A Fashion Foray into Antwerp (featuring some fancy French floof!)

In May, the Belgian city of Antwerp became the destination for our latest mother/daughter mini-break.

We travelled by Eurostar from London to Brussels then took a local train, arriving at Antwerp's magnificent art nouveau Spoorwegkathedraal, or railway cathedral, as the stunning station is known.

It was a joy to wander around the safe, clean and compact city centre, taking in historic sights, fountains and statues as well as quirky architecture, colourful graffiti and famous sculptures.

Whilst the Danes are famed for their pastries, Belgians also love a baked good or two, with waffles smothered in chocolate a treat we just had to try.  

The main reason for our trip, though, was to visit to the exhibition currently showing at the MoMu Fashion Museum Antwerp entitled The Antwerp Six.  It celebrates the 40th anniversary of the international breakthrough of six iconic Belgian fashion designers who all studied at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp.  They put the city firmly on the world fashion map!  The wonderfully curated exhibition placed the designers Walter Van Beirendonck, Ann Demeulemeester, Dries Van Noten,  Dirk Van Saene, Dirk Bikkembergs and Marina Yee into a visually entertaining contextual timeline then showcased their respective designs whilst highlighting their individuality.

But no holiday to a new city would be complete for me without a visit to a yarn shop!  

Less than five minutes walk up Nationalestraat from MoMu is Julija.

With a door at either side of the shop, light is able to flood into the airy interior.  Inside, it's spacious and laid out in such a way that the yarns, threads and fabrics, needles and notions are uncrowded and clearly displayed.  I loved that so many samples were on show, from adult garments to cute crocheted amigurumi animals.

At first I was drawn to Julija's own hand dyed yarn and chose this soft blue, green variegated hank of aran weight merino.  It will undoubtedly become a hat sometime in the near future.

Then Maddy spotted the perfect pink to match her hair!  Soft clouds of mohair and wool around a strengthening core make up Fonty Ombelle, and I bought one ball from Julija herself, whilst pondering which pattern to knit.  I knew of the French brand, Fonty, was but it's seldom seen for sale in the UK.

Julija at her lovely yarn shop in Antwerp

There's been a trend in the knitting world for some time to hold a strand of wool alongside a strand of mohair yarn to make garments and accessories.  The combination creates a warm, yet lightweight, fabric with a gorgeous fluffy halo, but double the yarn can make costs soar.  As Fonty Ombelle already combines the wool and mohair into a sport weight yarn, it can be held alone and still create the same desired effect. 

I checked out Instagram to see what other knitters had made with Fonty Ombelle and, with Maddy's approval, settled on the Djohnny Cardigan by French designer Mauriciette C.  It's simple but elegant with a round neck and cleverly fashioned button band that you knit as you go along.  Once we'd chosen the pattern, we popped back to Julija's yarn shop to purchase the additional five balls of floof I reckoned I'd need.

Djohnny cardigan pattern by Mauricette C.

As soon as we returned from Antwerp, I knit my gauge swatch and got cracking!  

The cardigan took me about s month to knit and I found the pattern was well written and easy to follow.  I chose size XS for Maddy and knitted it pretty much as stated, but with slightly longer sleeves, as I still had additional yarn left after completing the body to the prescribed length.

On a trip to Fife in June, I found these pretty wooden buttons at The Woolly Brew in Pittenweem.  Maddy rather liked the idea of them being mismatched.

Here's the completed cardigan which was even softer to touch after a wee wash and block.

I'm so pleased that Maddy and I were together in Antwerp to choose the materials and pattern for a garment she wants, and that I was able to use this wool so soon after purchase.  However, with the heatwave continuing in London, where Maddy lives, there's no saying she's going to be wearing it anytime soon!

Madrid Minibreak featuring Miss Kits

In late November 2025, we visited Madrid with our best buddies, Dave and Caroline.  I think we had our first holiday with them almost 30 years ago!

We'd had a lot of fun together on our Porto trip back in January and our love affair with cities of the  Iberian peninsula continued in a similar vein.

Delicious tapas,

Cultural excursions (including Museo Reina Sophia and the Museum of Romanticism),

Strolls through parks and the botanic gardens, vibrant with late autumn colour,

The added bonus of blue sky days to enjoy the great outdoors,

La Dama del Manzanares sculpture

And, of course, a yarn shop!

I'd established before leaving home that Miss Kits was the closest yarn shop to our holiday apartment, just a 10 minute walk past many inviting independent boutiques.  Behind the door was a light, bright space comprising an airy interior lined with colour-filled cubes.  I was free to wander at will whilst staff were on hand if I needed help.  Where to start?

Immediately drawn to all the colours, I found Barcelona based Katia Yarns well represented in-store including this sweet array of mohair/silk, cubby holes of cotton blends and sparkly spools of sequined threads.

Casasol is a Spanish brand I'd not encountered before.  As well as knitting yarn, the company has been making rope and twine for agriculture since 1803, with a more recent move into hemp and jute for espadrilles.  Again, a variety of Casasol yarns were stocked at Miss Kits including more fluff and more sparkles.

Most intriguing to me was this Casasol Cotton Candy.  There's a popular current knitting trend for holding a strand of mohair/silk together with another yarn, often merino.  Whilst the resulting fabric has the airiness of mohair and the strength of silk with the softness of wool, it can be quite costly buying multiple balls.  Especially to create a garment.  The Cotton Candy combines a cotton strand with mohair, ready wound into a large 800g spool.  Sadly, not very suitcase-friendly for my carry-on bag!

In search of a suitable souvenir skein, I spied luscious jewel-toned skeins enticingly labelled "Madrid Yarns Mohair" (which I believe is produced by Casasol for Miss Kits) and it was nice to see, and squish, exclusive Parisian hand-dyed brand la Bien Aimee.  The extensive range of Spanish fibres at Miss Kits also included raffia and these Musa cones would be perfect for a crocheted summery bag.  

However, I resisted all these beauties and moved on.

It was when I reached the dLana section of the shop, I knew I'd found what I was after.  A woolly wool from Spanish sheep, grown and spun to the North of Madrid.

D'lana is a family firm placing value on a natural product and the environment.  Their wool is untreated and spun in the firm's own mill. Animals and nature are respected and rural employment is promoted. You can even visit their factory to learn more about their sheep and the production process.  I love knowing the provenance of the sheep and wool I'm using.

I purchased a skein of Aran weight D'lana La Castellana in ice blue.  The wool comes from Castellana sheep reared by El Navazo Livestock Farm in the Castile region, which promotes the breed.  It's plump and lofty, perfect for a hat.  I knew it was going to be nice and warm when knitted up.

Back home, Christmas happened then I broke my wrist slipping on ice.  My knitting had to be put on hold as I healed but that gave me time to select a pattern for my precious holiday purchase.  

Despite it now being March, I chose to knit The October Hat (a pattern generously provided free on the Kelbourne Woolens website).

As I'd hoped, the lightly spun dLana wool created a wonderfully squishy fabric with beautiful stitch definition to show off the cable pattern.  I added an oversized white pompom to complete my hat.

Though March in Scotland can allow a glimpse of Spring, predominantly chilly days mean I still need to wear my woollens when I'm out!

Miss Kits yarn store can be found at C. de Atocha, 31, Centro, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Weaving a willow wreath

I'm unsure now how or where I first met Marguerite Fleming.  A warm spirited Irish lady, crofter and crafter, Marge is a powerhouse - one of those people you think must have 48 hours in every day!

Along with husband, Frank, she manages Westfield Croft, home to hives of bees, fields of rare breed sheep, a multitude of poultry, a large willow coppice and Marge's search and rescue dogs.  

We probably first met chatting about her wool at a local yarn show or maker's market.  I've knitted with her beautiful Blue Faced Leicester wool...

 and Spangle, our kitten, loves the cat mat Marge wove on her peg loom.

Recently I spotted an ad for an autumn wreath weaving workshop run by Marge.  I signed up right away and took my pal, Vicki, along with me.  Held locally in a former school repurposed as a community space, we were welcomed with refreshments and greeted by tables laden with dried flowers, cones and teasels, whilst additional floral art materials lined the walls.

There was lots of willow too, with different coloured stems, all grown at Westfield Croft.

As the class gathered, we had the chance to see what we were going to make by checking out Marge's sample wreaths.

To begin with, Marge showed us how to take some of the thicker willow branches and bend them by hand, one at a time, encouraging them into a circle shape.  We had to do this well away from each other so we didn't accidentally catch our classmates with any errant whippy stems!

After building up the ring until we were happy with its shape, we trimmed away unwanted leaves and ends.

Then it was time to chose our decorations.  I was drawn to the soft yellows whilst Vicki chose these muted pinks and greys.

There was wool to wind round our wreaths and wire to stabilise the delicate strawflowers.  We used florists wire to secure the cones, grasses and flowers to our designs.  They can be easily removed in future to repurpose our willow wreaths for Christmas.

In the meantime, here's how my autumn willow wreath looked at the end of the class.

The two hours had flown by in such an enjoyable way, thanks for Marge's patient tutelage, and we were soon admiring each others handiwork.  

There was just time for a class photo with Marge before Vicki and I headed out for lunch.

Once home, Vicki sent me a photo of her wreath hanging up.  It's so pretty against her painted door.

When I got home, I decided to replaced the wool wound round the top of my wreath with a bow fashioned from this rustic ribbon.

Thanks to Marge for a lovely instructive workshop with great company. 

To hear about future workshops with Westfield Croft, 

keep in touch through the website, 

FaceBook 

and Instagram.

A Lovely Leather Bag

No one was more surprised than me when I won a prize on the Ruth Loves to Knit podcast.

Ruth has very clever hands and her handknits are beautiful.  Originally from Northern Ireland, she now lives in Devon and her chats to camera where she shares her making and her thoughts on her spiritual life, regularly keep me company whilst I'm knitting.

A few episodes back, Ruth showed off the lovely bag she'd made from a Babylon Leather kit.  After the company offered her another bag kit, she generously decided to give it away.  I was the lucky winner of the kit she chose at random - the zip top tote bag in this gorgeous caramel colour.  

I was so excited to open the box when Ruth's parcel arrived.  I'd seen other podcasters making Babylon Leather bags - now I'd be able to make one of my own!

The kit contains absolutely everything you need from lovely soft, pre-punched leather to thread, snips and hardware.  As we were about to go on holiday, I decided to take my kit with me to make whilst we house-sat for some pals and cared for their lovely labradors in the Scottish border town of Peebles.

When we weren't walking the dogs along the banks of the River Tweed in the beautiful sunshine, I made a start on my sewing and completed a section of the bag each day.

Instructions are provided via a QR code in the box but a wee glitch recently on the website meant I couldn't gain access.  I joined the Facebook group, Babylon Leather for Beginners, to ask for help.  Very quickly other makers found a YouTube video for me to follow.  It got me started and soon I had the back, front and base in place.  Next, I had to sew in the inner pocket and zip - at the same time.  

That didn't go entirely according to plan.  I managed to sew my zip in upside down.

The thoughtful Facebook group members sent a link to another video for me to watch.  It was clearer but I missed the lady mentioning that she'd made a mistake.  So I made exactly the same mistake! Duh!!  Third time lucky I got the zip in correctly.  

Sewing in both the side panels was fortunately incident free and the body of the bag was complete.  Time to turn it outside in and attach the hardware and handles.  

These just screw in so, in no time, my bag was finished.

It's so lovely - I can hardly believe I made it!  Beautiful and practical - it holds a lot.

Don't be put off by my mistake!  The installation tutorial is now available on the website so making this bag in future will be much more straightforward and you, too, could have a lovely leather bag!

Catch up with Ruth's podcast here

Peruse the many Babylon Leather bag kits here