a medley of things

welcome!

here i am again! sorry it took a while before i wrote this post. i hope it goes very well with you,  i’m doing fine!

 

thanks for  your good advice i received in response to my previous post. for those who thought i no longer like blogging, i enjoy doing it, i really do. 

as for a better use of my time and energy, if i put everything in a nutshell it is a matter of focusing on 1. crocheting and 2. blogging, 3. decrease the tempo and reduce the time being busy with related activities. i have stopped the ability to write comments at some older posts. it takes me a lot of time and too much energy to try to explain patterns (which i don’t have (anymore))  from years ago. believe me, i like to tell about what i crochet and if i manage to write the pattern down i will and i really, really love to share patterns/tutorials with crafters who are interested. 

thanks again for thinking with me!

 

 

 

monkeys 

i also wrote about a day trip. thursday the 12th my cousin renée and i went for the afternoon to stichting aap = foundation aap, for a program including a tour especially for donators – for quite a number of years i save my air miles for them. because of my hearing problems i was unable to follow in detail what our guide told but i thought it was nice to be there. below you can see a few pictures.

and here are two links to their website which is available in dutch, english, german, spanish and french (see top right on the homepage)

 

• stichting aap is een europees opvangcentrum voor uitheemse dieren. de dieren die bij ons terecht komen zijn afkomstig van de illegale handel, proefdierlaboratoria, circussen, louche dierentuinen of rechtstreeks van particulieren.
  http://www.aap.nl/wat-aap-doet.html
  
• aap is a european rescue centre and sanctuary for primates and other exotic mammals. based in the netherlands, we house animals from all over europe. they have been confiscated, abandoned or offered by private owners as a result of illegal trade, were being exhibited in illegal zoos or used in biomedical research or the entertainment industry.
  http://www.aap.nl/english/wat-aap-doet.html
  

 

who is looking at who?

groom each other

that is interesting

just being outdoors

quarantine, hoping for better times

 

 

also i was lucky, the weird birthmark appeared to contain no malignant cells, the stitches are removed and that was that.

 

about crocheting

the little cousin of my neighbor I had promised a garland with cars and I kept that promise.

if you like to crochet little cars too, here is the link to the tutorial

i am still working on five bags which are almost finished but two need to be provided with a liner, more about them soon and also on a larger project, but that i keep a secret for now. in between i have made ​​another pot hanger of which i wanted the colors match the prints on the wall and i think that’s succeeded.

 

that is it for this moment, i hope to see you soon here or elswhere on the ‘interwebs’:)

 

enjoy your week!

crochet pot hanger

the prints are fabric designs by Lucienne Day, from the book V&A Pattern The Fifties

pot hanger with lilies

pot hanger bottom

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P.S. and sometimes i see this message on my blog, let’s hope they keep it civilized;) i have no idea what kind of ads they show.

time and a plant hanger

thanks for visiting!

for a short time i blogged a bit less, actually only because i spent way too much time behind my computer during the last months: answering questions, (re)visiting bloggers who had written a comment on my blog, following bloggers via my reader, facebook, pinterest or mail, participating in linky parties. and this enumeration does not include the time needed writing my own posts, writing patterns,  taking pictures and editing them. what can i remove from my list? i have no idea, but i know this is not good for my health. do you have some good advice, please write it in a comment, then other bloggers can read it also.

and there is also our real world/life. since last week i have a few stitches because a strange looking birthmark is removed and being examined, it takes another week waiting for the results. but if all goes well this week i have a lovely day trip on thursday, about which i will fill a post so you can see the pictures.

 

about crochet 

saturday the neighbor and i were talking about neighbor things and her little nephew came into the garden. he seemed to love cars (what little boy does not love cars?) and i gave him the crochet garland with cars. then it turned out he has a brother of about the same age, so i quickly promised that i will crochet a similar garland for him too:)

what else did i do?

i finally made ​​a plant hanger, something i wanted to crochet for a long time.
(click on the pictures for a larger size)

plant hanger on wall

plant hanger

plant hanger inside look

plant hanger bottom

 

and there are also bags in the making (made freehand, no pattern available).

 

what you can expect soon (not this week) is the tutorial for the storage bag with the little fishes. the tutorial for the picnic blanket i have to finish too, but i lost my notes so i must try to describe it based on my photographs and the blanket itself. the tutorial for the squares is already published, here is the link to the pattern.

there were two requests in response to the happy sleeves and about that i will post too but at this point i can not tell exactly when.

 

that’s it for today.

i wish you a fantastic week!

 

welcome to my new blog!

after my last post last night on posterous i got sweet comments and i have followers on this blog already! it makes me a little emotional, i’d like to send a message back to you, but there is still much to do. so please take this first post as a thank you and a hug.

the last few evenings i like to unwind with my crochet hook and scraps of yarn, making squares (pattern here) for another little blanket. maybe a dog or cat in the shelter will be happy with it.

the large blocks blanket is almost done, but the finishing touches requires concentration… next week maybe.

to be continued…

a good weekend and hope to see you soon!

white flowers

 

today i would like to share some pictures with you. my mother gave me a huge bunch of white flowers, autumn leaves and green branches for my birthday (the fourth). it are callas, gerberas, roses and flowers whose name i can not remember. 

the roses have a sepia undertone and that shade they really have, it is not my editing skills:)

anyway, enjoy and have a very good week! 🙂

old family things

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hello, thank you for visiting my blog!

spread over a longer period of time i am cleaning up a walk in closet. i live in a very small apartment and do not have a shed, attic or basement, so i store everything in there. recently i’ve given away many of my books and magazines and more stuff. during a previous cleanup session i have discarded lots of stuff from my childhood, but i knew that i had kept things of my grandmother somewhere.

in a box with pieces of fabric this is what i found, i have taken a few pictures, you might find it nice to see:

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patterns for dresses of my mother. my mother could knit, crochet and sew and she was very good at it. check this out if you like

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crafts magazine (1957)

and templates for stuffed animals of my grandmother. i think she made many stuffed animals for her grandchildren, but i can only remember the little dachshund of one of my brothers. it was dark brown with embroidered eyes and mouth. 

the ‘tok tok’ is a pattern for a knitted duck with felt beak and legs.

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and a burda magazine that i bought in 1977. it is written in german, but the manual with patterns in dutch. here you see some pages:

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crochet patterns

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embroidery

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knitting patterns

the sweater you see here my mother knitted for me, but i no longer have it.

and this sweater is lovely, but i don’t like the moustache;)

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i hope you have enjoyed to see these old family things?