egg hat ..... or egghead ?

Cold, cold, cold !

Easter is here, 

but Spring is nowhere to be seen

The only Spring is inside the house at the moment

;-)

Today I finally finished my third attempt 

in double knitting.

First there was the straight scarf.

Second was the headband  (with in- and decreasing)

And thrird : 

can I do it in rounds ? With decreases ?

Something small, just as a trial, a tiny hat perhaps ...

Yes, I can !

Hurray ... on top of the Easter Bunny world !

or

.....

it might just fit 

as a warm hat for someone 

during a cold Spring ??? 

So, a lovely (Easter) weekend to you all 

continuing boro

Still a bit weak, but I'm back !

Flu is such a silly illness 

(most of the time)

but it can knock you right of your socks

Now it's over, so : 

time to continue Boro

Ha, só many pieces have already been replaced,

which was to be expected, of course !

But the pieces at the bottom of the back I was sure about 

are now being "glued" to the fabric of the jacket

(noooo,  no real glue of course, but Jude's "glue-stitch" )

Raw edge or needle-turned, just as it goes

and then other stitches follow ...

Mmmmm, I love how the "pattern continues" 

from one piece of fabric to the next

The shibori : I purchaged from Glennis Dolce, 

who brought it with her from Japan,

(ouch ..... and I cut right into it ...)

the piece that it connects is from an old cushion cover 

I already cut into before :  for this

The eyes I found in the "Blaudruck" fabric are finished now 

and there will be a bit of colour in the flowers

Even a lot more colour on the top ánd the front of the jacket

(is my plan)

flu

Finally the flu got me

...

no appetite, 

hours of sleep during daytime 

...

no, not funny

I'm even too weak to pick up a needle 

when I'm out of bed 

...

But, all of that will pass 

SOON

I hope 

stitching boro

I think the title of the last post 

was a bit misleading :

I didn't mean to say that 

"boro is boring"

Oh no, on the contrary, I would rather say that

stitching boro is fun !

stitching has begun 

The jacket (of an expensive brand) which I bought during sale at the end of a season,

is very well made.

Before I started pinning pieces to the jacket

I undid the bottom seam of the lining.

Then I put a magazine inside so I won't get through and through

when pinning or stitching my dear scraps.

There is some wonderful original 

"Einbecker Blaudruck"

which I bought years ago when on holiday in Germany.

This Wittram family handprinting business 

uses the same old woodblocks 

that are in the family for hundreds of years !

I often took it in my hands, admired it, and put it back in the drawer,

but now there is a long strip of it all along the backside 

and another pattern, with much bigger flowers on it, at the bottom.

Ha, and when I was glue-stitching it I saw the 

eyes !

you will see them more clearly when móre stitching is done

The inchies, leftovers of some other project and some biscornu's

have found their place next to the entrance of the pocket. 

Yes

it really is fun.

(much like brighten up your old jeans in the 70's)

boro ? no : boring

Boro

was a word that didn't mean anything to me 

some time ago

...

Then I participated in Jude's on-line class

"Contemporary Boro"

Boro comes from the endless ongoing process 

of mending originally from Japan :

pieces of fabric were meticulously stitched 

onto garments with holes, tears or weak spots 

to give them a longer life

That is the kind of stitching Jude often uses in her work.

Making use of old pieces, little leftovers, 

recycling.

It's a fun way of merging all kind of scraps 

haphazardly into something new.

Ha, it's about time I start stitching again !!!

So I took this old jacket.  Any holes ? tears ? weak spots ?

NO a very neat tidy jacket !

but ... boring 

(from another era ...)

and therefore just the right thing for my project

Lots of scraps 

and pieces of fabric that are dear to me :

my contemporary Boro 

O yes, there will be lots of changes of plan along the line

pieces added, removed, replaced by others

it will be :

"just going"   

birthday

I can hardly realize 

that it's already

39 years 

ago that our dearest was born

.....

time flies

...

Still so happy she's around  !

Now she herself is a proud mother of three 

We had a fun day with lots of nice people

Normally we measure the time of her birthday 

in the start of the daffodils blooming

.....

alas : all still very green !

(or maybe some tiny specks of yellow on a warm south facing spot,
the photo is last year's)

After the first very warm bit of spring two weeks ago

the winter cold came back

But ... I was lucky to get some flowering branch from a friend

so there still is the beginning of spring inside

Magnolia

*

Now that it's almost Easter

my old colleagues from school come to borrow my hand puppets 

This bunch will be ready to perform in the puppet-show

(still have to locate the spring fairy ...

in another box probably ...)

touching

Last Friday, March 8, was the International 

Women's Day 

("Venus de Merino" made by daughter)

I originally planned to do a post on that

but couldn't find the right words for my feelings,

all the important things I would like to say

.....

it's hard sometimes 

when you sit in front of the computer keyboard

...

But today I found on YouTube a small part of an interview with 

Whoopi Goldberg 

that I saw that Friday night on Dutch Television :

what a marvellous woman that is,
and what a fantastic interview !

And this particular bit was so touching !!!

Go see for yourself

*


(Well, in fact it should be "women's day" every day :
and then I don't think of most of the women here in Holland,
where almost everyone can freely plan her own life ...
no,
those places where women/girls aren't allowed to have proper education,
are raped for no other reason than
just being a women/girl,
baby girls are killed because parents prefere boys,
and young girls are forced to marry ...
that's why it should be on our mind every day)

another rainbow

Today I recieved the little felted piece

of our felting-exchange

We're halfway through the year already

and each and every one of the pieces 

is so different !

I love all the creativity of other people !

This one is again of one 

of the ladies I met at the Sara Lechner workshop

where it (kind of) all began.

Not only a hot white sun

but a lot of beaded raindrops

and a rainbow !!!

(the card says : you don't have to lóók for a four leaf clover,

if you're lucky, you'll find one ...)

Well, this time 

I think I just found one 

Thank you very much C !

busy hands

The weather was, as promised, 

even better than yesterday.

Although we enjoyed the sunshine and the flowers in the garden,

we were inside most of the time,

but : with the door wide open !

"We" were two friends and me, "workshopping"

One friend renewing the encounter with felt

and one making "first contact"

It's fun to see people enjoy the same craft as you do.

Busy hands making a bowl

... and finished

The "new" hands working :

after the first test swatch, flowers on a string

...and finished too 

(with a little bit of help from me

because it was a lot, for a first time)

That was a well recieved belated birthday present !

(see you next time, ladies)

what a day !

What a beautiful day :

SPRING

and tomorrow will be even better !

Doesn't this makes you cheerful ???

The weather was so warm it was great to knit a bit 

sitting in the doorway !

I made a headband of the leftovers 

of my double knitted scarf.

Now there are only really tiny bits left 

of the two Noro Kureyon Sock skeins !!!

(these bits I removed from in between  

so the combination of the front and back colours would be better)

So now all is finished and I will write the pattern I made

on Ravelry