Dublin Post 1: Yarn Shopping

part one of a two-phase travel report of Dublin. two phase because I was so pleasantly surprised by it's beauty, friendliness and beautiful selection of shops, coffee shops and restaurants. and also because I thought I was smarter than my laptop and accidentally deleted all pictures we took in Rome. all of them. at least it makes for a good reason to go and visit Rome again one day, right?

in this first part of the Dublin report I am showing a few images around city centre. for a more extended overview I'd like to refer you to the lovely Emily who blogs beautifully about her life in and around Dublin here. helpful lists of things to see and do are to be found on her blog too, as well as the option to book her as a guide to experience 'Dublin like a local'.

a request on Instagram for tips and yarn shops in Dublin lead me to This is Knit in the impressive Powerscourt Town Centre. I looked them up on the www and got super excited to visit the beautiful shop and it's owners Jacqui and her daughter Lisa. after a truly delicious lunch at The Pepperpot Cafe which is in fact located right in front of This is Knit, I got to meet Jacqui and her 'delicious' shop. they carry a wonderful range of yarns, from Malabrigo and Debbi Bliss, to Irish tweed and hand dyed yarns. we chatted away about yarns, books, Ravelry and inspiring designers. of course I couldn't leave without pretty tweed skeins and a couple more yarns for future projects. they will reveal themselves over the next couple of months as I start working with them. thank you very much Jacqui and colleagues for the warm welcome in your pretty shop! too bad we don't all live close to Dublin so we can shop This is Knit in a weekly basis, right? well, there's a solution to that problem: the webshop! go have a look yourself and indulge in the beautiful range of irresistible yarns.

a couple more things I'd like to share with you, just in case you're visiting Dublin:

just one street away of the Powerscout Town Centre is Drury Street with Kaph for delicious coffee in a beautifully styled coffee shop. across the street of Kaph are the Irish Design Shop and the home and lifestyle store Industry with a beautifully designed website too, their play with typography is fantastic. we had delicious dinner later that night at Drury Buildings in the same street. Definitely our favourite street in Dublin so far, haha. 

a little more outside of the shopping streets but worth the walk are 3FE for coffee and Hänsel and Gretel for -what else would you expect- delicious pastry, cookies and pies.

my Dublin report part two is about crochet in the wild, coming soon.

Beautiful Bruges

pictures. lots and lots of pictures of Bruges today. and a new yarn adventure at the bottom…

classic, beautiful and delicious with a lovely outdoor terrace in the morning sun Servaas van Mullem

beautiful house number signs everywhere, I just couldn't stop taking pictures of them

the best and fresh made Belgian waffles from Jantje Vanille ~ ice-cream and waffles

what touristic Bruges is all about: lace, chocolate, beer, chocolate, lace, beer and middle aged architecture, 

oh and did I say beer, lace and chocolate?

the weather was gorgeous so we walked around the city all weekend. the canals, the popping greens of Spring, the mild sun, good coffee and chocolate…. hmmmm, just perfect. beautiful old buildings everywhere you look, most of them maintained very well or under construction. I realized I was very much looking at the old houses with my 'Canadian eyes', who aren't used to seeing much of 1617 and 1485 painted on beautiful gables.

Madam Mim, where I shopped my yarn souvenirs

100% natural flax yarn, the cream one quite rough, the brown one very fine and very old. google images is my friend, when I type 'flax crochet' a gazillion lovely ideas pop up of what to make with it. I am excited to work with it, another lovely natural fibre is here to explore :). have you worked with it before? I'd love to hear your thoughts and experiences.

below: the vintage lace pieces I found at Madam Mim are a lace edging for a handkerchief, a lace corner and diamond, probably both for inserts in handkerchiefs or little table cloths too.

and top right, a tiny little crochet piece. it is so delicate, unbelievable how fine it is. I put the business card next to it so you'll have an idea of sizing. I took the crochet piece with me for inspiration who knows I will come up one day with a square pattern derived from it.

Bruges, a city I can highly recommend for a day or two. also, it is very close to the beach. we didn't get to go this time, but all in all it makes for a beautiful weekend road trip for you Europeans :).

xo

New Project: Crochet Scarf

new yarn, from a brand I never worked with before. yarn wise being back in Europe definitely is quite exciting to me. all those brands I didn't notice before and didn't see while residing in North America. Bergère is definitely one of them and totally new to me. it's a French company, a family business since 1946 and they have an impressive collection with a wide variety of yarns. there's a little story to how I found this yarn.

a couple of weeks ago I attended a local knitting/crochet night in a lovely by-consignment shop called Ons Zus en de Zusjes (our Sister and the little sisters) packed with local handmade goods. that's perfect to begin with, right? 

as I have experienced before, knitting and crochet is something that mostly happens behind closed doors. but when the ladies gather to craft, it is always great. we chat, we drink tea and coffee, we have some cookies, we laugh, help each other… even though we just met 10 minutes ago. like magic. 

I was so happy to have found this local craft happening and the ladies who joined. one of them happened to own the yarn shop Homemade Factory in Hilvarenbeek, Noord-Brabant. so that weekend I jumped in the car and drove to meet her again and have a look at her darling little shop. if you are in the area, you should absolutely visit it. so cute, so personal and well designed with the white fresh walls and display. and a lovely yarn collection too, carefully chosen. and that is where I learned about Bergère and their Berlaine yarn.

and so it happened I couldn't resist and took 5 balls of Berlaine wool with me for a at that time undefined project. as I already have numerous WIP's, UFO's and yarn piles waiting for me, I was not planning to put this yarn away and let it sit there. I started looking for a fun and rather quick project for the holidays. I came across this clamshell pattern by darling Sandra and decided to give it a go. such a clever lady, the pattern is explained so well with the text and accompanying images. very well done my friend.

instead of the advised hook size 3-3,5 mm I am working this yarn on a 4.5 mm hook to create a not too stiff scarf. it is a rather complicated pattern when you start, but after a couple of scallops I started to 'see' the pattern and it's structure, and I am now crocheting happily without the pattern in sight. so much fun to see the colours come together and my scarf grow. with 23 cm it is quite wide, which means it might end up becoming a cowl instead of a scarf. although the scallops will be vertical then, I have to see if I like that. for now you know where to find me, crocheting my scarf with French wool, working a British pattern in my Dutch home. oh Europe, you are something. 

Berlin

a weekend of Fall in Berlin. mostly wet, quite some wind too. loads of beautiful coloured leafs and a little bit of sunshine. quite a rough and tough city we found, a charm and style of it's own.

lots of delicious coffee and accompanying treats to warm up

a tour in the glass dome of the Reichstag, very interesting and beautiful with amazing Berlin view

a typical Berlin Sunday afternoon Flohmarkt, slowly getting in Christmas mood

Berlin. a very short visit. it turns out to be a huge city. not jut big. huge. my advice would definitely be to book at least 5 days. there's a great public transport network that never makes you wait more then 4 minutes for the next train, bus or subway. absolutely perfect. and you need it to travel between the nice areas, they're just too far apart to walk. you'll be walking a lot anyway, that's for sure.

with the help of Sandra, Holly and Nathalie we were able to make a selection and focus on a small part of the city: the areas Mitte and a bit of Prenzlauer Berg. 

a few spots I'd like to recommend based on our own visits:

* cute little shop and paper goodies at R.S.V.P. with an online shop too. I got the coloured stickers and a cute notebook there as you can see in the image above

* delicious coffee at The Barn and Lois, absolutely perfect carrot cake at The Barn

* great bookstore with a fabulous selection of international magazines do you read me?!

* dinner at restaurant Lokal where everything you eat and drink is provided by local suppliers and truly delicious

* all over Germany there are Muji shops. I saw their shop for the first time in New York and just love their simple Japanese designs and cute Christmas collection

I found two yarn shops. Loops was too far away for us to walk and we ran out of time to visit. knit knit was closed by the time we accidentally walked by it. can you believe it?! I did not visit one yarn shop in Berlin. aaaaah. definitely have to go back!

keep in mind most shops are closed on Sundays. cash is what you need in most places. get a public transport ticket and comfortable walking shoes to get around. most people speak English and are very helpful. if you'd like to visit the Reichstag dome, keep in mind registration in advance is required.

Enjoy!