I’m Dutch, aren’t I?

Groetjes, Dorien

Travelling Roses

2011-05-05T12:56:00.001+02:00

Today is Liberation Day in Holland. In most cities it is celebrated with some kind of festival. In Alkmaar there is in one of the parks a music festival. A lot of bands perform and the people are sitting and standing on the field in front of the kiosk. Usually they bring their own blankets to sit on, and have some kind of picnic. For the children there is a program with different kind of activities, from face painting, football, to inflatable slides. And again, the weather is very cooperative today, so it will be a lot of fun!

For the first time I’ve tried to do some lace knitting with fingering yarn. I choose the Travelling Roses Scarf, available at Ravelry. Not really a difficult pattern. But you have to stay concentrated. And because I use knitting often to relax, that made it a challenge.

I made 13 repeats, which gave the scarf after blocking a length of 60 inches. It’s a present for a lady who is quite small, so I didn’t really know how long to make it. Especially since it would become bigger after blocking. I hope this is okay.

I love this pattern, and I can recommend it to everyone, even if you are, like me, new to lace knitting. (en voor de Nederlandse dames: er is een Nederlandstalige versie van het patroon).

Groetjes, Dorien

A new Treasure

2011-05-02T10:25:00.001+02:00

In Spring, a lot of women are going to clean their house. Not really a habit I have, but my mother in law certainly does it. And this time, she decided not only to clean, but also to get rid of a lot of stuff she doesn’t use anymore. Including a lot of books. And look what she gave me!

Mostly books about embroidery, and since I’ve always loved samplers, she couldn’t have made me happier.

I really love the richness of a sampler like this; all the colours and flowers, and those beautiful little birds.

In one of the books there was a picture to drool over.

Isn’t this the most amazing embroidery?

It has been a long time, since I did some embroidery myself, but now I couldn’t resist anymore. So I took out my floss and fabric, and just started.

I don’t have a clue yet, what it is going to become. It was just so nice to sit on the couch doing this. I forgot how relaxing this is!

Groetjes, Dorien

Queens Day

2011-04-30T16:41:00.001+02:00

First I want to thank you all for your lovely comments on my Flower Scarf. I always love to make something, but when the comments are so nice and warm, it really gives energy, and encourages me to go on.

Today is ‘Queens Day’, and that means a lot of people in the streets. The city has transformed into one big flea market, and everywhere there are people. There is a lot of music, and everybody seems to have a good time.

As you can see: the canals are filled with all kinds of boats, and a lot of people are dressed in orange, the colour of our country.

Even our neighbour Ibu, who is originally from Guinea was dressed in orange! Every year he is on one of the squares in town, with his group to make music, which makes you very happy!

Tonight we probably will go to see the fireworks.

Groetjes, Dorien

Flower Scarf

2011-04-28T12:43:00.001+02:00

Hello! This time I have a lot of flowers to show you. Maybe you remember my Leaves and Acorn Scarf ? I wanted to make a similar scarf, but this time with flowers. So I knitted a beautiful bouquet of tulips, bluebells and oxeye daisies.

With leaves in four different shades of green it became a wonderful scarf.

I think it is not just a scarf, but maybe even more a necklace!

I just love these flowers! It can be worn with just a casual outfit like a shirt and jeans, but for an elegant evening it’s great too.

Groetjes, Dorien

Fabric Flower Basket

2011-04-26T15:14:00.001+02:00

Hello!! I hope you have had a wonderful Easter. We enjoyed the warm, sunny weather and worked a lot in the garden.

Maybe you have seen this little banner in my sidebar

The idea for this swap was to make a basket of 15,5 by 6,5 inch, 5 inch deep. The swap is secret, so I had to go with the preferences which were given by the lady I have to send it to. And she didn’t give any. No colours, no techniques, nothing! And she also doesn’t have a flickr-account or a blog, so I had absolutely nothing to work with. So I decided to make a basket with flowers. Inspired by all the lovely flowers outside. Thinking of it, there are a lot of flowers in my work lately!

Putting the bag together was a lot of fun. It is small enough to have a result quite quick.

Quiling detail

It is lined with a white cotton with little pink flowers.

Groetjes, Dorien

Dreaming of a White Easter

2011-04-23T18:50:00.001+02:00

Almost a week since my last post! That really wasn’t intended, but i got a visit of a very nasty cold. So a few days all I saw were tissues, tissues, and more tissues.

Well, that’s all over now, and the last few days I’ve mainly been enjoying the beautiful weather. It is so great to be outdoors, all the flowers, the birds singing, and especially all the little boats on the canals are a joy to look at.

Still I found time to do some sewing. All the dark, warm winter clothes are washed and stored, and it’s time for more light garments. Never before I dared to wear white. Having two boys in the house, that just wasn’t a smart idea. But, they’re growing up, and now I thought I would give it a try. I bought myself a pair of white trousers, and to go with it, I made a white blouse.

Beautiful, airy cotton with pink and lavender flowers.

A blouse like a shirt, but long enough to be a tunic; exactly how I like it.

Perfect for Easter!

I wish you a very Happy Easter, with lots of sun!

Groetjes, Dorien

Tulips

2011-04-18T10:31:00.001+02:00

Hellooo!! How nice of you to stop by. It is a very sunny, warm day and I’ve had a wonderful weekend. In this part of Holland the bulb fields are really starting to get their beautiful colours. Yesterday I went to a flower garden, where you could pick your own tulips.

You just walk along the field, and choose your own flowers. Then you pull them out with bulb and all, and put them in your bucket.

Now they are at home in a beautiful vase.

In the fall I can put the bulbs in the ground, so next spring, we will have beautiful tulips in our garden.

From “100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet”, by Lesley Stanfield

Groetjes, Dorien

My mom, and a blue and red bag

2011-04-14T17:25:00.001+02:00

Ever since I was a little girl, I’ve been making things. I remember being ill, lying on the couch, with a hook and some yarn, making clothes for my barbie doll. My mom wasn’t really handy with fabric or yarn, so I had to learn it all just by doing it. But she was very encouraging. So whenever I got stuck, she went to the library to get me a book with tutorials, or she asked a neighbour for help. She really was always trying to help me and she always helped to find the right materials. When I first started sewing clothes, she was the first to ask for a skirt or a blouse. And even the garments which didn’t turn out so great, she wore with pride, not only at home, but even to a wedding! Looking back on that, I realize that as a parent, you don’t need to have a certain skill yourself, to be able to encourage your children to do whatever they choose to. And that is a lot of help, having two boys, while I grew up in a girl’s family.

Wow! Today I wanted to tell you about my latest finish, and somehow I started telling you about what a great mom I have. Funny, how something like that happens.

So, about my latest finish. Again it is a bag. As I already told a friend, it seems like I’m in some kind of bag-making-mood. I really loved making my yellow bag, so I decided to make another one, with the same shape/pattern. This time I used different kinds of fabric; wool, cotton and velvet. The fabric I started with is a woven, woolen, striped fabric. To go with it I found a blue velvet and a red woolen fabric.

I started with embroidery for the front panel.

Then I assembled the outer bag. As you can see, the colours of the striped fabric are also used for the embroidery.

For the bag itself I used black ribbon for the binding, but that didn’t work for the panel. I was over in the haberdashery shop for more then one hour, before I found the perfect solution. A bright, yellow-green ribbon. I love it!

Red roses for the back, with a few little butterflies and a cute parakeet.

And of course a few pockets inside. The strap is made of black velvet and adjustable. Again, I learned a few new techniques, like sewing the green ribbon between the front and lining of the front panel.

Groetjes, Dorien

Swapping Scarves

2011-04-12T19:42:00.001+02:00

Hello, how nice of you to stop by. Today I want to show you a couple of scarves, which I have made for two swaps. The first one is a Saroyan (pattern at Ravelry), which I made for Elsje. She is my swap partner for a whole year, and this was the handmade item for the first swap.

I made it with Drops Delight, in a green-beige colour.

The leaves are just so beautiful. It was not a very difficult pattern, and the scarf is very soft and warm.

The other scarf I made was for a scarf swap. A while ago I got a pile of old knitting magazines from my mother. The bulk of it wasn’t really useful anymore. But in one of them I found this picture for a man’s sweater.

(Told you it was old!!)

I immediately liked the honeycomb pattern, and decided to use it for this scarf. The reciever is very fond of blue, so that was easy. Then I came up with the idea to knit the scarf in the round, casting on enough stitches for the whole length of the scarf. I added 2 x 20 stitches for the fringe and started knitting. The stitches for the fringe were knitted in stockinette stitch, the rest in pattern. This way the stripes were lengthwise.

After binding of the pattern stitches, the scarf was cut open (in the middle of the stockinette stitches), and carefully I unravelled the fringe.

The threads were knotted together, and the scarf was blocked.

This scarf was made in Drops Alpaca.

Groetjes, Dorien

A Mistake

2011-04-11T08:54:00.001+02:00

We made a mistake! In our living room there is a beautiful blue couch. It’s great to sit on, and that is what we did. At first, Fleur wasn’t allowed to get on it, but as you maybe can imagine, her great eyes asked for it, over and over again. So at one point we gave in. Now, the couch isn’t ours anymore.

Because of her long white hair, we put a blanket on the couch to prevent it from getting too dirty. Great idea…….we thought. Fleur has a completely different idea of what to do with the blanket. Just to lie on it is boring.

She really does all the draping herself, and loves to hide under the blanket.

Groetjes, Dorien

Yarn bombing in Alkmaar

2011-04-08T08:33:00.001+02:00

Yarn bombing is so great, don’t you think? A few months ago a Dutch writer of Children’s books started to promote it in Holland, with all kinds of activities. And guess what? A few ladies here in Alkmaar did their own project. Last week they decorated a bridge with cute little hats. Look for yourself!

Groetjes, Dorien

Challenges, and a green bag

2011-04-06T19:49:00.001+02:00

Hello!! First I want to thank everyone who left a comment on last post about the Yellow Spring Bag. I really appreciate it and I love to read those comments. Someone mentioned that she didn't actually like yellow, well, I don´t either! Normally that is. But as I mentioned earlier, I like it to have a challenge. Sometimes I seek for that in the pattern, sometimes in the fabric or yarn I use, and sometimes in the colour. In this case it was the colour. To use a colour out of my comfort zone, and then make something out of it which I really like, is a real challenge. I wonder if, and where you look for a new challenge!

Today I want to tell you about another bag I made last November. I couldn't blog about it back then because it was a gift for my husband. The challenge with this bag was the fabric. I used all kinds of tweeds and woolen fabrics.

The aim was to make a bag with a sturdy look. All of the fabrics were used before. I cut them out of old suits and coats. That way it became also sort of an eco-friendly bag. So the embroidery-design was quickly chosen.

The next challenge in this bag were the pockets. I know people say that women have a lot of stuff in their bags, but this guy!!! Really. He once drew me a sketch of his favourite bag. I think it had over 15 pockets. Being a little bit mean, I made less pockets, hoping he would declutter a bit.

Now I have a question for you. Do you look for challenges, or do you prefer to stay within your comfort zone? And if you look for a challenge, what kind of challenge do you look for?

Groetjes, Dorien

Yellow Spring Bag

2011-04-04T12:45:00.001+02:00

Hello! It has been a wonderful weekend, with lots of warm and sunny Spring weather. I even managed to work a little bit in the garden, which isn’t really something I like to do. No green fingers over here.

Today we celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. It makes me feel rather old but also it makes me proud that we have managed to come this far.

In the meantime I finished the Spring Bag.

As always I started with not a clear idea about how it had to become. I collected a few fabrics and embroidered a panel. Then I started sewing pieces together in a way I liked it. Bit by bit the bag grew. I decided it had to become a messenger bag and by then I knew how to put everything together.

The front

The back

A look inside

The closure

The strap

The strap length is adjustable and the bag has an inside pocket with a zipper. It closes with a little strap and double D-rings. It measures approximately 12 x 10 inch, so big enough to put all your stuff in.

Groetjes, Dorien

Winner!

2011-03-31T09:09:00.001+02:00

Good morning ladies! Thank you for visiting. It was so nice to read the comments on the give-away, and I had a lot of fun. Today I wrote all the names on cards and put them in a bowl.

And the winner is:

Karen of Knitalatte ! You won the two Dutch Mug Rugs.

Groetjes, Dorien

Starting a new bag

2011-03-29T17:15:00.001+02:00

Are you enjoying the beautiful Spring weather as much as I do, or are you in a part of the world where the sun isn’t shining so much? I’m enjoying being outside again. Everything looks just so much better now.

And Spring calls for a new Spring Bag. So I gathered some matching fabrics.

Then I chose an embroidery design and started embroidering it.

And a bit more,

And more! But since the machine is still very busy I can’t show more. It takes always a lot more time than anticipated. So this will take me the rest of this day.

Don’t forget!! Tomorrow is the last day you can enter my give-away if you want to.

Have a sunny day.

Groetjes, Dorien

Mug Rugs, and a Give-Away!!

2011-03-25T17:44:00.001+01:00

Tweet, tweet! Hello, how lovely of you to visit me! See the big, yellow flower? Isn’t it beautiful? Almost like the flowers outside, which are blooming and brightening up the world.

Remember the fabrics I showed in my last post? I said I wanted to make some mug rugs with them, so I did.

I used the flowers and bird from this pillow-tutorial.

And just what I was afraid of, happened; this is totally addictive. To make a little mug rug, which has all the elements of making a quilt, but then in a rather small size, is so much fun!! So while I was at it, I decided to make a couple more!

Again a little bird, but look what he sees!

And another one with flowers

And because I just felt like it I decided to give these two away!! No particular reason, not post number X, not a certain amount of followers, just because the sun is shining!

If you want a chance to win these two mug rugs, all you have to do is leave a comment on this post. Make sure that you are a follower, and that it is possible for me to contact you, either by email or your own blog.

The last day of this month I will draw a winner, so make sure you leave your comment before March 31!!

Groetjes, Dorien

Spring has Sprung

2011-03-23T14:56:00.001+01:00

The sun is shining, it is a lovely day around here. I hope you can enjoy the sun too? The weather here is so great, that it is hard to stay indoors. So yesterday I went for a walk with Fleur, and I already had in mind to make it a long one. But it was a very, and I mean a VERY long walk. When we were halfway, Fleur looked at me as if she was asking when are we going home??. Back home, she lied down and didn’t get up for at least 6 hours. And even then she was very quite.

A little spoiling myself:

Just love those daffodils; outside in the garden and in the parks they are such bright messengers of Spring.

The last few days I have been knitting, but since it is supposed to be a present, I can’t show that much. Just a little sneek peek:

Reading other blogs I came across a lot of mug rugs. I love them; it looks like a quick project, and a perfect gift, either for someone else, or just for me! So I looked in my stash and found these very Spring-like fabrics.

I haven’t decided on a pattern yet, but I’m sure it will be a lot of fun to make some mug rugs.

Groetjes, Dorien

A promise

2011-03-20T17:56:00.001+01:00

Quite some time ago I promised Carol to show why anyone would visit my town. The first reason that would come into mind would be ‘The Cheese market’. This is organised every Friday in spring and summer, and attracts a lot of tourists from all over the world. As it is too early in the year I can’t show any pictures of that.

The reason I love Alkmaar, is because it is an old city, with lots of old buildings remained in a very good condition, and above all, because of all the canals and bridges. The most famous building is of course the ‘Waag’, in front of which the cheese market is held, but also the city hall and the big church are beautiful. I would say: enjoy a walk on a very sunny Sunday afternoon!

‘Molen van Piet’

Waag

City Hall

Big Church

Groetjes, Dorien

Blissful Pillows

2011-03-18T10:13:00.001+01:00

Hello! Thank you for stopping by. It has been a crazy week in our house. One son has been feeling sick, and the other one needed surgery on his foot. They both are very active normally, maybe even hyperactive, so that was a challenge for them to sit and keep quite for a change. Between all the running around to give them tea and biscuits, I managed to finish the pillows I started last week.

I quilted the panels with curls and swirls.

This was the first time I did this and although I’m happy with the result, I know there’s a lot to improve. It was very difficult to make the stitches even. I think I just wanted to go too fast.

I did the back panels with two colours of flowery fabric and the pillows close with a shiny button.

I love these pillows, even with all the pink in them.

When I was out in the garden taking pictures, Fleur came out too and went on with her hobby: collecting branches and wooden blocks. Normally they are on a little shelf in a corner of the garden, but she takes them, puts them in her corner of the garden and goes and lie between them.

Have a nice weekend!

Groetjes, Dorien

On my table!

2011-03-14T13:20:00.001+01:00

Hello lovely ladies!! I hope you have had a wonderful weekend. Thank you for your kind words regarding my wrist! After a few days of doing nothing, I slowly started to pick up things. An easy project to start with.

I had these wonderful charm packs laying on the shelf. Aren’t these the best colours for some spring pillows? I decided on a disappearing nine-patch.

So I laid 4 blocks on the table

sewed them and cut again in 4 pieces.

Then the fun part came: arranging all these small blocks.

By now the top of all 4 pillows is pieced, I hope to find some fabric for the back this afternoon.

As you can see there is still no sunshine overhere!!

Groetjes, Dorien

A different kind of Carnival

2011-03-09T08:29:00.001+01:00

Originally I’m from the south of the Netherlands, from the beautiful town of Maastricht. And every year around this time, I wanted to go back for the Carnival. But I never could in over 20 years. Until this year. Finally!!! Together with J. We went to stay at my parents house and planned to see the big parade. So of course I took my camera, checked the battery. But, , sorry, no pictures. I can’t show you the beautiful, colourful costumes, the painted faces, the great attributes the people had with them.

Sunday morning I wanted to do the dishes for my parents. Of course I did. But they have this new faucet in the kitchen. And I was being very clumsy. Still don’t really know what happened, but I got a lot of very hot water over my wrist. It burned quite bad.

We did go to the parade, I just couldn’t make pictures, because I couldn’t hold the camera. Let’s just hope it won’t take me another twenty years to go back, so maybe next year (I certainly hope so).

This didn’t mean that when I got back home, I couldn’t do anything. As long as I can support my arm on a table it’s okay. So I finished my scarf.

It is so difficult to capture the richness of the colours with a camera. But in this pic you can see that there are so many shades from very light blue to purple, and even a little bit of fuchsia in it.

Never before I used yarn this thin, but I’m very happy that I took this challenge.

Groetjes, Dorien

Carnaval

2011-03-04T15:17:00.001+01:00

Hiel veul plezeer allemoal!!!

Groetjes, Dorien

Going to the market

2011-03-02T09:53:00.001+01:00

It is done.

This time I didn’t use colours too bright,

Can you guess?

A grocery bag! Big enough for going to the market without needing any plastic bags and small enough to put in your daily bag before you need it.

I made the pattern so that it is easy to adjust the height of the bag and to make the handles just as long or short as you would like them.

As you can see: the blue bag has an extra row of shells and a much longer strap.

Pattern is available in my Etsy-shop.

Groetjes, Dorien

Trial and error

2011-02-28T10:51:00.001+01:00

Good morning, I hope you had a wonderful weekend. We celebrated the birthday of our oldest son. He’s now 15 years old, bigger than his mama, and of course he now thinks he doesn’t need us anymore! So I counted the number of times he called me because he couldn’t find something, didn’t know how to do something, or for whatever reason. Just in one day, he ‘needed’ me 16 times! I guess he still has a little bit of growing up to do.

The last week I’m back to pattern-writing. This time it is a slow process; making a lot of errors, frogging, trying again, some more frogging and finally being happy with the result. Then after writing it down, I have to test it all again, make changes and test again.

It is so nice to think of something new, to make a new ‘design’, but the technical aspects of writing the pattern are quite boring. On the other hand, when writing and testing the pattern I come up with a bunch of new ideas, which I can’t execute because I first have to finish this one.

And a little bit of fun; this is our youngest son in the snow in Austria last week. The thing on his head is a hat in the shape of a little hog.

Groetjes, Dorien

Old and new

2011-02-24T10:13:00.001+01:00

Did I really say last week ‘Spring is coming’??? This is what happened yesterday

Luckily it is all gone now.
When I was looking in my closet, I came upon this very old notebook. It was my very first book, where I kept my patterns in. I guess I got it when I was about 7 years old.

In it a very easy crochet pattern

Unfortenately I don’t have any pictures of the harlequin made by this pattern.

And a pattern for a witch, made of felt

Besides an old book, I got this week a very new book.

Lesley Stanfield’s 75 birds, butterflies & beautiful beasties to knit and crochet

Who could resist a little cute bird like this?

Groetjes, Dorien

Blue bells

2011-02-22T13:08:00.001+01:00

This morning I heard the news about the earthquake in New Zealand. I know there are a few ladies from over there who frequently visit my blog. I hope you are okay!!

This morning I finished my blue cardigan. It has become a light, airy cardigan, exactly the way I wanted it. I even found a few glass vintage buttons with a little bit of blue in them, who matched perfectly.

The lace pattern wasn’t too difficult. The pattern I based this cardigan on, had a much wider skirt. I’m happy with this one; not too tight, but kind of slim fitting. The bubble bells on the seam are just a funny detail.

Groetjes, Dorien

Yummie

2011-02-20T17:14:00.001+01:00

Hello lovely ladies, how nice of you to stop by (again). Every once in a while I take a look at the blogger statistics, and I’m quite surprised by how many people actually visit my blog. It is a bit of strange idea, that there are so many people reading my scribbles, without knowing who they are. I did start this blog, just to straighten out my thoughts, to keep track of what I am doing, and to try and actually finish projects, before starting new ones. And, to improve my English. Then, finding out that people are actually reading this, is sort of amazing.

I guess every one who likes to cook, has a favourite recipe, which you keep cooking over and over again.

For me that is home made pizza. Almost every week I make it, and by now, the baking tray of the oven is starting to get too small, because the boys are becoming so big, that they eat almost as much as my husband and me together.

The sauce is made of fresh vegetables and tomatoes, some herbs (lots of basil), and a little bit of maple syrup. On top of the sauce I put ham, mozzarella, gorgonzola, mascarpone, pineapple and some grana padano. Indeed a lot of cheese! The funny thing is that each quarter of the pizza is different; some don’t like pineapple, some don’t like blue cheese, and some want it all.

Groetjes, Dorien

Back on top of my game

2011-02-17T10:51:00.001+01:00

After a period where I was sort of ‘blocked’ all the time, I finally got my rythm back. Ideas keep tumbling in my head and I’m quite productive again. The knitting on my cardigan is going great now and as soon as the light allows me I will make some pictures of it.

Yesterday was a great day with lots of sunshine and when I was walking with Fleur I saw lots of snowdrops and crocuses. Even the tulips have started to pop their heads above the ground. Spring is definitely coming.

Last week I started with a new CAL (Crochet-A-Long), with this beautiful yarn, half Merino, half Silk.

It is very thin and that makes it a challenge to make nice and regular stitches.

So far I had two make two parts, supposed to be the ends of a scarf. Next weekend we will get new clues.

And my red-checked cushion is finished!

Groetjes, Dorien

Patchwork and Quilt Fair

2011-02-15T11:11:00.001+01:00

Last week I wrote about the blue cardigan I’m knitting. Over the weekend I knitted quite a lot, but I had to frog it. The upper part of this cardigan has a lace pattern and that is something I find very hard to make. So obviously it all went wrong, and I’m back at the same point as I was last week. So nothing to show you on that front.

In the weekend I went to a craft fair, where there was quite a large part reserved for patchwork and quilting. One of the most beautiful quilts I saw, was made by Mariet Soethout-Mous. It is a mixture of printed fabrics, embroidery, ribbons and little dolls attached.

Of course I couldn’t resist all the gorgeous booths with fabric. So I bought some Dutch colours,

and some bright coloured fabric,

Then I saw the best rotary cutter ever!!

Just couldn’t resist those little tulips.

Groetjes, Dorien