A small WIP

This is the beginning of a sock for Sweetheart. It is a tweedy navy yarn, soft and thicker than your usual sock yarn.

I want to get them finished during my winter holidays (yay, I am off work until January 6th), maybe even this year. 

Back

I think I'll give my blog a revival after nearly a year of "silence".

As today with the winter solstice is the natural start of the new year this seems to be the right day. 

This past year has been really special to me, as I got a very unique chance. 

More about that to come. 

January Mystery Mittens

These are the Secret Garden mittens that I was knitting last winter. The picture was saved as a draft and it reminds me to get them out to finally wear them. It got just cold enough and they will add some nice colour to my grey wool coat. 

New pics of the gang

It is so nice to take them for a walk when the sun shines, but you can't imagine how they look when the ground is wet and sticky. A damp microfiber towel is my best friend right now! The girls are somewhat careful where they walk but sometimes all the lane is just one muddy puddle and there is no help getting at least dirty feet and som splashes of brown in the white coats ;-). Peio on the other hand doesn't care where he walks, an jumping into puddles is the biggest fun, or just walking through, or stepping in the deep mud while there is grass at the side...

But these pics are from a sunny day when the ground had dried off a bit:

Flavie and Peio

  

Bisou

Myrtille

I can't understand people thinking they all look the same...

Thanks for coming over.

Tina

This week on Instagram

Thanks for coming over. 

Tina

Grow Your Blog

Hi, welcome here at my place!

Today I am taking part in the Grow Your Blog party hosted by Vicki from 2 Bags Full .
Over five hundred people have entered their blogs to take part in the fun, to make friends, to gain new readers and to find interesting blogs we love.

Expecting a few of these coming here I want to write a few words about me:
My name is Tina, I am 44 years old (for nearly another month), and I live in South West Germany, in a region called Pfalz (Palatinate), that is known for growing wine, fruit, vegetables,  and a rather mild climate. I am a vegetarian so I can eat a lot of local produce. I speak German, English, and French, and I am learning Spanish.
In my spare time after work and on the weekends I love to be outside, to spend time with our four dogs, go for walks and runs and bike rides, to work in the little garden behind the house in which we have flowers, fruit and veggies, and a lawn for the dogs to run around.
I also love to knit and crochet and sometimes cross stitch, and recently I found my love for photography again.

The pond close by

And that's about it what I share here.
I started blogging in 2005 (first blog post was on april 21 to be exact), as a log for my knitting in the first place. I had just found out about the SixSoxKnitalong where every two months a new sock pattern was released. I had read a few blogs first without having the urge to write one myself, but then it seemed a good way to show the pictures of my knitting.
I also had wanted to post some pictures of the dogs, and when I thought about what name to choose I came up with "hundgestrickt" that is explained above in my header.
In the beginning I only wrote in German, my native language, sometimes in English for international knitalong posts, or in French for a sweater knitalong with people in France. I also have tried to translate into both foreign languages, but that was just too time consuming, so I am sticking to international English. There is a translating tool button in the side bar for those not understanding English at all.

My gang

I hope you enjoy browsing my blog, seeing my dogs (all rescues from Spain/Greece/and local shelters for those that are no longer with us), discovering my surroundings and my garden, and having a look at my knitting and other crafts. You can choose from the labels in the side bar to get you to topics that you are interested in.

Little ol' me

I would be pleased if you'd leave a comment here and there, I promise I will answer each of them, and I hope you do want to come back soon. If you are set to "noreply" email please come back here to see my reply.

Have a good weekend, I will definitely spend part of mine visiting your blogs!
Thanks for coming over.
Tina

KAL progress

I am behind the schedule with my mittens as all clues for the second mitten are out. But I don't worry of not being done in time as this weekend I won't be as busy as last one.

After I had taken the picture with the mittens on Bisou Myrtille had to check them out, too...

Thanks for coming over.

Tina

Sweater dog beds

It must have been years ago that I saw a picture on the www that cought my attention. It was of a dogbed made from an old sweater. I think it was this one and I loved it and immediately had an old sweater in mind that I would use.

Took me until this winter to finally get around to tackle the project. Had two sweaters to use up, had a cushion, got another one and some stuffing for the sleeves.

It is easy but I found it a bit hard for my hands to deal with the fabric.

You sew straight from armpit to armpit, stuff the sleeves from the neck opening and from their bottom openings, close the neck opening, stuff some more and straighten the stuffing. Sew the sleeve openings together so that you get a round tube. Insert a fitting cushion into the body of the sweater and sew the bottom close while attaching the sleeve tube all around. Tada:

They ALL love them! If one leaves one of these, you can be sure someone else (who you thought was deeply asleep somewhere else) will occupy it immediately. 

Hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do. Perhaps you want to make some comfy dog bed yourself. I would be pleased to answer any detail questions on how I made them.

Thanks for coming over.

Tina

This week on Instagram

I think it is a beautiful corner of the world I live in... You just have to see the beauty. Capture it to share it.
I am so glad I got back into photography again!!!

Thanks for coming over.
Tina

Peio's first birthday

Today is my small boy's first birthday. The date was estimated by the rescue organisation where he and his siblings had been brought to in march last year after they were found in a box on a meadow.

It is amazing how special he is, how much I learn from him to make him deal with his fears, and how he has developped, both physically and mentally.

Scanning the horizon

Hola Mama, estoy aqui!!! (Hi Mom, here I am)

Sniffing important things amidst his sisters.

Thanks for coming over.
Tina

This week on Instagram

    
Myrtille Flavie Bisou

Peio Myrtille Bisou Flavie

Bisou Myrtille Flavie

Thanks for coming over.
Tina

Mystery mittens KAL

I am having such a lot of fun with this KAL, I'm so glad I decided to take part!

The second clue is done, too. It is the first part of the first mitten (other one will be different and I love the idea), and while knitting it and discussing the motiv in the group I learned that the mittens are based on the popular children's book "The secret garden" by Frances Hodgson. I hadn't known it before, so I got it to read as an e-book as well as an audiobook so I can listen to it while knitting on the mittens. 

Even more fun! It is very interesting to see all the different mittens in the discussion thread, all those different colour combinations, and the group is very supportive and motivating.

Link to my ravelry project page

Link to the discussion thread in the I make mittens group.

Can you see the dog?

The little white running poodle?

Running across the sky? From left to right? I loved it!

This makes me smile

I posted this key chain back when I had  made it. But I like it so much, I really have to smile each time I have it in my hand. It holds the garden key and when I went to the garden door the other day I thought I could take a picture again to repost it.

The little budgie is a toy made by a reknown company called Schleich and all their little animals look so real.

It hurt me to drill a hole through the middle of it to thread my braid through it. But I knew the result would be cute... Added a few beads and that's it.

Here's the link to the original post with doggies involved in modelling...

Promising

Isn't this branch promising? In the middle of winter there is already the new life in these buds, ready for spring to come. Right now it isn't "wintery" at all, with lots of rain and temperatures around ten degrees Celsius during the days. The fields and paths are very muddy, most days are just dark and grey. Still I try to find the tiny bit of light in each of them!
Take care, Tina

Mystery mittens KAL clue #1 - The Cuff

The fun has started. First clue was the cuffs which was the same pattern for both mittens. I learned a new technique for creating the red stitches which are "rose buds" along the stem. Perhaps the stems would stand out more if I had held the yarn in the other hand, as always the yarn that comes from under the other one is the one that is dominant. But I still love the look of it.

Link to my ravelry project page (you have to log in) and link to the KAL thread in the I make mittens group.

Happy New Year