Monday, November 23, 2009

Holiday!

We're going to De Veluwe in The Netherlands! Finally again :)
It's raining. They say it's raining tomorrow too. I don't care! We're going to De Veluwe! :D

Holiday!

We're going to De Veluwe in The Netherlands! Finally again :)
It's raining. They say it's raining tomorrow too. I don't care! We're going to De Veluwe! :D

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Time to crochet again!

It's been awefully quiet here for a while!

I did some crochet projects for charity, but during and after that my health got me into trouble and I really had to take it easy. There was a point when I was ready to accept the fact that I wouldn't be able to work for more than 16 hours a week instead of the 24 for which I'm paid. Lyme Disease and PCOS, it seemed like those 2 were ruining my daily life. I was really grateful to find that after that turning point of acceptance and giving in suddenly a change came. Lots of complaints that were there for quite some time lessened and others vanished. Right on time.
Soon after that turning point we found out my Mum has lung cancer. It's not life threatening and she's on chemo therapy now. Last Friday we heard that the doctor wants to proceed with this combination of meds, because the x-ray pics were satisfying. From the 4 treatments there are 2 more to go. Unfortunately she was in hospital for almost a week after the second treatment because of severe obstipation. There is a chance this will happen again, but Mum doesn't care now she knows this treatment is doing it's work well.

Last week was tough, having to await Friday and the x-ray pics. We were terribly tired and even after the good news I couldn't find my energy again. The old complaints? No, it felt different and it turned out to be either a cold or some virus! Even beneath the muscle and head aches I can feel the energy I found back and although I'm still tired now I do realize it will get better as soon as I recover fully. Until that time it's better if I'm not seeing Mum.

In the meantime I've started to crochet again! I've actually started in hospital.
My dad died there 4 years ago. Although he had lung cancer as well he didn't die from it. He had a rare disease that put him into IC often before they even discovered the disease and found out he had it too. It was because of this disease that his body was older than the 65 years he had lived up to that moment. It was hard to let him go, but there was no other way and he lived his entire life in those 65 years. I'm very proud of him!
Now my Mum was admitted and treated in the same hospital and all of us are sure she's going to make it. For the last couple of months it seems I'm facing old enemies, but only to find out it can be different than all negative. Same thing happened when I had to call in sick for 8 hours a week at work and it happens with Mum now again. Therefore it felt okay to start crocheting again in the hospital. To emphasise for myself the feeling that old fears can be released and that negative situations in the past not always have to be negative today. Something like that!

There are some projects that have my attention at the moment. One of them is really fuelling my restart in crochet, because I'm a tester for a new pattern! It's wonderful and I'm honored!
More news later on :)

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Being a novice...


Today it happened again: I was starting a new crochet project, I read the instructions and was thinking "Huh??". I decided not to be unsure about it and start anyway. The pattern was stated as "easy" so come on! I started. Doing exactly what the instructions said. Thinking "How can this be right?", but still crocheting further until the AHA!-moment came.
When reading the pattern before I actually start I'm sort of "pre-crocheting" the pattern in my mind . It puzzles me a lot, being a novice with not too much crochet experience, and makes me think about what other project to start when this one doesn't work for me... Until I see the light and understand what was meant in the instructions.

For some time that took more confidence from me than I had. I started to crochet last summer and I immediately liked it a lot. I had quite a lot of help and a Dutch crochet pattern. I was scared off by a lot of English patterns with US crochet terms. Just a couple of weeks ago my Mum bought me a great crochet book by Jan Eaton, translated in Dutch and I became a more active member on Ravelry! No idea what did it, but I finally gained the confidence to start a project in US crochet terms and without the help of a dear friend who really knows about crochet (in Dutch that is). It was a success and I gained confidence.
I know that I just have to start and do exactly as described in the patterns. When I get more experienced I might be able to "pre-crochet" in my mind when reading the pattern, but not now!

In the meantime since my last blog I wasn't doing completely nothing. I made another pair of the openwork handwarmers and I crocheted a beaded scrunchie. Both projects added to my knowledge of and insight in crochet, gave me even more confidence and were a lot of fun!
Some pics can be found here:
Bambou Beaded Scrunchie
Mermaid Openwork Handwarmers

Mermaid Openwork Handwarmers other side


I still had to weave in the ends, but that's also done now.
Time to go on with my new and secret project! (it's a surprise for a friend ;-))

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Novice crocheteer trying the Crochet Openwork Handwarmer...



Okay… that didn’t go very well! Let me rush to say that that’s got nothing to do with the pattern, but then again: I’m a novice crocheteer, I have to translate the crochet stitches into Dutch and this yarn wasn’t the best yarn for this project.
You can find the lovely beginner-friendly pattern here:
Creativeyarn: Crochet Openwork Handwarmers

I’m a loose crocheteer and still being a novice I tend to start tight and end up much more loose in the stitches. Knowing that I already took a smaller hook, but I’m not happy with the upper end of the one glove I made. Still, I had lots of fun and this is the first somewhat bigger project in American English crochet so the learning part in dealing with all of this made it worth while! The beginner-friendly pattern made me not give up. Giving up would just have meant that I wouldn't have tried this on my own anymore. Instead I would have seen my local crochet guru and she would have worked it out, even though her English isn't great when it comes to crafts. Having had this experience I now feel quite confident: I did it all by myself! Okay, not quite according to the pattern....
One of the things I learned in the end is that I’ve been doing half double crochet all over the pattern instead of double crochet as I should have been doing. Imagine… it’s sloppy already… If I’d used double crochet this would have been one giant glove!

Tomorrow I’ll give it another try with different yarn and let’s see what will happen then :-)

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Joining rings....

Finally, on January 12th in the evening I found enough courage to start tatting!
It's not that tatting is that fearfull or threatening... Here's the story of my life from about 3 years ago until now and what tatting is doing for me.

Somewhat more than 3 years ago I met my soulmate and we're very happy!
In the first year I was often not feeling well. About a year later we found out I had Lyme Disease. I've been treated and as far as I'm concerned I'm cured now. Period! Sometimes I still experience health trouble though, but not so bad as back then. Part of my current health trouble has its origin in PCOS.
My hubby and I know we won't have children. Not only because of PCOS, but also due to the lack of energy I still have sometimes and some other issues. That was a very hard decision to make, but inevitable. During all of this my great guy has often said he'll stay with me, no matter what. The most wonderful human being I've ever met, that's for sure!

In our first year together we arranged a civil partnership and in October 2008 the partnership was changed into a marriage. We had to postpone the party, but we did have our honeymoon. On January 16th it was time for our wedding party!
These first 3 years were very happy, but also turned into a bumpy ride because of everything else. We both felt things would be calming down after our honeymoon and they did! We know what we won't have in life, but I also started feeling more and more like myself again.

Last year I started to take an interest in crafts. I found out about tatting, but that seemed too difficult back then. I did have a book and some shuttles ready though. My wedding dress is made by a very dear and talented friend. When we collected the dress we had a lovely walk and chat with her and her Mom. Now her Mom is really interested in all sorts of old time crafts too. Someone else we both know from a message board had posted a message about her tatted snowflakes so we got to talk about tatting. Somehow all of this inspired me and gave me the courage. The Monday before our wedding party I finally started tatting!

Following the directions and translating them into movements from my own hands was as easy as it used to be years ago. It was kind of emotional, finding back what I was afraid I'd lost forever...
At first there was a bit of a struggle of course, but there it was: the double knot!!!
The day before yesterday I made a couple of joining rings in thread nr. 8 and yesterday I tried that in DMC 80. I'm not sure if I do this the right way, but I did it and all rings are closed! Of course the picots are not the same size and thread tension is still an issue, but for me learning the technique is most important now. Those other issues will pass over time, due to practise-practise-practise.
Last night I tried to join 4 rings into a square, but I didn't do it right. It was a bit late... As soon as I can find some time I'll try again. I'm very greatful for all the lovely websites and blogs with instructions to add to the printed books!

Joining rings...