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.

43. When it rains

Basko Polje near Baska Voda in Croatia

Now when it rains almost every day I like looking at my summer photos. 

This year we spent two weeks in Croatia. I remember when we reached Zagreb we decided on taking a road not a motorway. "It'll be better, you will see." - said my husband. "OK." - I agreed and added. "Yes, great. We can see more of Croatia then." And so we drove southward towards Makarska and Dalmacija.

19. About Istria in Croatia

Storm with a whirlpool on the Adriatic Sea.

During our stay in Istria we toured quite a number of places. First we went by ship to Rovinj 

(Italian Rovigno). Before we reached it, we saw a storm with a whirlpool on the sea westward. Luckily the storm was a long distance from our ship, somewhere near to the Italian shore 

where Venice was. About a hundred kilometres from us. We sighed with relief... 

Below Rovinj.

Rovinj. Old Town with  St. Euphemia's basilica towering over the hill.

Rovinj. A steep alley.

There are lots of narrow lanes climbing up to the top of the hill in Rovinj. We took this one.

Lim Canal. Nine-kilometre long estuary of the river Pazincica near Rovinj.

 Then Pula. Pula (Pola in Italian) is probably the oldest town on the Croatian coast of the 

Adriatic. Its most famous monument is a great Roman amphitheatre, Pula Arena constructed 

in 1st c. A.D., still standing to this day.  

Yet we were impressed by another monument - remains of the small Roman Theatre originating from 2nd century A.D. with  fragments of auditorium and proscenium.

Pula. Impressive ancient theatre.

And below the monastery of St. Francis built in the Romanesque style from the end 

of  13th century.

Pula. St. Francis' monastery.

We also visited Opatija (Abbazia in Italian) situated on the eastern coast of Istria by the Kvarner Gulf. There we liked a long promenade along the seashore extending for 12 km.

Opatija. Sculpture of a girl with a dove. View of Rijeka in the background.

Opatija. The same sculpture from a different side with a view of the Kvarner Gulf.

Polish traces in Opatija. A plaque commemorating stay
of Marshall Józef Piłsudski.

 

Eventually we went to Porec (Italian Parenzo) to see the most precious monument in Istria - 

the Euphrasian Basilica (inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List) - from 6th century A.D.

It was late evening, but we found the place easily. Inside the basilica we saw the most beautiful Byzantine mosaics. Porec was worth visiting.

Porec. Byzantine mosaics in the Euphrasian Basilica.

Porec. Ancient floor mosaic from 4th /5th c.

Leaving the basilica we popped in to a small gallery, where we wanted to buy some nicely looking souvenirs from Porec. Inside there was a tourist talking to a young shop-assistant. The girl was showing her a jug decorated with traditional regional patterns.  She was telling affectionally how her father (who was a sculptor) collected the patterns  travelling around, talking to people living in this part of Croatia, trying to obtain information, and so on.

The tourist asked with excitement:  Croatia? What do you mean Croatia? We are in Istria, aren't we?

The girl:   Yes, but Istria is in Croatia. We are in Croatia, aren't we? This is the name of the country you are in.

The lady:   No, this is not Croatia. This is Istria...

Well, tourists...   
Those were the holidays...

And now I think it 's time for new dolls to turn up.

Thank you very much for popping in.  

     

18. Croatia

Last shot from Croatia at the border crossing with Slovenia.
(with the view of vineyards on the hills.)

In September we were on holidays in Croatia. We spent two weeks on the most protruding southward end of Istria, on Kamenjak cape near the town Premantura.

Little bays with beaches, isles, Island Cres appearing on the horizon.  This is how the coast of Adriatic looks like from Kamenjak.

Kamenjak with Premantura far off.

Even now I can remember and feel that smell of the air, a mixture of herbal oils with spray sea water, warmth of the sun and wind. Water in the sea was not as warm as in August, but it was still much easier to get used to it than in the Baltic Sea in August (not September!) The time was going by as we swam, sunbathed and went sightseeing Istria. We started, however, with exploring Kamenjak...

Kamenjak and the view of the Uczka mountain massif on the horizon -
 the highest range of mountains in Istria.

Kamenjak. Blue thistle.

End of Istria, Kamenjak and land.   There stretches only the Adriatic Sea outside.
(You can see a tiny island and a lighthouse behind it on the left.)

Waters surrounding the end of Kamenjak are dangerous because of strong sea currents occuring there. Accordingly a relevant warning is placed nearby. However...

The last snip of Kamenjak and adventurous swimmers.

However... adventurers who like hazard can be found anywhere like the swimmers in this pic...

Gate or arch built from small pieces of rock and stones by a talented tourist

We often passed this "gate" walking to the sea. We liked it very much...

Kamenjak is a nature park. It is a beautiful place. What else have we seen in Istria? There is so much to write about that I 'll do it in a separate post.

Thank you for popping in.