Needlework inspiration

Work in progress: six blocks finished

2012-02-01T14:14:00.001Z

It was a beautiful frosty February day,what a great reason to take my knitted throw outside :-) By now, I've finished 6 blocks. The final throwwill be 9 blocks, which is about 150*150 cm. As you can see, it'squite fluffy, and the blocks are not exactly squares. This makes methink about the type of border I wil make, probably a plain row ofcrocheted stitches...

Het was vandaag een prachtige dag, dusik had echt zin om in het bos een foto te maken :-) Ik heb nu zesblokken af, dus nog drie te gaan. De definitieve sprei zal danongeveer 150*150 zijn. Het breiwerk is behoorlijk “fluffy” en deblokken zijn niet echt vierkant, dus ik denk dat ik er een randomheen ga haken die die boel wat bij elkaar houdt. Waarschijnlijkgewoon een of twee rijen vaste haaksteken...

The Antique Pattern Library

2012-01-26T12:37:00.001Z

The Antique Pattern Library has updatedtheir site. I just found out because some of the links in my posts onvintage needlecraft books don't work anymore. That's a pity, but thegood thing is that the new site is very easy to navigate. You canbrowse alphabetically or by technique, you can see the coverpage of each book (very inspring!) and you can download the books forfree. If you enjoy browsing through vintage needlecraft books, thissite is a must read! This cover is from a Dillmont book onembroidery, the yellow flowers really put me in a Spring mood :-)

ps: I haven't posted for quite sometime, because I was applying for a job. I didn't get it....ohh well,I hope I'll have more luck next time!!

De Antique Pattern Library heeft eennieuwe site. Dit ontdekte ik, toen sommige links in mijn posts opeensniet meer werkten... Dat is jammer, maar de nieuwe site is wel eenstuk praktischer dan de vorige. Je kunt nu naar vintagehandwerkboeken zoeken op alfabet of op techniek, je kunt de kaft vanhet boek zien (heel inspirerend!) en de boeken zijn gratis tedownloaden! Ik vond deze kaft van een Dillmont borduurboek heel mooi,echt iets voor de lente!

Ps: Ik heb een tijdje niet geschreven,omdat ik in een sollicitatieprocedure zat. Ik ben het helaas nietgeworden, volgende keer beter!

Januari colors

2012-01-12T19:05:00.000Z

Just a little note with a collage of some of my favorite colors: light blue and cream. I'm very busy these days, so I have to keep it short :-)

Winter light

2011-12-21T13:55:00.000Z

This is the shortest day of the year. From now on, the days will be longer and the light will come back. This always makes me happy! And it's amazing that the magnolia branches I picked some weeks ago started to blossom :-) I'm taking a little blog break now, and I want to wish you all the best in 2012!

Ik word altijd blij van de kortste dag van het jaar, omdat de dagen dan weer langer worden. En de magnoliatakken die ik laatst geplukt heb, staan ook in bloei, echt magisch! Ik neem even een blog pauze en wens jullie het allerbeste voor 2012!

Christmas knitting: final post

2011-12-17T15:08:00.000Z

The Christmas Fair in the LebuinusChurch was wonderful. It was a sunny day, light was streaming inthrough the high windows, the air smelled of waffles, there were alot of stalls selling food and hand-made products, there was music,people were interested in our knitting... It was great to be part ofit! I didn't have time to take much pictures, though, but here's ashot of the decoration of our stall. This is my last post on knittedChristmas balls, now it's time to move on :-)

De kerstmarkt in de Lebuinus Kerkwas prachtig: mooi zonlicht, heerlijke geur van wafels, mooie muziek,prachtige kraampjes, en veel belangstelling voor ons “gebrei”.Het was echt leuk om hier deel van uit te maken! Dit is trouwens mijnlaatste post over gebreide kerstballen, nu is het weer tijd voor ietsanders :-).

Workshop kerstballen breien @ Lebuinuskerk Deventer

2011-12-13T14:13:00.001Z

This Saturday, I will join "Het Kleinvak, Schalkhaar" to give a knitting workshop during the Christmas Fair in the Lebuinuskerk in Deventer. If you would like to learn how to knit Christmas balls, please join us from 10:00 -13:00!

Komende zaterdag ga ik samen met "Het Kleinvak, Schalkhaar" een workshop "kerstballen breien" geven tijdens de kerstmarkt in de Lebuinuskerk in Deventer. Als je dit graag wilt leren, schuif dan bij ons aan tussen 10:00-13:00. Je bent van harte uitgenodigd!

ps: de toegang tot de kerstmarkt is 2,50 euro, de workshop is gratis, materialen kun je ter plekke kopen of zelf meenemen

Time out: a comfy crocheted cushion cover

2011-12-11T19:32:00.000Z

Since I'm very busy with lots ofpre-Christmas deadlines, I wanted to do something soothing. Thisproject is inspired by three balls of yarn in my stash that were tooexpensive for a knitted throw, not the right color for a scarf andtoo beautiful to use in any other way. Yes, sometimes I think yarn istoo beautiful to use, so it ends up sleeping in my stash...

So, inspired by Heins Home and theflickr group Subdued Stitching, I finally decided to use this yarn,and to crochet a cushion cover (hook size 12).

ps: I added the round border with Picnik, a free online photo editing program.

Omdat tijdens de aanloop naar kerst zodruk is, had ik behoefte aan haakproject waar je lekker rustig vanwordt. Voor deze kussenhoes gebruik ik drie bollen wol die ik al heellang heb: ze waren te duur om een volledige sprei mee te breien, deverkeerde kleur voor een sjaal en eigenlijk te mooi om überhauptte gebruiken. En dat is natuurlijk ook weer zonde, dus nu worden zeeen mooi kussen :-)

Two aran knit balls

2011-12-03T13:28:00.000Z

It's cold, it's dark and I'm photo-shopping like crazy to make my pictures look winter white, instead of swampy gray :-). I've put a jug of magnolia branches on our mantle piece and added some of my aran knitted Christmas balls. Next week, we'll buy a tree!

ps: the pattern is from Knitting Daily, you can download it here.

Het is koud en donker en ik moet behoorlijk wat fotoshoppen om een lichte foto te krijgen :-). Hier heb ik twee gebreide kerstballen met kabelpatroon in magnoliatakken gehangen. Je kunt het patroon hier downloaden.

Two birds

2011-11-23T11:59:00.001Z

The Christmas book from Arne & Carlos has 55 designs, but I limited myself to the ones with hearts and birds. I think the birds are really sweet!

Now that I've finished the yarn I bought for these Christmas balls, I'm going to use the little balls of white left-over yarn I found in my stash, and then I think it's time to start working on my throw again :-)

ps: I was told that Arne and Carlos are working on an Easter knitting book. You can browse the look book (no patterns) here. And, they've designed an extra advent Christmas ball, downloadable for free here. It's in Norse, but don't let that scare you, because the basic pattern is the same as the one in their book.

Dit zijn de vogelballen uit het boek van Arne en Carlos. Ze hebben ook nog een gratis patroon voor een gebreide Advent kerstbal gemaakt (hier) en werken aan een Paasbreiboek. (voorproefje hier)

Knitted leaf & lace throw: a '70s interpretation

2011-11-21T13:48:00.001Z

So far, I've finished 5 leaf & lace squares, only four more to go :-) It was nice to find a seventies example of this throw in the thrift store last week! I didn't like the colors (orange and brown), but I do like the way the design was adapted, such as knitting the leafs and the border in two different colors. I think this would work for e.g. a cushion cover knitted in thick yarn. The squares are stitched together diagonally. This surprised me, because it makes finishing the border quite difficult. She (I assume it was knitted by a woman :-), used half a square to fill the gaps in the border. Now that I'm writing this, I wonder how she did that... I forgot to take a look...

I took picture of the throw, but I didn't buy it because of the colors. I really hope it will find a happy new home!

Inmiddels heb ik vijf gebreide blokken :-) Vorige week vond ik een jaren-70 versie van dezelfde sprei in de kringloop. Ik heb hem niet gekocht (want bruin + oranje), maar ik vond dat er wel leuke details in zaten, zoals het gebruik van twee kleuren en de manier waarop de blokken aan elkaar genaaid zijn.

Lavender and light blue

2011-11-20T16:13:00.001Z

This color palette was inspired by my train commute through the Veluwe, a forest in the Netherlands. Last week, we had the first frosty November mornings, and the forest was beautiful in shades of gray, light blue and lavender.

A crochet workshop @ Kleinvak, Schalkhaar

2011-11-13T20:39:00.001Z

Last week, I was at acrochet workshop in my local yarn store, Het Kleinvak Schalkhaar. Welearned how to crochet with Hoooked Zpagetti, a very thick yarn (hooksize 12!) made out of left-overs from the textile industry. It wasreally fun! In the top left corner, you can see the fluo-pink toybasket I made for my daughter. She now uses it as a hat, by the way:-) The cute gray bags were made by Mireille, the shop owner.

Ps: The Hoooked Zpagetti website offers free patterns of bags and pillow covers in Dutch,English and German.

Vorige week heb ikmeegedaan aan de Hoooked Zpagetti workshop van Het Kleinvak inSchalkhaar. Het was erg leuk, en ik ging naar huis met een knalrozespeelgoedmand voor mijn dochter. De grijze tasjes op de foto's zijngehaakt door Mireille, de eigenaresse van Het Kleinvak. Je kunt depatronen gratis downloaden van de Hoooked Zpagetti site.

Aran knitted Christmas balls

2011-11-10T13:46:00.001Z

Last weekend, I visited the Knitting &Crochet Day in my local yarn store. Knitted Christmas balls were all the rage,and we exchanged a lot of tips, tricks and patterns. That's how I found outabout this aran Christmas ball pattern. It's taken from a free HolidayKnitting e-book by Knitting Daily. It’s quite small, about 5 cm, and reallysweet :-)

Ps: I decided to include a Dutch summary in myposts from now on.

Vorige week was ik naar de Breidag van “Het Kleinvak” in Schalkhaar. Eenleuke dag, met veel gebreide kerstballen! Dit patroon voor een gebreide kerstbal met kabels komt uit een gratis e-book van Knitting Daily.

A collage: watery shades of blue and green

2011-11-04T19:11:00.001Z

I love playing with color and makingmood boards and collages. So, I really enjoyed last week's Blogging Your Way, when we learned how to make collages in different types ofphoto programs. One of the programs discussed was Google Picasa,which you can download for free here. It's very user-friendly, in a“drag-drop-and-click” kind of way, and it can be used to make thetype of collages below. It doesn't have fonts, so I uploaded thecollage in The Gimp to add the text.

These are some pictures I took on myholiday in Sweden and Denmark this summer. The bakery and the seasidegarden are in Gotland, and I saw the wonderful door in the citycenter of Copenhagen. So actually, I should have called this“Scandinavian summer colors” :-). The shade card is from Werner's Nomenclature of Colors, an early 19^th century book on thenature of colors. It really makes me drool, and I hope that one day,I'll find the plate that's called “Colors of the sea”. I've seenit in a picture of and artist's atelier once, so I know it must beout there somewhere... :-)

How to knit balls: two video tutorials by Judy Graham

2011-10-31T13:41:00.001Z

In theprevious post, I wrote about knitted Christmas balls, and in the commentssection, we discussed the type of skills needed to make such balls. Arne and Carlos assume that you know how to knit in the round using 5 needles, and thatyou know how to increase and decrease, which results in the ball shape.

These twovideo tutorials by Judy Graham explain how to knit a ball using 4 needles. It’sreally clear and helpful! Knitting on five needles follows the same principle.Instead of casting on the stitches on 3 needles and use the 4th needle to knit,you cast the stitches on 4 needles and use the 5th needle to knit.

Tutorial part 1

Tutorial part 2

I didn't know Judy Graham, but I'm so glad I discovered her work by googling for tutorials! She knitted for film and tv and made piecesfor eg Barbara Streisand and Tom Hanks. She shares her work, tips and tutorialson her Youtube channel, website and blog. If you’re interested in knitting, be sureto take a look her work!

Knitted Christmas balls

2011-10-21T12:19:00.000Z

It can feel weird to mix up the courseof the seasons. I saw Arne & Carlos' book 55 Christmas balls to knit in August, but I didn't want to start making Christmasdecorations too early... I have a short Autumn holiday right now, soI thought it was a good time to finally get started!

The book contains 55 knitting patternsfor Christmas balls, based on traditional Scandinavian knittingpatterns. The combination of traditional craft and modern design iswonderful, the photography and styling are lovely and the book iswritten with a dry, understated sense of humor. If you want to get an impression of what the book is like, watch their Youtube commercialhere.

I made my first ball in cotton, butthat type of yarn didn't really work, so I switched to a woolly typeof yarn instead. The color palette in this picture seems to clashwith my previous pictures and my general blog lay-out, but it's justthat, for Christmas, I like to stick to classic red, white, wood andhearts :-) I've got 1,5 ball right now, so I'll definitely be knitting some more, to combine with the felt hearts I made last year!

From traditional design to something new: a mood board

2011-10-13T14:39:00.000Z

I'm fascinated by using traditionalneedlework designs in a fresh, modern way. Most needlecraft books Iuse are from the seventies and early eighties, and style wise, that'snot really my period :-).

If you want to get an idea of how touse a traditional design in your own way, making a mood board canreally help. It's a way to visualize what your design might looklike, and in what type of interior it might be used.

Here's one I made for the throw I'm working on right now. I'm making it for our bedroom, which I want tobe warm, soft and cozy :-) I tried to play with contrast by to usingdifferent textures (apple wood, wool, linen, silk, paper) and acombination of dark and light colors.

ps: I'm a big fan of Sibella Court. This image of hers was an inspiration too. It's funny to find out how some images can stay with you for a long time and then come to mind all of a sudden...

Embroidered fabric samples from 1866

2011-10-09T18:42:00.002Z

Needleprint, a wonderful textile craft blog, wrote about The Textile Manufactures of India a few days ago, and I knew I just had to share this with you. By the way, if you're interested in historical embroidery, you just have to read Needleprint!

The Textile Manufactures of India is a collection of fabric sample books from 1866 . These books are now published on-line here. You can browse the database by material, object type, origin, pattern, technique and use. I browsed by technique and found some lovely embroidered fabrics, sigh....

ps: I'm trying to customize my new blogger template :-)

Images from The textile manufactures of India

Marie Claire Idées

2011-10-04T14:13:00.009Z

All images from Marie Claire Id é es

One of my favorite magazines is the French craft magazine Marie Claire Id é es. I was in Brussels for the weekend, picked up the September/October issue and fell in love once more with their projects, color choices, styling, everything! The magazine features a range of crafts (knitting, sewing, embroidery, paper crafts, painting, cooking, floral arrangements) on different levels (beginner, intermediate, advanced). Their website is wonderful too; you can search for projects by technique, color, materials, occasion, … The only problem might be that the site is in French, but don't let that stop you from taking a look!

Here's a collage of the projects from their website I was drawn to this time: autumn colors and cozy textiles...

Blogging your way

2011-10-02T13:31:00.005Z

Wow, I signed up for the final Blogging your way e-course, by Holly & Thorsten Becker, and Leslie Shrewring. We're starting this Friday and I'm really looking for ward to it :-)

One of the things I've learned through blogging so far, is how much I like the combination of pink and blue. This '70s chair from my parents used to be black, red, lilac and peach, and is now pink , the dahlia is from my garden and I bought the teacup in Copenhagen last summer. It's from my favorite series of dinnerware ever, Royal Copenhagen Blue Fluted Mega. It's way out of my budget, but I just couldn't resist one teacup :-)

Leaf & lace throw: work in progress

2011-09-26T12:08:00.004Z

It's been a while since I wrote about my leaf & lace throw, but finally I've made some progress. I finished 3 blocks and sew them together to see what the final size might be. It's 150 cm wide, so a 3*3 throw will be 15*150 cm. I guess that's big enough :-)

ps: I blogged a about the background of this design here, and about similar patterns to be found online here

Late summer pinks

2011-09-14T18:13:00.006Z

These are some of the zinnia's that I managed to rescue from the snails, in lovely shades of pink.

I was hoping to post some images of my leaf & lace throw instead, but I can't. The third block is almost finished, but I made a mistake somewhere, and I don't really know which part/row to unravel... I really have to find some courage to start working on it again:-)

Early autumn colors

2011-09-04T11:47:00.005Z

One of my New Year's resolutions was to sow zinnia's, and they're in full bloom right now :-) And the dahlia's are back too! Together, they add a little splash of early autumn colors to my table.

I realize I haven't been writing about needlework on this blog for quite some time now. It's because I finished my medieval smocked apron (see tutorial on Medieval Silkwork).

Swedish summer colors

2011-08-16T18:35:00.005Z

I'm back from my holiday in Sweden and Denmark, and once more, I completely fell in love with the light and the shades of soft blue, gray, white and green. I took this image in Krusmynta Garden, a lovely herb garden/ tea garden close to the beach. This seaside corner under the pear trees really makes me happy. Maybe I should print this out come November, when it's cold and dark here :-)

Th. de Dillmont art nouveau embroidery book, 1895

2011-07-18T19:05:00.010+01:00

images from Dillmont, Th. de, ed D.M.C. Motifs pour Broderies [1, Mulhouse, Dollfus-Mieg & Cie, [c.1895], 112 pgs, download part 1 , part 2

A few weeks ago, I found a copy of a Th. De Dillmont art nouveau embroidery book in an open air book fair (one of those things I love about summer!). Because the weather is so bad, I haven't taken pictures of it yet. I did find a similar copy online, so you can get an idea of what it looks like. It's really worth taking a look at the transfer sheets at the end of the book. I may not like the colors that were used in the examples, but the transfers really show the designs and those are definitely inspiring!

July colors: pea and mint

2011-07-11T12:56:00.016+01:00

Last week I wrote about my blog break, but since then, I realized I like blogging way too much. Let's just say I will probably write less frequently :-).

This is my first pea harvest ever: only a handful, but delicious and in a wonderful shade of green.

ps: yes, I'm experimenting with borders, text and picture size :-)

A blog break

2011-06-25T14:14:00.004+01:00

I've decided that I'm taking a blog break, because there is too much on my plate right now: preparing a conference, finishing my current job and finding a new one, travelling between the Netherlands, Belgium, Poland and Sweden, taking driving lessons (I do have a licence, but I haven't driven for ten years..). I hope to be back early Autumn :-)

First leaf & lace square finished

2011-06-13T20:17:00.007+01:00

I finished my first leaf & lace square, and I pinned it onto a cushion to see what it looks like. I just love the way the leafs seem to float on top of the square :-) In the end, I decided to use a soft cream yarn instead of green. I will always love cream, whereas I'm not so sure of green...

The yarn is a Dutch brand, Lammy Ibiza, to be knitted with needles size 6. The square measures 50*50 cm. I'm thinking about making a throw with 9 squares. It's much quicker than the crocheted throw I just finished :-)

May colors

2011-05-29T19:38:00.006+01:00

I haven't posted for some time, because of a crafty deadline :-) I had to finish some medieval embroidery because the reenactment festival season is starting again. I finished a smocked apron for my daughter, and a linen embroidered cap for myself. This is an image of me wearing my medieval outfit :-)

Pin board: Craft inspiration April 2011

2011-05-03T15:49:00.002+01:00

Someone asked me if I didn't miss working on my blanket, after a year of crocheting. The answer is YES. I haven't decided what to do next... I'm now working on a historical smock embroidery project (I'll show you when it's finished). Now that the weather is so good, I don't really feel like knitting.. I was thinking about making a memory quilt with some of my daughter's shirts, but I've never done quilting, so that takes some research...

So that's why there are so many examples of smocking and quilting in this board :-)

April colors

2011-04-25T09:59:00.005+01:00

April colors: pink, blue and touches of yellow in a posy of tulips and forget-me-nots from my garden. This makes me really happy :-)

It's finished

2011-04-17T19:23:00.003+01:00

It's hard to believe... after a year of crocheting, my throw is finished.... (150 * 200 cm). I didn't manage to take a picture inside, so I took it to an orchard nearby.

ps: I can't give up granny squares yet, so I'm making a mini throw for a doll's bed now :-)

Spring colors: white and green

2011-04-11T12:14:00.002+01:00

Some cherry blossom on my night stand. My bedroom looks very uncluttered in this picture. I wish that were true in real life :-)

Shades of green

2011-04-04T14:14:00.006+01:00

This is a mood board for our bedroom: light walls, shades of green and chocolate, and little touches of pinkish red (of course!). I wanted to knit a lace& leaf throw, but I still haven't found the right yarn. "Cafe Tasse chocolate wrapper green" would be nice, but it's quite difficult to find :-)

Pin board: throws and blankets

2011-04-04T13:21:00.002+01:00

I haven't posted a pinterest board for quite some time. Now that the day's are growing longer, I spent less time on-line, so that's probably why. Here is a glimpse of my 'throws and blankets' board. You can find it here, and click on each image to go to its original source.

Magnolias

2011-03-23T09:42:00.004Z

Two weeks ago, the "big" magnolia in my village was pruned, and I asked if I could have some branches. They started flowering this week :-) Such a perfect excuse to play with shades of brown and pink!

Only 20 more granny squares to go

2011-03-21T11:29:00.004Z

Writing for my blog made my realize I collect quite a lot of things: vintage china, enamelware, and books with pretty covers :-). I found these volumes from the fifties in the thrift store. I will probably not read them, but I really love these covers.

ps: the same rules for collecting apply: the books have to be cheap and have lovely covers :-)

March colors: shades of pale green

2011-03-14T09:15:00.007Z

Last week was the first time this year I picked flowers from my garden, a little bunch of snowdrops :-).

The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

2011-03-09T18:58:00.009Z

As you may have guessed, I have a thing for throws and blankets. That's why I really liked the Priscilla bedspread book. It's a collection of crochet patterns for lovely bedspreads, downloadable for free here. These are some of my favorite designs:

Throws with flower and lace designs like these would not be warm, they would be an awful lot of work to make, but they are so so pretty! I also like the idea of making a throw with pieces of fabric and crocheted borders, like the one below:

All images were taken from The Priscilla bedspread book, 1914

Cups and saucers

2011-03-02T11:44:00.005Z

It's a very sunny and cold March day, so I decided to try to take a picture of my vintage china. Spring is on its way, and I'm really looking forward to the open air brocante & antiques fairs. I collect cups and saucers, but only the ones I really really love (and cost less than 2 euro). That's why I've bought only three of them in the past year...

Only 32 more squares to go...

2011-02-23T10:47:00.005Z

.. and then I can start working on the border :-) Mia posted a wonderful tutorial for a crocheted border on her blog here. It may be a little too much for a throw like this, but I'm definitely thinking in that direction.

A beautiful blog on 18th and 19th century dress

2011-02-20T18:26:00.005Z

Images via Hats & Laces

Hats & Laces is a Tumbr blog full of pictures of beautiful dresses (swoon!) focusing mainly on the 18^th and 19^th century. I completely fell in love with this dress from ca 1885: the colors, the ribbon details, the flower patterned stripes, … Maybe I should have been a period drama actress :-)

There was no background information, so I don't know where this dress is from. That's a typical problem of sites like Pinterest or Tumblr: sometimes images are reblogged so often that the original image credits get lost...

Paint it pink

2011-02-14T12:18:00.006Z

Last week I bought a little table for my daughter at the thrift store. It was a horrible shade of green, and after seeing the latest Ariadne at Home magazine, I just knew it had to be pink :-) Her chair is a matching cherry red! There is some paint left, so maybe .. one of my wooden chairs...

ps: the paint is a Dutch brand: Flexa, oudroze 1015, hoogglans

Yarn experiments

2011-02-08T18:17:00.004Z

It's fun to experiment with different types of yarn for a knitted leaf & lace throw. Last week, I bought a some of this yarn: Lana Grossa Ragazza, 100 % merino wool to be knitted with needles size 12 (US 17). It's absolutely wonderful, but.... it's way too expensive for a throw... I made a mini square to calculate the amount of yarn I would need, and it's just too much (sigh!). I'll save these balls to make a super comfy shawl. But that's for next winter, because I'm already in a Spring mood :-)

Craft inspiration January 2011

2011-02-01T18:51:00.003Z

Here's some craft inspiration I collected in January. You can find this pin board here. Click on each image to view its original source.

February colors

2011-01-31T11:19:00.002Z

Pale shades of blue, yellow and cream, with touches of black and chocolate. February is almost Spring, but it has its dark days too... I chose these images by color, so it was fun to see that there was an “accidental” bird theme in this collage too :-). Perfect for february, when birds start to sing again. I can't wait to hear the first blackbird.

The painting is by an anonymous Flemish painter, ca 1520.

ps: I would love to have the blue scale :-)

Am embroidered panel, ca 1909

2011-01-23T18:04:00.003Z

An embroidered panel by Helen Adelaide Lamb, 1909
Image via The Textile Blog

I haven't posted much these weeks, because it's busy at work.... There will be a lot of deadlines this year, so maybe I'll be posting less frequently..

I really love the embroidery above, that's why I wanted to share it with you. You can read more this, and about Scottish embroidery from ca 1900, on the Textile Blog.

January colors

2011-01-11T12:42:00.004Z

I like January: it feels fresh after a busy December with a little too much Christmas decorations, too much food, too much … And here in The Netherlands, we have 10 more minutes of daylight each week! I'm really looking forward to Spring, and I'm surrounding myself with shades of white and green: hyacinths, helleborus and these anemones and ranunculus. I had to buy them per piece: three anemones and two ranunculus flowers. That's one of the downsides of January: I can't pick flowers yet ...

Knitted leaf & lace squares: some on-line patterns

2011-01-09T12:17:00.009Z

Some weeks ago, I wrote about a leaf & lace square pattern I'm trying to knit. I found some on-line patterns of this type of knitting :-) If you want to see how this would look like in a contemporary interior, take look at Molitli's work here.

Image and pattern/tutorial via Vintage Craft Patterns

Image and pattern/tutorial via Megan Mills

Pattern for sale on Etsy via Lost Craft Patterns

Shades of red, berry, fuchsia and pink

2011-01-07T12:56:00.005Z

Image via Arnaud Maggs

Image via Susan Hobbs

Some weeks ago, I wrote about Werner's Nomenclature of Colors, an 18^th century color classification system. I absolutely love the pages of this work, especially these gorgeous shades of red, berry, fuchsia and pink. It's funny to see that Pantone has chosen Honeysuckle as the color of the year 2011. Beauty never goes out of style!

Craft inspiration December 2010

2010-12-31T09:34:00.003Z

Here's a preview of the craft projects that have caught my attention in December. Click here to see the pin board, and then click on the images to see their original sources.

I wish you all a very happy New Year, with lots of fun crafty projects!!

Knitted leaf & lace squares

2010-12-28T17:53:00.012Z

The holidays are a perfect time to learn something new, and I really wanted to learn how to knit lace & leaf squares. I first came across this pattern when I bought a Thérèse de Dillmont DMC Knitting album:

Die Strickarbeit, 1er Serie, for bibliographical data, see image. I couldn't find a publication date in the album.

Each of these designs is beautiful, but I really love the one in the left corner below! I'm glad I found a Dutch translation of this design in this book:

De techniek van het kunstbreien. Kanten en patronen. H. Van der Klift-Tellegen, 1984, Cantecleer, De Bilt.

You can also find something similar in this book in English.

This is my first attempt, knitted with 4,5 mm needles in Laluca Cotton. I'm halfway now, so the final square will be around 40*40 cm. I would love to knit a throw like this in soft light army green :-) Actually, I thought I had bought green, but I should have known shop lights can be deceiving...

ps: The reason I'm writing about it now, is that I was reminded of this pattern when I saw pictures of similar designs made by the Dutch company Molitli. Take a look at their beautiful work here.

Winter comfort

2010-12-20T18:06:00.006Z

Today, it was very cold, but also very beautiful. The sun was shining and the world was covered in a thick layer of snow. A perfect day for a bowl of hot chocolate and a slice of homemade chocolate-vanilla cake. Although I have to confess that after eating and drinking what's in the picture, I did feel a little shaky. The combination of hot chocolate+chocolate cake might be a little bit too much ... Next time, I'll combine the cake with tea instead :-)

Here's the recipe (I combined several, this was what seemed to work for my oven).

200g sugar

200g butter
200g flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3 sachets of vanilla sugar

for the chocolate dough: mix 4 tablespoons cacao powder and 4 tablespoons sugar with a little boiling water

Cream the butter and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Then add the milk, the baking powder, the vanilla sugar and the flour. Pour half of the dough in a buttered cake tin. Mix the cacao/sugar mixture with th rest of the dough and pour this in the cake tin.

Put in the oven for about 60 minutes at 175^o C.

Werner's "Nomenclature of Colours", 1814

2010-12-19T13:53:00.009Z

Image from Werner's Nomenclature of Colours (1814), via Saatchi Gallery

It's the darkest time of the year, but in a few days, the light will slowly come back, the days will be a little longer, and at the end of January, we will have one more hour of daylight :-) Even though the snow was beautiful today, I'm really much more of a spring/summer person. To celebrate the "return of the light", I'm posting a beautiful color chart from Werner's Nomenclature of Colours . He made up beautiful, poetic names for each color, such as "yellow parts of a large dragonfly", or "wild primrose". (Click on the image to enlarge and read). I really love these shades, and the way they're combined in the chart.

Work in progress

2010-12-15T11:59:00.005Z

Taking pictures of my crocheted throw is becoming a bit of a creative challenge: How many different pictures of a blanket can I possibly take? Enter my "new" vintage enamelware bread bin :-) I've also discovered another setting on my camera, that's why the color tones in this picture are slightly different, again.

By the way, this will be my motto during the Christmas Holidays: "Keep calm and carry yarn".
And if you'd like to give granny squares a try, do take a look at the Purl Bee basic tutorial here.

A midwinter color palette

2010-12-10T12:46:00.006Z

For me, these are midwinter colors: light blue, soft gray and the shades of brown paper and whithered leafs and flowers. I experimented with my camera's color tone settings, so that's why the blue in the images is a little crisper than the blue in real life.

Th painting of the woman taking a bath is by Alfred Stevens, and the image of the table with the glass of water is from ATLITW studio, published in Ariadne at Home magazine.

A paper hearts garland

2010-12-05T17:54:00.005Z

This morning, we unwrapped our Sinterklaas presents. I really liked some of the wrapping paper: a classic brown envelop and gold paper used to wrap up rose scented bath oil (one of the gifts I received :-). That's why I decided to use it to make this paper hearts garland.

Ps: one of my New Year's resolutions will be to re-use pretty wrapping paper :-)

Aran sweater finished

2010-12-03T15:31:00.003Z

In September, I started with an aran sweater for my daughter, and I finished it just in time! It's cold here now, with a lot of snow :-) I took the pattern from Ariadne Baby & Peuter, issue 1, 1991, and changed the cables a little. It's a Dutch size 86 (i.e. for a child of about 86 cm tall). The yarn is Botter IJsselmuiden/Oslo.

November colors

2010-11-29T12:02:00.001Z

Shades of frosted light blue and light green, shades of brown verging on purple. And, of course, a little splash of fuchsia/red!! My husband and my daughther on a frosty morning, taking a walk in a parc in Brussels.

Pinterest board: Craft inspiration November

2010-11-28T18:03:00.004Z

This is a sneek peek of the craft inspiration I collected in November. You can find my Pinterest board here. Click on the image to go to the original source of each image. Most images link back to tutorials :-)

A snowflake garland

2010-11-26T15:05:00.005Z

There are lots of examples of crocheted garlands in the blogosphere, and I wanted to make one for my own home too :-) This garland is for my Christmas tree, but as a Dutch girl, I will wait till after Sinterklaas to buy one .

I was inspired by Emma Lamb's beautiful garlands, such as this one. I also liked the examples of paper snowflakes in Gifted Magazine, an e-craftmagazine which you will really enjoy! (I would love to contribute to such a magazine, or write one myself :-)

I took the patterns from my collection of seventies craftbooks. You can find similar patterns here. This book is in Japanese (?), but the crochet templates are universal. And, each pattern is crocheted in beautiful winter white yarn!

Felt hearts, part 2

2010-11-21T17:57:00.003Z

Here are some more felt hearts I made as Christmas decorations. I decided not to buy new supplies, but to use materials from my (ever growing) stash instead. As a result, I'm out of mother-of-pearl buttons now... Luckily, I found an old blouse with cute white buttons in the back of my wardrobe :-)

ps: I'm playing around with the color tone settings on my camera. In real life, these hearts are bright red, but somehow I like the fuchsia tones in this image too :-)

An on-line needlework book from 1899

2010-11-20T13:23:00.009Z

For obvious reasons (perfect shade of blue, flowing art nouveau lines!), I love this cover. It belongs to a book by a silk manufacturer and it offers embroidery, knitting and crochet projects:

Ford, Anna Grayson, ed., et al., Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations, adapted to the use of M. Heminway & Sons’ Wash Silks (Oriental Dyes). New York, M. Heminway & Sons Silk Co., 1899.

You can browse and/or download it for free here. Here are some of my personal favorites:

Embroidered strawberries

Crochet designs for trims and edgings (yes, I'm still into crochet trims!)

Crocheted wristlets.

I'm seeing a lot of wristlets in the blogosphere these days, such as these. (or try searching for wrist warmers on Etsy). Yesterday I even tried some on in Accesorize. I think I definitely want to make some... (and it's a great reason to try a new lace knitting pattern!)

all images are taken from Treatise on Embroidery, Crochet and Knitting with Illustrations

Crocheted throw, work in progress

2010-11-15T15:25:00.004Z

This is my granny square throw so far. It may look like it's finished, but it's not:-) I made two rows of three “giant” blocks each, and I think I need four or five rows to cover the whole bed... This is the result of half a year of crocheting, so, maybe, Christmas 2011...

If I ever make another throw, I'll probably use a different hook size. This one is made with a 2,5 mm crochet hook. And I know now that it takes ages with such a small hook :-) I really love this example of giant granny squares in really thick yarn, it looks so cozy! (scroll down for a better image).

Felt hearts

2010-11-11T13:26:00.004Z

I'm making "toddler friendly" Christmas decorations this year. My 1,5 year old daughter is very curious and playful, so glass bulbs are not a good choice right now... :-) I'm having a lot of fun making these. Usually, when I start a new craft project, I want to learn something new/complicated or make something "big". I forgot how much fun it is to make something that is ready in one hour!

ps: If you want more inspiration for homemade "toddler friendly" Christmas decorations, take a look at my pinterest board here.

Crochet trims on pillowcases, 1915 and now

2010-11-02T06:24:00.009Z

Sometimes, something grabs my attention, and then I can't help seeing it everywhere. These past few weeks, I couldn't stop noticing crochet trims on pillowcases :-) (yes, I'd really like to make a set of this type of pillowcases, and no, I really don't have the time for it..)

Here are some cute examples from 1915. The one with the little violets is probably my favorite. They're taken from the book "Valeire, Anna. Crochet & Tatting Craft Book No. 1, Edgings Medallions & Insertions, with full instructions on over sixty pieces for use in lingerie & the home. St. Louis, Missouri, E.C.Spueler, c. 1915" , which you can download and/or browse for free here.

Here are some modern examples (warning: they will make you want to start crocheting right away :-):
FRYD+DESIGN
Rose hip's flickr folder

October colors II

2010-10-24T12:51:00.004Z

I like the way flowers mark the change of the seasons. That's why, for me, one of the fun things of autumn/winter is growing flower bulbs indoors. This is my first amaryllis of the season (I haven't seen hyacinths or narcissus yet). The stem couldn't support the flowers anymore, so I had to cut it and put in in a vase.

ca 1900 embroidered dresses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art

2010-10-22T17:51:00.006Z

I love browsing on line museum collections, and that's how I found these gorgeous dresses. I can totally picture myself wearing each one of them :-) Click on the link below each dress to read more about it in the Met database.

ps: I'm typing away a lot of deadlines these days. I've decided to spare my arms by taking a little crochet and knitting break.

French ballgown, ca 1902

Evening dress, 1910

Silk dress, 1880

The Columbia Book of Yarns, 1915

2010-10-11T17:06:00.005Z

The Columbia Book of Yarns (1915) is a charming collection of knitted and crocheted clothes for men, women and children. The cover really speaks to me, which must be because this is one of my favorite shades of red:

I would really like to try some of the crochet patterns (my list of things I'd love to make one day is growing longer and longer...), such as this scalloped, shell- like border:

I also love this jacket. The book doesn't give directions for sizes, which makes me wonder what size this might be. I'm quite tall, so it may not fit me..

All images are taken from The Columbia Book of Yarns. You can browse and/or download this book for free here.

Floral prints and Pinterest

2010-10-05T18:49:00.003Z

Last week, I found this vintage tin in my local thrift store. A friend told me she owns the exact same one, which once belonged to her boyfriend's grandmother. So, it's probably from ca 1930, and not very rare. I just love its flower print: it was a great excuse to play around with some floral fabrics from my stash :-)

And something completely different: Finally, I have a Pinterest account! I'm addicted to sites where you can collect and store images, and I'm really happy with Pinterest (so many beautiful moodboards!) . You can find me here, and if you happen to be on Pinterest too, I'd love to hear from you.

New type of granny squares

2010-10-01T15:31:00.005Z

Last week, I decided to change my crocheted throw a little, because I thought it was way too much for a quiet bedroom. This is my new type of granny square, and I think they will make a much nicer throw :-)

ps: this image was featured on Emma Lamb's blog here :-)

September colors III

2010-09-29T14:49:00.006Z

The last hollyhocks of this season, in shades of pale pink and green. I also love the little touches of yellow in the back ...

Chocolate

2010-09-25T10:18:00.002Z

Darks brown is one of my favorite colors, and of course, chocolate is always a good idea! Each week, when he comes back home from Brussels, my husband brings a different bar of Galler chocolate :-) Great with a cup of very strong Earl Grey tea!

Crocheted throw, work in progress

2010-09-23T14:11:00.005Z

Now that I'm seeing my crocheted throw from a distance, I decided to change it a little: bright & colorful is good, but this is a bit too much for my daughter's room... I'm going to take some of the grannies apart, reshuffle them and make blocks of 4 by 4 grannies each. Then, I'll crochet these toghether with a band of soft pink yarn... That will probably tone it down a bit … :-)

I took these images at Herma's Garden and Nijendal Nature Reserve. I go there often with my husband and my daughter, both places are small, quiet and wonderful. If you happen to be in the neighborhood of Deventer and you're looking for some peace, go there, and afterwards, have a drink at Havezathe De Haere (that's what I did today :-).

Btw: I was inspired to try photocollages after seeing the collages by the lovely ladies of Thé Dansant. The collages are made with Big Huge Labs.

September colors II

2010-09-20T17:23:00.002Z

These hydrangea flowers used to be white, but now they turn to a pinkish red. I love this color in combination with the pale green.

Early autumn comfy knitting

2010-09-16T08:31:00.004Z

Craft-wise, I'm a bit of a multi-tasker, working on various projects at the same time... But this is my “priority project” for now: a woolen cable knit sweater for my daughter. I love cable knitting, and when I found a vintage Ariadne with a beautiful sweater, I knew I just had to make it! (I can't find it right now, I will give the reference later). I can really picture her wearing this when it's cold outside :-)

I also discovered that there are a lot of cable knitting video tutorials on youtube, for example this one. If you want to give it a try, just take a look!

September colors

2010-09-10T17:11:00.004Z

I picked this rose from my garden this morning, and I just love the pinkish red spots :-)

Happiness

2010-09-05T18:51:00.001Z

One of the things that really make me happy is working with sumptuous yarns in gorgeous colors: pink silk yarn and fabric, gold thread, a little white linen... These are the ingredients of my “girly” 14^th century pouch. I've been working on it for quite some time now, and it's still not finished, but I'm enjoying every step on the way :-)

The embroidery pattern can be downloaded from Wymarc. If you like this type of embroidery, take a look at his site for more!

Handmade comfort

2010-08-31T08:03:00.003Z

Now that the cold season is coming back, it's time to fluff up throws and pillows! These are some of the things my mother and I made over the years. From top to bottom:

- a wool knitted pillow I made last winter
- a quilt made of my parents' and my brother's faded jeans. I made this when I was 15 :-)
- a crocheted throw made by my mother

August colors (3)

2010-08-25T12:53:00.005Z

Just when I thought autumn was coming, I found myself picking these roses and hibiscus from my garden. August is both summer and autumn, and today, it's definitely summer :-) The background is a panel of 1950's wallpaper I kept when we were renovating our house.

ps: this image is also part of a beautiful collage by The Dansant

Designs for needlework, ca 1900

2010-08-23T16:59:00.006Z

This designs are from a ca 1900 needlework book, that can be downloaded for free here. I would love to make cushion with one of these square flower designs :-). The image of the lady with the lion is a real fairytale too!

Crocheted throw, work in progress

2010-08-18T10:08:00.007Z

The crocheted throw for my daughter is getting bigger and bigger :-) I also discovered that crocheting squares is something that I can easily do on the train. So, instead of reading magazines, I'll be doing some crochet now.

I also found the wonderful crocheting blog by Sarah London. If you like colorful, funky crochet, you should definitely take a look!

ps: this image was featured on Sarah London's blog here :-)

Swedish summer colors

2010-08-15T16:58:00.003Z

Last week I was on a holiday in Gotland, Sweden. I brought back some souvenirs: replica's of 14^th century glassware, a wooden heart, a book about summer houses on Gotland (I'd love to own one!). For me, they reflect the colors of a summer on a Swedish island: light green, light blue, light wood.

August colors II

2010-08-05T12:19:00.002+01:00

And today we picked the first brambles from our garden :-)

August colors

2010-08-04T19:10:00.005+01:00

With a new season approaching, I find myself drawn to different colors, such as this shade of dark cherry red. This is one of the first dahlia's from my garden :-)

French metal embroidery thread

2010-08-02T12:40:00.003+01:00

Last week, I bought this French metal embroidery thread at the Apeldoorn Antiques Fair for only 8 euro :-) I'll probably use it to finish the seams of a medieval purse, like this.

Hydrangea season

2010-07-23T16:12:00.008+01:00

"It is strange how deeply colours seem to penetrate one, like scent"
George Elliot, Middlemarch

I still can't do anything craft-related, so I started reading Middlemarch: 900 pages of romance and intrigue in the Victorian Age. I'm giving my arms some more rest, so it will be a while before I can show progress of my crocheted throw :-)

It's hydrangea season in my garden now, a great reason to combine lilac, green and blue!

Vintage embroidered whitework border

2010-07-10T12:54:00.004+01:00

This is one of the "scraps" I bought at Brocante aan de Yssel a few weeks ago. (I tried to take pictures of the other pieces as well, but those images didn't turn out the way I wanted too :-) It's a long strip of whitework embroidery, maybe cut off from a night dress or something. I saw some aprons with this type of embroidery too. I don't know what time frame this is from, but it would be a really cute border on a nightgown like this.

Seven centuries of lace, Maria Margaret Pollen, 1908

2010-07-07T18:48:00.003+01:00

Image from Seven centuries of Lace, by Maria Margaret Pollen

The past few weeks, my attention has been drawn by lace of all sorts... It started at the Brocante and Antiques Fair in Deventer, where I bought some gorgeous scraps of lace (no pictures yet, it takes time with an analog camera.... Then, Racaire wrote about the blog Italian Needlework, which is a must-read for anyone interested in historical needlework.

And now, I found this wonderful on-line book Seven centuries of Lace, by Maria Margaret Pollen (1908). You can download or browse it for free here.

The 17th century Italian towels above are really nice, and macrame is such a fun thing to do :-)

Embroidering a tablecloth in a perfect world

2010-07-02T07:06:00.004+01:00

Image via the New York Public Library Digital Archive

In a perfect world, embroidering a large tablecloth would probably look like this (notice the serene smile on her face...). In the real world ... argghll... I keep having problems with managing a piece of fabric of 110 *300 cm. That's why I still haven't done more embroidery on my linen tablecloth... I hope that one day, I''ll have the perfect frame so I can move on!

ps: the flower border she's embroidering looks very cute!

Slow blogging: analog photography

2010-06-30T11:27:00.006+01:00

"Summer afternoon, summer afternoon... the two most beautiful words in the English language" Henry James

This is one of the last pictures I took with my digital camera. Last weekend, it fell into the paddling pool while I was playing with my daughter... :-) So now, I'm going retro with my husbands analog mirror reflex camera from 1985 (and keep it away from the pool!). It's really going to be an interesting experience in slow blogging: there's "such" a time delay between taking an analog picture and being able to post it here :-)

Crocheted throw, work in progress

2010-06-25T09:13:00.007+01:00

My crocheted throw is slowly getting bigger :-), but it's still not big enough... At first, I wanted it it to be the size of an Ikea baby bed, but then I decided I'd better make one for a children's bed, so my daughter can sleep under it longer. So, more crocheting for me to do :-)

One of the best/worst things of reading blogs, is that I always see something beautiful/supercool that inspires me so much I feel I want to start crafting right away. I had this feeling this morning when I saw this crocheted throw by Alicia Paulson. You can also buy the tutorial here. If I ever have another baby, I know which blanket to crochet:-). I also love the way she styled the photo. It reminds me that I've still got a long way to go...

Celebrating summer

2010-06-24T10:51:00.007+01:00

Nothing better than to celebrate the beginning of summer with a bowl of cherries! Especially when both the cherries and the bowl happen to be in my favorite colors :-)

The bowl was a lucky thrift store find, and a great addition to my collection of vintage enamelware. I love collecting, but I use three rules when it comes to buying enamelware:

1) it must have a golden band
2) it must be in good condition, with a nice color
3) I will not pay more than 5 euros :-)

These rules really save me from buying too much :-)

Smocked dress 1974

2010-06-15T09:07:00.004+01:00

I'm experimenting with 14th century smocking/pleadwork (blogged at medieval silkwork here). While looking for honeycomb stitch tutorials, I found this gorgeous smocked dress from 1974 (and I love this color too.. :-) Smocking can be a bit frumpy, old fashioned, but here it's used in a totally modern way. The image is from a Dutch translation of the Time Life Needlecraft series from 1974 (I can't find the original English title in the book.)

Poppy field

2010-06-07T19:37:00.003+01:00

Image from the New York Public Library Digital Archive

I've been working on some 14th century embroidery, so I haven't posted for some time here.. In the mean time, I'm still browsing the New York Public Library Digital Archive, and I really really liked the image above :-)

Shades of blue, brown and fuchsia

2010-05-27T12:06:00.004+01:00

A display on my mantelpiece to experiment with shades of blue, brown and fuchsia

Les ouvrages 1932

2010-05-19T18:15:00.004+01:00

Some weeks ago, I was in France and I came across this needlework magazine from 1932. The cover really made me smile: doing some embroidery in the garden while the birds are feeding their young (I don't know why they choose this image as their Fall cover... :-) There are some patterns for lovely embroidered linen shifts in this issue:

I'd love to have one with the bows on the shoulders. It's also funny to see that they've got the same hair style my grandmother used to have...

Flower silhouettes

2010-05-16T16:16:00.002+01:00

I haven't had time for needlework this week: I was working in the garden instead :-) These are some of the flowers I picked this afternoon: lilly of the valley, forget me not and strawberries. I like their shadow silhouettes on the linen cloth :-)

19th century reproductions of medieval flower designs

2010-05-12T14:11:00.004+01:00

Images via the NYPL Digital Archive
click on images for more information

A few weeks ago, I wrote about the New York Public Library Digital Archive. It's a great source of inspiration! I really like these flower designs: it would be nice to have fabric with this print, and use it to make a quilt :-)

Lace knitted throw for a new born baby

2010-05-09T10:40:00.004+01:00

I knitted this throw during my maternity leave last summer. It's a small, light throw, perfect for a new born summer baby. When I was half way, I gave birth to my daughter, so my mother finished the other half :-)

It is made with Phildar Partner Baby in "Eglantine". I took the heart patterns from a library book (can't remember which, sorry!).