Tag: knitting

Knitting & reading – a little bit obsessed

~ Maggie ~ 7 Comments

– Knitting

 I’ve finished the poncho and the potholders, so right now I’m thinking about what to make next. I want to use up my ‘stash’ (don’t laugh, pictures below show all I have) before I buy new yarn (that will be a bit of a challenge on this island), but I’m not sure what I want to make. A hat, of course. Maybe even a few hats, now that I know where I can send them to (see the link in the first comment on this post). And while I’m at it, I might even consider a scarf to donate. Try my hand at some cables or something to make it interesting. I’m not too happy about all that gray, but it is good yarn (most of it is real wool), so I don’t want to waste it.
I think the cotton scraps will be another set of potholders and maybe a headband (or two). And maybe the pink is enough to try knitting a sunhat?
Wouldn’t that be great, to be knitting hats that I can use myself? I still have to figure out how to get a stiff brim though. Maybe knitting them on a much smaller size needles would help. Going to look into those patterns I found.

– Reading

I wanted to use my e-reader to get through the endless stockinette (I can’t read paper books when I knit) and found out that though my subscription stopped working here on Curaçao, I can download books that I downloaded before. And since I hadn’t read all of the books I chose before, I started browsing my archives. And found that I had five books by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee at my fingertips (one of them I own, the rest through the subscription). So now I’m happily reading away.
And getting a bit obsessed with knitting, because she makes that sound perfectly normal. She also makes me itchy to build a real stash, but I’m holding that off until we move. I hope to be able to buy myself a ‘crafting cupboard’ to hold my yarn and fabrics and other stuff (oh, I do dream of claiming an entire room, but for now a whole cupboard would be heaven!).

linking up with Kat’s Unraveled Wednesday

Cheaper than therapy

~ Maggie ~ 8 Comments

Last week I was looking at my knitting projects and not feeling it at all. I didn’t like how the potholders were working out (more on that later this week) and the poncho was still in the phase of endless stockinette. I needed something a bit more fun and a bit more capable of taking my mind off things.
So I cast on for a hat. Reluctantly, I might add.
I finished my last hat in December, a few short of my goal of 52 in 2018. At that time I thought I was sick and tired of knitting hats and wouldn’t like to knit one for a long time. Also, I felt bad about dumping most of those hats at the thrift store in March, because my family was already drowning in hats. Such a waste of time and yarn. But the mad hat knitter inside me is stronger than my reasoning. I need to knit hats every once in a while. Or so it seems.
Because I happily knit the brim, alternated with the other two projects and finished it only two days later.
And now all is well in my world. Well, in my knitting world anyway. And I do feel a bit better overall too. So maybe I should be knitting hats, despite not knowing what to do with them. It’s cheaper (and more fun) than therapy.

Pattern: the Rosa Hat, a free pattern by Soulemama
Yarn: a thrift store find

linking up with Nicole’s Crafting On

Knitting and reading – childhood memories

~ Maggie ~ 9 Comments

Knitting:

The poncho is coming along nicely. I started on the second skein. I still love the color changes and I really hope these two skeins make a big enough poncho. I could add a border in a different yarn, but I’d rather let these two shine on their own.
I’m also knitting potholders with cotton. It’s the perfect project to take with me to the house. I have to do some unraveling though because I found out yesterday that I don’t have enough of that green to make two squares. Not a problem, I can add black cotton, but I already finished one square. And even though these are just potholders, I want them to be the same. So I’ll unravel the one that’s finished a bit and add some black to that one too.

Reading:

I’m reading Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek (Crusade in jeans – I think there are translations available). It’s a children’s novel (for older children/teenagers) and I loved it as a child and as a teenager. This February it was in the stores for only two Euro, so I asked the girls to get me a copy. I really wanted to read it again.

The story starts in the 20th century (the present when the book was written). A sixteen-year-old boy takes part in an experiment with a time machine and is sent back to the Middle Ages. He soon finds out he is in the time he selected, but not in the right place. He misses his window to get back because exactly at that moment thousands of children pass by and he can’t get to the right spot.  He soon finds out these children are on their way to Jerusalem (they are in Germany at that point) to free the Holy City. Rudolf decides to join the Children’s Crusade. Not because he believes the sea will part for them when they arrive at Genua, but because he and a student he met soon after he arrived want to help the children to survive.
Even though I know how it ends (I’ve read it many times as a kid) it’s still captivating to read. I’m really glad to have this book in my collection again.

Do you reread childhood favorites?

Linking up with As Kat Knits’ Unraveled Wednesday

A brilliant idea

~ Maggie ~ 6 Comments

So today I bring you a picture of two hats I didn’t finish. Or so it seems.

But no, in fact, this pictures shows a brilliant idea* I had last week.

I was thinking about making my favorite hat pattern (you know, this one) and how it might be nice to knit one for myself in cotton yarn. Not because my head gets cold here, but to keep my hair out of my face (I always braid it, but it never stays tidy).
And then I realized that just knitting the brim of a head makes a perfect headband that would work nicely too. And look a lot less ridiculous.

It was a nice quick project and I’m kind of obsessed with the possibilities now. Colors, patterns, embellishments (embroidery, beads)… so many ideas.

Oh, the second black one? That one was immediately claimed by T., who uses it as a sweatband to keep the sweat from dripping into his eyes when he’s working on the house. He likes me to knit some more too (without embellishments though).

* or I finally realized the obvious, that might also be the case here 😉

linking up with Nicole’s Crafting On

At l(e)ast it's finished

~ Maggie ~ 4 Comments

When I started knitting this back in January I wasn’t sure what it would be. I was just trying to knit something to get out of the knitting rut (and the depression) I was in. Using up some cotton scraps, creating a rectangle, that I would be able to use somehow.
Well, that didn’t work to get me out of that rut and half a rectangle remained forgotten in my knitting basket for months.
This weekend I decided I needed some knitting to take with me to the house, but I’d like something more washable than the poncho. I took that once, but most of the time I didn’t want to take it out because I was afraid it might get dirty. I thought I’d start knitting some cotton squares for potholders (I need some and my family loves it when I give them some) and then realized I was still working on this rectangle. So I took that with me.
Last night I finished it and this morning I wove in all those ends.
I still don’t know what I’ll use it for. It’s big enough for me to stand on, so I could use it as a shower mat (maybe add a backing and or border?), it’s also big enough to use under my drainer.
Really, I don’t know what I made. But it is finished. I like that.

Linking up with Nicole’s Crafting on

Sometimes you've got to listen to the yarn

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

I’ve had this skein (and a similar one) in my stash for a while now. And since I got it, I’ve been thinking it would make a great poncho. I even started knitting one in January.
But then I tried to be practical and dismissed that idea again. I will hardly ever get a chance to wear it (it never gets that chilly here) and I don’t know anyone in my family who would wear a poncho. So I frogged what I had started and stuffed the yarn back into my closet.
Last week I dug it out (my stash isn’t that big anyway) and I cast on for a hat.
But soon I realized the color changes were actually too subtle for a hat and it would be a shame to break that beautiful (large) skein up into two or three hats. So I changed plans again.
I pondered making a shawl for a while, was really interested in a pattern for a cowl/shawl combination and then realized that was quite similar to a poncho and that the color changes would be beautiful in a simple poncho pattern like this one. So a poncho it is. I guess the yarn just wants to be a poncho.
You can’t really see how it looks since it’s still on short needles, but I already love it.

linking up with Nicole’s Crafting on

The colors of a sunset

~ Maggie ~ 2 Comments

Last Sinterklaas I got five skeins of cotton yarn from the girls. They didn’t select them to go together (I just asked for cotton to add to my stash), but when I was thinking about what to make with them, I realised they actually do. So I decided to start a shawl with them.
It took me a while to actually get into knitting again, but now I’m back at it. Can’t stop knitting.
The pattern is just something I made up when I felt the stockinette was getting too boring. I also decided to alternate colors with each pattern repeat. My first idea was to do big color blocks, but this is much more fun. It actually works up pretty fast and I love how it looks.
The colors remind me of a sunset at sea and I love seeing the shawl grow.

Linking up with Frontier Dreams’ Crafting On

52 hats :: 41 – 47 ~ I give up

~ Maggie ~ 1 Comment

I know, I know. I’m so close… But 5 hats in 4 days… Well, it is possible, if I could spend all my time knitting. And that’s the problem. There’s so much else I need to do.
So I decided to officially declare this challenge failed. It was fun, but I don’t think I’ll ever do something like this again. If there’s one thing I learned this year it’s that setting big goals like these for a whole year is just not realistic. I had all these ideas about getting creative, writing and selling patterns, setting up an Etsy shop and growing my knitting blog. But life got in the way in every way it could. This was an extremely ridiculous year of course, but I don’t think life will get any calmers soon, so no more challenges for me next year.

I think setting (and sharing) monthly goals could be fun, but I’m not even sure I’ll be able to do that. Not in January, that’s for sure. We’ll (probably – still no real dates set) be emptying out the house in the few days we’ve got left before we leave to Curaçao again. I also promised my parents to handle the catering for my father’s birthday on the 5th., meaning I’ll be cooking and baking for 25 people a few days before we leave (I know, bad timing, but this was one of those things that I couldn’t say no to). And then, once we’re back on the island, we’ll continue our search for that beautiful affordable home of our dreams and hopefully be moving into it.

So I think for 2019 I’ll just be choosing a simple bigger project like a shawl, a cowl or a scarf (or maybe even a blanket?) that I can pick up when I feel like knitting and put everything else on the back burner for a while.

So what does a pile of 45 hats (I gave 2 away for Christmas) look like?

And spread out:

I think I’ll bring them to that birthday for my family to chose the ones they like. The rest of them will be sent off to charity.

Yarn along :: knitting and reading

~ Maggie ~ Leave a comment

Knitting: halfway another hat. I’ve made a hat with this yarn before and I love it as much as I did the first time (that’s why I’m going so fast, I guess). It seems my knitting mojo is back. I’m determined to finish the hat challenge despite the two-month hiatus. It may be silly, but it keeps my mind off other things, so that’s good 😉

Reading: I’ve read a lot of simple feelgood novels lately and I loved it. But then I read on twitter that some book bloggers were going to read War and peace by Tolstoj. That’s one of those books that you always hear about (mostly how hard it is to read), but I never read it. So I decided to download it and read a few chapters to see if I would join them. Well, it’s actually not that hard to read. I’m about two thirds in now (page 810 of 1270) and I’m still going strong. Even though some parts (mostly those about the battles) are boring, the main characters are interesting enough to keep reading. 

This makes me wonder… are there more of these classics that I should give a try? I’ve been meaning to reread Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre for ages but never did (I read them for school) and I have never read Lord of the Rings, Pride & Prejudice or One flew over the cuckoo’s nest. And those are just a few that pop into my mind, there must be a lot more. Maybe I should make a list and challenge myself to read some of them next year.

Linking up with Yarn Along on Small Things

52 hats :: 40 – a simple beanie

~ Maggie ~ Leave a comment

So, last night I finished my first hat in two months. It felt good. Like I found back a part of myself that I lost along the way. I’m not sure if this means I’m back to it, but I’m extremely happy about this simple little beanie.

Things are still unclear here. We’re back in Holland now and I have mixed feelings about that. Glad to see the girls and my parents again, not feeling at home in my own house.
The house is still for sale, but there is a chance that a contract will be signed this week. Finally. The buyers want to be sure they can buy an adjoining piece of land, but that’s something we can’t control, so it’s been a waiting game for six weeks now.
We’ve been trying to buy a house on Curaçao, but none of the houses we liked worked out, so when we return in January, we’ll still be renting the tiny apartment. We are determined to find a real home soon though.

T.’s health is not too bad, though the cold and wet weather here are already wearing him out. I can’t stop worrying about him, but part of that is my problem (anxiety), not his. Well, I hope it is.

Anyway, I cast on another hat and will be knitting to soothe my nerves. And maybe to finish the challenge. Who knows?