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.

chain stitches

we're getting ready for our viking adventure later this summer. i finally got hold of some linen, and i'm sewing every spare moment now. here i'm working on a small, white linen tunika. couldn't find any interesting AND easy (very important, that one) embroidery patterns for this one, so i went for chain stitches. boring, but classical, i try to convince myself.

midsummer night turning to morning

i wish everyone a beautiful midsummer weekend - i hope you take the time to listen to the earth moving and breathe in the freshness of change!
(photo taken at 2.30 this morning)

toy week: 6

finally some good old plastic.
i really love these. they used to be mine and my husband's when we were kids.

the gang:

she never seem to play with these guys, though...

but even though i'm not particularly fond of them myself, i just can't seem to gather enough political correctness to throw them out. they're memories from a childhood where 'right' and 'wrong' was a question of who got the biggest ice cream.

oh, blogspot...

...why are you doing this to me??

i realised that if i write a post and save it for later publishing, then it will be published on the date that it was written. which means, far beneath the ones that i've been posting after saving it, in betweens lots of old posts, so that no one will see it. not even me (i don't know exactly how many times i pushed the 'refresh' button yesterday, but it was quite a lot, until i realised the post was there - far down on the page i was watching). now there's two of them, disappearing ino the great blog mess.
that's just plain stupid.

honey hunting

this plant is a hoya (waxvine). the flowers produces a nectar somewhat similar to honey, which the kids lick off. i have no idea whether it's actually edible, but no one has died yet.

toy week: 5

last years x-mas market at the kid's school and kindergarten made mom drool over beautiful, homemade toys. i was so looking forward to finally finding something for my daughter that i actually wanted to spend money on, and feverishly dragged her from room to room to get to the goodies before everyone else.
but the girl didn't want anything.
what?!?
how about this, sweetie? just look at the gorgeous colours and embroideries! and the sweet, sweet little doll inside! isn't it beautiful?!?


how can you not want it! it's almost edible!

i guess not.
but hey, if i buy it without her knowing, and then gives it to her for x-mas, then...

but look at this one, honey, isn't it great? and come to think of it, you only have one doll bed, and it's for the bigger dolls... isn't this just perfect?!?

i guess not, again.
but hey, come x-mas, she'll love it, i'm sure!

there was one thing she'd seen and that she wanted. we spotted him in the first room we entered at the marked, but i convinced her that we would find so many other gorgeous things that we could safely leave him.
but she could not forget this little fellow...

meet mr squirrel; two hazel nuts glued together with some leather scraps and wool for tail, at the cost of 2 dollar.
and thank heaven he was still there when the market closed and my daughter was getting ready to load that look at me that would have screamed 'betrayal!' all over the school yard...

of course, she liked her x-mas gifts.
but does she play with it..?
i guess you know the answer.