Second finish

My second finish in 2010!!! And it's only January!!!!!!!!

Yes, this comes as a surprise to me, too. Mainly because I thought my second finish would definitely be a certain scarf. But it isn’t. You see, I sustained a knitting injury, making it well-nigh impossible for me to lift my left arm, let alone finish a scarf. Perhaps trying to break the world record for speed-knitting when your knitting muscles aren’t fully developed isn’t a wise thing to do. Anyway, no scarf for Pelle. It was going to be a present for him, because the poor boy is going to have his tonsils taken out tomorrow, but now he will have to make do with a store bought gift [which he will undoubtedly enjoy more, anyway :o)]
Someone commented that it seems my boy has had to make way for the terrorist cats on this blog, so by popular demand, here’s a picture of Pelle.

I'm sorry, but there's only one thing to say about this picture, and it has to be in Dutch: wat is het toch een lekker ventje.

But I came here (and you did, too, I think) for some stitching news. Some stitching and finish-finishing news, no less. You see, the finishing bug usually only hits me around November and it lasts until December 31st, resulting in ten months’ worth of starts (imagine, if you will, what the means for my WIP and UFO piles ) and not even two months’ worth of finishes (because I’m not good at finishing). This year will be different. Yes, it will. Hey, it already is, because here’s my second finish of the year:

Faith by Carriage House Samplings stitched on 40 count plplplplllll linen (the kind I normally use) with my own choice of DMC and GAST and WDW threads.

I needed a small stitched piece for this frame, and I think it works well. Now as for my next finish… I can’t see one coming, to be honest, but last Friday I didn’t see this one coming either, so who knows what you might find here next time.

Wish Pelle luck! Here’s hoping they will operate the snot out of him.

Yours fidgetily,
Annemarie.

Beyond good and evil

Okay. Turns out you’re all evil. Barring a few exceptions – kind people who comforted me with assertions about their own inability to knit – the majority of you urged me to hold on, to not give up, to try again, to follow this or that link for video instructions. What’s a girl to do? Well, this girl listened to the voices of evil (particularly Hazel’s) and started another Baktus scarf.

You see, contrary to the impression I inadvertently gave you in my previous post, I can actually knit. I’m neither a knincompoop nor a knitwit. A couple of years ago I knitted a couple of scarves and even a blanket or two. What I meant when I said I wasn’t a knitter, was that knitting doesn’t come naturally to me. I can never find a rhythm, I can never really relax while knitting, I keep clenching and un-clenching, but I really can knit. A bit.

The conditions need to be just right, though, and they weren’t when I started that first miserable Baktus scarf. Let me explain. Knitting according to Annemarie:

1) Knitting needles need to be short (I never know what to do with those large things. I mean, where do you put the ends? They either end up tickling my armpits, or they disappear up my sleeves, making any sort of vital movement with the needles impossible). So: long knitting needles were substituted with short needles.

2) Knitting needles must be made of a warm-to-the-touch, natural material, i.e. wood. Or bamboo. Metal needles are cold and unpleasant. So, metal needles were substituted with bamboo needles.

3) Yarn must be made of something that feels and looks natural. Like something a sheep would wear. So, cheapo Dutch sock wool in the colour ‘Surf’ was substituted with a natural looking, slightly more expensive German sock wool called ‘Meilenweit’.

Behold my second attempt at the Baktus:

I see plenty more Bakti in my future. Thanks to all of the ladies who cheered me on: you’re all delightfully evil.

Progress is not impressive, but only due to the fact that I had to copy another one of Staci’s projects. What with Valentine around the corner and a deadline looming, I couldn’t help but succumb to this wonderful freebie by Primitive Betty’s:

And this, honeybuns, is truly my first start and finish of 2010.

Hang on, don’t go away yet! Remember the giveaway? We have a winner of the Goode Huswife chart Wife Into Thy Garden and her name is…………………

SU!

Aww, Randomiser couldn’t have picked a nicer person. Su and I have known each other since forever (well, at least before either one of us had a blog) and it's been quite a while since Su has received anything from me. Picture me jogging to the post office right away, Su!

Kielrain asked me a question in the comments about the second chart on the second row of the Goode Huswife picture. It is indeed out of print (as are all the charts in this book), and it’s called In Her House.

Have a lovely weekend, all. I intend to work, work and… knit!

Yours knittingly,
Annemarie.

I'm done!

About once every year – maybe twice, but no more – I get the urge to knit. I see something incredibly crafty and at the same time easy (or at least, that’s what the knitter of the crafty item claims) and I think to myself: I can do that. Even I can do that. Even I can do that. Even I can do that. I go into my bedroom with a self-assured grin, I open my closet and there it is, on the floor: my secret stash of knitting stuff. For someone who doesn’t knit, I have an embarrassing pile of stash. I pick out the yarn I think would be good for this easy project, I take the right sized needles, and there I go, with my trusted and well-thumbed copy of Knitting for Dummies under my arm. The object of my knitterly desire was something I saw on the evil Staci’s blog (evil because whenever I visit her, she always has something to lure me away from my many WIPs to start something she’s been doing. I don’t have one original thought in my head. Ever.): the Baktus scarf. Easy-peasy, that’s the word on the World Wide Web. This scarf is so darned easy, you could knit it in your sleep.

Needles, yarn, book, coffee… I cast on 4 stitches, as the pattern dictates. Hmm. This is surprisingly difficult. My needle splices the yarn and so I end up with way too many stitches, and I haven’t even made it to round three. Ah well. I’m only just beginning. And this is a test scarf anyway (otherwise, why would I be using a colour that doesn’t go with ONE item of the clothes presently in my closet?). As I’m knitting along, I notice my left hand is starting to form a claw. I’m also clenching my butt and plowing my elbows into my armrests as if I’m on a plane getting ready for take-off. And the knitting isn’t getting any prettier.

Luckily, it only took me 30 minutes to decide that it’s not going to work. I’m not a knitter. And still it bothers me. I just don’t get it: why is it I can work with teeny tiny needles and actually find that incredibly relaxing, when the mere sight of a size 2,5 DPN (which isn’t a very large needle, now, is it?) has me reaching for the smelling salts? Why do I find it so embarrassing that I can’t knit? Why do I keep trying? Isn’t stitching exciting enough? Is that it? Huh? Huh???

As I said, it only took me half an hour to start and finish. Hooray!! My first start and finish of 2010.
Before:

After:

And now on to some serious stitching. Inspired by something I saw on Staci’s blog. Pictures on Thursday. Don’t forget the Goode Huswife giveaway! If you would like a chance to win the Wife Into Thy Garden chart, you still have time to leave a comment on my previous post :o)

Yours very contentedly stitchingly,
Annemarie.

Of Ladies Pink, Black and Blue

This is a post entirely about ladies and I will start with the first one I mentioned, i.e. the pink one. Because she is the most astonishing, beautiful and lovely one – I’m serious, she’s even more wonderful than the Blue Lady, because she is… my niece! Her name is Eline and she was born on December 30th. My brother – remember? The wise-ass who thought his sister was a moron because she didn’t know how to take a decent photograph? – is still to send me a picture of his daughter, but until then, you will just have to believe me when I say that she is a darling. She gave her Mum a good deal of trouble: the poor dear wasn’t released from the hospital until last week, but she is recovering well and very happy to be home with baby Eline.

With half my family in hospitals around Europe (my father was in the hospital with a viral infection, too) and a sick child at home, I was very happy to have something to divert my thoughts and this something came in the shape of our new, mostly black, kitty! She arrived in our home on January 2nd and she’s keeping everyone busy, including poor old Pantoef, who seems a grumpy old sod compared with the very lively, very smart and very fast Pipien. If you thought Pantoef was bad around my stitching, think again… Pipien has a lot to learn :o) Well, I found a description of the character of an average Rex cat online and I must say it is spot on: Cornish and Devon Rex cats can best be described as a cross between a terrorist and a monkey. And here they are, my Rex cats and their Wicked Ways

Claws and linen do not a good combination make

Meanwhile, on the other side of the scroll frame...

Pantoef is still a little flustered by the lady's presence every now and then, but mostly, they seem pretty inseperable already. When they're done terrorising, they can mostly be found in an intimate position on the bed.

As you see, stitching has become a bit of a challenge :o) STILL, I managed to make enormous progress on the Blue Lady:
Before:
After:
And just to give you an idea how idiotically large this piece is, here’s a pic of the lady in front of my book case

Sigh. I hadn’t seen her in all her glory for a while, so once she was up there, I sat down for a while to feast my eyes on the beauty of her. And then I rolled her up and put her away in my closet, because I’m always so afraid of over-indulging. What if I get tired of her? I couldn’t let that happen, could I??

And anyway, there’s another piece that’s been calling my name quite loudly. It’s Wife Into Thy Garden by the Goode Huswife. You can see my progress on it in the terrorist pictures, and here's a pic of the contents of the book. Wife Into Thy Garden is second sampler on the picture (sorry, couldn't be bothered to take snap myself):

I have the Goode Huswife Book of Designs III in my possession, because it was too good to not have in my possession, but I already had this chart before the book was published, which means I actually have two copies. Wife Into Thy Garden is no longer available as a single chart, so if you would like to have it, leave a comment on this post. You have to be quick(ish) though, because I will draw a name on Thursday and let you all know who the lucky winner is in my next post (which is planned for next Thursday) (if everybody around me stays as healthy as they possibly can) (and my computer doesn’t crash).

Hope to see you again soon! As always, thanks for stopping by. I really appreciate it, especially because my own presence in Blogland has been mostly… absent.

Yours as always gratefully,
Annemarie.