Running into 2011

Happy New Year!

I have just spent two hours sorting through cross-stitch, embroidery, knitting and other craft paraphernalia - and have culled a little, filed a lot and am feeling confident that I am all set to start a lovely Easter project! Yippee! Or, to be more exact, finish an Easter project that I barely started about ten years ago. Better late than never ... Can you tell that I am in New Year Resolution mode?

Anyway - it's a pattern that I bought in the Eva Rosentand shop in Copenhagen about 15 years ago, when I was there with Eva and Antonia (I love you guys). The pattern is for a "loper" [in Dutch] – you know, the long table-cloth strip you hardly ever use to decorate the table for special occasions. The English word is "runner", which sounds more energetic than the Dutch loper, which means walker! 

The design isn’t the Eva Rosenstand one shown here, but it gives you a bit of an idea ... Mine is more simple and less old-fashioned. It has a little yellow chick, a bright red Easter egg, a tulip and three tall yellow daffodils. I think the design is by Clara Wæver; it is numbered CW 2-3778.  I was reading about her on the Eva Rosentand website, and she was a pretty inspirational woman. She had a “great talent” for embroidery, worked in an embroidery shop and taught women the various techniques.  Later, with her sister Augusta, Clara then opened her own shop when she was 40 - in 1890. This gives me GREAT hope, as I turn 40 this year! The sisters sold embroidery materials and produced patterns. They also taught young women how to embroider in the old Danish 'white embroideries' style, as well as training brides in decorative techniques for their "marriage portion".  Hmmm, makes you wonder how times have changed, and what makes up a marriage portion? Must be like a dowry?

Anyway - Clara apparently always looked for new designs and was known for buying original drawings by several Danish artists for inspiration. Almost 20 years later, in 1917, the sisters handed over their shop to N.C.Dyrlund, who continued their tradition. In 1930, when she was 75, Clara Wæver died. There is a lot more to the shop's history, with the Danish company Carl J. Permin A/S - Permin of Copenhagen - taking over the Eva Rosenstand / Clara Wæver shop in 2003, which ensured that the company remains in Danish hands.

Anyway – it seems that my modest little pattern must be at least 85 years old! I can't get the printer to scan my little pattern, sorry, and I can't find it online, so you will have to wait to see the final pic of my finished work! Let's hope I get to finish it this time!

Also some other exciting news:  some Mums and I are setting up a monthly Stitching session, so I can make sure to spend at least several hours on it every month!

In the meantime, I will post a pic of the actual pattern (which is the size of a postage stamp) as soon as I can scan it - where is a computer tech when I need one?!

Happy New Year again, let's make sure we are all feeding our souls!

Ike
xxx