Feeling grateful and honoured

Not only did I finish my shawl, I also grabbed the chance to have it photographed by the lovely Ameria during our last knitting session in Bruges. Thx AJ!
One of those pictures is even featured on the pattern page now, which is a great honour on Ravelry:

And here are the other shots, in beautiful light and detail:

Waiting for West

My knitting friend Dominique took part in a Mystery Knit-Along last year, creating a lovely version of Stephen West's Rockefeller. So when I discovered that she'll knit-along in another of Mr West's mysteries, it didn't take me long to jump right in. The project name "Color Craving" matches my crafting into the rainbow motto too well.

Together with Rozemie I went yarn hunting, and this is what I chose:

Yarn Lopi Einband @ Suzywol
Pattern @ Westknits

However, the MKAL only starts on September 13th, so until then I'll keep my hands busy with more colourful stitches:

Yarn Lang Mille Colori Socks & Lace @ Suzywol
Pattern @ kNotArt

And last but not least [imagine drum roll here], K is back in blogland! Best news of the week so far, but it's only Monday ;)

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Latl

A year ago, I took Crazi Henri along when my crafty friends Rozemie and Karin took me to the international teddy bear and doll fair in Bruges. Karin fell madly in love for little Henri and asked if I ever had the time and felt like knitting another one, could she have one too?

As summer progressed and we started making plans for another visit to that show, I started knitting.

Meet "Latl" (short for Teocuitlatl, "gold" in the language of the Aztecs, Nahuatl), posing with Henri during a coffee break in Bruges yesterday:

Yarn: Rowan Silk Twist @ Stoffenidee
Pattern: Henri @ The Yarnigans

Lazy light

Half-way August, the light is starting to be lazy, but the critter knitting needs to continue.

Yarn: Rowan Silk Twist @ Stoffenidee

Crazy Critter Lady

Helen over at Breien in Oostende called me "our reigning queen of knitted and felted critters" in her post about Dagobert the dragon. This got me wondering how many knit and crochet toys I have made in the last 6 years (you've seen the felted ones here).

Luckily I tagged my projects on ravelry, so I could easily create the following screen shots:

This represents 56 different projects, with anything between 1 and 6 versions of the same pattern.

How many did I give away as presents? 50.

So I say thank you to:

- those who designed these awesome patterns

- those who sold me the materials

- those who inspired me to make presents for them

- those who intend to keep their inner child alive and / or decide to procreate so I can knit and crochet for them.

Ostend & Bruges SnB Blog Updates

Dagobert Superstar

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When it's done, it's finished

He's finished!

Oddly, the pattern didn't include a tail, so I had to add one.

Pattern: Joris by Annita Wilschut
Yarn: Scheepjes Invicta Everest @ Stoffenhuys Paulette

I'm very happy to have finished Dagobert (there were moments when I didn't think I would). He'll be a great companion for knitting events. I love Annita's patterns for the fact that she works in a very organic way. Each feature grows naturally from the previous one, the knitter doesn't have to spend an afternoon attaching body parts. "When it's done, it's finished", as a famous Buddhist monk is sometimes quoted.

Sunday I'll help a knitting friend get started with another of Annita's patterns, Suusje the mouse, if I'm not mistaken.

And I'll cast on for yoga socks with the same yarn now. Not for yoga classes though, but for a four session introduction to meditation, taught in the lovely Begijnhof in Bruges:

Knit it again, S.

Finally I can talk about this project!

A dear friend of mine told us last year that she'll be expecting a baby this spring. This, of course sent me into a mad search for a cute pattern. Once I had whittled it down to two designs, we had the following text conversation:

me - bunny or sheep?
her - bunny

We didn't need to say more ;)

pattern: Flat Foot Floogie by Barbara Prime
yarn: Bergere Sport, purchased at Stoffenhuys Paulette

Yesterday Bunny went to live with baby S.

I'm still standing

Don't you know I'm still standing better than I ever did
Looking like a true survivor, feeling like a little kid
I'm still standing after all this time
Picking up the pieces of my life without you on my mind

Updates have been few and far between in June, as I was struggling with some motivation-, inspiration- and energy issues. But I'm still crocheting and knitting, and hope to return to beading and needle felting soon.

These are my current WiPs:

A stash-busting project, using the pattern Apache Tears by Sarah London

An irrisistible little dragon by Zij Maakt Het (Dutch blog)

What is it with me and dragons?
First and foremost, the dragon is my Chinese zodiac. Not quite water, not quite air, not quite real, not quite there. If I ever get a second tattoo (and I do want one), it'll be dragon-related. Often, they're green, and green is one of my happy colours. Scales are sexy.

Treppenviertel

I did it! Finished my socks and they're even wearable!

 

Pattern: Treppenviertel
Modifications: switched beg. of rounds and used yoyo-heel
Yarn: Hand-dyed 80% wool 20% ramie fibre sock yarn by Sirko Galz
Needles: 3mm - started with standard Prym, half-way down the foot switched to Kollage Square purchased at Zeven Katten

What's she doing now?

In the sock post, I mentioned I had a hard time knitting the same thing twice, so when a friend asked me to swatch three yarns of appoximately the same weight for her, I was compelled to do it like this.

Bunnies make the world go round

When I still worked in Ghent, I would walk past a patch of grass and some shrubs where a black bunny lived. I made a habit of greeting the bunny and would walk away from it softly singing to myself (and luckily no-one else), "Bunnies make the world go round, the world go round."

Then of course, there's my all time favourite episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Once More with Feeling, where Anya sings:

Bunnies aren't just cute like everybody supposes.
They got them hoppy legs and twitchy little noses. 
And what's with all the carrots? 
What do they need such good eyesight for anyway? 
Bunnies. Bunnies. It must be bunnies! 

Beware, you'll see more of this bunny as I'm taking it travelling today!

Gloves, on the other hand...

While socks are not my go-to knitting projects, mittens, mitts, wristwarmers and gloves are much more 

entertaining.

 

My Waterloo - Sock knitting

What's a pleasure for some of my kitting friends, like Dominique and Rozemie, just doesn't come easy to me: sock knitting. Fun, small portable projects, fast or challenging knits, colourful (if for the ladies) and addictive - knitters say.

Me, I suffer from Second Sock Syndrome (2nd anything, really), but luckily there are ways to work around that - 2 socks on 2 circulars or even 2 socks on 1 circ (my preferred method).

First there was a pair of purple socks, which I actually finished one by one, but can't wear because they're too tight.

Then there was Nutkin, cute, but ultimately boring. Never knit its brother.

Then Platypus - I never got past the toes (which is bad in a toe-up).

Recently, the German pattern Treppenviertel has piqued my interest, and all bad experiences aside, I decided to give them a try. Not because I needed or even wanted a pair of socks, but because the pattern looked interesting enough to knit them despite being socks. Might not even wear them, but I swore to myself that I'll finish them.