Hermine Van Dijck interview

The series of interviews for "Knots Collective" starts with a talented young woman:

Hermine Van Dijck. 

I have never met her in person, I started to follow her blog because I was quite intrigued by her style, personality and her wonderful textile work. 

Who are you?

My name is Hermine, and I just graduated as a Master in Textile Design. From the beginning of my studies I felt in love with weaving, that is what I like to do. When I'm not busy with weaving, crocheting or some other textile stuff, I like to ride my bike around town, drink coffee at my favourite coffee-bar and I love to take care of my plants.

Three words to describe yourself: 

Dreamer, collector, weaver.  

As a child you were?

I was a very shy and quiet child. When people came to visit my parents I used to hide behind the couch. When I played with my sister I always wanted to be 'the mother' (as she played 'the father'), because I wanted to wear my mum's high heels!

When do you wake up in the morning...?

I'm an early bird, I like to get up very early in the morning to see the sun rising. To me, the morning sunlight is the most beautiful of all day. At breakfast I usually like to eat soft boiled eggs with 'soldaatjes', as they call it in Dutch, which are long pieces of bread to dip into the egg's yolk: very delicious. After breakfast I jump on my bike to drink an early-morning coffee in a coffee-bar. The lady at the bar already knows me and she always brings me a cappuccino without even asking me. Then I'll do some crocheting, reading or writing.

A perfect way to start my day.

When you go to sleep...?

Mostly, I love to go to bed during the winter nights. I can use a lot of blankets, wear comfy pyjamas, bed socks and drink hot chocolate. I'm already longing for winter time.

I love sheets: even in the Summer I tend to sleep under  layers of sheets and blankets: I do like the feeling of their weight on me. Before I fall asleep I day-dream a lot. I make up stories about things that might happen one day, or think about the people I've seen during the day. Sometimes I spend a couple of hours day-dreaming before falling asleep. 

I also make to-do-lists for the things I have to do the next day. Most of the time my to-do-list is very long. Writing them down makes me more comfortable.

What inspires you?

My inspirations come from all the things that surround me. Inspiration can come while I drink coffee, walking around town, the movement of the city and so on.

The little things of everyday life. 

I adore ethnic textiles and fabrics made in other parts of the world. 

At the moment I'm working on Native-Americans (inspired) pieces. 

I also love to observe the growing process of my plants.

Home is…

A place where I love to be. It's filled with whites and light blues. I have a lot of clutter, like I said, I'm a collector, so I like to keep everything close to me. Next to my clutter you can find a lot of plants in my home. I like to take care of them and

I can’t resist not to buy a plant when I see one. 

Tell me about your working space

It is filled with wires, yarns, wool… my weaving loom is in the middle of that. I always use an inspiration wall, where I put images, colours…things that remind me of what I'm working on. 

How do you relax?

I relax when I can go for a coffee in a coffee-bar. Even then I'm mostly working on a project,  it feels really relaxing. I can't stay without doing anything, it makes me feel sad, so working on my projects is relaxing for me.

You admire?

I don’t really admire famous people, rather the people around me.

I admire my weaving teacher, for her passion.

I admire my parents, for their strength and support.

I admire my talented friends, for their creativity.

I admire baristas, for the best coffee they create (and their latte-art).

I admire ....... (a lot of people !)
Favourite things?

I have a lot of favourite things. Like my camera, that I always carry with me around, ready to take pictures of things I never want to forget. I have favourite shoes, my blue clogs. A favourite cat, with red hair, called Pupuce.  A favourite  coffee-bar, called Normo, where I drink my favourite coffee, a cappuccino. 

I love rituals and favourite things.

Best place you have ever been?

In Paris there is a little store called 'La Boule Rouge', it's a very small shop filled with little paper bags, beautiful coloured paper, stickers. I really love that place a lot. 

Best food you have ever tasted?

One of my best friends is Moroccan, and her father once cooked us a really delicious couscous. It was so different from how I  make it. And it was so good!

What's your dream?

I dream of having my own design studio with a large bright space filled with bobbins and weaving looms.

And I hope I could work with inspirational and talented people.

The oddest or funny thing you ever did?

A few weeks ago my housemate and I baked some cupcakes, and put them in a beautiful box. We then went outside and rang the bell of a house in our street  that we both love a lot. Two sweet people opened the door and we said: 'Hello, we live in the same street, and we always see your beautiful home. And now we want to say

hi. We baked cakes and we hope that you've got some time for us'. We ended up staying all night long at their place, it was a bit odd, and funny at the same time. But thanks to that we met some lovely people. 

Thank you Hermine.

Hermine's textiles will be at Knots Collective Pop-up Shop.

Journal de Jours ( Hermine's blog)

*All images by Hermine Van Dijck