lost ... and a new one

Just more than a week ago 

daughter lost the (real) Peru baby hat 

her youngest son was wearing 

while they were doing some shopping in the local mall.

We asked several times if it was found 

without success ...

(so the little one was wearing a slightly too big hat, I had knitted for his mom ages ago)

That left me no alternative than to grab my needles

and some leftover yarn in various colours,

draw some patterns of little man,

and make a gauge swatch.

... and I started knitting ...

... and knitting ...

finished !

(ha, there hád to be a little white dog somewhere ...)

Here's the little elf himself

(with mom's heavenly blue Malabrigo shawlette)

We think he looks very cute 

(though we 're not sure that he will agree 

in ... let's say ... fifteen years  ?)

*

Ha, almost forgot this lovely peek in the garden

born

This week I got the most wonderful message 

from a very dear friend in Austria :

her daughter has a healthy baby boy.

So I took some paper 

and my beloved Karisma colour pencils

(yes .... they still last !)

and drew them a birth mandala as a present

which will be in the mail, probably tomorrow

Just these little bits till it has arrived safely ...

*

For the rest ...

I'm still (double) knitting

(ooooh yes, it's quite addictive)

I was very curious how much there was still left on the skeins,

so I put them on a scale.

This means I'll have enough to finish the scharf

 which will then have about 25 rows of blocks.

Mmmmmm

that will do, I think !

nice and cold

The grandchildren visited us today :

the youngest one in his child seat on mom's bike.

Because of the cold weather

he had cheeks like little red apples !

 He adores the cáts

(and they like hím)

Oooooh, how he loves their long soft swishing tails 

Yes ... they (still) like him ...

* 

Cóld weather is sóck weather !

I had to make a short (painless) visit to the dentist again today

so :

wearing my new socks 

and another pair started to knit on the boat.

Another ball Magico 

(Meilenweit , Lana Grossa)

The cold freezing weather makes that 

the ice skate fever is building up in Holland ! 

finally fixed

Pffffffffffffffft

Sometimes the solution to a problem is quite simple

though it's not always the thing you want !

Well, Blogger / Google made me do things

I didn't want to but left me no alternative

(at least I'm not clever enough to find an alternative)

Let's move on !

* 

My face is better, thank you,  

;-)

So much better I dared go to the Stitch'nBitch group

in Rotterdam today

which was lovely.

At last I'm able to show the little pieces

of felt I made for December.

I finished ánd sent them both

(as a kind of bonus for being too late)

This was the first one where I forgot to add the black and white prefelt

And this the second one I made. 

With the stitching, I mirrored the black and white circles.

 (now I can start with the next one !)

HA ! felting is só much fun :

you can't start early enough !

a fun day

Today a friend came over to felt a bag.

She wanted the bag to match

with her lovely new red boots.

I had ordered the wool that would go nicely

with the picture she send me,

but we took thát colour for the inside

and a slightly darker one for the outside.

Working very hard !

Late in the afternoon she went home
with some final instructions,

a little rolling mat

and still some homework to do !

*

Today it was a true autumn day :

some wonderful sunshine ...

(mmmmm, those colours)

... and some heavy downpour

( so we must have been in that pot of gold all day ! )

*

And finally :

" I want to ride my (mom's) bicycle ... "

( Ha, for the very first time !!! )

spirals .....

The center of the oldie - piece 

that I started stitching on again now has 

a finished spiral of  

threads

where there was originally a spiral of a strip of

fabric

Then there was today this lovely soft spiral

!

Huh ?

That's my belly button !

(Yes ! isn't it great ?)

And last but not least

there was daughter's just finished shawlette

in cobalt blue Malabrigo lace yarn

with tiny glass beads

showed of in a spiral

(Ha, but nothing spiralled out of control !)

Not even this little disagreement :

she seems to ask : don't you agree, he is being a bit selfish ?

... she gets in v e r y  carefully ...

and she nestles herself on top when he doesn't move over

mmmmmmmmmmmmm

cats ! 

a present

This week I gave myself a present

(but due to all the eventful circumstances of recent months

it was a rather last-minute decision)

O yes,

I get presents from other people :

people next to me, or people from fááááár away.

But this one now, I like very much :

I gave myself a workshop at Hawar

and it will be given by Sara Lechner.

I've known and admired her work for quite some time.

She used to live in Austria

but moved last year to Argentina !

So it is very special she's in Europe and that opportunity,

to finally meet and learn from her in person,

was too good to pass up !

So early tomorrow morning I'm off to Oldeberkoop in Friesland ...

... and I packed a lot of things to take with me 

*

Another present

(for the baby this time)

came as a surprise all the way from Australia !!!

a baby bonnet from Ronnie

(sorry, not a good photo)

holidays ..... home again

Holidays are great

but

coming home again is good too !

(Though I had to go to the dentist right away !

On the boat trip to Rotterdam,

I had a lovely conversation with a young man from Pittsburg

who cycled with his parents through Holland ...

it made me forget about the dentist,

though I'll have to go there again on Friday  :-( ... )

We had two weeks together with daughter's little family

in a holiday cottage in a wooded area in the east of the country

(we all are more "wood" than "beach" people)

The weather wasn't great all the time but that doesn't matter much for kids

playing outside with new friends, a swimming pool, an air cushion to hop around, 

and a box full of LEGO

We also visited the lovely city of Deventer

historic buildings

playing on the "Brink" (town square)

There were still some days with worries about the baby :

cramps are still an issue

(now we think it might be hidden reflux)

but there were góód times too !!!

Being on the east side of the country gave me the opportunity

to make arrangements to visit my blog-felting-friend Gabi !

It was soooooo much fun to see each other in real-life !

We chatted a lot, had "Kaffee und Kuchen",

and I bought this lovely little cat

(I already had a crush on her cats since I saw them in her shop)

Thanks again Gabi for the lovely day !

Ooooo ... and post number 200 ! So many already ?

baby stitches

Our days (and nights !)

are still filled with "a lot of baby"

Though we worry about various things

he grows like cabbage

(that's all he has to do isn't it ?)

When I see and smell one of my fresh "New Dawn" roses

I think of our new little grandson

sweet !

And in between all the hassle and bustle

I find bits of time

to do some stitches on the little "lots of love" cloth

little bits of fire for the fireman

this one is for Mo Crow's interest

*

There was also time for some mending and washing

......

someone cut of the ribbons of this woolen baby shirt 

so I put on some new ones that I found in my stash

and ten year old "Maisy" clean again

but still dripping !!!