10:10

Great community, more and more worldwide. Reduce your energy emissions by 10% in 2010. Schools, companies and individuals are involved. If we all do our own small bit, together we can do a lot, that's the idea. Clever, easy, great!
http://www.1010global.org
For optimists....

earth day

scottish island beauty.

something to realise ourselves

This information graphic appeared in my beloved newspaper Trouw last Tuesday. Their graphic designer Michel van Elk is really good. It's a stunning image about our water footprint. A simple way of showing the impact of our current lifestyle. To make us conscious about our choices and think before we decide. Knowing all this doesn't make life easier, and it could make us feel guilty about everything we do, buy, eat etcetera. Don't feel guilty, just realise that your choice CAN make a difference and act like that!

beautiful natural fibres

Knitting with different types of fibre is a real challenge. I've experienced linen, rope, grass, seaweed and different types of wool; hand-spun, thick, thin, smooth and sticky. One of the most challenging is the original Harris Tweed yarn. Made for weaving rather than knitting, and very sticky. It comes on big cones in melanges of blues and browns. I sometimes also use it on the machine, and that's even harder. It breaks easily. But the result is always beautiful. The rich natural colours and the structure of the yarn make an interesting fabric. In the latest issue of Bloom is this article about natural and special fibres used by Nanna van Blaaderen. She's also inspired by naturals, just as I am. She works with hand-knits for clothing and protecting, I use the techniques and yarns for objects we collect around us. It's great to experiment with sizes and surfaces, and to make objects that matter and are wished for.

Pure

Last Sunday I went to park Frankendael. Every last Sunday of the coming months there will be a market. Lovely atmosphere, wonderful products, tasty, beautiful and special. We bought good bread, vegetables, home-made jam, a funny hand-made brush, had a good coffee and watched the cute merry-go-round for children. So good to see so many people involved in sustainable quality!

favourite books

Here are two of my favourite books at the moment. '6 Billion Others' by Yann Arthus Bertrand is about everyone else on earth. Questions about life, death, love, fear, care, happiness, ideas. Questions we could ask ourselves and the people around us. To get to know each other better. For real understanding. It's remarkable that many questions are answered similarly, whether the person lives in Mali, Israel or The USA. Other answers are striking, for life experiences are not the same everywhere. Reading and browsing the book shows and inspires with a deep love for humanity.

The other book is 'How To Be An Explorer Of The World' by Keri Smith. She is amazing. A book that can really be used. Over and over. To give ideas,to ask yourself silly questions and make you see the world around you with different eyes.

I use both books when working with my current masterstudents at the Design Academy Eindhoven | Man&Humanity , for I believe both books can make us more conscious. About the world we live in, and what we do to the world. In a positive way and that's what's needed. Fresh, funny, deeply moving and beautiful!

men having tea and knitting

Joop, a friend, sent me an article from the NYTblog, with a hilarious production about a men's tea party. With recipes from Nigel Slater and great photo's shot by Susanna Howe. Prop styling by Pam Morris. Food styling by Heidi Johannsen Stewart and Sara Neumeier. I like the style which is rough but also conscious and dedicated to pleasure, longevity and quality. I wonder what will come out of the knitting...

Spring!

How happy I was when Loes, my good friend who owns the label 'Gewoon', notified me that she had seen one of my lambs in a publication again. Here it is; in Eigen Huis en Interieur, March-issue.

This is where they belong; on someone's sofa!