Vacation

DH and I had a very relaxing week. We had a vacation in Germany, we rented a house (on the top of a hill) at the edge of a village,  and stayed there for a whole week! Away from work and all day stress (traffic noise in front of our house is getting worse and worse) we had a week of silence. No radio, no television, no phone, only our little trips in the neighbourhood, our books and my stitching and knitting.
I'll show some picture at the end of this post, for who is interested.

So, due to the hours we needed to get there I had some extra knitting time. And I decided Red Wine was the lucky one this time. So here she is, added more than two rows of flowers.

Many Years Ago part 7 is also done. 

And than there is Call of the Raven, I added at least 2000 stitches, so my goal for this month is reached again :) 

And here is the selection of some pictures of our vacation in  Germany.

Not much, only Mary ...

Hey there, Mary IS much! She is much fun to look at and  much pleasure to stitch. And there is a little progress again. The red- brown ornament is finished, another brown element too and a little pink bird is growing.

Besides stitching on Mary I am busy knitting. Knitting on a secret project, a lovely shawl for a special person. But of course I can't show progress here, for not spoiling the surprise element. I only can say I am more than halfway....

Red Wine and Mary

Don't worry, this title is not about Mary and red wine spoiled over her. You might know I love a glass of red wine in the evening. Consider it my nightcap :) Maybe that's why I named my new shawl Red Wine. Since evenings are getting colder I can knit this warm woolen shawl without sweaty hands, so there is progress.

There's also progress on Mary and I am careful with her, especially in the evening ;) So no coffee or wine stains yet, but a finished black ornament and a nearly finished brown one.

Many Years Ago has another part added too. Part 6 is done, three to go!
I still have difficulties with the fabric, there is much frogging involved. Ugh! But the result is what counts, so I keep stitching!

Forever Autumn, a gift and Mary

Forever Autumn is a finish! I finished the knitting last wednesday, so I blocked her and today I could see how she turned out. It definitely is a 'she', having little pearls all over the design.
I am not sure if I am happy with her. The design is great, the finish also, but I am not sure if the color fits me .... So I'll give her (and me) some time, to get used to each other. Ever made pictures of yourself in the mirror? 

Also wednesday, after a not so nice day at work, a gift came in with the postman. A sweet friend crocheted a lovely little project bag for me. We don't know each other in real life, only  via the internet, but that doesn't matter. There is friendship between us, that's what matters. 
And look what a lovely bag she made. I already use it, my new knitting project is in it :)
Thank you, dear friend!

And Mary. Mary and I become close. We are each others company several days a week now and it does good to both of us. The black ornament on the right is finished, the blue ond is added this week. Started a black ornament.

Quiltshow, Mary and The Raven

This weekend was a fun one! Yesterday two friends and I went to a quiltshow in Enkhuizen. We travelled by train together, knitting, crocheting, sewing and chatting. That way a three hour trip seems only an hour or so!
There also were quilshops, but being a wise woman, I only bougth one small piece of fabric. This day was meant for enjoying other womens work. some pictures are at the end of this blogpost.
concerning my work, I am stitching again. Mary gained two completed ornaments at the left side and a small piece of an ornament at the right side.

Call of the Raven has quite some progress since my last update. Almost one page!

Clue four of Forever Autumn is done too. I am knitting clue five now, so I hope to finish this shawl by the end of the week. 

Oops, almost forgot to add some pictures of Enkhuizen.

Many Years Ago ...

Yes, Many Years Ago I learned how to stitch and nowadays stitching is my main hobby. Many Years Ago is also the name of this sampler, a SAL run by a German group, Sticklounge.

Part five is done.

Forever Autumn, a KAL run by 'Goddess Knits'. Clue three done. It's the first shawl I do with beads, the picture is a bit overlighted, so you can't see the beads very clear. But, if you take a good look, they are there!

And that is almost everything I accomplished this week, due to a servere cold I was hitting the bed early, almost right after work, so stitching time was reduced to this weekend.

Mary again ;) and a welcome to all 'my' readers

In spite of a lazy Sunday (there is a flu coming up, I am shivering and coughing, but not yet ill enough to spend the day in bed. So an update on my blog is a good idea, taking some pictures, writing a blogpost.

I noticed there are 200 followers since this week! Thank you for reading my little adventures with needle and thread! I know most bloggers are doing a giveaway to celebrate something like this. I am not. I am a different kind of woman. I like blogging, I like you following me, I am just not into organizing a give-away. But I welcome you dearly :)

Now Mary. She has a grip on me, these  days, so I can show some more progress on her.

And there is another piece that has some progress. I doubt if you have seen it before on my blog. It is my summer stitching, in companion to Mary. Cirque des Carreaux by Ink Circles.

Work has been very busy, so I am strongly in need of relaxing. Did you know, knitting is relaxing? I did, so here is some progress on Red Wine.

And progress on NightInGail. Almost a third done.

Oh, I almost forgot, I have a little progress on quilting too! Autumn colours and the sun rising early, a rather strange combination, but I chose the fabric because of the lovely feathers.