i've been tagged...

...by Lisa at 5 orange potatoes. i'm supposed to post the 6th photo from my 6th folder. but i can't do that. see, that photo is of a friend of mine, chopping wood in her garden in the middle of the summer, wearing nothing but her panties and bra. and i know for a fact that she would kill me if i posted that. it would probably be a quick and easy kill (with her axe, maybe), but nonetheless. i would be dead.
instead, i'll post the two photos next to nr 6.

our weddingday. this was taken just after the handfasting in the woods. we got married 6 years ago, after living together for ten years.

me with my firstborn, only a few months old. that would be, uhm, 12 years ago...

half naked friends, weddings and babies; photos taken over a period of 11 years. i have absolutely no order in my photo folders. i've started organizing them several times, only to end up with cd's and folders like this; in complete chaos. to organize the photos proper and make a paper family photo album is one of my big goals for 2009. wish me luck.

elevating

i found a package in my mailbox! wohoo! I ordered this lovely needle book from melissa at tiny happy, and i'm so glad i did. usually, when i see something i like that looks within my skill level, i refrain from buying it thinking i'll make it myself. every now and then it actually happens that i advance beyond just the thought of making it, too, hee. but i also find great joy in purchasing something nice that someone made themselves; something they've put their heart and hands working at. especially after i discovered etsy. it feels good supporting. so i'm very happy with this! i even got a small gift with it; a flower hairpin :)

and finally, i can put this rag to rest.

elevating as a crafter, indeed.

consuming kids

i could write a long list of complaints against the politics in my country. however, i have to admit, that whenever something makes me compare norway to other countries, i can't help but take a deep sigh of relief. like i did yesterday, after watching the american documentary Consuming Kids; The Commercialization of Childhood. (i recommend the full film as this trailer is rather superficial, and comes out a bit like it's just meant to scare you).

it looks into how kids are targeted at from commercial forces from birth onwards; product placement; brand licensing; advergames (!); marketing in school; hotels, airlines and even car companies marketing to kids. as one guy says; "what we have is the rise of 360 degree immersive marketing, where they try to get around the child at every aspect, every avenue". and further, "their goal is to insinuate their brand into the fabric of children's lives". and all for this; to turn them into life long consumers.

i don't need to hear about the blinking tests, the video recorded shopping, the slumber parties with commercial agents observing the kids, etc etc. i don't need the 'shocking facts' to be shocked. the fact that marketing towards children is allowed, however subtle or plain, is shocking enough in itself.
marketing towards children is stealing minds, and inevitably, souls.

what was said towards the end of the film, was that whenever critics raised their voices at marketing towards children, 'people' (i.e. the marketing industry) started yelling about the first amendment of the american constitution; freedom of speech.
since when did freedom of speech exempt anyone from morality?
in norway, we also have a constitution that includes freedom of speech. but we also have laws that prohibit actions that are considered bad in our culture. like discrimination based on race, gender or religion. or marketing towards children.
it is a matter of us, as adults, protecting a group of the population which is considered unable to protect themselves. it is a matter of common sense.
how hard can it be?

kids ATC swap

i signed my daughter up for this huge kids atc swap hosted by erin and blair (i have a feeling this blog is more about my daughter than me. huh. i need to get out more and get some new impulses). i thought it might be fun for her. it was, but it was even more fun for me, i think. the two of us have been spending a lot of time at home together, taking days off from work and pre school, so the table was covered in all sorts of paper-glue stuff for several days. now we just have to send them off to four kids in - uh - the states, i think.

i made some cards myself, but didn't quite see what they were for, so i ended up making some more springlike decorations for our window - in our corylus avellana contorta (which i just found out is it's proper name), or 'worm hazel' as we call it.

a little bit of shakespeare up there, as well.

welcome back, birds!

and now she knits

me knitting. she looking.
long stare.
- show me.
- ahh, honey, i'm not so sure, remember last time you wanted me to teach you? you'll get to learn how to knit in the fall, at school.
searches through my knitting stash, finds her own two needles which we purchased two years ago - the last time we tried this, and repeats:
- show me.
sigh.
-ok.
i cast on 10 stitches, knit the first row, then, rather unenthusiastically:
- hold needles like this, yarn over your finger there, needle through here, pick up yarn, pull through and slid off.
does it. and proceeds to knit 5 rows.


wow.
two years ago she almost bit me, she got that angry and impatient when i tried to show her. bad tempered, that girl. it apparently helps turning 7.



and there's absolutely no limit to her selfconfidence (she writes, enviously); the following day:
- can i knit on the sweater you're making me?
- ahm - uh - ok..?
does it. looks good, even.





(she even inherited my 'finger-out-in-the-air-for-no-reason pose)

and even if it didn't look good, i don't think there's much she could have done to ruin that sweater. it's become rather - uhm - i think catastrophy is too strong, but somewhere along that line...

hibernation

... for animals and humans alike.

will be back, more crafting going on.

F.O. - Finnish Off, or Fuck Off?

i'm having a serious go at decluttering my house these days. really serious; not only get rid of, organise, but finnish off started projects. this sweater is a clear winner in any procrastination competition: i started it 11 years ago.

i bought the pattern and yarn in copenhagen when my boy was still a baby, and started knitting size 3 y.o., so i should have a fair chance at finnishing it. it was my first several-colour, patterned knit.

it was a drag.

a serious Fuck Off. on needle size 2,5 and 3 (european sizes..).

several failed attempts to get friends and mothers in laws (just one, really) to knit it for me made me stash it. until i got pregnant again, 5 years later. here we go again. i did the arms this time. still a serious Fuck Off. i stashed it again.

so, when tidying up the house a couple of weeks ago, i dug it out from the stash and decided to make it a Finnished Off instead. if not for my kids, then for someone else's. but you know what? apart for the sweater and arms being too short, it fitted my girl. and in a true 'make it proper this time' manner, i unravelled the arms and knit them again, cause they were seriously bad knits (old arm pictured above, old and new below). i made them longer, and am now knitting the neckline. all i need to do now is to make the 'body' itself a bit longer as well, and sew the thing up.

and even if it's never worn by anyone, at least i discovered this: i've become a better knitter than i was 11 years ago.

sweet week

the past week, we've been enjoying making sweets at home. real simple, yummy sweets. First out: ginger bread cookies (oh, you didn't hear of the 'procrastinating x-mas' competition? oh well, too late now. i won. (i even bought the dough at ikea))

then meringues, or as we call them; girls kisses:

(before cooking. they almost look like porcelain snails.)

lastly, and best - choko crisps made of cornflakes and dark chocolate. yum!

preferences

he made his first internet purchase; the tribe, season one.

she made a 'mail bag' out of the package it came in and played 'postman' the rest of that day.

and then proceeded to make one of the characters from the series.