five things i have learned about american bloggers

since my attention was drawn to 'foreign bloggers' (well, basically americans) about 6 months ago, i've come to learn some interesting things about them.

1. they knit weird.
i mean, relly weird. i've only seen south americans knit that way before. i've always thought they did it that way because they'd never seen 'the other way' to knit, poor things. (yes, it is possible to know this little about knitting styles). but then i asked a californian friend of mine (who has a norwegian mother) to help me translate a pattern from english to norwegian. 'i don't understand american patterns', she said, 'my mother taught me to knit. and besides, americans knit in a funny way'. and so i realised. poor thiiiings! it...looks...so...sloooow....
but then i youtube'd knitting styles, and hey, take a look! what the heck is that!?!

i also found the american and the norwegian (or 'continental', it seems) styles both in one video. which...do...you...think...looks...faster...?

2. they are fascinated with the past
or, the aesthetics of the past.
but not the far past, more like the 'grandma past'. 2, 3 generations back. which is interesting to me, because i tend to skip that, and jump all the way back to - well, a couple of thousand years, or more. (don't be fooled by the viking talk. we all know that the viking era was a mere fart in the wind. but it left big footprints. how's that - a fart with feet!). pre-historic era rocks. not that i know that much about it, i just draw a lot of inspiration from it. it's where i feel my roots stretching; from the land and the bones resting in it. which brings me back to north america, because one of the things that i have always wondered about is how americans (yes, i mean the stereotypical w.a.s.p. here, just for the record, and yes, i know there's more to america than that, but let's stick with this idea that i've had since childhood) perceive their roots. i used to call america a people/country with no history, and really wonder how that must have felt. i guess it's not that simple.

3. they love IKEA.
i'm not sure if this is an accurate comparison, considering the fact that i've only been to the states once and inside a walmart once, but maybe - maybe - you could say that ikea is the walmart of furniture. it is to scandinavians a bit what walmart is to americans; they are cheap, and they've got just about everything. it's funny to see ikea design appreciated the way some american bloggers do. it makes me look differently at my incredible cheap bed linens.

4. they romanticise europe.
well, some do. some are dismayed by their own culture, and dream of a more 'natural' life in europe.
go on.
keep dreaming.

5. they know shabby chic with an edge.
and that's why the international blogosphere won me over.
i really don't know what to call it, or if it is a 'style' of its own (but it certainly goes around), but it is shabby/reused/repurposed/old kind of in a way, and it is NOT all laces, romantic tiny flowers and shabby white painted wood. it's edgy. cool and ugly in a beautiful and funky way.

those are my observations so far. i just might be back with more.