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Feel Good Alert!

I have been playing around on YouTube (yes the Apple tv does come in handy for this) looking for interesting stories about knitting and this one is so heartwarming I felt it simply had to be shared.


Loes Veenstra (pictured above) from Rotterdam, The Netherlands, has been knitting sweaters since 1955 (nearly 60 years!) and completed over 550 of them.  She stored them in her home in boxes all this time.  You can see the boxes (in the lower left-hand corner) and a sample of the sweaters in the photo below.  Obviously, some of them are being prepared for use.


The Museum of Rotterdam heard about her collection and decided to get involved.  They  determined her work would be used to show neighborhood pride of 2 Carnissestraat.  The Museum also displayed her work.  So a choreographer designed a dance tribute, a marching band prepared, and a parade with Loes Veenstra as the Grand Marshall was organized.  See all in this video.  Here's the text of the video translated:

“Since 1955, Loes Veenstra has knitted over 550 sweaters and stored them in her home on the 2nd Carnissestraat in Rotterdam. The sweaters have never been worn. Until today. [...]  Loes and the fruit of her decades of knitting were ‘discovered’ by Museum Rotterdam. The museum has put her sweaters on display as part of the  exhibition ´Over leven in Carnisse´ (Life in Carnisse), on show until January 18, 2013 in Gemaal op Zuid (Pretorialaan 141, Rotterdam).”

I love the fact that this wonderful knitter was able to put out nearly 10 sweaters per year with none of them in a size smaller than a young children (aka no baby/toddler sweaters).  It is possible to pick out the different fashion styles as well.  Did you notice the 1980's versions that are oversized? I also get a kick out of the fact she appears to have gone through colour phases.  Did you notice all the pink sweaters in one segment of the video and a black/white phase in another?  It's apparent she was testing her skills using many different types of stitches, some are quite complicated.  And finally, Loes has one incredible knitting obsessions!

Best part is Loes appears to be enjoying all the attention she's getting.  She is tapping to the beat of the music and closely watching the dancers.  The only thing I wasn't able to locate is what happened to all those sweaters.  It would be a shame not to have them being used/enjoyed by others.  

Do you feel better, now?  I know I do. 

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Comments

  1. Nancy2 May 2013 at 08:43

    I too find it curious that she did not share all her wonderful work! So much of her art could have been seen by so many others.

    ReplyDelete

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