Lyon

Ah, Lyon! It had been three years since my last visit and almost nine (!!!) years since I did my Erasmus there. But it was as beautiful (if not even more beautiful) than ever. A few things have changed but mainly for the better; the whole area around the Confluence is completely different but it's also exciting to see what they have done there.

We stayed in a perfect little flat in Vieux Lyon and did all the usual things: walk up to Fourvière and enjoy the view, eat a brioche aux pralines (actually, eat as many as I can while I'm there), have some ice cream from René Nardone, visit Guillotière and my former work place.... In short, mainly eating and walking.

I was especially happy to round off my nostalgia-infused trip with the fête du quartier of my former workplace, a daycare centre for children where I worked as "animateur" while I was a student. I had some special memories of this event and being back was a great feeling. I even spotted one of the kids that I looked after back then, although I hardly recognized him.

2016 is the year I revisit all my former homes, mainly to show everything to Thomas who is still confused by all the different places and people I keep mentioning. I enjoy going back but also discovering new aspects that have been added after I left. Malmö and London are still on the list, which only leaves Essex but I'm sure we'll manage that at some point, too.

PS: No notable knitting progress during this trip. I had lots of time on the train but no inspiration. 

Something in the mail

A late birthday present from my mum came in the mail the other day: the first issue of Carrie Bostick-Hoge's "Making" magazine! I don't think I would have bought it "just like that", the price is almost the same as for a book (20 USD + 14 USD shipping!!) but if it's a gift I can of course accept it :).

I mainly wanted it for the "Marigold cardigan" knitting pattern because I had seen it on Ravelry before it was published and it was the perfect pattern for my stash of white alpaca yarn that I had been hoarding since my trip to Peru last year. The day I got the magazine in the post I started swatching and I've already made some good progress.

It's a bit of a  patience test to knit with this almost lace-weight yarn but I'm still enjoying it. Also, I have promised myself to knit AT LEAST three patterns from the magazine to make it worth it and I also love Carrie's "Branches and buds" jumper which is high on my to-do list. Although I think I'll make it a lopi-style cardigan with the leftover yarn I still have in my stash - but that's for the next project!

Spinning news

I may not have been very productive in terms of knitting, pottering around with several different projects at the same time but finishing none (and unraveling them at regular intervals). But I did some spinning! I got those fibres for my birthday and since they were just smaller quantities (ca. 50 g each) I went for it immediately.

I don't actually know for sure what type of fibres or fibre blands they are but my guess it's merino or something else on the woolly side. It was pretty easy to work with and it's so addictive!  I'm quite proud that I managed to make some progress compared to my humble beginnings in September last year - even though my twining technique still needs a lot of impovement and there is a lot of cursing involved...

The blue-greyish yarn was turned immediately into a little hat but for the green one I haven't found a good project yet. I wanted to make a triangle shawl but I'm not sure if it will be enough, could be a bit tight if I just count on that one skein. But for now I have other projects planned already so it'll have to wait a bit until I find a suitable pattern.

Now I need to un-cramp my hands and my back from hunching over the spinning wheel like an old lady from a Grimm fairytale - alas, the fibres have not turned to gold in spite of all my efforts.

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).