quietly making

My youngest was sitting quietly by the yarn basket for a while. Finger knitting. Making jewelry for mama.

And mama was sitting quietly by night, drinking a glass of wine. Making a mobile of some of her small finds. And yes, it is a wasp nest. So delicate and perfect.

Another Wash Wednesday

Hanging up the laundry can be quite meditative,  and I find that the well known movements of bending down, picking up, shaking and unfurling the fabric, and fastening with the clothes pegs usually makes me feel at peace and grounded. Sometimes it's simply a matter of sensing the rhythm of my movements, feeling my breathing slowing down a bit and my thoughts relaxing and not being occupied with things I have to do next. And sometimes it makes my thoughts wander in time and place.

I often find myself thinking about the past while hanging up my laundry. I have a lot of really old dish towels, towels, table napkins, table cloths and bed clothes. Some thrifted, and some inherited. Being in this almost altered state of mind makes me feel sort of connected to the women who made these things. I wonder about the initials carefully and beautifully embroidered at towels and linens. I appreciate all the time and solicitude put into making and decorating everyday items. And I feel thankful for having them, and thankful because all of these handmades reminds me of the necessity of taking care of things and mending - not discarding!

I especially treasure the things my grand mother made. She knitted these towels, and as they're used and becoming worn and thin I treasure them even more.

These towels also brings my thoughts back in time, but not that far back. They were used for swaddeling one of my babies right after being born. I clearly remember searching out the softest, organic towels for my unborn. And how they were warmed in the oven while I gave birth, at home in a big round bath tub. And how she was wrapped the minute she emerged from the water. Hanging on the line now they're still glowing with the light that enveloped us right after the birth.

(picture taken by my 5 year old:)

The other day I suddenly found myself being around ten years old, and back in my childhood home. I was hanging up the laundry, and I reached down for the clothes pegs in the pocket of an apron tied around my waist. I vaguely remembered some green chequered fabric ... - Why on earth didn't I have an apron like that now? So I went to my fabric stash and found some old bed linen I rescued from being cut up and used for cleaning purposes by my mother in law. And some bias tape I thrifted a long time ago finally found its purpose.

It was fun making this, I just took a couple of measurements and drew a couple of lines directly on the fabric before cutting. And now I can wear the exact bed linen my husband slept in as a teenager! How great is that?!
I'm adding this to the other - about 8 things, i guess - I'm making for myself. So this is item #9 in my challenge of making ten things for myself solely made from fabric etc from my stash.

Sow cress ...

... and why not enjoy some rainbow colours as well! I used some of my plant dyed wool - and organic seeds.

Off to boil some eggs and take a walk in the tiny cress forest ...

Tutorial: How to plant dye (easter) eggs

You'll need:

· eggs - I don't blow them out, but you could do that if you want them to hang.
· alum (alun)
· paper towel
· aluminum foil
· dyestuff: I used logwood (blåtræ), cochineal (cochenille) and turmeric (gurkemeje). You can use other dye stuffs for dyeing wool/silk.
· leaves and flower petals
· a pot to dye in

THESE EGGS ARE NOT MEANT TO BE EATEN - SOLELY PLEASURE FOR THE EYES!!

 I think the pictures almost says it all, but here it goes:

· Tear aluminum foil to appropriate size for wrapping your eggs.
· Paper towel (double or triple layer) cut in approximately the same size. Moist the towel by sprinkling a bit of water on it. It doesn't need to be soaking wet.
· Sprinkle a pinch of alum on the moist paper towel. Use a tea spoon. Do not let small children handle alum - (it isn't poisonous, it's a salt extracted from clay, but anyway).

· place your leaves and flowers on the eggs. You can also draw on the eggs with a (colourless) bee wax crayon or similar - or wrap rubber bands around the eggs.

· Carefully wrap the eggs, first in the kitchen towel. And finish off with wrapping it all securely in the aluminum foil.
· Place the eggs in a pot, cover with water. If you use blown eggs, you'll need to press them down with a plate or a small pot lid.
· Bring the water to a simmer and let it simmer for several hours. (I think 6-7 hours will do, but the longer you boil them, the longer they'll last). Blown eggs can do with a couple of hours.
· Turn off the heat and let cool.
· Enjoy unwrapping the eggs. This is so much fun and definitely the best part of it all - according to my children.
· If necessary, carefully rinse the eggs in cold water.

They won't last forever (since they aren't blown out). That's how it's supposed to be. Next year we'll make new ones.

Please feel free to ask if you have any questions!

Mama's playing

Do you remember the feeling of being deeply engaged in play and hectically busy trying to make all your wonderful and exciting ideas happen? - I so love watching my children play, listening to their eager voices making plans, discussing and making agreements about the roles and the plot. And the flurry of activity to make the set up, the gathering of all the stuff needed. The incredible power of fantasy involved, where things are made or remade to serve a certain purpose. Oh, I do remember that feeling. And I'm thankfully reliving it, and trying my best to incorporate that special feeling in my grown up life. There's a great word for that feeling. Fantasy, right?


The tiny glowing light bulbs that suddenly emerged in my garden, waked by the first spring like smile on the face of the sun, made me feel so exited and inspired I had to do something.

And while the children went out in search of more of the yellow bulbs, I went to my sewing basket for needle and thread ...


... and made a brooch. Playing with ideas, materials and colours. Made it all up along the way. And had a great time, being aware of and enjoying that special feeling from my childhood.


The green fabric is wool, plant dyed with common reed (phragmites australis/tagrør), underneath's a scrap of linen (from the trousers my husband wore at our wedding) and the black fabric is from an old wool cardigan. Now adorning one of my latest lucky thrift finds; a spring jacket.

Have you experienced this feeling lately? Please leave a comment and share!

lost & knitting

The last couple of weeks I've been lost. Lost in parallel worlds. Absorbed in dangerous adventures, enthralled in magical forests and buried in good smelling sheets of paper.
Yes, I've been reading. Really lost-for-the-world reading. Cooking & reading. Brushing teeth & reading. Wishing knitting & reading (and perhaps driving & reading) was possible!

Well, my bad conscience brought me back to this world. And great gifts from my mom.

She spun some lovely merino ...

... and asked me to knit something for little S from it.

But the knitting needles was just for me. Handmade knitting needles! Made from the brown core of a branch of a laburnum tree (guldregn). If you're the lucky owner of such a tree (or know somebody that are) now is the time to cut a branch or two, before spring makes the the sap rise.
Just carve off the bark and outer wood till you reach the darker wood (the outer wood is yellow, so you won't be in doubt). Make points and some sort of rounded ends. Smooth and polish with sandpaper.


My mom calls them dogma knitting needles. Says they're meant for knitting with unwashed, unspun wool! Well, I don't know about that, but I sure love these knitting needles!

I would also love some suggestions considering the yarn and what to knit. I'd love to make a vest for S, but I need some inspiration and/or a great knitting pattern for handmade yarn.

Love and embroidery

I've made a crown to celebrate Valentine's Day - some vintage ribbon with hearts and a little embroidered bird singing of love.


As a side note here on Valentine's Day, I'm always thinking of my beloved grandmother while embroidering. She died a couple of years ago, and all of her embroidery yarn and her sewing box went to me. And even though my embroidery skills are very poor compared to hers I think she would be happy knowing I'm having as much fun with the yarn as I'm sure she had.

I also made a crown in celebration of winter - well, maybe it isn't so obvious but to me it's winter birds flying in a wintry landscape - and some winter stars!

Now I'll go and see if the love of my life would care to join me for a glass of wine and Love Actually (link to pics and music from the movie on YouTube) - a suitable amusement for Valentine's Day, right? Love that movie ...

Waldorf doll - Pearl

Recently it occured to me, that I haven't ever taken pictures of the dolls I make (and sell). And all of the - well, many, many toys and other playing acessories I've made since I had children. I think I'll have to remember once in a while in the future. Because I so easily forgets all about what I've made. This is for my bad memory :)

This doll is a 32 cm high, and have jointed limbs. It's the first doll I've made with this pattern from this book. I like jointed limbs, since it makes it easier for the dolls to sit. And all little mothers like their babies to sit nicely in their chairs.

Her hair is made of mohair bouclé and she has got a silk scarf that I plant dyed with logwood (blåtræ).

Her dress is made of linen with embroidery and a scrap of silk appliquéd on the front. Her boots are knitted with angora yarn. So soft.

The diapers are made from a piece of nuno felt - which means wool felted onto fabric, in this case I used cotton gauze, then wool and some silk fibres on top.



The hat is crocheted and the underwear is knitted with some plant dyed wool/mohair yarn.

I make the features very simple and try to give the dolls a gentle and sweet expression. This doll already lives with her new little mother and I've been told she is very much loved and never left alone. It is such a satisfaction and joy to make dolls and toys for children that inspires to meaningful play.

Hot jewelry

I love jewelry, but don't like wearing it much. It feels so impractical and uncomfortable and it gets in my way when I'm working. So. I've been wanting to try to make soft and warm - and well, more practical - jewelry for a long time. Using wool felt and yarn. Embroidery thread, vintage buttons, amber, sea shells, ... oh, just about all the small things I like to collect, things I have lying around in my house in little boxes and bowls. You know!

This is my first try - a necklace, or rather a collar.

Crocheted in the round with some handspun organic alpaca, a leftover from a scarf. Silvery stems in freehand embroidery and leaves of wool felt.



The back side closure is a couple of vintage buttons. It is such a soft and light feeling wearing this. And if not hot, it actually feels quite warm on the neck.


Not fancy and not elegant. Rather simple and primitive, but I like it a lot!

(- and this is item #8 of things I've made for myself)

:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::

Update: skirt & hat

I never got around to blog about more things I made for myself. So here's a little update. Ta daa: #6 aka thrifted hat spiced up with embroidery and application
& #7 linen skirt with ehm ... bieser - sorry, don't know the english term for that.

I thrifted this lovely old angora/wool hat, but felt kind of old wearing it (know what I mean?) so I had to do something. A little embroidery and a lot of tiny plant dyed felt leaves did the trick, I think.

Didn't use any pattern or anything, just picked up a needle and went ahead. The pic doesn't do it justice, I'm rather satisfied with it actually.

No less than three pics needed to show you this ultra simple skirt! I had some lovely brown linen fabric in my stash, which I probably bought for making pants for one of the children.

Cut on the bias, elastic in waist and finished with .. eh, bieser. I don't think I've made a skirt for myself since school! So stupid of me, this was so quick and easy - and fun too! I didn't even buy a pattern, just traced another skirt I liked.

I love my new skirt. I restrained from adding flower power pockets and other fancy stuff, I think I'd ruin the simple organic tree-like quality doing so. But there better be some more fabric in that stash for another skirt, so I can go crazy with my new bias tape maker thingy :)

Recycling: from matchbox to gift box

I made these gift boxes some weeks ago, but would like to share with you now, since they'd be great for small gifts. The idea isn't mine, I saw it in a magazine, but have forgotten which one. It was so much fun making a forest floor on the small boxes.

Perhaps it's obvious, but here is a few guidelines:

You'll need some matchboxes (and what about old cigar boxes) and some fabric scraps. I had some old cotton velour curtains (remember Rogers, Therese?)
Cut fabric and glue onto the box, except from the bottom.
Find some twigs, acorns, moss, cones, leaf skeletons, bark with lichens etc, and glue on top of the box using a glue gun. I used the moss as filling and as a make over to hide the glue, a match is a good tool to poke the moss in place.

Another piece of fabric is glued into the sides of the "drawer", I used a tuft of wool underneath to make it soft looking.

Cut a piece of cardboard, using scalloped scissors or any decorative edge scissors and glue onto the bottom. Find some vintage buttons, jewelry or pretty crystals, and you're ready to go gifting.

Remember to save those matchboxes, I'll post more ideas for recycling!