flock

I'm very glad that I found time again to work on my textile collection recently. A new flock of hand-mades will get to two of the shops again:

Tichelaar: www.tichelaar.nl and Textile Museum: www.textielmuseum.nl . New shops will follow soon. My woollies are very dear to me, and to the people who buy them. Also to Barbara, who does a lot of the knitting for me which is fabulous. And really; each lamb has his own personality.

While being too busy to actually work on the knitting, I did find time to research some new wool. I'm very happy to work just with organic wool from now on. That suits the concept of the collection really well. I call it 'slow textiles'.

Making something takes time, and effort. While doing so, it gives a soul to the object. A sense of personality. Objects must add to our lives in a sustainable way. We should be able to love what we have around us, to really relate to what we have. Longevity. Beauty. Personality. Don't buy anything that doesn't comply with at least one of these aspects. Better to have less than rubbish. That's what it's all about. My collection is made to add to this.

Green thinking in the elections

Soon we will have elections for our local governments. I sincerly hope the elections will be about what's needed in cities and villages.

For enormous disagreement -about staying in Afghanistan or leaving- in our government and parliament seems to take over the attention.

Besides that there is another concern I have. Amsterdam. My own political party, PvdA, is about to forget a very important aspect of city life in Amsterdam. I read in papers & flyers about the plans for the future. Of course, safety is important. And jobs. And education. I'm not saying emphasis on these issues is not important. Because these issues are very important, and I wish anyone can have the opportunities I had. But where can I find any thought about sustainability? Where is the future of our city in green thinking, sustainable housing and environment? Organic food, organic education, fair trade? Reduce waste, CO2, energy, plastic? Because a future city is nowhere without being green. And green thinking provides many opportunities! Any plans for that? Amsterdam should take the lead, and the social democrats have to encourage any development in green thinking. So next week, when I will join the campaign team to Rotterdam, I hope to find some answers to these questions, and to be reassured.

ps: recently I found this image by Kate McDowell, I think it's a great illustration of green thinking.