Montenegro

 

 

Just back from Iceland and we're on the road again (at least that's how it feels) - this time in.... Montenegro!

It may sound like a bit of a random destination and, indeed, it is. We were basically looking for something a bit warmer than Iceland to make up for wearing knitted jumpers in August but not the traditional Southern European holiday destinations with beach hotels and "all inclusive" deals. That was a a compromise we made when planning our trips for this year and I have to say it worked out remarkably well: Montenegro has a little bit for all the tastes.

Not wanting to do the job of the Montenegrin tourist board but this place was perfect for us, especially now off-season. We had the beach part and could even still swim in the sea, we had some nice towns and cities (Ulcinj, Kotor, Cetinje, Podgorica) and we had the mountains and lakes. All that is within a 2-hour drive radius of the capital and unbelievably cheap on top of that.

We even had the time to make a little detour to Albania which was great, even though I was a little disappointed that I didn't get a stamp in my passport when crossing the border (ok, I might be bit obsessed with that). I would have expected a more chaotic and disorganized trip considering that we planned zero in advance but the Balkan clichés were (almost) not fulfilled and everything worked out super smoothly. Except....

...when we got home and had just landed at the airport, Thomas got a bit too enthusiastic running for the bus and hit his head against a lamp post. Ouch. 3 hours later and a short stint at a Charleroi hospital's emergency room for fixing up the laceration on his forehead and the holiday was truly over.

Sewing frustrations

Despite my best intentions I didn't really get rolling with my sewing projects this summer. Except for the Miette and the Marimekko dress I didn't manage to produce anything substantial. Not that I didn't try, I actually had quite an ambitious project planned, but maybe that's why it hasn't materialized yet.

I wanted to make another "Lilou" dress and I thought it would be a breeze since I had already made it once. The only thing I wanted to add was the lining and I didn't think it would make much of a difference but somehow it does.

First I  realized that i hadn't marked my alterations on the paper pattern and only on the toile for the first bodice so I didn't transfer those to the new pattern. Mhhh. That meant that I already left the half-cut pieces lying around in my kitchen for a couple of weeks or so until I could gather the energy to make the alterations.

Then I needed another session to cut out the bodice lining and i couldn't decide which fabric to use. I waited for another couple of weeks to get inspired.

Finally I had decided that I would take the black s y n t h e t i c (the importance of this emphasize will become clear later) fabric already used for my Marimekko dress because I still had enough for both the bodice and the skirt lining. I cut everything out and wanted to prepare the darts for sewing, happily took the iron and - GAAAAAAH - burnt a hole into the fabric which just melted like ice cream int he sun! Still can't believe how stupid I am.

My motivation was back to zero again and I left it lying around for a another couple of weeks, until I had taken the decision to just use my old toile as a lining. It's not great but I just couldn't be asked to make another piece and at that point I was getting fed up with the whole project.

Latest status: bodice with (fake) lining is finished, skirt pleats are sewn and pressed but now waiting to be assembled. Don't worry, it's just a question of a few more months....

My first spinning lesson

As a belated birthday present my mum had a surprise in stock: a week-end spinning workshop! I had already been thinking about learning to spin my own yarn for a long time but it never worked out time-wise or, in one more concrete attempt, the course was cancelled.

In principle I don't need yet another hobby and I can of course already fill my time easily with my knitting, sewing and dying projects but it's just too tempting to be able to make your own yarn! From the source to the finished sweater, everything done by myself - I think this is a useful skill and a fun project to do.

Of course, in my first spinning attempt I didn't manage to make yarn for a sweater. To be honest, it didn't even resemble yarn to begin with. Whoever thought spinning was easy, it is not. I correct myself: it is not easy in the beginning but just like with knitting it really depends on the practice. I started off with something vaguely looking like a piece of string wrapped around some fluff and in the end I managed already to produce a more or less evenly thick single which was neither too twisted or too loose. But it cost me quite a lot of sweat and perseverance!

I had a quick go at the drop spindle before getting started with the spinning wheel but the drop spindle isn't my cup of tea at all. Too fiddly and you have to kind of hold up your arms high which is very exhausting. The wheel was much better! I tried a modern Louet wheel and I was quite happy with it, once I figured out how to stop it from suddenly turning backwards *aaaaargh*. But that was more a problem of execution rather than the material.

All in all we spent a day and a half in the beautiful Belgian countryside, right next to the borders with the Netherlands and Germany (I kid you not you can walk to either country from there). The workshop was organised by Margaret who has her own sheep and took care of us including the most amazing home-cooked meals with meat from their own animals! It was basically just spinning-eating-coffee-spinning-eating-coffee all week-end long. The course was held in German but I can really recommend it for anyone who wants to get up close with some sheep and the spinning wheel, it was a lot of fun!

P.S.: Of course, now I want to have my own spinning wheel. Still negotiating with my boyfriend if the smell of unwashed sheep wool is acceptable in a city flat.