Saturday, September 30, 2006

Lichtjesroute and two completed projects

Thursday night we followed for the first time Lichtjesroute. My husband was telling me it might not be so interesting but in the end we both liked it. And even our son, I thought he will be asleep within the first half hour, but no, he made it to the end. And without any tantrums.He asked only once when are we going home, 5 min before we were done! Yes, the whole spectrum of displays is very much geared towards children (lots of animals and the Smurfs land on the lake!) but the difficulty of some of them makes even adults to stop for a bit.

And I'm glad my husband drove. I'm sure I would have ended in a traffic accident. I still have trouble with the rule of the car coming from the right having the right-of-way. And there was no way last night to avoid all those small streets. That is one part of "inburgering" that is just killing me!

I'm finally finishing some projects. So many WIPs, WIMs, have to get a grip on myself. I guess it is a loosing battle.

But, I am happy about this crochet project. It is called Floral Filet, originally published in "Tabletop Elegance" by Annie's Attick. I got it when it was republished as Free-Pattern-A-Day. As soon as my mother spotted it she said she wants it. Being my mother, she immediately corrected herself and retracted. But admitted she really likes the pattern, it is only just to short for her coffee table. Indeed, not that it is finished I agree with her. It turned out to be only 46cm (18") long. Well, I measured her coffee table (without her knowledge) and now it is a.... WIM!

And my first knitting project is also complete. . It can be seen in this photo as well, it took me a bit until my tension settled. But, my worst fear of not being able to knit has now disapeared. The patterns was easy enought for me to follow, real beginners project. It was published in the series "The Weekend Crafter" - "Knitting" by Catherine Ham. I have also Crochet Weekend Crafter and now can recommend both. I was never good at starting a new craft making meaningless gage swatches. I rather have scarf, even of uneven width. Can always give it to my father, I guess, since my husband refused and didn't offer it yet my BIL's. So, final destination is at the moment unknown.

And I jumped into a new knitting project, dress for a Barbie. It is small, am using 3mm needles, made only 4 rows so far, but am having fun.

Friday, September 29, 2006

Busy, busy

No, it is not work aka paying job that got me busy. No, just I'm reaching out and trying to get out and about.

On Tuesday I managed to get to my first meeting of Stitch 'n Bitch. They are getting popular in Netherlands as well. I was member of the Breda branch for a while, but never attended any of their meetings. It is just too far, would probably take me better part of the afternoon and night to travel back and forth.

But three months ago chapter is Tilburg was started. I joined immediatelly and decided to pay a visit to this weeks gathering. It was really fun. Got to meet four fellow knitters (some of them also crochet) and just had loads of fun. And I immediately got advice on the current knitting project, Barbie dress.

It was nice to get info on a local yarn company, Lammy Yarns in Hilvarenbeek, where I can actually once a month buy yarn. Will probably not pay them a visit in October since I'm planning to attend Handwerkbeurs in Den Bosch in two weeks. But will most likely attend next SnB meeting in less than two weeks.

My son did resist this adventure of mine. According to him I'm supposed to stay at home all of the time and only his father is supposed to go to work. My dear 4,5 year old:-)

Sunday, September 17, 2006

Normal

On Monday we finally received our living room book case/cabinet and dining room table, chairs and dressoir.
It was hectic, assembly crew just coudln't get it right (maybe because one of the two guys that showed up was capable of only opening boxes without inflicting any damage!?). So, they did stick around from 14:30 till 19:30 at which point we literally pushed them out the door.
The next day, another crew showed up and managed to fix the mistakes of their predecessors and completed the task in 3 hours.
Boy, was I happy. The living room finally looks like some decent folks live here, finally over with the camping (we had folding chair as the best of our dining set).
And now, the reality is setting in, I have to unpack the final boxes and arrange things! It is not easy, but I'm sure I'll get there.
That is unfortunately confliciting with my free time (there is significantly less of it, surprise!) but my scarf is almost done. Knitted! Just have to finish three more yarn ends... One of them is on the CO end which I'm not very proud with. I started very loose in fear of it being too tight and now have a very wavy edge. Keep on thinking I can still do something about it, will have to spend some quality time with it tomorrow.
Last week I was sick. Wish I knew what it was, now I'm a bit uneasy thinking of the simptoms and the lack there-of. For two days I had slight fever (max was 38.4C), but had persistent headache for 4 days. Now, I never have headaches unless I suffer from the lack of sleep. That was not the case last week, so now I'm a bit worried. Will definitely go to the doctor next time this happens again. Glad my son is old enough to go on his own to the two neighbourhood boys to play.

My first yarn splurge (Aug 17, 2006)


Decided I can not wait any longer and have to start knitting. Immediately. So I biked to the marked in the neighbouring village with decision to give the yarn stand a try. It turned out all the yarn was light and nothing in the weight I needed for the men's scarf (for size 8mm needles). The seller mentioned how his yarn is appropriate for the season. I know his answer was honest but from a sales point of view didn't make to much sense.

Not only is August turning to be the wetest for as long as it has been recorded (and among the coldest) but the summer is slowly drifting away. Does he believe winter sweaters will be made only in winter and not a season before?

Anyway, couldn't contain myself so I sat in the car later in the day and drove to a store in another village. They had stock clearance so not only did I buy the scarf yarn but also very nice yarn for what I envision as nice summer tops. I just succumbed just like all my fellow crocheters in the groups I belong. At least I know it is "normal" to have this type of an urge.

And, I just realized, I have found my favorite LYS in Netherlands.