pretty pictures, fine lines.....

Easter is upon us, Spring is in the air - and not a day too soon - and we are getting into gear for our first workshop, experimenting with new recipes and tidying up the garden after the Big Freeze.    

  

Meanwhile, photos of the beautiful stitch work inherited by some of our "followers" continue to trickle in, and as Julie Arkell won't be able to chose a winner until she arrives down here  at the beginning of July to lead her workshop for us, we have decided to extend the deadline for the competition (the winner will be offered a free place on one of our courses).  Not that it's entirely unselfish of us - we get enormous pleasure looking at the entries and reading the fascinating stories that go with them.    So please keep them coming...... 

 Rebecka Ryberg Skott's Grandmother's cutlery roll, Sweden

"This was made by my dear grandmother and it now belongs to me.

This little lovely memory of her somehow symbolizes my background.

I grew up in a family who were abstainers. My very personal theory is that they had to compensate a quite boring life by drinking huge amounts of strong black coffee and eating various delicious homemade cakes. They had to amuse themselves somehow, right!? A family dinner ended always, with a huge table of different cakes set with the finest china and silver spoons. This tradition affects me still, I can´t imagine a life without great coffee and tasty cakes, it is the essence of life if you ask me."

Carol Pietrasanta' paternal Grandmother's crochet and pulled stitchwork.

"My grandmother emigrated from Italy as a young girl and lived in Erie, PA.  Although she lived through the depression and probably did not have an easy time, she said that she and her family were happy.  She had a sewing machine that I would used, when we went back to visit, that was operated by the knee.  When she died, my dad brought back a box of her crochet work that was a complete surprise.  I wished she had shown this to me when she was still alive, but she probably thought it was not a big deal.  To me it is...I have sewn my whole life and became a patternmaker 25 years ago.  With computers aiding a lot of the creative work today (I use the computer, too, for my work), I value the idea of handwork and what our hands/minds can create."

Our photographic enthusiasts will soon be packing their sunglasses and filling their suitcases for the five day workshop with Jasprit Singh at the beginning of next month.  

 

And then there will be all those big knitting ideas with Patricia Roberts in June to look forward to.  Can't wait!