Quote of the day
In the rhythm of the needlesthere is music for the soul.
Breiclub in Oostende : om de 2 weken de zaterdag van 10 u - 12.30 u in de bieb
zaterdag 30 april 2011
maandag 25 april 2011
tilda geese
For my Easter decoration, this year I made some Tilda geese. I love the little pattern, very easy to make.
I also added some little ... hmm... what do you call this ? .... little ears ? They seem to belong to a little bunny don't they ? I used some left over fabric so they match the geese.
I also added some little ... hmm... what do you call this ? .... little ears ? They seem to belong to a little bunny don't they ? I used some left over fabric so they match the geese.
zondag 24 april 2011
kushu kushu scarf
I promised to keep you informed about the knit kit I bought at the aAntwerp Fashion museum, didn't I ?
Well, it knits very slowly. the fine steel thread feels a bit awkward, and I can't knit at my usual tempo. But it's slowly growing. The first section is 23 cm in steel thread. (black)
then I had to add the merino wool (red) and continue for 90 cm. I've been knitting all evening, and only 10 cm progress. Very slow knitting, and the cones are difficult to unwind too.
Well, the kushu kushu scarf will not be finished in a couple of hours. It will rather be a couple of days.....
Will keep you up to date about this project....
Well, it knits very slowly. the fine steel thread feels a bit awkward, and I can't knit at my usual tempo. But it's slowly growing. The first section is 23 cm in steel thread. (black)
then I had to add the merino wool (red) and continue for 90 cm. I've been knitting all evening, and only 10 cm progress. Very slow knitting, and the cones are difficult to unwind too.
Well, the kushu kushu scarf will not be finished in a couple of hours. It will rather be a couple of days.....
Will keep you up to date about this project....
recycle art
something I made with small objects from the flea market :
I don't know the word in English for this. It's something you can use to put small chocolates, or cupcakes on. It's nice to present your little teabiscuits on, when you have friends over for tea or coffee. I find it has a lot of cosiness and a romantic shine.
I made it with old plates, saucers and glasses. I glued everything together with an invisible 2-component glue.
The yellow one with little romantic flowers is for myself. The blue one is for my sister, she has white and blue dishes, it will match nicely.
I think it's a nice gift, and doesn't cost much (about 6 euros for the 2) and it gives me the good feeling of using old pieces to create something pretty.
I don't know the word in English for this. It's something you can use to put small chocolates, or cupcakes on. It's nice to present your little teabiscuits on, when you have friends over for tea or coffee. I find it has a lot of cosiness and a romantic shine.
I made it with old plates, saucers and glasses. I glued everything together with an invisible 2-component glue.
The yellow one with little romantic flowers is for myself. The blue one is for my sister, she has white and blue dishes, it will match nicely.
I think it's a nice gift, and doesn't cost much (about 6 euros for the 2) and it gives me the good feeling of using old pieces to create something pretty.
vrijdag 22 april 2011
modemuseum antwerpen
Yesterday, we visited the Momu (Fashion museum) in Antwerp. It had a special edition about knitted fashion through the centuries, and I really wanted to see it.
A good start : with my teacher's card I got in for free !
we weren't allowed to take pictures with flash lights, and that made it a bit difficult... Sorry for the bad quality, but just to give you an impression...
When we left the Momu, we saw the special exhibit of the Lena & Zasa shop. They sold a knit kit for a Kushu Kushu scarf, knitted and felted with steel, silk and merino incl. bamboo knitting needles. Who can resist that ? Certainly not me ! I bought the knit , in red and black (very dramatic....)
So by then we were ready for a lunch 'al freso' & enjoyed the sunny day at one of Antwerp's many bistro's.
Here Winnie is a little envious of my gigantic sandwich..... You don't want to see a picture of me with my mouth full of this....
We had some time left over for shopping and Antwerp is a great town for this. All shops are just a XXL size compared to the little dwarf-like shops we seem to have in Oostende....
Inhabitants of Antwerp have this 'air' about them, sometime when you hear them talk it's like they live in New York. People of Antwerp say they live in THE city, and all the rest of Flanders is their parking space....
To be honest, I'd like to live there for a while, just to enjoy the hustle and the bustle of a big town.
We also paid a visit to the 'Lombardia', a very well known bio-food restaurant/shop that is very proud to have Sting and Moby as customers (when they are in Belgium) Check out the website lombardia
There we bought the Ginger Love Tea - invented by a Belgian, a really divine drink !
After another cup of coffee and a piece of low-fat, calorie burning no sugar added double chocolate cake, we were ready for home.
I'm starting on my kushu kushu scarf right now, will keep you informed about progress....
A good start : with my teacher's card I got in for free !
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| what a good idea for wall decoration... |
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| a huge carpet.... knit by one of Flanders' last knitting companies |
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| From the 1920ies & I'd wear this one immediately ! |
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| Hilde Frunt and SIGI (mother and son) designed and knitted these |
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| crazy stuff, but sooo original ! |
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| beautiful socks with knittted flowers |
So by then we were ready for a lunch 'al freso' & enjoyed the sunny day at one of Antwerp's many bistro's.
Here Winnie is a little envious of my gigantic sandwich..... You don't want to see a picture of me with my mouth full of this....
We had some time left over for shopping and Antwerp is a great town for this. All shops are just a XXL size compared to the little dwarf-like shops we seem to have in Oostende....
Inhabitants of Antwerp have this 'air' about them, sometime when you hear them talk it's like they live in New York. People of Antwerp say they live in THE city, and all the rest of Flanders is their parking space....
To be honest, I'd like to live there for a while, just to enjoy the hustle and the bustle of a big town.
We also paid a visit to the 'Lombardia', a very well known bio-food restaurant/shop that is very proud to have Sting and Moby as customers (when they are in Belgium) Check out the website lombardia
There we bought the Ginger Love Tea - invented by a Belgian, a really divine drink !
After another cup of coffee and a piece of low-fat, calorie burning no sugar added double chocolate cake, we were ready for home.
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| waiting for the intercity train.... with a bag full of goodies.... |
vrijdag 15 april 2011
a new wool shop in Oostende !
Yes, a new shop that sells wool. And not just plain wool, but very good quality too.
I have been there yesterday, and couldn't resist some linnen to make a summer scarf. There are also pure cotton, lushy mohairs, and even Kid silk in many colours ! They have the collection of Drops design, and also the books.
The lady who owns the shop is a very well known knitter. She used to own a Phildar shop, and she could read a pattern like it's nothing. When I was a little girl, my mother would take me to her shop, and make me chose wool and knit me a sweater. Later, I knitted them myself. I can't count how many sweaters and tops my sister and I have made with the wool we bought there.
Some time ago, I found an old phildar patternbook on a fleamarket. The fun we had leafing through that book ! My sister and me, together we had knitted nearly every pattern that was in that book, and we truly enjoyed strolling down that memory lane.
Phildar sadly dissapeared from our village many years ago, to our great regret.
But ! Last week Mrs Phildar (that's not her name, it's rather what she is known as in my family) has opened up her new store. It's called Marie-Fraise, and it is really worth your wile to stop and pay her a visit.
the address is : Christinastraat 50, 8400 Oostende
tel : +32 59 43 73 25
shop is closed on Mondays
open on Tue - Fri 10 - 12 and 13.30 - 18 hrs
on Saturday : 10 - 18 hrs
on sunday : 14 - 18 hrs
by the way : she also sells woman's clothing, so don't panic and think it's the wrong address.... The wool is in the back of the shop.
I have been there yesterday, and couldn't resist some linnen to make a summer scarf. There are also pure cotton, lushy mohairs, and even Kid silk in many colours ! They have the collection of Drops design, and also the books.
The lady who owns the shop is a very well known knitter. She used to own a Phildar shop, and she could read a pattern like it's nothing. When I was a little girl, my mother would take me to her shop, and make me chose wool and knit me a sweater. Later, I knitted them myself. I can't count how many sweaters and tops my sister and I have made with the wool we bought there.
Some time ago, I found an old phildar patternbook on a fleamarket. The fun we had leafing through that book ! My sister and me, together we had knitted nearly every pattern that was in that book, and we truly enjoyed strolling down that memory lane.
Phildar sadly dissapeared from our village many years ago, to our great regret.
But ! Last week Mrs Phildar (that's not her name, it's rather what she is known as in my family) has opened up her new store. It's called Marie-Fraise, and it is really worth your wile to stop and pay her a visit.
the address is : Christinastraat 50, 8400 Oostende
tel : +32 59 43 73 25
shop is closed on Mondays
open on Tue - Fri 10 - 12 and 13.30 - 18 hrs
on Saturday : 10 - 18 hrs
on sunday : 14 - 18 hrs
by the way : she also sells woman's clothing, so don't panic and think it's the wrong address.... The wool is in the back of the shop.
Halina's paintings
Thanks to blogging, I have met people all over Europe. Sometimes I can't read the words or understand anything if it's like in Portugese or Polish, but then I just admire the pictures of beautiful jewelry, bags, knitted scarves, crochet accessoires...etc.
One of the people I ad:mire is Halina. She's a multi-talented woman, living in Denmark. When she presents a new doll it always comes with a story. Her imagination is limitless. You can find a link to her blog here .
Some time ago she showed paintings she made of cats. As I am a big fan of cats I took a close look, and immediately fell in love with them. And when you love something, you want it near you. So I asked if she could sell me one of the paintings.
She was prepared to do so, and I could chose one of the images. A difficult task, as they were all so funny and so delicately made. I went for this one :
And she added a surprise in the box : 3 mini-paintings of the awesome trio ! That's what I call them : 3 little darlings who perform magic everytime you look at them. They trigger my imagination, and I feel the story behing their expression. I catch myself smiling, when I look at them. Halina has captured the peronality of the cats in her work, and their expression of happiness is rubbing off on the person looking at them.
And to finish : here's one of my cats. Spirou is the king of this castle, His main activity is sleeping, enjoying his cat dinner, laying about in the sun, a daily check if the castle is still standing, and once in a while a bit of human attention. What a life...
One of the people I ad:mire is Halina. She's a multi-talented woman, living in Denmark. When she presents a new doll it always comes with a story. Her imagination is limitless. You can find a link to her blog here .
Some time ago she showed paintings she made of cats. As I am a big fan of cats I took a close look, and immediately fell in love with them. And when you love something, you want it near you. So I asked if she could sell me one of the paintings.
She was prepared to do so, and I could chose one of the images. A difficult task, as they were all so funny and so delicately made. I went for this one :
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| Here we are, in the trees. Now come and recue us ! |
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| The colours are perfect in this corner of my living space ! |
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| Oh, is this your bed ? It is very comfortabel... Purrrrrrrr |
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| I didn't break that vase.... I rescued the flowers ! |
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| fasten your seatbelts, Lady, I'm driving like a mad cat... |
And to finish : here's one of my cats. Spirou is the king of this castle, His main activity is sleeping, enjoying his cat dinner, laying about in the sun, a daily check if the castle is still standing, and once in a while a bit of human attention. What a life...
knitting a bag
With spring in the country, I thougth about getting a new bag. But why buy something you can make yourself ? So I spend some time on the internet, and look what I found : a free pattern for a little knitted bag in cotton.
I used some stash and got around knitting on circular needles this time.
When I decide do try something new, I never hesitate - the type who jumps in with eyes closed.
I therefore choose the fair isle pattern where you use 2 colours, one on each finger. and you know what ? I kinda liked it..... Perhaps another circular needle project is a possibility....
I used some stash and got around knitting on circular needles this time.
When I decide do try something new, I never hesitate - the type who jumps in with eyes closed.
I therefore choose the fair isle pattern where you use 2 colours, one on each finger. and you know what ? I kinda liked it..... Perhaps another circular needle project is a possibility....
more fimo inspiration
My sister has the same addiction. It must be something genetic .... She also made a few new fimo necklaces, inspired by the beautiful Zahia beads. They are so well made, she's an artist ! You cannot see the difference between the expensive Zahia glass cones and her version in fimo.... (she even fooled the sales girl at Zahia who thought it was one of theirs...) Take a look :
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| great colours, all fimo ! |
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| it's all fimo ! |
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| here's a combination of beads and fimo |
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| again a combination. |
cowboy inspiration
easter holidays and I am busy as a bee, catching up on all those projects I wanted to make, but couldn't find the time for....
So there will be quite a few blogposts coming up in the next few days.
One of the things that I find very relaxing is playing with fimo clay. It sort of catapults me back to kintergarten, the soft clay rolling under your hands to form 'sausages'... I must have liked it allready at a very early age.
So now, a little bit older (and you should think wiser, but that can be discussed) I am still fiddling with fimo.
And this is the result :
So there will be quite a few blogposts coming up in the next few days.
One of the things that I find very relaxing is playing with fimo clay. It sort of catapults me back to kintergarten, the soft clay rolling under your hands to form 'sausages'... I must have liked it allready at a very early age.
So now, a little bit older (and you should think wiser, but that can be discussed) I am still fiddling with fimo.
And this is the result :
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| I added old jeans buttons for the cowboy style look |
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| a little cowboy hat made in brown fimo |
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| this necklace is based on a model in the veritas catalogue |
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| but as usual, I added my own ideas... |
woensdag 13 april 2011
Tapisplage : nieuw event in Oostende !
Het inspiratie event voor de (mode) bewuste vrouw !
Een hippe beurs voor bewuste madams !
Je bent een bewuste madam ? Je wil voor jezelf & je gezin wel iets anders dan wat je in alle ketens & baanwinkels vindt ?
Tapisplage biedt het je aan op een dienblaadje .We selecteerden een hele hoop hippe (web)winkels, ontwerpers, ... die op zondag 8 mei al hun unieke spullen zullen uitstallen op onze Tapisplage in Oostende.
Tapisplage wordt een unieke markt met een uitgebreid assortiment.Je moet er gewoon bij zijn voor een uniek aanbod op het gebied van:
* hobby
* kleding & accessoires voor jezelf en je gezin
* vervoer
* huis
* food & drinks
* feest
* ecologisch bewustzijn
* ...
De inkom is gratis en iedereen is welkom van 10h tot 18h.De eerste 200 bezoekers worden verrast met de unieke Tapisplage-Goodie Bag!
De breiclub zal er bij zijn : we zitten met z'n allen aan een lange tafel lekker te kletsen en te breien. Zin om mee te doen ? Zet je erbij, we leggen alles netjes uit of frissen je kennis van breien en haken wat op.
Je bent een bewuste madam ? Je wil voor jezelf & je gezin wel iets anders dan wat je in alle ketens & baanwinkels vindt ?
Tapisplage biedt het je aan op een dienblaadje .We selecteerden een hele hoop hippe (web)winkels, ontwerpers, ... die op zondag 8 mei al hun unieke spullen zullen uitstallen op onze Tapisplage in Oostende.
Tapisplage wordt een unieke markt met een uitgebreid assortiment.Je moet er gewoon bij zijn voor een uniek aanbod op het gebied van:
* hobby
* kleding & accessoires voor jezelf en je gezin
* vervoer
* huis
* food & drinks
* feest
* ecologisch bewustzijn
* ...
De inkom is gratis en iedereen is welkom van 10h tot 18h.De eerste 200 bezoekers worden verrast met de unieke Tapisplage-Goodie Bag!
De breiclub zal er bij zijn : we zitten met z'n allen aan een lange tafel lekker te kletsen en te breien. Zin om mee te doen ? Zet je erbij, we leggen alles netjes uit of frissen je kennis van breien en haken wat op.
crochet jewelry
After the workshop given by Veerle Maes, I was very eager to try a crochet necklace on my own.
This time, I had a mission. I have bought fabric to make a summerdress. It's in soft grey, with flowers in turquoise and khakigreen. I figured I could crochet a necklace in those colours, so I would have a matching set !
I finished the piece this morning ( I got up at 6, so obsessed with it....)
I crocheted around a couple of plain wooden beads, in different sizes. I switched colours in the middle of a bead. The crochet hook I used was size 1.00 and the tread is actually embroidery thread... All tiny little stiches, very bad for the eyes, but I am definately proud of the result.
What do you think ?
This time, I had a mission. I have bought fabric to make a summerdress. It's in soft grey, with flowers in turquoise and khakigreen. I figured I could crochet a necklace in those colours, so I would have a matching set !
I finished the piece this morning ( I got up at 6, so obsessed with it....)
I crocheted around a couple of plain wooden beads, in different sizes. I switched colours in the middle of a bead. The crochet hook I used was size 1.00 and the tread is actually embroidery thread... All tiny little stiches, very bad for the eyes, but I am definately proud of the result.
What do you think ?
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| I used 5 little wooden beads |
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| the lenght is approx. 45 cm |
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| the colours are a bit lighter than on this picture |
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| It is very light to wear, just perfect for me ! |
dinsdag 12 april 2011
EZ - the opinionated knitter
I have received many reactions from my blogster-friends ! thank you very much.
Now, somebody called Katelijne is going to the USA for a week, and has volunteerd to check out the bookstores and maybe.... she will buy the book for me and bring it along in her luggage. (That saves me the postage costs). I will keep my fingers crossed....
Thanks again for all your reactions !
Now, somebody called Katelijne is going to the USA for a week, and has volunteerd to check out the bookstores and maybe.... she will buy the book for me and bring it along in her luggage. (That saves me the postage costs). I will keep my fingers crossed....
Thanks again for all your reactions !
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