kushu kushu finished !

Well,  at last, it's finished. 
It took me a lot more time to make than I first contemplated.  At first sight it looked easy peasy, but the threads are sooo fine and delicate that you make each stich with careful attention. 

before felting

Would I felt it or not ? 

it is a bit hard when you put it around a bare neck

After it was finished, I was hesitant to wash and felt it. When I put it around my neck, it wasn't very comfortable.  The steel thread was irritating my skin just a little.  Perhaps I'm over-sensitive...
So I decided that it would probably be softer when felted.   I very gently washed it, careful not to use a lot of force on the merino, with very soft flakes of natural marseille-soap. 

felted and drying in the wind

And this is the result : I am very pleased with it. A great diffence with before, my neck doens't hurt anymore.   It does feel a lot softer, and still has that funny capacity of staying in any shape you pull it. It's like the steel thread has dissapeared into the merino, and in stead of the 2 threads, it's now just one fullness.  (does that word even exist in English ?   But you  know what I mean) 
Anyway : I like it !

here you see that the red part is softer

I can pull it in any form I want

kushu kushu progress....

Just a quick picture : I'm nearly there !

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.

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....

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. 

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...

what a good idea for wall decoration...

a huge carpet....  knit by one of Flanders' last knitting companies

From the 1920ies & I'd wear this one immediately !

Hilde Frunt and SIGI (mother and son) designed and knitted these

crazy stuff, but sooo original !

beautiful socks with knittted flowers

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.

waiting for the intercity train....   with a bag full of goodies....

I'm starting on my kushu kushu scarf right now, will keep you informed about progress....

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.