We're Back!

Hello everyone :-)
We returned safely from Norway a few days ago. We had a wonderful time, quite a bit of rain, but also enough sunshine for various outdoor activities. Like spinning, for example :-) (Well, yes, I do admit it's not exactly an outdoor activity per se - but it's fun to spin outside for a change!)

This photo was taken at the lake of Hagalid, a very small place up in the mountains of Hjelmeland:

A beautiful place, and so quiet and peaceful! I spent quite a while sitting on a stone and spinning while Twisted and both our husbands engaged in more exciting activities, catching trouts for our dinner :-)
At this point let me just say that getting a fishing permit for lakes in Norway is not something you should try - it's hopeless! Nobody seems to know where to send you and it was quite frustrating, especially since it seemed so easy when we read about it before we actually went there and found out. Luckily you don't need a permit for fishing in the ocean, so that's what we (that is to say, everyone but me ;-)) did in the end.

We also visited Landa, a prehistoric settlement and now a living history centre. We encountered a cute little black pig, a few bunnies, some wild sheep who were actually shedding their wool but were too quick for us to go and collect some, and - we found the spindles ;-) There were two baskets of fibre, a few spindles, and no one in sight, so we just presumed the tools were there for everyone to try and we kind of pounced on them :-D

After a while, a small group of other visitors came by and I think I heard one of the boys watching us spin say something like "vad kul", which is "how cool" in Swedish and probably something similar in Norwegian. I did like that :-D

We also collected a few mushrooms, my companions caught more fish, and we rented a small motorboat and spent a good part of two days on the fjord. All in all - a wonderful vacation :-)

Odds and Ends

There's nothing new, really, I just wanted to let you know we haven't forgotten our blog readers ;-)

I still can't spin on a wheel, but I'm feeling a lot better and can walk again, though not without pain.

We won't be able to participate in the Tour de Fleece this year, because we'll be on vacation. Which reminds me: we will close the shop for about two and a half weeks (starting Thursday morning, our time zone), so if you need some yarn before we leave, be quick ;-)

I'm planning a new knitting project to take with me to Norway (yes, that's where we'll be going :-)) and have decided on the Myrtle Leaf Shawl (ravelry link) from Victorian Lace Today. I'll be using handspun and hand dyed dark greenish/blueish icelandic wool which has been lying around for a few months now. Hopefully I'll make enough progress to show you when I return. But I also need to work on the Scarf of HoRRoR, so we'll see... ;-)

I have taken advantage of my non-spinning situation by creating this beautiful shawl pin from hammered silver wire:

...which I have then bartered for delicious redcurrant and elderflower/orange jelly :-) I had registered for a German trading forum previously, that's where the trade took place. I already have a request for another pin like this and I'll be swapping it for handmade glass beads I can spin into yarn. I hope to show them to you when I get back!

We'll be back at the end of July - take care and be creative! :-)