Frisian Frillies

I can really notice I'm on holiday... Even though I'm (still) running around like a headless chicken, I am doing stuff I want to do, like painting, clearing the house, pottering about in the garden, shopping, and knitting! Last week I spent most nights knitting these, a little testknit for her . She was looking for knitters to test-knit some winter mittens and as I thought they were super cute, I couldn't say no. After a false start (yarn was too thin, so didn't get proper gauge), they just ran off my needles. And despite the bobbliness of the mittens (hey, I'm crap at blocking and once you wear them, this sorts itself out quick enough) they are beautiful! The figurines are mirrorred on the mittens, and I just love the little hearts on the back. Again: cute! I know winter is still a long way off, but they will go in my drawer and wait patiently... Yarn: no idea, stash, but sock weight (DK) Needles: 2.5 mm circs Pattern: Boy meets girl , by Michelle Kelly, av...

We started our new year fresh and early on the beach. We decided to do our own little 'Elfstedentocht', going from Leeuwarden to Harlingen, Workum and then Hindeloopen. We begonnen het nieuwe jaar vandaag fris en vroeg op het strand. We besloten een kleine 'Elfstedentocht' te rijden, vanuit Leeuwarden naar Harlingen, Workum en Hindeloopen. At Workum, the beach was covered with a nice layer of fresh snow, which created a beautiful backdrop for pictures and made it a great place for running around and playing. At the edge of the sea, the water was frozen, and with Steve, the kids were collecting big chunks of ice, which they were then lifting like weightlifters... Bij Workum lag er een mooi laagje verse sneeuw op het strand, waardoor het een prachtig plekje was om foto's te nemen en rond te rennen en te spelen. Aan de waterkant was de zee zelfs bevroren, zodat de kids met Steve grote brokken ijs konden losmaken om er daarna als gewichtheffers mee rond te lopen. ...

An untranslateable title today... Do the British scratch? Well, we do! We scratch a lot. Especially car windows... And the 'scratch season' started today. It was cold. It was bitter cold. That's what you get when you've been spoilt with Indian summers for several weeks: a few degrees below zero and we get cold. The heating is on, and I've printed out patterns for plain mittens for the kids. Sams baby mittens from last year are definitely too small now and Hannah... well... she's a girl, and she keeps losing hers... So two pairs of plain mittens it is... and for special... Hannah gets a pair of snowman mittens . Because she still has her snowman hat from last year... And dad gets these: in black, red and grey Een onvertaalbare titel vandaag. Want krabben de Britten wel? Nou, wij wel! We krabben wat af. Vooral autoruiten... En het krabseizoen is weer begonnen. Het was koud. Bitter koud vanochtend! Dat krijg je als je bent verwend met een heerlijke nazomer: een p...

While the kids were playing (nr. 1) and sleeping (nr. 2), and we had a bit of a weepy Sunday afternoon (too wet to go and collect crops from the allotment), I looked around for something to do. First I clear out the cupboard under the stairs and after pulling out all my boxes with stash, the bug hit me. MUST... SORT... YARN... BY COLOUR! I need help... I guess any knitter will be know my reaction to this: I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH STASH, DO I?????? Guess what my DH said when he saw it: 'Shall I carry that upstairs then, babes?' Yes, no 'I guess someone doesn't need to go to yarn shops anymore' or 'You're always saying you've nothing to knit'. No, 'Shall I carry that upstairs then, babes?' What a darling ;) (Yes, I'm very happy with him too...) After this feat, I decided to treat myself: And to be honest, I ate 3 of those 'zoenen', not just the one... And had 3 cups of Senseo, two sips and it's gone. I'm so glad I drink d...

My eyes fell shut at 1 AM, but by then I had done quite a bit of knitting already. My mitts are starting to take shape! And GO BARACK! Good luck mate, I will keep a sock in my bag just in case you visit NL anytime soon and I manage to snag a picture of you... (and here I wanted to put a link to that one very (un)fortunate knitter whose picture of BO with her sock totally overflashed, but who was lucky enough that other people in the audience did get some good pics...)

Last weekend, I spent a night away to catch up with some friends. I had been talking about my wheel so often that of course they challenged me to take it with me. And of course I did, to their surprise! But it was great. I got to chat, drink wine (but not that much) and spun, and spun, and spun... until my roving was gone. Thanks Brenda for the lovely photographs! And then, last night, knitting through the annoying pain in my arm, but thoroughly enjoying the knit and all the pre-election antics on the telly, I finished Mesi! The inside is almost as much fun as the outside. Made out of Juvel, a 100% washable wool, in purple and green. This will be given to a friend of mine at SnB Fryslan, who has contacts in a shelter, and there will be some homeless gals and geezers walking the streets with cool hatwear this winter! I knit this with the yarn in both hands, purple in the right and green in the left hand, to get some practice for my Snow Bird Mittens, which I started straight after. No t...