Lopi On My Mind...

LettLopi that is!  {smile}

During the Spring of this year I signed up for the Icelandic Sweater knitting class with Ragga Eiriksdottir on Craftsy and the time has finally come for me to tackle this rather daunting project. 

The plan was to buy the wool (first time I'm actually knitting with real wool and not acrylic) in Holland with my mom as this was supposed to be a gift from her to me for my birthday. Ack and alas, the Lettlopi wool (an Icelandic wool) was nowhere to be found! She ended up giving me the money and I bought the wool right here at the end of our street at Tolt Yarn & Wool! To be honest I preferred the idea of buying locally anyway, so all was well. I bought the wool last Friday and have managed quite a bit of the complicated pattern already...

This is what the cardigan should you like in the end but then with the light-blue as an accent color:

The whole thing will be knit in the round and then in the end it will get 'steeked', i.e. it will get cut open in the middle with a pair of scissors!!!! Yaiks!

Since the weather has turned towards the Fall for real now, this is a perfect project. To top it all off, I'm starting a yoga class tomorrow for the first time ever! Yay, to new adventures!  

Friendly Faces...

Click! to enlarge...

Some of the Family & Friends I met with/ stayed with/ ate with/ laughed with/ biked into town with during my travels in The Netherlands: it was so wonderful to see you all again!  {smile}

my sister's cat and my bed companion...

Come Sail Away...

Two out of the three days we went out sailing, there was no wind... Beautiful pictures were to be taken however!  {smile}

IJsselmeer...

(all photo's were edited with 'BeFunky')

Counting Sheep...

I am very pleased to be able to tell you that I am now 'counting fewer sheep' than I was a couple of nights ago, i.e. my jet-lag is just about gone!  {smile}

During my first week in Holland my sister and I met up with Marc, an old schoolmate of hers from 30+ years ago. We have been following his adventures as a sheepherder for a few years now via social media and it was so much fun to finally meet him again after all these years! 

He and his flock and his dog Sweep happened to be located near where my sister lives and so we set out to find them on 'Landgoed De Paltz'...

We spent about two and a half hours with them and it was truly a spectacular get-together. Thank you Marc, for such a special experience!  {smile}

Sheep kisses are the best!

PS The herd contained 250 sheep!

Back Home...

While jet-lag is still keeping me in its grip, I'm slowly starting to get back into the swing of things. 

I returned Sunday night (a 9+ hour flight with a 4 hour delay) after three fabulous weeks in The Netherlands. I visited my family members and friends from 30+ years ago and talked more during this time than I usually do in six months, so yes, I am a bit tired now...  <wink>

If you've kept an eye out at all on this blog, then you should have noticed all the fab pics I took with my phone using the Snapseed App on my Instagram account. (if not then go there now, they are worth it!) I did take some pics with my regular camera also and will share some of them here. Starting with collages of three cities I visited the first week: Naarden, Dordrecht and Den Bosch...

(please click on the photos to enlarge)

Guess where..

Currently I am just about in the middle of my three week trip to......

Yes there, The Netherlands! 

You can follow along on my travels via Instagram for now. Once I am back I will download the pics from my actual camera and share them with you. Tot dan!