One year anniversary and a 12 year anniversary

 It's been 1 year since i opened up my new webshop.

It's been 12 years and a day since I started Kantwerk / A Passion for Lace.

Before I did this, back in 2004, I was in garden design. I had a blog about it too, with a matching website. But I wasn't very good at it.
Made long hours behind the desktop computer and failed regularly.
The provider did have templates, but I wasn't even smart enough to know how to use those.

Back then I was also sewing clothes and knitting a bit. In 2006 I started this blog, by that time a lot more was done for dummies like me.
Templates and inserts were highlighted in the symbols, and all I had to do was click, search and paste.

In those years, blogs were hot, are they still? I've neglected mine for a while now. I'm sorry.
Anyway, I did a lot of browsing and reading other blogs, fully unaware of my networking. I had the wednesdays and all fridays to visit blogs, leave a comment. I got to know a lot of people and their crafts.

I called this the Butterfly shawl, but this was the exact moment I got hooked on knitting hearts. I've made plenty. 

I was, and still am, part of the local stitch'n'bitch group. We split off and don't go to a café anymore, but, before corona, we met every 2 months. I learned so much, got attention for my lace and other things I made and that resulted in the end that I was asked to give classes.
In Lace and Shetland Lace. I want to thank Janet Vermist for giving me that opportunity: Thank you!
By that time it was 2011.

I had built a new website, and people could order with an email. I again, wasn't smart enough to know how to make a webshop. I wasn't selling any yarns or accessoiries, and sales ran mainly through Ravelry. I was able to keep track of the occassional order, everything I had was on display. 

By that time, a lot of fairs were taking place around the country. I was asked to give classes all over the land. I felt great about it! People were interested in my work, wanted to learn, see for themselves and even wanted to keep on doing it! I was asked to knit examples with the latest yarns, had some designs of my own. Got commissions to knit for other people/knitters.

 

2009

I was so fortunate that people were willing to pay for my knitting. Gifted a cowl and was commissioned another, because the daughter kept stealing it. That was the moment I thought: why not start a business??
I was quite busy knitting a shawl for every female in my family and I had dared to knit a finer shawl in Shetland Lace pattern from Victorian Lace Today. 

 Shetland Tea shawl from Victorian Lace Today, here with a split so it could be worn as a cape (2009)

I got some more (private) commissions and I scored my first commission for a real yarn webshop!
I made a red shawl, made the deadline and it got to be on display in her store! Thank you Angelique!
Soon, other webshops liked that idea and commissioned me to design something new for them. Often with their latest yarns!
By the end of 2009 I was knitting a dress on commission. I couldn´t believe it all went so well. 

My webshop only had patterns, but some were eager to buy projects I had already made. So, the sale of the Orange Tea shawl, led to me designing my very first Shetland Shawl. The lady had gifted me the Heirloom Knitting book and stated that she wanted me to use it to make her a beautiful fine shawl.
She had no idea what she did, doing that. I was smitten! Fine yarn, Fine needles, Fine shawls.
I could have benefited from some lessons in photography, back then we had a camera and had to upload it all. Time consuming. I did have, as you can see, a model to show the work. I was not very eager to show myself. 

Via Angelique and her Wolhemel shop (discontinued) I took a class in Estonian lace from Carla Meijsen. I had already made a shawl but still learned a lot on construction. I still only know 1 type of Nupp, although there are plenty of variations. 

Because of the commissions, I was able to buy good yarns and books to help me get to know more techniques. But the Shetland and the Estonian lace techniques stuck. So many things to learn, play and knit. 

 I was SO taken by the Shetland techniques, all knit rows but pattern in every row too, that I decided to (encouraged by some groups on Ravelry and dutch bloggers that had already VISITED Shetland, looking at you Herma en Jan), i wanted to design a square. I plotted away behind my computer and to this day, i still do it the same way.
Using Microsoft Word, making charts, counting, swatching and knitting. 

My friend Ammerins (left) travelled with me (center) to Shetland Wool week 2012 and we are showing The One in Voe. This picture was made by Misa Hay and it ended up in all kinds of places. On display in the hub in the Museum. In a book on Textiles History from Shetland, chapter Woolweek and on the website 10 things to do when you are in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland! So proud.
 

I  called it The One. It was highly unlikely that I would do thát ever again. It was February 2011.
Our son got very ill, that month. Hodgkin. At 15. So the focus was not on knitting. But...
I did end up giving for classes for Lace knitting and Knitted Lace, that April!
Only because Chemo was working and there was progress.
I was TOTALLY suprised that the 4 classes were FULLY booked. That meant 60 students in 2 days. A baptism of fire.


Later in that summer, when Chemo was over, the kid was reasonably okay and things turned back to some shape of normal, I was made aware there was to be a Shetland Wool Week. Considering my / our situation, I didn't go.
But, the seed was planted and I started to save my commission money. I asked Herma for inside information on what it is like on Shetland, how to get there and what I could be expecting.
1. I have never been in an airplane before that.
2. I had never travelled like that by myself.
3. Even though I had learned english when I was 4, no guarantees.
4. I had booked my plane ticket before I had a place to stay or how to get there.

In the meantime I was asked to be a part of the Lace Collection by Jamieson and Smith, using their fine cobweb yarn. I was blissfully unaware there would be other designers in this, so i designed the finest shawl i could come up with.
Turned out, I was in VERY good company. A beautiful wide ranged collection and the kits for those are still available on their website.

So... in September 2012, off we went. Ammerins decided she wanted to travel to Shetland too. She's a translator by profession and avid knitter and spinner too. We had a blast. Met all kinds of people, took classes and drove all over the islands.
I was not only part of the Lace Collection but I was asked to part of a trunk show too! In the Jamieson and Smith shop in Lewick. I could hardly sleep the night before. I had brought 5 shawls I still had. They are to the right.
Gudrun Johnston and Mrs. Mary Kay brought their work too. It was bliss. (photo from J&S blog)

The next (?) evening we had a Ravelry meet up, and even though I had a class by Kate Davies earlier, we met again that evening. I showed her my Across the Beach shawlette. Usually, Shetland Cockleshells are in a rectangle and I had (re)designed them in a small silk triangular shape.(photo credit Ammerins Moss).

I bet you can believe that it was a trip of a life time. The LOVE for fine Shetland Lace and Shetland itself grew.
By that time I had been knitting day and night, working as a postie too, being a wife and mother. Social media as it is now, was not in my agenda so much. I had already joined FB but wasn't very active. So, plenty of time to keep on giving classes and knit my heart out. 

I had been getting customers from abroad too! Danmark, Belgium, France, America and local. I was very fortunate to have a regular client, so a steady income, and my name got familiar too.

Well... This! Yarns were found everywhere; America, England, Germany and Belgium were the best. Some handdyed yarn from The Gossamer Web (etsy), Silk (above) and wool from England, Germany has amazing handdyed yarns too (Dye For Wool, Etsy) and nothing beats the finest yarns from Bart and Francis in Belgium.
So, in 2014 another trip to Shetland was planned and in 2016 I went again. Not by myself, knitter friends were curious about Shetland too. Carla Meijsen even went (and will be) several times there, also as Artist in Residence! 

Then, things slowed down. I got the odd commission, I kept on designing but other techniques were becoming more and more interesting. So classes stopped, I gave some private classes but in the end with covid, it all ended.
Less income meant not being able to travel.
In the meantime, social media went crazy. Mobile phones were getting more sophisticated and I joined Instagram. I like(d) Instagram. Nowadays there is too much advertisement and somethings may have been improved. I could use a lesson in that too! hahaha


In 2015 I got involved in a chat, that was about how to decifer a lace shawl seen in the Outlander series. I hadn't seen the show at all, wasn't aware what it was about, hadn't read the books (still haven't). My friend Belinda helped me out with screen shots, the show didn't air here. Laura supplied the photos and video and if I was able to help. I hadn't planned on another big project but let's try. I like a good puzzle.
In the end it took me a year, a chat with the costume designer of the show and many many hours of charting to complete the shawl. You can read about it HERE. 

Below the original authentic Shetland Lace shawl, above my version.

Weird stuff started to happen after it was done. I was in an American magazine for sheep farmers, thank you Cynthia, so they would be aware what was possible with the wool. The shawl was added to the FB group for Outlander patterns and designs. I gave a class on Fine Shetland Lace IN the Jamieson and Smith yarn shop in Lerwick in 2016. It was sold out in no time, and I was planning to go to WoolWeek 2016 'anyway'.. hahaha.
I started a support group on Facebook, expecting a few members. My shawl took nearly 4km of fine Shetland Wool. WHO was going to knit that? Well, apparently, plenty of people. There have been 50 knitters working on it!
Link to the group HERE (opens in a new window)    667 members

Then, I started another group, stumped by the fact that there WASN'T one already.
The Fine Shetland Lace group.
It fills my heart. I'm not alone. ALL AROUND THE WORLD there are people interested in this type of knitting. Not just me and knitters from Shetland. Or some of the knitters that had taken one of my classes!
Some people are brandnew to lace or even Shetland Lace. Few are experienced and VERY VERY skilled. It has grown into a very kind, supportive and enthousiastic group. There are 6000+ of us, but there is a very good atmosphere.
ONLY shetland lace is allowed. NO politics or other knitting techniques. You are welcome to join.
I made some very good friends there! <3

My superfine Blyde. Worked in gossamer cashmere, this is 31 grams and 70" long or 178cm. (2018)

Here the original Blyde, 51gr and same length (2016)

 What a set of knitting needles and a bit of yarn can do!!!! 

Those set of 2 fine (straight!) needles have brought me SO much. I've met amazing people, incredible friends, headspinning knitting, I've relearned how to spin thanks to Ammerins, my business has been promoted by people that believe(d) in me and I'm forever grateful.
I'm NOT planning to stop anytime soon. Twentytwenty was a difficult year for all of us, around the world.
The thread of covid was tangeable and left us very creative or numb. I've heard many lament their lack of concentration and I was one of them (too).

If all goes well, I'm able to release 5 designs this year.

• The Third One is a rectangle shawl with Shetland Lace patterns, tested as we speak by 6 knitters. 
• The Fourth One is on my needles, not ready for testknitting yet.  
• Cornelia will be a coloured (lace) hap in memory of my grandmother. She died from covid at 100yo.  
• The Crawford Veil is at 65% now, languishing on and off since 2013, makes slow progress. That will be much later in the year. 
• A triangular shape in 100% superfine linen, dyed indigo by Habu Textiles (USA).
  
  That's a lot of miles to be worked, so planning and sticking to it is very important. 

Today is the first anniversary of my new webshop. You can click, pay and enjoy immediately!
I had to take a risk, back then. I had planned to go to Shetland and wanted to be ready for possible traffic and knitters wanting to knit my designs. Ravelry redesigning their website was a reason too. Still clueless why they won't listen to people have severe issues with that new make over.
I DID go to Shetland, Woolweek was canceled due to covid. I had a great time, like a retreat. Spoke to no-one, walked for miles and finally was smart enough to bring my knitting to Shetland and photographing it at the most amazing locations. Here, my Shetland Stars Square Shawl (outlander) in Nesting, Shetland.

I hope to welcome you in my new webshop, shetland stars support group, fine shetland lace group, instagram, facebook or here. And when covid is done, hopefully in real life!

You made it to the end, thank you.

Event: in my webshop a week long discount of 20% on all patterns. ONLY in THIS webshop, NOT on Ravelry or in my Etsy shop. NO code needed.  ENJOY!

 

Esha Knit-a-Long

Ik heb speciaal deze swatches gemaakt om het belang van garen keuze duidelijk te maken. Zoals je wel kunt raden, houd ik zelf van de dunnere garens. Maar het hoeft niet altijd meteen ultra dun of gossamer te zijn. 

Echter, met Shetland kant is het wel bepalend welk garen je kiest, zodat de dikte niet afleid van het kant patroon. Hoe dunner het garen, des te beter zie je het patroon. (Paars op 1,5mm, oranje handgesponnen op 2,5mm en blauwe Zitron Filisilk op 3,5mm). 

 I’ve made these swatches to show the importance of yarn choices. You can already guess that I'm fond of the finer yarns, and it doesn’t have to be thread or gossamer all the time. But with Shetland lace, a bigger yarn can distract a lot from the pattern.

The blue is worked in 3,5mm needles with Zitron Filisilk yarn.
THe orange is handspun on 2,5mm needles and the purple is on 1,5mm needles (Gossamer cashmere).

Een close up van de 2 grotere lapjes. Je kunt de ribbels duidelijk zien en vooral bij het blauwe (vind ik) leiden de ribbels erg af van het kant patroon. Door de ribbels wordt het ook nog eens erg rekbaar en had het lapje zelfs nog wel op naald 3mm gebreid kunnen worden.


A close up of the two larger swatches. You can clearly see the ridges of the garter stitch. I think they distract too much from the lace pattern. Due to the garter stitch, it becomes very stretchy and with the lace pattern, this would have been a bit better if worked on 3mm needles instead.

De reden waarom ik dit vertel?? Omdat er een Knit-a-Long komt! Van de Esha shawl.
Samen met een groep breiers (niet alleen in NL!) lekker breien en kletsen én elkaar helpen!
In deze shawl wordt er geoefend met kantpatronen die je vaak terug kunt vinden in Shetland kant.
Elk diamantje wordt gevuld met een patroontje en die worden steeds een beetje moeilijker.
Omdat de diamantjes niet zo groot zijn, en alles netjes binnen de lijntjes blijft, kun je bijvoorbeeld iedere week 2 rijen met diamantjes breien.
Het hoeft niet in heel dun garen maar dat maakt het wel mooier...

The reason I'm telling you this?? Because there is going to be a Knit-a-Long for the Esha shawl!
A great opportunity to knit this shawl with friends from all over the globe!
In this shawl, you can learn patterns that occur frequently in Shetland lace. With each patterned diamond, difficulty rises a bit. For instance, you can knit 2 rows of diamonds per week.
The shawl can be knitted in fine lace yarn, but you don't have too. In my opinion it will look better if you do.

Ik heb gekozen voor een rand in een andere kleur, zodat je tijdens het breien duidelijk kunt zien welke steken van de shawl zijn en die van de rand.
Het hoeft niet meteen in donker garen, ik heb onlangs een foto gehad van iemand die na de workshop de Esha in prachtig lichtblauw garen had gebreid! Dank je wel Joke Verbruggen voor de foto.

The shawl doesn't need to be worked in a dark yarn or with another colour for the edge. I did that, so it would be clear, that when you are knitting on the edge, which stitches are of the shawl and which are for the edge.

It can be worked in a lighter yarn, just look at the shawl Joke Verbruggen made in fine lace yarn, after she took my workshop for knitted lace. Thank you Joke for the photo.

Dus doe je mee?? Je kunt meedoen via de groep "A Passion For Lace..." op Ravelry.

So, are you in?? You can join the chat at the "A Passion For Lace..." group on Ravelry.

Knit-a-Long: Official start Februari 1 (or any time before and/or after)...

Pattern: Esha.

Design: MoniqueB for A Passion For Lace...
Needles: 2,5mm or US 1,5
Yarn options:  1039 - 1094 yards (950 - 1000 m) as in the original example
Habu N-75:  2/48NM 100% Merino in 1 cone Grey and 1 cone Black (2400m/100gr)

Atelier Het Wolbeest: Lace  100% Superwash Merino 1200m/100gr.

Jamieson & Smith 1ply Gossamer 1/16NM 1600m/100gr (Of hier voor de NL kopers)

Or similar yarn, preferably 1000m + per 100gr / 1100y + per 100gr.

Enjoy!

Komodo

Komodo.

Een Komodo varaan woont op een eiland in de Indische Oceaan dat bij Indonesië hoort. Ze hebben niet echt schubben of zien er uit als een fantasie draak. Het is echter wel een heel uniek dier. Ik vind het een prachtig dier om te zien, je kunt hem zelf bekijken in het Reptielen huis van Artis.

De vormpjes in deze shawl vond ik wel wat op 'schubben' lijken. 

 Komodo.

The Komodo 'dragon' is living on an island in the Indian Ocean, part of Indonesia. They don't really have a scaled skin or are like a fantasy dragon in real life. They are pretty unique though. I really like their 'look'. I've seen one (small) for real at the Zoo Artis in Amsterdam this Fall.

 De patronen kunnen worden geaccentueerd met kraaltjes. In het engelse garen van Posh Yarn heb ik gele kraaltjes gebruikt.

 The patterns in this design can be accentuated by small glass beads. In this case yellow to go with the Posh Yarn. (this colour is no longer available, but she has plenty to go around)..

 Het rode garen is heerlijk zachte lamswol, gewoon uit Nederland. Verkrijgbaar in vele kleuren maar in het rood toch wel erg mooi. Door de vorm van de shawl blijft hij goed zitten wanneer je hem draagt. Wel opletten, de binnen rand is een tikkie kwetsbaar.

The red yarn is wonderful soft lambswool from the Netherlands. Available in plenty of gorgeous colours, but very pretty in red. The shape of the design makes it very versatile to wear and it will stay put very easy. Please take note that the inner edging is a bit fragile.

Design:   MoniqueB for Wol Met Verve (NL)
Yarn:     Elegance Lambswool 2 balls of Red (424m/50gr) 750 - 800 yards (686 - 732 m)
            Posh Yarn Cobweb (1300y/100gr) in any colour 
Beads:   881 size 8/0  in honey Yellow
Needle:  3,25mm or US 3
Hook:     0,75 to add the beads (1 per stitch)
Pattern:  €5.00 EUR (Ravelry) (Etsy) of binnenkort op Wol met Verve en Kantwerk (ENG / NL) 


Mocht je het patroon tijdens de Breidagen hebben gekocht, dan zitten er fouten in:
Er kunnen 881 kralen toegevoegd worden (8/0 maat)
In instructie 3 staat dat je de chart 2 drie keer moet herhalen. Dat klopt. 
Maar niet rij 48-83 drie keer herhalen. Dan heb je 258 steken, en niet 262 of 274.

Het spijt me als dit tot vertraging of problemen heeft geleid.

Werkboeken .......... Work logs

Vanmorgen zat ik op Facebook en daar was iemand die een opmerking plaatste. Stop een briefje in de tas waar je breiwerk in zit, dan kun je later de informatie terug vinden die je misschien nodig hebt..

Daar zijn héle mooie oplossingen voor.. Kijk maar:

 This morning I was on Facebook and someone mentioned a good idea. Put a piece of paper with notes about your knitting in the bag it is stored in. So you can rely on that information later on.

In my opinion there are great solutions for these type of things... Let's see:

2010

2008-2010

 Ik koop meestal niets in de Museum shop, omdat ik weet dat het ergens blijft liggen of het is gewoon te duur. Tot ik dit schrift kreeg van mijn moeder. Ze wíst dat ik dit heel graag wilde hebben maar niet voor mezelf zou kopen. Ik had het kleine schriftje (blauw) gekocht. Een prachtig moment om je aantekeningen voor je breiwerk te maken.

2011

 Usually I don't buy anything at a Museum shop, mostly because it will get lost or because it's too expensive. Until I got the notebook with the Chinese Warriors on it, from my mom. She knew I really liked it but wouldn't buy it for myself. I did purchase the little blue Warrior booklet.
An ideal moment to start making notes about my knitting.

2011

 In feite doe ik het zelfde wat ik op Ravelry ook doe: welk garen, wat voor naald, hoeveel garen, wanneer ik ben begonnen. En sinds 2012-13 doe ik er ook een draadje bij van het garen. Dat maakt het wat realistischer. Ik ben eerlijk, ik schrijf er ook in of het fout ging, of ik uitgehaald heb, een nieuwe opdracht heb gekregen of wanneer ik (weer) in een zwart gat ben gevallen omdat er projecten af zijn (en vaak opgestuurd naar een blije ontvanger) waar ik toch erg moeilijk afscheid van kan nemen.

2013 (Peter Pauper Press) 

In fact, I note things down exactly like I would on Ravelry: which yarn, size needles, how much and when I've started. And since 2012-13 I also add a bit of actual yarn. To make it more tangible. I am honest.
I do write what I did wrong, what I've frogged, if I started a new design or commission or if I fell down the black hole (again) after finishing a project, (probably send to a happy reciever) of which it was very hard to let go.

2012

 
Aan sommige boekjes zit natuurlijk een speciaal verhaal. Het boekje hier boven is gelaserprint. De (grotere)  gaatjes in de shawl (foto) zitten OOK in het papier. Dit kocht ik in de Museum Winkel van Shetland Museum & Archives. De shawl ben ik zelf aan het breien en de mevrouw op de foto lijkt wel op mijn oma toen ze jong was... (er in ligt een boekenlegger van een stukje tweed wat over is. Jamieson's of Shetland)

2013

With some notebooks, something special is going on. The one with the lady and the knitted shawl; every (large) hole in the Lace shawl is actually laserprinted in the paper! And, the lady in the picture looks a bit like my grandmother when she was young. I bought it in the Shetland Museum and Archives shop in 2012 (WoolWeek) In it, you'll notice a small ribbon of tweed. (Jamieson's of Shetland).  

2014

Nu ben ik alweer een tijdje niet meer naar een museum geweest (In Dokkum hadden niet dit soort schriftjes). Maar de lokale "Van der Velde" heeft... Peter Pauper Boekjes. Van dezelfde uitgever met iedere keer een heel leuke print én een elastiekje om de boel bij elkaar te houden.  

I haven't been to a Museum for a while (In Dokkum, they didn't have these) but the local bookshop has Peter Pauper Press booklets. Every now and then, they have several with a nice print and an elastic band to keep it all in. 

Je kunt ook je eigen boekjes maken! Gewoon ruitjes papier of samen met lijntjes papier en een stukje stof of (nep) leer er om heen en klaar! 

You could make your own booklet! Just use math paper (squares) or college paper (lines) and add some fabric or (p-)leather. 

Testing! Testing...

Omdat ik vaak wel nieuwe dingen wil proberen, kreeg ik onlangs de kans om een garen te gebruiken waarvan ik nog niet gehoord had én uit NL kwam.
Via facebook had ik het al eens voorbij zien komen, maar nog niet de tijd gehad om er eens goed naar te kijken. (klik op de foto's voor meer details!) 

I'm always one for trying new things, and just recently I got the chance to try out a new release of yarn. I hadn't heard about it and I was surprised it's origin was in my own country (The Netherlands). I had seen it a bit on Facebook, but hadn't taken any time to really look at it. (click on the pictures for móre details!)

 De subtiele kleurvariaties bleken geweldig samen te gaan met het patroon: Tintaglia.

The slightly variegated colour worked out very well with this particular pattern: Tintaglia.

Plots had ik een berichtje van de maker van dit garen: Loret Karman. Of ik voor haar ook een voorbeeld kon breien. Het liefst de Haruni.

 Suddenly I recieved a mail from the dyer of this yarn: Loret Karman. If I could knit her a shawl as an example. Preferably the Haruni.

De kleur was wel een beetje érg blauw, maar na het opspannen en de ruimte van het patroon was het wel een prachtige shawl geworden.

The colour was véry bright, but after blocking the pattern came out very good and it's a pretty shawl!

 Dat smaakte naar meer, want ik mocht er meteen nóg twee breien. De Annis heb ik in 1 dag kunnen breien, Man was thuis en was druk met de kinderen. Mijn gemiddelde steeksnelheid is met déze shawl zienderogen toegenomen...

 Annis was the second. This one is a bit special. My husband was at home to take care of the children so I could finish this in one day.

 Deze shawl is van Boo Knits. Ik zit al wéken te kwijlen bij haar patronen. Wanneer je een shawl ziet, weet je eigenlijk metéén dat hij van haar is. De meeste zijn driehoekig en hebben een werkelijk prachtige dramatische rand met (helaas...) eindeloos veel picotjes....
Er hoefden geen kralen in, maar dat is eigenlijk bij Boo 'verplicht'. Deze heb ik gewoon bij een hobbywinkel gekocht; gevarieerde kleuren van alleen glas naar groen naar 'zeeblauwe' kralen 6/0. Niet op elke 'verplichte' plek maar voldoende om een prachtig resultaat te krijgen.
Ook hier werkt het garen perfect voor dít patroon.

 

This pattern is by Boo Knits. I've been checking out her patterns for wééks on Ravelry. Once you have seen a shawl, you instantly know it's her design. Shapes are almost always triangular, but very pretty and almost dramatic. Unfortunately it's an endless row of picot's.
I didn't have to use beads, but it's almost "Not Done" to omit them. I didn't place every obligatory bead, I placed them where I thought they would fit best.
I bought the beads in a regular craftsstore: from seethrough glass to green to seablue.
The yarn worked with this shawl perfectly!!!

Yarn: Loret Karman (available in her webshop soon)
Needles: 3,5mm (US4) or 4mm (US6)

After these 4 shawls, my stitch speed average went up!