A rather Fishy Pouch

Hello!
I hope you all had a nice weekend! Mine was sweet... lots of snow ... and lots of sewing.

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And guess what!?

I'm still swimming with the FISH!

I started making some pouches ...

Because a girl can never have too many pouches!

Can she?

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PS. Some of the new bags and pouches are now available in the shop!

Odd Cods

Yesterday evening, the Snowqueen walked into our small Valley again, covering everything on her way with a sugarwhite frosting of ice and snow... and untill now it hasn't stopped snowing yet. Who knows when She will go...

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But although outside Winter is still holding on strong, inside my little studio there is an air of spring, and even summer, influencing my work these days...

Here's what happened to the Odd little Cods I was making yesterday...

They became a bag!

Doesn't that just make you want to go to the beach?!

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Happy Weekend!

Go Fish!

It's not finished yet, but I'm too excited about the project I'm currently working on to keep it hidden untill tomorrow!

More soon...

Bagged

Hello!

So here I am again! I hope you all had a nice weekend! Mine was lovely... lots of snow, lots of fire in the stove, lots of steaming hot tea and lots of sewing.

And as I had promised on saturday:

*** (Drumroll)***

Here is the very first bag of the new Pilli Pilli Collection!

I hope you like it...

Glimpses of the New Pilli Pilli Collection

I had been meaning to write a little more about India, but then I got way too impatient to show you some glimpses of what's cooking in the Pilli Pilli Laboratories! So I've decided to save some of my Indian stories and Pictures for a later date...

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For now, I'm happy to announce that a whole new Pilli Pilli Collection is on the way! After a very crocheted autumn, I felt the need of going back to sewing for a bit... so out came the Fabric... and the Lace... and the Buttons... and the Necchi... and the Ribbons! 

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That's it for now.

But there will be more soon! Much More! Pinky Swear!

Pleased as Punch

Hello my lovelies!

With so much to tell since we got back from India, I didn't even get around to telling you that three of my Pilli's got featured in the latest edition of STUFFED!

Now, when I sent them in, I was really hoping to get in, but I didn't even dare to think that it would actually happen! So needless to say, I'm as Pleased as Punch about this!

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Thank you Stuffed! And a Very Happy Thursday to you all!

Weaving History...

Hello! And thank you all so much for all your nice comments!

It's really good to be back!
But before I start showing some of the things I'm currently working on, and forget all about India, there's some exotic treasures I would like to share with you...

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Today I'm showing a set of pictures I took of an old man weaving the most beautiful woollen shawls in the traditional 'Barmeri Style'...

Barmer is a tiny city, hidden in the Thar desert near the Pakistan border, that would be of very litte importance, or non at all, were it not that some of the most embroidery and weaving in the entire region is done in that dorment little nook of the desert... 

This man was nice enough to show us some of the secrets of his craft, and I really enjoyed watching him, weaving Barmer's ancient history into that beautiful textile...

Snow on Memory Lane

Looking outside my window, it's hard to believe that not more than four days ago, we were still in India... It's really (and I mean REALLY) cold, and snowing at that. Don't get me wrong, I love this wintery weather! It brings an extroardinary silence, and an eerie beauty that makes me want to sit close to the fire and stare outside the window, but it's just that coming home from such a warm and colourful place, all this crisp white coldness somehow doesn't seem real...

Let me just try to give you an insight... because it's true that I've been away for quite some time, but that doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about you all, about sewing, and wool and ribbons, or about my dear little blog... So while I was out there having  a great time, relaxing and enjoying, I always had an eye on the lookout for things to show you when I got back!

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So here it goes;

Our first stop on Memory Lane is (literally) a cartload of yarn!

I took this picture at the Royal Palace in Jodhpur, where we found a beautiful exposition about carpet weaving...  I couldn't believe my luck, and I sure couldn't believe my eyes when I saw what was on that cart!

Goat hair... Camel hair... Pure raw cotton... Hemp...

And all of the above in the most amazing colours... 

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Well... I guess that's it for our first stop on Memory Lane, but I promise I'll be back soon with more Handicraft Memories from India!

इ मिस इंडिया

Hello!

I'm back!!! We arrived yesterday morning, after one month of travelling through one of the most beautiful countries in the world, and I still have to get used to the cold, non spicy food, and Central European Time... but all is well and'm really excited to be back and to start working again!

Right now we're still sort of hibernating over at F.'s parents house, but tomorrow we're driving home, so we can start heating the house again, and then I'm sure I'll be back to wool and ribbons and fabric in no time! (Especially since most of the luggage I dragged back here consisted in newly acquired supplies (piles of ribbons, fabric, bells...), who are now begging me to be used... as you can very well imagine, no doubt.) So bear with me just a little longer, and I'll be up and running again soon!

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Big Sigh... It's good to be back. Although miss India. Dearly.

Big News... Some good... Some less.

Hello!

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I have some big news today... Some good... and some not so good.

The good news is I'll be absent from my blog for a while, because F. and I are going to India!!!

I have spent many, many months there before (to be honest, I think I must have spent about 18 months in India), as I lost my heart to the fairytale cities, colourful people and chewing cows and camels... But F. has never been to India, so we can hardly wait to leave! Especially since this is actually our very first Big Trip together! Over the last few years, we've been using all our holidays, just to see each other, which is completely normal if you're doing the long distance thing. Yet we never travelled together, since usually when he came over, I went on working, so I could save my holidays to go over to see him after that and vice versa...

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But now that we have been together for nearly 4 years, and living together for over a year and a half, we decided that it was about time that the two travellers we were before we met, started travelling together... so we have been saving some money and holidays, and now the time has finally come!

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Well... the truth is we're not leaving untill Christmas, but -and this is the bad news part- I had a little accident involving my Right Hand Thumb and a Mean Big Meat Knife... Believe me, you don't want to know more, but the thing is I can't work right now, and I probably won't be able to untill we leave... So I've decided to use this time to get ready for travelling, sort things out, and catch up on my reading!

I do suspect, however that I'll be back from time to time with some pictures or anecdotes, but no wool, or crocheting or knitting. For now.

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So be well, my dearest friends, and I'll be back soon!

Y

PS. Pictures for this post: Wikipedia

First Snow!

This morning we woke up to find our little village covered in snow! The very first snow of the year! It's not much, about 6 cm, but that's just enough to make us believe the holiday season has now officially started!

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And in that spirit I'm working on a new batch of Foxateers that can double as Christmas Ornaments!

So I wish you all a Happy Weekend, and I'll be back on Monday with more news from Winter Wonderland!

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Baby Foxes

I've always wanted to make one of these, but didn't really get to it, until a really sweet lady asked me to make one as a present for her Baby Niece who is being baptized this month:

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A Baby Fox Scarflette!

It's really a miniature version of the fox scarflettes I usually make... The head is so small it easily rests in the palm of your hand... and the scarflette is about 8 cm wide and just long enough to wrap around and keep baby warm.

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Sigh. This kind of Custom Projects really melt my heart!

Nuno

Hello!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend! Mine was Woolly. To say the least! Remember I told you on Saturday that I was leaving on a Weekend Workshop Nuno-felting? Well... it was fantastic!

Those enchanting colours... and those silky, fluffy fibers ... they're so much fun to work with!

And the result is really beautiful... although it has to be said that making Nuno felt is very, (and I mean VERY) hard work... shaking, pulling, rolling, beating, throwing... Believe me: You don't need a gym if you're making Nuno felt! Mmmmmm.... now that I come to think of it: Nuno felt might just be the solution for me... exercise, wool and colour all in one!

Oh dearie...

You've guessed: I have a new woolly love in my life...

A Weekend Workshop...

Hello!

I'm feeling a little bit better (although I still sound like the Wicked Witch of the East), and that's just as well, because I'm leaving on a little Craft-trip! It's been months now since I booked this Weekend Workshop Nuno-felting, in a sweet little village high in the Alps, and I would have hated not to be able to go!

But I'm on my feet again (and all the custom work for this week has been done and shipped), so there we go! F. is coming along (mostly because he just couldn't resist the call of the mountains) and I'm meeting up there with a dear friend who's coming over to join the workshop as well! So it promises to be a fun weekend, with rolled up sleeves, and bellies full of wonderful Italian food!

Mmmmmmm.... I can hardly wait to get there!

PS. And while I'm gone getting all Felted up, I'll leave you with a glimpse of a very sweet new custom-project I'm working on...

I shouldn't even Whisper...

I have lost my voice.

Completely.

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It seems that the mixture of a really busy week at work, a pile of custom orders and the first real cold has taken its toll on my vocal cords...

So now I'm on horse-antibiotics, and I promise to drink lots of thyme or lemon-and-ginger tea, while I carry on crocheting Foxes and Deer in complete silence. (Since I was told that whispering -which is the only kind of sound I can produce at the moment, except for a sad and rusty sort of screech - is even worse...)

So Hush Hush... and I'll be back soon... singing from the top of my voice... hopefully.

Oh, and thank you, Mother Nature for These Golden Suns in Winter! There's nothing like a dose of Tasty Vitamin C when you're feeling a little low... and voiceless.

Y