Another clever title

Oi, I had a bit of a stomach flu these past few days, so I was no position to sit at my desk. I wonder if it's the pre-moving stress that has my body all upset. I'm trying hard to plan everything out carefully, but I'm not a "manager" by any means. (Chicken with head cut off more like.) So it's all about scheduling and planning right now. I hope to get my key by the end of next week, then I want to work on the flat some more -paint, strip wallpaper, put in carpet and laminate flooring- and then move in by the weekend of the 14th.
Moving! My favorite thing in the whole world! I think this might be a good time to take up drinking wine or hard liquor...

Anyway, my belly seems to have settled down, so I can give you the 411 on my Xmas festivities. Christmas Day was good, 'cause there was:

The Second Day of Xmas (yep, we have one!) I was invited to a family dinner at E.'s with two of my fellow SnB'ers. We had a great time, a yummy dinner and to our complete surprise, we were showered with gifties. Check out the loot:

That's a picture frame, a MAGIC YARN BALL, cute ornaments that E. cleverly incorporated in the packaging and a homemade needle case that she whipped up from a placemat. This woman is creative! And she knits the most beautiful (Norwegian) fair-isle... Thanks E.!
Here's some close-ups of the roll-up case and magic ball, that has gifties in it that reveal themselves during the knitting. AND it's 15% cashmir, huhuhuhuh:

And then yesterday more bliss as I received my package from Lies for posting the 500th comment on her blog. So you see, despite the numerous international proverbs, yakking is definitely golden sometimes:

That's lovely handdyed yarn by Yvon, and a Rituals pack! (Mmmmm, Moonlight Massacre Shampoo.) Thanks Lies!
I also worked on a little mohair cable hat 'cause my head was getting cold despite the fact that we're officially having the warmest year since they started measuring in 1706:

Call Alice, there's a wonky White Rabbit on my enormous head!

Crazy?

Something tells me Crazy Frog wasn't exactly what was on Seal's mind when he wrote his super hit Crazy, but what do you make of this:

Eh?

Now that that's out of the way, knitting and Xmas content tomorrow. Plus more news about the apartment. It's getting more and more real now! (Four rooms people, and TWO balconies. I think I'm gonna pass out!)

Hmmmm...

Some visits to my blog today from the people at Woningnet whose snow I "borrowed". (Hi guys! I guess I'm busted, eh? Thanks for the snowflakes...)
Let's hope they believe in the Christmas Spirit and consider the Weather a common commodity. (I'm gonna need them these couple of weeks; I may have found an apartment...)

More soon!

Hohoho!

"Gold, frankincense and myrrh again! Next time we're putting up a gift registry, Joseph..."

Wishing you and yours a happy Winter Solstice/ Yule/ Kwanzaa/ Hanukkah/ Christmas/ Rohatsu/ Diwali /Food Fest*!

*Strike all that do not apply

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

Froukje wants to know how I got my blog to snow. (It rocks, doesn't it?)
I actually came across these cute snowflakes looking for apartments today, loved 'em, and so I snagged the code from the Woningnet website.

Just click on View (Beeld) and Source (Bron) in your browser while you're on that site; this will open a text file. Select and copy the code in between the
< script > and < /script > tags.

Paste this code into your Blogger template right smack under the tag that reads BODY and voila, a Winter Wonder Land! You can adjust the size and amount of your snowflakes to your flamboyant heart's desire.
Good luck! (And lemme know when everything I mentioned above sounds like Frisian to a Dutchie.)

Tag the weirdo

THE RULES:
"Each player of this game starts with the 'Six weird things about you'. People who get tagged need to write a blog post of their own 6 weird things as well as state this rule clearly. In the end, you need to choose 6 people to be tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave a comment that says 'you are tagged' in their comments and tell them to read your blog."

Sooo, six weird things about me. I was tagged twice, does that mean I need to find TWELVE things? (Bet you all presumed that wasn't going to be a problem, eh?)
Alright then, here goes:

1. I need a knive in my hand when I eat. This can be a problem if you're a frequent visitor of the US where apparently you're supposed to shove everything in using just your fork. (Just kidding guys)
2. Which reminds me; I eat the wrong way round; fork in the right hand, knife in the left, even though I'm right handed. (So I'm not as well mannered as the statement above would imply.)
3. I NEED to have my blanket tucked in. No cold, dangling feet for me.
4. Speaking of blankies, I slept with one until well in my twenties, until a roommate lost it in the wash. (I still reach for it sometimes.)
5. I've been dyeing my hair for so long, I'm not quite sure what my real hair color is. If I remember correctly, it's a bit of a plain dark blonde.
6. I don't drink wine. (Not sure how weird that is exactly, but since I do drink beer, I may feel suddenly silly and inelegant at dinner parties.)

Alright. That's six for Lisa, now six for Liza. I'm on a roll here:

1. I have a pseudo-itch in my right palm, that appeared out of nowhere and doesn't seem to be coming from a "real" source.
2. I hate cutting up meat, like chicken filet. When I cook, I prefer someone else to step in and take care of that bit for me. (I will do it if I can't find any willing victims; the sensation of the cold meat just freaks me out.)
3. I have no middle name. (But a double first name. Ha!)
4. I whistle or sing along to everything, all the time. I find it makes me easily locatable at department stores or supermarkets.
5. I'd love to take part in a rally race like Paris-Dakar.
6. And finally, drumroll: I castrated my own cat. (Don't worry, my best friend's a brilliant vet and we lovingly yanked off his balls in the privacy of my own home. With full anesthetic.)

Ok, I am pretty weird. But just how weird are Tijm, Spirals, Sandra, CarryFairie, Mir, and Jonna?

Bit the bullet!

Lo and behold: I focused some chi and finished the socksies today. I think they turned out absolutely awesome. Hope the baby doesn't get friggin trauma burn blisters when they put these on:

Now it's on to my mom's Cardigan of Ultimate Doom, that I've been working on for almost two years now.
Hey, I'm starting New Year's Resolutions early this year... "Finish. What. You. Start. Finish. What. You. Start."

P.s. Woah, I'm it! I've been tagged by a Lisa and a Liza.
Ladies, I'm working on it, I'm working on it! I'll dedicate a post to your tags after dinner tonight.

Snot. As in: 's not funny...

Due to me having a big bad cold, no fun post full of pics yet. I'm too sick to knit, and that should tell you something.
Still trying to finish that baby sock for Ziggy, 'cause the poor kid's been born almost a month ago, but you know, I was working on sock 1 during my final dramatic days at Casa de Dave. You know, when my life didn't quite take the course I'd hoped it would? Can't believe it's only been 5 weeks.
Anyway, now it's like there's something in the texture and the colors that's just confrontational. You know your knitting has a memory, right? And when big portions have been done during a good movie, or a great road trip, that's lovely, but this is one situation I never wish to repeat. Poor baby sock.

Krazy stuff, knitting...

Run, Forest, Run!

So tell me: The 5 kilometer Ladies Run of the Nike Hilversum City Run.....
----------->>>>>>>>>

(I placed the poll in the sidebar to let EVERYBODY still have their say.)

Umbilical bliss

Finally got the cable to upload my pictures. So without any further ado -gedoe?- here are the little snapshots that have been lurking in my camera all these weeks:
Me and my feminist and knitting heroine, the lovely Ms. Debbie Stoller, knitting for Poland:

There was a lot of hustle and bustle (ado?) about this new brand of smoothies called Innocent. I find them to be way outside my budget at €2,79 for 250 ml, but they are doing a really cool fundraiser for lonely grannies and grandpas, resulting in something like this: (Hat by Arja!!!!!! ;)

Their cool van was parked outside the venue, the beautiful Van Nelle factory. It's covered in fake grass and daisies:

And here's the new, and apparently unimpressed, addition to my family: Lotje. More about her later:

Remember my little cousin niece (thanks Dave), baby Sofia? Well here's how the little muffin is looking now:


And finally: Would you allow this into your country:

I entered the Green Card lottery, just in time. The photo requirements are rediculously specific, and it took me about 15 pics to finally get it semi-right. (Read: nasss-ty.) This was one of the last pics, and you can tell I'm obviously getting fed up. First red eyes, then no make-up, DON'T SMILE, let's wear something else, what the hell is that shadow across my face, that can't be me, shit, the backdrop needs to be empty. This was the only one with the right proportions and no red-eye, but I mean, seriously people: