sunshine

Yes, I received another little felted piece

of our felting-exchange.

Every time there's an unknown envelope in the mailbox

I love to open my surprise packet.

(this one was a bit late due to the holiday time

but that's okay)

another bit of sunshine !

thanks Judith

The little rug daughter made over a week ago

looks just like a curly moon

but it won't stay white forever :

she planned a dye-day 

and it will be fun to see what it looks like afterwards !

In the next weeks 

there will be a lot to do,

so most probably there will be no time 

for blogging

....

Never mind that :

I'll be back

and will show what progress

I (hopefully) made on the sun and 13 moons !

Here it is ..... remember ?

Hmmmm ... I neglected this one a bit,

while working on my crochet shawl / scarf.

Thát one's finished now, blocked, and dry

(but no photo yet) 

Ha, just realized :

all photos are of circles 

So, enjoy the last bit of summer while it lasts, as I will do,

and enjoy the nearing of spring when you're somewhere "down under"

young assistant

Last week daughter had time 

to do some serious felting.

I showed her working on the Ouessant fleece,

but she made some more 

little curly rugs,

using other types of wool.

Indeed, a lot of work !

So who wouldn't be very thankful for a little help ?

Hi Mom 

I'm here to help you 

She also finally managed to make a bag for a friend.

(she had promised that a long time ago

but didn't have the time or energy to do so)

step by step

the beauty takes shape

Today (washed, dried in form and with the strap attached)

YES really a beauty

While daughter was doing the felting 

I finished all the bits and pieces of my Sophie Digard inspired crochet shawl

and look at that  assistant again  :

proudly showing my work !!!

(he is such a good helping hand !)

Making the last choises ..... and done !

Going all around the border 

is the last task before blocking !

Yeaaaaah !

contagious ?

All people are creative,

some a bit more than others 

and some need a little push to get started

...

When I did that first "stained-glass" technique in polyester textile

many weeks ago, Man was very interested.

Years and years back 

he joined me in making enamaled copper juwelry and wall decorations

Much much later he followed me in making his own 

mandala drawings.

So when he saw the beatiful coloured piece with the burned out fragments

his imagination started buzzing !

And when I say buzzing, it means buzzing 

For the very first try, he asked me, 

after all the steps of the process were completed,

to do the stitching on the machine,

which I did of course.

But he had to wait till I had time to do it,

then he did the burning,

Not so this time !!!

He made his designs, did all the steps by himself,

then daughter braught her sewing machine

(mine is a bit more complicated)

and then :

in hot weather, in not so hot weather :

slowly

stitch after stitch

his artworks grew 

A beautiful mandala

(ha, the best part was probably : nót having to wait for me to do the stitching !)

Yes !
I think being around art is contagious !!!

hot summer days

We are having lots of hot summer days now

tóó hot 

most people will say !

(a heat wave, for Holland at least)

We sit in the garden only in the morning 

and stay inside once the heating up begins.

Then we come out in the early evening again.

Lots and lots of butterflies are visiting

which are sometimes hard to capture on camera.

Yesterday daughter started with a (whole) fleece 

that she bought at the Alpaca farm some weeks ago

(though this is a sheep, more precisely : an Ouessant

not an alpaca fleece)

Here the in-side is up 

(it was washed some days before)

On the back some needle felt and some coarse gray wool 

that Heike sent me from Berlin.

LOTS and LOTS of rolling was done outside

(when the sun wasn't so hot anymore)

Washing and drying came later

And when daughter isn't felting or spinning ...
she is knitting

(Noro Kureyon Sock and Drops Alpaca)

And me ???

still making more flowers

and connecting them to the sqaures and flowers already there 

...

(45 and counting)

(yeah : post 300 ... a lot of talking !)