Pink Moment of the Week

How could I resist?

Fabric from freshly-discovered fabric store.

New Fabric in Town

The other day on my bike I rode down a street I hadn't for a while and where used to be an organic store, was now a cute little fabric store!

Actually not really brand-new, as it had already opened in March. But just in time for me. But what was the name of the store, probably not "Bakery" or "Confectionery"? Only inside I found out the name of the shop, also sweet as cake:

"Seligkeitsding" - it is a German fantasy word and could be translated as "Bliss Thing". Beautiful fabric for the blissed-out seamstress galore, special and unconventional, like fabrics by "Hamburger Liebe".

Carolina felt right at home and explored behind the counter.

 

The best things come in threes - 

now there are three great fabric stores in Oldenburg.

PS: If you don't live around here, Seligkeitsding has a dawanda shop here.

Clara for Carolina

One year, one dress.

I'll explain.

Nearly one year ago, on November 12, a parcel arrived.

I was very surprised. Not by the content, it was a knitting kit I had ordered for a dress called "Clara". But by the place it came from:

I had been to this very yarn store in Sante Fe!

(blogged here)

While ordering it was not visible where the kit would come from. If you read this little blog once in a while, you will know the names of my girls and understand why I wanted to knit this dress. The pattern was only available as a kit together with Isager yarn and I had to have it. Not for Clara herself, but because the sizes are only for a 12- or a 18-months-old girl, it would be for Carolina (couldn't find a cute "Carolina dress").

Carolina was only about to turn one about that time last year, so I would have plenty of time to knit her the dress for the coming winter months. Or so I thought.

"Wine" is a lovely colour

In reality the yarn was very thin, my knitting time very limited, the lace pattern needed full concentration and the endless rounds bore the freak out of me. In the hope of getting more of the dress done on vacation than at home, I took it with me to Turkey in the spring, Sri Lanka in the summer and Mallorca in the fall. I was still knitting the version for a 1,5-year-old and added another 1,5 inches of length, because Carolina will turn two very soon. The knitting breakthrough happened in those silent afternoon nap hours on Mallorca. I started to see the light at the end of the yarn ball. I hoped for the best. And finally cast off on a late October Sunday.

... and found some buttons.

What can I say?

The dress still fits.

But don't be fooled by the photos - 

Carolina does't want to wear it (scratchy?).

But you know what, I am still proud of having knitted it.
Joy was not so much in the knitting -
but in the finishing.

My Ravelry notes here.

EDIT: Shortly after publishing this post, Carolina came up to the dress hanging among laundry in the living room and asked me to help her putting it on...

Knit Your Stress Away

For our Mallorca holiday I bought Hubby a magazine:

 It focuses on health and awareness/mindfulness.

And don't worry, I didn't impose it on him, he is really interested in these things. I also wanted to have a look at it, of course, for some inspiration for my yoga classes and my own practice. I found just that and even more. There was an article about stress, its effects on the body and possible cures. What was remarkable about it - the artwork.

knitted organs

artwork by Sarah Illenberger

Who thought i-cords could become art?

So next time you feel all tangled ...

... breathe and knit.

Pink Moment of the Week

... and purple and orange.

Colors of the fall, found by Clara.

Mallorca's crafts, old and new

Here come some more crafty discoveries I made while we were traveling around Mallorca.

Tilda dolls in a window in the coastal village of Deià -

according to Forbes Magazine one of Europe's Top 10 most idyllic places

Also charming - the historic inland town Artà:

Knitted pillow cover in front of a shop there:

Even more history was to be found on "La Granja":

A former country estate with a grand mansion turned into an open-air-museum. You can walk around the gardens and the mansion and see how life was lived in the old days with all kinds of workshops. e.g. basketery, wine pressing, spinning or wool dyeing. 

I'll spare you the pictures of the quite impressive chamber of torture in the cellars and only show you a harmless machine that manipulates thread.

You can see friendly staff in traditional dress doing traditional things.

The crafty person I am I had to take a closer look at the embroidery:

And you know what? It is made with a crochet hook technique I haven't seen before. And with a very tiny crochet hook, 0,65 mm. The lady has been working for four months now on the blanket during her shifts. Torture of fun?

Sew Palma de Mallorca

Last year I only found one shop selling buttons in the Old Town of Palma de Mallorca, this time I found more - without even trying.

We were walking through the city on the way to a top-choice-guidebook-pastry shop Hubby wanted to find, and there they were - the yarn, fabric and haberdashery shops.

"Fantasies Centre", on Calle de Argenteria, where I saw the "Katia" knitting magazine for the first time and fell in love with this baby cardigan here. The magazine comes out in five languages - Spanish, English, French, Dutch and German.

Since 1839:

With timeless haberdashery:

Next "crafty street":

Carrer D'en Vilanova

A fabric store there:

One street, three craft shops:

Carrer Ample De La Merce

Now I know, I will never be lost craft-wise in Palma.

There are "mercerias".

And there are even more mercerias in town...

Pink Moments of Mallorca

Mallorca - sun and fun for everyone.
Photos by Hubby.

Pink Moment of the Week

... when you are coming back from the island of Mallorca, 

be sure to wear some flowers in your hair...

Hat and Travel

My midnight crocheting this week lead to this fruit here:

Can you guess which fruit it is? I thought it was obvious, but got a lot of  "strawberry" and some clueless glances from my family for it. It reminds me of a watermelon, doesn't it? After my beanie production earlier this year (here) I came back to his quick and easy way to crochet a hat. The pattern in half double crochet is based on this here, with a couple of more rounds and a crochet ribbing, which I tried for the first time (you can find good video tutorials in English and German for it online).

My Ravelry notes

The ideal companion for the cooler days, 

reminiscing the sweet taste of summer.

But I am more than happy to shed the warm coat, the scarf and even the watermelon hat for the days to come and go to an island where the watermelons are still in season and the sun is warm. 

Hope to see you when we are back!