Birthday

A very nice and quiet birthday with celebrations starting the weekend before and only ending the weekend after my actual birthday - I think I really made the most out of it. My mum and sister came to visit me and we went on a trip to Antwerp, mainly discovering (vegan) cafés and restaurants and doing (second hand) shopping. We didn't even make it into any of the museum, in spite of the bad weather.

And I'm so happy that our balcony is so green and full of flowers, everything is now starting to bloom and the planting work has finally paid off! We didn't make any attempts to grow veggies and I concentrated mainly on flowers to bring a bit of colour - and one strawberry plant that I bought as an afterthought. It's been raining a lot which has been bad for us but great for the plants so maybe next year I'll attempt some more useful greenery.

My knitting is going through a bit of a difficult phase and I started several projects that I frogged again (for example the candy-cane cardigan that I mentioned in one of my previous posts). I started spinning again, also thanks to a birthday present which constituted of some wool for spinning, and that has brought some results but I don't really feel like knitting so much. Hopefully inspiration will be back soon.

Now off to Lyon for a long week-end, about time to get some rest and instpriration!

Transformation Thursday: Embroidered top

 

It's been a while since I had a good upcycling project but the second I saw this top at the thrift shop I knew this was a perfect candidate. I had been looking for a simlar top for ages and I love the embroidery (although I still can't decide if it's more South American or Eastern European style). The only issue: it was the size of a tent. But with a sewing machine at home there was a quick fix.

I wanted to keep the embroidered panel in one piece and make the top shorter. The easiest solution was to just take the sleeves off and make a kind of tunic instead and I was lucky enough that the width was just right. I unpicked all the pieces and also re-pleated both front and back parts. In hindsight I'm not a big fan of the pleat in the back but the distribution of the fabric is ok. 

The blue flowers on the back are such a nice detail and I'm happy that I could keep them in place! Likewise, I saw this little figurine (see the second picture below) at the thrift shop and when I asked how much it cost, they actually gave it to me for free. Yey, such a good week!

Stage 1: The original shirt

 

 Stage 2: Disassembling

 Stage 3: The new top

Vienna

Another wonderful weekend in Vienna, the city of cute little shops with retro-signs, coffee houses, beer gardens, classical music, confusing public transport, and beautiful parks. The main reason for the trip was a choir concert so I didn't have much time for knitting but did manage with quite a  bit of sightseeing.

It was my third time in Vienna and every time I come back I like it more - it doesn't surprise me at all that it has been repeatedly voted "Most livable city" in the world and is perceived to have the highest quality of life. One example: I saw several people that were drinking water from the public fountains all around the city - yes, just an ordinary fountain and you could up to it with a glass and drink from it! I don't know any other city in the world where that is possible, in most places not even the tap water is safe to drink.

I will probably be back in autumn so I saved a few tourist-gems but in any case, there is so much to see I wouldn't have to worry. Next on my trip list: Lyon, Sweden, and London (an all-time classic).