Productive I haz been (channeling Yoda there..)

As mentioned before, I love the woods. Especially this time of year! But last sunday I encountered the first stretch of woods that I did not like... It wasn't the trees, it wasn't the path... It was the massive amount of mosquitoes who have taken a bite out of me! They were so big they could not have been your garden variety of nastyness, they were like godzilla mosquitoes! ( Not my line, someone else thought that one up) And they ate me like I was a cream puff or something... And two days on I'm still covered in bumps!  

Why this mosquito rant on a knitting blog? I made another autumn inspired Ships and Seaside Cowl! So it is kinda related... cowl... autumn..woods... mosquitoes... that is what my brain did.

This time it was a commission piece. Gerry wanted a cowl inspired by autumn but weighing less than my original. She has some serious back problems, and it hurts her when it would be too heavy. No probs! So I went to work with some Colinette Jitterbug, Koigu kpppm, Cherry Tree Hill select sock and some bits and bobs of leftover niceness. 

I think it has become a great cowl! Warm and cosy, with a first fall side and turning into winter side. I adore it!

And since I have been dubbed the queen of these cowl in the TOK group I was asked to make one for a certain special someone in the group as a christmas present. Who will it be? Will it be you? 

ooooohlalalaaaaaaa... tgv knitting

A fellow raveller, Susan Ashcroft, asked me if I would like to test knit a pattern she was working on. The name of the project? TGV: tricot grande vitesse...

Oh, how can one resist such a wonderful name and proposal? I sure could not!
All along this project I dreamed about my lovely holiday in France and Paris, going about on the real TGV.

The yarn was horrible and splitty, I would never recommend anyone to work with the Zauberball crazy. But the effect it had on the shawl was to die for.

Mom came in, saw the shawl, put it around her neck and left the house with it, never to be seen again...
No... just joking, she actually asked if she could have it. And it looks much better on her than on me. It makes me look pale, it makes her look pretty. But then again, she is very pretty, that silly mom of mine.

I can really recommend this pattern, it is easy, fast and very satisfying. And we need to be satisfied, us knitters....
Don't doubt! Go for it... Get a move on!

My mom takes a LOT of my knits as soon as she sees them. I don't mind at all since I knit most of the stuff because I want to MAKE it... She will wear it:

Maris and her hat

Maris has this favorite hat she once bought at Noa Noa. She asked me to reproduce it in different colors.

So I did: ( in various luxury yarns)

I made one out of Manos del Urugauy:

I did one in Colinette Jitterbug in the great color Vatican Pie:

And I did one striped with Rowan pure Wool and Angora. I detest the Angora! It is yucky and tangly and sticky and meh! It got in my eyes, my ears.. everywhere and it itched like hell! If I never have to knit with angora again, it still would be too soon! 

But the hat came out really good and soft and I'm sure she will like it:

And to top it all off I made her an orchids and fairylights hat in Malabrigo Merino worsted, which she hasn't taken off since she got it:

You would think it would suffice for now...

And this is how I feel about working with the angora:

Eeety beety pumpkins

Autumn is coming and I adore autumn! The air smells nice and everything is showing their best colors. The abundance of this time of year is thrilling!

So when I saw this cute jack o' lantern pattern for felted pumpkins I HAD to make it! And it was done in 30 minutes, so quickie knit: highly satisfactory....

They are a bunch of cuties are they not? If you are wondering why the yellow one looks so mad, it is because he was made out of left over yarn and his hat doesn't fit him all that well. The orange one is simply happy and even enjoys his grumpy little yellow cousin. Oh yellow tells me to tell you all it is also because he is yellow and he thinks he isn't ripe yet and that surely pisses him off... okay, didn't know that you would get mad... sorry little fellow. 

Someone on ravelry commented that yellow looks like he is puking blood which is a great look for a little jackolantern. He is feeling much better about himself now, thank you very much.

This is a link to the lovely pattern, and the designer even has a photo tutorial on how to felt it!
Jack o' Lantern by Katie Starzman

I love forests

I have been crafting a lot the last couple of days. I'm working on some pretty big projects like a sock yarn blanket, and muff covered in tiny felted crochet violets. Those are slow coming projects.

But somewhere in between all that I managed to make this:

It is a Forest and frill shrug! The back is cable knit and the sleeves and front are crochet. Which was a challenge since i never seem to be able to follow patterns when I crochet, but this came out pretty good if I might say so myself :) It is really soft and squishy and warm. I looking forward to taking it out for a walk in the forest.
In the coming schoolyear wednesday afternoon will be my free afternoon and I'm planning on going for walks every wednesday. Trough the woods, on the beach, on the dikes, trough new cities and trough the polders. I adore autumn, and walking is good for mental and physical health so it seems like a really good idea.

Meow! Pretty kitty mittens

I tried doing colorwork, but I suck at it... My stitches get all tight and the picture doesn't look like anything, and the wires get tangled and then the wires in m brain get tangled and I get frustrated!

But then someone on Ravelry suggested embroidering patches of color on! Good one!

So when owlie buddy Winterfi "forced" me to make a pair of kitty mittens I did them duplicate stitch style, and I love them!

This is their story:

Monsieur Meow was done in the Dordogne in France, he is a down to earth farm kitty and is wondering why the girls are making so much fuss over ribbons… He much rather would be chasing the mice from the warm fireplace and then curl up on a warm lap of a lovely knitter.

Mademoiselle Meow however was done in Paris and she is a far more sophisticated kitty. And since she was embroidered on in the gardens of Versailles Palais for one thing she can be fussy and purrretty with lots of ribbon! Her and me had a lot of laughs and fun over the trailing ribbon from her bow! Yes please I will have some foie grasse for lunch thank you, and I want some Laduree maccarons as dessert with a cafe noisette silvousplait..

They might seem like an odd couple right now, and they don’t know it yet, but they were made for each other! I see a gorgeous spring wedding in their future, with wine and friends and lots of food, both rustic and fine.

Oh and of course this is another Tiny Owl Knits pattern! See link in favorites tab!

No, I'm in no way obsessed by her designs.... okay... yes I am!

Wear the wild sweater is done!

A few weeks back I felt it was time for a level-up in my knitting. Squidneyknits told me I could easily make a sweater and she convinced me!

I chose the Wear the wild things are from Tiny Owl Knits. Of course it would be one of her patterns to be my first... to do the honors so to speak ....

I made it in Drops Eskimo in a deer brown color. I love that yarn. It knits up like a storm isn't too darn expensive and feels great.

The knitting went very fast, the only hitch I encountered was getting the arms the same. When I was whining about it to my mom she told me she would do the arms two at the time: Two skeins, two arms, one needle and simply do the same row twice. That way they should come out exactly the same! So clever that mommy of mine!

Sewing everything up was a challenge but I enjoyed doing it! Now I only have to felt up the crown, but not today, maybe the day after tomorrow.

The sweater makes me feel like frolicking and running around and simply having fun!

BTW: the Haruni made 35 euros in the auction! Nice!