wow, i can't believe it's sunday evening already! i had a really busy week, not a lot time left for knitting or crocheting... the only thing i did was knitting my swatch a week for week 4. i hope i will have a bit more free time next week! but here it is:

no.4: ribbing#1

 

this stitch (i believe it's called "the twisted rib") is very easy to remember and it gives an interesting effect; the rib is a normal 2-purl, 3-knit-rib, but with twisted stitches, which gives a cable-like effect! it also stays nice and flat, which i like!

 i put my four swatches together, and i must say, no.1 is still my favorite. :)

 my boyfriend and i went for a winter walk this afternoon, it was really cold but i had my Noro-mittens to keep my hands warm... ah, they are definitely one of my favorite knitted items ever, i love wearing them and they are so warm!!

which reminds me: this week i also read a funny blogpost, it made me giggle so much and i just had to share: mamatronic at my so-called handmade life wrote about knitting confessions; which made me feel a lot better about my knit- and yarn obsessions. :)

another week has passed, so here i am with a new swatch. this time it was an ajour swatch, again i was a little dissapointed because it looked a lot nicer in the book. i probably should have used bigger needles and less fluffy yarn (maybe cotton) so the stitch comes out better. something to remember for the next ajour swatch. but here it is anyway!

no.3: ajour #1 

 besides that, i finally finished my couch socks. they turned out quite ugly to be honest, one bigger than the other (no idea when that happened), but they are incredibly warm and so easy to make.

also, my wristwarmers are growing and growing! some more rows to go and this one is finished. 

oh and take a look at my newest plant: a chinese money plant. these are quite hard to find, so i placed an add on the internet, asking if someone could send me a babyplant. 

a nice lady reacted and here is my own chinese money plant, ready to grow! 

 

 see you next week with a new swatch!

last week i started knitting with the yarn vanessa sent me. it took some time to find the right project, i have only one skein and i really want to make something pretty with this yarn.
(which is 100% cashmere, sooo soft!)

i decided on making these honeycomb wristwarmers, a free pattern i found on ravelry. i wanted something with a simple design, this yarn is so nice it doesn't need complicated designs or patterns. just the honeycomb stitch (which is really, really easy) and stockinette. i think it's looking great, so far!

 

i also knitted my second swatch for the swatch-a-week challenge:

no.2: structure/color #1

this one wasn't as much fun to knit as the previous one, not that it was difficult, i just didn't enjoy it. not a stitch for me! (it did match my cardigan though!) next up is ajour, something i never tried... so i'm looking forward to that! :)

 just before the new year started, i received a lovely surprise package coming all the way from the USA. i won a give-away by the lovely vanessa at coloursknits, a really nice blog!

in the package was a lot of yarn (gorgeous quality yarns with cashmere and silk, in great colours), beautiful pearl buttons, felt flowers, a bar of chocolate, a card and a linnen tote bag. i was so happy!

i couldn't resist starting a project with the blue-grey-ish yarn, which i'll show soon, i'm really pleased with the results!!
the pretty pearl buttons will be used when i finally have the courage to knit a cardigan, something i've been wanting to knit for a while now. :)
thanks again vanessa!!!

a little while ago, i found this book with knitting stitches on the fleamarket. i was thrilled, because it contains 400 or more knitting stitches! i wanted to start knitting immediately!

so i came up with the idea of doing a weekly knitting project in 2012. in this project, i will (try to) knit one swatch a week. the book is divided into categories (purl/knit, cables, ajour,...), and each week i will knit one swatch out of each category. this way i can improve my knitting and learn new stitches on a weekly basis. the project will be called the swatch-a-week challenge, and here's my first swatch:

no. 1: knit/purl #1

i added a little label where i write some info about the swatch. :) this stitch is called "piqué-triangels", it looks good on both sides and it's really easy to remember. it also looks far more difficult than it is, so it was a nice stitch to start the project with!

when i finish, i want to select the prettiest swatches and make a pillowcover with them. :) i'll probably coordinate the colors a bit, but i don't want to buy new yarn so i'm using whatever i have lying around. (which is a lot) so, until then, you may be expecting one swatch a week, for 52 weeks long! :)

on the third day of the new year, i want to take out some time to look back at the previous year. it has gone by so fast!! when i was finally getting used to the working life, i moved out of my parents house... i'm happy i'm no longer a student, but how i miss all the free time and having nothing to worry about! :) 

i didn't fulfill all my new years resolutions-post of 2011 . i didn't finish the granny square blanket, didn't knit a hat or loads of socks, couldn't resist buying new yarn, and i somehow just stopped working on my label, because i was never pleased with the results. so! no resolutions for 2012, just a bunch of ideas in my head and a weekly project. i'll tell/show you soon!

here's my photo mosaic of projects i worked on in 2011, i thought it would be fun to make a yearly overview! i included some unfinished projects too, like my granny square blanket, the new hexagon blanket, a cross stitching work and the double knitting hotpad that i had to tear out. 

off to a new year! happy 2012 everybody!