I want summer!

No! More! Winter! (Please …) I am so tired of the cold, the ice, the snow. Especially, after spring was already here with sun and crocuses and gardening and all of that. Sure, (at least) with regard to knitting and crochet, winter is a wonderful season but I am longing for daylight and warm weather. Aren’t you?

Therefore, I decided to at least „crochet summer.“ Here’s the outcome:

Floating Tire

Any idea what this might be? It belongs to the gentleman with the blue bathing cap and matching speedo.

swimmer

His legs are slightly big and maybe not long enough but still I am very pleased with his appearance. Especially, after I managed to do the floating tire. Trust me, I had countless attempts, but when about to give up it hit me like a bolt from the blue (see the pun with blue and blue :)) – it had to be done from the outside to the inside, just like an LP would play its music (= Long Record, for those of you not old enough to remember records) and not in rounds. So here they are, the swimmer and his floating tire:

swimmer & tire

swimmer & tire

swimmer & tire

swimmer & tire

Well, looks like there are two of us waiting for summer now …

Bill, The Travelling Man

It’s about time I introduce you to Bill, I guess. He was named after Bill Clinton, as he would (accidentally!) look like him when I made him – at least that’s what we thought.

Bill

Just for grins, I talked to J about Clinton the other day and our little conversation still makes me laugh:

Me: „so who is Bill Clinton?“

J (quick as a shot): „Isn’t that Hillary Clinton’s husband?“

Looks like we’re raising a feminist here 🙂

But back to the original topic: Bill gets to travel if we can’t (no money, no time, no vacation). He definitely prefers traveling with people, but envelopes work almost as good. So far, he always reached his destination as planned and – more important – he always came back. Where ever he goes he has his picture taken for J to see. J says looking at those pictures is almost as good as travelling himself.

After short trips to Hong Kong and Uruguay, New York and Poland, Bill went to Chicago lately. Of course, he had his picture taken next to „the bean“:

Bill and Bean

And he must have liked it, as, after coming back to Germany, he decided to go right back to the US. This time he would go west: out of all places, he chose Meeteetse, Wyoming (325 inhabitants) as his destination. Be that as it may, doing ranch work he stayed a lot longer than originally scheduled. (In case you wonder what they are doing in the picture: they were testing the cows to see which ones were pregnant).

Bill working cows

Upon coming home last week, bringing along his new cowboy hat and his own passport, he asked my boss to take him to Beijing. And much to my surprise, the boss – without batting an eye – put Bill in his pocket and off they went the next morning.

Now, here’s one of the pictures I got yesterday by email. Trust me – I was dumbstruck, when I saw it and sharing it with you is a must!

Bill and Chinese Police Officer

How on earth do you make a Chinese police officer hold a little crocheted doll (there is a string attached to his head, can you see it) and smile for the camera, especially if you don’t speak his language?! Bill will be back this weekend and I am very much looking forward to hear the story on Monday!

A lovely weekend to all of you out there 🙂

Albertha & friend

Looks like I’m not quite done with the little people after all—here are two more to add to the collection. It’s still foggy and gray outside; I honestly don’t remember seeing the sun for at least a week. Consequently, the kid insisted that the little people get dressed—he said it’s far too cold to run around naked.

So here they are: Albertha, on the right, the very first doll to get a proper name, and her nameless friend. The kid came up with Albertha himself, inspired by his two favorite teams: Alba Berlin (basketball) and Hertha BSC (soccer). Al-Ber-tha – Apparently, he has two hearts in his chest—one for each team—and both fight for attention at the same time! Or – to quote J. W. von Goethe – “two souls, alas, are housed within his breast, and each will wrestle for the mastery there.”

I couldn’t have said it better myself 😉

Even on these foggy, gray days, little people keep life playful and even a bit magical.

Little People with Wild Hair-Do

At some point – well after I’d made these two – I decided to change how I construct the arms. Now each doll is worked in one piece: starting with the legs, then the body, then the arms (which are incorporated into the body), and finally the neck and head. That makes them properly “baby-proof.”

Even with this new construction, I try to keep the spirit of the originals alive—the little people with their wild hair-do, sticking up in every direction, untamed and full of character. That wild hair-do gives each doll a mischievous, playful energy, like they’ve just run through a whirlwind or been caught in a gust of wind. It’s what makes them instantly lovable and full of personality, even before you add a face or a story.

Little People

Little people—that’s what we would call these dolls. These cheerful four were the very first generation, the originals that started it all.

They’re small, simple, and don’t have faces—and apparently, that’s never bothered a single child. On the contrary, it lets them come alive in a child’s imagination: they can laugh, cry, or talk however the child wants.

Of course, they wouldn’t be the last; many more little people would follow, each with their own personality and quirks.

little people häkelmonster

little people häkelmonster