Am I boring?

Am I boring you with my complaints about winter and still no spring? My apologies for that, but we had snow again last week. Even yesterday. It is Easter, so we should enjoy some sun now! Nevertheless I continue to make my own spring in stitching on Plantation Sampler. 
A horse is born and even a cow! The grass is growing and becomes greener and greener, so to my joy, on Plantation Sampler spring arrived.

There was also some time for Call of the Raven this week. The month is ending, over 1000 stitches are added again. Her dress is almost finished!

Clue 3 of Ebony and Ivory is done, I started clue 4 this week. I am behind and I don't like that at all, but I have to live with that. I wanted to do Renee Leverington's Spring Mystery too and another nice KA, provided by Deby Lake, is waiting for me.

But instead of being wise I started another project yesterday. I am feeling down a bit, these days, so I decided I needed something new, something challenging and something fresh. So I started to knit my first sock! It is on my wishlist for quite a long time and better start something that cheers you up than finish something that drags you down. (New motto LOL).
I never ever before knitted a sock (new to me), I hardly knitted with four needles (challenging) and I choose a lovely springy colour (fresh). The pattern is available for free at Ravelry, Gänsemagd. I knit it with Opal Sweet & Spicy, colorway Pflaume. 

Soon I will start another small project. I told you already, DD is going to travel to the USA  and I am going with her for one week to New York.  After that she will be on her own (okay, she stays with trusted people, but she has to do without her caring, loving family and friends).

So I am going to stitch this for her . I want to finish it as a little purse for make-up or something like that. It says: Promise me you'll always remember you're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem and smarter than you think. 

I know she is!

Still winter * sigh*, so a wintery shawl

Yes, it is still winter over here. People are getting cranky because they (read: I) long for sun! But these days a cold wind is blowing and temperatures are below zero. I heard they are skating again in Friesland!
So I continue making my own spring. There grew a tree, some more green grass and half a horse ;)

And besides that I am knitting on Ebony and Ivory. I am not quite satisfied about this one. The yarn is not as soft as I would wish for, maybe because it has 25% nylon in it. It looks like I made a mistake in one of the repeats, but I know you only see the right outcoming after blocking. So I decided to continue.

Another shawl finish

As spring is far way, so it seems, I have been kitting like crazy to finish a shawl for my sister. I promised her to knit the New Beginning Shawl. Started March 8th and finished it today. For a change I thought I'd try to do an I cord bind off and I really like the way it turns out.

 Besides knitting I also have been stitching. The Plantation Sampler is now having a garden with some sheep, birds, a stork. I started to fill in the area with green, because when doing that at the end it is an awful job. Now I can add some green in between other little stitches. 
The fun of stitching a sampler is those little projects that are finished in a couple of hours. I love the feeling of having a finish!

Still winter .... and Made for You

After stitching my own spring it lookes like it helped. Last week started with higher temperatures and I even enjoyed sitting on the balcony (knitting) for a while. But after Wednesday temperatures fell down and now we have winter agiain. Snow, a cold icy wind and temperatures below zero.
So I thought I might try it again: stitch my own spring LOL I finished the tree and added almost a sheep. Poor thing, no head and legs! But maybe I'll give it head and legs tonight ;)

I managed to finish Made for You, made for my sister-in-law. This afternoon she visited me and took the shawl with her. I could tell by the smile on her face she is very happy with it. And that makes me happy.

When spring doesn't seem to come ....

When spring doesn't seem to come why not create your own spring? I stitched part of a tree this morning, with lush green leaves and little birds on its branches. I can't wait to see them in my backyard!

The shawl I am knitting for my sister-in-law is coming along. Only four times to knit the report and then I can start the border.

A new Mystery KAL by Renee Leverington is casted on. I am a little behind, but clue one is done. Here is the beginning of Ebony and Ivory.

And Call of the Raven has its monthly progress of about a 1000 stitches.

Three finishes and a short trip

Thanks to my job I have several vacations in a year. And I enjoy them all! I always think I am able to finish more than usual (I have some extra time, so that thought might be right LOL). Evenso this week. I have three finishes to show.
As a RAK I stitched a little Halloween item and finished it as a small pillow. The receiver let me know she loves it, so I can show it here.

 This week I also was able to finish my Red Wine Shawl. It is knitted in fair isle technique and it was quite a challenging project, not only because of the steek you have to cut, but also because it was long time ago since I did some Fair Isle knitting. But I am very happy with the result. It has become a very wearable, warm shawl that can I can wear instead of a coat when temperatures outside get a little bit higher!

DH and I went away for a few days. This time we stayed at a hotel in Weert, province of Limburg, were we had some lovely days. Sightseeing at Weert, Den Bosch, Roermond and Hasselt (Belgium). At the end of this post I'll add some pictures. 
On the road I had a  little knitting project, finished it today. Frangiflutti, or, as I call her : Waves.

Some pictures of our trip, as promised at the beginning of this post.

 

Weert,  in front of our hotel

Roermond, of course I visited a needleshop

 Germany, Heinsberg, a field of snowdrops. Spring is coming!

  Someren, LNS

 Den Bosch, St. Janskathedraal

 

Almost ...

June 2012 I casted on 6 stitches. Now, eight months later I have 814 stitches on my needles. And only 8 needles to go. Note, one needle takes at least an hour ;) But I am almost there!

So before I have a finish and don't know what to do I casted on a lace shawl I promised to knit for my sister-in-law. She herself  decide she wanted brown, so brown it will be.