Nordic mitten and gloves

This winter my knitting passion has taken me down the road of mittens and gloves in traditional style and patterns of Norway and Scandinavia.

While in Sweden I found a wool shop in Sigtuna called Knocks, it doesn't only sell wool and is a magical shop with a real fire near the doorway. I asked them for Swedish wool and while my Swedish family of Van Asch all waited patiently on the street I finally found what I wanted - two skeins of a quite fine, 2ply sport weight wool from a company called Ullcentrum Oland. The wool is quite coarse but high in oils which makes it ideal for gloves that may get wet and take a bit more wear. I would say it is probably a bit too scratchy to wear next to the torso but on less soft areas like hands and feet it is ideal.  I have noticed that softer fine wools like Rowan felted tweed will wear through on the sole of the foot, particularly if you are walking around on wooden floors like me. The lovely people at Ullcentrum have told me that if you felt the item by putting it in hot water for a short amount of time, that it will soften.  When I say coarse, I don't mean that as a criticism, because it is perfect for mittens and socks which get a lot of friction.

The ethos behind the Swedish wool company Ullcentrum is also very lovely as the owner, Ann, originally started by collecting the unused raw wool from local farmers and turning it into yarns and clothing. Previously they were throwing it away and now this company supports many local farmers. The yarn is stocked all over the world so have a look at their website for where is your local stockist, I just ordered it direct from them as I wanted some more.

I found some patterns on Ravelry and also some from a book I just bought from Amazon.  I love the mittens with the pointed tops, not only are they cute but also they give you a lovely large space for a design on the back of the hand.  However, one does sometimes want to use your fingers so I also tried out the gloves.

The black and white contrast shows the designs off to their best, but the patterns aren't just decorative, oh no, there is a meaning in the patterns too.

Working in two colours on small circular needles gives the glove a double thickness.  I had to change to double pointed needles for the fingers, which are fiddly to be sure, but not impossible, and this book above gives very clear instructions on how to divide up the hand for the four fingers. The pattern on the black and white glove is called The Lord's Supper.  The border around the wrist is called a rose garland, or rosary to the saints and the main rose is the symbol of Jesus.  On the palm is a design which represents the communion wafer from the last supper. 

The brown and grey gloves are using some left over wools and I decided for these to knit the fingers in one colour so that they weren't so thick and cumbersome.

these are my fingerless version for when you need a bit more dexterity

I'm still experimenting with designs and styles, making some variations on the patterns and trying to perfect the technique.
This month I joined the hashtag on Instagram called #wipsandblooms so if you are a maker of anything you should join with us as there is a competition prize every month.

Knitting is a great stress reliever, it really is like a form of meditation and I absolutely love it.  I only learnt a few years ago, just by watching you tube videos, so if you want to own and wear something beautiful that you have also made yourself, faults and all, then start with small items and scarves to get an idea of how to shape and turn.

Later this month I shall also be involved with some knitting for charity and hope to pass along information about how to get involved in that, until then, happy knitting. 

Christmas colours of Sweden

Sweden is such a beautiful country, yes sure it has it's industrial areas and shopping malls like everywhere but the houses are such a multitude of traditional and unusual colour combinations and at this time of year, when everyone has lights in the windows and on the porches, it is picture book perfect. 

Maybe because the houses are mostly wooden cladded this has led to the whole house needing paint but the array of different colours used makes for the most beautiful look.  There is of course, the traditional red houses with white and yellow windows but look at the details and you will see that there are other things coming into play here. Usually choosing two tones but sometimes with another added for highlighting details like the window frames.

Not only are all the windows decorated with lights and Yul objects, but there is also the tradition of having a candle lit outside our door to welcome guests.  All the shop owners do this and it makes for the most magical look.  

We visited our favourite Christmas market in Sigtuna, this is such a gorgeous place, set on a lake and one of the oldest towns in Sweden. The market is a mixture of handicrafts and food.

If you are wondering what this is above, well meet Tomte a Swedish house gnome which also replaces Santa in some houses, the cute little fellow has been given a new twist here, depicting him in greenery. This Tomten lives in the forest and likes to be fed porridge!

My bag came home full, with a mixture of old and new. I found lovely knitwear in my favourite shop called Indiska. Lovely quality fairisle style cardigans and some cups from their new range. I also managed to pick up some Swedish made wool while we were in Sigtuna and intend to knit some Nordic mittens in black and white. 

No trip would be complete without a good rummage in second hand shops and a large haul of old cake tins and some mini candlesticks ticked off more on my wish list. These will all feature over on my Instagram feed over the course of this month. 

I do of course bring home many of ideas and inspiration for lights and candles, my home will feature the classic candleabra lights in the front window, stars and wreaths and decorations made from Pepparkakor (gingerbread) and folliage.   I hope these photos will help to get you in the mood too.  

Swedish Windows

This could be rather a long blog, photo-wise, as I saw so many beautiful things in Sweden. As I mentioned before, everyone, and I mean everyone, puts lights in their windows at Christmas. Even shops, offices, you name it, if there's a window they put either a star or an advent light in it. Sometimes one or the other and sometimes both. If this sounds a bit uniform, then I hope these photos will show how individual they can be. I also wanted to show the lovely colour combinations of traditional houses and they way the old houses are painted, I hope this inspires you to do a Swedish window in your house, it cheers up a rather dull and grey time of year, if only everyone in the UK would do it too, lets start the fashion eh?

My first outing was to the cute little town of Sigtuna, there was a Christmas market in the town centre, a separate post will have to cover that so I can go into more details. This little city is the oldest in Sweden, founded in 980, and a prettier place you could not imagine. It has a Medieval town centre with a gorgeous shopping street full of cosy cafes and also a place where you can get big knitted pants !

So onto the lights, here are some pics taken around the area where I was staying just outside of Stockholm. 

apologies to this lady who was watching tv but here windows were fabulous

We had a photo shoot at our favourite backdrop, the hotel called Gorvalns Slott near Stockholm. If you want to treat yourself it is superb, every room decorated in different styles. They had opted for just the star decoration for their windows, very classy.

And yes, it snowed, the first snow of winter for Sweden, so with their winter tyres fitted, their cars plugged into a heater and their snow boots purchased (from Canada funnily enough), the Swedes are set for the white blanket to follow. Yes, that will also have to be a separate post. 

I found and always do, many wonderful things in the charity shops, so I brought back some crochet snowflakes, a cute crochet window valence and some vintage candle lights. Most houses not only put the lights in the windows but drape the inside frame with Christmas curtains and a little valence along the top. Here is my Swedish window. 

In the meantime, off you go and get your windows lit up, you know it makes sense. 

Loppis Love

Loppis Love.

There is nothing more exciting for me than to go shopping for vintage and antiques, it doesn't matter where, I love fine Antique shops like Sally Turner in Wendover Bucks, I love vintage markets like the ones in Milton Keynes and Winslow and I love car boot fairs all equally as much. But there's one type that beats them all, it's over in Sweden and it's call a Loppis.

A Loppis is, generally speaking, a garage sale, on a slightly more professional level.  When driving around the countryside never pass a little handmade sign saying "Loppis" with an arrow pointing up a lane or dirt track. For, at the end of the path will be a world of goodies just waiting to be discovered.

The Loppis can sell anything, new, old, vintage, antique and the downright bonkers. 

My latest jaunt over to Sweden naturally included a day of Loppis shopping, luckily for me, my friend Rachel does occasionally find something to her taste, like the mad steampunk 1930s coffee pot we used in these photos of the "babes in the woods".

A Loppis can be found in a barn, a garage, or even A WINDMILL!!

The above two Loppis are in Grillby, the Windmill still has all its working parts, amongst the bric-a-brac, all except its sails. The owner gives you a lovely talk about its history.

I bought a traditional Swedish rag rug from here, and some mounted deer horns from the other Loppis. Keep an open mind as to what you will find. 

Generally speaking the prices in these places are very good, the owners know the worth to the "Towny" interior decorators, but they are still sensible, a bargain can always be found. One mans junk is another mans treasure.

If you google up a translation of the word Loppis it says flea market, and its a general term that can cover car boot and flea markets too.  I think the Swedish perhaps have one word for their old junk, whereas in the UK we like to narrow it down and categorize the types of junk we are selling ha ha !

The Windmill owners also have a studio for ceramic making and run courses there. The other Loppis has a facebook page, they are called Mormors Lupbod.

Grillby can be found just off the E18 out of Stockholm, just over an hours drive. Its just before Enkoping.