ConnieLene – KnitDesigner

In my 3 years in the Netherlands I added knit graffiti to several concrete balls in Haarlem and in Maastricht. I no longer search for balls to embellish in the public arena as I was doing whilst living there in the cold Northern climes.

But on Friday – I was driving through the Manukau City Centre trying to find my way home after my sister dropped me off at my parked car, and after I bought the book “Wild Jewellery” at Whitcoulls.

And I got a bit lost, you might say, trying to get back to the motorway after a wrong turn after leaving the parking building. I seemed to be driving by some tall apartment buildings and council buildings until I got onto Station Road – at least I think that is what it was called. I was crossing crossroads – from a give way sign and out of the corner of my eye I spied; you guessed it, some concrete balls (at least 6 maybe 8 from the angle where I spied them). There was nowhere to stop and so I continued onto the motorway.

I hope someone knows where these balls actually are, as I would love the circumference, cause they could need some brightening up and I have not done that to a concrete ball for a year or so now.

So I was going from the parking building left between some tall buildings heading south towards a road which I turned left onto which travelled between the shopping mall and the amusement park Rainbows End towards the motorway. If you know where that is, please let me know. If you are there and have a tape measure – please record the circumference and send it to me and maybe you will find a ball or 2 suitably attired some time in the future.

Snowing, a grey ball being disguised as a snow ball

History:

Who stole the balls of Haarlem

Haarlem, A city without balls

Ball Warmer without a home

Memorial Day Tour April 30th 2011

Lost Balls of Haarlem

Fitting a Ball Warmer

Vodafone Ball Cover Install photos

Crikey it has taken me a bit of time to do this little write up. Shame on me really because within the digital pages of Entangled is an article about moi – and I don’t think I have really told anyone yet. Why is that – well I have been dealing with computer issues for some months, and I am sure that I have told you that. Of course now I have my fully featured, fully functional, but without all my data laptop back I have months of stuff to catch up on and as we are moving countries soon this may be my last real post for 2 or 3 months, maybe.

But this is really about the new on-line magazine from New Zealand “Entangled”. The brain child of Genny Stevens et al, of Crafternoon tea with Grannyg fame

You can review Entangled via the link below:

Click on “Inside” in centre of the screen, then on “Preview this article” followed by another click on the magazine cover of Entangled to reach the screen which has characters along the bottom including arrows. Click on the arrow pointing to the right to turn the pages and enjoy.

There is no cost for turning the pages digitally through this, the preview FREE offering of Entangled to view the delights of a glorious glossy full of ideas and information, inspiration and opportunity to delight and create. Go on have a look. Turn that digital page and you will see Knit graffiti underlined on the next page – and if you do nothing else here do click on Knit Graffiti and it will take you to an article about, you guessed it – Knit Graffiti (stuff done by two oldies in the Netherlands – you may even know or recognise us, maybe). Then please do page through the rest of Entangled as there are many many delights therein.

You may remember that GrannyG interviewed me about 9 or 10 months ago Grannyg and moi talking across the world and there are many other interesting interviews and odd writings on Crafternoon Tea with Grannyg

Entangled Magazine is only available digitally, Issue 1 is out now and it looks great, Issue 2 will contain a story of a Sydney yarn crawl which beats a pub crawl any day. Although wine and gossip after the yarn crawl will surely have followed.

You can become entangled with “Entangled Magazine” on twitter @entangledmag and if you like, you can like “Entangled Magazine” on Facebook.

Just in case you thought it – No they didn’t bribe me and cross my palms with silver. I do think this is a great addition to the craft, art, yarn, fibre world wide arsenal of information and it is beautiful as well. You can’t get better than that.

Thank you Grannyg

apart from a print copy, maybe. I was a librarian after-all, and we fear the digital world, or we used to.

The ball warmer went on a journey on 30th April 2011. Sadly there were no longer any balls available to cover – so we had to improvise and found a huge polystyrene ball and covered that. We took the ball on a walk around some of our favourite Haarlem haunts and then installed it in the Grote Markt on a shiny steel post.

Yes I know the posts are convenient but they are so ugly. The round concrete balls were beautiful.

Oh dear, I forgot to mention – installation date was Queens Day, 30th April 2011.

There were many characters in orange everywhere. A huge celebration of the House of Orange which occurs every year on 30th April. If in the Netherlands around that time stay and enjoy an orange wonderland and participate in the largest public market anywhere in the world.

Queens Day 2010

Haarlem Ball Warmer Memorial tour & install – Queen’s Day, 30th April 2011

We took our snowball with its orange hat to view some of the lovely cafes and bars that we visit for jazz, blues, rock and wine and good company prior to installing on one of the shiny posts that now stand like the row of teeth on a comb in the Grote Markt of Haarlem.

Memorial Installation - Queens Day, April 30th 2011

We will update the story of the Memorial Installation after it is completed.

Haarlem Ball Warmer Story links below:

Warming the Frozen Balls of Haarlem

includes video of the snow ball test installation

HotHive Textile Newsletter – warming the cold Balls of Haarlem

I don’t believe it

Haarlem Balls Waiting

There will never be another sphere in my life Maybe!