what a fun weekend i had! saturday, my boyfriend and me went all the way to Hasselt to visit Handmade in Belgium. it was a lot of fun, i talked to Melissa, took pictures of Caroline singing, saw some bloggers but was too shy to go and talk to them, tried to take a closer look at Tiene's jewelry but there were just too many girls fighting over them... ;)

i really enjoyed the market... i saw very nice things! i didn't buy anything though, either i thought "i could make that too" or "nice, but a little bit too colorful for me" or "great, but i don't have babies yet" but most of all "i want to do this too!!". so i figured... maybe i should! my boyfriend and i talked and brainstormed about it all weekend long and at dinnertime the decision was made ("do you really think i should do it?" - "yes!" - "really?" - "yep!!" - "okay!").
i'm going to start making and selling stuff, creating my own label or whatever you should call it. i'm not giving away what i want to do just yet... i want things to get a little more concrete first. :) (oooooh, so exciting!!!)

after the market we did some shopping and i finally got my hands on some textile paint to make my own labels, using my beautiful custom-made stamps by Mamasha.

it needed a little practice, i wasn't sure exactly how thick the paint should be... but practice (eventually) makes perfect!

my boyfriend was helping me and he thought we should also use the vintage stamps he gave me for my birthday... aren't they nice?

i also did a little sewing...
and that's all (for now)!

i promised you to show the progress on my granny square blanket... here it is! i've been working on it for six months now, and i have about 110 squares. i was a bit dissapointed when i put them together, it's still quite small. at least it's pretty!



meanwhile i'm also working on the lucy bag, it's my project for when i'm at my boyfriends place. what you see is the bottom of the bag. it isn't supposed to be this "wavy", but i think it'll turn out just fine when i start working "up". i'm loving the colors and the yarn!

my socks are finished! they are far from perfect, but i love them so much! no more cold feet in winter... i'm already planning my next pair! :)

thursday, i received the P.I.F from Poes P, a gorgeous grass-green crocheted bag, beautifully made! it's perfect for carrying my knitting around the house!
i haven't been this excited (those buttons!!) about something since receiving Mamasha's custom made stamps! (of which i never showed a picture, shame on me; here it is... so beautiful)


saturday i went to the fleamarket in Geel and i found alot of sewing supplies:
again a lot of fabric...curtains, table sheets, pillow cases... (must.stop.buying.fabric.)

and a lot of buttons!

my pots are getting quite full now... look how empty they were 8 months ago... i even had to get some new pots for white, yellow and orange!

next up: the progress on my socks (one and a half finished!!), the progress on my granny square blanket and when i hit 100 followers... a give-away!!

Poes P wanted to know how it all began... i guess being crafty runs in the family... i remember my mom knitting a lot when i was young, she even got paid to knit sweaters for Phildar! my grandma also knitted, but i mostly remember her crocheting all kinds of doilies. i never picked up the needles myself untill i was 18, a friend of mine lost her handmade scarf at school and i decided to knit her a new one. i knitted some scarves for friends and family, nothing special really, just easy stitches, nothing advanced.

i also wanted to know how to sew, mostly for practical reasons; i wanted to know how to shorten pants and fix holes. my mother in law got me a gorgeous mint-colored Singer for my birthday two years ago. i never really used it untill i started sewing classes in ghent.

unfortunatly, while working on some more of these little bags, my Singer broke and it couldn't be fixed. so i bought this brand new Janome in december, as a birthday present for myself.
last february i also started crocheting, because i wanted to crochet a blanket... still working on that. :)

so i guess that's my story. as you might have noticed, i'm really in my knitting phase right now (blame the socks!) but i hate sticking to only one craft... it won't take long till i have a crocheting or sewing phase again. :)

feel free to catch the "how-it-began-stick" from me and share your story too!

(warning: this is not a very summery blogpost! not that the weather is... i wish at least the sun would shine!)

when cleaning my room today i rediscovered the striped neckwarmer i finished in october. i realised i never put it online, so here it is! it was really easy to knit, just two rectangles knitted in rib stitch, sewed together like a circle. it's great for fall, warm on your neck but not too hot, like a scarf would be. the size is a bit off though, i wish i made it a bit tighter... but i was too lazy to start over. :)

it can be worn draped like this...or folded, like this.


the yarn i used is actually self-striping sock yarn, it's called "Regia Design Line: Landscape". such pretty colors!

i'd also like to share my sock progress! my grandma helped me with the heel (which means: she knitted it and i watched carefully and took notes)! oooooooooooh, i can't wait to finish it and put it on!