Antique Lace

Hello everyone! This post is mostly for the sake of kind Heather who I know to be interested in this topic. But I hope there are others of you who will find it interesting as well.

The following photos are a few examples of a selection given to me by my Grandmother. I have yet to wash or iron them. You see, I wanted to preserve them in photographs before I try, lest anything go wrong. You can click on the small images to see larger ones, but be warned: they are quite large (for the sake of showing details) and will not be friendly for a dial-up connection.

This first picture shows the corner of a hankerchief. I'm not sure who made it or for what purpose or how, but it's pretty!

The next photo shows a hankerchief that I've had for ages. In fact, I used it as a 'blanket' for one of my dolls. Luckily, I was always very kind to my 'toys' and this piece is probably in far better condition than those that were stuffed away in drawers and closets all these years.

This next table centerpiece is made with a style I've never seen before. I cannot even fathom how it is accomplished. There is some damage around the borders, which is unfortunately beyond my skill to repair. The border, however, seems to have been added separately and the rest of the piece is in perfect (if spotty) condition.

The following image show my favourite of all these pieces. It is a baby bonnet, supposedly made by the woman who taught my great grandmother how to make such things herself. Originally, it was a much lighter colour lined in pale blue silk with a pale blue ribbon woven through the slits. I know this because there are actually several in existence (three, I think), one of which still has this lovely, if very damaged, lining. The work is so incredibly intricate that I am utterly astounded and amazed. Just look at all the tiny wee roses!

I believe that the last piece was meant to be part of a dress or another similarly feminine artical of clothing. This is my guess, anyway. I think it was made by my great grandmother.


So, there you go! Any comments or insight would be particularly welcome this time, especially if you can tell me the name of the craft that created these various items or anything about their restoration and maintenance so that they can be enjoyed for many generations to come.

Talking Cats

Personally, I did not know that cats could do this, and it kind of freaks me out. Especially the last one. It's downright creepy.

Another Deviant Art Submission

For those of you who like to check out my Deviant Art Gallery, this is just to let you know that I uploaded another photo yesterday. I'm particularly fond of this photo, not only because I feel it came out well, but because I believe it reveals the beauty of something that we see every day without ever really seeing it. So many people consider dandelions to be annoying weeds. But look: isn't it magnificent?

Another Shameless Plug

I've uploaded four new photos to my Deviant Art Gallery. Again, these are just the thumbnails so please visit the gallery site to see the full-sized image. These pictures were actually all taken the same day (Tuesday), when the weather was so gorgeous I couldn't bear to be indoors. Fortunately, I was able to spend a good part of the day wandering around with my camera, and these four images are some of the results. I should have at least a couple more for you in the coming days.

For some reason, this post reminds me of that poem by William Wordsworth... you know the one:

   I WANDERED lonely as a cloud
          That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
          When all at once I saw a crowd,
          A host, of golden daffodils;
          Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
          Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Only I was wandering through an urban setting, taking pictures of flowers I saw in people front gardens!

Anyway. I do hope you like the photographs. Please feel free to offer comments and creative criticism. Feel free to comment to this post if you have something to say and yet aren't a member of Deviant Art (you have to be a member to comment....membership is free, if you feel inspired). I'm always hoping to be able to improve. Thanks for your time. :)

Retro is In!

Well, so much for quality blog content. This is just a quick post to let anyone who doesn't already know know that styles from the past have returned! Actually, most of the new clothes in the stores in Brussels look like stuff I tossed out, or rather, stuff my mom tossed out for me when I outgrew them in the early 1980's. (And by 'toss out,' I mean donate to Good Will, of course.) But, anyway, I found this dress. It was cute. I bought it. And that's the whole of this enchanting tale. I'll do my best to write content that is actually useful and interesting in the near future, I promise. But, if despite my assurances, this low-quality post makes you cross, it's entirely Kevin's fault. Just so you know.

My New Lumpy Hat

Let me introduce you to my new hat. It's black, kind of beret-like, and has a weird little bow on the front. It's also, as you can see, a bit lumpy. But, for some reason, I really like it.

It's super comfortable and keeps my head warm. Plus, of all things, I believe its innate bizzareness to be somehow flattering to my face. (I usually can't wear hats at all, without looking silly.) The cherry on top of the cake is that this hat cost me a whole €2.45 (50% off €4.90) at H&M! How about that!

Chocolate Easter Bunny

Happy belated Easter, everyone!

Check out this adorable chocolate Easter bunny! While I could wax endlessly about the pre-Christian symbolism which has, rather ironically, prevailed as one of the predominant symbols associated with a holiday celebrated by Christians to mark the Ressurrection of Christ . . . I will restrain the scholar of religion in me and just focus on my bunny.

See, I have a problem with this bunny. My problem is that this is chocolate. It's food. It's for eating. But it's shaped like a cute little happy smiling bunny. How is a good, decent person supposed to eat a cute little happy smiling bunny?

It's barbaric! It's unnatural! It has an eye! It's looking at me. And I am supposed to bite off his ears? Break off his feet? What?

This isn't just any chocolate, mind you. It's pure Belgian chocolate. The Platonic form of chocolate , the paragon of chocolate perfection! It smells divine. But, it's so cute!

Who comes up with these sadistic ideas? I don't get it.

Oh Cruel World

A moving photographical journey through one cat's traumatic personal hygiene experience. It's Adorablog again. You should check it out.

Shameless Plug

I've uploaded two new photos to my Deviant Art Gallery. These are just the tiny thumbnails, mind you. Please visit my gallery to see the full-sized versions of these two very different views of Brussels. Thank you!

Paint a Pot

Here's a creative idea: Many of us garden-oriented folks have a lot of extra flower pots. In time, they inevitably become old and sometimes even yucky. But there's no need to toss them out! Here's what I did to give my pot a new life:

1) First I got out the scrub brush and cleaned out all the old dirt as best as possible. Mine was a terracotta pot, so it took a while to thoroughly dry after that.

2) Then, I went to the basement to find whatever remnants of paint were left over from a recent house renovation project. I found a nice oil-based white colour (although I think you'd be better off with a less toxic paint --I just used what was around). After two coats of paints, I had a nice white flower pot.

3) Now begins the fun! The blue and black designs you see in the photo aren't paint. I actually used ....permanent markers! In my opinion, they are much easier to use (especially for us dubiously artistic folks) and they have a nice effect! This particular design was inspired by a little blue and white hand-painted Portugese vase. But you can do any design you like in whatever colours are available. The possibilities are endless.

And, voila! ---you have a beautiful "new" flowerpot that will really add a lot more character to your patio/deck/veranda/terrasse/porch than a dirty old one.

One bit of advice, however: I'm not really sure how various paints react to moisture, so, if you painted over terracotta which is a porous material (like I did), you might want to use it as a decorative planter.

A Moment of Cute

Cute Overload shows us what happens when a monkey and a cat become best friends. Cute is what happens. Overwhelming cute.

Descent Into Oblivion

I think it's high time I moved on from the granny-topic posts to something entirely more geeky. In this case, the geekiness is a game called The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the newest in the series, as recently released by Bethesda Softworks.

Now, anyone who knows me even vaguely knows that I don't play computer games. Although there are many people in this world who can lose themselves in this kind of thing for hours, I just can't. I get bored. I feel unproductive. Various parts of me fall asleep for lack of, you know, moving around. I also have this thing against recreational violence and many games nowadays are exceptionally violent. I don't really think it's fun or enjoyable to pretend to kill things, nor does it in any conceivable way promote a the more compassionate and peaceful mindset which is important for the future of the world. I do kind of like games like the Sim 2, for limited periods of time, however. It's kind of cool.

Anyway. This brings me to the point of my post. You see, I've started playing Oblivion. Hypocritically, I've been waving about a virtual reality sword and sending forth bursts of flame from my hands to kill things. And, you know what? It's kind of fun.

The thing with Oblivion is that it seems to me to be a work of art. The graphics are incredible. The world is incredible. The attention to detail is, you guessed it, incredible. You start as a prisoner in the imperial city of Tamriel and you can pretty much do...whatever you want with your life. Sure, there's a Big Quest you can follow, but you can also do lots of small things, get rich, invest in businesses, buy houses. It's huge. And it's incredibly immersive. I played for 2 straight hours (which is a lot for me), until my shoulder hurt from frantic clicking (against scary skeletons) and my eyes got tired from looking at the screen.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a screenshot from the game:



You can find many more on the website, but I can assure you: they look even better on your own screen (graphics card permitting).

In truth, I'm almost afraid to play again, because, really, there are so many other things I ought to be doing. But that is a compliment for this game. And I thought I should let you know, in case you feel like diving outside of reality for a little while into this dynamic virtual world.

Take note, however: the technical requirements are astronomical. Be sure your computer (and you) can handle the strain.

Examples of Lace Crochet

I have already shared with you a photo of my very first wearable crochet project, but I have actually been crocheting for over a year now. I learned the basics of crochet in the little village of Cinfaes, Portugal, which was something of an interesting challenge being that I barely speak a word of Portugese. Still, determination pays off.

The first doiley to the left is actually the second one I ever finished. The first one I made was a less aesthetically-pleasing pattern for beginners and now has the honour of decorating my nightstand. But this one took me ages because every step was a learning experience.

For every two rows I completed, I had to unravel a row and a half because something was wrong. Even the tiniest error while crocheting in the round like this will have exponentially magnified repercussions as the pattern continues. So I find it's always best to simply accept that undoing one's crochet is a significant part of the whole crochet process. It's fun. Really.

Yes, it is a bit twisted, but that's how it goes. Proper blocking would probably help a lot, but I'm not quite an expert with that yet. (This means that I probably do it wrong.)


The second photo shows one of the many doileys I made as Christmas presents this year. I particularly like this design. It was fairly easy to create, not very time-consuming, and I really like how it looks!

It still looks a bit twisted, which is once again due, no doubt, to my poor blocking techniques. This will improve with practice, I hope.

More recently, I've switched to thinner thread and a teeny tiny one milimeter hook, so stay tuned for more photos!

My Blue Shawl

I finished my first shawl! I used the "Simply Shawl" pattern which comes with the Caron Simply Soft 4-ply acrylic yarn and a 5mm hook (size 8 to you US folks) that I purchased during my last visit to the US. I started it in January of this year, while I was visiting my mother because I just didn't have the patience to work on lace. This was a nice meditative, repetitive pattern that kept me productive even while watching scary US television which otherwise might melt my brain.

I'm happy with the way it came out, but here's the magic question: will I ever wear it?

A New Beginning

I've never had much with blogs in the past, but, for whatever reason, here I go again! I call this blog "Neither Here nor There" because that is often how I feel in this particularly transitory phase of my life. But, never fear! I don't intend on waxing poetic about the trivialties of daily life. Rather, I hope this to be a place where I can share interesting anecotes, fun things I find on the internet, cooking experiences, photography samples, pictures of my crochet accomplishments, and whatever else moves me with the inspiration to post. If you are reading this, I thank you. You make it worth my time. :)