YOUR Personal Freeform CAL! - Week 20

You need a personal freeform blanket, too?
Whenever you start it,
I will always post your pictures
on my page Dada Neon Crochet & add it to our CAL photo album!
No time pressure at all!
If you wanna join this freeform adventure you can find the first project here!

♥♥♥

 Yay, time to celebrate!

We are on this freeform adventure for such a long time now -

20 unique puzzle pieces, awesome!

I'm bad with my time management again - as always!

But yesterday I just had to spend the day outside with friends -

maybe it was the last day of summer

& so I had to enjoy the sun outside! :-)

I'm so excited about my Happy Days CAL (Zooty Owl),

yesterday I could almost complete my last square -

only one row was missing before I ran out of neon yellow! :-(

Here is a pic of my CAL parts 1-7:

Straight after the blogpost I will crochet the last row

& soon I'll have a fantastic blanket! :-)

Haha, thank you Zelna!!!

Just a few words before my weekly "Hello!",

I always wanna write about it & then I forget

about it again:

Please don't care about the number of "likes" on your works 

on Facebook, they really don't say much!

If you don't pay money for "promoting" a page

(something I would never ever do)

posts don't appear in all newsfeeds.

The other page Ladies know what I mean -

we can see the reach of every single post

(how many people have actually seen a post).

Some posts have 3 times the reach than others

& of course they have more "likes" for this reason.

On the weekend the reach is always smaller -

people spend more time with their families

& page owners with a Monday-to-Friday full-time-job

have more time to make posts.

Many people look up their newsfeed

on a smartphone -

if you wanna make sure that they can see your

full photo cut it as a square -

this makes your work totally visible

(Otherwise they may only see two third of the pic or so).

You can all be proud of yourself!

I'm only using your first names

in the post but you are totally

invited to use the tag-option on the photo!

♥♥♥

A huge "Thank you!"
to my awesome CAL Club members!
34 CAL friends now, wow!
(Lovely greetings to our inofficial members, too!)

Lovely greetings to Roberta,
 it's so beautiful to see your creative makings!
Love your "His Eye is on the Sparrow" work!

Haha, Jodie it made me laugh to see
that you also would love to do
Dedri Uys Block a Week CAL 2014!
Hey, we are late but there is no too late! ;-)
Lovely greetings to our CAL friend Ulrike in Austria!
A special "Thank you!" to Gwenda!
The project for this week is based on your idea
& it was wonderful to create this puzzle piece!
 Thank you to Sandy (Sandy's Sundries & also here on Etsy) -
hugs, hope everything is shiny around you!
Alicia of Marcalic's Creations -
 now I have my spinning wheel!!!
I also got me 3 kg of fresh sheared wool.
Will start my adventure in the next days, too! :-)

Thank you to Marina & her wonderful Freeform Crochet World Group
& her Freeform Crochet World!
 Always lots of links when I'm sending my greetings to you
but all of them are important for us,
so here also the advice again to visit Snovej.com
(Snovej Crafts on Facebook!).
I hope you are enjoying being at home again
after your adventures while travelling! ;-)
"Hello!" to the Netherlands & CAL friend Anouk of Een steekje verder!
 Ohhh MariaElena, you lovely tree hugger!
At the moment you are on top of my timeline
while cuddling a tree made of yarn!
It's so great to have people on this planet like you -
the earth is in need of people bringing smiles to the world. :-)
Thank you so much for your shiny energy
& for being a friend!
Hugs to Lin with her beautiful page Crochet in Colour
(also here on Etsy!)!
I'm so happy to have you & your page in this virtual world! :-)
I just found the link to Make Falkor's Story Neverending

on your gorgeous page
& I will spread this story here, too:
A lovely dog needs a surgery
but the family doesn't have the money.
They will make an auction & sell homemade creations,
please like this page & spread it!!!
 Lovely greetings to Shawn of Dragonbird Creations,
 your dreams are as funny as you! ;-)
You can read the dream on her page,
she has joined a crochet contest
& could only present a scarf made of cheese
while the others were presenting
afghans sized like sky scrapers!
Haha, no worries Shawn!
I'm sure you could win every contest! ;-)
Thank you for being part of this CAL, Lisbeth!
Your freeform makings are so inspiring
& it made me so happy to see
how much you enjoy the Sophie's Garden pattern, too!
 Greetings to Jane, I'm so happy to have guests from
Scotland here at the moment! :-)
Hugs to Tracy of Eden Reborn & also All Our Own Crafts Gallery now -
 I love your octopus! Need one, too!!!
Greetings to Jenny & her beautiful page Craft Cove
(also here with lots of awesome makings!)!
 Donna & Walker's Whimsies -
it's awesome what you are discovering
in the world of art,
such a pleasure to visit your timeline-gallery!
 Lovely greetings to Anne,
great & cute yarnbombings again!
Still think you NEED a page! ;-)
Zelna of Zooty Owl -
in the next days my Happy Days CAL will be completed!
Somehow I'm also a little bit sad!
I hope you will do other CAL's in the future,
I'll join it again, promise! :-)
Sending you lovely greetings to South Africa!
Monique of Yemanja -
 you have made such a great yarnbombing
with 2 of Zelna's patterns
(Starflower Mandala & Dahlia Mandala)
have to show it here again, awesome! :-)

Lovely greetings to Saskia ("MalleSas")!
 Hope you have a wonderful stay in Belgium!
Sooo cool having a friend like you,
can't wait to see our special future pics with our CALs! ;-)
Greetings to Cilly -
don't forget to show me your progress with
your awesome huge yarnpainting!
 Aww, Michi! (here is her virtual home: "Knittenfee"!) -
we have the best childhood hero ever:
Pippi Longstocking - what a princess
creating her own world!
Lovely greetings to Brenda,
hope everything is fine around you!
Enna (Mishook aka Strikkeliese & in the blogworld Mishook) -
sending you "Liebe Grüße" to Leipzig!
  Nancy of Needleful Things!
It's great to see how much you enjoy this CAL
& the freedom we have because of freeform!
 Lovely greetings to Judy!
I'm sending greetings to our CAL friend Nora!
Jacqui of Hooky Delights. -
haha, I've just seen you have already crocheted
a fantastic DeathStar Cushion!
It's on the to-crochet-list of our CAL friend Alex, too!
Sooo cool! ;-)
Denise of Wickedcrochet (her on Etsy!)
OMG, you are a genius!!!
I've already admired this awesome piece of art when I saw it before...
I had no idea it was your work,
I love Edvard Munch's "The scream" painting!
And your chair is nothing but adorable!
Please have all look at THIS:
IFFCG 2012 Challenge
Please upload it on your page,
I HAVE to share it! ;-)
A hug to Alex, he is already in bed!
Today he has bought his first own yarn!
(That's ok, I really have enough!)
I've teached him crocheting short time ago
& it's unbelievable what he is freeforming.
Seriously: we can expect something awesome!
Some people are just natural born freeformers...
 Lovely greetings to Lisa of Knotty Girl Yarn Art!
Can't wait to see your CAL grow!
Lindy, your CAL has grown so beautiful & fast!
I really love your style & your yarn choices!

And: We have a new member again!!!
Anne has joined us with her first gorgeous puzzle piece!
Thank you so much for going on this adventure with us,
it's so much freedom to leave the patterns
& you will have the best company
with my lovely Ladies & our Gentleman! ;-)
Welcome to our CAL Club, Anne!

Of course we will have a look at some beautiful progress pics!

Collage 1:

Collage 2:

...and Collage 3 (with the teddy of Denise!!!)

And here is already the favourite-colour-puzzle-piece

crocheted by our CAL friend Michi!

She has also more than one favourite colour

& has started her beautiful work

with Marina's 4-color-spiral-tutorial I guess!

♥♥♥

 This week's project is really special

& it's based on the idea of our CAL friend Gwenda.

You may wonder why my puzzle piece looks like it does -

it depends on my favourite poem!

Gwenda wrote me that she would love to crochet her

most beloved poem.

I never read this poem before

but now I love it, too!

It's a wonderful poem by Jenny Joseph:

♥♥♥

Warning

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple 

With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me. 

And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves 

And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter. 

I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired 

And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells 

And run my stick along the public railings 

And make up for the sobriety of my youth. 

I shall go out in my slippers in the rain 

And pick flowers in other people's gardens 

And learn to spit. 

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat 

And eat three pounds of sausages at a go 

Or only bread and pickle for a week 

And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes. 

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry 

And pay our rent and not swear in the street 

And set a good example for the children. 

We must have friends to dinner and read the papers. 

But maybe I ought to practice a little now? 

So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised 

When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

♥♥♥

I can't wait to see Gwenda's puzzle piece -

I'm already sure she will integrate purple & red yarn! ;-)

Sooo, my poem...

I know it by heart even it is quite long.

I'm quite into poetry & have a huge collection of books

but no other poem can touch me the way

Rainer Maria Rilke's "Die Blinde" does.

It wasn't easy to find a translation into the english language

but here it is:

♥♥♥

THE BLIND WOMAN

THE STRANGER:

you arent't afraid to speak of it?

THE BLIND WOMAN:

no.

It's so far away. That was someone else.

Who saw back then, who lived, lived aloud and looking,

who died.

THE STRNGER:

And died a hard death?

THE BLIND WOMAN:

Dying's cruel to the unsuspecting.

One must be strong even when strangers die.

THE STRANGER:

She was a stranger to you?

THE BLIND WOMAN:

----Or: she has become so.

Death estranges even the child from the mother.

But it was terrible in those first days.

My entire body was a wound. The world

that blooms and rispens in things

had been torn out of me with its roots

with my heart (it seemed), and I lay

like churned-up earth and drunk

the cold raining of my tears,

which out of dead eyes ceaselessly

and softly streamed, the way from empty heavens,

when God has died, the clouds fall.

And my hearing was open to everything.

I heard things that are not audible:

time, which rang in thinnest crystal,--

and felt: close to my hand the breath

of a great white rose went past.

And over and over I thought: night and: night

and believed I saw the bright strip

that would fan out like a day;

and believed I neared the morning

that had long rested in my hands.

I woke my mother when slept slowly

fell down off my dark face,

I called to her: " Mother, come quickly!

Bring light!"

And listened. Long long it was silent,

and I felt my pillows turned to stone, --

then it was if I saw something shine:

it was my mother's grief-filled weeping,

about which I no longer wish to think.

Bring light! Bring light! I screamed it in dreams:

Space has caved in. Take the space

off my face and off my breast.

You must lift it, lift it up high,

must give it back to the stars;

I can't live like this, with the sky upon me.

But do I speak to you, Mother?

Or to whom? Who is over there?

Who stands behind the curtain? -- Winter?

Mother: Storm? Mother: Night? Say something!

Or else: Day?....Day?

Without me! How can it be day without me?

Am I missed nowhere?

Does no one asked about me?

Are we entirely forgotten?

We?.... But you are there;

you still have everything, no?

All things still busily attend your sight,

caring for its needs.

When your eyes rest,

and no matter how tired they were,

they can still rise again.

.....Mine are silent.

My flowers will lose their colors.

My mirrows will freeze over.

In my books the lines will run together.

My birds will flutter in the narrow streets

and hunt themselves at unknown windows.

Nothing is joined with me anymore.

All have abandoned me.

I am an island.

THE STRANGER:

And I have come across the sea.

THE BLIND WOMAN:

What? To the island?.....Journeyed here?

THE STRANGER:

I am still in the skiff.

I have lightly berthed it ---

next to you. It rocks gently:

its flag blows landward.

THE BLIND WOMAN:

I am an island and alone.

I am rich.---

At first, when the old paths where still

in my nerves, well-marked

from so much use:

then I suffered too.

Everything in my heart went away,

I didn't know at first where to search;

but then I found them all there,

all my feelings, all that I am,

stood together and thronged and screamed

at the walled-up eyes, which refused to move.

All my led-astray feelings....

I don't know if they'd stood like that for years,

but I remember the weeks

when they all came back broken

and recognized no one.

Then the path to my eyes grew over.

I no longer know where it is.

Now everything moves about in me

confident and carefree; like convalescents

my feeling move, enjoy the walk

through my body's dark house.

A few like to read

about memories;

but the young ones

all look out.

And wherever they step toward my edge,

my garment is of glass.

My brow sees, my hand reads

poems in other hands.

My foot talks with the stone it treads,

my voice flies out with every bird

beyond the daily walls.

I no longer have to do without now,

all colors are translated

into sounds and smells.

And they ring infinitely sweet

like tones.

Why should I need a book?

The wind leafs through the trees;

and I know what passes there for words,

and sometimes repeat them softly.

And Dead, who plucks eyes like flowers,

doesn't find my eyes.....

THE STRANGER softly:

I know.

♥♥♥

Ohhh, this poem does something with me!

When Gwenda told me about her idea

I didn't have to think about it.

Of course it's "The Blind Woman"!

But how to crochet such a puzzle piece?

I've crocheted "blind" before

& so I came to the idea that I have to create this poem

without using my eyes, too.

First I had to get me lots of yarn strings...

I set an alarm - 2 hours of time.

And I have bandaged my eyes.

I had the yarn mess in a bowl sitting on me.

Crocheting without seeing is strange -

you have no idea which colour you are using

but you can feel the structure.

I never try to feel where the next stitch is -

you just find a loop & you take it.

While crocheting I was quite curious -

how much time has passed?

What will it look like?

Here is my result:

I'm quite pleased with it

& I think I wanna do a framed picture with scrumbles made this way.

There are awesome blind crocheters on this planet

& I think I'll do a blogpost about this topic soon.

I thought about this poem topic in general -

there are people close to poetry on this planet

but maybe some of you don't have a favourite poem.

I think we can totally find poems

in the lyrics of songs, too.

Or maybe you are interested in trying

to freeform without seeing?

Then you can also do a puzzle piece this way! 

A huge "Thank you!" to Gwenda for her wonderful idea!

I can't wait to see YOUR favourite colour projects!

♥♥♥

I love to prepare YOUR ideas so let me know 

what else you want to have in your CALs!

Stay awesome my princesses & princes,

 your friend Dada (or Julia)!

♥♥♥

Let me see your art in Marina's Freeform Crochet World Group, on Dada Neon Crochet or Ravelry