Craft marktet Hoorn, The Netherlands

Hello and good morning,

Another beautiful day is upon us and before we set out to enjoy my day outside (this corresponds loosely to waiting for the first load of washing to be ready ;-))  I thought I would give you the lowdown on the craft market we visited recently.

My oh my, what an experience! I have never before visited such an extensive craft market. There were things of interest for everyone and if the weather had been better I could have easily spent all day there, just watching people being enthusiastic about their wares.

A few rays of sunshine on this stunning display!

In all there were more than 120 stalls, many with craft materials. I saw lots of hats, necklaces, clothing, felt, books, crochet and knitting materials. So many inspiring people, happily braving the pelting rain in order to show everyone their beautifully crafted projects. 

This is a skein of duo-tone angora wool I bought for an autumn project. The photo isn't at all clear, but the wool is a kind of purpely brown mix. After a little on line research, I think it was spray dyed. This blog gives a clear description of the way it is done. The vendor explained how the wool from her own angora goats is collected, then sent away to be spun and then hand-dyed by her. How cool is that? 

The yarn is super fine and by knitting it on size 5 needles the effect becomes nice and lacy. One skein will make a good wrap or scarf. Oh, and, did you know that angora wool apparently does not shrink if you wash it? Good news for someone that succeeds in shrinking favourite woolens every time!

This was another one of the many lures of the market. Look at it: boxes and boxes of yummy colour! All there screaming "pick me, pick ME". It is 100% merino wool. 

Refusing would have been very impolite, don't you think? This is what ended up in my shopping basket:

Just little bits of it, see, I kept it very reasonable! The general idea would be to do some felting with it at some point. I have tried felting with normal wool before, but it just doesn't work well so that is why I thought I could indulge in this colour fiesta.

And speaking of felting, I have to show you this amazing site. I just love the work by Gillian Harris! Did you notice there are still a couple of spots on her September felting courses? Wouldn't that be a dream? Aaahhhh....

Have a lovely day today!
XOXO