Our next COOL CROCHET SAFARI is on in April! When the first of summer is arriving in the Magreb, we’ll be out and about with our crochet hooks, climbing the High Atlas, criss-crossing the vibrant city of Marrakesh and plunging into the coolest pools… wanna join? Leave me a note: knitagogo@gmail.com
A Sunday pottering job. Couldn’t think of anything more relaxing to do than knit those petals and flowers. They’re quick too, using two threads of yarn. The cozy is going to be a Christmas present for a valued colleague.
BOW TIES GALORE!
knit-a-gogo is at the “All I want for Christmas” pop-up market, at the Zuiderkerk in Amsterdam this Thursday the 6th of Dec. from 17.30 pm onwards. With loads of lovely, colorful, stylish bow ties. One for every one! Take a look at www.facebook.com/events/247411652053789/ Lots of hand made gifts and food. My boyfriend Jules will be there to warm you with his delicious take on the good old English hot and brandy soaked Christmas pudding. Come and see us at The General Re:Store stall. Cheers!
KNIT-A-GOGO HAAKT WEER MET BEGINNERS IN HET NIEUWE JAAR! Afgelopen herfst ben ik voor het eerst cursus gaan geven bij Weldraad, een prachtige wolwinkel op de Haarlemmerdijk in Amsterdam, waar louter natuurlijke materialen worden verkocht. De herfst-serie loopt nog, maar kon niet alle belangstellenden opnemen, daarom gaan we op herhaling: 5 maandagavonden van 19.30 tot 21.30 uur, op 14 en 28 jan., 11 en 25 feb. en 11 maart. Voor absolute beginners t/m crafters die hun granny square al wel eens hebben gehaakt. Het is erg gezellig en je leert gegarandeerd nieuwe dingen of oude dingen beter! Kosten € 100,= voor 5 x, incl. koffie/thee/lekkers. Geef je op bij Anna via www.weldraad.nl of mail knitagogo@gmail.com.
Workshop series Crochet for Beginners by knit-a-gogo at Weldraad in Amsterdam. Five Mondays in the New Year: 14th and 28th of Jan., 11th and 25th of Feb. and 11th of March. Costs € 100,= for 5 x, incl. coffee/tea/sweets. Join the fun!
WRAP IT UP! is up for a second edition too…
AND off course… how could I forget: everyone is invited to join our party at Neef Louis this Saturday, 22nd of September, where we will stage a repeat performance of our WRAP IT UP! event between 11.00 - 17.00 hours… In this fab warehouse crammed with lovely vintage furniture and lighting, we’ll be having lots of fun knitting and crocheting, producing smashing pieces of craftmanship, with or without your favorite object brought from home, ready to be pimped straight into a second life. Check out their website www.neeflouis.nl or www.facebook.com/knitagogo and be welcome!
CROCHETEERS IN MARRAKESH
It took a while, in fact it took so long a new party of crocheteers is getting all set and packing their gear for a second edition of knit-a-gogo’s cool crochet safari in Morocco, from the 5th till the 10th of October. Even so, great to see the happy faces and many projects for once all together on our final day in lovely Chambres d’Amis last April. I’ll be posting on our second safari off course!
ALL SET FOR WRAP IT UP!
Looking forward to some outdoor knitting at the sunny terrace of Neef Louis. Any forgotten furniture or household ware that could use a splash of color? Come join the fun! We’ll be grabbing the needles from 11 a.m.
CALLING ALL CRAFTERS! WRAP IT UP! A special event by knit-a-gogo at the coolest place in Amsterdam-Noord…
Yarn dying is an age old metier
In the lovely Maison de la Photographie (www.maisondelaphotographie.ma) you get a taste of ancient times in Maroc, by a beautiful collection of sepia prints, done between 1870 and 1950. One of them shows how many wool dyers once thrived in Marrakesh. Seeing the interior now, time stood still. Inside that is. Outside all the others disappeared. Fortunately this yarn dyer is under protection of UNESCO.
Souk de la Teinture - Having bunches of cotton dyed indigo.
In Marrakesh there’s only few wool dyers left. In fact I only know of one. He willingly gave us crocheteers a demonstration. Normally wool is dyed in a large stone bassin above an open fire. The dyer’s interior is pitch black. This day our cotton is dyed in a seperate barrel because of the small quantity. With each round of color washing, liquid indigo is added, building up color. I’m not sure it’s indigo to be honest, coming from a little flowering plant so I am told. There’s (again) one authentic dye maker left in the souk and unfortunately he isn’t very talkative, to put it politely. Maybe he tries to save his profession from greedy tourists, who can tell. Our dyer operates smoothly, as if a dying machine himself, plunging the yarn in, spinning it round over his underarms, sqeezing and plunging it in again. He wears no rubber gloves. Carin takes pictures to catch the fact that it is hard to see whether he does or doesn’t.
Cool Crochet in Marrakesh (4-11 april) was a wonderful experience: amazing designs were done by our first international party of crocheteers, we enjoyed the good life, plunged into Medina frenzy and came back sun-charged and inspired… The Cool Crochet Safari will be on again in October.
Investigating the universal tea cozy
Voor Household zijn er een paar heel gave gehaakte theemutsen in de maak, in fluor, met pompons, in verschillende modellen. Ze worden geproduceerd in Marrakech, door Fatima. Zij en alle andere handwerkende vrouwen die ik er gesproken heb, zijn heel bedreven haaksters, maar kijken niet-begrijpend als je over breien begint. Ah ja wat jij bedoelt doen wij met 1 pen, zei een behulpzame man, wat ik weer niet begreep. In ieder geval worden de mutsen prachtig, maar er is 1 voordeel als je je muts kunt breien: je kunt breiwerk heel stretchy maken door grote ribbels te breien en dan past ie over alle potten die je in huis hebt. Zo gedacht, zo uitgeprobeerd. Door de ribbels worden de mutsen zelfs mooie stand-alone’s. Geen thee, geen nood, gewoon op de schoorsteenmantel zetten.
