I discovered Wolcafé at the Handwerkbeurs in Zwolle, which I visited a few months ago. On my blog I have written a post about the stands in visited and the items I bought, among which some ‘handmade’ leather labels from Wolcafé. I really liked the range of products they were selling, so I decided to like and follow their Facebook page when I got home.
Two weeks ago they posted an announcement on Facebook that they would host a Meet & Greet with Kirsten Ballering the designer of this year’s Scheepjes CAL. Since I am enjoying this CAL so much, I thought it would be really fun to attend.
First, I actually had to check where Wolcafé was located. Due to the fact that I had first come across them at a fair, I did not know! Fortunately, they are actually within a reasonable distance (for a LYS) from my home. I found out they are located in Schoonhoven, which is a lovely small medieval town located in the central part of the Netherlands, and particularly famous for its silversmiths and silver-artists. They were hosting the Meet & Greet as part of the local bi-annual Cultural Sunday.
Sunday turned out to be a lovely warm and sunny day and when I arrived at the shop they had put out tables and chairs in front of the shop to take advantage of the great weather. The shop is actually in a small historic building and filled to the rafters with different types of yarn, Wolcafé-exclusive kits, books and tools. Upstairs they have a room for workshops but because of the nice weather we were able to have the Meet & Greet outside.
When Kirsten arrived, I was very eager to show my scarf and she really liked it. During the afternoon a number of other ladies dropped in to show their scarves or admire Kirsten’s and let her know that they had to finish a number of WIPs before being able to start the CAL. I know the feeling, but I simply couldn’t resist the wonderful design.
Especially for the Meet & Greet Kirsten had designed a small ‘Hygge’ pattern to tackle during the Meet & Greet or to take home with you. I decided to have a go straight away. I was very glad I did, because the pattern was in Dutch and I needed some help in translating the Dutch crochet terms in UK crochet terms! Even though I am Dutch I have always crocheted in English! I really should get round to making myself a small dictionary!
Moreover, the pattern started with a magic ring which I had never made before. I felt so silly. After some great help from Kirsten and the ladies from Wolcafé (you had to do the magic ring twice) I managed it in the end. However, I will need some practise to remember it next time. The rest of the pattern I fortunately managed without any problems. I nearly finished the little heart within the time set, but I wanted to take it home to get a neat finish. The picture at the top of this post shows the final result.
Before going home I popped into the shop and bought two lovely purse kits. These are Wolcafé-exclusive kits and you were allowed to choose your own colours. For the left one I picked a lovely pink shade and for the right one I decided on the colours shown.
I had a really fun afternoon and it was really nice to meet Kirsten, the designer of something I have been working on so diligently for the past week and which travelled all the way to Australia with me. Wolcafé is a really nice LYS and I definitely will be back for some workshops and my future yarn shopping.
In the meantime I have finished week 8 of the CAL and this is what the central panel looks like now it is finished. I love it! Roll on week 9 tomorrow!
The Stitching sheep 