Rambouillet

it was the 2010 of the Rambouillet festival, its 10th edition too.
many europpean countries exhibited their wools in the europpean pavillion with fiber samples and knit examples and text on the walls of the open space to talk about the different sheep species.

we saw these "animals" as we walked down the isle towards the entrance gate. they could not be fawns could they?! we later found out they were sheared sheep!

a beautiful exercise in style knitting a hat with icord and pompons with spiralling stitch mittens and interesting simple shawl in vertical garter bordered with a crochet shell trim using up every last bit of yarn.

Estonian shawl knit from estonian fiber sheep, tassels made by twisting ends on themselves backwards then just knotted at the ends

different flower shapes in different plants color dyes labelled with the names of the plants used, also made with different fibers sampled in bags below hanging from the lower rod

i learned a lot about fiber and texture. i also now know better than to buy bits of fiber that are not in ribbon, they're left overs from it!!! i bought a tiny bit of yarn of the land or "laine du pays" as they call it in french that is very rough but i liked the colors of the solognette and the burel. maybe they soften with washing, i do not know but i sure want to try knitting them before i purchase a serious quantity.

Ah! and the funnest thing was making a "dream catcher" as i've always wanted to buy one but never could find any, so now i have my own handmade one i think it's very pretty.

i also took cards of farmers, i pretty much know what's available now in france, looking forward to contacting them.

Marché de Noël 2

je suis partagée entre la satisfaction d'un travail bien accompli et la colère:

1. j'ai réussi à obtenir une bonne place cette année -quoi que, avoir le vendeur de chapeaux made in china avec les lumiéres dessus et tout et tout à 3 euros, manquait plus que la boîte à musique avec "jingle bells" incorporé, ne soit pas la meilleure chose pour mon stand puisque je vends essentiellement des chapeaux ou bonnets.
2. mon stand a hérité de la boîte électrique bien en face, trés visible avec les fils de tous les voisins, même s'ils sont gentils ça n'arrange pas le look du stand.
3. je ne sais pas comment ma tente est noire, il n'y en avait pas l'année précédente?! du coup tout devait être accroché à l'avant plan parce-que tout disparaissait à l'arrière. les années précédentes j'avais au moins profité des murs du fond pour accrocher de grandes photos qui attiraient le regard sur mes articles et la manière de les porter.
4. ils nous ont fait payer le double pourtant c'est beaucoup moins joli donc je n'ai pas pu faire de bénéfices.
5. la pluie s'est faite plus rare et je ne me suis pas retrouvée les bottes nageant dans une eau de quinze centimétres, il a quand même plu et cela a affecté le nombre des visiteurs, mais bon.
6. je dois prévoir des rallonges hyper longues, et certaines de mes petites lampes de noël toutes mignonnes ne fonctionnent plus.
7. je dois me rappeler que les parents ont peur de la couleur pour leur petits garçons encore bébés même (j'ai eu un: "le rouge fait fille"), alors, je me le demande, quand auront-ils le droit de mettre de la couleur, à 75 ans comme cette mammie mignonne qui a fait mai 68?
8. je dois prévoir un drap pour cacher les caisses puisque le plancher c'est le trottoir et que du coup elles doivent... oups non! je dois les mettre dans la voiture aprés les avoir vidées.
9. je dois arrêter de me prendre la tête et accepter qu'il y a aussi les AUTRES! que tout n'est pas "under my control".
10. je suis contente d'avoir fait de belles rencontres, c'est ça ma récolte à moi.

Marché de Noël

il reste encore demain et plein d'autres articles encore.

Marie-Antoinette bigoudis béret

i have used the instructions for this from "knitting nature", by norah gaughan.
her look for it is very rustic, like a "sunflower tam" as she named it and you'd imagine a girl running in wheat fields.
my take on it is very sophisticated looking yet without frills.
the first thing i noticed is the tam looked interesting only to the guy behind you, and nothing happened near the face for you to see.
and that is what i changed. i charted a mosaic pattern of a flower, as good as can be done using "mosaics knitting", thus "squares" instead of circles.
i used two colors, one for the top and it's yellow to keep the sunflower reminder cabling, and blue near the face to highlight it. the mosaic flowers are in yellow on that blue background.
i also introduced a baby blue color satin ribbon and made a little bow on the ribbing because it would be a shame to have this sliding off one's head.

the look is very "versailles" and "monarchy" then.
it's just that a Marie-Antoinette is so coquette that she'd probably have worn it to keep her rollers (bigoudis) in place till her hair took on curls. she would not be caught dead "decoiffée", without a hair adornment.

i'd wear the bow at the back, but then it's a personal preference.

tulipe hatpin

i've always loved hatpins, i prefer the system to that of brooches, they're long and elegant.

this one is my first, i used a shape that resembles a tulip, put a pearl above and tied a baby blue ribbon, glued them all.

the pin even has a "stopper" at the end. it's an old matt gold color, just right for this yarn that's knit in the back.

you can make one yourself, you need:

• 
  
  a hatpin in yellow brass with a closure end
  
  
  
• 
  
  some metal/wood/all purpose glue in a tube
  
  
  
• 
  
  a flower shape finding in matt old gold
  
  
  
• 
  
  a fake or culture water pearl just a tiny bit bigger in diameter than the flower
  
  
  
• 
  
  about 4 inches (10 cms) length of 0.20 inch (0.5 cms) wide blue satin ribbon
  

i suggest you take your knit item with you when shopping to best match the colors, shapes, motifs if any.

my knit piece had flowers on it. and the yellow in it looked like old gold, mottled.

put glue on the tip of the pin, enough for the height of the pearl and pearl you'll be putting in it together.

i suggest you try those on it before deciding how long your glue streak should be.

take your piece of ribbon and fasten it around the pin under the flower you just made, knot tight but not too tight, satin will slip and you will always be able to tighten later. do that a bit down from the flower, you always can put higher.

now make a nice knot do not pull too tight yet.

put a dot of glue right under your flower and pull the ribbon bow on top of it.

now you can tighten real hard, keep your hand firmly on for 5 mns till dry.

the best part: get your good sewing cissors ant cut both ends on each side at an angle, much nicer, no?

now a trick: get a box of matches and bring the flame in a parallel motion to the end to keep it from fraying.

this will form a bit of a "seal" to your satin fabric.

wear with pride, give away, enjoy!

put some glue the hight of the

put some glue on the top of the pin for about a

Bodhi Tree hat

my idea was to embroider the OM sign somewhere. i knit a double leaf at the top, it is stuffed.

my booth "Zaz"

i had a booth pre-christmas under a yellow tent above water (not a submarine).
it was very much fun, cold, a donkeys' booth facing me and lots of other different "sentient beings".

my work was much appreciated, some was not "wearable" as to per the passer-bys' standards but "trés joli". they'd stop and stare.
chris explained to me that they can like an item very much but not visualize themselves in it.
my response was: but i have those on sale and they are small items, they can try without loss!

i guess people sometimes prefer to not venture into what they do not know. it is maybe like how it gows with the dying and them clinging to their body.
(this won't make much sense to some, i know but it's my rye humour).

even the baby booties did not all sell, but it's a bad bad year and whenever you have a chance to NOT take money out of your pocket then you won't.

it will teach me to give more of my time knitting more complex things for the same price. i have to offer my already very high quality yarn along with the complex stitches the new chinese machines are coming up with.

i do it already for the luxury items, it is fair that the luxury items have complex stitches "fait main" (handknit), understandable even because knitting time is money and physical effort (let alone creativity). they also are sold at a higher price because they are "pièce unique" (exclusive pieces).
but now i have to apply those crazy stitches unto my small items made by the bunch like hats and scarves without charging for my time.
and in no way am i going to cheapen my yarn.

ceci est mon stand de la periode pré-fêtes de fin d'année 2008.
c'était trés agréable malgré le froid et tout le monde a beaucoup apprécié.

n'oubliez pas ce rendez-vous l'année prochaine, c'est le premier weekend du mois de décembre, à bientôt!

chunky bright kid gifts

i knit all of my nieces and nephews brigh, bold and fun item gifts.
nothing to be "worn" seriously, just to toy with and be merry.

i think i should have stayed with my previous choice of making three rolls for the adults to not hear disgracious commentaries but oh well, as dad would say:
"Christ himself did not find grace in the eyes in the humans: they had to crucify him".

j'ai tricoté à tous mes neveux et nièces des accessoires marrants et gais.
douze cadeaux en tout dont un que j'ai bien caché pour une chasse aux trésors (un bonnet: pièce de résistance).

au regard des parents j'aurais mieux fait de faire mes trois bûches à la place et éviter les propos déplacés.

comme dirait papa: "le christ lui-même est venu au monde et n'a pas trouvé grâce auprès des humains".

welcome back my friends!

my "torsades" hats for the decembre exhibition.

my choice for this time is cables!

for kids in acrylic, boys and girls each their hat.

women and men have their hip hats in brown, lie-de-vin, grey and black.

"mon coeur" hat and "kool heart" necklace

i made these a while ago but it was not until now that i took the photos.

the "mon coeur" hat is a bit pointed at the top. a little white heart was stitched on it using the double stitch technique. the earflaps were knit seperatly and sewn on lightly to keep the effect of layering. two staps made of long i-cords were added for extra wamth, to be tied under the chin.

the "kool heart" necklace is made of two hearts sewn together in raspberry red thin mohair used in double. the white i-cord is thick off white mohair, it can be left long or shortened by tying behind the neck.
both the heart and i-cord were fulled seperatly to hold stitches better together.
the heart is filled with very smooth material but i decided that i will only be using material that can turn to ashes when burnt from now on, so no acrylic and no plastic, etc...

i am planning to make a range of "kool" necklaces with forms attached to them, so if you have something that you'd like but cannot find it anywhere do not hesitate to contact me with your "wish". my email is righ under my profile picture to the upper left.