Feb 032008
 

I’ve already mentioned my new sock yarn from Pigeonroof Studios but only today did we have some nice sunshine to take a decent photo. I took some stash photos outside on the roof terrace. Here’s my lovely burnt orange sock yarn:

Yesterday I drove up to Zwolle for the Handwerkbeurs.  I was really curious about what I would find.  It was my first time to one of these events in NL.  It’s basically all sorts of needlework supplies and equipment for sale in one place.  There were sewing machine dealers, lamps made specifically to help crafters and their eyes, loads of quilting stands selling fabrics and supplies, embroidery stuff, canvas needlework stuff, and, finally, yarn and knitting and spinning stuff.  There wasn’t as much knitting stuff as there was at the Stitch ‘n Bitch day in Rotterdam, which makes sense since the SnB event was for, well, SnB-ers.  I went to Zwolle looking for specific things – 100% wool that will felt, in shades of green, to make a felted tote bag that I’m designing in my head at this moment – and also some green to make an alligator scarf.  The scarf yarn had to be soft and washable and something like sport weight.  That was impossible to find.  There was more sock yarn than you can imagine.  And 100% natural wool that can’t be thrown in the washing machine (not handy for a child’s scarf).  I ended up buying 100% cotton, and I’ll see how that comes out.  It’s an experiment.  Here’s what I came home with:

I  guess it was a green sort of day!  Will I go again to a Handwerkbeurs?  Probably.  Even if I don’t buy much and it’s a long way to drive for so little yarn, it’s also nice to get out of the city and see some of the Dutch countryside on a sunny winter day.  I sometimes forget that there are forests in this country…..

Feb 022008
 

As part of the ABC-Along 2008, here’s a photo of Bas, the cat of the house. Otherwise known as Dappere Bas, not to be confused with his master’s web handle, or maybe the confusion is on purpose. DB, the master, loves his cat dearly, and I’ve come to love him too.

Bas is an excellent example for training cats. Cats really can be trained! It just takes more patience than with dogs. Bas knows that he’s not allowed to lay on the blue couch, and he doesn’t even do it when we aren’t home (we can tell by the lack of cat hair there). He knows that he has to stand in a certain spot under the kitchen table before he gets his canned food in the evening, and he stands there, complaining all the time about it, but he stands there and waits until we say it’s ok to come out and eat. He knows that he’s only allowed to sleep at the foot of the bed and he doesn’t even try to sleep by our heads (he would be tossed off the bed if he did anyway). He’s a very good boy and a very sweet cat. B is for Bas.