Thrift store

I passed a thrift store today. Okay, entered a thrift store today.
Been there before, so I knew where to go: straight to the first floor then to the right. There is a little corner for crafts. A few other people were going through the things there, so I went somewhere else first. When I came back I had the corner all to my self as it where. All the time in the world to look in all the baskets etc. At first sight I could not see anything interesting.
I have been looking for these large safety pin like knitting stitch holders. Not urgent, but I did want them. Nothing in the baskets. Looked at the bucket with knitting needles. What a mess: non matching needles where bound together with sticky tape and rubber bands. Loads of bent needles. But looking closer I did find something at the bottom of the bucket: a stitch holder! And another one, a fancy one! And a couple of cable knitting needles.
Spent all together approximately €1.50 on knitting items. Here a selection:

For some time I have been looking at 'kantklossen' or bobbin lace making for some time. It is one of those crafts not many people practice any more. My grandmother used to do that. Unfortunately she fell ill when I was approximately 12 and passed away when I was 16. At that age I was not yet interested in learning the crochet, embroidery, bobbin lace and other skills she had.
Today I have found 14 bobbins at this thrift store for only €1.50. They are all plastic, but it is nice to see if it is a craft I really would like to master without spending loads on a new kit.

I did wonder what yarn to use. Had not really thought of that. Fine yarn is quite expensive. I did see some industrial size fine yarn in the store but it looked dirty and old, so I left it.
Later after I payed for my haul I thought this yarn would actually do fine for a bobbin lace try, just like the plastic bobbins would do. So I went back and bought two of them. In the car I noticed that a third one was lodged inside another one. I managed to get it out and it was nice and clean white yarn.

(the yarn looks much dirtier on the picture than it actually is)

Many yards and many hours of lace making for only 2x 1.20€ (yarn) plus 1.20€ (bobbins).
I looked up the brand of one of the spool of yarn: Claus Garen, made in Holland. Apparently it was a manufacturer that closed its factory in 1962. First I thought it was ugly dirty yarn, but now it grew on me. I like it. It is a bit of history, something old, like the bobbin lace technique is. At some stage I will do a little project maybe a bookmark or so, knowing that this yarn is older than I am, that it is from the time that many more people used to make beautiful fine lace using this 'extincting' technique.
The other spool of yarn is Italian. Can't really find any history on that spool.
The yarn is very thin, maybe too thin, and I think it's polyester, but who cares, I can play for hours and hours almost for free.
I'll just remove the dirty outer layer of yarn from the spool.

Also on my search I found some beads. Pearls by Gutermann. A good brand. Not sure yet what to do with it, but I will find a purpose for it some day.

These crystals were only 30cts, could not resist. They are now in the window. Am waiting for the sun.

Where it all started

A year ago I bought myself 4 skeins of cotton and a crochet hook. I wanted to make something, but had no idea what to make.

So after hours of searching on the web for small projects -here starts the addiction-, I decided to make a heart:

That was fun!

In the meanwhile I learned how to read patterns. Discovered that UK terminology is different to US terminology. Allthough I am dutch, I still find it difficult to read patterns in dutch. That's the result of watching YouTube instruction videos and browsing the web in english.

Despite the growing love for crochet and the need to increase my stash and tools I managed to stick to the things I bought the first time.

Because it was close to Easter and I wanted to master the technique to make a ball, I made an egg. Many curses later after countless times recounting stitches the egg was finished:

(photo taken from the best angle)

There are not many craft stores left nowadays. There used to be a few good ones close by where my mother and young me bought skeins of cotton yarn. Now I have to travel miles to the next craft store. There are plenty stores on the internet, but I like to see and touch the things I might buy. 

My next splurge was on thin cotton and some wooden beads. I wanted glass beads but was shocked to see what they cost, so I went for the cheaper option. 

Result: 

It was fun to make and wore it every day. Unfortunately it soon broke at the button loop.

I love flowers. Spring had not sprung yet. So why not make my own flowers? I purchased the book by .... and wanted to make all the crocheted flowers in the book. Since the instructions were not that clear for the beginner I was and because the instructions were in dutch I only made a few of the flowers. 

As you can see on the picture I still had much to learn:

Time for a bigger project. I had glared at some beautiful afghans for some time now. On Attic24's blog I found the pattern for a blanket I decided to make. Lots of fun making the hexagons... the first few. It was less fun when I discovered the agony of getting rid of all the ends.
Now A year later the blanket is still baby size, tucked away in a box. I might pick it up again later this year.