can yarn hold laughter?

i went to the yarn shop the other day for some glittery yarn to use in the weft of my reputation tea towels. i saw a vest that looked easy and ended up buying two colorways of yarn for knitting it (the yellow and the pink you can see in this basket). i started the yellow one the other night. i'm still a beginner and i have this habit of forgetting how to purl if i haven't done it for awhile. even looking at this picture, i can see some mistakes. 

i took it to the knitting/weaving group last evening. i admitted that i had forgotten how to purl. the lovely ladies laughed at me, and then they helped me. and they loved the colors i had chosen. we laughed a lot while i relearned how to purl and i hope that all that laughter got knitted right into my vest. the idea of that appeals to me. i want to feel that laughter when i wear the vest. 

 

in the company of women

i have, over the past year, found a really awesome group of women friends to hang out with. one of them was able to borrow her sister's summer house near the west coast this past weekend and we spent a truly blissful 24 hours there together.

earlier in the week, we had been to a salon evening, where we got these red yarn bracelets, which we were to wear for three days with the purpose of looking at it and meditating on all of the happiness and good luck we would have in the new year. we decided already then to take them with us to the beach and release them into the north sea, in a kind of ceremony.

so we each took off our bracelet and released it into the sea in our own fashion. but it felt powerful as we stood there together, giving the little bit of yarn a last moment of silent, individual good intentions for 2014, before sending it out into the waves to be free.

then we wandered down the rock-strewn beach. so funny that just a few weeks ago, there were a few shells on the beach, but no stones at all and now it's covered with stones. (tho' i will grant that this is a different beach, a bit farther north).

we found a small beach ball in the waves and kicked it around a bit. this despite being five grown women. our little groups formed and reformed as we all walked and talked and enjoyed being together in a setting apart from our everyday.

after our trip to the beach, we retired back to the warm summer house, where a fire was soon burning merrily in the wood-burning stove. we got out our art supplies and began both the drink and the draw phase of the weekend. i made a gin cocktail (of course), using homemade pear-ginger cordial as a base. we each brought something to share (both wine and food).

we ate a tuna mousse with some very good bread, followed by a gorgeous fish soup and then my chocolate pots with salted caramel in the bottom for dessert. all along, there was wine. late in the evening, after the crochet lessons (i really learned how to make a granny square this time!), we turned to pomegranate gajol and a smoky laphroaig whiskey that i brought along. happily, lots of laughter and water in between kept it from going totally wrong the next day.

we don't really have any rules for drink and draw, but we did decide that we all had to draw the little silvery fish we saw on the beach in some form or another. other than that, we all indulged in whatever we wanted to. several of us are using an old book as the base, humument style. we had quite some fun reading from one of the books, which had a lot of illustrations as well. old books provide a surprising base for creativity. my own is called talismanen (the talismen) and tho' it's about knights and such, there are meaningful words on every page if you select carefully.

there was much laughter and sharing and deep, serious conversations as well. it all felt very, very good for the soul. i don't know what it is, but as i grow older, i find that more and more i crave hanging out with women friends. our spouses and families weren't far from our thoughts or our conversation, but it was good to just be together, eating, drinking and drawing and even singing. and crocheting. just the girls.

scenes from a weekend on the west coast of denmark

i went away for a weekend drink & draw with my posse of amazing women who make me laugh. we borrowed a wonderful summer house and stayed up very late learning to crochet, talking, laughing and drinking a bit too much wine, gajol (a licorice-flavored tipple), laphroaig and gin cocktails. we also ate some amazing food. but i'm pretty exhausted, so i'll have to tell you all about it soon. these photos of our walk down to the beach, where the north sea was crashing to shore with strangely yellowish-brown rather angry-looking waves, will have to suffice for now. and i totally want that little steep-roofed magical fairytale house in the last photo, don't you? it was quite amazing, coming up over the dunes to see it. kind of like stumbling onto how i imagined denmark would look in reality, after all these years.

here's hoping your weekend was amazing too.

don't mess with a typhoon

once upon an august in the south china sea, there was a typhoon. there was also a group of 30 people who were working very hard in the delightful surroundings of the club punta fuego in batangas, philippines. the sheets of rain outside made it easier for them to stay inside and work diligently. but three days into the workshop, they were ready to let off a bit of steam.

so they went for a late-night dip in the infinity pool. it may have been raining, but it was 30 degrees C outside, so a little rain didn't matter.

accompanying them on this swim was a lovely bottle of limoncello. the delightful lemony goodness made them laugh a lot and left them feeling a bit daring and invincible. there was a small group who had been in phuket together at another workshop and they had fond memories of an afternoon spent playing in the waves of the andaman sea. but this was the south china sea and they were on the edge of a typhoon. and it was very, very dark.

however, the now smaller group of three (of the fond memories) decided to brave the steps down to the beach, where the waves were pounding in. the water was warm and wild and they laughed and laughed and shouted into the wind. it made them feel very alive, being there in that place, experiencing that storm up close. the waves were so wild that they were soon covered in sand and their towels, which had been left on the stairs were swept away. one of the three, uncomfortable with all of the sand that had filled his swimming trunks, took them off. and it was only discovered some time later that they too were swept away. along with his glasses. eventually, they began to feel they had sand in places it shouldn't be (ears, for example) and it began to seem dangerous and foolhardy, so the trio made their way back to the bungalows. one of them now stark naked and without his keycard.

however, he was unbothered by this, as he was sure that the door to his bungalow was open on the inside and he had only to knock on his neighbor's door (who was also at our workshop and not a complete stranger) and he would be let into his own room and saved the embarrassment of going down to the front desk for a new keycard without a stitch of clothing on. so, the other two went on towards their bungalows and left him standing at his neighbor's door.

the next morning, the neighbor told his side of the story...how he answered his door in the middle of the night, only to find his fifty-something neighbor standing there buck naked and wanting to come in. as he said, "he didn't even have the decency to pick a leaf." as it turned out the door between the rooms wasn't open, so the two gentlemen spent the night together (there were two beds, so it isn't as racy as it sounds). and much, much, much laughter was had by all.

and luckily, the naked (now clothed) gentleman headed for his flight and even managed to get on it, rather than falling asleep in a chair and having to wait to the next day (like that other time in phuket), but that's another story for another day.

to this day, the occasional stray piece of sand still comes out of my ears.

laughter really is the best medicine

this morning, husband and i watched BBC World over a cup of tea. there must not be that much newsworthy going on in the world because they had a long piece on the queen's opening of parliament speech (which i think happens later today or tomorrow). they talked about the traditions and the myths and in general the whys and wherefores of the whole ceremony. but the most hilarious tradition is that they actually hold an MP hostage at buckingham palace during the speech in order to ensure the safe return of the monarch. for some reason that struck me as very, very funny and i laughed and laughed and it seemed to go a long ways towards dispelling my case of SAD, which could well have simply continued due to the fact that it's again dark, grey and there's not even a hint of sunshine in the sky. it seems that laughter is indeed the best medicine.

and now i am preparing to go into the big city of copenhagen for the day. i have my second interview at 1 p.m. and i'm going to do a bit of antiquing before that. we're on the lookout for a fireplace set--one of those little sets with a broom, a poker and whatever the other thing is (aren't there usually 3 things)..a little shovel, perhaps? i want an antique one, rather than an over-designed brushed steel typical modern one. there must be some around in the antique stores because at one time every apartment in copenhagen had at least one wood-burning stove in it. funny how having a mission also chases SAD away.

the fact that sabin went to school dressed like this this morning also helped:

i fear she's going to insist on wearing that nisse costume every day for the rest of the month. i'll have to sneak in a wash when she takes it off at night. because she won't try to sleep in it, will she?

thanks for all of the good advice yesterday on fighting off SAD, i'll definitely bake something soon and will try to get out there in that rainy weather and get some exercise. as the danes say, there's no bad weather, just being badly dressed for the weather. so it's a matter of having the right waterproof gear on if you want some fresh air.