A late Easter post
Made by my son
An Adventure, cont'd
While in Minneapolis viewing the beautiful holdings at the American Swedish Institute...
reindeer skin pouch decorated with beads
Sámi gákti
woven bands on bells
knitted socks and mittens
birch bark bag
...we did other fun Sámi things, like visit North America's first Sámi themed coffee house. The Lavvu Coffee House is owned and operated by Chris Pesklo, a Minnesota native of Sámi ancestry, whose other jobs are lavvu builder and former Social Studies teacher. His Lavvu website can be found at http://www.lavvu.com/index.html. Lavvu are the tipi-like tents Sámi traditionally made and travel with.
North America's only Sámi inspired coffee house
Dinkytown, MN
lavvu coffee
knitting in the lavvu
working on a Sámi mitten in the coffee house
We also visited Ikea for the first time. Wow. It's like furniture Disneyland! We purchased a few things, and I briefly considered moving there.
Tomorrow: my first trip to Decorah, Iowa, and the motherland of all museums: The Vesterheim!
April
Today is Tuesday, April 2. It is the beginning of a busy week, after two busier ones.
Yesterday, the kids went back to school after a two week Spring Break. April 1 is a bit of a tradition in this house, though. For the past four or five years, I have served a joke dinner as my contribution toward April Fools. This year, it was meatloaf and peas and carrots. It all sounds rather hearty, until you learn that the meatloaf was made of crushed cocoa rice crispies, and the peas and carrots were Jelly Belly candies.
candy meatloaf
You don't have to clean your plate to get dessert!
Never were the kids so happily obliging to eat meatloaf.
We had two kids as guests for dinner, and, unlike normal meals, there was very little complaining, except for me and one son: he didn't eat and I felt a little sick afterwards. This is the price I pay for fun!
Two weeks ago, the five of us drove up to Minnesota for weekend at the beginning of break. I got to visit the American Swedish Institute and their current exhibition on the Sámi, called Eight Seasons in Sámpi, the land of the Sámi People. If you are close, please check it out! It is excellent: the same exhibit Seattle's Nordic Museum had last year, most of it on loan from Ájtte, the Sámi museum in the Northern part of Sweden. The ASI had a new component, however: they put out a call for local people to bring in other Sámi artifacts which could be put on display. As a result, they got a lovely collection of textiles and handcrafts that showcase the handiwork of a wide area of Sámpi.
crocheted hat
woven belts and laces
Through it I also got to meet a new friend, Eleanor. She has collected Swedish and Sámi textiles over quite a number of visits to Sweden. Most of the Sámi display cases contributed by local people come from her collection. She brought many more for me to see. We toured the Sámi displays, ate lunch together, and generally had a great time meeting one another for the first, but hopefully not last, time!
Eleanor
Sámi sawtooth knitted mittens
More on our trip to Minnesota next time!
The other bit of Defarge
Today I thought I'd blog about my other two projects in Defarge, deux. "TWO projects?" you say. But, I thought you had only three knit designs in it?
My, you are smart! Here's the deal: one of the items is loosely based on an earlier American author (who in turn based it on an even older time in Massachusetts history). The other project is based on yesterday's project, and is offered free (for a limited time only!), if you sign up on the email list. Here's the email list ( <--click there). After a 24-hour email blitz, the project will only be available for cost on Ravelry or through this site. A Knit-Along based on this knit design is currently being planned, and will probably be mid-April. A Knit-Along is a virtual knit circle, the members of which knit the same project together.
Here are the obligatory, beautiful up-close shots:
third project in W(e)WMDfK?
designed and knit by Stashmuffin
third project in W(e)WMDfK?
designed and knit by Stashmuffin
third project in W(e)WMDfK?
designed and knit by Stashmuffin
email project from W(e)WMDfK? Available after book release on my site
designed and knit by Stashmuffin
email project from W(e)WMDfK? Available after book release on my site
designed and knit by Stashmuffin
email project from W(e)WMDfK? Available after book release on my site
designed and knit by Stashmuffin