WillsWools at WoolWinders in Washington.

As we celebrated our wedding the Sheraton in Rockville, Washington DC, I looked around for yarnshops and found a real nice one called Woolwinders (Hi Karina and Gail!) Great selection of exclusive yarns like Colinette, Noro, Manos and... friendly service! I bought some different samples to bring home and show my customers. I recommend this shop!

Window-Shopping

I saw this skirt I think in one of the malls in Las Vegas while shopping, I thought it was really beautiful crochet work! Not sure if it's done by hand though...

Kitty-Fix in DC

On our honeymoon in the usa we visited our friend Gail in Washington DC. She was our wedding planner for our USA Wedding. Also she has some cats and since we dearly missed our own, this was a very welcome Kitty-Fix! Isn't this one adorable and beautiful? The cat I mean.

AWWWWWW

My friends Frank and Jeroen bought this adorable puppy. Adorned with swarovski stones, she just looks fabulous and soooooo cute!

Chrochet Giotto Scarf

Linda is showing a small scarf I crocheted from the fabulous Colinette Giotto ribbon yarn in the "popsicle" colour setting. Just 1 skein , on 12 mm needles.

Anonymous baglady.

Hey, I made another bag! I have forgotten the name of the girl showing this for me, but thanks again if you read this! Again, 3 threads, changing all the time in colour and texture, on 15 mm crochet hook, sewn on an existing bag.

We're married!

It was a day that was all about warmth! The warmth we feel for one another, the warmth we feel for our friends and family and that they feel for us, and the incredible (and sudden) warmth of the weather!

We started out with our friend Carmen joining us first thing in the morning to get our hair whipped into shape. She put on enough hairspray for us to remain perfectly coiffed all day long, despite the heat. Thanks, Carmen!

The photographer then arrived at 9:30 and we spent an hour in the garden and walking around our neighbourhood and its beautiful canal and parks taking pictures. We used our extensive knowledge of modeling from having watched 120 episodes of America's Next Top Model (and Britain's Next Top Model and Holland's Next Top Model) in order to create gorgeous pictures.

Our friend and my colleage Nadra then arrived to make sure everything was ready to go for the rest of the day, then our friend Hans then drove us to the old town hall, where all our friends and family were waiting outside.

The ceremony was quick but emotional, with Christopher and I sharing emotional vows with each other, and were also very moved when they played "You Raise Me Up" by Josh Groban during the official signing of the marriage license by us, the justice of the peace and my mom and dad.

We then took additional family and group photos outside before proceeding to a delicious lunch at our favorite cafe in town with a select group of friends and family.

Exhausted, we took a quick break back at the hotel (Christopher soaked in a freezing cold bath to get rid of some of the heat), and then spent the afternoon doing a special creative art activity which I'll write more about a different time. We then had dinner in a beautiful greenhouse before starting the evening's festivities at 7 p.m. Reception line, gifts, unique guest book, wedding cake, first dance, disco, special performance by a friend, lots of great conversations, free-flowing booze, fantastic dance music, all until 1 a.m. Was tons of fun, crazy, exhausting and fabulous.

Insanely tired today, but the only thing we have to do is pack, so we're cool. We leave for Las Vegas, Washington D.C. and Des Moines tomorrow.

THANK YOU to all of our dear friends and families for making it a memorable and fabulous day for us. We hope you all had lots of fun as well, and we can't wait to see you all again soon!

Crochet, Dallas and Chocolate...

Chrocheting a huge granny square on the couch on a sunday afternoon, watching Dallas re-runs , eating way too much chocolate...have I lost my mind? Lol ! No, I am seriously enjoying the wonderful Noro yarns with their amazing colour transitions. I cannot stop crocheting, it is so addictive...I sell these yarns in my shop and never allowed myself to work with them but it is too late now, once you start working with nicer yarns, you're hooked! I am using both Silk Garden and Kureyon in several different colours. I think this project will turn into either a nice throw for the couch, or i will make it into a huge pillowcase.

Cause and Effect...

This fab mohair colour setting from Colinette is called "paintbox". My very creative collegue Martine designed a sweater with this yarn. I love the big neckpiece, it is very soft and I think it looks fabulous. In my humble opinion, great yarn and great design meet here...

Colinette yarns in the window.

I am so happy my customers like the Colinette yarns, it has been good! We now made a window with a "Firecracker"yarn sweater, designed by collegue Martine, and a Perugino throw, also knitted by her. All together an eyecatching window. The dutch tag says New from Wales, Colinette yarns, hand dyed, an absolute joy to knit with, come in and have a look!

Honeymoon in Vegas coming up!

Honeymoon? Marriage? Yes! I am getting married to the love of my life, Christopher. We have a wedding website! www.schouten-rosebrook.com We will be honeymooning in Vegas, this picture was taken in Las Vegas en put into one of my other night shots. I have been there 4 times now but this will be the first time we will actually be enjoying it together, Christopher was normally always on business there and had to work. Haven't seen any yarnshops in Vegas till now...

Colinette yarns have arrived!

My day could not be better today... My first order of Colinette yarns arrived! We put the yarns up in the Ikea roomdividers I bought last week and I think they look absolutely stunning and are SO inspiring! You just wanna grab them!

Colinette Perugino Throw

This is a "Perugino Throw" yarnkit I brought as a sample back from Colinette in Wales to ask our customers what they thought about it. My collegue Martine knitted it and I think it looks fandabbydozy! We now sell the kit in 3 colour schemes!

Crochet poncho inspired by Missoni.

I am kind of proud of this one. I took so many different colours and threads (three at a time) and tried to make a stunning poncho with a colourpalette a la Missoni. This Italian fashion house is one of my biggest sources of inspiration. Their use of colour is unique in the world and I am in great awe of them. Grazie!

Crazy Crocheted Bag #2

Another attempt to "crochet-pimp" a bag. This is a mailbag model, I just crocheted a granny square on a 15 mm crochet hook and had fun with the colours, then sewed it on a army look bag. Handwash only!

SnB HOORN!

The title says: SnB Hoorn starts. The left guy says: Socks? Other guy: No, Hot pads!
Tuesday march 6th was the first night of SnB Hoorn, the town where I have my woolshop (www.schoutenhandwerken.nl sorry , dutch)
It was a great succes, organised by two determined ladies, there was a crowd of 44 people! We had great fun, looking forward to the next night!

Colinette visit in Wales.

On Valentine's day 2007 I took up a trip to visit the Colinette Yarn company in Wales. I have known this brand for a couple of years and will never forget the first picture I saw of a sweater made from the "Point 5" yarn in "Vogue knitting "magazine. I got a complete tour of the factory and it was very interesting and fun to see how they make their gorgeous colours. It was a complete joy to see all the yarns and colours for real anyway. I took many samples with me and showed them to many customers to see if they liked them. And..we are definately going to sell their beautiful yarns! Wanna know more? www.colinette.com

Fainting...

"Point 5"yarn

"Firecracker" yarn
"Perugino" Throw

We sell Noro yarns from Japan!

Don't you just love these colours...I fell in love with them years ago and now in our shop we offer the biggest collection of Noro yarns in the Netherlands! Wool, silk, angora, they are all just breath taking I think. Our latest addition is the 100% silk yarn : "Hana Silk". The silky shine on this ribbonyarn is just exquisite and pure luxury.

Crazy Crocheted Bag

Using three threads of multiple different leftover yarns (mostly petrol and purple hues), I crocheted two huge granny squares on a 15mm crochet hook and sewed them on a purple bag and replaced the ugly imitation leather handles with rope ones to give it a warmer look. The two sides of the bag are different to mix things up a bit. Let's go shopping, girls!

All natural crochet necklace...I used hemp yarn and shell-buttons, so incredibly easy to make and so stylish, as shown by one of the lovely girls of our neighbouring six store. I sometimes wear it myself...

This is a picture of our appearance on the dutch TV show PaPaul from Paul de Leeuw. Very nice to meet him and to be on his show. I am in front, my collegue Martine is sitting next to me on the left.

I found this charming classic picture of a knitting lady on wikipedia.com.

Moi in a self-knitted and designed camouflage-fishnet, cheers! This was also Ibiza 2003, in the Ibiza city harbour.

I love this crochet band, bought in Ibiza, on a beach on the neighbouring island of Formentera. We are going again in sept 2006, I can't wait... there some great knitwear/crochet shops on Ibiza with hip handmade stuff.

Ueberbling - Bollywood - poncho! I love this one. I tried to be as bright, tropical and colourful as humanly possible, adding some bling yarn here and there. Thanx to Martha Stewart for the basic pattern and big thanx to Sharifa, one of the girls working in our neighbouring SIX shop, posing in this poncho!

Men who knit on Dutch TV! It was my 4th appearance on national TV, knitting away. Together with two other guys I was invited on the Max and Catherine Show, showing knitting is for everyone! Next to me sitting is a Yoga specialist, saying knitting is indeed the yoga. Except for the torso's, all the items behind us are designed and hand made by me.