It's a small world

Welcome back!

How was your week? Did you all have a good one? (I hope so). Are you looking forward to the weekend? Have you planned in some crocheting or knitting in your spare time! Great!!!

Here is a little look back at my week so far:

It's a small world

I wanted to push my skills into a new direction, so I went SMALL. I was inspired by Japanese Crochet Books which feature many cute and tiny little projects.

This is my own take: A doublesided Sunflower, crocheted together in the middle with shell stitches to make the petals. Add a loop to attach a cord - Voila! A new pendant on a necklace which also doubles up as an useful pincushion!!! (The inside is filled with lots of toy stuffing!)

13.01.15 Finished Sunflower Pendant/Pincushion

My oldest daughter left early this morning. She had brought her own (and first big) crochet project along! She made this Bender hat for someone as a present!!! (I only gave her some small tips when it came to crocheting the eye balls and attaching the arial at the end!) I'm really proud of her!!! (Own pattern!)

14.01.15 My oldest daughter finished her Bender hat!!!

Yesterday we recovered after having gone to Brussels the day before. My daughter carved some stampers (more of that later).

First I crocheted a tiny teacup (with saucer). Then I decided I wanted to make an animal! I had come across this adorable small elephant via Pinterest. So I started making one without a pattern! My elephant is barely 3cm long (5cm including the tiny tail and the trunk!) I think the original one is most likely more than 2 or 3 times as big!!!

Last, not least, I saw this - an octopus, so I made one, too! My little octopus is only 1.5cm small in the body (and 3cm with all tentacles spread out!)

For all this projects I used a tiny hook size (1.5mm) with wool that normally needs 3-3.5mm (Mille Colori).

15.01.15 Finished Tiny Elephant Amigurumi

It's a small world!!!!

15.01.15 Elephant, Octopus and Teacup Amigurumi

Here you can see a 5.5cm spool of Guetermann thread for size comparison

10.01.15 Fingercrocheted Rubber Necklace and Fabric Brooch

Knitting WIPs

1. My second Black Alpaca Boucle Shawl

Thankfully Julija's Woolshop finally received their shipment of new DROPS yarn, yay!!! So I continued with the shawl.

16.01.15 My second Black Alpaca Shawl

2. My knitted 'Stripy Thing' (which will probably become a sleeveless jumper/pullover)

16.01.15 My Stripy Thing WIP

2 colourways of Invicta alternating

A visit to Rotterdam

Last saturday we had a family trip to Rotterdam (NL). We wanted to visit a museum and went to Het Nieuwe Institut (Architecture). We walked around the exhibits which showed various solutions to the housing situation in Rotterdam. It was fascinating! I loved looking at the models and sketches!

Crafting in the Museum

Then my oldest daughter found the workshop corner!!! We were in heaven!!! There were plenty of materials to make things with. The idea was to contribute any 'artwork' to the exhibition.

We decided on carving our own stampers out of erasers!!!! This proved so much fun that it was a revelation!!! We printed some of our designs onto sheets of paper (see mine below).

I then made a white fingercrocheted rubbernecklace and started on sewing a fabric/felt hexagon brooch which is not quite finished yet (see photo above). I also made some 'eye' magnets using printed fabric!

Het Nieuwe Institut, Rotterdam

 

10.01.15 My finished sheets of selfcarved stamper printing

Because of this experience we have been making stampers since Monday!!! I managed to find a good supply of large plain rubbers. These were mostly made by my daughter (hers are amazing!!!), I made the squiggly one, the snowcapped mountain, an abstract one and a little house (only half seen).

You can find a lot more images on my brand new instagram page!

 I found this inspirational (outside the museum):

Don't worry, everything will be alright!

Sunset in Rotterdam

A Day trip to Brussels

On Wednesday we went to Brussels by bus! I took my knitting for the journey! :) We wandered around the 'touristy' bits, such as the Grote Markt, saw Tin-Tin and a million chocolate shops!

Tin-Tin

14.01.15 Brussels Grote Markt (plus following photos)

Two (of my 3) daughters leading the way (and wearing my knits!)

Today is a Good Day!

Last night I spent with my oldest daughter, crocheting, laughing, instagramming together. We went to bed really late (and she had to get up only a few hours later to leave for the airport)! I really loved having her here, I hadn't seen her since her graduation in the summer which is a very long time indeed. We cooked some fabulous vegetarian meals together and we both got stampermania now!!! I miss her already, of course I do!

I thought today would be a difficult day to get through. However, this morning I woke up with energy and decided to get out for some errands. Later in the afternoon I went into town (Antwerp). This is what the weather looked like! No, I didn't alter the photos, they are completely unedited! What a wonderful blue sky!!!

16.01.15 Schelle 3pm

Our street

Schelle Church

Schelle Main road

Well, I hope you have enjoyed reading this post about my week. Let me know what you think, what your plans are for the weekend, etc. I love hearing from you all!

Hobbybeurs Hasselt, a quick Flower Doily, a festival and my love of triangles

Hello my crochet friends!

It is time for another post! I got so much to show and tell you about, so please grab a cup of tea or coffee and make yourselves comfortable! I hope you all had a nice week including last weekend! Last week it was very hot here in Belgium, back to summer weather (27-30 degrees)!

Here is the Flower Power Dishcloth, a very quick make that I saw on Helda's Blog on Sunday morning (after a  great night out on Saturday, read more about that further down!) and just had to crochet for myself! I love these kind of challenges! You can find the original pattern on Ravelry. I recommend it to you, give it a go! Like Helda, I used Rico Cotton.

My very own Flower Power Dishcloth (or Doily)

After this happy make, it was time to go out, so Sunday afternoon we went to the Hobbybeurs in Hasselt (Belgium) which is more than an hours drive away. Unfortunately I missed going the year before (when it was held in Mechelen which is closer by to where I live). I was lucky that my partner agreed to take me there and his mother accompanied me, which was fun, as she also does a lot of different needle crafts! Whilst the men went for a nice long walk, we walked around the Hobbybeurs. We spent 3 hours there and the time went really quickly. There was such a lot to see!

Here is the catalogue and the back of the flyer which shows a variety of crafts.

At the entrance we were give a goodie bag containing an Embroidery magazine, a Papercraft Punch and some pretty wooden beads (all worth Euro 12, but the entrance fee was almost as high: Euro 11 (but we saved Euro 1.50 with a special voucher)

Goodie Bag containing 3 gifts: Magazine, Beads and a Punch

This is the very first thing that really got my interest - a beautiful floral quilt. My first reaction was to guess Amy Butler, but when I asked the ladies at the stand, they told me it was Kaffe Fassett! (He has got his very own website (of course!) here!) I've been a fan of his since the Eighties! He is such an inspiration, I love his celebration of colour!

A Kaffe Fassett Quilt Design

A little bit further I was mesmerized by these pretty things here!

Some hanging Crochet Mandala Ornaments

These ornaments below were smaller and featured yarn being wrapped around a wooden ring. They were sold in kit form.

Some smaller Crochet Ornaments

Later on we came across this amazing stall with handcrafted Teddy Bears - the husband made the bears and his wife crocheted (and sewed) some tiny clothes to fit them. I admired the clothes and she told me she used a 0.6mm hook! I was in awe! I can only imagine how difficult it must be to even see the stitches, never mind crocheting into them!

Handsewn Teddy Bears...

... and tiny crocheted clothes to fit them!

I am sorry that I did not take photos of more stalls, but in the end I put the camera into my bag and forgot about it more or less. There was so much to see and things were constantly tempting, so I needed my hands free to explore! I simply got carried away! There were not as many stalls with wool/yarn as I had anticipated, but then again, that might have been a good thing! We tried to look at everything, but it was nearly impossible. There were papercrafts, fabric, sewing machines, beads, felting, mosaics, decorating of wood and cardboard, together with tools, books and so much more. Many stalls also gave demonstrations or tiny taster sessions for people to have a go themselves! Luckily there was also a good cafe to enjoy a nice cup of coffee and sit down for 20 minutes!

Here is my 'loot' from the exhibition: 9 x balls of Stylecraft DK in additional colours for my Harlequin Blanket, and one very large Ball of Scheepjeswol Chunky yarn (probably to make a warm cowl). Isn't it funny how I ended up choosing more Autumn colours this time? (To clarify, I had ordered the previous selection online in the Spring!). I loved seeing all the different shades in person, so much better than looking at a computer screen. So now I can play with 30 colours for my blanket! :)

My yarn loot from the exhibition!

I discovered some fantastic fabric in amazing prints by Tim Holtz which is his new Ecletic Elements line. (Read more here!) I also noticed a lot of papercrafts in the same line, it really caught my eye! I only bought a tiny swatch as a souvenir, plus some cute ribbons I liked. I really like fabric with printed designs such as measuring tapes, clocks, etc.

My tiny sewing loot!

At the exit, a quick pose and photo opportunity in front of a most colourful quilt!

I love colour!!!!

Do we have a minute? Oh, go on, just one more!

Star Quilt

You may ask, what has been happening with my Harlequin Blanket? Well, here is a quick visual update, it is growing steadily. Though, due to the very hot temperatures last week I suddenly had a 3 day bout of suffering from terrible headaches which really impacted on my amount of crocheting, something that had not happened before. Luckily now the weather is cooler again, things are back to normal and I'm feeling ok.

Harlequin Blanket 22.09.14

Come a bit closer...

now measuring a good 30cm high

Going back to Friday, I made another trip into Antwerp, on a glorious day of sunshine, and went to another wool shop, Lena & Zasa. Unfortunately for us customers, this shop was open for the last day, because the owner is following a new career. There were some good reductions and I managed to scoop up some exotic finds, a number of Mohair yarns from British company Colinette and Japanese ITO and HABU. The colour combination of the 2 skeins from Colinette made me think of Rhubarb and Custard, yumm! Good enough to eat, haha!

Links for ITO Sensai, a silk mohair yarn - find out more here
HABU: more info. Plus of course, Colinette - click here!

As you might know, I am trying to follow so many blogs and I love reading all of them! (Yes, that includes yours!) However, since we went to England I have gotten behind, still trying to catch up as best as I can. Often I have to remind myself to keep crocheting, because I get so distracted (in a lovely way) by what I am reading! Does this ever happen to you, too?

I have got a lovely namesake in Holland who blogged about this: Triangles and mosquitos! (It's also one of my very first blogs I loved reading and it has helped with my Dutch, too! Thanks, Ingrid!) This was on Friday night, when I read it.

By Saturday it was decided, I was also going to crochet some nice triangles of my own! I grabbed my trusted Scheepjeswol Stone Washed and started.

In the afternoon I had to take it with me in the car, as my partner had told me about an exciting and free Open Air Festival called BAROEG happening in Rotterdam (NL), featuring Heavy Metal and Electronic music. We went there for the latter and had a fantastic time, a whole afternoon/evening of dancing to some of our favourite artists who played live there. The setting was great, it was in a large park, with tents for the events, plus plenty of stalls for food and drink, and other things such as clothing etc. I just read here that it was a great success with 7,500 people visiting and 170 voluntary workers!

Well, at least I had time to crochet on the journey! :)

Latest WIP - Crochet Triangles

So there you have it: Friday to the closing down sale in Antwerp, Saturday to Rotterdam Open Air Festival with crochet in the car, and Sunday a visit to the Hobbybeurs in Hasselt! Yesterday=Monday was spent doing  Spring Autumn cleaning in the kitchen and catching up on a lot of washing, as well as having a major yarn moment - spending a long time organizing my yarn into clear bags and boxes to be stored away, as we seem to have reached a peak limit in the living room! This was both tricky and rewarding in the end. Plus there was my Dutch class until late (coming home at 11pm). So, you can see why there haven't been any blog posts inbetween. At least you got a bumper edition for your kind patience! :)

I tried to do a bit of research for you and have included some links in the text if you want to do some further reading!

I hope you enjoyed reading this! Please leave me some comments, I love to hear from you all and find out what you think! And feel free to start following me via Bloglovin or Google+, that way you don't miss a post! (And thanks to all the people who already do, you're fantastic!!!)