Well, my new computer system is functioning and I’m able to access my files and photos again, so hello! For me, moving all my digital stuff to a new computer is almost as stressful as moving house, but I won’t bother you with the details. I have something far more interesting to tell you about – I’ve been to the Dutch Knitting and Crochet Days.
I hardly know where to start, because with over 80 stall holders from near and far there was so much to see, and especially So Much Yarn. I can’t possibly show you everything, so I’ll just pick out a few things that particularly drew my eye.
Yarns from near…
Let’s start with some stall holders from the ‘near’ category. The Yarn Wagon in the picture at the top comes from Zwolle, my nearest big(-ish) city. It’s the tiniest mobile yarn shop you can imagine. The big hanks of rope-like yarn outside the wagon are for arm knitting.
Using your arms as ‘knitting needles’ you’ll have finished a chunky pouffe or blanket in no time. If you haven’t seen it before, just type ‘arm knitting’ into your search bar and you’ll find lots of tutorials. Fun to look at, but I prefer finer knitting myself. Part of the outside of the Yarn Wagon is covered in swatches from all kinds of finer yarns, cards with details about the fibres, gauge etcetera attached to them. I love that!
A stallholder from even nearer is Lindelicht, you know, the lovely studio I sometimes cycle to that makes those butterfly kits I’ve told you about before. Marianne dyes her yarns in beautiful jewel tones.
The green skein (to the right of the grey one) had my name on it.
…and far
There were stall holders with hand dyed yarns from as far away as Poland and Lithuania (Apmezga, below). What strikes me is that hand dyers, both from the Netherlands and abroad, are becoming more and more professional. They no longer have tables with a few skeins in random colours the dyer happens to love on them, but lovely displays with huge, well-thought-through ranges of colours.
From the south of Germany came Frankenwolle, a company I hadn’t met before, with wool from local sheep. They told me that their sheep are Merino Bergschäfe (merino mountain sheep), a breed I hadn’t heard of before.
I really liked the feel and the colours of their yarn. And the simplicity – just two yarn weights, one knitting up at about 18 sts to 10 cm/4” and one at 22 sts. Their sheep are used for conservation grazing and their production process is eco-friendly. And that brings us to the next category.
Organic and sustainable yarns
More and more organic and sustainable yarns are becoming available and there are some gorgeous ones among them. Atelier Ooi from Utrecht was the only stall holder with plant-dyed yarns (as far as I’ve seen).
There were also organic yarns from Rosy Green Wool, Garthenor, De Rerum Natura and others. I discovered a yarn shop specializing in sustainable yarns in Haarlem – I’d love to visit them in the not-too-distant future.
Yarn kits
One yarn shop in the (fairly)-near-to-my-home category – Ryahuis – had brought lots of samples and kits for knitting them. Some from Isager (the striped sweater design is called Pottery; I don’t know about the other one):
And some from Rowan. I loved this wrap cardigan in many shades of Felted Tweed. Quite pricey, but who knows, maybe someday…
Ah, so much lovely yarn and so much inspiration. Maybe even a little too much?
Yarn overwhelm
So many people had come flocking to the Knitting and Crochet Days that at times it was almost impossible to move forward in the crowd and reach the stalls. Halfway through the day I felt in need of a moment to jot down some notes and think things over. As all the chairs and benches were taken, I plopped down onto the floor with my back against the wall. I had only been there a minute when someone from the organization came running towards me saying, ‘Are you okay? Would you like to spend some time in a quiet room on your own?’ What I thought was, ‘Yes, please – that sounds like total bliss. Could I have a cup of tea, as well?’ But what I said was, ‘No, no, I’m fine! Just a little overwhelmed. Thank you so much for your kind concern!’ It’s reassuring to know that if someone should really be unwell, help is at hand.
Yarn purchases
Sometimes just looking is enough, but this time I had also come for some serious yarn shopping. I’d already purchased the green skein I mentioned above, and yarn for two garments for loved ones. Apart from those, I also bought the pattern for a huge shawl knit in brioche from sock yarn remnants, this one:
A kit with four tiny bits of yarn for a wee crochet project also found its way into my shopping bag:
And a cone with 300 grams of pure cashmere, from a stall selling ‘deadstock’ yarns (yarn remnants from high-end knitwear producers), with no idea yet of what I’m going to make from it.
All in all enough to keep me knitting (and blogging about it) until well into winter. Well, I think I’ll keep it at that for today. I hope you’ve enjoyed browsing through all the yarn, and if you haven’t had enough yet, why not head over to my friend Froukjes blog? Her eyes were drawn to entirely different yarns.
Ja, die dagen zijn altijd zo druk! Ik ga in november denk ik weer even naar de handwerkbeurs in Groningen, was vorig jaar leuk en minder druk.
Die sjaal in patentsteek is fantastisch, weet je hoe het patroon heet?
Wat prachtig om te fotos te kunnen zien en een beeld te krijgen bij de brei- en haakdagen. Bedankt voor de mooie fotos en tekst!
Wat heerlijk dat je ons meenam naar de Breidagen! Mooie garens heb je gekocht, eigenlijk ben ik wel heel nieuwsgierig naar je plan met die 4 ienie-minie strengetjes 😉. Oeps, voor die shawl heb je wel erg veel restjes sokkenwol nodig, maar het is wel een mooi patroon.
En ja natúúrlijk kijk ik ook even bij Froukje, ik volg haar al jaren 😊, leuk dat jullie elkaar kennen.
Och wat heerlijk om even na te genieten van de beurs met alle mooie foto’s. Ik heb staan kwijlen bij de cashmere. Wat fijn dat jij deze heb gekocht. Bij de volgende brei en haakdagen ga ik daar weer kijken, maar dan koop ik ook wat. De tweed is ook erg mooi.
Op de handwerkbeurs in Groningen komen ze helaas niet.