Hot, really hot!

Yeah, my summer vacation began two weeks ago and from that moment summer came in! This week it has been hot, really hot (considering The Netherlands). All I have to show you is the story of a sock ;) On July 10th I started to knit The Acrobat.

I knitted one sock and casted on the second. And then we went for a short trip to Hilversum. We stayed there for three nights in a lovely hotel and visited the Weversmarkt at Hoorn. And my second sock went with me. I kept it in my bag, carrying it all the way. And, surprisingly, it stayed in my bag. I didn't knit a single row that day. At the Weversmarkt (Weavers Market, a yearly wool event) I noticed some beautiful things. This wool is dyed after the palette of Van Gogh's Sunflowers. Beautiful! Green isn't my colour, but I regret not buying one of those skeins!

Some other pictures of lovely things that catched my eye.

After the Weversmarkt we went to Volendam. And my sock went with me. Without any knitting ;-)

The next day we went for a trip to Amsterdam. And my sock went with me again.

We visited the Begijnhof and went for a walk through the inner city.

At the end of a lovely day we went by tram to the Vondelpark. There we sat down to give our sore feet a rest and to enjoy the park with playing children and dogs. 

And then I was happy I brought my sock!

The next day we went to Bergen aan Zee to visit some friends. Coming home late at night, the next morning we went out of town again to spend the day at our cottage. And there I knitted ....

And finished my socks!

Summer vacation

Summer vacation started one week ago and to get the ultimate summer feeling I painted my toe nails. I really do like to walk barefoot and from the beginning of May until the end of September I try not to wear socks.

Almost all week we spent at our cottage to get away from neighbours and traffic, and we were lucky enough to have sunny days! So I took my New York quilt and sat down to quilt for some afternoons.

I am almost done now. As you can see the threads that keep the three layers together are mostly removed. Only those parts were you see them I have to quilt. I started to quilt the border also. Do you see the words New York in it? To get those letters onto the quilt I made a template first.

To prepare myself for winter I have one sock done. I don't wear them in my shoes, but when I come home from work I like to wear hand knitted socks. They are warm and comfortable. On to the second one!

Borders, borders

Summer vacation started and yes, we are crossing borders soon! But before we do I had to make sure I was on schedule on my stitched borders, so last week I have been stitching. I was a bit behind, so I had to do eight borders ...

I also finished another poject. Sock number two of Hurdles. In fact I knitted both socks in the last two weeks, because I redid sock number one. It wasn't up to my standard, so I decided to frog the whole thing and knit it all over.

I really don't need them now, but we all know there will be a time when we long for warm socks again ... But not for the next few months!

Meet Molly Malone

My latest finish is named Molly Malone. The original shawl is Oyster Shawl and when I heard that name I immediately thought about a song of an Irish folk band, The Dubliners (among others). Cockles and Mussels a song about a girl, selling fish on the streets of Dublin. I loved that song (I still do!).

One week to go and then summer vacation starts. Time to look for a bigger project to take with me when we leave for Germany. I am dreaming about this one (picture is not mine) but that might change.

It's been a while ...

It's been a while since I posted, because of several reasons. I have been away for the weekends, meeting friends, visiting a (quilt) event and travelling to the other side of the country. You know I live in The Netherlands, so travelling to the other side of the country can be done in one day ;)

Of course I have been knitting during these weeks, so I can show you some finishes. 

First of all my Unchained Melody. It is blocked now and that means she really shows her beauty now.

Between things I knitted for a dear friend. She is pregnant and with some other friends we gave her a real baby shower. I knitted her a little spencer and a baby cocoon. 

And today my latest shawl became a finished one. Molly Malone. the border shows oysters, that made me think about a song I've know for years: Molly Malone, who sells cockles and mussels.

New adventures

First of all, thank you for your lovely comments on the beautiful shawl I showed two weeks ago. Last week we were away for the weekend (pictures below) so I didn't write a blogpost. I also didn't stitch my Randje per Week. However, in this time of year it seems to me I have lots of time. Time to knit, to quilt and to go out with friends. I don't know if it is just a feeling, or if it is reality. Fact is we are heading towards six weeks (!) of summervacation! time to start some new projects!
I have a finished item again. My shawl, Unchained Melody, is done. The yarn turned out to be very slippery, I had to pay attention to hold the needles very tight, because now and then they tended to slip from the yarn. Here it is unblocked yet, but now it is wahed and on the blocking wires. I'll show the blocked version next week.

We went for a couple of days to Sauerland, Germany. Most people go there in winter (skying), but we hate snow and cold, so we prefer to go there in summer :) Here are some pictures, just to give you anidea.

As you can see we had sunny, warm weather. So when we got home, we went for an after party to our family house in the country to enjoy some more summer.

Showtime!

Finally I can show my latest finish! In fact it was finished before Lighten Up! but I couldn't show it here. I have been test knitting for Monique Boonstra. Her design Flower Street is my Hydrangea Avenue

And before I forget to mention it, Linda asked me: Do you wear all your shawls? In fact Linda, no I don't. I wear some of them, but the others are for sale. So if you want a beautiful shawl, knitted just for you, contact me LOL

Now, ladies and gentlemen, I proudly present: Hydrangea Avenue!