a finished cowl

When I began,

not two weeks ago,

I thought it would take ages

or I wouldn't succeed at all

.....

But

I finished my tiny petal cowl today !

HAPPY !!!

I didn't have too many more weak spots in the thread

so I didn't have to "mend" the thread.

It's 64 cm (in the round)

and 25 cm high.

I did 16 times the 12 stitch repeat of the pattern

(could have done the 15 I wanted to do originally)

and did the 4 repeats high

(could have done 3 for this smaller cowl)

Despite everything about the quality

of the thread :

I  LOVE  THE  COLOURS !!!

A wonderful pattern !

*

I received my March felting exchange piece

Thanks very much Margriet !!!

The colours go well with my cloths  ;-)

*

And Wednesday a week ago

we had our mandala group again :

Sedna

(mother of the sea in Inuit mythology)

* 

mixed feelings

At the moment

it's all knitting over here ...

The "petal cowl" is steadily growing.

Though I was "fighting" with the pattern in the beginning,

now I really know hów it all works !

In fact : 

I know the most rows by heart !

(but I don't forget to insert a "life line"

through the stitches from time to time !)

The fact that this pattern looks so well

is because I use a gradient yarn

(Noro Kureyon Sock, which is out of production now)

The switch from one colour to another

takes several metres.

The fun thing about NORO is the random

colour scheme,

that's why I  LOVE  this yarn.

BUT

Noro Kureyon Sock is a one ply yarn

that means that it's not very strong.

There is also sometimes very thin sections.

That means I have to do some needed repair :

I break the thread,

(sometimes even get a too thin section out !)

and "weave" the to thin parts in each other with a needle

NOT  FUNNY !

So that's why I have these mixed feelings about this yarn !

a winner ! (and more)

On this

International Women's Day

I have drawn a winner for the "leap day mandala"

Delia

you're the lucky one this time !

(it will soon come to you in Germany)

*

For a long time

there was a knitting project that I wanted to make

the Petal Cowl by Xandy Peters

(on Ravelry .... of course)

But after I studied the pattern a bit

I knew it would be

a difficult task !

There are videos to explain

the ingenious "stacked in and decreases"

But that's doable with a few stitches ...

but with 300 on your needle

.....

But after talking about it with someone

in the Alpaca-on-tour group this Saturday

I really started with a tiny try-out

with only 60 stitches

(the wool is Katia "Darling" and was a gift

from my dear friend "Stins" )

And because it was fun ...

(AFTER  I did a LOT of things WRONG !)

I had finally enough courage

to start with a real petal cowl !

(though mine will be a lot smaller than the original pattern !)

NORO Kureyon Sock from my stash !

When I'm really fed up

with aaaaaaaall this "stacking"

then I still have my wonderful

sock-yarn-leftovers scarf !

;-)

*

Finally I received another envelope of my felting exchange !

A card, a beautiful homemade envelope

and a fun little lizard brooch !

Thank you, Anneke ! 

hot summer days

We are having lots of hot summer days now

tóó hot 

most people will say !

(a heat wave, for Holland at least)

We sit in the garden only in the morning 

and stay inside once the heating up begins.

Then we come out in the early evening again.

Lots and lots of butterflies are visiting

which are sometimes hard to capture on camera.

Yesterday daughter started with a (whole) fleece 

that she bought at the Alpaca farm some weeks ago

(though this is a sheep, more precisely : an Ouessant

not an alpaca fleece)

Here the in-side is up 

(it was washed some days before)

On the back some needle felt and some coarse gray wool 

that Heike sent me from Berlin.

LOTS and LOTS of rolling was done outside

(when the sun wasn't so hot anymore)

Washing and drying came later

And when daughter isn't felting or spinning ...
she is knitting

(Noro Kureyon Sock and Drops Alpaca)

And me ???

still making more flowers

and connecting them to the sqaures and flowers already there 

...

(45 and counting)

(yeah : post 300 ... a lot of talking !)

a fiberrainbow

From this moment on 

I really háve a  fiberrainbow !

The double knit scarf, following Loani's pattern

(with more stitches because of the thinner yarn I used)

is finished 

How I love the way these two different shades of the Noro yarn 

are coming together.

I think it's a sheer delight of colours 

and it was really fun knitting.

(though I hated the many (too) thin spots in the yarn,

where I had to double it up for strength)

Although the weather forecast for the next week

is rather good (the temperature is rising)

I still hope for a few more cooler days in March,

to wear my scarf !

;-) 

born

This week I got the most wonderful message 

from a very dear friend in Austria :

her daughter has a healthy baby boy.

So I took some paper 

and my beloved Karisma colour pencils

(yes .... they still last !)

and drew them a birth mandala as a present

which will be in the mail, probably tomorrow

Just these little bits till it has arrived safely ...

*

For the rest ...

I'm still (double) knitting

(ooooh yes, it's quite addictive)

I was very curious how much there was still left on the skeins,

so I put them on a scale.

This means I'll have enough to finish the scharf

 which will then have about 25 rows of blocks.

Mmmmmm

that will do, I think !

wordless wednesday

a rose ... and a beginning

Since it's almost the end of the month

I had to make haste to finish 

the little felting-exchange piece.

Ha, just like last month

I made a serious mistake 

so I had to do it all over again

(that's learning ... is it ?)

I had to make something with flowers or leaves

and it just jumped into my mind :

a rose

is a rose

is a rose

(the first ánd second attempt)

Almost dry and waiting for a few stitches ...

it's on its way now to J.

*

Last Stitch'nBitch-Saturday I went to Rotterdam,

but if the weather had been as bad as it would turn out later

I probably would have stayed at home !!!

Snow and an icy wind :

not so nice when you're on your bike ! 

We were five, who defied the bad weather ...

and ofcourse it was fun 

as I showed my trumpet flowers of Loani Prior

I got an e-mail of the "Queen" 

about the pattern of her double-knitted scarf !

Though it took me quite some time looking at You-Tube 

to manage the double-knit

.....

I started a gauge swatch today

(with two skeins of Noro Kureyon Sock 

that were patiently waiting in my stash)

with the result 

a "positive" and "negative" side

.....

yeeeeaaaah !

Thanks Loani !