64. What has happened to Philip

The weather has looked promising this morning. The sun was beginnig to shine more and more through the clouds that covered the sky before. Soon only few cloudlets were floating far on the horizon. It's going to be a lovely day, I thought,

... when suddenly I realised there was no Philip in the room. You know, Philip - my new doll. He was neither in his bed nor on the table where he used to sit; he was not even on the sill of the window he looked through so often. His new pillow disappeared too, I noticed.

H'm, there was still that fabric lying on the table I sewed Philip's pillow from.

I looked and saw some funny foxes playing in the dark forest that formed the pattern of the fabric. Quite a nice and fairy-tale scene that appealed to Philip, I remembered suddenly, 
so much. The foxes in the fabric looked at me curiously...

Is it possible that he walked to the forest himself?

And indeed I found Philip in the forest. I saw him lurking under a big tree.

First he looked for the foxes, said Philip later, but soon he got tired.

You were lucky, you might have met boars seeking food in this place.

Philip is a Waldorf  style boy-doll entirely handmade by me. 

He is 36 cm tall (14 inches).

He is all made from natural high quality materials:a special Swiss cotton jersey designed for dollmakers, clean washed natural sheepswool, embroidered threads and wool.

His clothes are sewn or handknit by me using natural good quality materials: cotton, velvet and wool.

I knew Philip liked sleeping so I made him a cotton pyjama: 
a blouse in a fox pattern (foxes again!)  and matching light-blue trousers 
sewn from cotton jersey.

He usually puts on a grey cotton T-shirt and dark-blue velvet trousers. 

The T-shirt is easy to put on since it is cut at the back and has snap fasteners 
with wood buttons.

I sewed on a big pocket on his trousers for collecting treasures like shells, pebbles, 

different strings and other things Philip would hopefully find on his walks.

Obviously he possesses colourful knickers sewn from cotton jersey and short socks.

Philip's shoes are sewn from navy wool. They have a lemon linen and shoe-laces of the same colour. The laces are long enough to make it easy to tie them. I stitched down a button on each shoe to easily distinguish the right shoe from the left one (a good exercise for a child playing with a doll, isn't it?). They are very comfortable, says Philip.

When it is cold Philip puts on a wool cardigan, a hat and a neckerchief 
to protect from wind or just for fun.

In the end I must mention that Philip has also got a woolen ball to play with and this famous pillow which caused him to walk to the forest and look for the foxes at night.

**

This wee boy is looking for a family.

If you would like to adopt him, he is available here on my blog.

Philip is suitable for children aged four or older.

If you need more information please contact me at  kbm.1507@gmail.com

I will be happy to answer your questions.

You will also find more photos and information about Philip here.

**

Thank you for dropping by.

Have a pleasant day.

60. Playing with a ball

This is Philip who you already know - my new Waldorf boy doll.

Today Philip was ready to go outdoors early in the morning. 

He had his woolen hat on and even started putting on his cardigan 

when we both noticed looking at the window panes that they were getting wet with rain.

"No, that's awful. It's raining again.", sighed Philip.

Resigned he turned away from the window and quickly took down the hat from his head.

Don't worry, said I, You can play here at home.

And I showed him something: Look, what lovely blocks they are.

I said that but I too remembered that we planned to go for a big stroll to the lake.

Too bad, I heard him muttered.

Well, maybe..., I thought looking at Philip's tee-shirt, 
...I might make him a ball.

*

Ans after some time a colourful little ball lay close 
to the blocks Philip was playing with.

He caught the ball and looked thrilled to try to throw it into the air.

Philip did not worry any more. He was pleased  throwing and catching the ball 

and he even tried to kick the ball. Oh...

What a great play, he repeated.

Finally he sat to have a rest.

(Dolls are sometimes tired too.)

Thanks for dropping by.

I hope you have a lovely week!


*

Philip will be looking for a home soon, so stay tuned.

59. Easter 2016

Dear Readers,

I wish you a happy blessed Easter.

*

And below you will find a link to "La Resurrezione" by Georg Friedrich Haendel. 

My hubby has found this amazing performance on YouTube. 

I am inviting you to watching the video.

Haendel: La Resurrezione

With my wishes I am joining "A Soulful Life" for Soulful Fridays.

58. My new doll

I truly do not know how it happened but I made a boy doll. For the first time. 

His name is Philip.

Yesterday we went for a stroll in search of spring.

It was sunny, a bit chilly. Near the little lake we heard birds singing intensely as in the springtime.

*

Thank you for visiting my blog here.

I wish you a lovely weekend!

I am inviting you for our next walk.

We will visit the same or different place and we 'll be looking for more signs of spring approaching.

Tonight I am joining "A Soulful Life" for Soulful Fridays.

57. Christmas Eve Wishes

Gerard van Honthorst, Adoration of the child,
circa 1620, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

I would like to say thank you to all my readers.

I wish you wonderful Christmas 

full of warmth and joy.

And let The New Year bring hapinness, health 

and prosperity to all of you.

Below is a fragment of lovely lyrics about Christmas time
composed in one of dialects in the Polish language.
(I leave it as it goes because it is untranslatable.)


"Po to jest tyn godni cas
Coby miyłość kwitła w nos
Kwioteckami, listeckami
I małymi świycoskami
Coby zyła w nos."

("Godni cas",  Wanda Szada-Kudasikowa)

Christmas carol sung by Hania Rybka  

from the Tatra mountains, Poland. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-2S-ruAEtg&feature=youtu.be

56. New dolls' heads and LNG tanker

I can see new dolls' heads on my working table...

I needn't say how glad I am about it. 

And when I look through the window it is rainy, windy and autumny,

with a very high, as for this time of the year, temperature of ten degrees Centigrade...

We are waiting for the real winter like this in the picture below.

Have a look.

Carl Larsson's "Home, Family and Farm"

***

Heve you ever seen a cat walking along the beach?

It happened to me last Saturday, when I and my hubby drove to Świnoujście.

We went down to the beach near LNG Terminal.

The kitten was lovely, all striped with white bootees on his four paws.

What did he do here? - we wondered.

Perhaps he waited for the Qatari ship departure. Just like us.

The tanker with a liquified gas arrived in Świnoujście a few day ago.

And now she was ready to sail away.

We waited...

First we saw tug boats sailing up to the tanker. They looked so small compared with the colossal ship.

They were five. The boats were changing their position and finally they ranged themselves around the tanker.

It lasted quite a long time... 

Next the ship together with the tug boats around started to move very slowly.

In the beginning it was imperceptible, but after a while we saw a stripe of the pier invisible before.

Well, yes, it was evident the ship was moving. Very slowly but steadily.

She is mooooving!!

Suddenly we heard the hooter from the ship and after that the engines were turned on. 

Now only two tug boats, one ahead and the other behind the tanker, helped her maintain the direction. Little by little the other three lined up after the tanker.

A marvellous view!

When the tanker swiftly reached the exit of the Terminal, she stopped, and the tug boats moved away.

Then the ship easily turned right and... flowed away.

The whole operation lasted a bit more than an hour.

Believe me it was really fascinating to observe these actions happening  so close to us.

Part of LNG Terminal, Świnoujście

Thanks for dropping by.

Have a good day!

55. Amy and the children or We come to a close of "Puppenmitmacherei" project

As we are drawing to a close of making dolls together in the event "Puppenmitmacherei",

a project organised by Maria from "Mariengold" and Caroline from "Naturkinder", 

I am inviting you to my final day. 

Last Wednesday the wether was bad in Wrocław. It was cloudy and rainy. 

Nevertheless neither me nor Amy paid attention to it, because we were occupied with preparations for an appointment we had on that day. So exciting!  We were invited by Mrs. Ola Węgrzyn to visit children in her small Waldorf nursery school called "Słoneczko".

When we came children already waited for Amy. They were really curious to get to know her and to learn what she was like. We started taking about Amy, about how she would love to be with children and play with them.

They immediately became fond of Amy. I took a few photos and decided to look and listen.

From the beginning Amy's clothes seemed were important. The children glanced at them willingly and then started experimenting with them. So they took them off  first, and then they redressed Amy. 

They soon discovered Amy was lovely to touch. They hugged her, held her hands, stroked her hair... and they talked a lot. One girl wanted to be Amy's Mum, another one her dad, and an aunt, and so on.

Then they had an idea to put Amy to bed. But first they wanted to put on her bootees. They examined them carefully. They really liked them. While Rose put on the bootees, another girl held Amy's head. Did you notice how delicate and careful she was?..

Then Amy went to sleep.

No, no. Before Amy fell asleep she wanted to have her hands lying on the quilt, 
not under it. 

So the children did, as she wished."Are you all rigth now?".. - they asked.

Amy's bed was placed in the play corner and Amy could sleep.

Her "Mummies" stayed with her stroking her cheek and singing her a little song...

After a little while Amy woke up.

It was then that I took this photo of Amy with the children and Ola.

As you may expect Amy stayed with the children.

The next day Ola emailed me, "Amy united the whole kindergarten in a big family: there was Mum, Dad, sisters and brothers, cousins and all possible folks."She added: "For a long time I haven't seen such a good and peaceable play of all children." I was proud of Amy. Well, well such a little cloth doll, I thought, and she evoke so many good feelings in children - liking, sympathy, care, joy.

Yes, children love cloth dolls.

In the end I would like to thank Ola for the invitation. Thanks to her kindness I spent a lovely afternoon with the children from her kindergarten. 

I do not worry about Amy any more. She has met a big loving family. Is there anything else that such a little doll could dream about?

*

It is a bit sad that the project "Puppenmitmacherei" is about to finish and that this is my last post dedicated to it, but on the other hand I am glad I have met a lot of new dollmakers.

I would like to thank Maria from "Mariengold" and Caro from "Naturkinder" for the idea and organisation of the project, for their advice and lots of tips on how to make dolls. 

I would like to thank all participants in the project. Beautiful dolls were created and wonderful stories written. On their blogs you can find plenty of interesting comments and reflections devoted to doll making.


And above all my special "thank you" to my lovely readers.
Sometimes my posts were delayed, so I am really grateful you waited patiently.


I wish you all a lovely weekend.

For the last time here you will find all participants' blogs (Scroll down to the end of page please.)

54. "The doll's wardrobe" or a delayed Day 5 in "Puppenmitmacherei" project

It snowed yesterday morning for the first time this autumn. For a short while we had lovely white fresh snow which sadly melted away quickly. It seems winter is slowly approaching.

So I am glad my doll already has clothes.

Not only has she clothes, she has also her name. I could say "at last!", because as a matter of fact I do not like talking about my dolls namelessly. Usually when I make a doll, her name pops up together with the doll herself. 

Obviously it was different this time, since I  concentrated more on the construction,
technique and viewing blogs of the colleagues participating in the project.

However at times I pondered on the name of my doll who was slowly taking shape. It seemed to me that she downright required more than just calling her "doll" or "dolly"...

And I called her Amy. 

I can see that Amelia enjoys coloured clothes, above all red and yellow as her favourites. It appeals to me, especially that she likes yellow reminding of the sunny summer.

Do you agree with me that Amy looks like a little child in appearance? 

I will try to accentuate this in her clothes. 

First I made her a cotton dress in her favourite colour (red, of course). Then I hand knitted warm bootees from wool in a shade of brown and red. In addition I made lovely socks from cotton jersey in the colour of the hot summer sun. When I dressed  her Amy looked really happy.

Later I found some red wool just to knit Amy's cardigan and from light alpaca I knitted a sweet bonnet and a big warm shawl. I do hope Amy will gladly wear it when the weather changes and winter comes.

Sometimes Amy sits on the book and watches illustrations, especially those with children. 

It seems she would love to play with them.

Here she is admiring "The sun egg" by Else Beskow.

Well, the project is about to finish soon and I am curious to know what will happen to Amy and what she will be doing in the future.

Hope you have a good week!

I am inviting you to our last project meeting in December.

And here is a link to our network of all participants. (Please scroll down to the end of post.)

More information about the project you will find here.

53. "Puppenmimacherei" - Days 3 and 4 of our monthly online meetings

Dear readers,

I am really happy to be back after a long break to go on with my contribution to the online project called "Puppenmitmacherei".

In September I was on holidays, but before I left I had had too many things to do and I simply had no time to be ready with my doll for the project although I promised you that I would sew my doll for the meeting in September.... 

My holiday time in the south of Istria. Late summer - how I love this time of the year.

And now I am inviting you to Days 3 and 4 of our making dolls together in the project "Puppenmitmacherei" organised by Mariengold and Naturkinder. (More about the project you will find here.)

I had to make the following: construct the doll's head and stuff the doll's limbs, decide on the doll's look, especially her face; crochet the doll's wig and then assemble all these elements, sew the doll and make the doll finished.

My doll has turned out to be a rather small simple Waldorf doll. I agree with Fig&Me that it is most important in a Waldorf doll that the doll's head resembles the shape of a human head. It is acquired by rolling strips of sheep wool to create a ball in your hands. Then the head is sculpted with thread and often with needle.

You can find plenty of doll makers writing about it on their blogs. I particularly like the post about Waldorf dollmaking by mentioned above Fig&Me and the reflections by Kukalka  who even says that "constructing the doll's head has almost meditative meaning for her".

In the photos below my doll is beginning to take shape.

Having the doll's head formed I began to look at her pondering what her face would look like. I did her little nose; almost invisible, but still well seen in profile. The doll's facial features were embroidered with floss. In my opinion her blue eyes  and rose-pink mouth would well harmonize with her light shade of skin. For her skin I used a cotton fabric I bought at Lalinda some time ago. Although I prefer darker nuances I made very light hair using DollyMo Brushable Mohair. I crocheted a wig using a crochet hook 2,5 mm following a special technique by Juliane from Froken Skicklig. The hair made in this way is very delicate and soft and it has a very natural touch. Once the wig was finished I sewed it thoroughly to the head.

I stuffed the legs and arms and partially the body, and then I attached the head to the body and sewed the arms to the body. I also added some details to the finished doll such as dimples to mark knees and elbows. Finally I coloured the doll's face to make it more expressive by colourind delicately her cheeks with wax crayon. In the same way I coloured slightly her knees and elbows They look as if she scraped them in the garden. On reflection I also coloured the tip of her nose making it look a bit frozen as if from playing outdoors.

Yes, but what if she is actually cold because it is autumn already and it gets chilly.  Well, I must dress her quickly I thought. For the moment I will dress her in this little bootee and a sock and wrap her up in a little blanket. That 's much better, isn't it? 

"Yes, I am warmer now, thank you." - suddenly I heard.

I wish you a nice week!

See you in November when we make little clothes.

And here is a link where you can view other colleagues participating in the project.