Last Friday night I turned off my computer for the weekend, reached for my knitting basket and decided that in fact I really didn’t feel like knitting. So I did a bit of light reading (Nora Robert’s Gallaghers trilogy). About half way the book I suddenly realized I did feel like knitting, but I just didn’t want to make potholder squares (still 12 to go).

So I grabbed some scraps of yarn and decided to make something fun. A hat. Yes, that’s what I call fun 😉
I didn’t really have a plan, just picked some colors that looked nice together and started to knit something not plain garter or stockinette.

I messed around with twist ribs, a bit of texture and even cables.
And on Sunday morning I ended up with a hat that is actually wearable.

Maybe I should just give them all hats (again)…

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: Yeah, I know, I’m boring. Still potholders. Progress is slow. I haven’t been knitting a lot these days. Mostly because I’m writing a lot (trying to do Nanowrimo this month – I will post about that soon, I hope). My hands need rest after full days on the keyboard.

Reading: Same story. When I’m writing, I hardly read. I am reading bits and pieces of the book pictured though. I don’t think there’s an English edition, but the title would translate as “Food on earth”. It has lots of information about historic and recent food related traditions all over the world, accompanied by traditional recipes. So far, I like it.

So what are you knitting and reading?

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: Still working on those potholders. I made it a tiny bit more interesting by starting striped ones. Also, I decided to stop thinking about how many I need to make (24, not 28, I’ll skip giving them to myself) and instead try to decide who I’m knitting these for. I think I have made enough of these squares to give each of the girls a set. Next I’ll try and make my mother some (she loves them) and maybe I’ll add my brother and sisters to the list. I also decided to give these for Christmas, not Sinterklaas (Dec, 5th). Feels like a relieve and that’s great. It should be fun to knit gifts, shouldn’t it?

Reading: The daughter by Jane Shemilt. I first heard about this book on Karens blog and what she said about the plot intrigued me. So I ordered it from the library and received it last week.
Oh my, this is another one of those books that I couldn’t put down until I finished it. And then I kept thinking about it. I won’t give away the ending, but it has a nice unexpected plot twist at the end and as Karen said, the family dynamics and the way the main character finds out she never really knew her daughter (or the rest of her family) are very well written.

Funny sidenote: I also kind of fell for the cover when I read that blogpost about this book. I liked the little house on it. But ours is different… (I think the other one is more fitting to the story)

So what are you knitting and reading?

In all the stopping and starting I did with this blog I seem to have lost my blogging voice. If I read through the older archives (almost ready to put them back online) I find myself documenting all the knitting I did and being so happy about a finished hat or another project in the works. And now… I do take pictures of (most of the) things I make, but when it comes to blogging about them I often sit at my computer and get stuck at “I made a hat.”
Oh well, let’s just try and keep blogging. May be it’ll come back.
So.
I made a hat.
I wanted something easy, just to keep my hands busy and my mind free to talk (I made this while the girls were visiting), so I made my all time favorite pattern again. (if I ever bring my ravelry up to date I’ll have a real number, but I do think I made well over 20 of these now)

And some slippers (this pattern again)

And since I do like looking back into those archives and see everything I’ve been making over the years I thought I’d add these from the last few months:

Potholders. For my mother. I made some of these years ago and she loves them and kept asking me to make more. I gave her these for mother’s day. (this pattern, two of them crocheted together, I knit twice in one stitch to increase instead of yarnovers)

Another drop stitch scarf from a linen/cotton blend yarn. I gave this one to my mother for her birthday. And she loved it. Of course she did. Last year she stated she needed a bigger cupboard for her scarves and hats since I made so many for her. And there was no way she was letting one of them go, she wears them all for different occasions and with different coats.

Another simple hat, I made up the pattern while working on it. It’s kind of big, but I like those colors together and it feels soft and warm. I might keep this one myself.

Um, yeah. Told you I love this pattern. Funny thing, my husband doesn’t like how this type of hat looks on me, but this one he actually digged. Must be the two colors.

Over those months I’ve also been knitting on this shawl, but I didn’t really like working with that uneven (cotton) yarn and all the garter stitch got really boring. I did manage to plow through until I had a decent size though. And truth to be told, I just put it on to take that (ugly – excuse the dirty mirror- ) picture below and it’s still on my shoulders. It seems the shape (that I made up by messing around with increases) works for me. Hmn. Maybe I’ll try that again in yarn I do like?

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Oh goodness, what a week we had.
Not fully recovered from the flu (still not) we dove into moving our youngest daughter into her new apartment as soon as she got the keys last Wednesday. So we did a lot of driving up and down to Ikea, we assembled some (ha! she had a tiny, tiny bedroom and needed to fill a good sized apartment) furniture, bought two second-hand couches, hung some lamps (that would be my husbands job, he’s good with electricity) and… well, you get the drift. So busy.

Anyway, I still managed to knit a bit on the boring squares for the potholders I’m making as Holiday gifts. I tried knitting them on circular needles, but I’m not convinced that it’s really easier that way. The other knitting is on hold for now, I’m still not sure what to make with that yarn.

Once I started reading the book pictured above (Illusion by Frank Peretti) I had to sneak in some reading time too, because… wow! That is such a great book! It’s really hard to describe what it’s about without giving too much away, but so, so good to read.
(confession: I took this picture last Monday and I finished the book that same day, the book I read after that was not really worth mentioning – though entertaining – and I’m between books right now).

So what are you knitting and reading?

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: After finishing the sweater dress, I’ve been working on some smaller projects. Although one of them is actually a big project. I’m trying to knit enough potholders to give to my family this Sinterklaas, but I did the math and well… 7 households times 2 potholders times 2 squares makes 28 squares to knit? Oh my, so boring…
So I’m allowing myself to work on something else too. I found this assortment of really soft wool at the thriftshop one day (you can see the whole bag here) and I’ve been dying to start working with it, although I’m not sure what I’m making. Maybe a hat, but it could also be the start of a sweater. I’m trying to figure out how far one of these little skeins will get me before I decide. Ha, that would make a bigger project too, I guess. I did knit some smaller items between the sweater and these though. I will show those soon.

Reading: Stephen King: Full Dark, no Stars. What can I say? I think Stephen King is one of the greatest writers of our time, but I’m not really into scary stories, so I don’t often read his books. Sounds silly, I know.
When I do read his books I’m always impressed though. As a reader, but also as a writer. When I read his books, I feel I’ve got so much to learn.
I really appreciate his little forewords and epilogues for that matter, since he usually talks a little about writing in those. I think I read somewhere that he wrote a whole book about writing, maybe I should buy that someday…

Anyway, these four stories are really raw and harsh, but somehow I couldn’t stop reading when I started.
I read the first two in one evening and I think I will start reading the third one tonight.

 So what are you knitting and reading?

Though that bulky yarn makes it less suitable for everyday wearing (it’s warm!), it does make for a quick knit. I finished my sweater dress last Thursday.

I love it. Some of you already commented about the colors. Yes, neutral, but not boring. That’s why I love it so much (I made cowls with it before and knew I wanted a sweater in that colorway).

The cowl neck turned out a bit tighter than I was going for, but when I tried it on, I liked it, so I kept it that way.

The length is just right, a few inches above my knee. I know that in the picture it seems somewhat tight on me, but it does look good in person (so hard to take pictures of oneself). Also I lost a lot of weight lately and I hope to loose a bit more, so I like that it will still fit then.

Overall, I’m quite please with it.

Knit with Marl Wool from Zeeman (but I think they don’t sell it anymore, can’t find it online), no pattern but some help from Elizabeth Zimmerman on the yoke and the back neck short rows.

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: I’m at the last part of the yoke of my sweater. I’ve been trying it on and it’s tight, but it does fit. Now I’m guestimating how to make a wide turtleneck (is that the right way to explain this? I want something that looks like a cowl on a sweater) with a little help from Elizabeth Zimmermann (Knitting without tears, I love that book).

Reading: Peter Tremayne, The Leper’s bell. My father loves these historic mysteries and keeps recommending them to me. This is the second one I’m reading and I’m still not sure if I share his opinion. I like the historic information that is added throughout the book (it’s set in Ireland in the Early Middle Ages), but sometimes it feels like it doesn’t really add to the story, but instead holds it up. Also I miss a feeling of connection to the main character. She doesn’t feel real to me. But then again, it’s quite entertaining. I am curious who stole the baby and why, so I’m sure I will finish it.

So what are you knitting and reading?

I’m joining Ginny’s yarn along today.

Knitting: a sweater for me. A not too baggy, but comfy and long sweater to go with leggings or skinny jeans. At least, that’s the plan.
The first try was from a pattern I used before, but it turned out way too big (my fault: I thought using thicker yarn and bigger needles in size XS would work, but it didn’t), so I frogged that.
This is the second try, winging my own pattern like I did with the purple and white sweater last year, but it seems a bit small. It does fit over my hips, so that’s a good start, I guess.

Reading: I don’t really feel up to any difficult reading lately, so I picked up a teenage favorite of mine. It’s from a Dutch writer, written in the 1930’s and I don’t think it was ever translated, but I love it. It’s 80 years old, but still very fun to read and actually quite relatable. I guess people didn’t really change that much, despite television and internet.

So what are you knitting (making) and reading?

Well, this post is going to be all over the place, but I thought it would be fun to continue my weekly knitting updates 😉

I finished the second pair of slippers, this pattern. I used some leftover yellow yarn from this cowl.

Then I added the rest of the yellow yarn to the scrapblanket and found myself knitting up a few other scraps. That took about all of my week.

I decided not to add the scraps of my cardigan, but to knit a little belt first, since it’s a bit wide.

And after I finish that? Well, I just added some lovely yarn to my stash, so I’m dreaming about all the things I can make with this… 

I’m thinking a shawl with the two colors of wool and a summer scarf with the black (it’s linen).

And this could be a nice summer sweater, I think. And then there’s my older, but equally lovely stash, that houses a possible pair of socks, one or two grocery nets and another sweater.
Oh, the choices to make… 😉