Tuesday 30 September 2014

A Walk in the Woods, a good day for customers and some knitting

Hi! Good to see you back here! I hope you had a nice weekend!

This Sunday we went for a nice walk in the woods! Only this time I remembered to bring the camera, so you can all come along (on this virtual tour)! We went to one of the National Parks in Kempen (a lovely area in Belgium) - near a place called Donderslag (Thunderclap!).

This is my favourite photo of the walk!
The walk went through woodland, along fields, through wetland, heather, along a pretty lake. We chose to do the 8.5km trail (which was marked in blue on the map and also along the paths).

Start of our walk
I soon stopped to take more photos, there were toadstools, spiders and lots of acorns to admire.
Cute Toadstool
This is my wood - from a spider's view
After we came to the edge of the forest (see first photo) we walked along some corn fields.  I soon spotted a dash of colour in the grass along the side!
Dainty harebell flowers

A field of corn - very tall!
The corn stood over 2m tall! A bit further we walked along a huge ant hill and I spotted another colourful flower!

Purple Cornflower
We walked through the woods again and the ground became wetter. It was really funny, every time we approached a big and deep puddle, there were a dozen or more little frogs jumping into the water for cover! I tried to take a photo but failed! They were too fast! Finally we had this vista in front of us!
The Lake
View through the trees
A few more flowers...
Wild Camomile
Until we came towards a field of green beans! Belgians love their fine green beans!
A Field with Green Beens
Before the last stretch of the walk...
What a mighty tree!
Along Birch trees
...back to the car park with the map where we started! We were lucky with the weather!
The map with our walk marked in Blue (8.5km)
Afterwards, we drove to the nearest small town (called Meeuwen) and sat outside a roadside Ice Salon to enjoy some very special ice cream as refreshment.
Special Ice Cream and Coffee
I hope you enjoyed this little journey! Believe me, I limited the photos, I took quite a lot. The scenery was quite varied and it was very enjoyable. There was so much to see and experience.

Knitting WIP and Harlequin Blanket

This post wouldn't be complete without any mention of making things!

On Saturday I went back to the Lana Wool Shop that I mentioned before. I had received an invitation for the Day of the customer (Dag van de klant).

Here are some additional photos of the window displays. You can see a customer version of this blanket (A recent mystery Knit Along Afghan Blanket by Martin Storey for Rowan):
Rowan weblink
Ravelry link

Rowan Blanket in the Window display at Lana
Lana Shop, Antwerpen
Inside the shop the owner, Lea was holding a knitting cafe (Breicafe) for the customers. We sat around a table and enjoyed refreshments, there was coffee and Cava, Cake and Belgian chocolates. It was lovely to be with so many like minded people who were making some awe inspiring knitting projects from Rowan, having bought the wool here at Lana. Many of the people present had also followed classes with Lea. Maybe I should enrol, too?

I had decided on Friday evening that I wanted to make a sort of Loop scarf, so I cast on! (Below you can see my Autumn Loop Scarf and the Granny Stitch Crochet Scarf of Many Colours (made with 7 different colours of variegated yarn from Lang) that I both made about 9 months ago. I used them for inspiration and size guide.) I used RICO Melange Chunky yarn (size 6-7mm needles - I used 9mm!). I took this with me to the shop to continue knitting there.

The idea: Knitting a Loop Scarf
On Saturday and Sunday I did quite a lot of knitting (and hardly any crochet!), and this resulted in the scarf on the left below, shown here knitted up with 2.5 balls of yarn.

Laying it on the floor to photograph I played about with it and changed my mind about WHAT I was making! I thought I might as well go for it and use the 6 balls of yarn I had (instead of the 3 that might have been enough for the Loop Scarf). I decided that I would make a Shrug instead! I love the yarn so much, the colours are fantastic and I know I would love to wear it this season, so no time to waste!

So I cast on anew (with double the stitches) and began again.... (see right side, approx 2+ balls of yarn used)
Here's one I made earlier...
The reason I kept the first version was that I could do a sort of try out in front of the mirror to get an idea how large it might be when finished. Obviously it had to be unravelled so I can use the yarn for further knitting!

Oh, and look at that! No chance of photographing the knitting, Cleo my cat got in on the act!

Cleo inspects my knitting!
What do you mean - selfie?
 (We all know that cats own the internet!!!)

Here's a quick peek at the Harlequin Blanket today before I went to the knitting cafe this afternoon!

Harlequin Blanket 30.09.14
Adding green yarn...





Well done! You arrived at the end of this post. Thank you for reading this, I hope you found it worth your while. Hopefully you might feel refreshed and inspired (a little bit) and take this feeling with you whatever you will be doing next!

And if you want to comment, then please do so! I love reading your comments, it's like getting postcards from all over the world! :)

30 comments:

  1. Wow, what a beautiful walk in the woods. You know I live in the woods. if I walk 50 m I can pick berries and see nothing but trees.
    Have a nice evening, I am knitting felted riding mittens for sale.

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    1. Hi Monica! That must be fantastic, living like that! :) xx

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  2. Definitely very inspired Ingrid! Your walk in the woods looked wonderful, with so much nature to see. You definitely deserved the delicious ice creams afterwards! You knit so well too -the loop scarf is gorgeous! Hope you are having a lovely week,
    Alison xx

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    1. Hi Alison! Thanks! Yes, the ice cream was lovely after our 2 hour walk! ;) Well, the loop scarf will become a shrug - reknitting with more stitches (and it is just simple knit on every row, so very easy going!) Have a good week, too and enjoy the weather while you can (here it is sunny and around 20 degrees)! xx

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  3. Oh my gosh . Such a lovely post!! The lake speaks to me!
    The H. Blanket is beautiful

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    1. Thanks, Kathy! I'm also always drawn to places with water... it is so calming just to look at it, whether it is a lake, a river or the seaside! It is lovely to be outdoors! xx

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  4. You took us on a beautiful stroll Ingrid. Your blanket is coming along nicely the colours are a delight.

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    1. Thank you, Lorraine! Glad you enjoyed it, too! xx

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  5. Oh my! The selfie of your Cleo is one of the cuttest things I have seen for some time! :-) Cats are such darlings (miss mine so much... sighs)!!

    Take care
    Anne
    http://crochetbetweentwoworlds.blogspot.de

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    1. Hehe!!! Yes, Cleo is definitely a cutie!
      The 'selfie' happened whilst I tried to photograph the progress on my knitting, she just sat on it and moved her paw into the direction of my camera, as if to say, look at me, give me your attention, stop hiding behind the camera!!!
      She is a very affectionate cat and often 'talks' back with miaows when I speak to her!
      I'm sure you will have cat company again!!! ;)
      I also noticed how cats and crochet seemed to go well together - perhaps they think we make the blankets for them!!! xx

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    2. Hehe, very true! Michelle and I were crazy crochet cat ladies in 2009 for some weeks! Just the two of us, lots of crochet and 4 cats! :D

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    3. Hahaha - Anne, that sounds like an ideal scenario!!! ;)))

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  6. What a lovely walk and you were lucky with the weather, too. Going outside and having a good time crocheting or knitting afterwards is the best thing you can do on weekends, isn't it? Thank you for your colourful pictures, I love colour so much, it just brightens up my spirits. Have a nice week. Viola

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    1. What a lovely comment! (Thank you!) Yes, I am definitely with you on colour - I want to surround myself with it every day in some special way! I am still waiting for the leaves here to change colour (so far only the chestnut trees have done so). But I think I can wait a little longer for that.. xx

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  7. I love your pictures of your walk - they're really great. Your knitting and crochet projects (show in this post - I'm sure you have more on the go!) are looking really well. Such a pity to have to do some ripping out but you were right to use all the yarn for a shrug. It will be very useful as the weather gets cooler.

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    1. Hi Gillian! I'm glad you think so! And I don't have a shrug yet, so I told myself that it was the best thing to change direction (mid project) to aim for something better in this case! People I met at the knitting cafe yesterday afternoon and also people on the bus have remarked how pretty the yarn looks! (It also feels very soft). PS: It really was a wonderful walk! xx

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  8. Beautiful pictures! I'm a fan of toadstool!
    Have a nice day and thank you for your comment on my blog.
    Lucie

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    1. Hi Lucie! Yay, toadstools! :) Come back soon and you will be in for a treat! xx

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  9. Great pictures,so beautiful nature!!!
    Selfie <3!
    Blanket is progressing nicely!
    Greetings.:*

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  10. The woods are so lovely, and so autumny! And I can't believe what a quick knitter you are! My brief spell took me ages :) Love projects as always and it sounds like a lovely time at the cafe :) xx

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    1. Thanks Helen! I love knitting with my new KnitPro 9mm needles, the stitches just glide off them... such a pleasure to work with! And the needle size is much bigger, so of course things grow at a faster rate! It makes a nice change from crocheting, this time I don't have to count, just knit one stitch after another... so relaxing!! xx

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  11. What a lovely walk, i really like forest (and pictures of it in autumn)! Ans such a nice knitting cafe, hope you enjoy the workshops as well. And i really looove Cleo! :)

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    1. Hi Lizette! It was definitely fun to go to the knitting cafe and to meet other people, too! (Currently I'm not doing any courses there as yet, I might have to consider if I can squeeze it into my life, as I attend Dutch lessons already twice a week in the evenings, plus there are 2 other circles I go to from time to time on other evenings!) Yes, I totally adore this little cat, she is special! xx

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  12. Thank you for the walking tour, I've never been to Belgium but it looks like a beautiful country. It looks very fall-like in the woods now. Your yarn crafts look terrific, I especially love the catherine wheel piece. I've always wanted to try that pattern. I hope you're having a good week.

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    1. Hello Jennifer! Belgium definitely has got some beautiful countryside and woodlands and I enjoy going for walks! Try the catherine wheel stitch, just make a small square sample to give it a go, you will soon see that it looks much more complicated than it is! (You just need to keep counting your stitches in sets of 9!) Quick link: http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_yC9ySJTXW3I/SeYIaN9h2FI/AAAAAAAACJ4/b-pXJvzrqPM/s1600-h/Wheel+Shell+Stitch+-+Triple.jpg for the pattern again (More details on the first post about the blanket) xx

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  13. Hi Ingrid, a lovely Autumnal walk with fantastic pictures (toadstool and wild chamomile a delight). I was a bit lost with the knitting as I am totally at the very first steps with this craft but I totally love the Cleo and her selfie-very cute.
    Ingrid is it OK with you if I make the covered jute bag idea, different design but I saw on it your blog first so obviously I will state that...well if i can make it that is-a project in motion so to speak.
    Thanks
    Helen

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    1. Dear Helen! Good luck with your new Crochet Bag! (Thanks for asking about it, but there is no need for that! I'm probably not the first person who did something like this - you might remember I got inspired by other people who crocheted around their bag from the bottom up plus I merged it with my own idea of simply making a bag from granny squares.)
      I am very happy to provide little bits of inspiration for other people - this is exactly what I want to do! If you do have any questions about how to go about some aspects of any of the things shown here, then feel free to ask, I will do my best to help anyone! :) And sorry if my description of my knitting seemed a bit general, I am sure it will become more clear once the shrug is finished and I can show/write more about it. xx

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  14. Such a beautiful place to go for a walk! You have a lot of yarny projects on the go, I don't know how you manage to keep them all straight in your head, beautiful though! xx

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    1. Hi Amy! Really, in my mind I think of it only as currently making 2 things: the crochet blanket and the knitted shrug! Anything else that might come along is just usually a short interlude. I have lots of ideas, I collect them into little notebooks. Sometimes I just write everything down and afterwards it feels like I got a clearer mind and I can fill it afresh with new things!!! (By now I'm sure you realize that I hardly follow patterns or instructions, I like to just have a go, even if it does not work out, because this way I am constantly learning what DOES makes it work!) xx

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