maandag 26 september 2011

Hema 85 jaar breiboek

Terug van weggeweest. In verband met 85 jaar HEMA. EINDELIJK zou ik zo zeggen. Het HEMA Breiboek. De HEMA Breiboeken werden van 1976 tot 1992 met veel succes uitgegeven. Voor alle fans en brei-liefhebbers hebben we de beste patronen van toen verzameld in dit The Best of HEMA Breiboek. De modellen zijn tijdloze klassiekers of sluiten aan bij de mode van nu. Op facebook.com/hema kun je een jeugdfoto uploaden met een zelfgebreide trui en als je wint gaat een brei-oma je trui namaken.


zondag 25 september 2011

Kurt Cobain in knitwear

Voor mijn verjaardag kreeg ik de catalogus van de tentoonstelling Unravel - knitwear in fashion. Daarin ook een stukje over Geeks and guitars: clothing on the margins, zoals Kurt Cobain. Cobain draagt hier bij het MTV unplugged concert een vest van het Leger des Heils, afkerig als hij was van de consumptiemaatschappij. Na het concert kwam er een run op de truienbakken bij de Salvation Army en zo werd hij toch een mode-icoon.



maandag 19 september 2011

Jillian Tamaki en Penguin classics

Wow deze covers voor Penguin Classics kwam ik tegen op Feeling Stitchy. Ze zijn gemaakt door Jillian Tamaki. Tot en met de achterkant perfect. Jane would have loved this.









zondag 18 september 2011

Rode loper, banner met kruissteekjes

Kunst en cultuurdagen Amsterdam Oost, 24 en 25 september 2011
Het laatste weekend van september kunnen alle bewoners van Amsterdam Oost genieten van de culturele rijkdom van dit fraaie stadsdeel. Twee dagen lang zijn er mooie, ontroerende, leuke en interessante programma’s te zien. Theater, dans, lezingen, beeldende kunst, rondleidingen, exposities: het is er allemaal.

Open Huis culturele instellingen Amsterdam Oost
Veel culturele instellingen houden open huis. Met een mooi programmaboekje kunt u van tevoren uitzoeken wat u graag wilt meemaken. Houdt u van activiteiten, dan kunt u de handen uit de mouwen steken bij creatieve workshops of de wijk verkennen door u op te geven voor een kunstzinnige rondleiding.

Zaterdag 24 september 2011
Een klein voorproefje kunnen we u al geven. Alles natuurlijk onder voorbehoud. We starten rond 15.00 uur met een feestelijke opening op het Javaplein. Een kleine optocht, hartverwarmende speeches, een theatrale act? U zult het zien op deze laatste zaterdag van september. Na de feestelijke opening gaan culturele instellingen al van start met hun programma’s. Op en rondom het Javaplein houden wij de feestelijkheid nog een paar uur in volle gang.

Zondag 25 september 2011
Van het puntje van IJburg tot de verste uithoek van de Watergraafsmeer kunt u kunst en cultuur ontdekken in Amsterdam Oost. Aan de hand van de kaart, het programmaboekje en het totaaloverzicht kunt u de programma’s van uw voorkeur uitzoeken.

Thema: de verandering

De culturele sector is volop in beweging. Als cultureel festival willen wij des te meer duidelijk maken dat kunst en cultuur belangrijk is. Bezuinigingen zijn niet leuk. Toch zet het aan tot creatieve oplossingen en samenwerkingsverbanden. De Rode Loper kijkt uit naar verdere samenwerking met De Open Atelierroute (pas in 2012 echt gecombineerd) en de Food Night.



zondag 11 september 2011

Gomitoli's een wollige sogno italiano

This is our story.
We don’t expect you to believe it, at least not entirely. But we ask that you to try and imagine a late nineteenth century boy. In this time, if you didn’t have the possibility to study, you had to work. In a factory.
The peculiarity of this story, which begins as so many other do, is in the surname which holds within itself an inevitable destiny. The child of whom we speak is called Camillo Gomitoli (literally ball of yarn) and he possessed a fierce passion for yarn. Because of this, Signor Gomitoli had been more than happy to show him the old textile factory where he worked and periodically bring him on excursions to the spinning mills, where he enjoyed himself as if they had brought him to Disneyland (which, obviously, did not exist at the time).
The experience Camillo gained during the hours spent standing stock still, holding his arms at a right angle so his mother (who was very fond of do-it-yourself and knitting) – could have a valid support to wind a skein, allowed him to develop a physique incredibly suited for the factory machinery, to which he took like a duck takes to water.

In any case, Camillo grows up and starts a family. His passion for yarn has advanced to such a degree that his children find themselves recorded at the registry office with undeniably peculiar names: Pura Lana (Pure Wool) Gomitoli, Uncinetto (Crochet) Gomitoli, Maglia (Knitting) Gomitoli, Crochet Gomitoli, Dritto (Front) and Rovescio (Back) Gomitoli (twins), without forgetting the last arrival, the second protagonist of our story, Gomitolo Gomitoli, born during a time when the head of the family was experiencing an imaginative dry spell.

It goes without saying that in Casa Gomitoli there are certain things of which you cannot be unaware. For example, Camillo expects that knitting be the first word spoken by every new arrival and he involves the children in systematic parlour games, like recognizing knitting needles by diameter while blindfolded. Not everyone is as enthusiastic about this Gomitoliarchy, particularly young Gomitolo who, despite his fondness for natural yarns, can’t abide orders of any kind. Becoming of age, he leaves for the Orient, where – reportedly – exist goats with incredibly fine hair, some of which are supposedly even born wearing perfectly knitted scarves and turtleneck sweaters.

However, distance does not always generate entirely truthful accounts. In actuality, when he arrives in China, Gomitoli encounters decidedly normal goats. This bothers him immensely, one might say it even devastates him. But, just as he’s contemplating a mournful homecoming with his tail between his legs, he discovers that, hidden beneath the kemp of these lazy goats, there is another type of fiber, a fine, warm, light and soft padding. In other words, the Chinese had cashmere, but did not know how to use it.
Strengthened by this discovery, he returns to Italy and applies himself to inventing new techniques and machinery able to produce at home – giving life to a strictly and spontaneous made in Italy, even before the term acquired the fundamental connotation which it holds today – what is perhaps the most beautiful cashmere in the world. He also devotes himself to the search of any other fibers which will aid in the production of even more exquisite natural Camel, wool, cotton, silk and angora yarns: everything which can be ideally spun, in practice ends up on the Gomitoli machinery.
But our grandfather – just so, now it can be told – was a perfectionist. And he couldn’t make up his mind about selling those hand-made yarns, jealous as he was about his discoveries.
We, instead, would like to share with you the results of his unconditional love and have decided to launch Gomitoli’s e-commerce store, convinced that this is the best way to convey the fruit of a family passion wholly made in Italy.






maandag 5 september 2011

Tord Boontje Stitched Collection

M-A stuurde me een artikeltje over het ontwerp Stitched Collection, designed voor Moroso door Tord Boontje. Het bestaat uit een stoel, een tafel en lampen.

Boontje: "For a long time, I have been interested in sewing and embroidery. When I was a child, my mother would show me how to sew and I made some clothes for myself (with her help). More recently I have used embroidery in my work on textiles and furniture. The action of sewing, creating holes in material with a needle comes back in pieces like the Rain Chair and Wednesday Table. This time I started to think in a more functional way about sewing, the idea of creating holes in materials and connecting pieces with yarns. I realized that by stitching plywood components together it would be possible to create strong structures for furniture. After making scale models, I started experimenting in my studio with a full size chair. This led to the prototype for the Stitched Chair.

I like the idea that the stitching is a very simple, low-tech way of making. As stitching is a very universal and ancient technique, it gives an almost tribal or folk character to the pieces. I imagined that someone could construct their whole environment in this method; the furniture and also the room itself, therefore we decided to start this as a small domestic collection that can expand in the future."