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.

Martine wear meets Wilbert wear. I did the crochet scarf and hat, with three yarns combined on a eurosize 15 hook! I was inspired by a girl on the plane on my trip back from NYC wearing a similar scarf, but I redesigned it. Martine customized the jeans jacket, and she knows how to do it with the wow-factor!

Modern classic I would call this. Made from a half silk and part linen yarn called Gala by Lana Grossa. I think it is very elegant. But also can be combined with jeans. A big hit in our spring 2006 collection!

Inspired by a Julia Roberts poncho-photo Martine designed this fabulous seventies looking crochet poncho. Granny squares? No way! it was a big success in our store, people made in in various colour combinations.

My collegue Martine's window dressing in our store...I think it looks stunning! She actually knitted the left bolero/cardigan, great colour combo girl! We borrowed some jeans and accessories from our neighbouring Superstar Store.

My first crochet project. I did some edges before but I had to try Martha's poncho pattern!

This bag is one of my first knits.I used three yarns that I varied all the time to create a slow colour transition. I can't sell it , I love it too much! Martine is wearing a self knitted creation from pink "Pep" yarn by Lana Grossa, with a crochet edge made with Sari by Lana Grossa.

This is one of my personal favorites, shown by Caroline. It has so many different materials in it... many many different knitting yarns, but also ribbons cut from old jeans, sequin bands, elastic bands, lace etc etc, all knitted together. Caroline took it with her on a winter sport holiday in Austria and it attracted a lot attention!

This lady is one of our valued customers, showing the quilt style poncho she bought in our store. It is made from all kinds of square knitted samples from our store that I crochet together to make this one of a kind poncho. I did not have a picture of this piece yet, but when I asked the lady, she especially came by the store to have her picture taken. Thanx again!

The back of the quilt style poncho...

Caroline, my dear sister, showing the scarf I was knitting when I was photographed for the newspaper article. (one of the first entries on this blog) I used three yarns all together ( brown, olive and a varied one) on huge wooden needles, size 28 mm!!! They were made from a broom stick by my co-worker Martine's husband Marco. He is a wizard with wood!

Hello MUMMY! Ina is showing a scarf I knitted with two yarns together. One in a neutral creme and the other changes colour all the time, from the ball. This last yarn was very successful in our wintercollection 2005-2006, it is called Nepal, made by Lanas Katia from Spain. Muchas gracias Katia por los colores bonitos!

The back of the jeans jacket. I embroidered this with the PFAFF 2124 machine, which I love to use. (In our shop we are PFAFF dealer) and...great hair-dye job, Caroline!

This is a second hand jeans jacket I customized, sewing on a ribbon wool knitting yarn on all the seams and puttin on sequins and buttons and a handmade embroidered flower on the front.

My sister Caroline is showing a scarf made from 7 different yarns knitted together as one, slowly changing in colour from pink to blue,through turqoise to emerald green, with matching funky pompons. I always love to change and shift colours as I go, mixing different materials.