Frisian Frillies

With the arrival of Spring (some time soon, I'm told) comes a lot of inspiration to make things. To finally turn all that homespun yarn into cushions, toys, shawls and other wearables. To finally turn all that fabric into coats, skirts and pants. And to finally turn that plot of land we call a back garden into a fruitful vegetable patch. But first, some stash enhancement... On the yarn front... 100 gram of roving turned into... 568 m of BLF and silk goodness (2-ply). Courtesy of the Dutch Wool Diva (January yarn club).    There's more yarn in the making... This one speaks for itself...  I started spinning it yesterday, quite thin, again, planning to turn it into a n-ply yarn. But I might change my mind and twine it with something twinkly. Who knows... Fabric-wise, I have been inundated with the stuff... Not only did I get meters of green/brown fabric which would be perfect for a tunic or long skirt, yesterday we also went to a 2nd-hand store where there wa...

For at least a year (probably longer) I've had some sachets of Landscape dyes lying about. Use them? Eh... No. I've wanted to a few times, got out the yarn I spun, got scared, put the yarn away again and pushed the dye sachets back into the drawer. But after seeing all those luscious colours of homespun yarn on Ravelry, the dyeing bug got the better of me. I got my spun yarn out and got to work... The undyed homespun yarn I slightly rinsed out the yarn again, and then it was time for magic: I put the kettle on with some dye and did some witchcraft... My best witchy recipe... Two pots on the stove with a lovely luscious aubergine soup (combination of Plum and Clematis)... I was pretty proud of myself having gotten this far! After half an hour of heating the yarn, (carefully) turning it over a few times, I started to get a bit panicky, because the dye didn't seem to 'catch'. After a quick chat with my Twitter yarnies, I realized I should have actually degreas...

This was one much-anticipated weekend... We were going to the Handwerkbeurs in Zwolle ! This craft fair is absolutely amazing, chockful of traders, not only for knitting and crochet, but also for other crafts. We were a bit on the late side, so I immediately ran to my Swedisch embroidery course, by Blomsterstuga . Excuse my terrible picture, but this is my first attempt at 'yllebroderi'. The beginning of a cover for my BlackBerry It was great to brush up on skills that I have, and to get to know a bit more about the traditional Swedish patterns... After I finished this workshop, Mermaid started hers. She had been walking around with Hubby, and she saw that it was possible to make 'whish hearts', something she really wanted to give a try: Utter concentration... Even though I am a experienced crafter myself, I suffer from a condition which has stopped me passing on what I know up to now: lack of patience... It takes time to teach a (now) 8-year-old how to do a bl...

This week was chockablock! Not only did I finally get the feedback on my book and did I manage to hand it in hours before the designer had to send off a proof to the publisher (yup, but still in time, haha!), but also fit in one knit night, one theatre performance, a Freedom Festival and some pimpin'. And today, after a busy, mostly dry week - some gardening! As pictures say more than words, here they are! The cabinet pre-pimp, but after I had already painted the top two drawers ;) The cabinet post-pimp. With new chrome slimline legs, adding some height, painted dusky pink and beautiful knobs. I had the choice between marguerites and edelweiss buttons, and as we are slightly crazy about 'that' musical, I chose the edelweiss. Aren't they gorgeous? While I was painting, my yarn pimp rang. I had ordered loads of Drops Delight and Alpaca (for this and this ), so while the paint was drying, I quickly cycled out and picked up my stash. After clearing out my yarn basket...

Spring is in the air! On the first day of March, we started the day off with sunshine. I immediately pumped up my tires and we went off to the pool on the bike, for the first time in months. And it was great! On the way back, we got some nice rolls for lunch and bought some springy plants for on the windowsill and on the garden table. And then I put out the laundry. How nice it is, to be able to hang the laundry out to dry! The garden is still a soggy mess, but that will soon be sorted out by putting in better drainage, and hopefully a lot more sunshine!!! And another lovely sight was this, my stash from the Handwerkbeurs! I thoroughly enjoyed the fair this year. We worked very hard at the Wolhemel stand for a few hours, and then I went off with my 'shopping list'. I got most of the things I wanted, because somewhere in the melee I lost my list, so the bigger projects have been put on hold as I have to recalculate how much yarn I need for them. I bought: 2 balls of Drops D...

Of course I bought stuff at the Handwerkbeurs as well! After helping out at the Wolhemel stand for a bit, I did a quick run around the fair. So many gorgeous things to see and do! But if you're on a bit of a budget, both financially and time-wise, it's best to walk around with blinders on, focused on what you really need to get, trying not to get sidetracked too much. But, if you're around all that lovely yarn at Wolhemel, convincing people to buy it and feel it and use it, well... then you want some for yourself too! So, I caved in and bought: Zauberball, colour: Cranberries from Schoppel Wolle This will be turned into a Clapotis, after I saw hers (not added yet to projects, I noticed...). More Malabrigo Superwash sock yarn, colour: Lettuce. For Salida, first pattern repeat is done and I love it already. The colour is nearly-solid, with lovely bits of lighter and darker green. And then, to keep the spinner inside me happy, this: 200 grams of merino/silk roving from The Sp...

And one of my pictures on Ravelry has been chosen to 'represent' a lovely shade of yarn, Austermann Smaragd Classic Color. *proud* And sorry, the other nice *pink* template was seriously &^Q"$)(**&%)-ing me off by never aligning pictures properly...