Goeggingen. Antique German cross stitch/embroidery patterns

I'm always on the look out for original, rare or beautiful needlework patterns. And about a month ago I acquired some cute little leaflets with simple, but sweet  designs. 

These were the first of that kind in my collection, so I did a little research to find out more. Most of the information online was in German, so with the help of translating apps I pieced together the story of the factory where those patterns came from. 

If anyone has any more information, or corrections please so let me know.

-------------------------------------------------------

The story:

 

In 1855 Elsässer Eusebius Schiffmacher founded a twine company in Augsburg's old town, by  1860’s the business had grown  so much that the company relocated to Göggingen.

In the 1870’s it was renamed "Zwirnerei und Nähfadenfabrik Göggingen AG" (ZNFG),  and became one of the fourth largest textile company in the region, eventually focusing on the production of sewing threads.

1870 it provided employment for 178 workers.

As the company grew, so did the number of persons employed. The ZNFG company had the philosophy that they should care for their workers, they did so by building living quarters for their employees and their family, and in time built a kindergarten, school, bathing and washing house, and even a fire station. 

By 1912, the company had grown to 1481 workers. 

In the 1950’s the company had a merge, and became  "Ackermann Göggingen AG"

Slowly the factory was modernized, and with more merges, and take-overs the company is now part of the AMANN Group, and called"Ackermann Nähgarne GmbH &. Co. "

Sources:

https://www.augsburgwiki.de/index.php/AugsburgWiki/AckermannNaehgarne

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ackermann-G%C3%B6ggingen_AG

''I just love antique patterns, don't you ?''

Three leaflets from 1904

The three designs are from leaflet 5, 10 and 13

 The patterns are available here: Website, ETSY

Highland hunter - Berlin woolwork chart for cross stitch, or needlepoint

Here are a few photos to show the process behind re-charting an original Berlin woolwork pattern.

I've been collecting antique needlework charts for nearly 10 years now, and am slowly working my way through my growing assortment, re-charting the designs and making them available as modern cross stitch patterns for the needlework enthusiasts. 

From the beginning I decided that despite the time consuming effort required for charting old patterns, and the high demands for originals I would keep the price of the re-charted patterns low. The motivation behind Roland-designs is to preserve our needlework heritage, by creating faithful replicas accessible to as many as possible. 

If I could find a sponsor who would cover the cost of production, I would be more than happy to offer the patterns free of charge. In time I would like to open a museum dedicated to needle art, with courses and workshops focused on keeping traditional needlework, fancy work, and all manner of skilled craft alive and relevant for future generations. 

Highland hunter - Original handpainted, Berlin woolwork pattern from the 1800's

I like to use the laptop, and sit by a sunny window when I choose the colors for new patterns. My present office lacks a bit natural light, and since I live in  Norway where there can be long periods of time with minimum sun  I tend to switch back and forth between my desktop and laptop.

Original Henrich Kuehn design. Signed patterns are really the best, as it gives you a bit more information regarding the company, person, or time period behing a pattern.

A little peek into how the pattern looks in black and white symbols, and colours with symbols.

Highland hunter is available here: website, etsy

Ung Husflid - Holmestrand

Norway's Husflidlag is an association founded in 1910 to preserve and promote traditional crafts, and culture.

They offer courses for children, and both my daughters have attended at some time the past couple years.

Last week Rosaline and I went to one of their evening meetings where the topic was specifically directed toward the children’s courses.  The children and teens got to display the items they made, and we had cake and coffee while a lady demonstrated  ideas, and techniques geared specifically toward younger crafters. 

In the room there was some very attractive woven pictures, I haven’t done much weaving apart for school projects when I was little and these looked so pretty that it is something I will just have to try one day….

Check out their website: www.husflid.no

 

Beautiful woven picture

A little peak at the technique

Rosaline next to the display

This little bag has been used quite a bit. It's always nice when you send your child to a course, and they come back with something they can actually use.....

Super easy Peanut butter cookies

My oldest son is quite fond of peanut butter, and he asked me several times to make peanut butter cookies. To be honest I wasn't too sure it would be any good, so I postponed a bit.... but he kept on talking about it,  so I finally took the time to search the internet and settled for a recipe that looked simple enough.  And was I surprised ! Not only was it super easy to make, but the cookies were really good. 

So I'm sharing the recipe here, I just cut off a little of the sugar from the original as I thought it would be a bit too sweet.

I used crunchy peanut butter, but I think you can use any peanut butter you have available. 

 

Peanut butter cookies 

Peanut butter cookies

(About 24 cookies)
 

-          1 cup peanut butter

-          3/4 cup brown sugar

-          3/4 cup white sugar

-          1 cup butter – room temperature

-          2 egg

-          1 teaspoon baking soda

-          1 teaspoon baking powder

-          2 1/2 cups flour

-          1 teaspoon vanilla

-Mix peanut butter, sugar and butter till smooth.

-Add one egg at a time, then stir in rest of the ingredients.

-Roll into balls, place on baking sheet and flatten before baking in a 180 oven for about 7-8 minutes.

- Cool on wire rack.

-These cookies keep very well in an airtight container.

 

Original recipe courtesy of: www.food.com

''These were actually quite good'' - Emilie

Vintage German coffee grinder

Last month my husband got an itch to get a coffee grinder, fresh coffee is so much nicer and beside every household should have one ! Right ?

Well, true to our lifestyle he went online and found a vintage German one on Ebay.

After a little dusting, we didn’t do much more apart  for running to the shop to buy coffee beans, and starting the hand crank to see if it worked.

On the first try, we noticed it was grinding very fine… which is nice, but we wanted to use the French press, and for that you’ll want it slightly coarser. Vintage items rarely come with a user’s manual, so he just took a good look at it and found that if you lifted and turned a little piece around the base of the handle you could change the size of the grinder.

So, now on the weekend we can enjoy freshly ground coffee.

The coffee grinder is securely screwed to the wall.

Leinbrock's Jdeal - The company was reputed for the quality of it's items.

At the base of the handle there is a little round piece you can lift, and turn. The different slots are for changing the size of the coffee grinder.