making someone happy

It was Stitch'nBitch day again in Rotterdam.

It was supposed to be sunny today, so I dressed that way ...

SÓ happy I was I had a rain poncho (just in case) in my cycle bag :

it rained cats and dogs,

when I got off the boat.

Hmmmmmm ... happy knitting, after I was dry again.

Because knitting does give me so much pleasure, I thought I show you this :

daughter drew my attention 

on some surprise flash mob on You Tube.

It's about a lady, Loes Veenstra  from Rotterdam,

who knitted over 500 sweaters all her life

and stored them ... untill :

this moment ...

when some people gave her some very happy moments, I think 

Go, and see for yourself 

and enjoy !

*

 At the moment I'm knitting socks for my grandson

in his favourite colour

green !

(one was already finished, but I frogged it 

because it was a bit too tight, the right one, since I have to wait 

and see if it fits this time, I started with number two)

*

Remember the stained glass technique 

I did two weeks ago ?

Man liked it very much and said he wants to try it too !

He will make a mandala !

Well, the machine stitching will be for me,

but the rest ..... 

(keep you posted)

;-)

a present ..... and the garden

Last Saturday the postman

(or rather it was a post woman)

brought a  b i g  package from Germany

 Heike promised me some time ago

to send me some of her wool

she no longer used herself to felt !

(I didn't know Heike felted,

but she makes wonderful stitched pieces
and fun figures)

And there it was :

a lot of beautiful natural coloured wool,

a purse :  "Time is Money"

and a lovely card

THANKS  HEIKE !

I will most probably use this new kind of wool

for making felted animal figures !

*

And because finally the summer seems to have arrived,

the garden exploded 

in lots of different shapes of flowers 

I often think 

this time of the year

is one of the best in my garden !

(you can enlarge the pics by clicking on them with the right button 

and then opening them in a new window) 

a bit like stained glass

Stained glass

That's what the result of the new technique I did, looks like.

Today I finished the stitching 

and later, in the garden under the sunshade,

I did the burning.

It was so góód I could do that outside

because it really 

STINKS !

(the synthetic fabric melts onto the soldering iron)

These are the front and back of the piece after stitching.

The lines, that I did twice, were rather shaky sometimes :

the "lutradur" back is slippery, when guiding under the machine.

The soldering iron and some steelwool nearby 

to clean the tip every now and then.

Because of the many layers and the burning

the piece is quite rigid and firm.

With a little piece of sturdy wire with eyelets at the end

I can simply hang it.

my lovely machine

What a lovely day it was yesterday !

No, no sun to be seen 

(well ... maybe a minute or two ...)

but we were inside 

being creative 

"We" was me and my dear friend Wil 

she explained to me a certain known technique, 

she refined for her own art-quilts

(Wil's work on the "Art Quilts in Nederland" exhibition last May)

It has been quite some time since I used my machine.

( I did a lot of hand stitching lately, inspired by Jude )

First here was a lot of preparation

in several steps

painting (with diluted acrylic paint)

ironing "vliesofix" (wonder under) 

cutting 

...

but in the end I could start on my dear PFAFF

There's still a lot to be done before this try-out will be finished

because I need to do some burning too  

Ha, it's so good the weather will be fine tomorrow :

I will be burning outside 

(the fumes are not very healthy !!!)

 I will probably use parts of this technique in my own work.

Might find some inspiration in the garden ???

Wow ... these colours !

spring ? brrrrrrrrrrrr

It's hard to understand :

yesterday (and the day before) 

I was sitting in the garden in bright warm sunshine under a blue sky,

today (going by boat to Rotterdam)

I was wearing trousers, socks

and my winter coat 

....

and was still sssshivering !

I'm soooo glad I finished that other pair of socks

Though Mother Nature is definately telling us

that Spring has begun

(so good they're wearing their down feather coat !!!)

And although I'm quite late with my present

this birth mandala gives a bit of "Spring feeling" too 

(it will go in the mail tomorrow)

green ... and ... knitting

The garden is green !

We had quite some rain lately 

so that's why !

But it also means that the flowers last a long time.

There are still a lot of Bluebells, 

but I took away most of the Forget-me-not's 

(they sow themselves só massively ...) 

*

Last Friday I visited with a friend 

the "Breifestival" (knitting festival) in Nieuwpoort

Nieuwpoort is a (partially rebuilt) old fortified town

not too far from where we live.

It has one of my favourite quilt and yarn shops : De Schapekop 

The entire little town was adorned with knitted items :

on windows, benches, flagpoles, lampposts, trees ... 

even from the old town hall tower blew a knitted banner !

(forgot to take my camera, but believe me, it was fun)

Some of the lovely yarn I bought

(the twó on the right are purple, always have difficulty photographing thát colour !)

I am still busy knitting socks for myself

(ha ! very clever with this cold spring weather)

and since the surprise present for Anne's baby is finished

and arrived safely Down Under

I can continue the socks for grandson nr 1

(Arrrgh : look at the difference in colour of the floor : 

just because the yarn has a different colour !

the green of the monkey is real green !!!)

sheep !!!

This extra (Whitsun) day off

was a great opportunity to visit 

the nearby sheepfold.

The weather wasn't exactly great :

no sun 

and even a drizzle every now and then ...

But it was a nice outing

and we saw some friends over there

Outside the sheep were waiting for their turn to be sheared,

inside were stalls with lots of goodies

"Rain in May

makes you grow"

my Mom used to say when I was little ...

 when you look at this, you see she was right :

everything is lush and green !

(though I wouldn't mind a bit more sunshine ...)

Mmmmmmmmmm ...

"flowers"

interesting 

...

Even our tiny front "garden" is green and white !

(it's really tiny, so most neighbours have it paved over ...

not me !)