Stitch 'n Bitch Nederland 2007

The other day, I was reminded that the big Stitch 'n Bitch-Dag is coming up on 3 November. I rushed over to the site to sign up for a workshop. I also wanted to make sure that I could get in, but that doesn't seem to be a problem as it's a big, historic building and they will let anyone in who is in possession of €12,50.

Fred is thinking about making the trip to Rotterdam with me so that he can see the building, the Van Nelle Ontwerpfabriek - an old design factory. He balked, however, when I told him the price of admission because he (and I know this is true because I asked him) immediately converted it to guilders, arriving at around fl. 27,50. (Fred, if you're reading this, remember what I keep telling you: Guilders don't exist any more.)

I ended up signing up for a workshop to learn The Brioche Stitch, which is being taught by a woman in my Stitch 'n Bitch group on Mondays, Nancy Marchant. She's American, so I figure she'll do the workshop in English. But even if she does it in Dutch, I'm sure I'll be able to follow. Plus, it looks like a fun workshop.

For an example of the brioche stitch in action, look at Nancy's latest published pattern, called Pecan Pie. It's a beret, and, in fact, the workshop is called "Pecan Pie." I'm not sure I need a beret in my wardrobe, but I will enjoy learning the stitch. There are some interesting results on her website. I'm going to see what I can do about learning it myself in the next month or so. I'd rather not walk in and look like a dork. I'm already a little concerned that the pattern (and thus the method?) is labeled "piquant" on Knitty.com. So a little studying ahead would benefit the learning process. (I wish my students would learn this.)

So that should be fun. I'm not buying yarn (unless I forget that I was going to stop buying yarn) until the Stitch 'n Bitch-Dag. In the States, there are some really wonderful wool and fiber festivals once a year where you can buy fabulous yarns, yarns not normally so available at your local venue. I'm hoping that this is the same. I look forward to coming home with a lot of yarn that I can't get at De Afstap, my usual haunt.

Oh how a guy can go on about his knitting.