Soirée classique

Premier week-end de la quarantaine généralisée.

J’ai ressorti la broderie de 2002 pour accueillir les grandes pièces d’échec.

Inspection obligatoire...

Moi je travaillais des mains...

Et de la tête. Comme d’hab’ depuis qu’on a lancé le championnat 2020 du Scrabble en 5 tours, j’ai perdu. Mais pas de beaucoup, cette fois. Je vais y arriver!

Modèle de broderie par Drawn Thread.

Et comme je l’écrivais hier:

« La Sagesse et la Prudence sont reines en ce moment.
La Créativité impératrice,
Et la Solidarité doit être la déesse! »

Joyeuse Fête des Mères

Avec le plus joli bouquet du jardin, parfumé au romarin, créé par L.

un petit coin de paradis

un petit coin de paradis
Originally uploaded by filambulle

Voici une petite broderie datant de 2003, représentant notre famille lorsque nous n'avions qu'un enfant. J'aime bien le fait qu'il y ait cinq cœurs, comme un pressentiment que nous serions cinq.
Vous pouvez me reconnaître, avec un oiseau chanteur, et mon compagnon avec une guitare. Notre fille est entre nous, et nous lie. Les mots viennent d'une chanson de Georges Brassens, dont les premières notes sont aussi notées.
Si je me souviens bien, j'ai gagné un prix assez important pour cette broderie, créé à l'occasion d'un concours de broderie sur le thème des chansons.

Je pourrais créer un nouveau tableau avec notre famille au complet. Nous verrons.

- - -

This is an embroidery I made in 2003, representing our family when we had only our daughter. I like that there is 5 hearts, it's like a premonition that we where going to be five.
You can see me with a singing bird, my partner with his beard and a guitar, our daughter between us, linking us. The words are taken from a song by Georges Brassens, who was one of the three most important songwriters in the french music history. It says approximately: "A little corner of paradis, for a corner of the umbrella".
If I remember correctly I won a good price with this one, in a song-themed cross-stitch competition.

I may create a new one with our whole family now that I've taken back my embroidery needles and threads. We'll see.

What's next?

We are back from Australia now. We drove there from Brisbane to Perth with a tiny campervan, much smaller than most australian cars - at least in the countryside.

marcher dans un parc national australien - un bonheur inoubliable

 The voyage has been amazing: We got the luxury of freedom and time. We met numerous nice and generous people. We made new friends. We saw and heard some incredible birds, picturesque trees, impressive and beautiful places and lots of exotic animals. The kids learned english and improved their reading. We all got closer and bound new links between us. We explored and discovered with astonishement and fascination a country so different to our small Switzerland it seems impossible.

dernière halte du voyage: promenade à Windsor UK pour dégourdir nos jambes

We are now back in the cold and the rain, but the joy to see our friends and family balances the feeling of melancholy that comes with the grey sky and the end of the trip. And I can come back to Filambulle.

I still have (lots of) things to rearrange in our home but I try to keep calm, carry on and smile. I have lots of ideas and projects, and I am curious to see what will happen next. I am already working on a new and (I hope) clever t-shirt knitting pattern. Someone asked me to translate my patterns in french. I need to blog on the pattern I published on Ravelry just before leaving six months ago. My fabric stash is also calling me...

I won't get bored.

Voulez-vous camper avec moi?

Comme je retourne bosser demain, je vous offre une promenade dans le Jura vaudois, au paturage des Pralets, en dessus de Bassins. Venez voir toutes les fleurs et les sourires de mes enfants dans ma galerie flickr.

As I go back to work tomorrow, I offer you a "promenade" in the swiss mountain of Jura. Lots of lovely flowers and smiling children! "Rendez-vous" on flickr.

Sewing a Saucisson (and a snake)

In october, we've had lots of fun creating strange creatures from my daughter's old tights.



The one who has been the most excited about it is my 3 1/2 old one. Both softies shown here are his.



This is a very easy and fun thing to do. The children can help in choosing the colours, the shapes and the embellishments, and of course in stuffing the socks which is the best part for them. I was very happy to be using my big box of embroidery floss in all its colored glory.

It has been in use again yesterday for some Christmas Tree ornaments. Maybe I'll get a chance to show them here?

2 years and 2 days

Of deep love.





What can I say?



Happy birthday my sweet and funny one.

Bronchitis weaving and knitting patterns

Now that the camera is back from it's summer work, I have been finally able to shoot a few of my Fos. But my companion is exploring new possibilities in computer sharing... and could not download the pictures. When he tried, he forgot to shut down the camera, and now the batteries are down and I must recharge them. But I don't know where the charger is, and don't feel recovered enough to run up and down the house to make it work.
In short I am sorry to write that this post may be as imagefree as the last one*.

Since the 20th of septembre, I have started a new formation. My three children and myself have been sick and lost our voices one after another, and as I was running between working, parenting and learning, I had no time left to rest and heal myself. So I kept coughing. And coughing. As the itch and the pain in my right lung kept getting worst, I finally whent to the doctor (I hate that). I had an x-ray. Oh! Surprise! I have a bronchitis! Give me some antibiotics please! And some cortison. And don't forget the resyl and the fluimucil (or its twin).
It is getting boring. Since I was a kid, I keep having the same problems with the same lung, and using the same remedies to heal. Not always together, luckily, but still.

Anyway, I am wondering how and when I did finish all the projects I am so eager to share with you.

The last one may well be the most thrilling and my favourite. I finally used that simple weaving I bought for nothing in the charity thrifting store months ago. I had no manual, so I figured out how to mount the warp using sock yarn. (Regia yarn. I am all for strenght here) Then I grab a few odds and ends in my stash and whent from there.
The result is beautiful. I have yet to find a way to hide the fringes and to display it. But this technique is probably the best way to use the ends of balls and the strange yarn that most of us harbor here or there in our home.

If you have no yarn in your house, maybe you can play weaving nonetheless. My daughter loved weaving with paper. If I can I will show you what she made today. It is lovely.

In the mean time, if you only want to knit, I can suggest you those nice and fun hat and scarf patterns (go see the keyboard biologist for a nice picture of the last one). I knit both of them two times already. And will knit them again. A little bit more demanding but equally nice is this sock pattern. Which obviously I had to knit twice! And I am playing now with that scarf. I am using the same colours as the twisted knitter. It is unique, mysterious and beautiful. It's too bad tomorrow is monday. I could enjoy a second week-end. Don't you ever feel that way?

*It's not! I have a bad photo of my first zeebee hat! In Noro Transitions! Hurray!



------

Je suis navrée de ne pas traduire systématiquement mes billets. Je n'ai pas vraiment le temps et le courage en ce moment. Bizarrement, même si le français est ma langue maternelle et que c'est mon propre texte que je traduit, c'est assez long tout de même.

En gros: les enfants et moi avons été malades au point de perdre nos voix. Débordée par tout ça, avec le début de ma nouvelle formation, je ne me suis pas reposée ni soignée, et le résultat c'est que j'ai eu une bronchite assez sévère.

Malgré tout j'ai fini pas mal de projets, que j'aimerais vous montrer si la chaîne objet-caméra-ordinateur voulait bien marcher. En particulier j'ai enfin testé mon mini métier à tisser, et si j'ai certainement réinventé la roue pour cause d'absence de mode d'emploi je me suis éclatée. C'est vraiment le moyen idéal pour utiliser tous les bouts de laine et les drôles de fils qui traînent dans tous les tiroirs des obsédées du textile.
Ma fille a tissé aussi. Mais du papier.

Et enfin si vous cliquez sur les liens du dernier paragraphe en anglais vous verrez une sélection des modèles de tricot que j'ai utilisés ces derniers temps. Tous en anglais, cependant.
La mauvaise photo est celle de mon premier Zeebee. En Noro Transitions, s'il vous plaît.
Bonne semaine!

Buster Keaton vs Shrek

My daughter is finally old enough to join the world's best cineclub for children (called "La Lanterne Magique" - the magic lantern click on the link. It's a good one.) Today was her first showing. They always start with a comic movie. This year, it was one of Buster Keaton. She was totally enchanted. And hilare.
When I asked her if she had a favourite between Shrek 3 and The Navigator she blushed.
What do you think? She asked. I guessed correctly. She was not so radiating after Shrek...

-------------

Ma fille est enfin assez âgée pour s'inscrire au meilleur cinéclub pour enfant du monde. La Lanterne Magique (cliquez- ça vaut la peine)
Aujourd'hui c'était sa première séance. C'est toujours un film comique, pour les mettre dans le bain. Cette année un film de Buster Keaton. Elle a été enchantée. Elle est revenue hilare, sautillante, bavarde...
Quand je lui ai demandé si elle avait un préféré entre Shrek 3 (que nous avons vu toutes les deux) et La Croisière du Navigateur elle a rougi. "Qu'est-ce que tu crois?" Elle m'a demandé. J'ai bien deviné. Elle n'était pas aussi radieuse après Shrek...

Buster Keaton 1 - Shrek 0

She is back to school

And this is the "serious" one now. I am having lots of second thoughts with this one, as it is so different as the one I've been lucky enough to attempt when I was a child. My school was in the public system of Geneva, but was a test-curriculum inspired by Rudolf Steiner and other Waldorfs currents. I loved it, and I so wish that my children could love school as much as I did, and live a happier childhood. For the moment, my daughter is going to the public "traditional" school. It was all right (but not ideal) when she was in the "enfantine" (preschool) cycle. But now things are going to a direction I do not like.
And she must travel two hours per day for that.
She says that she likes it. But let's face it: she already knows how to read and count better than she will have to at the end of the two-years cycle. She will have no possibility to do art or read confortably or dance or play when the other are learning what she already knows. And she has to be away from home almost 8 hours per day, with two hours of comuting to a school that is only two or three kilometer away... How can she not become bored and exhausted?
I am worried.

At least she will have beautiful hand-made home-made creations to remember her the spirit of our family. The Tomten is out of the wardrobe, and she has a brand new apron sewed by her mother with a machine bought by her grandmother, with a fabric that used to be her grand-grand-mother's.
I am smiling again!

And here just one more detail of the fabric, because I love it so much. You can have much more on flickr if you like it too!

+ 1,... mètres

... It was VERY wet!
... Que d'eau, que d'eau!

Estavayer-le-lac

I am going there again. Can you blame me?
J'y retourne. Pouvez-vous me blâmer?

A Bientôt!

----------

I couldn't resist to add this image. It is not mine. Please go on flickr and add a nice comment if you want to congratulate the talented photographer! Thanks

Je n'ai pas pu résister et ai dû ajouter cette image. Ce n'est pas la mienne. Je vous en prie, allez dire tout le bien que vous en pensez à son auteur, sur flickr. Merci

A better week

Well I have gathered a few nice flowers of happiness since last post.

- My new wheel is (finally) arrived. The american and the swiss post seems to have work hand-in-hand to make her trip as long as possible. But I don't mind because she is a beauty and works extremely well. I bet that you will soon have some good chance to droll over photos of her and the yarn we made together. (I am almost ready to buy a second camera for this house. I am too frustrated by the actual situation.)

- Sherwood has been found! My dear middle son has open his mini-wallet... and the pullover was hidden there! I was really happy and relieved to see it again. One can get attached to hose hand-made things, you know. Apparently the tiny one wanted to take this wallet with him on his last trip to their grandparents, his father put the sweater in it, and promptly forgot all about it. Shame! Hopefully he will be a bit more carefull from now on.

- We have been dining friday night with new friends and partying all saturday with old friends. Wednesday the whole school party was nice and well organized, but the best part of it was the secret surprize prepared by the children and their fathers. At the end of the little jungle-themed show the fathers got up and went dancing with their little ones. A fun, cute, hilarious, and moving moment. I am proud of my daughter and of her father too, of course. (Yes, why. Of course he was the best dancer. Although strangely my friend Lulu seems not to agree with me...)

And much more, but it is time to go to bed. I wish you a nice week-end.

The truth is my sadness

Thanks to Alison's sincerity and courage, I take the strengh to post those words my blog now.

I am feeling exhausted and sad since weeks. And as i have no good reason for that, I don't feel the right to complain. But I have tears in my eyes, bursting for no reasons when I am alone. and it is not getting better. The everlasting sinusitis and hay fever may be in cause...

In two weeks and a few hours I will be in holidays. Hopefully that will help.
In the meantime, I will gather every little flower of happiness that I'll find on my way.

Cute Kitten / Chatons Mignons

Moustache,


PinPon,


et Minuscule vous saluent...


Ils sont alertes,


consciencieux,


et simplement irrésistibles!

TKN 4: toddler soaker

We are always trying to live a greener life. As I only have one child needing diapers, I thought it may be the good moment to try cloth diapering. I have tryed to sew one cloth diaper, following some online free patterns and instructions, but it was too bulky and I thought it may be a good idea to buy a couple of ready made ones. I found a very good and friendly local online saler, and instead of sewing a cloth diaper, I turned my mind on knitting a wooly soaker. I used my stunnning kool-aid dyed yarn (both blank yarn and kool-aid given by the most charming shan) and a great pattern (with mods, of course) Both the child and I are very happy with the result, although I could run an elastic on top of the soaker. I appear to be seing my sweetheart bigger than he really is.

Dans notre éternelle recherche d'une vie plus verte, nous avons récemment décidé qu'avec un seul enfant dans les couches, il était temps de tenter les langes en tissus. J'ai bien sûr d'abord essayé d'en coudre un moi-même, mais il était trop épais, et j'en ai conclu que le plus raisonnable était d'en acheter quelques uns, pour voir. J'ai fini par trouver une vendeuse locale online, très serviable et amicale. Et au lieu de coudre moi-même des langes, je me suis mise à tricoter une culotte en laine pour recouvrir les langes. J'ai utilisé ma laine teinte au kool-aid (grâce à la charmante Shanon qui m'a offert jadis et les sachets et la laine brute!), et un modèle excellent, que j'ai bien sûr modifié un chouia. Le petit et moi-même sommes ravis, bien qu'un élastique à la taille ne serait pas de trop. Apparemment je surestime mon doux coeur sur le plan du volume!


-------Edited to add the links.------

She was not yet a mother

Now she is way too busy to pose for a photo: my cat is the mother of three little balls of black and white fur. We are proud and exhausted!

102 + 105 + 74 = 281 gr.

Il y a 281 gr. de cuteness (mignonitude?) à la maison. Trois petites pelotes noires et blanches qui couinent parfois, têtent beaucoup, fatiguent leur maman et obsèdent un peu leur humaine.

Ma Moulinette a fait des petits. Il sont déjà plus poilus que leur maman, et ont trois caractères bien distinct. C'est la première fois que j'ai des chatons à la maison; c'est émouvant et inquétant.

Méfiez-vous: vous risquez bien de voir apparaître quelques photos attendrissantes ces prochains jours. Je ne suis pas une grande fan des photos d'animaux de compagnie sur les blogs de tricot (à l'exception de l'inénarable dolorès, pour ceux qui fréquentent le panopticon), mais je ne suis pas complètement immunisée contre la scandaleuse tendance des chatons à être mignons.

En attendant voici un portrait de la mère, encore demoiselle à l'époque. La star!



Ah, j'oubliais: je chante ce week-end. Un concert cantate et parole à l'Eglise de Villamont à Lausanne, pour les curieux. Nous chantons du Bach,"Gott fähret auf mit Jauchzen" BWV 43
pour être précise. L'ensemble vocal Hémiole, dont je fais partie, ne chante que le premier et le dernier mouvements de la cantate, mais c'est du tricot serré, genre mélange de dentelles et de cables avec des points fantaisies un peu partout pas piqué des vers. Vous pouvez écouter la version de P-J Leusink pour vous faire une idée.

catching up: my two-weeks spring

I can't believe this: spring is already gone! At least it really feels that way here. We have been enjoying an early summer the last few days. The sun shines hard, and it is very warm. The tiny pool is set in the garden, and without the tulips, we could get lost in a temporal jetlag.
I have some technical issues with the uploading of photos and don't want to post without at leat one photo in my message, so I don't write often. If only you could here my mentalblog, it would be nice!

I have many finished object that I did not write about. Some I hope to catch up, some I will probably forget to write about. But there are so many great blogs now that I don't really feel you will miss my missed posts so much.(What an awful sentence! I obviously lack some training in written english. really should post more often...)

In the meantime, I offer you here a taste of some things I loved in my two-weeks spring, in no particular order:

My very first garden-growth tulips:



A wonderful trip to Villeneuve and the Chateau de Chillon. A total must-see for both the children and the grown ups. Almost the entire castle is open to the public, we where almost alone (because we arrived so late than it was supposed to be closed!), and my three-year old son was particularly impressed. So much impressed that he asked to go back first thing in the morning the next day.
We started the visit by the dreadful jail...



And ended at the top, with the most beautiful view you could ever dream off.



You can see how much my son was happy (and how delighted I was. It is not often that I feel so much in my element):



My beloved red hat is out of the drawer again. If we meet this summer, you will see it in all probability. It almost fits me and live only small marks on my forehead when taken off, contrary to all normal sized hat that one finds in the shops. I really should find a bunch of good patterns to make myself the hats I deserve. I hate to stay bareheaded in the sun.



Finally, for the textile-obsessed amongst you, a shot of the home-dyed wool I used in my last knitted project. A very practical one indeed!

winter is dead, spring is here

One day, my sweet heart will be old and may well be ugly.
Un jour mon petit coeur sera vieille et peut-être moche.



But I do hope will still be laughing.
Mais j'espère bien qu'elle continuera à rire.



Make up is one of my favourite activity with the children. This time, even mr tiny sunshine had one.
J'aime beaucoup maquiller les petits. Cette fois-ci, même petit mignon a eu droit a des moustaches.



Middle angel had two. He asked to be scary, get scared, and cryed until I washed him up and painted some fruits on his cheeks. Unfortunately, I had to cook, and it was too late to take some pictures. So instead, I will show his proud when my mother offered him this beautiful red bicycle. I think that he passed the rest of the afternoon trying to manage the difficult art to take off and put on the "foot" of the bicycle. And he did!
L'ange blond a eu droit a deux séances. La première fois, il m'a demandé de le rendre effrayant. Il a eu peur, et il m'a fait un crise de tous les diables jusqu'à ce que je le démaquille, et que je lui fasse des jolis fruits sur tout le visage. Je devais faire le souper, et c'était trop tard pour le prendre en photo, hélàs. A la place, je vous montre sa fierté lorsque ma mère lui a offert ce beau vélo rouge pour ses trois ans. Il a passé le restant de l'après-midi à tâcher de maîtriser le difficile art de mettre et ôter le pied du vélo. Et il a réussi!




As the spring is early this year, the whole family is working on something new for us: seeding.
Let's hope for big carots and tasteful basilic in a few weeks!
Comme le printemps est vraiment en avance cette année, toute la famille s'est mise à la tâche pour quelquechose de nouveau pour nous: les semailles. Espérons que nous aurons des grosses carottes et du basilic goûteux dans quelques semaines.



In the mean time, some very strange flowers are blooming in the garden.
En attendant il y a vraiment de drôle de fleurs qui poussent dans mon jardin.