annual golden ginkgo glee

Annual golden ginkgo glee in the front yard.

November always brings the golden yellow ginkgo confetti delight.

Looking through the kitchen window and having a morning coffee in the front yard on sunny days like this...

Enjoy the little things in life!

over-the-top

Exuberant over-the-top flowers on a rainy Monday in November.

Nothing wrong with that.

Normally, I'm not a fan of any chrysanthemums whichever, but these brightly colored mega flowers are extremely over-the-top, it's funny for a change.

Have a good week y'all!

sweater weather - part two

Sweater weather part two!
I like the autumn and winter wardrobe. And I am especially talking about handmade sweaters and cardigans.

We took some photos on the beach the other day. A real autumn day with sun, wind and rain, so don't pay attention to my hair.

Anyway, you can clearly see the diagonal pattern, in the 'arms wide' position and I am very satisfied about the fit and the sleeves.
It was fun to make this diagonal striped sweater and I've been wearing it a few times. Could be my new favorite sweater.

I am considering making another one with a completely different color scheme and smaller stripes.

In the meantime I already received many nice reactions and orders of the crochet pattern, in response to my previous post.

You can download the pattern from my ETSY SHOP.

It's a one-piece sweater in one size (S/ M) and it's easier to make than you might think. The nice thing about this design, is to crochet a unique handmade sweater yourself with your favorite colors.

So if you feel like making your own striped sweater? Jump to my Etsy shop and I look forward to seeing your original versions soon.

woodwoolwardrobe on vinted

Today i've declutterd my autumn-winter wardrobe.

You really have to be in the mood for this job, otherwise you only do it halfway and you might as well don't do it at all.
After storing the summer clothing few weeks ago, it was time to have a closer look at the AW wardrobe.

Some pieces in your wardrobe are simply timeless and you don't have to think about keeping them at all. I was going through the other pile of clothes, which I did not wear last year (or maybe only once) and probably won't wear it either this season.

Sometimes you just have to be honest with yourself. Some pieces I really love, but they are not me.

So today I've listed some dresses, cardigans, jackets, ankle boots and handbags on Vinted, a free marketplace for pre-loved fashion. The Don't-you-wear-it?-then-sell-it Vinted, you probably know.

I'm gonna give it a try and downloaded the Vinted app and took some pictures of clothes that I am going to offer.

You can find my tiny second hand shop under the name woodwoolwardrobe.

shukran caro

I recently posted about the beanies that Aisha made on Place des Epices. Because we unfortunately can't sponsor her during the workshops this year, I figured out a way to support her anyway and sold some of the beanies she made before.

Shortly after I found out Caroline (a lovely lady from the Netherlands, who I met at hotel Chambres d'Amis last year and once more at Villa Augustus afterwards) happened to be in Marrakech to prepare her future group trips to Morocco. I follow her on Instagram and found out by chance she was in Marrakech, because of her Instagram stories.

So I send her a message and asked her for a favor:
If she could an would be so kind to hand Aisha the money for her 'famous' handmade moroccan beanies. She immediately responded very enthusiastically and I knew she was the right person to do this, because she cares about the Moroccan people, especially now, just like me.

So Caroline went looking for Aisha, with the 2 photos I sent her. A photo of Aisha at Chambres d'Amis and a photo of Aisha and me, so she could explain to Aisha, what this was all about. Since Aisha is currently not working on Place des Epices, it was not that easy to find her. With the help of a guide and asking around many people in the medina, she found her eventually.

She sent me a picture of the Aisha and her together in the Medina; support mission accomplished! It made my day, I love it when things work out so well and Aisha was super happy! Caroline was also very pleased to be able to help with this mission.

Shukran dear Caro, thanks for your help and commitment and of course also a huge thanks to the ones who bought a beanie in my Etsy shop.

Let's hope we can meet and work with Aisha herself again next year.

spencer made its comeback

Thé trend of AW 2020 are spencers! Two years ago I designed an easy to follow knitting pattern for a checkered spencer. Remember the knitted checkered spencer? It's knitted in one piece, easy to make in no time.

It seemed a perfect piece in my winter wardrobe, so I made another one, a striped version. Well, actually you can let your imagination run wild with this basic spencer pattern.

I put on my striped spencer today (so funny that after the summer you suddenly discover all new outfits in your own closet)

The woolen spencer has been out of fashion for a long time, but it truly is a stylish item for colder months. You can simply mix it with anything. Wear it over a t-shirt with long sleeves or under a jacket or cardigan. It's perfect for the feminine look, with a blouse, pencil skirt and heels, but can also be combined with pants, even with Adidas track pants ;-)

Mix, don't match. Everything is possible.

Everyone needs a spencer in their winter wardrobe! You can download the SPENCER PATTERN in my Etsy shop. Available in English and Dutch version.

Since the spencer has made a serious comeback in 2020, Pippa asked me to knit her a spencer with cables last week, so that will be my next project ;-)

diagonal striped sweater - crochet pattern

Autumn is here, no escape!

Not my most favorite season, but I do love the autumn and winter wardrobe. And I am especially talking about the warm sweaters and cardigans.

What I also love to do is, design something new again!

I've been working on a new design for the past few weeks, a handmade sweater with a new twist.

I'm fond to create and like to figure out how to design a new sweater. After a few knitted sweaters, I wanted to crochet a sweater. I drew some designs, with lots of color and soon I came up with the idea of a graphic design with diagonal stripes. After a few tries, I had it all sorted out. I took a few balls of tweed yarn from my wool cabinet and the color scheme came naturally.

To actually make the sweater was a lot of fun and I am delighted with the end result. I figured it might be a cool design for a new crochet pattern.

Well I can assure you that making this sweater with my crochet hook was quite a lot easier, than working out the pattern properly and making a graphical chart template with colors and rows. However, I also like this challenge and give myself plenty of time for it.

I made a crochet pattern in English and Dutch and you can download the DIAGONAL STRIPED ONE PIECE SWEATER from my ETSY SHOP.

This one-piece sweater is one size (S/ M) and it's easier to make than you might think. The nice thing about this design, is to crochet a unique handmade sweater yourself with your favorite colors.

I'm curious what you think of it. Cool? flashy? or way too colorful ;-)

Now that we are forced to stay inside more or less, it's wonderful to be able to focus on a new project. Right?

So if you feel like making it too? Jump to my Etsy shop and promise me to show me your version, once it's finished!