In the last weeks I had to reconsider my knitting-needle "organisation": My "system" wasn't working anymore. Circulars were everywhere and although I tried to keep them from tangling up with each other by storing most of them in their original sachets, they were also starting to show their age and tearing up. It was extra hard and quite unpleasant to try to find anything in my big mess of a bag...

It might look like an innocent, elegant silk clutch from the outside, but beware - the inside holds the best tool for all of us slightly neurotic and archive-maniacs knitters out there:
Pockets... Labels,
TABS!
In this organisational wonder you get 21 labelled pockets, plus another 3 plain pockets. 
​All of them do have a flap and they are about 15cm x 10,5cm big, which makes each pocket large enough to hold about 3 (smaller sized) needles comfortably.

The half sizes stop at 6,5mm, so that there was no pocket provided for my 7,5mm circular (the labelling goes from 1,5mm (000US) to 12mm (17US) by the way). There are even quarter sizes for the smaller needles, which I do not use at all - so I thought that I could put stickers on the existing tabs to personalise the labelling according to my own needs and together with the pockets that do not have labels, I can still find my stuff at one glance and have all of my needles together in one case.

While the pocket organisation is most practical and welcome, the main star of this case is of course the fabric! When I first saw it, I thought that it is made out of pure silk - but no, the material is called “Poly Silk” and as I found out with a quick google search, Poly Silk is essentially polyester and silk - it is a mix designed to make the silk more durable, easy to wash and wrinkle resistant. So you get the gorgeous look of silk and hopefully the durability and resistance of polyester with this material. 
Sounds good to me (who always walks around with wrinkly clothes, if they aren’t knit-wear… my knits are perfectly blocked, always!!! But everything else, not so much).

The colour I have is called “Seafoam” and it is a wonderful, vibrant, light venetian green. I especially love the different hues the silky fabric provides and I have the impression that it will age gracefully by getting lighter at the edges and make the rich texture of the weave come out even more. On the website there are quite many different colours to choose from, depending on the model and there is also a big choice of different sized needle cases for interchangeables, straights, DPNs or crochet hooks. I also think that I saw some lovely project bags over there, but I tried to ignore them for the time being.... 

But what I love the most, is the fact that these cases aren’t produced by a big international company but by a small business based in Seattle, which seems to be working ethically with the people that produce those handmade bags in Vietnam.

There is so much more info you can read about the DellaQ shop and the quirky owner Della in her about page (or you can also check her out on instagram). Her blog “The Knitting Bag Chronicles” features also a lovely post that introduces the Vietnamese sewers and the workshop she is working with.

Now I am off to find a different solution for my DPNs, since I guess that my old Cath Kidston straight case (although very cute) will be too cumbersome to take with me when travelling…

For the dimensions, offered colours, price and other info about the cases, check out the DellaQ shop.
My case is this one: The Que Grand Circular Needle Case in the colour seafoam

On an incredibly hot day this past June, I strolled around the former industrial district in Athens and stumbled upon a rare gem: A happy marriage between Art and Fiber.
It was the very last day of an exhibition called Chroachym by Chrysanthi Koumianaki, as I read on the front door of the old Mentis factory - so I walked inside.

Chrysanthi Koumianaki, a greek artist, collaborated and got inspired by a small scale brocade factory called Mentis in Athens - which today houses the Centre for the preservation of traditional textile techniques of the prestigious Museum Benaki in Greece.

The brocade factory opened in 1867 to dress King Otto, the first King of Greece’s shortlived Monarchy. Later the factory's production expanded as a silk factory and it became one of Greece’s most famous producer of passementarie - the embellisments that decorated courtains of couture houses, traditional costumes, theater production and even army wear for over half a century. Today it survives as a reference to a by-gone era, less as a necessary production line but as a symbolic gesture, a cultural and historic heritage site.

Wonderful tassels, cords and edgings fill up the space everywhere and can be admired in midst all the industrial beauty of the old machines and tools. And there, right between the busy silk heaps, there are Koumianaki's delicate floating pieces of work: Intertwined, as if they always were a part of the setting. Listening with feminine attentiveness and speaking to us about the factory in a poetic and soft voice. Her work asks us to see the factory’s particularities - to see and to hear them anew, as they truly are - and that IS Art in my opinion. It makes people think and feel and challenge and decide and observe.
Making us more "human", I guess - and I love this feeling, even if I encounter it seldom!
Thank you Chrysanthi for this experience.

Since most of my own pictures are from the factory/museum itself, you can see more of the actual exhibition here, on Chrysanthi's site.

Just as a general side note: I have to mention here that I don’t take the word “Art” lightly and that I myself have never applied it, when referring to knitting, spinning or weaving. I also have to admit that I am always cringing when I read or hear this new linguistic construction called a “Fibre Artist”…
But I digress... this is quite a huge subject and we can discuss it in the comments or in another moment, if you wish.

Anyway, ranting or musing aside… in this very specific instance there was something happening that truly resonated with me and that for the first time gave the words “Fiber Artist” a meaning that rang true - even in my personal strict, narrow and very specific view of fibre and art!

Just a quick shout-out to let you know that....
It's my BIRTHDAY!!!!
and...
That I am holding my annual Birthday-Sale like every year, the only time where you can get each and every one of my self-published knitting patterns at a 20% discount (only on my website here or on ravelry)!
The sale ends October 14th at midnight Central European Summer Time.
(check this site here to find out what time this would be in your own local time zone).
 

Today, the 13th of October I will be officially older (and hopefully wiser)! 
To celebrate, every La Maison Rililie pattern will be sold at a 20% discount! 
No coupon needed... 
(The sale starts the 13th at 00:01 CEST and ends October, 14th at midnight CEST.)

Summer is almost over... well, not exactly here at the Mediterranean coast with a new heat-wave arriving shortly, but in theory the summer months are coming to their end in the northern hemisphere!
My summer was quite stressful - that's the main reason I have been so silent lately on the blog. 

I had some knitting related mishaps: My first sample for a magazine submission decided that it didn't want to have stripes and the darker colour bled into the light coloured striping... it bled all over the place and the whole project was ruined in minutes - after weeks of work!
All of this had to happen on a Saturday night - and I found myself searching frantically on the internet for yarn shops that offered express shipping...
(I had to reknit the whole thing immediately since the deadline-clock started ticking louder and louder while my nerves were getting tighter and tighter).

Well, I can inform you, that there are none! At least I didn't find any online shop that would ship express internationally with a guaranteed arrival of the yarn in a couple of days...

Thankfully I remembered Rachel, the owner of the UK based yarn shop Tangled-Yarn, whom I "met" on the wonderful knitting forum ravelry and I wrote her a freaked out message, telling her what happened and asking her if she would be able to send me the yarn immediately, like... NOW!
Rachel answered on Sunday morning (!) and she had already researched all the possible shipping methods and told me exactly what costs how much and when it would arrive and...
...well, to cut the story short: she totally saved my butt!!!!

So 2 days after that I held the yarn I needed in my hands (and maybe even a little more than I actually needed, I mean... since you pay for express shipping you need to take advantage of it, don't you?)

But for the project I needed to start as quickly as possible I chose my trusted old friend: Coast yarn from Holst. I am a little Holst fanatic, I admit it freely - but I just knew that this yarn would neither loose any colour nor provide me with any other bad surprises...  
I re-calculated and re-knitted everything in just under a week....
...and now I can breath again!

I sadly can't show you anything of the project in question - hopefully you'll see it next year (if it doesn't get lost on the way or anything else).
But I can and will say a huge thank you to the lovely yarn-shop owners out there, that are life saviours whenever a stupid knitter messes up and who listen to all our woes and..
well, provide us with the loveliest yarn ever!
THANK YOU Rachel!!!!!!

...you hold the package you recently ordered, full of knitting related goodies!!!

No, it wasn't yarn this time (but I am waiting for a shipment of some lovely wool, too... I am addicted to internet shopping, I know)!
This one is probably even better: I bought knitting accessories..... striped project bags, a fancy Japanese yarn clipper and a statement tote from Fringe Supply Co!

Isn't the little black yarn-clipper cute? I like the simple "mechanical" no-nonsense look of this one... makes me feel very accomplished when I cut my yarn with gusto!

And although I really didn't need another handbag for my overflowing collection, I had to have this tote! I mean, as a die-hard-knitter one has to share one's conviction and show that we knitter mean business wherever we go...

But the main reason for my internet-hunt was the need for a representable project-bag! I had a cloth drawstring bag that I lost somehow and soon found out that it was a really bad idea to keep your knitting without any protection together with all the other random things that accumulate in a large handbag (you know what I am talking about: The Miss-Marple-Effekt of opening a handbag and shoving all kind of meddled clutter on the table). 

I always admired some really beautiful handmade project-bags, where you can store your knitting while on the go without having your yarn and needles all over the place. But most of the ones I found were a little bit too flamboyant and overly decorated for my taste....
 
The ones I got are called Bento-Bags and apparently they can be used as lunch parcels, too... 
or indeed for whatever else you need to keep secure in your handbag. For my part they will have the one and only honourable job to exclusively house my precious WIPs! 
They come in different sizes to hold small project like socks up to whole garments together with lots of yarn! I am thrilled!!!!!

Aren't they cute? Such an easy and practical design... I noticed that I like simple and clean lines with an unfussy shape that's easy to use. 
And Fringe Supply & CO has just this aesthetic that I love!!!
So... now I definitely need to go somewhere just to sport my new tote with my WIP neatly packed in it's lovely project bag, where it belongs!

How about meeting up - you and me and other friends - and having a long and nice chat, while knitting together in a cozy shop full of wool......?????

Sounds nice, doesn't it?
Well... if you are in Berlin this month - we can definitely do something about that!

On two Saturdays (the 17th and the 24th of May) we will have 4 hours to meet, discuss, learn, chat and knit together! You will get my e-book "Shaken, Not Stirred!" and we can work through the pattern, start the project and mix and match our own cocktail side by side and needle by needle...

There will be new, detailed material and tutorials on the different techniques used in the pattern and we will work everything out together in German (or English or both... whatever you guys prefer).

The whole event will take place in lovely Berlin (at the bouclé shop) in the Nassauische Strasse 11-12, 10717. You can call Gabriele to book a space or to get more information about the whole workshop (Phone: 030-81853014) or you can write to [email protected].

I am so excited to actually meet (like really physically meet) you guys.... there are so many ravelry connections and cyber-friends that I have made over the last couple of years - and now I will be able to see and talk with some of you!
This fact alone makes me EXTREMELY happy... 
but anxious, too.... I am feeling a little bit like an adolescent on a first date with a pen-pal!
haha...

I have gotten some emails from people asking me about my pictures: 
What kind of equipment I use and how I take them.... 
....So I thought that a "photography" post might interest you guys!

First of all you'd need good day light to take a picture that shows the true colours (of your yarn?) and has a crisp and bright image! The best light one can get is on a cloudy but bright day (you know, when you get this very "white" and cool light). 
The clouds act almost like a giant diffuser in an enormous open-air studio and you won't get any harsh contrast lines, as you would if you'd take a pic in direct sunlight!

Well... here is my equipment!
A tripod: This one is a light one for travels. My "good" one is at home... it is quite a heavy and sturdy thing - and it should be one, since I don't want my camera to be blown away while I strike a pose!
My camera of course: A Nikon D5000. I have it for 6 years now and it has never let me down...  
I am very happy with it, although the lenses are much more important than a camera body, so try to invest in a good lens and buy a basic camera body (that's my motto, anyway).
The remote: Very important piece of equipment! How do you think that I get my photos taken, if not with a remote control (some of you might have noticed that in most pics I hide a small, mysterious, black device in my hand)... Without it I would need to wait around until somebody would be kind enough to snap some (probably unflattering) pictures of me and I would feel bad to ask them to take lots more (you can never take enough pics, by the way: I take around 100-150 photos and then I choose the best 10-15 at most). Nobody would have the patience to take that many pictures whenever you (and the weather) want them too... so a remote is the best way to go! Another bonus point is that you can get as goofy as you want, since there won't be any witnesses out there, after all bad pics have been deleted!
And the white balance lens cap: That's the latest of my babies! It's a very handy little tool that doubles as a lens cap but is essentially an integrated grey-card. With this little disc you can measure the white balance right before you shoot a picture and save it as a preset. Mine is a cheap version I bought on Amazon and it does a very decent job, but there are a lot of them in quite a large price range out there...

But I have taken pictures where I am wearing the top, too today. I just need to edit these later on Photoshop: What I do there is to adjust brightness and contrast and I usually also crop the hell out of the pictures - because that's what happens when you take pics with a remote control, you usually end up with a shitty frame! Thankfully editing programs can help you get a much more dynamic and interesting frame out of the far away shot you took with the remote control.... (and you don't need Photoshop, lots of free programs can do most of these edits).

One can get so much information on the internet about photography (yes... the net can be used for stuff besides knitting!). There are lots of boards on pinterest with technical information and tips, that you can browse while procrastrinating in a productive way.
Here is mine for example (although I definitely need to add some more pins).

And probably the most important thing about photography is to get out there, get inspired and have lots of fun!!!! This usually is the best method to achieve anything anyway!

Tell me if you have any preferred equipment, app or program that you use -
I never feel like I know enough... especially when it comes to photography!

We all have our little methods and preferences when working on a project, that become second nature when knitting: from simple little things that help us remember repeating occurrences up to complicated systems that are the fruit of years of experience...

... well, today I thought to share a homely, unsophisticated but vital preference of mine - an item that is always to be found in my dotty "knitting-tool-box": one I always use when knitting a garment and which helps me keeping track of repetitions or points of reference without the need to note things down on bits and pieces of paper (that I am too likely to loose anyway)!

By pinning my tiny friends on every row in question, it is immediately visible how many repetitions have been worked already and when the next one is due...
... even if the project is pulled out of a neglected corner, after many months of hibernation!

I am sure that you all have some similar small devices and methods to keep track of your work, don't you? What are your favorite little helpers hidden in your tool box?

By the way, the project you see here is my next summer top (hopefully) that I am working out of Holst Coast in Redcurrant and Fairy.

Edit June 2014: I finally found these coil-less or bulb safety pins here at Fringe Supply & CO, which has the most gorgeous knitting tools and accessories you can find!
You might also like to take a look at the Fringe Association Blog, where Karen posts many interesting things related to knitting!