Frisian Frillies

Christmas started early this year... On Ravelry, I was part of a 'Glitter & glamour' exchange, which meant a whole group of grown-up women decided to send each other fun, useful or just plain beautiful gifts, simply because we want to ;) This was what hit my doormat one afternoon (well, actually, the postman had to ring the doorbell...) And inside? A whole pile of packages, and chocolate coins. My own little helper was on hand to help... See that look on his face? That's him begging if he can please, please, please have one of the chocolate coins... And after we unwrapped all the gifts... I had a desk full of yummies, a soft scarf, black soft yarn, a new circular needle and glittery body lotion... And as luck would have it, we drew each other, so while I was unwrapping (blogless) Cloudhead's package, she opened mine... She got some of the snowflakes I crocheted over the last few weeks... Snowflakes were crocheted galore over the last few weeks, as some were also ...

Sometimes when you make something, you can't wait to give it. This was one of those situations. A while ago , I won some yarn spun by Annita, with a pattern for her Suusje mouse. I had knit this pattern before, so my hands were just itching to get started! The cuddly toy was knit up quickly and last week I gave it some eyes and put in the stuffing, to bring it to life. Suus, or Foppe, was then wrapped in Sinterklaas paper.... And put into the bag with presents... Big Sister Famke got to unwrap it. See it on the floor next to Batman? It's the yellow oblong one... Now we all just have to wait (a looooong time) before her wee brother decides to make his entrance into the world... And guess who we ran into yesterday? We actually got to say thankyou for delivering our presents in person!

I had enough of the yarn used for Mermaids gloves left to knit hubby a pair of man gloves as well. This time held double with some purple Drops alpaca. And yes, the fingers could have been a bit longer (one will never learn...), but they're warm, they're funky and they're going to be nice and handy on the bike. The combination of the purple alpaca and the stripey homespun gives a fun effect. Although, hubby did say he'd have preferred matching gloves... Tssss... These are BOTH one of a kind! Onward with other things... such as sewing... After trying on my dress, it turns out to be too WIDE in the waist, so there's some work to be done there... And Mermaid's coat is coming on leaps and bounds. I finished off the pockets yesterday, sewed on buttons and sewed the sleeves and collar. The sleeves can be put in next, then it's time for lining! Ten of these shiny buttons for only a Euro. That was a bargain! There were similar buttons in the shop, which cost 1....

A shivering Dutch girl in the cold, Put all her mommy's knitting projects on hold... Even when she was sitting Beside the pool she was knitting And after two days lo behold! Pattern: Cupido Cowl Yarn: Autumn, homespun from roving swapped at the SnB anniversary, around 70 grams Needles: 4mm It's going to be just perfect for when she starts skating lessons in a few weeks' time!

Slip 5 with yarn in front. Knitting lingo can be full of complicated stitch abbreviations, such as LLinc, RLinc, ktbl, k2tog, cdd, pnso and psso... And yes, if you know what all of these mean, you're a true knitter! The sl5wyif was used for these fingerless mittens. Seeta If you alternate the technique, pick up the loop two rows up, you get what we Dutchies would call 'wiebertjes'. It's a very fun technique to try, especially with variegated or stripey yarn. Beautiful Moonwise yarn The yarn started out as a cake of roving, which I won with my Herculanean spinning effort during the Tour de Fleece. It was spun up during the Summer into a chunky-ish DK 3-ply and then the yarn found its way to my needles. Warm hands I just had enough to make long fingerless mittens and they are lovely to wear on my morning walks, especially now that it's getting very chilly out there... No need to say that Mermaid was very jealous, and asked why on earth I was finishing off...

The dress is done! No pictures of me in it yet... still a few pounds to lose and an underdress to buy ;) But, in its full glory! For this dress (from Burda Style 9/2010), I used a lovely teal/turquois blue stretch fabric, which was actually quite hard to work with. Because it stretches, exactly. The back and front were also quite hard to distinguish, which resulted in me putting the entire front together, only to find out that one of the strips was back to front. Big sigh. Had to be taken out again and resewn... There was actually quite a bit of hand-sewing to do. The piping around the arm holes and inside the sleeves all had to be fastened on by hand, to create invisible seams, and the same was true for the neck and hem line. It was great fun to do, and I'm bitten by the sewing bug badly. I've already started cutting and basting Mermaid's winter coat, so hopefully I can start sewing that next Monday in class. Looking forward to that! I've also joined a sewing site,...

The gloves were done by midday on Sunday... ... and then Mermaid said the fingers were a bit on the short side... Mmm, should have seen that myself... So, the fingers were extended and by the time we were surrounded by these little creatures (baby peacocks, how cute!)... They were done. Again! This time, they fit! Pattern: none, just based on old gloves we bought from the Hema last year Yarn: homespun roving 'Doctor' from Dutch Wool Diva (Diva Dosis Spin Club) Needles: 2.5mm, circular

With work being nice and 'normal' for a change, my head is overrunning with ideas. Sint Maarten, Sinterklaas and Christmas coming up don't help either... There's all these cool crafting ideas and projects fighting for attention from my fingers... The list of WIPs (work in progress) is getting longer, and the yarn I'm spinning up when my head is just too busy to knit, is also screaming out to be worked into something nice... So, I've added a few items to my In Progress list again... and my wish list and Favorites on Ravelry ... First up... the green/grey flap gloves for Mermaid... Mermaid has very narrow hands, but these to me look very pointy and weird... The thumb and flap are done, half fingers still missing. Glove 1, not sure if this project will see completion... Yarn: grey Drops alpaca and the Lana Grossa Meilenweit Wave.  Because of these doubts, I started a new pair, from the spun up Diva Dose Spin Club from September (The Doctor). Totally different p...

The latest request from the brood was hats and scarves. The hats were a definite yes, as Batman had outgrown his hat and Mermaid had been wearing one of mine, but with regard to the scarves, I said no to Mermaid. She still has about 5 hanging in the hallway! Of which one, the mini Annis , was quite haggard looking... and on closer inspection showed signs of rabbit damage (sigh...). So, instead of knitting a winter scarf, I promised I'd 'fix' her Annis... First up are the hat and scarf for Batman, knit from a similar yarn as his idiot mittens, Lana Grossa Paddy (no idea why they decide to call it Paddy instead of Teddy though...), and they are super soft... It took ages to sew in all the ends for the scarf though... I again realize why people like selfstriping yarn so much... Hereby: dear Lana Grossa, can you make self-striping Paddy with a long and nicely varied rapport? Thank you! Then Mermaids hat. Same principe, but two more increase rows before the k1p1. And yes, of...

I'm a member of the SwapLicious group on Ravelry, where we organize yarn and knitting- related swaps, but also Secret Santa swaps. The last swap was the Fairytale swap, where you had to choose a fairytale and then buy and make little presents to send to your 'swappie'. I had very early on decided I was going to go for the Vrouw Holle fairytale, and had great fun trying to find things in the store to go with the fairytale and make some items as well... My swap partner, Tineke , received some tea (apple and liquorice), a apple-shaped notice board, popcorn, snowy Christmas cards and bread mix (if you know the fairytale, you might know where in the story they fit) and I also made some stuff... First up, some sock blockers with flowers (the Dutch name of the fairytale is 'Vlijtig Liesje', which is also a type of flower). A never-ending spindle... which I had painted, stamped, and which was then ruined because the paint just wouldn't dry... Luckily, I could get a...