thursday already and here i am again with my creative space... :) i seem to be lacking time to take decent photos of my knit and crochetwork... but they'll come, i promise. i finished some projects here and there and started some new ones. that's always the most exciting part, you know that. :)

so what do we have today... a lovely package that sweet himiko sent me! she sent me an e-mail some days ago, asking me if i could knit her a pair of socks because she didn't see that happening soon with the crafty projects she has going on. i agreed and today a beautiful package arrived, a handmade basket with a scented bag and two balls of the most gorgeous yarn i've seen in my life. i couldn't think of a better way to start my day! (i'm hereby ignoring the grumpy mailman who delivered the package)

the yarn is koigu painter's palette premium merino (kpppm) and the colours are the best!! lots of grey shades with some dashes of bright green, rusty orange, turqoise... the yarn feels really soft (ofcourse, it's merino) and it knits up beautifully. such a pleasure to knit with!!

 i've also started a new pair of socks for myself...  i'm knitting the sock pattern i wanted to try with my previous pair of socks, with opal "show your colours" yarn this time. (the colourways are based on moods and emotions, i unknowingly picked out "security and serenity", which kind of suits me)

i really like how i'm developing a certain sock yarn taste by the way. :) i'm not too sure about this yarn yet, i like the feel but the short colour repeats aren't doing much for me yet... but i might change my mind when i knitted some more. :)

oh and, ofcourse: more creative spaces here!

again, my creative space this week... 

crocheting a border around the granny square blanket! oooh no... that means i'm getting very (VERY) close to finishing it.. so exciting. :) at first i was thinking to crochet a picot-edging.. something girly... but i think i'm going for a modern look instead. :)

more lovely creative spaces here.

my creative space this week... crocheting the granny square sampler afghan by blair from wise craft. it is actually a crochet-a-long, blair sets up crochet assignments for every week and all you have to do is follow her instructions and crochet some new squares. by the end of the summer, the afghan should be finished. short-term goals.. i like that.

i'm using my stash yarn for this one, mostly cheap acrylics... i didn't think about the color combinations at all, i had all of this lying around and together they happen to make a kind of retro color palette.. which i LOVE, because the design for the afghan feels quite retro as well.

these squares are week 1 to 4 of the crochet-a-long. love love love.

i'm also knitting the heelflap for my second sock... oooh this is going to be a pretty pair of socks... too bad i still don't like the yarn!

i also have to share my newest friend in the kitchen! my cute bialetti moka express! it's a gift from my mother in law. :) i haven't had a cup of homemade coffee that nice in a long time... yummm!

 other inspiring creative spaces here, by the way!!

hello again! today i want to share my latest swatches! i've been neglecting those lately, so i had some catching up to do. that's why there are 4! this week is week 24, so i still have to knit 2 more this week. 

totally doable, right?

 swatch no.19: ribs #4

 swatch no.19 was a nice one, i believe this one was called a piqué rib.

  swatch no.20: knit/purl #5

oooh, this one was really simple. k2,p2, over and over again. it's kind of a flat, purled rib. i like it!

 swatch no.21: structure/color #4

swatch no.21 was interesting! the swatch really has some texture in it, again quite masculine but a bit more challenging! it's quite "tight" though, it really makes a dense swatch.

 swatch no.22: ajour #4

ahh, my favorite one from this week! ajour and me haven't been getting a long so well, but this one i loved. only two different rows to memorize and great results! both sides are really nice!

because i am still planning on putting them together at the end of this year, i thought it would be fun to see how it looked like already. in two weeks we're already halfway 2012, isn't it scary how time flies? anyways... ta-ta-da-daaaah!!

 the swatches are really different in size, i try to make them the same but it's difficult! if i want to make them into a blanket, i might have to re-knit some of the smaller ones to make it fit...because i think i will like the result better if they are neatly aligned... although that would give me more work. or, i might select the squares that are about the same size and make some different pillow covers...  

any suggestions on what to do with them once i finish them all? make a laptop case with the prettiest? orrrrr maybe a sewing machine cozy? a half sewn, half knitted tote bag?

oh yeah, i also had a weak moment and i decided to join a crochet-a-long... it has something to do with granny squares. and it's going to be retro. more about that next time!!

EDIT: i forgot to say thanks for all the lovely comments on the tatanne bag!!! you guys really made my day! i gave it to my mother in law last weekend and she loved it! she said the colors were perfect for her and that she couldn't wait to show it off at work. :)

my creative space this week; this time a finished project! :)

my mother in law asked me if i could make her a new handbag for work. she wanted the one i made in sewing class because it easily fits an A4 and it is quite sturdy. but i had a better idea! ever since i saw the tatanne bag on this blog i knew i had to make it one day. now finally i did! it took me a whole day to sew and i made a few errors here and there but i'm quite proud of the end result... :) thanks to a wonderful and well explained pattern, ofcourse! 

the fabrics are all ikea fabrics from the sales corner, the lining (i love the lining!) was actually the most tacky sheet i've ever seen (ruffles and all...), and it comes from the thriftstore. :) the fabrics were actually quite randomly picked, as most of my fabrics are in a big huge box in my old room at my parents place, cause there is no way i can store them in our apartment and this is what i had lying around...  but i think the combination actually works quite well! :)  

check out more creative spaces here.

(i hope my mother in law doesn't read my blog, by the way. i still have to give her the bag!! :))

once upon a time, there was a sweater. a really warm and cosy green sweater. it was hanging in a shop when suddenly a sixteen year old bought it. the sweater was really happy because it could now fulfill it's purpose: make someone nice and warm! but after some years, the teenager decided she didn't like the sweater anymore. her style had changed and chunky green sweaters just didn't fit anymore. the sweater was left alone in the closet for years and years... they were even planning on selling him on a fleamarket! he was very unhappy. until the teenager, now 23 and obsessed with anything crafty and yarn-ish, decided it was time the sweater got a new life... and a new purpose... as yarn!! 

 the sweater got chopped up and unraveled... 

...the yarn was tied into hanks, but they were kinky from years of knitted-ness... also a bit smelly and dusty...

...so the hanks were washed with some soap, and dried...

...the kinks were gone and the hanks were tied up into nice skeins... 

good for 380 grams of brand new yarn!

unraveling sweaters is actually a really nice idea to repurpose yarn. i saw the idea on pinterest first, then i found a ravelry group dedicated to the art of unraveling, where i found several tutorials and how-to's online. so i took my sweater and i started unraveling! 

it takes quite some time and patience but i think it is totally worth it. what most people do is look for sweaters in thriftstores, mostly sweaters with a quality yarn blend, so they get lots of quality yarns (cashmere, silk,...) for little money. not so stupid, eh? mine was 80%lambswool and 20%nylon. i'm planning on doing this more but i've got a huge stash of yarn i need to get through first... :)

good tutorials on unraveling here and here, by the way. if you're enthousiastic about it, don't take a random sweater and start unraveling... it can't be done with every sweater! ;)