to potter with pottery

i'm going to spend my weekend with doing just that, trying to vamp the lids of a bit of pottery - them bobs are eager to get started, i'm sure they'll be a great help -

and also with twitterjunta.

thus i'm hoping for a relaxingly creative weekend. for me, for you, for one and all!

very crafty socks

Yesterday was headgear day, today it's all about the socks. Well, more specifically one pair which I'd quite forgotten about - they were one of the beauties that arrived in September along with the tofu socks, the awesome bicycle ones were a perfect wee gift for someone who loves her bike

- since I have been very partial to lace socks these past few months, and admittedly a few dotty and striped ones, but thicker socks and patterns other than that, not so much.

But since ground has been covered with some mysterious white thing and temperatures have actually been below zero C for a week now I've had reasons to - as if one has to have that - rummage through my sock bags. Finding all sorts of delightful socks. Like these. The crafty ones. The purple crafty ones that I had planned to wear at the next twitterjunta session, but which I then obviously forgot all about.

As I've been very fond of the blue boots - which I had a rather curious incident with the other day, my right leg had miraculously shrunk over a few days and suddenly I could zip it all up. Right leg only though, thus for left calf sympathizing's sake I'll continue sporting the semi-zipped look for now - I hadn't thought through different pleasing socks for the purple ones. Now I'm certain which pairs I'll be putting on next. Needles, yarn, scissors, the very crafty ones.



Do you have a favourite pair of socks that, as if by magic, can chirk up any day?

two tuesday snaps

At 3.46 pm (or 15.46 as us Swedes prefer to call it) it's this dark already here, on this day of December 6, 2011. The only bad thing about it not being snow on the ground this time of the year is that it really gets pitch dark. And of course, it isn't as pretty as it is with snowy scenery. But practical, very practical, albeit dark. This was my view at the bus stop.

Waiting for the bus, taking me to the train, going to the twitterjunta. Where six of us spent a lovely evening with fika, chatting, knitting at one of my favourite cafés. My knitting project for the day was the first Lovikka mitten in a pair of them. A red pair - I put my own pink pair on hold. When I began knitting it at home it was, as usual, overseen by a helping paw. Most often that helping paw is attached to one of the waterboys. He obviously hearts his yarn too. My kind of guy.

wednesday words

:: Less than a week away now, we'll be onboard this boat for a few hours heading to Berlin. With me will come a couple (or possible three) bobbaloos. They will be definitely travelling more in style than this poor teddy. I'm still not sure which ones that will tag along, it will be a long and tiresome trips for little bobbaloos so I'm thinking there should be more than two. And it is kind of sad if they don't get to travel in pair. But three small bobs fit in the travel cabin, four don't. To have two bobbaloo travel cabins seems tad excessive, no?

:: I have at least narrowed the possible wee travellers down to 8. If I had thought about this earlier we could have had fun with a poll. Too short a time for that to really matter now I think.

::  You might be very clear on what you want, and not. But when it's possibly within your reach, why is it so easy to still question both your capability (even if you do know you're more than capable) and if this really IS what you want? Is it simply that no matter how crappy status quo might be, you at least know how to deal with it?

:: Now beware of a luxuary problem musing; I am guilty of a too large wardrobe. I like clothes, period. In parts I admit, I am a part of the consumerism-problem. Although not in the wear and tear part, I never buy cheap stuff that doesn't last. But still, too much clothes even after I've did some drastic wardrobe cleansings some years ago and I have far from replaced those garments.

That it seems to be too much might, really, also have something to do with the fact that I'm completely un-organized. I would love to have a great overview of the upperparts, the lowerparts, the colours, the seasons - although there really isn't any seasons like there used to be - instead it's just a hotchpotch of different things in different wardrobes in different parts of the house. One day, one day, I will turn one of the rooms into a walk-in-closet.

I don't drink, I don't smoke, I don't have any strange addictions - possibly apart from bobbaloos, but really, that's just a sweet quirk - but I like pretty garments. You have to wear them, so why don't wear nice things that makes you happy, pretty and comfortable.

That said, I have a problem with the clothing-industry being one of the major environmental criminals, I really do look for long-lasting and eco-garments. I loath the wear-and-tear-mass-production. I wish there were some way to be sure, other than the price which is just an indicator not a proof, that the ones in the beginning of the production-line have gotten a fair deal, good working-environment and a decent salary. It is quite obvious they haven't when you get a T-shirt for 7$. We do take a lot for granted, looking for cheap deals everywhere.

So my fondness for clothes - but not fashion, that's boring, mass-produced and transient - isn't without complications, I think a lot about consumerism, even when I feel happiness by looking through the wardrobes of wonderful colours, fabrics, patterns and prettiness, I feel a sting of guilt. For all my Western-world fortune. The ambiguousness of a large and pleasing wardrobe.

:: Since some months back I'm on Pinterest (like *everyone* else). Got the invite via Twitterjunta. Wasn't really active at first, saw it could get dangerously addictive. Then I was active for a while, but then I felt like "what's the use of all inspirations and prettiness if you never actually have the time to create yourself but instead your glued to Pinterest?". What do people do with their Pinterest-boards? For me it just tends to get really overwhelming, all that inspiration and prettiness, the oh and the awww, row upon row upon row upon... So I limit my visits.

All for now, more of thoughts another day. Cleaning, packing, planning, washing beckon.

t(w)itterjunta 2011

A week ago it was time for 2011 first twitterjunta. There was lotsa giggling going on and it was promptly renamed titterjunta.

What we wore on feet that day, in the shoe per diem post.

More pictures, projects up-close and tad Swedish text can be found here.

I won't attend the next twitterjunta date, but I'm reasonably sure there'll more dates that'll work for me. Although, admittedly I have on the other hand also now been pretty convinced, once and for all, that I am a lonely knitter at heart. Even if now and the odd then variety, and company, is nice.

the tulip day

January 15 is a day of mixed emotions, a day of extremities;

:: a day of sorrow over the senseless killing of wolves

:: the day of the tulip

:: 2011's first twitterjunta

Life's blessings and sorrows gathered on a bleak winter day.

nutty fruit cookies

I first made these past April, not really my kind of cookies but they seemed easy enough to make, crunchy and full of nut goodness. They turned out to be amazingly good, chewy, crunchy, with lots of different textures and flavours complimenting each other oh so well. Too well, addictively well. The original recipe I got from the great bake book "Eat me! The Stupendous, Self-Raising World of Cupcakes & Bakes According to Cookie Girl." by just that, Cookie Girl. Great as in every recipe I've so far tried has turned out fabulously. Fit for a loaf dog birthday do.

Not so great as in most every recipe needs tweaking for sure, the amount of sugar in the recipes is too too much, halve it and it'll be more than suffice. (High suspicions of membership in the Sugar Conspiracy Movement...) This is the way I make the cookies, and I'm not that particular with the measurements and what kind of nuts I use. I've baked about five batches so far, slightly different every time, great every time.

I brought a tin with these along to the Twitterjunta. One bite and recipe was demanded. So here it is. With all the fibres, nuts, seeds, raisins they're both filling, semi-healthy yet still addictively divine. Here's to happy baking, and even happier eating...!

Nota bene, a cookie scoop is THE thing to have here. Very handy indeed. Quite possibly one of humanity's greatest inventions.


F r u i t and n u t c o o k i e s
makes about 25-30 cookies

170 g liquid butter-oil (flytande smör/rapsolja)
170 g brown sugar (farinsocker)
30 g caster sugar (strösocker)
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
2-3 tbsp water
110 g wheat flour + pollard (vetemjöl + kruskakli eller vetekli)
(I'm not very finical with the split between flour and pollard, go with the flow)
½ tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground cinnamon
230 g porridge oats (havregryn)
50-150 g raisins (depending on how much you enjoy raisins)
180 g mixed nuts and seeds (I usually go for sunflower seeds, almonds and hazelnuts, but walnuts and pecans are nice too)

:: Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Prepare two large baking sheets with baking paper.

:: Use electric mixer to beat butter and sugar together until pale colour and creamy. Then add egg with water and vanilla extract. Blend everything.

:: Sift flour, salt, bicarbonate, cinnamon into butter mix. Then add oats, raisins, nuts and seeds.

:: Use cookie scoop to shape cookies, put the cookies on baking sheet, flatten them slightly. Place them about 5 cm apart.

:: Bake in centre of oven for about 15 minutes. Edges should be slightly crispy, middle still soft. Remove from oven, let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes, then transfer them to a cooling rack. When cool they will have become crunchier.

Will keep in a tin for some days. Freeze well.

twitter junta

"Syjunta" = sew circle/junta used to be a popular kind of social gathering amongst women/housewives once upon a non-emancipated time in Sweden. And I suppose in many other countries too. Like a book circle, but with yarn, needles, fabric, hooks instead. Plus food, drink and the exchanging of ideas. (Or quite possible simply gossip for the less intellectual, more narrow-minded...).

Sadly this tradition has petered, times have changed, for better and for worse. For me, and obviously for a whole lot of other emancipated modern women, needlework, spending time with yarn and hook is very far from a traditionally housewifey thing to do. It's just a fine thing to do, satisfying to be able to create something from a ball of yarn, a piece of fabric, whether alone, travelling or in a social gathering of some sort.

Someone (not me) came up with the idea that people (tweeps) on Twitter who like to knit, crochet, sew, embroider, well anything artsy craftsy really, should meet up for a Twitter junta. In theory something that sounded like a nice idea indeed.

But to be honest, just because you like to read this and that blog, or follow this and that person on Twitter, it really doesn't mean you're either interested in seeing them irl (for various reasons) or that if/when you do meet them it'll feel as right irl as it does online (for various reasons also).

I've always been (and will always be) quite sceptical when it comes to the group-thing. These past few years I've come to realize that I really don't do the group-thing. Not me, not interested really. Not that I'm anti-social, far from, I'm just in general more of a one-on-one person. To pick that one brain, to hang with that one person at a time, that I love (which in a group situation is naturally far from always possible). Which is a nice feeling to finally simply acknowledge like that. I don't do the group-thing.

I suppose this reasoning about group structures would be interesting to elaborate in a blogpost one day. Because human (and otherwise) interaction and behaviour is of course very interesting (and often disheartening, since the world is what it is as a whole...). But this neither that blogpost nor that day.

But to every rule there are exceptions. Lovely exceptions. Exceptions that really make life that grand place of good surprises and gifts it should be far more often that it seemingly is.

The first Twitter junta occasion took place during my sore thumb-period, I didn't attend. Today was the second occasion and I showed up. Bringing vegetable pie and semi-healthy fruit-nut cookies. And yarn, needles and hook. We were six women (but crafty men also allowed) and the most adorable (second to loafie of course) black-white shaggy perfect yarnbally looking dog (sadly no great photos to show the adorableness).

We potluck ate, drank, talked, knitted, crocheted. I managed to satisfyingly lend a rather substantial helping hand to a couple of yarn-projects, we talked some more, exchanged food and I have to say that it was a really nice gathering of yarny tweeps indeed. It could have been an awkward occasion, draining, tiresome in that clamped group-thing way.

Instead it turned out to be relaxed, inspiring, fun and unpretentious. I'm pretty sure with another tweep group structure, like any group structure, it could have been quite the opposite, a sure shot that hit the goal post, a certain one time thing. But I'm glad it wasn't. Instead I'm quite looking forward to the next Twitter junta meetup in about a month. A bright tweetlight in the not so bright times of me right now.

Yarn bring people together. Yarn is good. And Twitter can be good too.