I was walking through the metro station today on my way to do my Saturday morning errands (post office, book store etc) when I saw a lady crocheting!! In the metro station large acrylic blankets (she was trying to sell them at the same time) I caught her eye as I walked by, smiled and told her that her work was very pretty (Ton crochet c'est tres belle) and kept going another 10 feet when it hit me - she's crocheting, using acrylic, and its from a large ball and not one of the expensive little balls that I can find here in Brussels!
Okay, back up! "Madam - parlez vous anglais?" (never hurts to ask) but of course her response was no. It always seems that my French deserts me at the wrong moment! Okay, I pulled out my tram project from my backpack to show her my hook! I point to her yarn and ask her where she bought it (Vous achetez ton wool ou? A quelle magasin?") She shook her head, rambled off rather quickly in French and shrugged her shoulders and said "sans magasin" No store! Argh!! I tried to pull out the lost American look and my ever so handy "Pardon" and she went through the same spiel of really quick French interspersed with "san magasin"! Why is it when she knows French is not my language does she insist in speaking rapidly! I ended the conversation with a very Gaelic shoulder shrug, a bewildered smile and a "merci madame" and walked away. So close!! So very close!! Argh!!
We are going to Brugges tomorrow now - my friends friend's plane got in 2 hours late so we decided to hold off and go tomorrow! Lets hope that the weather is Trés Bien!
4 comments:
I get my yarn mostly at Wibra shops (http://www.wibra.be/). They do not always sell yarn, but when they do, at least it's affordable (0,99 € for 100 gr).
Schaduw Zijde
http://hobbyblogje.skynetblogs.be/
I think that's the one thing that would really drive me insane about living in another country - the language barrier! I'll bet you speak great French when this is all done an over with!
Too bad you couldn't figure out where she got it! Have you been to Brugges before? Very cute and quaint.
Hi! Why haven't I found your blog earlier? I also live in Brussels, raid the local shops every now and then, but for some serious yarn-hoarding, you'd better visit Germany. Or Maastricht in the Netherlands, just across the border. If you want to join me on a stash enhancement trip, just leave a message in my blog or e-mail me (you'll find my e-mail address in my personal details).
Like I said, just found your blog so I have some catching up to do - exactly what sort of yarn are you after?
Have you checked the Veritas shops? When the season ends, they're selling yarn for half the price.
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