Wednesday 17 September 2014

Quick South Bay Shawlette finished, Harlequin Blanket and Postcards from Antwerp

Hello!

It seems that summer has returned! Yesterday it was around 27 degrees as I went out in the afternoon to go to my knitting/crochet cafe! The weather was absolutely gorgeous!

Here a quick glimpse at my latest finished project - a quick version of the South Bay Shawlette using only one 100g skein of Fenna yarn (a true One Skein Project!).

South Bay Shawlette Neckwarmer quick version (front view)
Thanks for all your lovely comments last time! We had a great visit to England, the weather was fine, just right, maybe a bit cloudy at times, but we also had plenty of sunshine on Saturday. We managed to go out and visit Manchester with the second oldest daughter and my son, who was celebrating his birthday that day!
(He was very pleased with his new scarf and hat set that I gave him as a present - see my previous post! Now my daughter has also requested a scarf for her upcoming birthday!!! Looks like I will be keeping busy!)

I took the camera with me, and quickly snapped this old building in Manchester before we disappeared into the Arndale Shopping Centre. Then I forgot to take many more pictures as we were pretty busy! I noticed later on the way back how many new buildings have sprung up in Manchester, so old buildings like this will soon be gone!

Old Building behind the Arndale Shopping Centre in Manchester, UK
Back to the South Bay Shawlette which I just started on Friday evening, before our England trip. I managed to work quite a bit on it during our long travels and by Monday morning I only had to put on the last fninishing touches to make it complete. First of all, I only used one of the 2 skeins that I had. I knew that for a full size shawl I would have needed more yarn. However, I wanted to see all the lovely colours! What better way than to wear it as a neck scarf with the triangle facing frontwards! Also I wanted this to be different from my previous versions. The shawlette was large enough to fasten with a knot, but I remembered that I had some pretty buttons (that remind me of traffic lights!). I made a test by attaching some buttons with yarn scraps to see how best to fasten them. When I was happy with this, I sewed on 5 buttons along one side, see below.

Adding my 'Traffic Light' Buttons
Checking where to add Tassels
I had slightly more than 11m of yarn left, which I used to make some tassels, trying to mix the colours for each tassel.

The finished Shawlette viewed fastened at the back
This is the Shawlette, to be worn as a neckwarmer. The buttons can be fastened through the pattern loops in a multitude of ways, so quite adaptable! Finished size: approx 76cm wide x 38cm long (43cm including tassels).

I already wore this to my Dutch class on Monday evening and was very happy with it. It looks colourful and pretty! It also kept me warm on my way home late that night when it got a bit chilly!

Below you can see my progress with the Harlequin Blanket, adding new colours with my own 'Rule of 3' - meaning that ideally the last 3 colours should go well together! We'll see how that works out! ;)

Harlequin Blanket 15.09.14
Harlequin Blanket 16.09.14
Close up of the Blanket
Harlequin Blanket 17.09.14


I leave you with a few photos I took yesterday between 5.30 and 7pm.
I will call them Postcards from Antwerp! I am thinking of showing you more of the places around me and I'm hoping that you might be interested? (I just have to remember to pack the camera together with the crochet project before I go out!!!)

Antwerp yesterday around 6pm!
(old) Justitiepalais, Antwerp
Wool Shop Lana, Anselmostraat, Antwerp
Flowers at a square (Ridderveld) in Wilrijk, Antwerp
Route: getting off the tram near the old Justitiepaleis in Britselei (There is a new building now in another location, which looks very modern, you can find a multitude of images here! They couldn't be more different from each other!), walking along the side of it into Anselmostraat, to visit Lana, one of my favourite haunts (such a brilliant Wool and Craft shop, stocking many of my favourite quality yarns, such as Rowan and Noro!), later getting off a bus at Ridderveld, Wilrijk where I saw these pretty flowers! Then walked until I reached my next connecting bus stop and caught the bus home, and continued on my blanket a bit more!

How was your week so far? I feel that I still have many things to catch up on, from washing to catching up on my blog reading, not to mention 3 month's worth of craft/crochet magazines which I brought back with me from England!!!

Please leave me a comment! I love reading each and every one of them (and the magazines can wait after all!). I'm happy to see that more people started to follow my blog which is really kind of you, thanks for taking the time to read it! And don't be shy - write a quick hello! :)

30 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures of Antwerp, I visited many years ago. The shawlette is beautiful, I love the buttons on it, makes it quite striking.

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    1. Thank you for your kind comments! : ) I hope you enjoyed your visit to Antwerp, it has so many unusual spots and is full of character! And yes, I was thrilled to find these buttons in my stash, they were just 'right' for this project. I always find it thrilling when seemingly random items come together perfectly! xx

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  2. Wonderful shawlette,blanket will be awesome!!!
    Beautiful pictures!
    Greetings.

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  3. The blanket looks great already! Love the stich! :-)

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    1. Hi Anne! Thanks, I'm getting more into it now, it's a rhythm of either crocheting 9 stitches together (in one row) or 9 stitches separately (in the following row), all into the same stitch. I'm forever counting to 9, hehe! :) xx

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  4. Love your practical and creative take on the shawlette with the buttons which takes away the bulk of fastening with a knot or bow.

    The photos of Antwerp are lovely too. As you may already know, I love seeing new places and if I cannot travel myself, it is great to travel through your photos and commentary. Photos in isolation are not as good as seeing them on a blog like yours with explanations and background information from people who are actually there.
    Thank you for an interesting blog and all the best with your blanket :-)

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    1. Hello Jodie! Thanks for your kind comments. Glad you enjoy the photos of Antwerp! I wanted to share my surroundings with my readers so that they could see what I am talking about. (I'm the same with reading other blogs, I love pictures that tell the story, it is almost as being there!) xx

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  5. PS forgot to tell you my first reaction to this post:
    WOW! How FAST do you crochet?? Impressive.

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    1. Haha, I don't think I crochet that fast. Perhaps with the shawlette, it grew quite quickly (but that is also due to the pattern). With the blanket it is going to be a much slower and longer project - due to the fact that each row is about 2m long, but luckily the stitches add height quickly! As mentioned above, I also got to keep counting all the time! I think it also help to do both slow and faster projects at the same time, it keeps me motivated! xx

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  6. Wow what lovely projects! The shawlette is so lovely and colourful and I really like the blanket :) Lovely photos of Manchester and Antwerp too, glad your son had a good birthday and liked his presents!! x

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    1. Hi Helen! Thanks!! :) I guess by now everyone can see how much I love using colour!! I'm lucky we go to visit England on a regular basis, I miss seeing my kids more often, but they have grown up so much and got their own lives! (My youngest daughter who is nearly 19 lives with me here in Belgium). Likewise I am glad I also get to see my own mum and my brother in Germany more regularly now since I live closer by. Glad you liked the photos, I will try to show more! xx

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  7. Glad you had a lovely time in the UK Ingrid catching up with family.
    Your crochet is looking wonderful, so colourful.
    Love pics of your city.
    Helen

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  8. Love all your crochet, you are so fast!!! And I would love to see more of where you live, it looks like such a beautiful place.
    Hugs to you,
    Meredith

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    1. Thanks, Meredith! (I'm not really, the last two days have been not very productive at all, I've been having bad headaches, it's the heat!) Yes, it is lovely here! I will post more photos! xx

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  9. Love the crochet - and the pictures of Antwerp, especially the one of Lana wool shop with the bike standing on its sturdy frame outside. Catherine Xx

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    1. Hi Catherine! Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving a comment! It is funny, but I only did take that one photo of the wool shop from across the road! The bike just happend to be there, probably from a customer! People in Belgium use their bikes a lot in every day life, I got one as well but I tend to take the bus into town as it is a 40 minute journey by bus! Public transport is pretty good here! xx

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  10. Hi Ingrid, just catching up now that I am back, I have been reading, just not commenting! Glad that you had a great time on your visit. It is lovely to see what you have been working on, the colours of your blanket look great together! xx

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  11. Hi Amy, thanks for your nice comment and good to see you're back! (I must confess I also still need to catch up on my blog reading!)
    Enjoy your weekend! xx

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  12. All your crochet looks beautiful, Ingrid! I love the colourful yarns you have chosen. I enjoyed seeing your pictures of Antwerp too.
    Wishing you a happy week ahead.
    Helen xox

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    1. Thanks, Helen! Glad you liked them! Enjoy your week, too! How is Molly settling in? xx

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  13. That is a great idea to use buttons. Your shawlette looks very pretty.
    woolercoaster.blogspot.ca

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  14. Hoi Ingrid !
    Je omslagdoek is prachtig !! Dat Fenna garen is fijn om mee te werken hé. Ongelooflijk wat je kan doen met maar één bolletje !
    Goed idee om de knopen op je omslagdoek te zetten - daar had ik zelf nog niet aan gedacht bij de stola's die ik al gehaakt heb. Slim, want zo een stola heeft soms de neiging om "los te glippen" !
    Mooie foto's van Antwerpen !
    Liefs, Ingrid

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    1. Dankje, Ingrid!!! Ik vond dat de juiste oplossing in dit geval! xx

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  15. Aw your shawlette looks very pretty x

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  16. Thank you for commenting on my crochet hats.
    The south bay shawlet turned into something completely different in your color choice - LOVED it!
    Have a perfect day

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    1. Thanks Monica! :) I find that this pattern works so well in different yarns and also in different sizes, so everybody can adapt it to their own liking! xx

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