This will be my last post from Vancouver and it has been a tender, joyful and sometimes sad journey towards our moving day. Knowing which day it will be and seeing the time trickling away some activities intensify while others fall aside – for a little while – until we arrive in our new home in Abu Dhabi. My husband has worked hard at two jobs at once: his paid daytime profession and on his days off on organizing all the permits, papers and housing which needs to be in place before he can ask to sponsor me. I am amazed to see how in a short 5 weeks he was able to get his IDs, rent an apartment and organize my joining flight. We will be living on the high floor close to the beach and with views over the expanse of a canal and some desert sands to Yas Island.
The city centre of Abu Dhabi flanked by the Corniche with its beaches and promenade is located on Abu Dhabi island and it takes about 30 minutes by car to reach from our new home. But we have everything we need in walking distance in our small community: a grocery store, dry cleaner, restaurants, a German Doener Kebab – this makes me smile as Doener Kebab is not a German dish, but still found everywhere in German cities -, cafes and a pharmacy. Our building provides an air-conditioned gym which we need to burn some calories in the summer months. We have been told it will be so hot outside from June to September that we will not be able to walk even the shortest distance. This is still unfathomable to us.
While I am all excited to finally arrive there in about two weeks time I am working on dissolving our current home. Moving and going through all of our possessions baffles me every time. It is the collected amount of all things small that make a move arduous. Every piece of paper just chucked into a stack over the past 15 years needs to be evaluated: still needed or discard? How many pens can one amass in a house? I found more than a hundred in various locations, some hidden in drawers and many in holders on every counter. Most “collected” from hotels we stayed at on our travels. And the list goes on. As the moving out date gets closer sorting through will fall by the wayside and all not sorted will go into storage to greet us in a few years. With the big furniture items sold or ready to be moved to storage an end is in sight and excitement is building.
My memories of this Vancouver spring are of flowers popping up everywhere I look:
The variations of pinks and whites reminded me of the Knit-Along-Shawl I test knit for my friend Uta. If you feel like knitting a lightweight, airy shawl perfect for a slightly cooler summer evening the German patterns are ready to be released every few weeks starting in June. Check out the information here.
The previous Monday was the last “fun fibre art day” I allowed myself to spent with friends. I was invited to Monique’s studio to learn how to dye fibre and yarn. When Y and I arrived everything was already set up on two big tables: The floors and the tables were covered with towels, papers and wrap to protect from any dye splatter. Lots of freedom to be creative and not too worried about messing up other surfaces. We worked with Ciba dyes ready to go in a stock solution which made the process safer as we were not inhaling any pigment particles. First came the preparation of the wool in a cold water soak with vinegar and a little soap. Sitting in this solution the fibre is given time to absorb water and be completely wet. Air bubbles will lead to lesser dye pigment absorption and lighter or no colour. Which happened to this roving of Texel lamb fibre. Despite soaking for an hour and squishing out air bubbles, once the fibre was lifted out, it dried almost immediately in some spots. But it still turned out gorgeous.
We learned to let silk soak for a maximum of 30 minutes as it is more reactive with the vinegar and changes its smooth and lustrous character. We prepared our dyeing station with microwave-able plastic wrap: two parallel layers to hold the “long sides” of our skeins and two short at the end to wrap the “ends” once the colour had been applied. Making sure the dye had contact with all the yarn – checking the bottom by lifting it helps – we were ready to wrap it up and heat it in the microwave for a few minutes. Checking after each heating cycle if the dye had been exhausted. Being me and liking to plan ahead I used mostly blue, red and purple, my favourite colours, with the most adventurous being a green by combining turquoise with yellow.
I love the results and am totally excited to try it by myself with my Greener Shade dyes in Abu Dhabi. May be, even striving to be more daring like my friend Y who created these amazing skeins:
Until next time from our new home in Abu Dhabi,
Maike
beecosydesign 