Kaiso

Kaiso (Japanese) is seaplant, waterweed.
So voila : the socks.
These were easy and fast to make.
pattern : Knitted socks East and West
yarn : Rowan 4 ply soft
needles : 2.75 mm.


I really like Makeshift.

And thanks so for all your sweet comments on Lieveke's Lina.
-Lies

Everything

Work in progress, Pattern : Swiss Cheese scarf
Also beautifully worked here
Yarn : Silverdale alpacas, Needles : knitpro 3.25 circular

For Easter we went on a long weekend trip to a place near a mountain.
I was knittig holes.
Lovely slow and soft holes.
And while I was knitting circles
of
nothing
I was thinking
of
everything.



Hope your Easter was just as wonderful.
-lies

{k5}

Fifth finished knitting project of the year.
Pebbles Cardy for Lieveke. Fun pattern. Perfect fit.
Rowan felted tweed. Rowan felted tweed. I just have to repeat. Seriously, such lovely stuff to knit with. The color is called 'Melody' but I really feel like it should be called 'Old Rose'. Cause the tweedyness makes it look like those dried old dusty pinkish roses, ha.
And Lieve is pleased too, it is pretty AND it does have a bit of pink. She has worn it two days in a row, it is still about 28 degrees celcius here...


Love love this one, check out the crochet treasures.

O sweetness : new nani iro 2010.


-Lies

palaces at dusk

a small winter holiday escape to the palaces of potsdam.

The flog rolled in and my breaths were puffs of icy crystals.

Not many people visit this place during the midwinter chill. Many times we were alone in this vast park, miles and miles of gardens and forest stretching before us. With no map for guidance we stumbled upon these enormous beauties like sleeping giants. they loomed above us in the haunted hush.

I was spell bound.

then the sun sank behind the hills leaving us utterly alone in the blue blackness. we were far from the entrance, a little lost and a little scared. Would we have to spend the night here among the sleeping giants?

I've always liked fairy tales.

xoxoxkimberlee

Little bramble set

I found this lovely yarn. It was the color more than anything, that attracted me. Heather. Hues of lavender, blue, taupe, brown and dusty pink, all in one, depending on the light. And softer than soft. And so : what to knit...

I tried this intriguingly beautiful bobble stitch-motif : 'bramble', in French 'point Astrakan'. The bobble effect shows on the purl side of the work, so pretty!
-the motif-:
-R1 (and all uneven rows): purl
-R2:*make 3 stitches out of 1 (k1, p1, k1) then purl the following 3 stitches together* repeat till end
-R4: knit
-R6:*purl 3 stitches together, make 3 stitches out of the following stitch (k1,p1,k1)* repeat till end
-R8: knit

I felt very inspired and decided to knit a baby set with both of the above. The (very simple) design is my own, and it would be great if you could try it out too.
You need : about 350 meters of 4 ply yarn (alpaca will be snuggly warm and soft and will give the bobbles a bit of a halo - linen or cotton will be more breezy and make the motif look more abstract and modern...) and a set of 3.25 mm needles (I'm hooked on Addi circulars).


Vest (size 6 to 18 months) :
-start with right front : cast on 66 stitches and knit in bramble motif until work measures 9 cm(for a dainty short vest, very pretty over a dress) or 14 cm (long version) ending with row 8 of the bramble motif. Start decreasing as following : bind of one stitch on the purl side, bind off 2 stitches in the knit side), repeat decreases until you have 27 stitches left on the right side of your piece. Work these 27 stitches in the pattern for 2 cm (one pattern repeat), put stitches on holder, break yarn.
-work left front : same way as right front (be careful to keep the pattern correct as you work the decreases) until you have 27 stitches left on the left side of your piece and work those stitches for 2 cm in pattern ending with row 1 of the pattern (a purl row)
-work the back : cast on (added to your 27 stitches of the left piece) 20 stitches for the neck edge, purl the 27 stitches on the holder of the right front piece, knit these stitches (total of 74) in bramble motif until back measures 17 cm from the neck edge (or 22 cm longer version). Cast off.
-finishing : sew the side seems together (the arm openings should measure about 10 cm at the front), sew 4 little buttons to the underlying front piece - yup you didn't knit buttonholes and you don't need to, the buttons will just hook into the little holes of the bramble bobbles.


Hat (size 12 months)
note : I didn't knit this hat in the round as the yarn is quite fragile and snaps easily when I pull it hard (which you kinda have to do when knitting in the round, to avoid ladder-holes), but if you have a strong yarn then go for it - it saves you sewing up time, cast on 88 stitches, knit everything (no purling) and just omit the k1 at the beginning and end of the decreasing knit rows - these stitches are added for seam-allowance.
-cast on 90 stitches - knit in bramble pattern for two pattern repeats, then knit in stockinette for about 12 cm. Start decreasing on the knit side : k1, (k2tog, k13) 6 times, k1. Purl one row. Decrease again on the knit side : k1 (k2tog, k12) 6 times, k1. Repeat these decreases as follows [k2tog, k11] then [k2tog,k10] then [k2tog, k9] and so on, starting and ending the knit row with a k1, and purling every alternating row until there are 24 stitches left. Then : k1, (k2tog) 11 times, k1. Thread through and secure crown.
-finishing : sew up the side seam with mattress stitch. Flip the bobble pattern (on the wrong side) of the rim over so it shows on the right side of the stockinette pattern.


Other than that - I found these beautiful knitting links

-Nini Naphtaline (my favorite of the moment)

-Knitting a lot (wonderfully clever patterns!)

-The blog without a name (oh that swing cardi so sweet)

Have a lovely november/december week all
in the northern hemi' (Kimberlee!!!) : cosey up and perhaps even smell the coming of snow...
in the southern hemi' : to the refreshing beaches now...
-Lies

We did a shoot

Oh my, we had true girl fun last week, for the Etsy.
Lieveke is a pro at posing now ha.
It was Noor's first time.
She kept falling over, having mastered the sitting-skills only recently.
Other than that, I think she's really really into the red flashy dot of the camera.


I'm inspired by these wonderful pretty 'spaces' at the moment :

Misako Mimoko

and

Le Zigouis

and

Perdi of fio a meada.


Happy! You?
-Lies

Anemones and violets

Outside : ahhhhh so grey.



But friends
-I found anemone cups!
-the vests are finished (the alpaca : sublime)
-if you look through a violet parasol everything is ... violet, I guess

Oh : this project looks so appealing...



I hope you find your little window of happiness also this week
-Lies

best of italy

Here are some of the 'best of' shots during our time in Italy last week. We spent most of the time in the lake Como area but my favourite part was our day trip to Venice where we were able to take in the charming scenery of this floating city and visit the Venice Biennale. ('a major contemporary art exhibition that takes place once every two years in Venice Italy...' wiki here).

We also spent a small amount of time in Milano and saw the famous Gothic cathedral and Galleria Vittorio Emanule II which houses some very expensive designer lables like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, and Versache, (not that I was buying, in fact I was too imtimidated to even go into the stores).

Even before I arrived home, I received a desperate call from work saying every teacher was either sick or on holiday, and could I come in extra hours and basically run the preschool? No problem, but since I am the very new, part time teacher and had only worked there for total of 12 hours, it was quite the leap. By the end of last week, I was very tired.

And this week we move house. again. phew! Life is a little too busy right now but I really can't complain. I am very excited about the new place, I really like my new job, and my new German course is really fabulous, but sometimes when everything is NEW and BUSY, all you want to do is curl up with a good book, and drink cups of coffee all day long, and do absolutely nothing.

Hope to catch up with all your blogs really soon!
xokimberlee