48

... it's my birthday today. My plan for today was : sit and knit and finish something. The world championship track and fields has started, so lots of TV watching opportunities. And I received a rocking girl blogger award from Lies. Thanks a bunch ! I still have to decide on who to pass it on.

't Is mijn verjaardag vandaag. Mijn plan voor vandaag was : in mijn zetel zitten breien en eindelijk iets afmaken. Wereldkampioenschappen atletiek op TV is de ideale achtergrond hiervoor. Ik kreeg ook een prijs van Lies - als 'rockin girl blogger'. Kweenie of dat 'girl' nog past, maar ik ben er heel blij mee; Bedankt Lies. Nu moet ik de prijs aan anderen doorgeven, er zijn wel enkele blogs die ik eerg graag lees ... Ik laat nog iets weten.

I wove in the ends on my Argosy scarf, knitted during Iron mans accomplishement. Great pattern, but it came out a bit floppy after blocking. I still love it.

Ik stopte de draadjes in van mijn Argosy sjaal, gebreid tijdens de triathlon in Duitsland (dat duurt dus wel zes uur, zo'n wedstrijd). Prachtig garen van Jane gekregen (Noro Silk garden lite). Deze lichtere versie van Noro silk garden heb ik hier nog niet in de winkel gezien. Mooi.

I knitted the last 6 rows on my Mystery stole 3, and blocked it. It's drying now. I loved knitting this, but the final product is not 'me'. I really like the wing, but the assymetrical design, although spectacular and ingenious, is not something I see myself wearing.

De laatste 6 rijen gebreid aan mijn Mystery stola (die nu 'zwanenmeer' noemt). Alles in een badje gestopt, en vochtig uitgespeld om het ajourpatroon te 'blokken'. Dit was heel leuk om te breien, maar niet iets dat ik mezelf zie dragen. Het is namelijk een assymetrisch ontwerp, aan de ene kant zit een punt, aan de andere kant een 'vleugel'. Die vleugel vind ik heel mooi geworden, spectaculair en goed uitgedacht.

Jane in Texas sent me 4 skeins of blackberry ridge 'silky merino' in pearl grey for my birthday. Now a stole with 2 wings is something that appeals to me. Maybe a next project ?

Jane in Texas zond me 4 strengen merino/zijde in een mooi zilvergrijs voor mijn verjaardag. Hier kan ik heel wat kantbreiwerk mee doen. Misschien 'zwanenmeer' met 2 vleugels ?

And my birthday present to myself arrived also this week : a kit to knit Hanne Falkenbergs 'Plissé'. I ordered it when I was in Sommerfuglen (in Kopenhagen). This is a single color design, and I picked this color from the color card. There were no names for the colors, only numbers, but I think this is 'Cypress'. A dark green, with a black undertone, and yellow flecks. They didn't have that color in stock, so they backordered, and shipped it to me. I love it.

En mijn verjaardagskado voor mezelf kwam ook deze week met de post. Dit is een pakket om Hanne Falkenbergs 'Plissé' te breien. Ik heb dit besteld in Sommerfuglen, een heel mooie wolwinkel in Kopenhagen. Dit is een ontwerp in 1 kleur, en je kan zelf je voorkeurkleur van een kleurenkaart kiezen. Op de kaart die ik gezien heb, waren geen namen voor de kleuren, alleen nummers. Ik denk dat dit 97 - Cypress is. Het is een heel donkergroen met een zwarte ondertoon, en gele vlekjes. Heel apart. Deze kleur was niet in voorraad, en de winkel bestelde het voor mij en stuurde het pakket naar Leuven met de post. Mooi verpakt ook nog, in gouden krinkelpapier.

Next on my programm for today : finish 'Lizard rigde'. Really, it has to be finished. DD has found a room in her new town where she will be studying, and she asked if she could have this afghan.
So, I still have some knitting to do - I am knitting a big garter stitch border all around. Lots and lots of stitches on a circular needle, my wrists ache already !

Volgende deel van het programma voor vandaag - de Lizard ridge deken afmaken. Het moet nu eens gedaan zijn ! Echt, want dochterlief heeft een kot gevonden in Gent, en ze wil die deken wel. Dus, ik heb nog wat breien te goed voor vandaag. Ik brei een grote boord in ribbelsteek rond de hele deken. Enorm veel steken op een rondbreinaald, mijn pols doet nu al zeer.


Last part of this day : have a birtday meal in a nice Turkish restaurant in my home town. Life is good at 48.

Laatste deel van het feest : een leuk verjaardagsetentje in een lekker Turks restaurant in mijn thuisstad. 48 is nog zo slecht niet.

leaving for Germany

That's it. My husband has swam, biked and ran enough to start his triatlon. He choose an event in Germany, this weekend. I will accompany him for moral support, everything else he has to do on his own.
Knittingwise, I am stalled on the mystery stole project. That's good news actually, I have found a way to read and follow the chart easily. This means when a clue comes out, I can finish it in the next 2 days. I don't know if I will have internet access where we are going, so I am looking to take a small, but interesting project.


Jane in Texas was so kind to send me 2 balls of Noro silk garden lite, and I found the perfect project for it :) - the Argosy scarf.
Don't you love these fresh, springy colors ? Looks like a very versatile pattern, that can grow into a wrap or even a blanket. I'll stick to the scarf version.

back from France

We are back from a short stay in France. We started out in a chateau in the Loire region, but because of the cloudy/rainy weather, and because my husband needed some good roads to practice his biking/running we went to the seaside.

We ended up in a little seaside resort at the atlantic ocean, called Pornic. I managed to go to the Phildar shop in Angers and got some Phil'bambou to knit a baby sweater, but that was about it regarding yarn purchases. I didn't make it into Nantes, so no La Droguerie visit. In Pornic there was also a Bergère de France shop, but I have one in my home town, so why buy that abroad ? I enjoyed the views, and knitted the same 3 rows on my Mystery stole again and again.
I discovered what's not to like about the Rheuma yarn - it splits terribly when you have to unknit !

When I got home, I found the final package from my SP10. Yarn, tea, chocolate, a magazine and stitch markers. Thanks a lot Karin ! The yarn is a very nice blend : 30% alpaca, 65% merino, and 5% PA (that's what she writes on the card). Anybody knows what PA stands for ? It's a nice cream color, with black hairs sticking out. I'll just have to find a nice project for it. Maybe another MS3 ? I just want to find out how this one is turning out, before I decide.

I am home for a few days now, and then we leave for Germany, where my husband hopefully will be able to finish his triathlon project.

Mystery stole started

a

Last Tuesday, I went to Utrecht with a friend. I had bought several beads in Leuven, but either those were too big, or too small. In Utrecht I found just the right size of beads (although it was completely guesswork from my side, the lady in the shop had no idea). On the bottom, you see the Leuven beads. They look (and feel) very heavy. The Utrecht beads are on top - look just like dewdrops on the fabric, don't you think ? I have to be very carefull with the crochet hook to NOT split the yarn. It feels awkward, but I hope that will change.

Eindelijk heb ik de juiste kralen gevonden voor mijn verrassingsstola, en in Utrecht dan nog wel. Je ziet ze op het bovenste patroon van mijn proeflapje. Ik vind dat deze een effect van dauwdruppeltjes geven, heel subtiel. De onderste kralen zijn veel te lomp. In Utrecht heb ik de kralen gekocht in een winkeltje vol met 'do-it-yourself'' juwelenpakketjes. Dit was één van de fijnste kralen die ze daar hadden, voor de rest veel mega-grote houten en aardewerk kralen. Leuk, maar ik ga niet aan nog een hobby beginnen.



First clue of the mystery stole 3 is up on the yahoogroup. These are the first 25 rows. It looks like this stole is knitted on the diagonal, with very subtle beading. I love it !

Mystery stole 3 countdown

The mystery stole knit-along starts Friday june 29th (my daughters birthday!), and I have been knitting smaller objects to keep my hands busy. Well, not too much really, my shoulder has been acting up. It seems that all my joints and tendons take a turn in feeling achy. My guess : old age and the weather. I had a pair of socks that came out short, cut the toe, frogged what I had, used the left-overs to knit the foot longer, and used another solid yarn to knit a new toe. The yarn used in the original sock was a tad heavier then sock yarn, so I used sock yarn doubled for the toe.

De verrassingsstola meebrei-groep start vrijdag 29 juni. Ondertussen heb ik me wat bezig gehouden met oude sokken een nieuw leven te geven. Veel breien kon ik niet, want mijn schouder gaf problemen. Het lijkt wel of alle gewrichten en pezen om beurt eens overbelast geraken (nu is mijn knie aan de beurt, maar dat geeft geen probleem met breien gelukkig).




In the meanwhile I received some sock yarn from my SP10. A very nice green/blue/brown color, from a distance a nice teal. I don't know who she is yet, but she told me she is also on the MS3 list, and she will be sending something that I can use for that project ! Maybe I should wait till that package arrives, before deciding on which yarn to use ?

Ook nog een pakje in de post van geheim vriendje10. Geen idee wie ze is (behalve dat ze in Duitsland woont), maar ze gaat me ook nog wat voor de verrassingsstola sturen. Ik ben erg nieuwsgierig om dat pakje te zien !

And another swap : the no-sheep-one-skein-swap. I received this furry acrylic from Laura in France. I am not into this kind of yarn, but I do like the colors !

Ik doe ook nog mee aan de absoluut-geen-wol-bolletjesruil. Ik kreeg dit bolletje acrylic in de brievenbus. Niet echt mijn ding qua garen, maar wel leuke kleuren. Zal waarschijnlijk als cadeau-inpaklint gebruikt worden

yarn shopping in Leuven

Yesterday I went yarn shopping with a Finnish and an American knitter in my home town, Leuven, Belgium. I found Heli from Finland through SP10. I was surfing through the list of participants, and I read on her blog she would be visiting Belgium. So, I proposed to show her around. And Cheryl, contacted me. She found me through Google. (I tried it, when you enter 'yarn stores Brussels' you will find a comment I made on Polly's blog ). I love yarn shopping with fellow fiber addicts !

I live in Leuven, a city of about 100.000 inhabitants. It's 23 minutes by train from Brussels (direction Liège-Luik).

First we hit 'hexagoon', not a yarn shop, but a shop filled with beads, buttons, ribbons, cards and other craft supplies. I was looking to shop for beads for my MS3. Hexagoon is a tiny shop in a backyard street, if you don't know it, you won't stumble upon it. Apparently, lots of people knowabout it, it's always busy. I love it that they really take the time for you, help you find that single button that really finishes of your knit project. But, that also means they take the time for other people, and sometimes you have to wait. Sorry, no pictures, forget to take one !
I bought some beads for my mystery stole 3, but in retrospect they probably are too big.

Hexagoon - Ravenstraat 81 - 3000 Leuven

Then we hit the Bergère de France shop. Their yarns are mostly blends, and not very expensive. They carry BdF, and some novelty yarns by On-line. I love it that they have a (free) catalogue with yarn samples . The new catalogue has arrived, and there are some interesting new yarns (I noticed a wool /alpaca blend, and an organic cotton). Cheryl bought some On-line ladder yarn to 'weave' a necklace, something that the LYSO was demonstrating to her. Heli bought the wool/alpaca to knit some gloves (it can get very cold in Finland!). And I was happy to find the tiniest crochet hook for my mystery stole3, and bought the new pattern book.

Bergère de France - Louis Melsensstraat 1 - 3000 Leuven

We walked into another craft shop, where I bought some more beads. In retrospect, these are too small. I wasn't allowed to take them out the container to try with my new crochet hook.

De Banier creatief - Jan Pieter Minckelersstraat 29 -3000 Leuven

We walked into Veritas, a shop that is part of a chain - they carry a limited yarn selection of Italian yarns (Adriafil), and sock yarns. Their selection changes with the season, they don't have much wool on offer now, it's all about summer yarns. And they have a lot of haberdashery, and lingerie. They had beads, and for the first time I found some indication of size (I am new to beads).

Veritas- Diestsestraat 101 - 3000 Leuven

It was time for some coffee now - we had one in the reading café of the public library. There was a book sale going on, and on each table there was a book. On our table the book title was 'wayward women and wicked ladies' ....

openbare bibliotheek - Rijschoolstraat 101 - 3000 Leuven

After admiring the 500 year old city hall, we went to my favorite yarn shop : 't Wolwinkeltje. They carry everything, from very affordable to very luxurious fibers. Brands are : Scheepjeswol, Anny Blatt, Schachenmayer, Lang, Katia, Lana Grossa, Gedifra, Grignasco, Noro, Rowan ... I love their collection of sock yarns. There are always some sale bins outside. For cross stitch or patchwork crafters, they also have a nice selection. It's a small shop, but it's crammed with good stuff.

For the first time somebody knew what I meant by 'size 8 beads'. So I bought some more . Fortunately, you can get a lot of beads for not much money. And I bought some more yarn to finish of my Lizard ridge afghan. Heli bought sock yarn, and Cheryl found the right size circulars for her felted bag.

't Wolwinkeltje - Parijsstraat 25 - 3000 Leuven

I had a great time, and I think my guests liked it too. So do you want to see some bead shopping?

mystery stole 3 - swatches

I have swatched with 2 yarns for my Mystery Stole. The instructions state you need 1200yards of lace weight yarn. Now, lace weight is very hard to get here locallly. So, whenever I have the opportunity abroad, I buy some lace weight yarn as a souvenir. I bought this red Ostergotland lace weight yarn in Stockholm, september 2006. Only one hank though, just 600 yards. But, I will be in Stockholm again this summer. Can I take the risk, will it still be available ? I swatched, because I loved it so much in the skein. Guess what ? I don't like knitting with it, not for lace anyway. It's a bit scratchy (feels like a bad mohair/shetland combination). It softens alot when washed, but it also fluffes up, and the hairy nature makes the lace difficult to read. On top of that, it has a limited stretch factor.



The other yarn (rheuma wolle) is a 100% superwash. I bought it in my local yarn store, so there is plenty available. It glides over my needles, and blocks beautifully. What's not to like ? (besides the name ?). And the instructions state that a white or natural is the most suitable for this stole(or black, but I won't go that road).
Now to find some beads ! I go shopping with a Finnish and an American knitter today. Both are visiting Belgium, and I offered to show them around.

mystery stole 3

I have joined the Mystery Stole 3 knitalong ! I am so excited - selected a nice yarn to knit it 'Thermal Rheuma wolle' in cream. My local yarn store has absolutely no lace yarn, and this was the only thing that qualified. It is used to knit thermal underwear, but really is a nice yarn. The only thing that worries me slightly is that this Mystery Stole will involve bead knitting. The knitalong will start at the end of June, so this will be a nice summer project.

In the meantime I started a pair of socks, with some yarn from my secret pal 9. The pattern was a gift from Jane in Texas, and is called 'travelling companion', by Mary Dominski, a nice combination of broken rib and cables. This sock yarn is really superfine, so I am knitting it on 2mm bamboo needles. The picture is a bit darker then in real life, the yarn is a semisolid of hues of dark burgundy.

Unfinished objects : the lizard ridge afghan, and Hanne Falkenberg's 'Ballerina'. Both will probably get finished eventually, but most likely after summer.