workshop crochet jewels

I have been to a very good workshop.  I have learned how to crochet with tiny stiches, and make the most wonderful objects.  For those of you who know the website  'Ne vous installez pas' : Veerle Maes is the teacher, and what we learn is the basics of her designs.  If you don't know that website, you can visit it here.  It's just amazing what she can produce with a crochet hook and a few silk threads. 

She's a wonderful and very patient teacher, and we're a bunch of eager pupils, fiddling away with the most shiny and silky (and thin) threads. 
Here you can have a look at what we make :

 it took me 30 minutes and a lot of patience to make this

all very busy and concentrating

you need a steady hand and good eyes

and a cup of coffee

and a piece of wood to hold the bead firm (verrrry difficult !)

to finally achieve this result.  Not too bad - isn't it ?

looking for Elisabeth Zimmerman books

You knitting fans will probably know Elisabeth Zimmerman, or at least have heard of her.  I love the way she writes her books : it's like she's sitting right next to you, enjoying a cup of tea and talking about knitting and giving you a load of useful tips and tricks in the meantime.  I am proud to be the owner of 'Knitting without tears' and 'Knitter's Almanac'.  I have read them from cover to cover.  I had to order these books in America, and payed more for the postage costs to Belgium then for the book itself.  But it was worth it !

Now I am desperately seeking a collection of EZ's newsletters from the fifties and sixties, published under the name 'The opinionated knitter'.

this is how the book looks

 It is no longer available in print, so here is my question : is there anybody out there who has this book ?  And could I lend it to read it, or even buy it from you ?    Perhaps it belonged to your (grand)mother and you don't want it ?  Please let me know.  Anybody ?

in the newspaper !

Last weekend, there was a review in one of the national papers about knitting clubs in Oostende, and I got a mention !   If you want to read the article, you can log on to the website of 'de standaard online', but here is a picture.  I'm really proud now.  It's the 1st time I am in an article in a newspaper... 

knitting contest in Kortrijk

When my sister and I visited the Hobby event in Kortrijk, we participated in a knitting contest. It was organised by the shop where we frequently buy wool in Brugge, called 'Ajour'.   Here are the pictures of it.  Don't we look slightly obsessed... ?

Ready, set, go !

I want to win this !

It was fun, and she did win....

Beaten by my sister, and by only 2 stiches  !

the Ajour  of Brugge stand

knitted easter bunny

Just a quick knit, a lovely easter bunny pattern I couldn't resist...

A little bit of wool

changed into this litttle fellow

I have no feet....

I'm stuck on this glass

Under my purple belly there is an egg

I keep it warm for breakfast

handmade necklace

Last Thursday there was a jewelery workshop at Zynnad. 
I made this new necklace, using very colourful beads.  To me they shout : sun, summer,sleeveless tops...
They are a natural stone, with a little bit of chalk in them.  (that's the little white freckels).  By wearing the necklace, the warmth and grease of my skin will make the beads shiny and the chalk will dissapeare more or less. 

It was a lot of work : every bead is kettled (linked, joining the beads on little metal sticks, making a loop and joining the next stick on that - are you still with me ???)  and this gives the zigzag look.
Thanks to the good explanation of Lindsey I managed it quite right and I'm very glad with the result. 

Winnie joined me for the first time and found it rather difficult.  It is a very intensive methode, and you have to have a steady hand and good eyes to make all the little loops.

Lindsey's mum is helping to choose -  there's a huge amount of beads

Winnie chose black and red and silver accents

all my beads are ready to be joined

that's the result of somebody else, all black and grey

busy busy busy

Winnie needing help

this is the result !

the yellow and green I like very much

Winnie's chain looked great, but the black turned out to be dark aubergine...

If you want more information about Zynnad, look here :

http://www.zynnad.be/

bloghopping around...

I had some free time today (well, the floor is cleaned and still wet, so I started up the computer while it is drying)  and that 's a good excuse to go bloghopping....   I always love to see what other people are crafting, and their projects inspire me.  (I keep thinking 'oooh  I love that.  Can I make it ?' until my head spins)

Now, I was lucky to find the blog of  Jacey, a British mum who creates lovely things.  She has a give away and I can't resist to participate.  So here is the link to her blog

http://coffeencrochet.blogspot.com/

and this is the picture of the give away...

Now keep my fingers crossed.....

Surfin' along I found another blog that kind of pushed me into thinking about being creative.  I hesitated, but than boldly enrolled in the 'being creative' project Julia proposes.  It goes like this :
every month she has a theme.  March is 'Garden'.  You have the whole month to be creative around this theme.  At the end of the month you upload a picture of your work, and share it with the world.
It might be a good excuse for me to sit down and actually make a drawing or a painting.  It's been ages since I did that.  Or I could knit something 'gardeninsh'...  i'll give it a try.  If you'd like to participate, just visit her blog on

http://juliacrossland.blogspot.com/

Well, my floor has been dry for a while now.  I suppose I better put everything back in place now, before the hungry young ones come home and want their lunch...

Introducing Polly

Hello, My name is Polly. 

I enjoy sitting around the house, looking at the people around me.  I'm rather quiet, but I have a very soft character.  How do you like my dress ?  My matching shoes are very comfortable too.  Perhaps I will go shopping for a new dress in another colour soon.  And I need some underwear... I have a twin sister who is a model.  Her pictures are in a knitting book.

I love flowers !

More knitting stuff...

The little book from Libelle with its many patterns has inspired me !  I have knitted the teddybear (you saw in an earlier post) and now I have knitted this....

What will this become ?     Hazve a little patience with me.  I will post it soon....

spring is in the air

I have seen the sun !  I have felt her warmth (from behind a glass window because there is still a cold wind) - but I can tell : there is definately some spring in the air.  So I have made some new stuff, with the new season in my mind. 

At breakfast we like a boiled egg.  But the eggs need a little jacket filled with soft fiberfill to keep them warm.  And to avoid any mistakes, I personalised them with some embroidery.  This is what I made :

embroidered with a cup of coffee and an egg

embroidered with a coffeepot and a coffeecup

A lovely afternoon at Kortrijk Expo

It was sunny and warm in the car when my sister and I drove to Kortrijk.  Finally a bit of sunlight and we decided to spend the afternoon INSIDE a big building....  but  filled with all sorts of crafts, we couldn't be happier.
We walked around in amazement : such a choice, so many ideas...  We visited a shop with patchwork, and bought some nice yellowish fabric with Easter in mind...   then beads and pearls and stuff to make necklaces and earrings.  Then we joined in a knit-marathon  : in 3 minutes we had to knit as many stiches as we could.  I was pleased with my result : 165 stiches.   But I was beaten by 2 stiches by my sister :  she had 167 stiches. There will have to be a revenge...
We bought books with patterns, and a leaflet to make Tilda dolls.  A set of fimo clay  with instuctions how to make flowers.   Unfortunately and very stupid : I forgot to bring my camera....   So, no pictures of us at the exposition  I'm sorry.  But this is what I got :

a passion for knitting, with lovely projects

gorgeous hats by a  Dutch designer

workshop box 'how to make flowers in fimo'

something very weird called kumihimo...

the new Tilda book...with instructions in Dutch !

pictures of the workshop have arrived !

Here are the photo's of the workshop I gave in a school in Oostende.  The students had 2 days of 'arts and crafts', and knitting was one of the options.  That's how it looked like.  Many thanks to Zaur for taking these pictures !

the school in one of Oostende's nicest buildings

Knitting techniques explained to the young

concentrating on the needles, stich by stich the work grows

We are trying to invent a new technique !

Explaining that the shawl this girl bought is a knitted one

the boy on the right used 2 colours : black and red and got it right !

The knitting created a 'zen'-like atmosphere...

Where have the stiches gone ?

smells like teen spirit...

...the great fashion designers are men...

Many students refer to their gandmothers who were knitters

Their teacher joined in, remembering the skill of knitting