Whitlam cowl

The Whitlam cowl project was a testknit for a yarnshop in Leeds. They have started translating their patterns into German and French so I had the pleasure to test the French version - as you can see above, it worked out very well!

The cowl was a nice in-between project since my Marigold cardigan has been somewhat stalled in the last days after dropping a double-pointed needle (DPN) through the cracks of our balcony floor boards.... it's still possible to knit with four instead of 5 but it's more difficult so I'll probably have to buy a new set now.

Nice, easy, pattern with only one repeat to be memorized so it becomes automatic after a few rows. I like the wavy end bit which gives it some extra style and is much prettier than a normal seam. Looking at it now I would have rather made it longer though, it's too short and thin for my liking (I prefer chunky scarves and cowls).

*****
Pattern: Whitlam cowl by Jo Spreckley
Yarn: Baa Ram Ewe "Titus", shade "Aire"

Summer in Brussels

Staying at home over the summer is not such a bad thing, at least if the weather is ok. We've had our share of cold & rainy days but in between we managed to make the best out of the sunny ones. We cycled a lot in and around Brussels and discovered new places.

For example this farm in Neder-Over-Heembeek which offers educational activities for kids but also employs persons with intellectual disabilities and where you can have a nice drink after cycling up a crazy hill in the midday heat.

Or this place in Anderlecht, where you can pick your own fruit (in our case raspberries, but it depends on the season) and eat it right there with delicious ice cream. Unfortunately, the raspberries didn't like being transported back on the bike and they arrived home all squished and soggy. Thank god for blenders and smoothies!

In the meantime, I used the rainy days to advance on my knitting. I finished my Whitlam cowl (more in my next post) and making good progress on the Marigold cardigan. I have to admit that knitting with alpaca yarn, one of the warmest that exists, is probably not the best choice for a summer knit but I was so excited about this project that I couldn't wait for the winter. By the way, Marigold was also with me on the canoeing trip although I didn't advance much seeing as though I needed my hands mostly to paddle.

Finally, we also have a holiday cat. She's not ours but we're cat-sitting her while her owner is away and so far she has been behaving very well! Mostly she seems to be sleeping but occasionally she walks around a bit to inspect what we're doing or plays with her toys. Aaah, sometimes I wish I was a cat! 

Canoeing in Germany

 

The weather in the last few weeks has been amazing and since we had a long weekend ahead of us (21 July is the Belgian national holiday) I suggested to go canoeing. I actually had a particularly scarring canoeing trip on the Lesse in southern Belgium a few years ago: think HUNDREDS of people on the river, mostly drunk guys on stag-dos, to the point that there was actually a traffic jam of boats blocking the river, sprinkled generously with floating rubbish in between. So I wanted to make sure that this would not be repeated. My ideal canoeing trip is somewhere calm and peaceful where you can enjoy nature and in general not be disturbed by rude, noisy people but unfortunately in Belgium there is only one river which is navigable by canoe (it IS a small country).

Then I remembered that back in my school days in Germany we did a day trip on the Ruhr, very close to where I'm from. When I googled different possibilities and itineraries it actually turned out that one of the suggested trips goes right past my grandmothers' house! Perfect, the trip was booked. If you know the Ruhr-area in Germany, it is very densely populated and certainly not the nature paradise I had hoped for. We DID pass the motorway several times but in spite of this it turned out to be much better than expected - and certainly better than on the Lesse.

To get the most out of the trip and create a real holiday-feeling we decided to go for two days and stop over night at a campsite. Also, we wanted to make use of our tent that we bought last year for the trip to Iceland and which we hadn't used since then. It was the perfect trip! The first day we paddled for about three hours and since it was quite hot that was just about right. In the evening we stopped at a very typical German campsite which was well located and had all the necessary perks: beergarden café, super modern showers (better than in most hostels), nice staff, and you could even order breakfast to go.

It was so nice to be out and about, walk around barefoot and enjoy the sun! I even took a quick dip in the river but there was a lot of algae so I didn't dare to swim properly. The only tough bit with the canoe was when we had to carry it around the weirs because it was super heavy with all our camping gear inside. All in all there were three of them and we were quite exhausted but it also made for a change from the monotonous paddling.

After the trip we took the train back to the starting point where we had left the car and went to have lunch at my grandmothers' place. Bliss!

Textile travels: Latvia

This was my  second time in Latvia and again it was work-related. But this time my schedule was much more relaxed and I managed to see a little bit more of the city and of course do some yarn shopping! But seeing as though knitting and other textile-related crafts are so prominent there I thought it would be the time to write another blog post specifically about those traditions, similar to those that I wrote about Peru and Iceland.

The best reference book that I have come accross and which is commonly referred to as "the bible of Latvian mittens" is the book "Mittens of Latvia" by Maruta Grasmane. However, I have to admit that I don't own the book myself. I have been very tempted because it is very beautiful and  gives a good introduction to the techniques and also the patterns. But I figured that it is just not practical because it is quite heavy and for me, as a travelling knitter, it would just be useful for reference and if I wanted to actually knit a pattern, I'd have to copy it anyways to carry it around with me. And secondly, there is such a vast array of beautiful patterns on the internet which are very easy to copy (you only need the repeat chart and the colours because the shape of the mitten always stays the same). Finally, as I mentioned in previous posts my hands are very small and the normal suggested stitch count is too big for me so I usually end up modifying the pattern somehow anyways.

Bref, this book can be a good start but the best way to get inspired is of course to see the mittens in all their beauty and colour! I think I partly love them so much simply because of their colourfulness and the many ways you can combine them, a bit like with the Icelandic lopipeysur. I wrote more about the techniques in my blogpost on the workshop on Latvian mittens but here's a short summary of the main characteristics and possible style elements used in Latvian mittens.

• Use of minimum 2 different colours
• Stranded knitting on double-pointed needles (DPNs)
• Geometrical or nature-inspired patterns that are repeated over a certain stitch count 
• Cuff knit in contrasting colour
• Latvian braids
• Fringed hem

That being said, it is also important to differentiate between the different regional styles. The main cultural regions that Latvia is composed of are Kurzeme, Latgale, Vidzeme, and Zemgale.

Source: By Roalds - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6723815 

 The knitting styles differ between those regions, mainly in the use of colours and in the style of patterns (i.e. more geometrical or more "organic" and nature-inspired). They are all beautiful and it is insteresting that even in a small country like Latvia, the traditions can change so significantly from one region to another. Each has clearly its own identity. 

Source: http://habetrot.typepad.com/habetrot/2006/12/a_treasure_trov.html

The yarn used for those mittens is usually a lightweight (fingering) 2-ply wool yarn, dyed in all colours of the rainbow. They are usually sold in 100 g hanks or balls that are already wound and very affordable. There are  two main brands that I bought yarn from: Limbazu Tine is a small spinnery who sell their products amongst others in the "Kumode" shops found in most big shopping centres in Riga (e.g. Spice, Alfa, Origo...), where I saw a big basket full of different colours you could pick from. The other one is Tines who sell their yarn in a shop called "Tines Boutique"  in the Old Town  in Riga (Vagnera iela 5) - I don't know if it is coincidence that the names of those two brands are so similar or if it just means something like "wool" in Latvian but I first kept on confusing them. I can now tell them apart mainly because Limbazu Tine is sold in those loose hanks and Tines sells them in balls. Both are exactly the same quality and very similar in price though, according to my experience. Tines also has an online shop which is very handy. Another comparable yarn brand for Latvian knitting is Teksrena, although this company is actually Lithuanian. This is not my favourite though as the yarn can feel a bit "plasticky"
 

Mixture of different brands of yarn both hand dyed and commercially dyed

Yes, I think "yarn addict" is the technically correct term...

Latest addition to my stash after the trip to Latvia

I could only scratch on the surface of this very interesting and long subject of Latvian knitting. But for those who are more interested I definitely recommend the "Mittens bible" mentioned above or the book by Aija Jansone, whose workshop I attended. I have looked for good websites on this topic but so far I wasn't succesful. I'll add some links later (or maybe I should see this as a gap in the market and start my own website :-). Feel free to e-mail me if you have further questions, as you can see I'm a big fan of Latvian mittens and Latvia in general!