A felted hair ribbon - and some embroidery books/Gefilztes Haarband und Bücher

This is a felted hair ribbon which I really needed to do, as my old, red one almost was falling apart from everyday's wear.

I used strips of a green, woolen sweater and punched it with some prefelt, yarn, threads and fabric and finally sew on a couple of beads.

These are some embroidery books I bought in Sweden -



with various aspects of embroidery -

the second picture f.e. is out of the book "Tenntrådsbroderier" ('Tin thread embroidery') by Mona Callenberg, which is a North Scandinavian/Sami technique where spun tin thread is plaited and embroidered on reindeer leather, mostly for jewelry, but also on purses, bags and clothing.

What I find to be quite amusing is the third picture, out of "Med egna stygn" by Lena Lundgren, which shows the traditional wool work, here used with illustrations from childrens' books and comics. This is a modern book on embroidery, inspiring the reader to do all sorts of own experiments with thread on unconventional materials.

The first picture, out of "Yllebroderier" by Ingrid Eggimann-Jonsson, is wool work on wool felt, this one showing mainly corner motifs to build up a composition. The book is filled with colourful photos and sketches on floral and folkloristic Swedish wool work, all designed by the author.

And the last picture is out of the book "Sömmar & stygn" by Anita Gunnars, a very clear and fresh stitch collection, here showing an old Swedish stitch from the early 19th century called "Anundsjösöm".



I'm still a bit stuck in everyday matters at the moment and therefore not so productive on textiles right now - have a look at Paula's blog: she describes exactly what I mean - I just wanted to say that I still very much enjoy your hanging around and commenting!

(German summary: Ein mit dem Embellisher gefilztes Haarband - Wolle, Garne, Stoff auf Strickstoff gepuncht - und einige Stickbücher, die ich aus Schweden mitgebracht habe - meist Wollstickerei, aber auch eines über Zinnstickerei, eine alte nordskandinavische/lappländische Technik, wo der gesponnene Zinnfaden kunstvoll geflochten und danach auf Rentierleder aufgenäht/gestickt wird. Das dritte Bild zeigt Kinderbuchillustrationen/Comics in herkömmlicher Wollstickereitechnik, nett, oder? - Und obwohl ich im Moment für textiles Arbeiten nur schwer Zeit und Muße finde, schätze ich meine kleine Leserschaft sehr ...)

Some travelling experiments - Reiseexperimente

It's funny with travelling: some people cannot get enough of it and get so much inspiration out of it - it's a challenge that makes them really feel alive and vibrant.

I'm afraid I'm not that kind of person, really. It's not that I hate it: I can very well adjust to new situations and surroundings and feel comfortable with it - but at the same time, I can't wait to return home and get working on those new ideas and impressions! And the problem is that when I'm finally back home, there's so much piled-up everyday stuff to take care of ...!

I guess I just need quite some time to "get back" mentally, to find concentration.

Anyway, this is not really a 'concentrated piece', but just an experiment on weaving with recycling material, like newspapers and waste plastic. I saw something like that in Stockholm, I thought the recycling paper looked quite stylish with the black cotton warp inbetween. The original paper weave was more professionally done, though, more tense, probably on a 'real' loom.

The little thing above it are some folded paper scraps crocheted together with the same black cotton thread I used for the warp. Well, just an experiment.



Last weekend in Vienna, I saw a crocheted flower necklace which I thought to be a nice idea, but far too expensive - so I made an own version on that, one with a green and one with a red wire. I used a variegated stocking knitting wool to get different colours out of the same material and some beads from my stash (hey, it's nice to find everything you ever need in your own stash!).



And feeling the need just to sit down in the sun and play around - I made these two beaded butterflies to send along with the mail I was preparing for Sara and for Paula ...

(Metal wire and beads from my stash :-))



(German summary: Nur ein paar Gedanken über's Reisen ... Ein Experiment mit Weben von Recyclingmaterialien wie Papier und Plastik, auch zusammengehäkelt, mit schwarzem Baumwollgarn ... Zwei aus Sockenwolle gehäkelte Ketten und dann ein paar Schmetterlinge aus Draht und Perlen, die ich meinen Freundinnen schicken möchte.)

Sonnen-Blume - Sun-Flower

Diese Sonnen-Blume aus meinem Garten ist für Mirjam und Gabriela. Ich denke heute an euch.

This Sun-Flower is to honour Mirjam and her mother Gabriela. Mirjam would have been 2 years today - she died two months ago. Her mother tought me a lot about love and dedication in her blog, and I want to pay my respect to her.

Returning to the blossoming - Eine Reise in den Sommer

So I'm back again, safe and sound - but haunted by urgent obligations like a broken car (there is no way to get anywhere from here without it), an 'exploding' garden (not only the blossoms but the weeds too) and a trip to Vienna (the last one before summer) for the weekend!

I'm sorry to keep you waiting, still - and to be honest, it'll take until next week until life gets a bit more normal again and I can reply to mails and read your postings ...

Some pictures of what has happened to my garden during this single week:

The apple trees, the cherry trees, the plum trees are blossoming, the daffodils too, the lavender is growing ...



I haven't even unpacked all the treasures I found in Stockholm yet - but these are some - mostly silk - bobbins I found in my mother's cellar:

I guess they will be just great, both for stitching as for plying ...!

(German summary: Ich bin zurück, alles bestens, nur leider diese Woche noch sehr im Stress - kaputtes Auto, Wien-reise, Dringlichkeiten im Garten - es wird wohl bis nächste Woche dauern, bis sich alles wieder etwas normalisiert hat und ich mails beantworten, Bloggs lesen und etwas arbeiten kann ...)

Spinning the Dog - Auf den Hund gekommen!

Well, I know I'm likely to put about anything in my carders, but I never knew I would be spinning a dog some day ...

No, not a whole dog - it's the winter fur (underwool) of a Leonberger lady, belonging to a friend of mine - see what a dog like that looks like:

http://www.leonberger-oeclh.at/gallery/album/slides/DSCN3430.html (about 75 cm shoulder height - glances over the dining table, still standing on all four feet ...)

One combing/brushing (and there will be a few more this Spring) already contained about 100g, although it is light and soft (and clean!) like angora wool ...!

I blended it a bit more than half-half with white Merino to make it spinable, and the medium 2-ply now looks like this:



I think it looks quite promising!

Another experiment which I made lately was to spin a slightly variegated brownish/grey thick-and-thin wool and ply it with a skiny, metallic looking viscose yarn I had in my stash:



I have also spun more of that ice-cream yarn plied with beads and sequins and have now started knitting it with 15 mm needles:



It will probably become a slipover with separate arms (in another design) to button on ...

And as I'll be leaving for Stockholm for a week now, I wish you all a very happy Easter time!



(German summary: Ich spinne gerade die feine, seidige Unterwolle einer Leonberger Hündin mit 40% zu 60% weißer Merino, und bin recht begeistert über das Ergebnis!

Ein weiteres Experiment ist die braungraue Wolle, dick/dünn gesponnen, mit einem metallisch-glänzendem Viskosegarn verzwirnt - und dann noch mehr von der Eiscreme-farbenen Wolle mit Perlen und Pailletten, aus der ich gerade einen krausgestrickten Pullunder mit 15 mm-Nadeln angefangen habe - da überlege ich eine Lösung mit separaten, angeknöpften Ärmeln in einem anderen Material ...

Da ich demnächst für eine Woche nach Stockholm abreise, wünsche ich euch jetzt schon ein frohes Osterfest!)