A Big Finish!

Yeah, I really have a Big finish! And I did on schedule. I promised myself I had a finish by August 1st and this afternoon I stitched the last stitches on it.
To give all blocks the honour they deserve , here is a picture of a finished block 12:

And may I now proudly present the Village of Hawk Run Hollow, pictures from different angles.

Finished KAL, started KAL

Looks like a riddle, finished KAL, started KAL.The summer Mystery KAL is finished, the only thing I have to do is blocking. Yesterday evening I ordered a blocking kit so I can block all my future shawl in an easy way. It will arrive tomorrow. So remember, the following pictures don't do the shawl justice, but I already like it!

And yes, another KAL started last saturday. I casted on and with flying needles I have the first clue done today! It's a mohair yarn, so the pattern isn't as clear as the first one. but I like the colour and I think it will be okay after blocking.

Another shawl is on the needles. I don't know about this. I ckecked, double checked, triple checked. There's no mistake in my knitting, but I don't like the result until now. I hope this will be okay after blocking, anyone who can give me some advice?

There's also a little update on VHRH. Block 12 started, already two tombstones done.

A finished block and a Christmas Ornament

Block eleven is done! I want to have this finished at the end of July, so I'm right on schedule with only one block to go.
And I loved stitching this block, the coulours appeal to me and of course a schoolhouse is my favorite building LOL.

Last Tuesday Carol from the HoE board let me know the ornament I stitched was received and she liked it! I did the finishing on this one twice. At first I finished it as a flat ornament, but the result wasn't like I wanted it to be. It was't flat at all! So I did the finishing again and sent it to Carol only three days late.

Less stitching time

It's the end of the schoolyear and for me that means there are a lot of parties, saying goodbyes to colleagues, festivities that are all planned in these last weeks. So I was a few evenings out of the house,  and had less time to stitch or knit. Yet I have accomplished some progress on block 11 of the Village.

Today was a rainy day, a perfect day to stay at home and knit clue 4 of the Mystery KAL. Part 4 is n't finished yet, I hope to do it this evening.  If so, I'll add a picture by tomorrow. 
Edited June 26th: Here's a picture of part 4, it's a bit overlighted, but you can see the pattern and that's what matters ;)

KAL Summer Mystery

Last blogpost I told you there was a festival of quilts. Well, here is an update.  A French lady showing boutis or trapunto took some pictures of me and my friends. You can see them here. The friendly lady showed beautiful boutis and I promised myself to learn it, one day...
My own progress is slowly but steady.  I started block 11 of the Village.

And did I show you pictures of the KAL I am involved in? It's running through a Yahoogroup I'm in, there's a clou every Saturday, five in total.  Yesterday the third part was available and today it's finished! 

A creative solution, block 10 done!

Today was a perfect day to stitch. It was a cold, dark sunday and all my household jobs were done. So I sat down on the couch and stitched. Until I found out I had been miscounting. I missed a WHOLE row of stitches in the border of the last three blocks. And I almost finished one of them. How to handle? Frog the whole block? No way! So I  figured out how to adjust the block, without having to adjust the other two blocks two.  I shortened the border and tree trunks in the upper section with one stitch. I frogged the bottom row and added a green row in it. After that I stitched the bottom row again. Is that creative or what?!

Next thing to show is my progress on Silvia. I have three repeats and a bit more done now. I think this comes along pretty well.

A break at Whitsun

DH and I travelled to Germany for a little break and enjoyed three sunny days at a lovely hotel. We enjoyed a good breakfast, a lovely dinner at a terrace, a boattrip across the Rhein and sore feet LOL  And, surprise, no time to knit or stitch, apart from the knitting I did during the car ride. This is a 'before' picture (one repeat), I have now three repeats done.

We did do something quiltrelated though, we (read: I) visited two quiltshops, *click at the pictures*

 

and purchased a few FQ's and a lovely yarn.

When we got home I did stitch almost all day, so I have to show you the result of VHRH in the sun! Block 10 almost done!

As I use to do here are some pictures of our trip. 

This lady and I have something in common: sore feet!

After a good breakfast we are ready for a long day of sightseeing.

We also did a boattrip on Rhein and Mosel, a convenient way to see things without having to walk LOL

Animal parade

Circus is in town so today it's animal parade! To start with, here are two oistriches. You have seen them before, but now this block is officially finished! As a fun detail I added two pieces of fabric that belonged to a friend. She and I did our Jane quilt together and now we are doing the Bride Quilt together. I think she doesn't remember I borrowed this little piece of fabric when we did our masterclass applique last winter. For her it might be just a piece of fabric, but for me it is more than that, it's a memory of our friendship and I hope to do more projects together!

And then there are four black horses. They belong to the Apple Orchard Farm, block ten of the Village of Hawk Run Hollow.

Christmas Bird Exchange

It's not even Christmas and yet I received a Christmas Exchange last saturday. I signed up for the exchange on the HoE-board and this is what Marie P stitched for me.
It's a design from the 2009 JCS Ornament Issue, 'Caroline' by Miss Crescents Crowne. She added a lovely piece of  fabric and some matching threads. Thank you, Marie!

Of course I did some stitching myself too. Block ten of the VOHRH is started and I managed to stitch the first horse and the apples (?) on the floor.

This week there was a trip to Amsterdam with pupils of our school and I had some time for myself, so I went to 'De Afstap' where I bought this beautiful book of lace knitting. 

Of course I had to start a new project immediately, but there's no picture yet, because all I knitted had to be ripped out again :(

A finish, a gift and a trip to Berlin

We had a vacation last week and DH and I went to Berlin. We really love this city! As we were there for the fourth time we had time to explore other things than the highlights, seen that, been there. For those of you who are interested in what we did in Berlin, I will tell more about it at the end of this post.
In the evening, when my tired feet had to rest, I sat down and knitted and as a result Expectation is finished! A big shawl that keeps me warm during cold evenings this summer and coming winter (yes, there will be another winter after  this summer LOL)

VOHRH has another finished block. Only three to go before it's a total finish and a happy dance!

Coming home from Berlin, there was a package in the mail. A friend knitted me a lovely snood, wearable as a hood or cowl. It really is a very comfortable one, soft and light and a beauty to see! The third picture shows the lovely design, the colour is the darker one on the first pictures.

Berlin! Having seen the highlights of a city, we like to explore it another way. So I make quilt routes, or in case there are no quilt shops,  yarn routes. We explore parts of the city in which a certain yarn shop is located and that way you have another view of it.
This trip we went to Handmade Berlin, a beautiful shop in Berlin Mitte, with great luxurious yarns and, great combination, a cafe. 

We also visited Die Wollust. This is the birthplace of Lazy Katy, well known to many knitters. It's a wonderful shop, if you ever visit Berlin, you should go there! 

Another lovely yarn shop is Wollen Berlin. The friendly owner designs lovely things and was very helpful in finding other yarn shops. She even printed the route to another shop,  for me! 

Of course we did lots of other things too. We visited the Dom, Pfaueninsel, the Botanical Garden, we had a boat tour and in the evening , when my feet were too tired to walk anymore, I knitted on Expectation.