Socks Socks Socks and More Socks (cont'd)

On this very last day of a crazy year...here's the rest of the socks I've made since the 27th pair for Sister Ruth in my last sock post (October 9th):

28th Pair (for Astrid), finished October 19, 2020

Flotte Socke, Rellana #1008, Germany, 41% cotton, 39% wool, 13% polyamide, 7% polyester

[It's one of my favorite yarns to work with!]

29th Pair (for Dicky), finished October 26, 2020

Scheepjes, Invicta Colour, NL, #970, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Neighbor Dicky, who waters our plants and collects our mail on vacation, loved her first pair.

"You can't walk on one leg" (my favorite Dutch idiom), so she got another pair.]

30th Pair (for moi), finished November 4, 2020

Flotte Socke, Rellana, #1422, Germany, 70% polyacrylic, 23% viscose wool, 7% polyester

[Believe it or not, there's not a gram of wool in this yarn and is another favorite of mine.

The bamboo in the viscose wool supposedly has an antibacterial and deodorizing effect.]

31th Pair (for Susan), finished November 12, 2020

Flotte Socke, Rellana, #1540, Germany, 50% wool, 25% viscose wool, 25% polyamide

[Susan is our travel agent, working with us this crazy year to cancel, postpone or reschedule

our 3 major trips (Croatia, England, America) because of the coronavirus pandemic.

  All gratis means she deserved a pair for all her efforts!]

32nd Pair (for Riet), finished November 19, 2020

Scheepjes, Invicta Colour, NL, #973, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Riet is the Mother Hen of our senior-living complex here where we live,

always cooking and helping anyone and everyone.  She loves the socks for bedtime!]

33rd Pair (for Astrid), finished November 29, 2020

Schachenmayr Regia, Germany, #03760, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[To be honest, Astrid loves any yarn that has red in it!]

34th Pair (for Riet), finished December 6, 2020

Scheepjes, Our Tribe, NL, #968, 70% Merino wool, 30% polyamide

[Remember "You can't walk on one leg?"  Yup.  Now Riet, too, has two pairs.

And that ended my stash of 11 Scheepjes yarns having no mind of their own for matching!]

35th Pair (for Ary), finished December 13, 2020

Opal Adventure, Germany, #9825, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[Ary is the male version of our Mother-Hen Riet, always helping out whenever/wherever he can.

He was the one who called my very first pair, back in February, "Norwegian socks." 

They don't carry that design anymore, but this comes pretty close, and he loves them.]

36th Pair (for Jessica), finished December 21, 2020

Schachenmayr Regia, Germany, #09094, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[The minute I saw this Girly-Girl yarn, I grabbed it, not knowing who would receive it.

It didn't take long to choose the granddaughter of Mother-Hen Riet, who is age 20, the same age 

as my grandson Nicholas!  And yes, she modeled them for me when she opened them Christmas day.]

37th Pair (for Karin), finished December 29, 2020

Schachenmayr Regia, Germany, #09135, 75% wool, 25% polyamide

[This was another yarn I grabbed because of the black, not knowing who would receive it.

Like with Jessica, it didn't take long to choose Karin, Astrid's cousin, who wears a lot of black.

And to think I met her for the first time a month ago!]

As I said on Facebook today, who knew back in mid-February that I would become 

a maniacal sock-knitter!  HA!  It helped, of course to have a crazy stay-at-home year.

But, yes, I'm hooked, staying at home or not.  As we speak, I'm on my 38th pair....

As we say, "enough already," and on to a New Year, believing in nowhere to go but UP.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Hats Hats Hats and More Hats

 

So, yes, following on the theme of my socks, how about seeing what Astrid is knitting in HER spare time!

But first, the background.  Back in 2003 in the UK, the Innocent Drinks company started the Big Knit project that puts little hats (mutsjes, in Dutch) on the tops of their smoothie bottles in stores, now made by people all over Europe with proceeds going to a charity for seniors in need.

If you can imagine it, you can probably make it!

In fact, you can even find patterns to make them, which Astrid has started doing.

[All these images are thanks to Innocent, as shown on their smoothies.]

Not to worry that it's in Dutch, because you can still get the point.

All the little hats are now donated from many European countries for stores where they live.

In the Netherlands, €.20 for each mutsje goes to a charity helping seniors in need.

So now that you get the idea, look at what Astrid is coming up with.

Almost everything she makes is using her imagination to create new designs.

For some collages, I'm putting similar colors together.

(Do you see any yarns that look like my socks???  Talk about repurposing!)

Sometimes it's hard to categorize them apart from their "normal" style.

But how cute is that, with added "tails" (?)!

She's now getting braver as she branches out...without a pattern!

Who doesn't like the Minions, right!  Stuart on the left is her favorite.

What about Ninja Turtles...again, without a pattern.

The only mutsjes she HAS used a pattern for thus far is these sheep.  OMG!

I loved them so much, I made a composite photo for our photoblog next Christmas week:

"While shepherds watch'd their flocks by night...."

Speaking of Christmas, we can all still put on our Santa hats even if we can't meet in person.

So with that, from our house to yours...

Merry Christmas

...and please stay safe and healthy!

[I will continue to add posts with mutsjes/little hats as Astrid knits more of them in the weeks to come.]

November's Thanksgiving

 

It all started on November 2nd, the day before America's presidential election, when, while walking home from the grocery store, I saw this on the sidewalk:

It seemed so much like a good omen to me, that I went back the next day to take a photo of it,

wanting to believe all things for "out with the old and in with the new."

[But talk about a stressful time, which continues until January 20th!]

On that walk, I finally captured and then researched this fruit:  quince.

It is totally new to me, in the apple and pear family.

Even some of these are new to me but I just love November's color.

Mother Nature hangs on as long as she can, doesn't she.

Did I ever mention how much I love autumn!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Four days later, on November 7th, we drove back to the Mastbos forest in Breda, NL (see last post), 

hoping to see something different, because it's huge (1409 acres).

We were not disappointed.

For one thing, the mushrooms were still flourishing...

...though different from the first time.

You know I'm a Hart, right!  :)

But the joy of the day was this!

I had just said to Astrid that it'd be a thrill to actually see a horse, since we were on a horse trail.

I turned around to look back and VOILA.  There it was.

We literally stopped dead in our tracks to watch them come and pass right next to us.

We couldn't have picked a better day to see autumn at its peak.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The very next day, Sunday, November 8th, son Jeroen came over

 for a spontaneous walk with Hailey (now 2) around our citadel wall.

Just what the doctor ordered!

The rest of the month we've been been "processing" the presidential election and the pandemic,

roller-coasting between the myriad emotions they separately evoke.

What a crazy year!

But today, we stop to give thanks and rejoice.  We're alive and well.  Safe and sound.

To my American family and friends, please stay the same!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

An Autumnal Walk in the Lingebos and Mastbos Forests

It's my favorite time of the year...in spades!  So, as you'd guess, even in the midst of a pandemic, Astrid and I wanted to get out to enjoy the colors.  But, much to our surprise, even by now, at the end of October, we're still only at the beginning of our tree changes.

So, what you get in this post is what we DID see.  We really weren't that disappointed!

First, on October 10th, Saturday, we went to our nearby Lingebos in Vuren, just 6 km from home.  It's actually an artificial forest (284 acres) created by the government in the 1960s as a recreation area. To be honest, for how beautiful it is so near to us, we should go more often!

This is what it looked like that day, with only a few trees changing colors.

But as you see, there was plenty to see.

I really got addicted to these beauties.

And just about everything else going to seed!

I didn't even see Ms. Ladybug until I got home.  A nice surprise.

Mother Nature knows that even what we might see as imperfect is perfect.

I immediately thought of this from Martin Luther King, Jr:

"The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

Then, just as it started to rain, we had a fleeting glimpse of the Childlike Joy we all need these days.

From my first photo to the last, it was only 35 minutes.

But we were filled up.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

The following Saturday, on October 17th, we decided to try another forest, the Mastbos (1409 acres), this time in Breda, 40 km from home.  It's one of the oldest pine forests in the Netherlands, planted in 1515 with Scots pine seeds from Nuremberg, Germany.

This was where we parked and started our walk.

Before turning off from the main road, I loved the sunlight on the cut lumber.

Once again, the color change was still at it's beginning.

But still...enough to make us happy!

We weren't the only ones out that day.

But sadly, the next day many roads to the forest were closed because of coronavirus,

which is spiking now all over Europe, as well as the rest of the world.

We were lucky to have been there right at the wire.

We needed the autumnal fix!

We had seen the Bouvigne Castle, from 1554, as we drove into our parking spot,

and made sure we walked back to it before leaving.

(No, it wasn't open.)

Then, while walking back to the car, this is what we saw all along the path:

Lichen is one thing and actually stands on its own.

But then, it was like the Faeries came out in force to serenade us around their homes.

Some of these I've never seen before!

Some made me believe in growing older gracefully.

Some reminded me of why "it takes a village,"

something we so desperately need in these estranging times.

And because it's almost Halloween, how about a big 

BOO.

(It actually creeped me out!)

This time we had 2 hours of filling up our senses with, and I repeat myself,

my favorite time of the year.  God willing and the creek don't rise, 

maybe we'll get another walk in before it's all gone!

Till then, let's hope and pray next week's American Presidential Election remains as "calm" as possible.

(sigh)