Hats off to....

Rebecca and Rozemie for organising the first ever World Wide Knit in Public Day in Oostende! Ladies, you are AMAZING! Special congratulations to both for organising press coverage in four local newspapers, including a feature in the Zeewacht. Look out for Rozemie's interview, it's due to be published a couple of days before the event (brilliant timing!). Don't forget: Sunday 17th June, 14.00 to 17.00 at the bandstand (kiosk) in the Leopold Park. Bring a stool, knitting, sun cream, sun hat and a smile. The excitement is mounting....

Rebecca and her daughter, Emily. Our youngest member and a super knitter - just like her mother.

And speaking of hats.....

... who better to model Carolien's latest hats for cancer patients than our very own Jan (who, by the way, is a hat knitter extraordinaire himself!).

Don't forget the other WWKIP days in Ghent and Bruges - it's going to be a fun fortnight.

Finally, knitting over the summer is ON. Due to Dansand (the contemporary dance event organised by the Droge Coo) we need to find a new home on Sunday 1 July. Picnic anyone? On Sunday 5 August, it's business as usual in the Coo: 11.00 onwards and we can knit till sundown. More info to follow on the July meeting.

See you soon!

WWKiP 2012

As winter is coming to an end and the month of June is getting closer (We're not in Belgium because of the weather, are we?), it's time to reflect on WWKiPs past and present.

Breien in Oostende was founded in February 2009 and that year we decided to take our friend Jan up on his invitation and visit the fair town of Hasselt for a hot knitting day. After a couple of hours in the heat on Molenplein, we pretty much resembled lobsters, but felt like Hollywood stars, thanks to this little feature in "1000 zonnen" 

Fast forward to June 2010:
I met up with two friends from Bruges and joined Ajour's knitting tent on a cold stormy day. Helen went to Gent, if memory serves. Shortly before WWKiP in Bruges, I was contacted by an eager knitter from Ostend, she and her sister would try to find me in Bruges. And they did! For more fond memories of that day, ask Rozemie ;)

In June 2011, a delegation from Ostend and Bruges joined the knitters in Ghent for some quality time at Stoffenidee.
You can play "Find Helen" in this little collage:

This year,

 for the first time ever,

 WWKiP-Day is going to be celebrated in Ostend,

 thanks to the joint effort of 

Rozemie (Breien en Haken in Oostende) and Rebecca (Stoffenhuys Paulette).

Join these two fine knitters at the pavillion in Leopoldpark (the one with the flower clock) on Sunday, June 17th from 2pm til 5pm. Bring sunscreen in the event of unusually sunny weather and maybe a camping chair or similar if you want to sit comfortably. There is a cafeteria near-by, which could be used as a rainy weather retreat (like we'd need that!).

Sunshine and a bouquet of flowers (not to mention a new Kate Davies)

It was great to see everyone on Sunday with their super colourful knitting! An's dazzling blue bouquet was stunning and Rozemie's new Kate Davies sweater was a delight. I'm longing for a photo of Ines and Rozemie wearing the jumpers at the same time. Barbara's phone cover in orange and pink was eye-poppingly lovely, as was Ines' new shawl in vintage shades of rose and peachy pink. Thanks to Jan for his amazing surgery on my socks (the first pair I've made on double pointed needles) and to everyone for such great knitting and good cheer. More news about the summer plans soon! (And don't forget to click on the photos for a close-up view).

Little details....

... turn even the simplest garment into a treasure. Just have a look at Claire's vintage doll's cardigan. Perfect seams and a stich with a tiny details. Gorgeous! See you Sunday!

Teaching.....

Thanks to Caroline for two lovely photos of Chris teahcing crochet at Tapisplage last month. The lesson was so much fun the children didn't want to leave!

Make-over in Oostende

You're probably familiar with "make-over" stories in magazines. Here is our very own, made in Oostende:

Before - A basic stuffed toy pattern by Dawn Toussaint:

After - The finished Pinkie Pie for a very happy little girl:

Sun, sea and.... lovely projects

It's hard to believe that Tapis Plage was just last week - how the time flies! Here we are again, enjoying the most glorious weather at the coast. Blue skies and sunshine, wool, friendship, knitting, coffee, a delicious beer of the month and and gorgeous cake - what more could we possibly wish for? Chris was in fine baby bootee mode, and showed us the first of her egg yolk yellow, fluffy mohair slippers. Inspired by her Tapis pom-pom hat, Caroline's made several new creations (with ingenious button on accessories, like a flower) and Barbara's My Little Pony is almost finished (there's a very lucky four year old on the receiving end of this). Huge congratulations to Pascal who produced her first ball of hand-spun wool (amazing!) and knitted it up and welcome to Ann and Ilse. Come and see us next month too! Finally, can I give myself a pat on the back for finally mastering the art of sock knitting?! I LOVE my socks!!!! See you next month but I've got so many nice photos in hand, I'll be posting more frequently this month.