good day sunshine

I need to laugh and when the sun is out
I've got something I can laugh about

I had a good day today. Thanks to the sun and my mum, sister and friend.

First, Mamma and I went to Waldemarsudde to see the Kaffe Fassett exhibition. So much colours and beauty, and now mamma is motivated to start her own quilt (which will be the loveliest quilt ever, I asure you). However, while the quilts were all magnificent, it kind of disturbed me that it kind of seemed to be all about money.

We take a walk, the sun is shining down
Burns my feet as they touch the ground

Then we walked to Rosendals trädgård to fika (latte and a kardemummabulle - I looove cardamom) and buy some lovely things.


I learnt what Brussels sprouts really looks like :)

If you ever visit Stockholm, you should go to Rosendals trädgård at Djurgården. It's a garden, a wonderful café (with fika and lunch) and they sell vegetables, bread, cakes, flowers and pots and some handmade things. It's kind of posh and very expensive - but still well worth a visit (you don't have to buy anything - the inspiration you get from walking in the gardens and looking in the shops is free...).


There was a very intersting exhibition about how what we choose to eat inflicts the environment Did you know that producing one litre of bear takes 200 litres of water?

And a lady started talking to us. That's nice, cause normally if a stranger talks to you in Stockholm the person is drunk or a bit weird (but nice nonetheless - I wish we were less reserved, cause it's sad that you're considered a weirdo just because you're being nice to strangers). She considered me naive ("wait till you get kids yourself, then you'll hire cleaning as well"), and I considered her naive cause she thought there are no lower classes in Sweden. Interesting...


Then I got a pair of shoes. I looove Camper, they feel like they were all made for me (for my feet, taste and personality), except for the prices...

Then I came home and made a lovely carrot bread with my talented sister (she's the baking goddess, I helped her peeling and grating the carrots).

Then I went to fika with Micaela. A delicious chai and a long conversation.

Then a night walk up to Katarinahissen, which is one of the number one tourist spots in Stockholm - there were a few tourists (Italians?) even on a late and cold Sunday evening! The view looks like this, but much better in real life.


This is a classic, the old tooth paste commercial at Slussen :) (the lights go on and off, you can see the tooth paste being put onto the toothbruch - c'est génial!)

I feel good in a special way
I'm in love and it's a sunny day

I think I'm in love with Stockholm :)

Good night sunshine (long since gone), I think I should try to get some sleep now. Tomorrow I'm going to write a speech. Probably about crafting, which makes me nervous because of the feminist context - stupid me!

colourful secrets

I have gotten this very bright and colourful yarn. It makes me happy just looking at it. Touching it isn't that good though (100% acrylic), but it's cheap :)


I sit in front of the TV (Batman forever yesterday) half double crocheting stripes like these in the back loops to make it stretchy.


I love making them. I would never ever wear anything like it (too funky and acrylic), but I take pride in crocheting them :)

angels

Yesterday was Studio Friday, and the topic was my collection(s). I had taken the photos, but then I went somewhere else and when I came home it was already Saturday and way too late for anything but going to bed :) So I'm posting my photos today...

Mamma and I have a thing for angels. So I took a tour to search for them. I didn't find all, but most of the handmade ones. I also discovered that taking good photos of things hanging from the badly lit ceiling is difficult, so I have to apologize in advance...


This one is wire, and the wings are wool (felted). She's quite new.


I think a friend of mamma embroidered this one.


Ceramics




One for each daughter


This one is felted and mine.


A friend from high school made this, her name was Kerstin (I don't know her anymore). He's very handsome, but he was hard to photograph.


I think he's a bit shy :)

And a few less artistic, but I still like them :)

red cabbage for dinner

Probably the only beauty I saw today (things like this really amaze me). Today was grey and rainy, autumn is here and I don't like it. We started (gender) rhetoric today in school. I can already feel the angst in my stomach, though I try not to think about it. We're going to London next week. I try to look at it as a reward for the two speeches that I'm supposed to hold in the next few days.


This man and his dog passed me last week on the way home from school. The two of them made me smile, cause they didn't match at all. Business man with suit and briefcase - and a small black hairy playful dog. I like to think of the people I meet on the bridge. What their lives might be like, what they might be thinking of, who they love, what their dreams are. Am I weird?


Scribblings in one of the books from the (gender) history. I can't afford buying books. I like the library books though, especially when there's someone else's thoughts in them. I wonder who wrote this? I don't really agree with her (him?), but it's an interesting remark.


Translation: small parrot found. This almost made me cry.

My life seems pretty pointless to me at the moment. Why should I bother to keep on going at all? I try to see all those little everyday objects, maybe there's some kind of meaning in them?

höstpromenad

(autumn walk - a summary)

My favourite colour in nature is the combination of orange leaves against the blue sky.

See all photos...

autumn

Now it's here. Leaves on the ground, red cold nose and cheeks (I'm still dressing stubbornly lightly), cold fingers. It's time to wear my beret, and to crochet the mittens I never made last year.

Luckily I have this to keep me warm:

Isn't it neat?! You should join The Knitting Project too. So fun, generous, crafty and crazy! All you have to do is to upload your photo, and if you're lucky your face will inspire knitkid to knit you a personalized high quality Norwegian hat. I received my hat about a week ago, and I looove it! :) Thank you so much knitkid!

I saw La demoiselle d'honneur (Chabrol's new thriller, fascinating and creepy, and in French which is always lovely to hear) today at Sture. Look at the cute toilet sign (sorry about the crappy photo, it was so dark in there):


How do you say pärlplatta in English? It's for kids, plastic pearls that you put on a board (like this). This was a mini version of it, I really liked it.

express art

Remember this?


Now it looks like this.


And this was washed away a couple of weeks ago.


And replaced by this.

It's sad that art is just washed away. And yet I like the it. Temporary high speed everchanging art sort of.


Today at Hornsgatan.


A closeup and translation: There are no problems, there are possibilities.

summer in october?

Imperfection this week: dressing way to cold for October.

Am I stupid, naive or just optimistic? I don't want another autumn, and definitely not another nordic winter. Solution: keep on wearing light skirt, white leggings with lace and mary janes.

Actually it wasn't that cold. The sun is back for a while. I wish I could be out more to enjoy it. By just looking out of the window (and trying hard to ignore the yellowish leaves and those on the ground) you could think it was still the end of August.

If I just keep dressing lightly, maybe someone will realise that summer is much nicer and make it come back (hey, my feet are cold!). If I just close my eyes and imagine walking barefoot in the green grass, and wish very hard, maybe my feet don't need to freeze anymore.

(self-portrait challenge)

crocheted bracelet tutorial

Last week I crocheted a circle bracelet like this. Now I've made a tutorial (and pattern). This is my very first tutorial so please be patient with me. If there's anything unclear, feel free to ask me and I'll try to explain.


First of all, you should know that I'm not a big fan of following rigid crochet patterns - not even if I've made the pattern myself. The directions is just an approximation, sort of. Feel free to change the amount of stitches as you go, to make it suit your crochet style. That's how I made this bracelet :)


You'll need a crochet hook that suits your yarn (I used something close to 2), a needle, a button, scissors and three colours of yarn. My yarn is 100% cotton, made by DMC. It's shiny (mercerised in English?) and in Swedish it's called "pärlgarn" (pearl yarn). But you can use any thin yarn or crochet thread in your favourite colours.

Abbreviations:
st - stitch
ch - chain
sl st - slip stitch
sc - single crochet

Basically, the bracelet consists of circles (lime and pink) that are attached to each other with a turquoise border. Let's start with the circles...

With lime, chain 4, sl st in first ch to form a ring.
Round 1: Work 7 sc in ring, finnish with a sl st in first sc and change colour to pink


Round 2: With pink, work 2 sc in each st around
If you're like me, and hate weaving in ends, I recommend that you crochet in all ends (I actually managed to make this bracelet with only one loose end to weave in - hurray!)


You should work 2 sc in the sl st as well, as you want a nice and full pink circle. Finnish with a sl st in first sc, fasten off.


Now make enough circles to fit around your wrist. I used 6, maybe you'll need 5 or 7.

Then it's time to attach all the circles to each other...

With turquoise, start sc around one of your circles. Make *1 sc, 2 sc in next st*. When you've come half the way around (you've crocheted in 7 or 8 stitches - about 12 sc), it's time to attach the first circle to the next one.


Just start sc in the next circle (don't make any ch), still making *1 sc, 2 sc in next st*


When you've crocheted around half of the second circle, attach the third one exactly as above... Keep on doing this until you've attached all of your circles.


Now you should have all your circles in a line, with a turquoise border on one side of them. When you reach the last circle just keep on crocheting around it (still *1 sc, 2 sc in next st*).


When you reach "the bridge" between the last circle and the one before the last, make 2 sc in "the bridge". Then keep on crocheting around next circle (*1 sc, 2 sc in next st*), and 2 sc in next "bridge"...


When you've gone all the way back, finnish by making a sl st in the first sc. Don't fasten off yet.


Attach the button to the opposite end. Now you'll know how big loop you need to make for your button.


Chain as many as you need for your loop (mine is 7 ch), then
anchor it with 2 sl st. Fasten off.
If you've been good and followed my advise (to crochet in all your loose ends) you'll only need to weave in the very last one - congratulations :)


That's it! Now you've crocheted your very own circle bracelet. I'd be happy if you shared the result with me.