we just returned from lovely holidays in Normandy, France! although we didn't have the best weather, we did have a great time and came home well rested and very impressed by the nature and WOII history of the places we visited. 

 but vacation just wouldn't be vacation if it didn't involve a good amount of knitting. ;) i started a new pair of socks again couple of months ago, and took the second sock with me to finish. so now i have again a finished pair to add to my sock drawer!

 

  the colours went surprisingly well with my new green t-shirt...

 ... but also with the fishing nets in the harbour...

 ... or the nature at Omaha Beach!

  i also took a new project with me, because this pair was almost finished and i printed out a gorgeous pattern weeks ago... :)  so in the last couple of days of our holidays i started knitting on a pair of Gladys socks! something a bit more challenging and with a solid yarn for a change! don't you just love the chevrons?

there's a post about my finished pair of socks coming up real soon.. but first there is some post-holidays washing and ironing to do... :) how did you spend your vacation? was it good? do you also take your crafty projects along? do tell me in the comment section! :) 

♥

ahh, i finally found some time to take some pictures of my wip's!

it's like my hook was on fire, the hexagon blanket is now more than double the size since this blogpost! i'm not sure about which size i want it to be, so i'm making a square first and then i'll see what size it should be. :)

 

 also: an update on the picnic blanket! 

i finished the first "scarf", and started the second one last week... i'm not loving this color combination so far, but it looked good on the sketch so i'll just continue like this! this is the most relaxing knit EVER, just garter stitch and not even thinking about colors... whoever said knitting is the new yoga is SO right!

i also completed adding my stash on ravelry. i discovered i have enough yarn for 20 pairs of socks... and i rrrrreaally want to cast on a new pair. :) and i matched some of my favorite patterns to yarn i already have! so when i finally finish these blankets, i'll know what to do! :) what is currently on your needles/hooks? big plans for new projects?

oh, i almost forgot: i'm on instagram now too!

 click here and follow me!!

some time ago, when i was buying new yarn for a new knitting project, i didn't even realize that i made 2 crafty new years resolutions in the beginning of the year. my boyfriend kindly reminded me of my resolutions when i was bragging about the new yarn i got and how well it suits my new projects... it got me thinking and i had to share:

resolution #1: 

finish all WIP's before starting ANYTHING new.

this one started out good, really good actually. after i finished Paulie, i finished my pair of monstersocks and started crocheting like crazy on my hexagon blankets. so far so good. but then some friends were expecting babies and how am i supposed to NOT knit baby stuff? on the bright side: i did manage to finish all baby knits without knitting or crocheting anything new in between. except for that tiny house keychain i made last week, but hey, i needed that!

on to resolution #2:

do NOT buy new yarn.

 i checked my stash some months ago and i have so many yarn... it's ridiculous. i can easily knit two years with yarn from my stash only... the problem with my stashed yarn is that i didn't buy it with a particular project in mind. so, when i want to start a new project (like baby stuff), i can't find *exactly* the yarn i'm looking for. and i HAVE to go and get some new yarn. i did decide for myself that IF i buy new yarn, i can only buy it with a specific project in mind and i have to finish the project as soon as possible.

now, to try and remind myself of resolution #1, i'm going to make a list in the side bar with my current WIPS. it might help if i visualize it...  and i'm also sharing some photos of the biggest WIP's i have to finish... i started these hexagon blankets in 2011 (!!) and 2013...

the biggest problem with the first is that i never get around to putting all the hexagons together...

 

i started this crazy hexagon blanket somewhere in 2013, i think. progress on this one is faster (join as you go!!) and it's also crocheted with a bigger hook so that helps too.

 

do you have knitting/crocheting resolutions or rules you stick by? please do share! :)

before i begin my last blogpost of the year, i want to wish all of you happy holidays and a wonderful 2014! :) may it be wonderful, woolly and crafty!

the last weeks of the year are always so busy! first my birthday (25 already, everybody hates me for saying it but i really feel like i'm getting old), then christmas eve and christmas... days filled with parties, family, lots of food and christmas shopping. and i try to find some time for knitting, maybe some sewing or cleaning up the house... (priorities first, right?)

and ofcourse all is well with paulie! i'm now halfway the second sleeve, and it's looking more and more like a cardigan with every stitch i make. i'm also really curious how my stitches gonna look after blocking the whole thing!

 

ahh, notice my new coffee cup? it's from pip studio, a birthday present from my sister. so cute with the gold trim and the little birdie! :) my new knitting companion.

my boyfriend gave me the interchangeable circular needle set from knitpro for my birthday! i couldn't be happier with my new knitting equipment, no more wasting time and money searching for the perfect circular needle, now i have them all!! 

in 2014 i will knit like a PRO! ;)

ohh dear, has it really been more than a month since my last blogpost? oops! ;) 

i wish i could give you a big update but unfortunately not much happened; i resisted the urge to start new projects and my mind is now set on finishing things... you know i've got a lot of W.I.P.'s, so this is actually a really good thing!

and ofcourse, i've been working on paulie! i finished the first sleeve yesterday and started on the second sleeve today. i had quite some trouble with the sleeves... i didn't measure my arm size and thought the S that i'm knitting would be fine. i already knit 1/3rd of the sleeve when i decided to try it on and it was so tight, i just couldn't believe it. turns out i have to knit the L size for my arms to fit... so i ripped back all of it and started over, picking up way more stitches than i was supposed to for the S size.

long story short, one sleeve is now finished and it fits perfectly. lesson learned: measuring is important! here is a photo of the sleeve a couple of days before i finished it.

i've also been knitting and crocheting little hats for the innocent smoothies campaign. they collect small hats to sell with the smoothies, and the profits go to charity. i made 25 hats, which is not so much but every little bit counts, right? i had a lot of fun making these and finishing them with different pom-poms and crochet flowers. :)

 

that's all for now! :)

i'm back with another blogpost about paulie! :)

  today, i finished the body and started knitting on the sleeves. i love how it looks already, the fit is great and i love those bright stripes. i only hope blocking will even out some of my wonky stitches.  

 

 

 

sorry, picture overload.. :) 

it's not finished yet, but so far, i can recommend this pattern to anyone who's new to knitting sweaters/cardigans. it's well written, easy to follow and a good tv-knit once you're knitting the stripes. those stripes also make a bit more interesting. :)

finally some pictures of paulie and the progress i made so far:

now it's really starting to look like a cardigan! 

i also tried it on one day and... it fits!!! yay!!

 

 

it's so magical to see how some stitches, increases and decreases start to form a shape to something wearable and pretty. :) happy happy!

my scrappy socks are coming along quite nicely! one is finished (except for weaving in all the ends, i'm not looking forward to that part...) and the other is about 1/3rd done. knitting stripes is really motivational for me, i can't wait to see what it will look like with the next stripe, and the next, and the next... :)

i also received my yarn for paulie, and made a swatch (my first swatch EVER) to check gauge. my gauge is a bit off (the swatch is a tiny bit too big), but i'm knitting size S which is a bit too small for me (but i'm definitely more a size S than a size M according to the size chart...) so i'm hoping this problem will solve itsself. as for the colours: i shamelessly copied the colours from the original design, but i'm using a lighter shade of gray and a bright, almost neon kind of yellow.

i already cast on and started knitting, but no pictures yet. :) i'm soooo excited though, and i'm having the hardest time putting it away!

lately, all i seem to be doing is knitting socks... casting on a new pair... ripping it out again... trying something else... and then ending up knitting just my regular sock pattern. :)

 

the socks i have on the needles now, are meant to be a pretty, mismatched pair of socks, using all my sock scraps! (i'm also really into working with scraps lately) and they are becoming soooo pretty! i'm just knitting stripes (5 rows) and grabbing a random colour from a bag, making sure not to look, because once i start thinking about all the possible colour combinations, the socks would never have that random, scrappy look.

last summer i also cast on this one, by a pattern called "Giles Wavy socks". while i really loved knitting the chevrons, i hated the result. blegh!! i think a pattern like this would come out so much better with yarn with softer colour changes.

 this one was the exact opposite; the Vanilla Latte socks. again, a lovely (more simple) pattern, but i felt like there wasn't enough "going on"...  :)

 so i decided to rip these out and store the yarn for a better purpose. meanwhile i'm really enjoying knitting my scrappy socks (stripes are sooo addictive) and waiting for my new yarn to arrive... because this autumn, i'll be knitting myself a Paulie! ♥

somewhere in july, i started yet another blanket. a picnic blanket this time. but it's going to be an easy one, to use up my huge stash of dust-collecting acrylic yarns. 

 the plan is to knit 6 or 7 long garter stitch scarves with yarn held double (always a colour + white yarn to tone down the colours a bit, since i will be using a lot of colours. i also have a lot of white yarn), and to make these into a picnic blanket with, perhaps, a fabric back. (i'm thinking of a quilt with squares that are the same size... we'll see)

 i made a colour scheme to make sure all the colours i want to use are divided equally... so i don't even have to think about the colours while i'm knitting, i just knit away!

some weeks ago i received the nicest package ever. a big box stuffed with yarn! Himiko sent it to me, she cleaned out her yarn stash and sent all her leftovers to me! just because! after 3 years of blogging i'm still amazed of all the friendship and generosity in blogland. :)

but, just look at all this yarn! lots of pastel colours (which is great, cause pastels are not colours i would pick myself) and some good quality yarns like Phildar!

 

there was quite some baby pink Phildar yarn, so i decided to knit a cute baby cardigan!

 here's one sleeve...

 and here's the other...

and some lace details on the body.

i'm loving this knit, it's going incredibly fast because i'm so eager to finish it and to see how it turns out. verrrry girly and pink, that's for sure! :)

(pattern: Maile sweater by What to knit when you're expecting)

sometimes, i'm convinced there is no better way to relax than having a nice cup of coffee and crocheting a bit... especially crocheting these hexagons; picking the colors and deciding where to put them in the blanket... :) it really takes my mind of things!

do you find crocheting and knitting just as relaxing? :)

today was the first good day of spring, it was finally warm enough to sit outside in the sun... and i had my first outdoor knitting session of this year. :) we also went on a bike ride today! my batteries are all charged and i'm longing for more days like this.

 my simple lines shawl is coming along quite nicely. remember i'm making a colour blocked-shawl? i added the second colour, which is a warm grey or a deep beige or whatever. :) sometimes i wish i chose a more daring colour combination, but i do think these colours bring out the stripe pattern... and they are so neutral they will go with many of my spring/summer clothes.... what do you think about the colour combination?

oh... and it's getting quite big, too. :)

ever wondered what happened to the granny square sampler i started last year? (probably not :)) 

i was so enthousiastic about it, and loving every square... but when i started crocheting all the different squares together, i didn't love the result. too much white and just... weird. and not at all what i had in mind. so i left it untouched... until i decided that would be a waste of the yarn. so i started ripping it out so i can use the yarn for my hexagon blanket. :) no yarn waste in this house!

 

and just look how pretty these these hexagons-to-be are?

 also... i'm near to finishing my pair of two-colored socks. yippeeee!!!

 

PS: the workshop at Maakdag yesterday was great! i had 13 sweet and enthousiastic ladies to teach and they all managed to crochet at least one hexagon by the end of the workshop! mission accomplished, although my teaching methods definitely need some polishing... ;) maybe i should follow a workshop about teaching workshops... does that make sense?