Owl Cardigan!

Another cardigan finished for my Grandson. This was made with the same pattern as the teddy bear one but knitted as a complete cardigan without motifs. The owls are crocheted and I bought them in a pack of various colours from a shop called Xenos here in The Netherlands. I did not have enough green to make it all in one colour so I decided to contrast the sleeves and band with purple and added a splash of further colour with the red buttons. I was not sure how it was going to turn out - but I am really happy with it. This was made in size 3 - 6 months.

Paddington Bear!

I love Bears of all kinds. Paddington is a favourite. My husband calls me Paddington often - due to my belongings being in one suitcase - along with me, when I moved here from the UK ( the rest of my things arrived at a later date) - that and the fact I love marmalade sandwiches and marmite even more so (those of you who are in the know regarding Paddington will know that the marmalade sandwiches are now replaced by marmite ones :D )

I made this little guy for my lovely friend here in The Netherlands  as a thank you gift for buying me a wonderful set of crochet hooks and to cheer her up as she is having a bad time of it lately with her health.

The teddy was knitted from a free pattern I found online - there are many that people have kindly submitted. The clothes I designed myself. I crocheted the hat and made the wellington boots from felt. The duffle coat I made from blue felt and I added a hood on the back. The toggles were wooden beads and the leather look accents I made from an old belt - and of course Paddington would not be Paddington without the luggage label tied around his neck with string.

I am really pleased with the way he turned out and my friend loves him.

I'm a Grandma!

It has been a week of events. I started my new job here in The Netherlands as - teaching assistant. This is the job I did back in the UK before I came over to live here. I was under the impression that they do not have them in this country - although they have a few jobs at English speaking schools in the south of Holland. We are in the East of The Netherlands towards the middle really and schools here have never heard of a teaching assistant. My husband is a teacher here and his colleagues asked if I would come in and help the students with their English last year - I really enjoyed helping them. As a result of that being successful - I was offered a more permanent position once a week.

My daughter had her baby on Thursday and my grandson weighed in at 7lb 14 1/2 ounces - a big boy! Both Mum and son are doing really well. I have seen pics of him and a video and he is just gorgeous - so looking forward to seeing him in May.

He has many clothes in the first size but as yet none in the 3 - 6 month size so my knitting and crocheting are centred on bigger sizes from now on. I made him a cardigan with teddies on the front panels which was very quick and simple to do by following the chart for the teddy bears.

It can be knitted as a jumper or a cardigan. I am really pleased with the results.

The pattern can be found online here:


C:\Documents and Settings\Clark\Mijn documenten\patterns\Free Knitting Pattern For Baby Sweater Knit As A Cardigan Or Pullover With A Teddy Bear Motif.mht

The Netherlands remembers the great floods 60 years ago today.

Special events are taking part in many places in the Netherlands on Friday to remember the great floods of 1953, in which over 1,800 people died.

In the early hours of February 1, 1953, dykes in the south of the country broke, and large parts of Zeeland, the Zuid-Holland islands and western Brabant were flooded.
Over 100,000 people lost their homes in the disaster, which was caused by a combination of strong winds and high tides. Some 500 buildings were destroyed and many more were damaged. Almost 200,000 hectares of farmland land was devastated by the salt water.
In the Zuid-Holland village of Oude Tonge, where 305 people lost their lives, there will be a wreath-laying ceremony to remember the dead. Other events take place throughout the affected areas.
The tragedy led to the development of the Delta Works flood prevention scheme, a massive complex of dykes and sluice gates along much of the southern coastline.
(Text from @DutchNews.nl - footage from youtube)

Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands has abdicated.

It was announced yesterday that Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands will stand down from her duties on the 30th April - 33 years to the day of her coronation and her son Willem-Alexander will be King of The Netherlands - the first king in this country for 123 years since the death of his great great grandfather William III.

Queen Beatrix will be celebrating her 75th birthday on the 31st of January. In her televised broadcast she said it was not because the role was too heavy for her but she had been thinking about stepping down for some time now and with this year marking the anniversary of the monarchy's 200 years - she thought it was an appropriate time to do so. In her words, "The responsibility of the country should now lie with a new generation".

Having a monarchy in a country is an important symbol of tradition and Independence - I know how proud I feel when I see our Queen in the UK - so I can totally understand how the Dutch feel about their Royal family.

New beginnings ahead for The Netherlands.

God bless Queen Beatrix for the service she has given to this country and God bless King Willem for the times that lie ahead with his reign - may he be guided always on the right path.

Baby blanket!

Just two weeks left till the arrival of my Grandson and I wanted to make him a blanket but needed it to be a quick knit. It would probably have been quicker if I had crocheted the complete blanket but I wanted it to be warm and knitting it made it a closer finish.
I knitted squares in rib and crocheted borders around each of them - then sewed them all together - crocheted a border around the whole blanket and decorated with ribbon and silk roses.
I am quite pleased with the results and my daughter loves it. Simple but effective.

Our little visitor

We had a small visitor to our balcony a couple of nights ago. I had initially taken my camera outside to snap a photograph of the birds footprints in the snow underneath the bird table - I thought it looked really pretty. My husband came out to see what I was doing and he noticed another set of footprints that were obviously not made by the birds. My first reaction was a mouse - to which I was told if it was, then it was a mouse on steroids. Then I started to panic thinking it was an r-a-t! (I have never been able to say that word and always spell it out - goes back to my childhood in Scotland - my Gran and then subsequently my Mum thought it was bad luck to say r-a-t so was spelt out instead and it has stayed with me throughout my life Lol!)  Since moving to this flat I have convinced myself that we have an r-a-t in the roof! Each year for several months we have scratchings and movements under the roof and can be heard very clearly from the bedroom. So I was sure that the footprints belonged to the culprit in the roof! My husband thought the footprints were too small for an r-a-t - so set to and did some research. He was told it was a mouse native to The Netherlands but without seeing the animal itself could not be sure which species it is.
There is no sign of it in the surrounding area of the balcony since but I am making sure the door stays firmly shut when entering and exiting outside. How on earth it managed to get up to the third floor on the outside of the building is a mystery!!

bosmuis (wood mouse) picture courtesy of wikipedia user: Rasbak