Hurrah for MARCH!!! Hurrah for my newsletter turning 1!
In this newsletter…
An exciting in-person class announcement
Meet the Bonny Bobble
Swedish folk costume, as usual
Pom-poms and BEYOND!
While it doesn’t quite look like the above painting by Tove Jansson here in Sweden yet, it is definitely the energy I am bringing to March and this letter to you. This newsletter marks ONE YEAR of sending out these monthly missives! Big big thanks to you all and I look forward to the ones yet to come.
These newsletters have reminded me of the dedication I had in my teens and twenties for letter writing. I would spend hours of my week carefully handwriting letters to my friends, some long and some short, using my fountain pen, delighting in the satisfying attempt of conveying myself through the written word. While these newsletters are not literally written in green ink and sent to you with a stamp, they still allow me to access that creative well of communication I loved so dearly and which was so close to my heart at a tender age.
It has been really fun to realize the connection between these forms of writing and to remember that it’s okay for the ways in which we enjoy things to change whether that’s connections, forms of creativity, or what to what one is dedicated.
This month I have been a busy bumblebee! I have gotten some sewing energy back, which feels really nice after a few weeks of not sewing in late Jan/early Feb. I went on a little adventure to Italy to visit a friend at the beginning of last month and came back ready to dive into projects.
ANNOUNCING MY IN - PERSON CLASS:
MITTENS IN SWEDISH “TWINED” KNITTING
NORTH HOUSE FOLK SCHOOL - GRAND MARAIS, MINNESOTA
I am so excited to let you be the first to know that I will be teaching an in-person class at North House Folk School in June!
If you were following along in the fall, you know I learned and became delighted by a Swedish knitting technique called tvåändsstickning, or twined knitting. I am happy to say that I will be traveling to Minnesota to share this new interest with others.
I have known about the school for a long time and am so excited to be in the north woods over midsummer. Join me for two days of relaxing and fun knitting on the shores of beautiful Lake Superior, and maybe even stay for the school’s Wooden Boat Weekend on the following days.
The class description:
Learn the historic knitting technique of “twined” knitting, or tvåändsstickning, which is unique to Sweden and parts of Norway. This style of knitting is characterized by and differs from ordinary knitting by having two ends of yarn which you alternatively use for every other stitch. By twisting the yarns in this way you create a durable and very warm material. Historically twined knitting was used primarily in mittens and socks but also was used for knitted sleeves of sewn bodices. It was favored because of its strength and warmth, especially in the forested areas of Sweden of logging work. The technique is now on the UNESCO list of living cultural heritage for Sweden. In this two-day class we will begin to work on a pair of striped mittens, using special “Z-spun” yarn from Wålstedts Spinneri in Sweden. On the first day, we will learn to cast on and work on our technique. On the second day, we will shape the thumb gusset and continue our work.
I look forward to teaching more classes both in New England and further afield in the coming months! Be sure to be subscribed to this newsletter if you want to be the first to know about my classes. :)
Bobble Pattern Release!
I was super happy to release my FREE knitting pattern last week, the Bonny Bobble. It comes with instructions to make a super cool type of i-cord that was taught to me by my high school textile teacher, which I use whenever I need a sturdy drawstring or thick piece of cord.
If you are subscribed, you got an email with the pdf attached. You can also find it here:
It was very interesting to release a knitting pattern, and it is a big goal of mine to release more in the coming months. Let’s just say… I have a lot to learn! I am so grateful to my test knitters for trying out the pattern for me and making beautiful bobbles.
You can also find and save the pattern on Ravelry here.
Ok, now that my announcements are taken care of, what have I been up to??
February has been a generally cheerful month, full of red clothes and days growing lighter and lighter. Huzzah! School has kept me busy, I am continuing with the two projects I started last month, the sheepskin dress and the hand sewn bodice. Of course I have found also somehow found some time to squeeze in a few other things to scratch my creative itches…
The sheepskin dress project (which is a school project) is chugging along. It has been really fun because the decorative elements have evolved as I go, like the back details and front decorations. I am very inspired by the local folk costume bodices, so I did some appliqué in reindeer skin leather on the front in a similar design to what is found on the antique bodices.
Leksandsdräkt livstycken - Digitalt Museum
For this assignment this project can be whatever type of dress we want, it does not have to be folk costume, but I decided that this was the type of garment I would like to put my energy into. It has been very interesting working with leather and making a big piece of work like this. I don’t know if I will actually wear it, but it feels like part of my artistic evolution interacting with and being inspired by folk tradition.
Hand Sewn Bodice
Perhaps I mentioned last month that our hand sewing project this quarter is to recreate a bodice from a nearby village in our size, and one in the size of our weaving partner who made the fabric. It is going well, and at least one of them should be done by next month! I am hoping to wear mine to a midsummer celebration in Minnesota…
Red Dress
This dress design has been in the back of my mind for a while now, it probably is trending somewhere, but I mentally bookmarked it to make for this summer. So what do you do in February in Sweden? Make twirly summer dresses, of course!
The fabric here was found at the thrift store and is a crisp cotton. The pattern is self-drafted.
Lastly, over the past month I have been taking a class in a local village on traditional embroidery and yarn techniques, called “påsöm”. Here is my first project of hopefully many:
We also covered a few pom-pom and yarn tufting techniques, which I have been very excited about exploring ever learning about Sweden’s history of them in folk clothing.
Some recent explorations of the method have included these big pompoms and the border technique on a headband. I love the joy these things bring, and I hope you enjoy them too!
recommendations
Beverage of the Month (guest spot by my sister Rosy) is Peppermint Matcha Green Tea: “Brew a small cup of peppermint tea that is very potent. Blend in the matcha powder in the hot tea water and foam some whole milk to put on top.” Thank you Rosy!
I have started listening to this audiobook and now I feel like I am part of a secret club of people who know about this book (and now I am telling you). One friend described it as a cross between The Mists of Avalon and Anna Karenina…!!!!!!!
I was privileged as a young person to attend schools on acres of beautiful lands, and now the campus of a semester school I attended is in the process of rematriation to the indigenous community whose original home it is. If you got to spend meaningful time learning on stolen land as a young person, if you have ever spent time in the Sierra foothills of California, if you want to support something I really believe in, I hope you will join me in donating to this cause. I am working with my classmates to fundraise $1,300 as a goal for our semester group. It’s time to show up for land rematriation!
At the aforementioned semester school we studied peace, justice, and sustainability. One of my mentors from that time now runs NOFA-VT and writes a substack that so eloquently illuminates thoughts of peace, change, grief, and justice. It is truly a joy and solace to read and I highly reccomend subscribing:
As Grace writes in her potent newsletter above,
In “The Gift”, a work on creativity and an economy based on gift and reciprocity rather than scarcity and hoarding, Lewis Hyde wrote “we are only alive to the degree that we can let ourselves be moved.” I am at once moving towards stillness, and letting stillness move me to act. I am trying to get quiet enough to hear the whole above the din of my own racket. And then to sing for peace.
I would love to hear any thoughts from you all in the comments. It makes me very happy to hear from you! What are you making/unmaking? What is springing forth in your bioregion? What is moving you?
From my hands,
Lily
Hi Lily!! I just wanted to say thank you so much for sharing your journey and process while going to school for folk arts in Sweden. It has been so so so inspiring. Makes me happy to see people pursuing their passions and callings in unconventional ways.