Spring??

Last days I worked some nightshifts in a city nearby. It is cold outside.  Last morning I took some country roads home..

I do love the variety of houses and landscapes, and of snowfal,  on my way home.

Thursday: Show and tell, samplers.

20 years ago I was working, besides my job as a nurse in a psychiatric hospital, in a retirement home. I've been working there for over 10 years. I liked both the jobs, and then, in particular, the combination of them. One of the women who was living there was a passionate embroiderer. She was in particular fond of embroidering samplers. Often she was awake in the night, and sometimes I sat besides her to talk a bit. We often talked about our handicrafts like knitting an embroidering, and about her long life and past.  She was the woman I most connected with, not only because of her crafts, but also because her ideas and vieuws about living in general.
At the age of 97 she died.  She didn't have any family  or other kin. After the funeral  I was called to meet the directress, and she told me the woman had wanted me to get some of her embroidered work.  Another nurse and me had showed her that we appreciated this work a lot. I inherited 10 of her samplers!
I'm so grateful, every time I see the samplers they remind me of her, and of my years working in the retirement home. Nowadays they are hanging in our hall.
Which by the way is rather narrow and dark, so it wasn't easy to make photo's. I had to use the flashlight.

This was the last one she made. I still can imagine her sitting in her chair and embroider.

This one was made with different red colors.....

Such little stitches...

I still love looking and admiring them, all those tiny stitches.

Spring

Late in the afternoon I had time for a walk...

In the old orchard near the citywalls the trees are forming there blossoms....

The sky was beautiful blue....

All kinds of bulbs are flowering now, the plants are showing their new leafs, and it all smelled so good. Spring is in the air.

Thursday Show and tell; Poetry in Stitches

I'm joining Meggie of the prairie with her show and tell, a lovely blog to read about her life in Texas.
Some days ago I read a post written by Willy of the blog Hej Tjorven about the Norwegian company Oleana. Their collection exists of blankets, cushions, cardigans, sweaters and related items. They have a magnificent use of colors and patterns. They exist since 1992.
Solveig Hisdal is their designer. She also has written a rather gorgeous book with knitting patters, called Poetry in Stitches, and I bought that book about 10 years ago.

This is one of my favorite knitting books. It's a delight to read and look at. In the book you read about the way she develops her designs. She visited lots of country museums looking for old patterns, techniques for textile production, rose- painted chests, cupboards, wallpaper, skirts, embroiderd panels of folk costumes.(bunad) This way she was looking for inspiration and ideas that she could carry on and communicate through her work. National costumes in particular have inspired her to make patterned knitwear from wool, silk and brocade. For example, from an embroidered panel of an old bunad bodice came the idea for a bride's dress. The decorative edging on traditional, short, black, tight-fitting woolen jackets inspired her to create a border for modern knitwear. She also applied the idea of a protective lining on the hem of a skirt and certain other pieces of knitwear. And the brocade of an old bodice inspired the use of contrasting shades of the same color in knitted articles. Several of these basic characteristics have become trademarks of her collections.
What makes the book very special to me are the photo's of the textile and landscapes that inspires her.
Well, have a look.

This is ofcourse a selection of all the beautiful garments you can find in this book, it is a delight to read and look at. Years ago I knitted the last pictured cardigan for my sister. The garments are mostly knitted around, so you have to make "steeks"  for the sleeves and in the middle.  I asked my mother's advice.  The details on the sweaters and cardigans are beautiful, velvet ribbons, collars (the black one), beads. This book is really a treasure to possess.