just before we left on vacation, i received a beautiful package coming from claudia. i participated in the handmade summer gift swap organized by mina, and although i knew something nice was coming my way, it was still a very nice surprise! and i'm very glad to say my package is finally finished and sent off to my buddy!

the package was beautifully stamped with a paper boat print, i think the box itsself is too pretty to throw away, i think i might keep it to store some crafty bits and pieces. inside were some nautical-themed handcarved stamps, a pretty blue doily, some lavender and some cards. 

the blue doily matches our blue living room walls perfectly (remember my chinese money plant being just a baby? look how much it has grown!) and the stamps, oooh i LOVE the stamps. i've got a pen-pal who will definitely appreciate my letters being embellished with these from now on. :)

so thank you, claudia, for making me this great gift, and thank you, dear mina, for organising the swap! :)

when we left on vacation, i packed two projects; one crochet and one knit. i still had to try knitting with four needles in the passenger seat, but if that wasn't possible there always were my hexagons, that can be crocheted anywhere!

i made quite some progress on my hexagon blanket! i already started crocheting them together and i love how it looks. i'm really loving the color combination, this blanket (when finished) will look so good in our living room!! it is looking more like a table runner than like a blanket at the moment, but it will grow and grow... and look gorgeous in the end. :)

unfortunately, the pair of socks i took with me don't show a lot of progress. before we left, i tried the almost-finished sock on (which i didn't before, because i was confident it would fit, as i'm knitting the same number of stitches that i usually knit for socks)... and it turned out too small. so, i decided to rip the whole thing out and start over. since i didn't love the result of the broken rib stitch with the yarn i was using (although it was growing on me), i decided to yet again go for my fool-proof basic sock recipe... a week later i am left with what i started; half a finished sock. but one that fits and that i like way better!

home again! we just returned from our last-minute holiday. we were actually not planning on going away this year, but two weeks ago we suddenly decided to go camping in france for a week. it went by really fast and i miss it already...

we found a nice campsite at a lake, the view from our tent was magnificent...

and in the evenings my boyfriend went fishing at the lake, so i took out my knitting and crocheting work... a lot. :)  

i managed to make quite some progress on the hexagon blanket, which is my new "on-the-road" project for train and car rides... and i took some socks with me... i promise there will be a big update on many of the projects i'm working on, but first i've got a lot of unpacking to do. 

although i'd rather sit "au bord du lac" and knit some more... :)

oooh dear, i'm afraid this is yet again a blogpost about knitting socks! in case you hadn't noticed, i'm really into knitting socks lately. ;) but i promise there will be some new stuff around here soon! i'm working on some other projects, including the summer swap mina has organised, and i'm even busy writing out a pattern for something i made! :)

i'm also still working on the edging of my granny square blanket (which is taking forever because i like to crochet it while i'm watching tv, unfortunately i haven't been watching tv a lot lately... tv really sucks in summer) and i'm still up to date with the granny square sampler afghan crochet-a-long, of which i'll show the progress soon. :) so there's lots of good stuff coming up!

and for now... socks. again! yay! i must say these pictures are taken some days ago and i am now near to finishing them both. :)

 here's the koigu sock i'm knitting for himiko... just look at those colours! so pretty!

and here's the broken rib-sock i'm knitting for myself. i'm finally starting to like this sock! :)

AND i got myself two skeins of madelinetosh merino light. quite expensive but so gorgeous. the colours i chose are called "well water" and "antique lace" and i swear they could not have picked out better names. i'm planning on knitting a striped triangle shawl with these! if i can figure out the pattern, that is. :) 

hello! let me introduce you to the newest addition to my sock drawer! :) i love these socks so much! finishing them made me forget how i hated the yarn when i first started knitting. the colours are stunning and even prettier in real life. i'm definitely keeping my eye open for similar (and sturdier) yarns!

i'm trying to learn something new with each pair of socks i knit. in this pair i altered the heel flap, with two purl stitches at the beginning of every row, which makes it easier to count the rows and to pick up the stitches. i really like how it looks, too!

that's what so great about socks, once you understand the basics you can try new techniques and stitch patterns, which makes the whole process of knitting socks exciting and fun. :) and addictive!!