more hoods

thanks for the tips on the sun bonnets, as i've now learned that they're called! maybe she'll have one by summer, we'll see...

right now, she's loving her new sami hat - another one for her collection of sami items. this was a gift from a friend of mine who's been clearing out her childhood home. had to shake out dust from the '70s from that one..

she insisted the shoes still fit (they were small already 2 years ago), but i could see her rubbing her toes every now and then...

little laura in the hood

we've been reading this; the little house in the big woods. an old copy from my own childhood. we love reading it together. she's all ears and wide eyed wonders. and now she wants one of these hoods (not sure what it's called in english):

right. just where the heck do you find a pattern for a thing like this??
(or maybe i should just stop giving her what she wants all the time. now that's a thought.)

finally seven

this is the first time i've asked my daughter what she wants for her birthday. as said before, the answer was 'a cat'. we said no. 'ok, a golden silk cat then, and snowflakes falling down on my wooden castle, and a giant wooden rainbow above it'. right. no problem, darling.
so that's what she got. after all, she is the mistress of the house.

20 tiny, tiny snowflakes cut and hung in the wee hours. a huge rainbow silk, not wood, bought and hung. and the kitten from last post.

she had some other really beautiful gifts that i want to show off, all of them (included the rainbow silk not pictured here) bought at the lovely alveslottet (fairy castle). (they finally opened an 'off line shop'! yay!)
this beautifully mirror (also pictured in the previous post)...

some new stuff for her castle (we don't have all the pieces for this, but most of them. bought for her big brother many years ago)...

a large music box with secret drawers, playing this song...

but the most beautiful gift of all was from her brother; a doll he had spent the past months making in school...

i'm really proud of him, as he hates handcrafting. intensely. but you can't tell from looking at this one! this guy will certainly be included in the doll bed with his older siblings.

ever wanted to kill a cat?

i have.
at 2.30 in the morning on my daughter's birthday. a golden silk cat, to be precise.
of course i knew it would be difficult. i wanted to line the silk, but didn't have any of that sticky stuff that makes the fabric stay together, and sewing them together didn't work for some "silk! it's alive!" - reason. so i just put two layers together and sew the whole thing up. my husband had to turn the right sides out, or else the cat would have died right there. then came the stuffing - then the ripping sounds...


oy, vey!
but knowing that she would love the animal anyway, i proceeded with damage control.
and just how do you draw attention away from such obvious flaws?

with stitches and beads. lots of them.

she loved it, and named it gulltopp (literally 'golden top').

and you know what these photo's mean, don't you?

yup. this mama has got herself a new toy (which she totally does not know how to use yet).

Wardruna

after years in the making, my friend einar has finally gotten his first solo cd out on the streets. in fact, it is so fresh, i haven't heard the finnished result myself yet - but i've followed the composing progress close enough to say that much of this is pure magic.
the cd is the first in a trilogy, interpreting the runes; the old norse alphabet as well as a magical system. this is how he presents his project:

Sowing New Seeds, Strengthening Old Roots

Wardruna is a Norwegian musical constellation set out to explore and evoke the depths of Norse wisdom and spirituality. Musically Wardruna has its main focus on the cultic musical language found in the near-forgotten arts of galder, seidr and the daily acts of the cultic life, mixed with impulses from Norwegian / Nordic folk music and music from other indigenous cultures.
(...)
Recordings partly take place outdoors at locations relevant to the different runes. The instruments we use are mainly old and historical instruments, such as deer-hide frame drums and ceremonial drums, mouth harp, clove / hoof rattles from deer and goat, bone flute, goat and cow horns, Hardanger fiddle and bowed lyres. More unconventional inputs like trees, stones, water, fire etc. are also employed to enhance the nature of the rune being ‘portrayed’.

(more can be read at wardruna.com)

no music videos has been made yet, but enjoy this - especially the female vocals that come creeping up your spine...
congrats, einar! i'm proud of you!

it's not fair

after owning a digital camera for about ten years, i finally decided it was about time to learn how to use it and advance beyond 'automatic'. i know it's totally embarrassing, but there it is. so, i start playing, adjusting, feeling giddy and merry and whatnot, and then - it breaks. it breaks! no power. to the shop - new batteries. still no power. to the shop again - new charger AND new batteries. nothing. fuck, wank, bugger, shitting arse head and hole.
(sorry. can't help it.)
i can't afford a new one. tomorrow is my last chance to save it; i'm taking it to another shop, pretending to buy a new charger, and have them look at it. if they go 'ten years old?!? jeez...' like the guy in the other shop, i'll snare. i love that camera!

i did it!

i finnished the sweater, and you know what? it even looks like a sweater!

pattern and yarn from nøstebarn. i wasn't sure whether to make the orange one or the green one, so it just might be that i have to make another one.

miaow

for all our years together, my husband and i have always had animal companions in our home. he had two dogs when i met him, we picked up a cat along the way, and a giant fish tank and a snake have also passed through our house. now they're all gone due to old age, sickness and escape (guess which. the snake). since we moved here about two years ago, we've only had cobwebs to accompany us.

now this little one turns seven on sunday, and all she wants in the whole world is a cat. when i told her that a cat in this place would probably be beaten the shit out of by the neighbourhood cats, which are in the many, she promptly ordered a small kitten made out of silk. golden silk. (or paper snowflakes flying down from the ceiling, or a giant wooden rainbow to place over our wooden play castle. right.)

now how the hell do i do that? i have only made felt kittens. a silk kitten will surely be the fluffiest, fattest and most dis-shaped plushie in the world.

any pattern suggestions are heartly welcome!

gay as a maypole

i'm not a big fan of re-watching movies, but 'love actually' is an exception. we watch it every yule, and every time, i'm scared to death that i will be bored. it hasn't happened yet. most people label it a romantic comedy, but i don't think that shoe fits. it's about different kinds of love, and it's a comedy. not deep, but not shallow either. and mighty entertaining. period.

the first time i watched it, i was a bit sceptic because i wasn't too crazy about hugh grant (that was before i saw him in 'bridget jones' diary and realized he's the perfect slimebag - and i mean that in a good way!). the whole clumsy-but-oh-so-cute englishman doesn't work for me. (notting hill is not my hill). and it didn't look good at first. everything was realistic and well done, except for this abnormally nice, jolly, fair, cool and honest prime minister. as if! but then it gradually dawned on me... that it was a big, well delivered kick in tony blair's balls. well done! from there, it was true love. actually.

i searched you tube for clips of one of my favourite scenes, with no luck. for some strange reason, it seems that most people's favourite scene is the cardboard love declaration. but let there be no doubt; the coolest guy, in fact king of this movie, is bill nighy (aka billy mack). and the scene i was searching for is the first to come after the voice-over intro at the airport: billy mack in the studio trying to get 'christmas is all around us' right for the gazillionth time. or rather, his response;

oh fuck, wank, bugger, shitting arse head and hole! no less. how can you not love that?!?

the queen of this movie is emma thompson. a moving scene is where her character has just realized that her husband is about to cheat on her, and she withdraws to her bedroom to get over the first shock. joni mitchell's 'both sides now' and thompson's brilliant act makes this a deeply moving scene. i actually found the video clip of it, but it wouldn't be fair to pull it out of its context, neither to show it here if you haven't seen the movie yet. i leave you with the song, though.

(oh, and not to forget "colin, god of sex!")

new years day

outdoors; a really, really cold but wonderful walk.

indoors; a sweater progressing surprisingly fast.