A Pebble for my Baby

I am the Queen of UFOs. I start a gazillion projects and finish nearly one. I love sewing and knitting, but the projects involve so much more time then a beadingproject takes. When beading was my single crafty hobby, I finished nearly everything I started...
Or is it? Come to think of it, a Beady-UFO is far more easier to stash away (or hide) then half knit sweaters and half finished dresses are.
But then there was a baby... and a sewing or knittingproject is as tiny as a large beaded necklace....
Last week I decided it was time to finish SOMETHING. And so, instead of doing something a normal person would do - pick up an UFO and finish it - I decided to start something new. For Isalena. In comes Pebble.
I have seen this lovely pattern a lot in the Blogosphere. I loved both Amanda's and Heather's version. Off to Ravelry I went, browsed through all the lovely finished Pebbles and decided I could do it! And I did! I casted on on Friday Night, and finished it on Monday Morning. Buttons attached and all ends finished, I even made a project sheet on Ravelry 

And here is my little miss, showing off Mama's Fruit of the Labor (please correct me if I said this wrong...)
I am so proud of myself....

Fabulously Finished Friday!

Don’t you love these kind of theme-weekdays? I think I love it… And I am sure going to try to use these themes to make my postings here more regular.
So, after the WipWednesday, I’ll give you the Fabulously Finished Friday! This will be the day to show you what I’ve made during the week. It can be something from the Wipbasket, a quick little project, or something I have been working on for a little longer.

I am going to warn you, though: this post will be about babies. Or better said, the little shrimp that’s growing inside of me… I don’t know why we start calling it The Shrimp, it doesn’t sound that cute, but somehow it feels fitting.
But, back to the Fabulous Finished Item of today: The Elf Hat. (I can't seem to find the Ravelrylink at the moment).
Now I am not a fabulous great knitter, I know how to do cables, I can do a little lace, and I think I know the words for every technique better in English than my own language, but hey, that’s the side effect of using the WWW to get into - or reacquainted to - a new craft. My tension usually varies during my projects, creating a not so uniform end result. I like to use mohair, angora, or any other fluffy yarn to disguise the slight difference in stitches. That usually works pretty well.



This hat was knitted in the round on dpns. The only sufficient dpns I had were 25cms steel needles. The overall tension I work with is pretty tight, so when I have 20 stitches per needle, everything is okay. But then the decreases start; fewer stitches on the needles and the stitches were a bit stretched due to the weight of the needles. As soon as I finished off I scooted over to Ebay and ordered a large set of bamboo dpns. I think that will make knitting these more easy. Because I would love to make some more babyhats. Maybe not newborn, since the shrimp is due in August, but there are a lot of patterns for 3mo old as well. Don’t you just love Ravelry?? I know I do..

I used a mohair yarn in bright turquoise. I think this colour could go well for both sexes, once we know the sex I can make it more girly by adding some crocheted flowers, or more boyish by adding a little patch of a boyish something (I absolutely have no idea what I mean with that). I love the way this yarn looks, however, I might line it with a soft cotton knit, cause mohair tends to be a bit itchy sometimes.



This is the very first item I finished up for The Shrimp, I have so many other things I want to make, but I guess it’s best to wait a while so we know if it will be a He or a SheShrimp!

Flu-ish

I have the flu... I don't get the flu very often, but when I do, I seriously do. I am sniffing, sneezing, coughing, blowing my nose and all those other stuff that comes with the flu (I will spare you the yukkie details). I went to work today, did all the important stuff and left at noon. Dull was leaving for work when I got home, so I was lucky enough to get a hug (YAY).

Now, about the weekend. Altough I felt crappy already on Saturday, mom and I still went to the craft-fair. It has been a long time since I've been at one. We arrived at the start of the thing, and there were lots of elderly women, even my mom lowered the average age there... But later on the crowd got a bit younger (they probably were a little late because of all the party-ing they did on Friday). It was a good fair. Only 3 booths with beads, but I knew that. There were lots of quilting boots, which really isn't my cup of tea. I mean, quilting in the Netherlands is a bit muffy, lots of dark colors and depressing prints used. I only saw 2 or 3 boots that had quilts in lovely young colors.

Altough there weren't much bead-booths I managed to score a bag full of crafting goodies!

The score: 2 big balls of yarn to knit a vest (already casted on, and knitted 20 needles), two cones of yarn for a scarf for Dull (allready started and 2/3 done), and when it's finished I am planning on knitting a hat for myself, 2 crochethooks - 0,6mm (for beading) and 12mm (for rugknitting), a big bag and 2 smaller bags of wool and needles for needlefelting, 6 cards of ribbon/lace/ricrac and 5 baggies with beads.... I never did any needle felting, but it looks like fun. I gathered some info and stuff and I am going to give it a go this week. The knitting is going well. I started with an easy-peasy 'pattern': knit 2-purl 2. So you really can't call it a pattern, but it's a good excercise in repairing lost stitches and faulty stitches. And I am having fun, that's what counts right?

Well, I have to get back to my pot of tea and the blanket on the couch. Take care!