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.)

48. The doll's dream

First thing in the morning Tosia-Reddie asked me a question. It was about colours.

"What is your favourite colour? - she asked.

I was just thinking what to answer when Tosia-Reddie said. 

"As for me I like PINK. It is the loveliest colour on our planette."

Then she looked critically at herself and sighed deeply, because she had no pink clothes at all. Not a single item.

" You do not like this colour, do you?" - she glanced at me.

"No, why..." - started I - I like pink, but in small doses... I think."

Tosia-Reddie continued. - "When one looks at pink flowers with green leaves, they are so beautiful... I need a pink scarf or shoes or just a bootee. It's my dream."

"Well, if pink is your favourite colour, let's try and make something. Perhaps we should start with the bootees. They are easy to make." - I said.
And so I made her pink bootees using a LesPouPz pattern.

Then I decided to make her a new dress with pink little flowers and green leaves. I embellished it with a pinkish lace and two vintage mother of pearl buttons afterwards. It looked pretty and simple. 

Since I had a white corduroy with a delicate floral pattern I thought I might use it for bloomers.

A combination of pink and green is pretty I thought. (Well, nature probably does its best.) May I decide on a pink scarf and green hat? Well, as you will see I have made a warm shawlette in the end.

I saw a look of rapture on Tosia-Reddie's face. She saw a stack of CDs on the table. There are lots of them since we often listen to music. The dolly climbed up the pile and sat comfortably on the top swinging her legs with satisfaction.

Tosia-Reddie's dream came true.

("Pretty in pink" collection helped me get an idea.)

*

Tosia-Reddie is 14 inches tall. She is all made from natural high quality materials: a special swiss cotton jersey designed for dollmakers, clean washed sheepswool, hand embroidered face and certified mohair boucle for hair specially produced for doll making. I made her hair by crocheting the bouclez-loop cap with the use of Agnieszka Nowak's technique (Lalinda). Tosia-Rudzia comes with two sets of clothing. They are made from natural good quality materials: cotton, corduroy, velvet, wool and a combination of cotton and bamboo yarn. And she has a little basket for collecting treasures.

Tosia-Reddie has already found a lovely home where she will get lots of love from her new little friends.

*

Thank you for dropping by. Have a good day!

47. The beginning of a year

I wish this new year 2015 would be happy, healthy and creative for all of us!

And now I would like to introduce my new doll.

Her name is Tosia. (Just to explain that Tosia is a Polish diminutive of Antonina which is quite unusual since it is Nina in other languages.) 

Her hair is unruly. It sticks up in different directions for most of the time. .
And it has a lovely ginger colour of its own.

It seems Tosia's hair has foredetermined her character. 
Not only is she unruly and scatterbrained but also cheerful, amusing and dear. 

And yet I wonder if it is possible that all these advantages
and disadvantages can be derived from the fact that someone has such hair. Hmm..
.

Tosia has in her a bit of Anne of the green gables, 
but she would never ever change the colour of her hair.

One day we had a chat about her name.

"Tosia is a lovely name." - started Tosia, but then she added that it was a bit too short.

"We must add something to make it sound better." - she concluded.

"... for example?" - asked I.

"For example Tosia-Reddie." - She answered immediately and turned bright red. - "Just to emphasise the colour of my hair, you know."

"Yes, I understand... I did not know it was so important for you."

"Yes, it is, because when I think about my hair I am always in a jolly mood. So it is important, isn't it? - explained Tosia.

" Certainly. So from now on we have Tosia-Reddie." - I summed up.

A few days later we went to the department store to do some shopping. Afterwards we sat on the bench in a big hall to have a rest. I started tidying up Tosia-Reddie's hair with my fingers. Near us there was sitting a little girl with her Mom. I noticed that the girl was playing with a smartphone...

"Did the dolly want you to scratch her head?" Suddenly I heard a question.

I looked back and saw a girl standing in front of Tosia-Reddie. It was this little girl with the smartphone.

"Did the dolly tell you this?" - the girl enquired looking at me...

She amused me with her questions... (It did happen really. Well, to be precise, it came about at the craft fair ... not in the shop, but does this matter?)

*

Thank you for dropping by. 
I hope you have a nice weekend.

45. And now Marianne

First Maya... And now Marianne is leaving... Marianne who I sometimes called Patience has found a a very special home. I am glad, but I can't help it that I will miss her. 
Thankfully there turned up a new doll in our house.

If you would like to have a look at Marianne's story, it is here. 

I will try to pack Marianne and post her as quickly as possible so that she would be with her new friend in time for her 9th birthday just before Christmas

And here is a photo of Marianne before her flight to a new home. "Is it far?" - asks the doll. "It is not if you go by plane. You'll be in time, I am sure." - I calm her and Marianna looks delighted. 

I say goodbye to Marianne.She will be very much loved.
What more could a little doll ask for?

*

And here... 
There is a new doll on my table who would love to spin HER story.

A new dolly

*

Thank you for vising my blog. 
Enjoy the rest of your week!

28. All of a sudden

There is a new doll on my table.
She has been here for a short time and has no clothes yet. I like looking at her.
She makes me think of Sophie a bit, do you remember her?

So when I look at Marianne, my new doll, I see her rich dark velvety hair shining with different shades of brown. But after a while I discover in her hair plenty of navy, violet and claret-coloured streaks interwoven. Yes, her hair reminds me of something I cannot name at this moment.

Marianne is sitting on the table and we are looking at some fabrics spread all over to choose a few of them for her clothes. And we are talking at the same time.

"And d'you remember the name of the lake where we met for the first time?" - I hear Marianne's questioning voice.

I had no time to answer because all of a sudden I noticed there was something happening on the table...
   
What was that?

To our surprise there it was another doll.
She was near Marianne on the table, among the strewn cloths.

As a matter of fact she was not a doll, or being precise not a complete doll.
She was just a little trunk with her head only formed.

Oh dear! Now she is clambering slowly over the cloths.
So we help her a little, because otherwise she wouldn't manage.

"Look, she has neither eyes, nor lips, nor hands or legs. Help her. You must! - says excited Marianne.

"But what about you?" - I am asking her just in case, because I feel she is right.
"We were to make clothes for you."

"It doesn't matter? I will wrap up warm with a blanket and I'll be fine." - answers Marianne.
"I can wait."

"Well, well,..." - I think amused. - "What a nice doll she is. A true doll with soul ..."

And I say aloud. - "Very well then, she can't even tell us now how she arrived here, can she? And it's going to be an interesting story, I'm sure."

"Exactly." - confirms Marianne.

But after a while she is einquiring again. - "Did I look the same as she?"

"No. Come on Marianne, when we met, you were already a beautiful doll, and now let's help our new friend, right?" - I change the subject.

***

Our "little friend" cannot speak, but I am sure she understood every word of our whole conversation, because unexpectedly she starts bouncing on the table.

I glanced at Marianne. - "Wants to tell us she likes it, doesn't she?"

Marianne nodded her head watching the little one at the same time.

"Be careful, you'll fall down!" - suddenly she cried and caught "the doll".

Thank you for dropping in!

27. MyWaldorfstyleDolls' photostream

MyWaldorfstyleDolls' photostream on Flickr.