Another give-away...

In order for me to have a chance to win a lamb's fleece I was requested to link this... Check it out - they have asummary in English and really wonderful photos.
Besök bloggen Livet på landet i Drefseryd där kan du vinna ett mjukt, härligt lammskinn från gårdsbutiken i Drefseryd.

Spinning 24-7! NB - includes an unbelieveable give-away!

See, it's spinning allright!


A few days ago, Jeanette from Handmade innocently asked me if I can spin, innocently because she just wanted to know and because she didn't know what she was starting. I answered - yes, I can spin. And started spinnning. And have been spinning ever since.

If your wool is a little dirty and not washed very well, it still contains lots of lanolin (the natural grease in wool). If you then spin in front of an open fire it gets warm and much easier to separate and spin. The wool I used was washed and dyed and actually more suited for felting, but it worked out allright, I think!

It's no coincidence that it is the spider that stings Snowwhite in the fairytale. Once bitten you either fall asleep or fall in to trance, hypnotized by the spinning spider. (Which in Swedish is called "slända" which in English means dragonfly, by the way.) Apart from the fun of having homespun yarn to knit or give away (I'll get back to that) it's a very peacegiving activity.

This is the spider with some yarn and a testknitting. You must like an uneven structure to enjoy this yarn. But if you go and buy it in a store you'll have to pay extra for that same effect...

...which is why I'm giving away a little skein of 28 grams handspun yarn in an exuberant emerald green, named by yours truly to Unstoppable Irish Green. It's not much but it's handmade by your own helylle blogger, it can be used for trimming a pair of mittens or something like that.

This is a test before the real 100th-post-give-away that's coming up extremely soon! All you do is comment and I'll draw a winner next Saturday!

Does it really work??

This is a test! If I succeded you will have a nostalgic trip back to when sweaters in no sense meant comfort and cosy - but elegance and effort...





Thanks to Eleanor and Ellie!

Gin & tunic

Don't know if you've heard but I'm a great fan of gin&tonic. My weekend at best starts with a G&T around 5 am and that's it, I'm in a extremely good mood and need no more. This weekend was different, I made a tunic! That put me in a very good mood too!

It's made of lavender linen and insertion in a vintage cotton fabric.

C'est moi - in a known pose. Please note the pink sneakers, I love them!

When your bathroom looks like this.....

...you must remember to enjoy the pretty things around you.

And if showering is a problem due to a handyman turning the water off, it's good to cover yourself in seductive fragances. Just kidding.

My daughter accused me of not having any opinions in my blog. She's totally wrong, of course, but it's typically teenagerish to think that opinions have to be howled to be noticed. See, that's an opinion right there!

Anyway, here's another:

Wrath and wreath

Tea, popcorn, knitting and the Swedish Idol. My weekend went quietly. Apart from a few hours on Saturday when I did some rioting at the local hospital when they meant to send my father-in-law home without medication (after spending 4 weeks there trying to fix his angina pectoris). They suggested that this 80-year old man should take a walk down town to collect his medicins. I suggested they give him enough drugs till Monday morning till we had a chance to fix it for him - or keep him there. Which he of course didn't wish. Anyway, he's home now and got his medicin with him.

I made a wreath, of local stuff. That means I rummaged the neighbour's hedges late at night, when walking the dog, accidently with scissors in hand.

Halloween is coming up. That's a new custom in Sweden, we didn't celebrate it at all when I was growing up. That's an effect of globalization, I guess. It's nice to have a reason to light some extra candles in the darkness. The bad thing about it is that nobody really knows when you're supposed to go trick-or-treating so you've got to keep candy at home for a week. Firstt time my kids went out they came home crying because the old people in the neighbourhood had eaten all their candy. Not from evil, but from mistaking halloween for Lucia when kids go round offering candy instead og collecting it!

P.S. I thought I was extremely witty with the wreath and wrath-thing... And, by the way, if I don't post the next couple of days it's because I'm preparing for a way to celebrate the 100th post!!

What's up?

A beautiful autumn day. Clear and crisp and the beginning of autumn break - if you're still inte schooling business, which I'm not anymore. At least for the time being.

I dread the coming week. All girls home from school all day, having tea with friends, making cupcakes and leaving thousands of crumbs for me to tread in when I get home from work. Grumpy? Not me. I've been here before. So I know that will also be a cupcake left for me when I get back to my senses!

This is what our humble garden looks like today.

Catching a little glimpse of the weak and soft sunlight.A little collection of our findings. We are a family of gatherers, hardly can walk the dog without bringing home sticks, leaves, chestnuts, feathers, rocks and, weel, anything that appeals to the eye no matter why. Which also explains why the porch is decorated in this manner.And this is what I try to do. Read and knit. For you non-Swedish people; see if you can find anything of Majgull Axelsson in translation, she is a talented writer with experiences from different parts of the world, but more than anything describes a typical Swedish melancholia, a bittersweet longing for something that we lost and didn't know we had. Makes sense?

Knitting is Noro blossom and will transform into a very simple shawl with time.

By the way, I've joined a choir, a church choir, and my return to choir stage will be performing Fauré's Requiem in the cathedral in Lund on nov 16th... That's no pick-nick, let me tell you.

I wasn't prepared for that kind of repertoire - was actually hoping we would start rehearsing all the Christmas hymns and songs I love - but they were all so happy I came so I can't back out now. And quite honestly, I can't resist the music!

Grey is a colour too...

This time a year people often say to me that it's nice to see someone dressed in colours - not that I don't wear black, grey or brown too - because everything turns so grey. But grey is a wonderful colour, I think! In moderate portions. Thing is, it's sometimes hard to be too bright in a soft, greyish autumn day in my part of the world.

The biblical phrase "there's a time for everything" probably applies for this too.

Photo last couple of posts: Ylva, technical genious of this house (but even she can't master the lousy camera totally).