Anyone mentioned the word "walk"?

Ok, white easter is not so bad after all.. and spring must be just around the corner.

White Easter?

It's been snowing on and off for days now. Tiny flakes, but still they make the landscape blurred and turn the world white again. I like snow and cold winter, but really.. it's almost Easter.. yes an early Easter, I know.

This is the hill where we use to roll eggs. And the same hill another Easter (April that year) with the first "eggs-perts" arriving.

.. and the view from the top.

Maybe we have to arrange a snow-egg-race with small slopes this year?

Nålebinding / Nalbinding

Yesterday we made a small family-female-trip to Nordatlantens Brygge in Copenhagen,  joining a two hour introduction to Nalbinding.

It was a bit difficult, in fact I must admit my attempts were most tangled, and I didn't really get the hang of it until late afternoon today, when I watched this several times.

Anyway it was an interesting and fun Sunday afternoon, with about 50 concentrated and giggling women (and one man) trying to learn this ancient craft.

Nordatlantens Brygge is organizing several nordic-fiber-craft talks/introductions during the year on top of their old warehouse in the harbour.

The mutating flu

This winters flu is not an easy one. Seems it's mutated and can come back..

In this house some had it before the winter break - one during - and then it came back to those who already "enjoyed" it in beginning of february. So this weekend was spent under woolen blankets, drinking lots of tea again and watching old movies like this one:

Actually I think this movie is a healing kind of movie.. he, he.

Dog with a view

Dogs heaven :)

How did he get up there? Hidden ladder behind the garden wall?
Very curios old guy, with a friendly bark every time we passed below his paws.

Streets of Valletta

Same longitude - different latitude.

Must be cool to drink your morning coffee in here :)

..café with a "walk in humidor"..

Blue as february

Frosty dawn once again - so pretty!
Time for carnival - and carnival buns :O)

I love this blue color and the combination blue/brown - another color-fix.

Hønsestrik ~ Chicken Knit

Emerged in the early seventies, as part of the protests of 1968.
A sort of left-wing-political-free-style-knit where you would not let anyone (knitting industry/society) dictate pattern, colors or yarn anymore.

This was the beginning of a time with very colorful knitting. Motifs found worldwide in folk art: Ancient inka art mixed with simple cross stitch and old norwegian knitting designs.

In 1973 the first book about "Chicken Knit" was published by Kirsten Hofstätter - the prime mover of this new knitting movement.

When Kirsten Hofstätter first asked the publisher Red Rooster (Røde Hane) if they would publish what she called "The knitting Manifesto", they turned her down, since they did not find the subject serious in political contexts. She then started her own company - and named it a bit ironic - Chicken Publish (Hønsetryk) and the book was called Chicken Knit. (68 more books were published by Chicken Publish).

This christmas my father gave me a copy of the 2nd book. I sure can feel chicken knit coming :O)

In the narrow streets..

.. of Copenhagen inner city, beside the old tower of Sct. Nicolai Church,

- you find this shop where I sometimes buy a little supply.

I love the art nouveau lettering at the old front - another "sign and wonder". Wise thing to carve the letters in stone, that is probably the reason why they are still there.

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Pixel Power!

Postcards I won in a give-a-way a little while ago at Korsstygnsbolaget. Thank you Britta! I love them! Especially the lady. She seems very determined about something..

Scandi-cool?

New word to me..

..quite cool this morning -15 celsius.

It's probably not what this new word is about - of course Scandinavia is cool! We scandinavians have known it all a long ;0)

Keeping warm

Alpaca slipover for niece. Warm pink like 80% magenta, 20% yellow - difficult to catch with the camera, at least for an amateur. I tried outside, but it didn't help. Anyway it goes well with the white winter.

Yarn: Drops alpaca (2922) - very soft.
Pattern: All you knit is love, Susie Haumann.

In a crack

Something disturbed the nutcracker..

Knitting mikado

New tools.

I have been looking for wooden double pointed needles for some time. 

These are a little rough to begin with, but knitting soon makes them smooth - and darker. (You can see which needles have all ready been used for a pair of fingerless mittens).

Organic wood, comes in 10, 15 and 20 cm lenghts - (mine 15 cm) - found here.

Glimpses of summer 2012..

We had a cold july followed by a warmer august - almost no mosquitoes (due to the cold?) - enjoyed the best strawberry harvest ever - saw family and friends - travelled north to Sogn and Telemark - saw a raven at close range - ate wafflers with cloudberries - celebrated a golden anniversary couple and some birthday people - took a few beach swims - had "some" ice cream - and made a late summer trip to Aarhus - (beside the usual household and everyday survival stuff).

So many good days to be grateful for.

- and then, at the end of summer the best thing happened, this tiny and very sweet niece arrived! ♥♥♥ 

Hidden in the darkness

It was around midnight, we were on our way home and in a sharp turn just south of our village the badger passed us. Maybe on her way to forage for food, meeting friends in the meadow nearby?

I know they are supposed to be here, but this meeting makes me think of them. Good to know someone is actually living a badger-life in the dark nights around here.

Badger of honor? Given for outstanding nightlife? ;O) Badger pillow looks soft,
and a famous badger - have been read to "bits-and-pieces" in this house.

The Mill and The Golden Grey

At the moment the old mill is being restored. The other day we saw thatchers on the roof and many more things are going on inside. I think they are done in a couple of months. (This photo is a before-picture).

In Denmark, as in most western countries, the large generation born around 1940 is getting old now. The marketing industry like to see them as "the grey gold" because they are believed to be strong byers.. well here you can see a perhaps more unnoticed reason for a golden nickname - so many of them are doing a full time volunteer job in many corners of society today.

Marie - the last Miller of Tadre - was indeed "a golden grey" of her time - as she fought to preserve Tadre Mill for the next generations. She made it possible by selling the Mill to the danish government for a much smaller amount than she could have achieved from other byers. Furthermore she used the money to make a Tadre-foundation (scroll down to the blue area to find english text).


The films linked in this post are made by Ole Malling, a maker of many fine productions for Danish Ministry of Environment, Danish Television a.o. Malling Film.