easter greetings and a little catch-up

I hope everybody is having a lovely Easter weekend!

As to what's been happening over here, here's a brief little catch-up.

Not much thrifting; we thought it'd be nice to be able to get a few bigger things and also a food processor which would reduce the many hours of hummous- and other vegan food-making to hopefully much less time-consuming activities.

Much language learning and multiple choice questions answering; I have a big exam in a week.

Some undocumented crafting, and some documented ones, like attempting to decorate some eggs for Easter. I used onion skins and a beetroot to dye hard boiled eggs which I dotted with some candle wax and let sit in the cold dye overnight.

Then they transformed into a yummy snack for the boyfriend.

I'm still experimenting with foods after the longish fast, which are good for me and which I shall avoid. It's not easy. But the green smoothies and raw veg salads win every time, so hopefully the weather will be warm enough soon and we can turn our balcony into a salad bar.

In anticipation of the coming spring: Happy Easter everybody!

eleven days

I have broken my water fast yesterday with some fresh juice squeezed from a few sweet-smelling oranges. They tasted wonderfully fragrant and quite intense so I took each mouthful with great care and consideration. After eleven days on water, I'll be easing into eating again slowly so it's still juices and perhaps a few grapes or a bit of grated carrot for now.

I bought a pot of yellow tulips the other day - I'm craving spring much more than food. It's harder each day to wake up to another morning of crisp minus fifteen and to negotiate the slippery pavements everywhere, frozen solid with ice. Once the morning hours turn into lunchtime the temperature might even hike to zero and the sun does its work melting the icy snow, but by night it freezes over again. No chance for tulips or any plants to raise their pretty little heads out in the gardens yet, hence I turn my eyes from the outdoors ice to my indoor tulips when I can.

The other day all of Finland was treated to the light show of the nordic phenomenon of aurora borealis, even in the south-west where we are. I have seen them before in Iceland but it's never boring to catch a glimpse of the dancing, twisting, cold green flames in the sky. We watched them from our kitchen window. You can see some images here from that day.

I have been on and off reading my favourite blogs lately although quietly, but hoping to be more talkative now that the fast is over!

PS. Thank you for the people who signed up to following me via Bloglovin' in the last weeks! As you probably know, Google reader is going to cease existing soon so if you haven't done it yet, just click on the big Bloglovin' button in the sidebar to start following Idle Needle there.

a mid-century Arabia vase

We went scouring for a birthday present in the better indoor fleamarkets a couple of weeks ago and came away with this vintage Arabia faience vase. It was my boyfriend's find - I'm so proud of his good taste! The recipient really liked her present too. We got it at a very bargainous price, despite it being absolutely faultless. I think this colour is less desirable at the moment by the general public here. Lucky for us - it's a design classic and we loved the colour!

The vase goes by the name ruusumaljakko which means rose vase and bears full markings on the base as you can see, which helped a lot in finding out about it more. It's design is 385-1, it was designed in 1958 and was put into production in 1963. The designer is Karl Heinz Schultz-Köln. It's shape and decoration is unmistakably mid century modern, but the design concept really comes to life when you put roses in it. Here it is in the recipient's home.

a lady called Nanny Still

In that first post I showed off some thrifted vintage stickers.

So, those stickers. They are for your jars and freezer containers and were printed by Lindel Helsinki on Avery labels. The illustrations are 70s through and through - just look at that free, sweeping line and those colourways! They are called Hetiketti, which is a play on words in Finnish, meaning instant stickers. And they are a bit special too, because they were designed by Nanny Still.

But who is this lady called Nanny Still? At the time of finding those first labels, I was totally ignorant of Nanny Still's name and her influence in Finnish glass design. Slowly I have been discovering her fame, falling in love with her iconic pieces. But, because I can't really afford glass designed by her, I have been picking up the stickers instead. Which - needless to say - are much more accessible for a gal on a tiny budget.

violet march

March has arrived here too. It's still severely subzero and there are big piles of snow everywhere but the sun has been shining a lot in the last few days so it's all melting slowly.

March is violet in Colour Me Happy land, but for us here it's way too early for that colour. I have been looking and looking and not seen anything in violet... not even in the shops.

I have tried my hand at rubber eraser stamp making recently. I dreamed of a deep indigo violet inkpad to print with but I couldn't find that nice traditional colour anywhere. I managed a purpley magenta instead, which is the closest I will get to violet this month I think.

Come April there will be a lot of pretty colours around - here's last year's example of violet.

oh rays of sun I love you so

It's wonderful to wake up to the warmth of the spring sun breaking through your blinds and making ever so pretty displays in the room!

It lends such an inspired start to the day, even if the thermometer outside the kitchen window still reads -11. Time for lots of crafting, little walks and much yoga - on the 6th day of my fasting, I have a lot of time freed up from not having to prepare food and eat.

Have a lovely weekend everyone!

the leaning tower of procrastination

I have a stash of vintage fabrics. It's not the largest stash ever, not even close but nevertheless it keeps growing and growing and growing.

The current stack is already looking like a mini version of the famous leaning tower... and then, here is my most recent find to balance on top in addition.

Every time I fold a new old bit of textile into the pile, I think exactly this same sentence to myself:  "I must make something with these soon..." then more often than not I leave it at that.

I am a bit of a magpie, and yes I have a stashing habit. However, I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who is more of a stasher than a crafter when it comes to pie-charting one's motives and tendencies. I'm always full of make-do-mend ideas, I mean a whole series of notebooks are full of them..! With vintage buttons, I squirrel more away into jars than will ever use. With vintage fabrics, I stash more into tall piles than I will ever put my scissors to. Even though I could.

Because, you see, I also have a stash of skills and supplies! I tell you, this blog is called Idle Needle for a reason. This will sound like something out of a b-movie, but I am the Idle Needle...
The best bit is that I know exactly why I am like that. But - as Michael Ende puts it - 'that's a tale for another time'.

Well, I have news for you leaning tower of idle fabrics: I've started to make little things for the Craft It Forward challenge, and also have a line-up of simple projects which will lessen the idle fabrics and the height of the stash.

And as for that tale for another time, I'll be facing my demons in a mini series of posts about the sweet and the bitter side of procrastination.

abandoned

via AlleycaT

During a research in Finnish I have come across this site of photos of old abandoned buildings and other apocalyptic sights.

This particular stream of images of a 70s tavern in total disrepair tugged on the heart strings especially...I'm yet to analyse why, but those soviet flocked figurines might be a big part of it.

It's hard not to feel anything when looking at places which have been ruined, or fallen victim to the corroding teeth of time and oblivion.

They always make me wonder about what had happened, and I wish I could rescue those probably unrescuable objects of gone times and way of living... And since reading Margaret Atwood's Oryx & Crake, scenes like these always bring to memory those conjured up in my mind's eye about nature re-occupying houses, streets and whole cities in the absence of man.

thrift therapy

Do you ever go to the thrifts because you feel down? I don't, for the same reason I don't go grocery shopping when hungry: I might end up with impulse buys that I regret when my mood recovers....

Having said that, most of this little batch I'm sharing here today are a result of me taking a sharp right turn on my way home from a disappointingly difficult day. I can't remember exactly what was the matter - but knowing myself it was probably a combination of tough grammar, impatient perfectionism, grey brooding skies and a sugar-down from too much espresso.

Before you start thinking that I'm going to show you some regretful items, I'm not! I still like all of them today. Plus they did the trick. I felt better afterwards, my indulgently just-for-fun finds burning my side through the totebag with a slightly guilty glow. If I have a vice, it is definitely thrifting. I do get a kick out of it, spending tiny money on nice, interesting or quirky things with a bit of history and dust attached to them.

So what was in the tote?



The find that shone the most sunny rays into my moody little heart must have been this chain of small pennants. They are souvenirs from Finnish towns and holiday spots, dating from the 70s and early 80s.

I've been wanting some kind of colourful garland to decorate my space with for a long time, and I think I have now found the perfect thing. Here it is hanging gloriously above my crafting table:

Then I found a new chum in the shape of this plastic giraffe. He is not terribly old, his belly informs of 1998, but I like his bashed-up looks. He's got character; he's missing an ossicorne a.k.a horn, and he's got a face of a cheeky punk with that tongue sticking out. Added to my growing plastic zoo.

On the useful side of things, I managed to get my mitts on a length of elastic with buttonholes, in a super grey colour. I think it's great, I usually see it in white which is very underwear-like.

 

The most guilty of the lot was this 1950's picture book about all things wonderful in the world. I love that it's last chapter is about modern wonders that technology achieved and the book finishes on the most complicated of these wonders - a vintage TV set (the one that looks like a washing machine encased in wood). Good old vintage days...

The book is in a fall-apart condition, but has beautiful illustrations with many colour plates throughout. The only way I could have passed this one up that particular day if I didn't spot it at all. As soon as I had a rifle through its pages, I knew it had to come with me.

I (don't) blame my mother for my love of beautiful books - she is the most tomboyish, unconventional, non-stereotypical librarian I've ever known and her affinity for books has always been contagious. She has a true passion for the written word, for volumes of knowledge and imagination waiting to be released. She never misses a chance to bury her nose into the pages of new books to enjoy the scent of printers' ink. I think if she'd lay hands on this one, she probably wouldn't bother smelling it but she'd just spend a day repairing it with tape the way she does in the library.

the finnish equivalent of Golden Hands

Recently I thrifted these vintage craft books. I love an old book with a nice spine and decorative exterior, but these are also great inside. What more, the contents are just too lovely not to get inspired by.

 

The Finnish title translates as The Most Beautiful Handcrafts. All three volumes were published in 1975 and been translated from the original 1966 Italian Mani D'oro series. Is it anything to do with the English publication Golden Hands Library? Not sure, but the format, the image styling and presentation look suspiciously similar.

Anyways, onto the cascade of pictures showing off the books inside.

Volume number 1 is about knitting and crochet. I love the way it inspires me to try learning crochet yet again. I tried so many times, but just don't get beyond the chain stage... I think my knitting skills are standing in the way; I heard before that some who learn knitting first struggle to learn to crochet.

In general, I love how the images are styled, even though some are quite wacky - like the knitted house shoes presented on boot shaped vases... Mostly I love all those contrasting brights and muted colours, page after page.

In the knitted garments section, the styling is soooo 60's it makes my inner feminist cough a little cough. All the ladies are leaning back on something, lounging around passively, while Mr Man looks very assertive in the midst of all sorts of activities, not needing to lean on anything. Look at the Clark Kent clone trying to shoot us readers in the face... But got to love the Sophia Loren-esque templates highlighting the different stitch patterns (bottom left).

In volume 2 we have embroidery and needle lace making. I just can't help drooling over the stitch library. There is a big section on drawn thread embroidery, which is quite an overlooked form of needle craft, somewhere between cross stitch, smocking and openwork. I think I might look out for some loosely woven linens on my thrift rounds and try it out.

Volume number 3 is all about sewing garments, mending and even some weaving. Enter the close-up shots of perfect vintage manicures - I'm always a little jealous even though I don't like the obviously fake stick-on nails. This volume features a gorgeous looking vintage Borletti sewing machine, and the loveliest images I have ever seen for instructing on small detail sewing, like zippers, buttons and arrowhead tacks.

 It's an added bonus that the book has an extensive section on mending. Again the pictures win me over - a hole in a sock never looked so inspiring before. As to the weaving part, I really hope one day I might get the opportunity to loom my own rug in those vintage shades of wool.

owls from the UK

I'm very glad to own a little something from Suki of The Owl Club - I have been following along her crafty adventures and admiring her creativity and retro patterned cloth finds for a good while. I recommend her blog for thorough reading and idea-stalking, but if you check out just one thing from her recent creative posts, it should be this brilliant cat plushy she made!

I've signed up to the Craft It Forward 2013 challenge on her blog. She made me a little felt owl brooch which I feel like pinning to my favourite dress-down jersey. (By the way, I wonder if it's wrong to be so attached to a plain jersey and wanting to adorn it with brooches?) There was also a vintage cotton print button badge that she makes in the parcel - with my furry brooch in tow, I'm spoilt for choice!

Here's the owl brooch together with the furry brooch I thrifted recently, adorning said jersey, and also my vintage Wetherall alpaca coat. I was planning to take a picture of myself wearing the brooches with my fave tee, my hair trailing down romantically and snow all around, but while posing on the balcony I spotted a man on a balcony opposite keeping a close eye on my activities which prompted my shy self to scurry indoors quickly, with a cameraphone full of shaky blurred images... So instead, here are a couple of pictures of my modelling in front of the snow-coloured wallpaper...

I probably mentioned somewhere before that I love hand sewing. The maker's handwriting and personal touch is right there in the work, I don't believe it can get more signature-like than that in needle craft! I also received sweet retro patterned stickers and a playing card that has a very cool reverse with two owls beaming at each other wisely. This one is going on the wall in a frame!

And now a memory from many years ago:

Receiving an owly package from the UK has brought to memory the time I was gifted a day at a bird sanctuary in Kent. I had the opportunity to handle birds of prey, like this wonderful long-eared owl above called Mr. Cuddles. I also flew Harris hawks, and gazed at a fierce-looking buzzard real up close, while it was sitting on my gloved arm grabbing the thick leather with his terrifyingly huge claws. Despite the typical English weather, drizzling rain and toes freezing in wellington boots we had a super day, meeting wonderful animals and their friendly, knowledgeable handlers...

Suki, thank you ever so much for making this owl brooch for me bearing your very own hand-writing in those stitches! I will cherish it and it will surely be getting a tour of this little Finnish town while pinned onto jerseys and coats of mine!

Update on my progress with my own Craft It Forward packages - I have finally made my decision on what I'm making for each of you 5 people...! Good things come to those who wait, as they say.

a cat-in-the-bag of mystery stamps

I've got this little pouch of mystery stamps not so long ago, just for the thrill of it. I saw it, I saw all those staples pressed into its top preventing it from being opened for a peek.

For half an euro I took a chance on this little cat-in-the-bag. My reasoning was, that out of a little fat pouch like that, even if it's full of rubbish, surely there will be one stamp in there - if not more, then just the one that will make me smile.

There were a few:

This week, it's just these to show - I feel like that huge haul from last week is ought to be balanced by a less indulgent report.... but there will be more vintage finds next week, same time!

an old love letter in disguise

I thought I'd show you this vintage novelty leporello postcard from before the 1940's on the occasion of Valetine's Day....

My sister sent it to me alongside the old cobbler family photos I blogged about before here.

At front it has a sweet folklore inspired illustration, plus a fold-out leporello of scenic photographs of the area in Transylvania called Subcarpathia. It carries on the back a couple of vintage stamps from Old Hungary, and a simple message of polite greetings. What makes me think that it might be more than just a simple greeting, is a lot of subtle details.

The first one is that it's written to an unmarried woman, as he's addressing her as 'noble miss'.

In olden times in Hungary, and I'm sure in other cultures too, patriarchal or not, were certain ways to go about courting a young lady. You'd want to appeal to the father as well as to the daughter - more than usually, the father had the last word in sealing fates and marriages, and literally did or did not give her daughter away. So sending an understated, polite message on an expensive novelty postcard showing a flood of views from your travels was sure to impress the careful parent of the special lady.

Then, another giveaway clue is the attire of the cute kitschy couple on the front of the card. They are dressed in traditional Hungarian folk wear, the celebratory type - the guy looks like the best man and the girl like a flower girl. They are carrying a huge wooden trunk (which flips up to reveal the scenic views) which cannot be anything else but the 'tulip trunk' of the traditional Hungarian folk wedding holding the bride's matrimonial heirlooms.

The little message on the back in beautiful old handwriting just says With greetings from Kőrösmező, with many hand-kisses but I think it reads more like I'm thinking of you in this far-away land, will you be my wife...

Well, however you will spend today, I hope you'll have a Happy Valentine's / Friendship / Thurs- Day, everyone!

a curious rubber dog and his friend, the soviet devil

So you've seen a little teaser of the colourful lot I hauled in the last time I went thrifting. Let me show you the most interesting pieces in a bit more detail.

 My absolute favourite (although hard to pick such a one from this particular lot) has got to be this curious looking rubber pooch. You might have guessed that he is a squeaky toy, suitable for brave babies and loopy collectors like moi... Some of you might love it and some of you might, khm.... ask why I bought the darned thing?
Seeing its kooky grimace I thought to myself that it looked awfully 50s - or if it was later, then superbly 70s soviet. Either way it had to land in my shopping basket, for it was also priced at a meager fifty cents. After a  little research back home I managed to find out that it is an Edward Mobley toy cast in the Arrow rubber & plastic factory in Germany. There's even a faint stamp on my dog which told me that it was cast in 1958. I'm happy about that but still happier about his fab orange colour!

From grimacing dogs to a bird biscuit cutter. And a heart one also. Simple but sweet. Besides, I've been thinking about starting a cookie cutter collection for a long time. These looked like ones I wouldn't mind starting with.

Next, a bit of vintage mink fur. I am very aware that fur items, even vintage ones are quite controversial but because I appreciate vintage design, and because they are practically old unwanted items, I sometimes buy real fur secondhand. (Never new, because I don't support the contemporary fur industry.)

This little piece of chocolate mink fur adorns a 1950s brooch, decorated with faux pearls and plastic beads. I am tempted to wear it with my dress-down grey t-shirt even though it probably should be worn accompanying a coat, a wool jacket or a cashmere cardi. Oh, the brooch was priced twenty cents.

 Okay, now look at this fellow... what do you think of him? I thought he looked super-weird and very nicely hand-crafted too! He is a wooden nutcracker in the shape of a Krampus-type devil. Nicely carved, wood-peg jointed, painted and varnished. He cost about an euro and had to join the furry beaded rubber dog crew in my shopping basket. I wonder what the cashier thought...

After a quick research at home, I was delighted to discover that my devil is from around the 70's and was made in soviet Bulgaria. In my research it also became obvious that he is definitely hand-crafted, because all the other examples looked recognizably similar to each other but not exactly the same.

By the way, I love how this thrifty lot has such bright, clashing colours - almost each find has some red in it! And thinking that I nearly didn't go to hunt that day because I felt the fleashop would be still in its picked-through post-Christmas state...

I came upon this great little 1960's Danish Rosti melamine ashtray too. It was a must for fifty cents. Out of the lot, my boyfriend's favourite.

Then last but not least, some sewing-related items: the wonderful trio of turquoise 60s craft books that I've photographed all the other things on, and some big spools of cotton thread in brilliant retro colours.

The books have a great cover design and are really nice inside too; I'm posting about them in detail in a separate post.

More vintage finds same time next week!