The Joining of Two Paths: January 2012

Monday, January 23, 2012

my newest creation

yes, here we go again. more felt!!!! this scarf is for a friend of mine who is visiting Basque Country at the moment. i have NO idea whether or not she will like it, but i sure do, so i'll be glad to keep it if it's not her favorite!

these are ropes of wool fibre that will lay on top of the the scarf

the finished ropes. these will be laced through the loops i put on the

the black base accented with an orangy-red

the finished product

i know, a little funky, but i love the colors and the textures!

for those of you who are not that interested in felt, have patience!!! soon and very soon i will have the pictures ready from our first cooking class! we had it this past saturday and it was so much fun. we are really looking forward to many more saturdays of cooking!!!!

Thursday, January 12, 2012

crafting

this has nothing to do with ministry, but i thought you'd like to see one of my latest hobbies. my wonderful aunt who lives in ireland is amazing with all things textile - especially with felt. in fact, she has a really cool blog that blows my mind every time i go and see what she's up to. so, compared to her, i'm definitely a fibre amateur, but oh well. i really enjoy making felt and creating new things.

this year for christmas i made several family presents out of felt - which i FAILED to take pictures of. i've also made a couple presents for friends and students that have also gone undocumented. however. the last little project i completed, i actually remembered to take a couple pictures of before i gave them away! amazing, i know!

to the right you can see a pair of booties i recently made for a good friend of mine - well, for her baby, that is. i used a white wool/silk blend, a variegated orange wool/silk blend, and then finished it off with some pretty silk thrower's waste and sari silk. i really liked how they came out and now that i've seen them on her, i know how to edit my pattern for the future!

i have recently discovered a really good fibre distributor out of germany, and i am really, really looking forward to the day i can place my order and get some more yummy fibre to play with! until then, i'll just have to be happy with what i have - which, in reality, is more than enough! it's just hard to remember that when there is so much stuff to drool over!

Sunday, January 8, 2012

christmasing

here in basque country, we do Christmas a bit differently. depending on your family, you would either celebrate Olentzero on the 25th, Three Kings Day on January 6th, or BOTH. but no matter what you celebrate, there's loads of things to do. at first, i was a bit disappointed because it seemed to me that i was missing out on a lot of Christmas celebration-ing, but i was wrong. while there's not as much pre-Christmas hype here as there is in the States, they sure make up for it between December 24-January 6. during this time i don't think it's possible to be without something to do. we kept busy and have the pictures to prove it! enjoy!!

first, every year on Christmas Eve, my choir inaugurates the gigantic nativity area followed by caroling at the nursing home. here are some of the ladies in my soprano section as well as one of the lady's daughter. singing carols in Basque was fun, but i had a hard time keeping up - especially since we DIDN'T EVER PRACTICE. everyone else knows the carols by heart... i just had to learn fast. at least i had the words in front of me!

Then, on Christmas morning, Jonny and i opened all our presents that made their way over the pond to us. we were very excited and grateful, though we missed our families very much.

our new basque book from our student, Bixente!

after Christmas morning mass (with my choir), Jonny and i headed over to our friends' house to have Christmas lunch with them. it was awesome to be able to share Christmas with them. below is a picture of my good friend, Sarah, who has recently moved back to the States to prepare for her wedding in May.

Once we had satisfactorily celebrated Olentzero, we had to gear up for new years. every year in Zarautz, there is a 4.5km race. practically the whole town comes out to cheer on the runners. this year my student, Maialen and i decided to run it together. little did we know that several other of our students ran as well!

the flash threw them off! (from L to R: me, Mikel, Maialen, and Mikel's friend)

just when you think it's all over, IT'S NOT. don't forget about Three Kings day!! for many people, this is their gift-giving holiday. the night before 3Kings, there is always a HUGE parade. the three kings and all their 'servants' parade around the entire town, stop for a short theatrical performance with Herod half-way through, and then top it all off with a big presentation ceremony where each of the kings sing baby Jesus a song and present him with a present! this year it rained the whole time, but we made the best of it and scooped up as much candy as we could!!