Frisian Frillies

Well, a lot, if I have to believe the invoices I've been sending out. I've been working flat-out during November, and then sort of took December 'off'. Well, as 'off' as I can ever be... ;) It basically meant I still did my business translations, but there was no book for a month. And that was quite nice! It gave me some time to prepare for the SinterRAK, make decorations for the Xmas tree and to hand out to neighbours, family and friends in lieu of Xmas cards, decorate the house, clean the house for our Xmas dinner and just enjoy being home and with the kids. Which also explains the lack of blog updates ;) We've been around each other a lot, and it was great. Although we can look like a chaotic bunch, we are a lovely chaotic bunch, and we love doing things together, which, with two parents trying to work fulltime and two kids going to school, isn't always easy. There was some progress on the crafting front, apart from all those lovely decorations, tho...

Yes, I know it's been 2 weeks. Enough has happened in the meantime to blog about, like lots of baby hats, a nearly finished pair of socks for hubby, the difficulties of trying to design an Estonian scarf after drinking a glass of Chianti, the start of a mini Annis for my Mermaid... but right now, I have VAT returns to do. End of year and all that. Pictures of yarn, ice, snowless streets and a lovely Xmas are to come soon! We had a blast, still have a tummy ache from all the yummy goodies, and can't wait until Friday, when we are going to Rotterdam for New Year's weekend. We love spending that weekend away, high up in a hotel room with great views over a great city :) Laterrrrrrr

I totally forgot to show you what I got for Sinterklaas from my Ravelry Dutch RAK group, bad girl! We had a ball teasing each other, asking silly questions on the forum and then preparing a package which consisted of something bought, something made and a poem. I made some Merletto mitts for my 'victim', but first, here is what I got! The chocolate letter was devoured within minutes after opening... the little yarnies are in my sock blanket basket and the sock yarn will be turned into socks for hubby soon! He was a bit dubious about the colour, but as you can see, they are called 'Men Stretch', so, even though it's a long 'stretch', they are for 'men'. ;) The scrap letters are great! They will be used up during the holiday period, when I will (hopefully) have some time to update my photo scrapbook. And then the self-made bag, it's brilliant! It's got loads of pockets and is handy for a larger project to bring along when I'm out and abo...

So, any ideas what to put in your Xmas tree this year? Had enough of those shiny new glass baubles which cost you a fortune (and always break)? Then go DIY! We are having great fun this year making our own Xmas decorations; not only am I crocheting and stapling, but we've also made salt dough figures and are in the midst of turning these into great Xmas decorations (most of which will be handed out as gifts - actually our 'Xmas cards' - as we only have a 5 ft tree). It is great fun - and you can get the kids to help too! ;) First, you have to make your dough. Remember, the drying out takes a while, so be sure to make this in advance! We made a double batch, which gives you over 3 trays full of decorations, but for a 'normal' batch, you need the following: 250g of salt 500g of flour (white, 'patentbloem', not wholegrain, use that for your bread, please...) 300ml water 2tbsp oil Mix this all up into firm dough and start rolling. Make them around half a...

Why not just decorate a tree with sweaters? As seen in Coleraine... We loved Coleraine! We've found a few nice areas where we would love to go and live, so, providing our house here gets sold soon, we could be there this Summer and hopefully next year our Xmas tree will be put up in a new house!

It's already been a week ago, but only now have I got some time to blog about the Estonian lace workshop I took last weekend. In the meantime we've been working hard at removing wallpaper... and then sticking new wallpaper on the walls. It does look a lot better now, and we hope it will make the house a bit more sellable! Back to the workshop! On invitation of  Wereldwol , the two Dutch Knitters  came to Leeuwarden to tell and teach us all there is to know about Estonian lace knitting (in a day!). The morning started off with a cup of coffee and Madeira cake, while Hilly and Carla told us more about the history of the shawls and showed us some beautiful examples they knit themselves or bought in Estonia. The tools, the explanation and the business card... Ready, set, go! Hilly and Carla, our teachers, who (I suspect) know more about Estonian lace than the Estonians themselves... Our knitting table, in the lovely airy and light upstairs room of Pitch 'n Putt in Zui...

It's been. It's been busy the last year. And it's not really letting off... Work, getting the house ready to be sold; it's busy in my head, in our house, in my diary. So, small projects are best! Preferably projects in stockinette, which are relaxing and not too demanding. Spoke is slowly but surely getting finished (knitting the sleeves now), while the second hatheel sock is also getting there, but at the moment, I'm knitting these: Yup, hats. Lots of hats. Very tiny little hats for tiny little babies in India. Save the Children has a great project on at the moment, with a lovely informative website to go with it: Brei voor India . Using the very easy instructions and pattern , we have set to work. Yes, WE! The idea of our SnB group trying to knit enough hats to fill a huge box to send to the organization in time for Sinterklaas was met with a lot of enthusiasm. With me, around 20 other moms and grandmoms are now knitting these tiny hats. I hope to show you the e...

A while ago, on the Dutch RAK group at Ravelry, one of our members asked for some assistance with some sock knitting. She said she'd love to have homeknit socks, but had never managed to knit a pair herself. So, Aal and I came to the rescue. Within 3 days of sending off the yarn, she had her first pair of socks back from Aal. That woman is so amazingly fast!!! My socks took a bit longer, mainly because I had to rip back a few times.  Knitting late at night, having to calculate while knitting, bad lightling... etc... But, eventually, they did get done!!! I suggested knitting her some Skew socks, as with the self-striping yarn she sent me, I thought the effect would be super cool. And it turned out great, even though I was a bit miffed to see that the colour depth was not the same throughout the ball of yarn. Luckily this only becomes really apparent in the leg part, which most people have under their trousers ;) A few pictures of the socks still here... See the differe...

You take some yarn... Wound into balls by a lovely assistant... Add some sunshine, a playground and a bench... Start with a small circle... Add ear flaps... Eh.... ear flaps? On socks? Yup, ear flaps! These are called 'Hat Heel Socks' for a reason, you know... Pick up stitches... And keep on knitting until you get to the toe... More to come soon!

A boy who can draw. He was never interested in drawing. The best we could get out of him was scratches all over a piece of paper. And then all of a sudden, it clicked, and we were treated to this. Drawing number 1, still a bit tentative, but definitely a Batman with long wings/arms and two ears: And then the floodgates opened, here is granny, sporting here new post-chemo short cropped hair (which, according to our wee man, should be red, but is now grey): A turtle: And then a picture of one of his daycare teachers who is leaving, with himself (I asked him why he only drew one eye, and he explained he drew himself in profile - 'I am drawing myself like this [he turned sideways], that is why there is only one eye') holding her hand. And of course a bright yellow sun: Our little budding artist... Just in time for school!

I have sooo much, and the school was in dire need of more yarn... So, this morning, this left our house. A whole box full of yarn, acrylics, ribbon yarn, wool, all different colours, and lots of needles! Kids, enjoy!!!