*resurfaces*

It’s been so long, I hardly remember how this blogging thing works! Or how Blogger works, which is perhapes more worrying. So if I disappear before this post is done, you'll know why...

I won’t bore you with an account of what I’ve been doing these last three months - I really couldn’t tell you what I did yesterday, let alone three weeks or moths ago, and besides, who cares, really? It’s the stitching that counts!

Ah yes, stitching... hmmm... well, precious little has happened on that front. Really, incredibly little. Two lengths of thread on this, at most:

Bea Pot. Still lovely after all those years.

Now that I’ve satisfied you lot with some stitchy porn (still pretending to blog about stitching, as you see), here’s what other members of my family have been doing while I was busy doing... whatever it was I was doing. Remember this guy? Isn’t he sweet? And big??

Here’s one of the fur balls.

Ooooh, I suddenly remembered what I did during my absence! I put together a brand new Ikea bed for moi and moi alone! Well, and for the cats and the child, of course :o)

And I made a very kitschy hooky blanky for me

And a very fiddly girly princessy blanky for my niece Eline

I never want to crochet a corkscrew border again. Not ever.

Not a very long post, but I just thought I’d dip my toe into bloggy waters again. You know. To see if anyone will bite :o)

Yours having trouble rememberingly,
Annemarie

Yikes!

To my horror, I saw several blog updates popping up on my blogroll that had pictures of jars overflowing with orts and titles that said “August Tusal”. Surely, surely, a month has not passed by already? What, I wonder, have I been doing with my time, that I can’t recall what I did in the past month? I’ve been reading (and listening to) Harry Potter and I’ve been mothering [poor Pelle is having a rough time of it at his new school. Not as rough as I’d expected, but still, he demands a lot of attention and cuddles, which, of course, I am happy to provide :o)], and I’ve been entertaining my dear friend Harmien, and I’ve been knitting and hooking and stitching too. Well, time flies when you’re having fun, they say, and I suppose it’s true. On to the stitching and knitting, then.
 

First of all, I want to say that my love for Sarah Harris is growing every day. Her colours are so unexpected and amazing, bright and subdued at the same time. That sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, have a look and judge for yourself. Screaming bright Pinks that I’d never even used before, next to the beautifullest, most subtle shades of pearly grays and pastels, with some browns thrown in:

Even though I have not left many comments in the past couple of weeks, I have been visiting blogs and your gorgeous work inspired me to pick up my own WIPs and UFOs. Such as Beatrix Potter. Bea hadn’t seen the light of day since... let me check... March 28th 2009, but whilst watching the delightful film Miss Potter the other day, I was inspired to pick up her books and enjoy the delightful stories with their pretty drawings in sweet colours, which in turn, made me pick up the sampler.

I’m using the entire collection of DMC linen threads for this sampler, one over two on white 32 count linen. Yum.

Hooking has occurred, especially on those evenings when I was too tired to pick up needle, thread, scissors, lap stand, chart, telephone, iPod and plant myself in my stitching chair. Amazing how fast crochet goes, compared with stitching. This blanket is now so large, that it covers my legs when I’m working on it. Yay!

Colour-wise, I suppose you could say I’m using Sarah Harris as my inspiration: just throw together all the colours you can find, basically. It doesn’t have to be a pretty blanket, as far as I’m concerned. Just very, very colourful.

Hooking is especially fast when you compare it with fair isle knitting. And yes, a little of that has been happening too in this house:

This was intended as a sock but, as usual, it is too tight to get past my ankles, so I’m turning it into an arm warmer. I’ve got quite a collection of those now :o)) (and yes, I know some people looking at these pictures will probably think that my garden is in serious need of some de-weeding, but my motto is: weeds are only weeds when they’re in the wrong place, and weeds are never in the wrong place in my garden. I love weeds. They’re incredibly versatile, useful, some of them are tasty, some of them make great skin-care products or cough medicine or any other medicine for that matter, and when you let them grow the way they are meant to, they can be incredibly beautiful. So there.)

Oh, before I forget!

Orts. A great many of them. Well, I’m impressed, anyway.

Yours inspiredly,
Annemarie.

Just so you know...

...I am a genius. Not only is my sock knitting going according to schedule, I’ve also had time to finish The Fox. Or rather, V is for Vineyard by the Prairie Schooler. Excuse the craptastic quality of the picture.

I love it. In fact, I love it so much that I started another letter from the Alphabet Series straight away, to wit: L is for Leaves. But, yup, you’ve guessed it, I forgot to take a pic. And really, I’ve only finished one tiny leaf, so you’re not missing much.

The socks I’m knitting for gifts are boring to knit and would no doubt be boring to behold, so I’m showing you a little something I did by way of light entertainment a couple of days ago:

This sock pattern is called Hwæt!, designed by The Sanguine Gryphon, and it features the first part of the Old English verse Beowulf. This bit of knitting was just a little trial. I knew it would probably be too small, and it is: can’t get it over my ankle (which isn’t even that fat), but I just wanted to see if I could do two-stranded knitting. I think I can now, and will be casting on a larger size once the gift socks are out of the way. Just so you know? I. Am. Smitten.

Ooooooooh, I’m also smitten with Harry Potter!!!! I know I’m awfully late joining the party, but I’ve just finished The Philosopher’s Stone (which I had already read), and I’ve started part two (which I have also already read, back in the day when part four [The Goblet of Fire] hadn’t even been released yet), and I have every intention of finishing all seven of the books before the end of the year. It’s very difficult to navigate your way around all the spoilers that circulate on the internet, though. I already know things about the plot I really don’t want to know yet. Just so you know, though, I couldn’t give a toss about Harry P. himself (sacrilege!). It’s Snape I’m interested in. But then I always go for the dark, mysterious, broody types :o)

Pelle is away for two whole nights and three whole days, so I’m off to enjoy a very lavish little holiday, filled with knitting, reading, stitching, reading, gardening, reading and maybe a bit of sleeping too. Weeeeeeee!

Yours vacationingly,
Annemarie.

Foxiness galore

It’s official: I have no taste. You came here in droves to tell me that the sock I was knitting looked lovely in its sewage-ness, so I plodded on and finished it. Alas, I forgot to take a picture because I was in such a dreadful hurry because I finish-finished something else and am on the point of finishing another something else and I'm so insanely busy with all of this crafting and gift-making that I hardly have time to breathe! Okay, let's go. Last things first. Look what I discovered in my UFO drawer:

Isn’t it fabby? I remember putting it away some... ohhhhh, six years ago, because I ran out of DMC 523 (which is, of course, a perfectly good reason to stick something in a drawer and never take it out until you find it by accident and fall in love with it all over again). Since recovering it from the dreaded UFO drawer, I’ve already filled in most of the grass and I have high hopes of being able to show you a finish pretty soon.

Now what do you think I found when I unfolded the fabric?

Squeeeeee! A finish!

From 2005. It is in serious need of framing, don’t you think?

***

Next Thursday will be Pelle’s last day at his medical daycare centre. On the 22nd of August he will be going to a proper school - well, a proper school for children who are not right in the head, obviously, but still, a proper school. I’m sure you will hear much more about it when the new school year is underway. Knowing my wee one, he’s not going to enjoy the first couple of months very much. Anyway, as a sort of thank-you-and-goodbye-gift, I’m knitting the infernal socks for the teachers, but I also wanted something special for the lady who accompanies the kids in the school bus, Erika. She is the loveliest woman ever, she’s 71 years old (!) and she’s very special to Pelle and to me. She never wears a coat or anything, because that’s too much hassle with al those children who need so much help getting in and out of the bus, but she loves to wear thick sweaters with cowls, in order to keep warm in the winter. Last year, I started a cowl for myself, and it was very nearly finished. It just happened to have all of Erika’s favourite colours in it (judging from the clothes she wears), and so I finished it this morning, with the intention of giving it to her. I must admit I’m totally and completely and madly head over heels in love with it, as it’s versatile, warm, soft, non-scratchy, it’s huge and it’s just... I’m crying over here... too gorgeous to give away, but I’m going to anyway. As my face currently looks like the cats used me as a scratching post, I’ve hired the services of a body double... well, a face double, really. Meet Tante Trui (or Aunt Gertrude in English):

Lovely, no?

Keep your fingers crossed that next week Ill be able to show you that stitchy finish!

Yours industriously,
Annemarie.

The blanket and the sock

Remember a while ago I showed you a blanket I was working on for Pelle’s birthday? You didn’t think I would make it, did you? Well... I did!!! The first time ever, in Pelle’s 7 years on this earth, that his mother actually managed to finish a birthday gift, let alone finish it on time for the actual day.
The hooky term for a happy dance is, I believe, a Ta-daah moment (or something to that effect), so I’m very happy, proud and pleased to be able to show you Pelle’s blanket:

I know I’m biased, but I love it.

I really do.

I really, really love it.
And so does Pelle. Over the weeks, he’s watched it grow, he told me which colours to use where, he knows there are 79 stripes (well, 79 coloured stripes. There are actually 79 x 2 stripes, two rows for every colour, but I’m too stupid to... oh hang on... that’s 158 stripes, isn’t it? Not so stupid after all.), and he adores his blanket. Takes it everywhere whenever he spends a night at the daycare centre. As I said, 79 stripes, 13 colours of Annell Malmédy and 1 Rowan Felted Tweed (the red). Four rows of double crochet along the border, finished with a simple yet effective crab stitch. I love it.

And now for something I’m not so pleased with. The second of the 8 socks. The knitting is going swimmingly, but, but... sigh...
I asked Pelle’s four teachers what their favourite colours were. For someone who does so little knitting, I have an embarrassingly huge pile of sock yarn in the back of my closet, so I was sure I could find something in there for everyone. Turns out 3of the 4 teachers have the same favourite colour.

And it’s purple.

Now I have nothing against purple. I really don’t. I just wouldn’t dream of wearing it, let alone knit a whole pair of socks with anything even remotely resembling purple. Thus, there was no purple in my sock yarn stash. I went in search of some purple sock yarn, and found a couple of very yummy skeins of Katia Olé. Knit up one sock in pinky-purply very yummy berry yarny. Then, in order to try and prevent Second Sock Syndrom from striking me mid-knit, I started a sock for another pair, with a very lovely purple and green, heathery coloured yarn. Well, that’s what it looked like on the skein anyway. Knitted up, it looks more like something that was dredged up out of a puddle of raw sewage.

I asked Harmien for advice and her answer was just what I expected: she loves it. Now, either she says that because she loves me and doesn’t want to hurt my feelings, or she has appalling taste. What do you think? Do I continue with this thing and even make a second one, or do I dump it in the nearest bin? Help me, darlings, and don’t you dare spare my feelings. Regarding the sock, that is. I don’t want any negative comments about my blanket. Pelle’s blanket. Sorry, Pelle’s blanket...

Yours curled up under a striped blanky even though it is rather hot outside and even hotter inside and the promise of Fall was only just a promise and now I’m a little sad-ly,
Annemarie.

The granny, the bike and the poodle

My dear darling honeybuns, may I present this month’s orts jar:

I was taking a lovely long walk through the beautiful woods this afternoon, and to my astonishment and glee found the forest floor littered with these babies. Ahhhh, Fall is upon us! I thought I’d take them home, put them in my orts jar, and put my orts in a wee wine glass. Well, I say orts but in fact, it’s just one ort, and it’s not a real ort but a bit of thread that stuck out of a newly purchased pillowette.
Does this count as a Tusal update? Please? Pretty please? I really tried to do some stitching, but then everytime I sat down with needle and thread - and lap stand, and chart:

* I had to finish a translation
* I fell ill with a drrrreadful head cold and a chest infection
* Pelle turned 7:
* I had to cart Pelle (and his cousin) around in our new cargo bike. (Pelle can’t ride a bike himself due to him being... Pelle. But he loves to go for long bike rides. Therefore the ex (who is now loaded) thought it would be nice to get Pelle the cargo bike for his birthday):* I decided I needed to start a second Giant granny square blanket:
* I decided I needed handmade gifts for Pelle’s teachers in the shape of hand-knit socks:
This is the first of 8 socks I need to finish before 18 August. Something tells me I’m not going to make it. I would abandon the project had I not already asked the teachers for their favourite colours and shoe sizes. What on earth would I say if they asked me what I needed that information for? That I just go around asking people’s shoe sizes because I’m a shoe size fetishist? No. I’m afraid I’m just going to have to knit the damned socks.

Ooooooh, I’ve been to the hair dresser’s today, and I look all different. Well, I think so anyway. I don’t like to fuss with my hair, you see, and lately I found that I had to do an awful lot of unwanted fussing to straighten my hair in order for my short bob to look good. Only my hair isn’t naturally straight. In fact, my hair is so far from naturally straight that every time I thought I’d successfully ironed it into submission after hours of pottering about with potions, conditioners, anti-frizz, straightening irons and blow dryers, the mirror told me Mission Short Straight Bob had failed. So I decided to embrace the poodle in me and go for a matching poodle-‘do.
Excuse the freaky looking cat. He was intrigued by the flashing red light of the self-timer.

Well, again I’ve managed to write a post about absolutely nothing anyone could ever be vaguely interested in. My apologies. Next time... more of the same, I fear :o)

Yours poodley-doodley,
Annemarie.

The Blue Lady Goes Pink

When I woke up this morning, I had no intention of updating my blog. Actually, even when I sat down for a cup of coffee five minutes ago, I had no inkling that not ten minutes later I would be posting a message, but here I am anyway. Why? Because autumnal weather is reported to be heading this way - for which: yay! - and I wanted to post a couple of sunny pics of my current, many, Works In Progress. (Look, I know summer's just started, but looking forward to autumn is the only thing that gets me through those awful summer months. Sorry.)

Firstly, stitching, because I assume that's still the main reason why you visit my humble abode on the WWW.

This picture of my progress on The Blue Lady is far from impressive, I know, but just to give you an idea of which part I'm working on, here's a little overview. That white circle shows you which part is pictured above.

It takes about two weeks to un-scroll this lady from her frame, so I couldn't be bothered to show you the entire thing. Oh boy, how I love her...

With the promise of atumnal weather comes an overwhelming desire to create warm things. Blankets, for instance. I crazily joined - oh, how you will laugh - a Crochet-Along (see the link in my sidebar). A Giant Granny CAL. And here's my start. Well, here's my fifty-seventh start, after my previous starts (and near-finishes) didn't really have the look I was hoping for.

Hooked with Drops Delight sock yarn, and rarely has a yarn been more aptly named. Hooked on Drops Delight, I think I should say :o)

Autumnal weather means cold feet, means new socks. Of course.

This was a houndstooth sock for about six months, but I haven't mastered the art of fair isle knitting yet (have severe doubts I ever will), so I unravelled the entire thing and it is now a stripey sock. Much better. This one will have a grey cuff, heel and toe; its companion will be mainly pink. I can't stand the thought of matching socks.

Off to work!

Yours tickled pinkly,
Annemarie.

A post of many pictures (including a stitchy one!)

Welllll, that was a long absence, wasn’t it? Not planned, but been kept v. busy because:

What was he doing on that bench, you may wonder. Why, this of course:

Pelle was home for a well-deserved little holiday. Here you see him and his grandmother trying to find relief from temperatures that can only be described as scorchio.
I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the New Moon.
My stitching orts jar picture looks exactly like the ones I’ve been showing you for the last six months, so I thought I’d show you my crochet orts. Much more impressive, I’m sure you will agree. And what about that blanky??? 62 stripes and counting! Pelle is going for another overnight stay at his daycare centre on Wednesday with a slightly bigger blanket. His first stay was a huge succes (for him, at least. I didn’t sleep a wink, but now I know he’s in such good hands and enjoys it so much, I’m sure I’ll enjoy my Mummy Time more this time around).

Been stitching, too.
Sarah Harris, what a lovely lady she is. Quirky and vibrant and slightly eccentric. That’s how I like my ladies.

Sorry, I have loads and loads to share but absolutely no time to do it today. Or tomorrow, or the day after that. Schoolpaper to write and edit, books to translate, life to enjoy.
To all my American friends, enjoy your special day!

Much love,
Annemarie.

Squeeeeeeeee!

Anuzzer finish très primitive de l’Atelier de Tante An. But it’s a finish, and that’s what counts

I know it’s probably a bit childish to post about this before the gift is even wrapped and on its way to the giftee, but a cross-stitch finish is such a rare occurrence in this household that I couldn’t help it.

Also, progress was made on With Thy Needle and Thread’s Birds of a Feather. To be honest with you, the red provided (WDW Indian Summer) didn’t suit my current taste - which tends more to the vintage-y, granny-y (there’s a surprise, right?) - so I changed it to GAST Pomegranate. I’m in love with this sampler.

The last couple of days have been so joyous! Yesterday, I spent some time with my old friends from primary school, which was such fun. Pelle was left in the care of his doting grandmother, and he actually spent the night there, so I. Could. Sleep. In. And I did... I’m ashamed to tell you for how long, but suffice it to say, I’m now quite well-rested, thank you very much :o)
Next week, Pelle will be staying over at his medical daycare centre for an entire night, so that his mama can do some more sleeping. I’m terrified on his behalf, and I’m sure I won’t sleep a wink that first time, but after having taken care of Pelle for nearly seven years, during the last three years non-stop and single-handedly, I really, really need some rest. Of course, me being who I am, I decided that Pelle needs something comforting to help him through that first night in a strange place, so I started a blanky.

This is such a quick little project that I’m sure it will be an okay size by Wednesday next week.

It’s Tuesday, but here’s a Bench Monday pic for you anyway. Just because it makes me happy.

Yours happily,
Annemarie.

I'm stitching, I'm stitching!

I swear! Except when I'm crocheting...

It's Monday. With my head full of snot and my lungs full of... lung-snot, I climbed on my newly crochet-covered bench for Bench Monday. I fell arse-backwards in my herb garden (thankfully, I missed that little garden gnome you see to the left of me by about 10 centimetres, otherwise a head full of snot would have been the least of my problems).
I picked up the bench and took a snap anyway.

Stitchy pics in the course of the week of progress made and a gift finish-finished, I promise!

Yours shakily,
Annemarie.

Early Birdy

You wil be pleased to know The Plan is wOrKiNg!!! I’ve finished ONE gift (okay, so I still need to finish-finish it. Shut up), and I’m very pleased with it. And I’ve made progress on this lovely thing
AND I’ve started another one.
I just had to.
It’s a mystery.
And it is rumoured to feature some birds.

Birds Of A Feather by With Thy Needle & Thread. Is it strange or even wrong to be in love with a piece of fabric? The picture does not do the fabric any justice, but I promise you it's gorgeous. It’s been in my stash for years and years, a lovely soft 32 count Silkweaver Solo, perfect in every way.

And here’s my TuSaL jar for this month:

I don’t know about you, but I think it should look much fuller, don’t you, considering that my needle has seen more action in recent weeks than in the months before put together? What happened to all the orts? These two look like they’ve got something to hide. I bet they’ve had their paws in my orts jar: (click to embiggen, to catch the sinister and untrustworthy look in Pipien's eyes)


In between translating and... translating really, I’ve been having the most wonderful time searching the WWW for pictures of people standing on benches.

Again I ask you, is it strange or wrong or possibly even fetishistic that these pics make me deliriously happy? If you get that happy bubbly feeling when you see this (as I do), check out the Happy Bench Monday pool on Flickr, it’ll brighten your day. By the way, the blanket you see here is for Pelle, and I hope to finish it before his birthday on 2 August [insert maniacal laughter here].

Yours battily,
Annemarie.