Belgian Raveler Meeting 2014

Most of you knitters are probably also regular users (or abusers) of Ravelry, like me. For those of you who don't know it I would probably describe it as "facebook for people who like knitting" but it is actually much more because it has an incredible amount of free patterns and links to shops, designers and yarn sellers and on top if this you can display and exchange your own projects, measure your progress and get help if you are stuck with a pattern. It is, in short, every knitter's dream!

I have been a member for a few years but only started using it seriously about a year ago when I started documenting my projects by uploading pictures and posting comments but even then I was not very active in the forums and groups. I only joined one group which unites all Belgian knitters online and is interesting to use as a resource besides my regular "Stitch'n'Bitch" meet-up in Brussels (to be perfectly honest I have not managed to go to many meetings lately but I mainly follow via facebook).

Once a year, the Belgian Ravelers meet up offline as well (or "irl" as I heard it is called by the young people nowadays) and I joined them in Gent in October for the first time. It was a truly delightful experience! About 40 knitters in a café, knitting away or trading yarn and discussing projects, kind of like our weekly meetings but just much, much bigger. I also saw a few familiar faces from Brussels but basically people were coming from all over the country and even from France. I was very impressed by the skills that people brought to the table and interested to learn about new "trends". 

I think the most intriguing thing I learned was about the whole "Wollmeise" craze which, to be honest, I cannot really understand. Yes, it is a lovely yarn and I like that it is hand dyed and all that jazz but since I'm really more in for the basic, raw wool yarns I can't see what the fuss is about. Maybe I should give it a try though since it seems to be so immensely popular. Oh, and the second interesting thing I learned was that you can raise your own silkworms, harvest the thread, spin it into yarn and then actually eat the silkworms to make the sustainability life cycle complete. After that, there wasn't much left to say. 

 

Stash update & fleamarket finds

More yarn, more fun! I got another delivery from Latvia, a very colourful one. I haven't decided what to do with this fiery colour-combination but I liked the quality for fair-isle knitting. The only problem is that the shades resemble each other too much and there is not enough contrast so it might be difficult to find a good pattern. Any suggestions are welcome.

The white yarn is going to be used for a Shetland lace shawl, at least that's the ambitious plan I have after receiving a book on lace knitting from Scotland from my Mum. The blue yarn is a similar quality but a different brand so that might go into some nice woolen mittens, ideally with another contrasting colour. I'll see if I can find something from the same brand online.

Oh, and did I mention that I was a regular at fleamarkets this autumn? This also included an excursion to Germany where I found those amazing original 1970s Swedish clogs. What can I say, it was love at first sight (although I'm sure my downstairs neighbour will love it a little less, those wooden soles are damn noisy).

 

I know what I did this summer

It's probably not the most beautiful city and definitely not the sunniest one but there's absolutely nothing wrong with spending the summer in Brussels. Proof can be found below. Picnics, fleamarkets, concerts, festivals, markets, food and of course countless crafting sessions made up a wonderful summer, only to be followed by an equally exciting autumn in my favourite city.