The yarn dyeing lady of Iceland

So I have this obsession with yarn and knitting which leads to endless hours of knitting, wool balls all over the house and constant searching of wool shops and other knit-obsessed people wherever I am.
A few months ago, such a search led me to one of the "pearls" of wool handicraft here in Iceland. And it is just 30 km away.

Guðrún Bjarnadóttir, the "yarn dyeing lady of Iceland".

 Guðrún Bjarnadóttir is dyeing sheep yarn with natural colours from mostly Icelandic plants and lichens. Actually she started this as part of her studies of the Icelandic heritage in the field of botany. (She is writing her Master thesis about how the wikings used local plants and lichens for textile dyeing.) So she started to reinvent some of those techniques, got a handfull of big pots, wool from the neighbouring sheep farms and went out to pick plants and lichens. When visiting her in her little wool garage Hespuhús there are always wool balls slowly boiling or steeping in dark tinctures in the big pots. On the right hand side, there is big shelf filled with vibrantly colourful balls of wools while the plants and lichens rest in big bags, cans and bottling jars on the left side. The little Hespuhús was just built recently and Guðrún is doing well selling her colourful wool balls to all kinds of knitting ladies nationally and internationally.
I have visited the Hespuhús two times and have to watch out not to just empty my wallet in the presence of all those wooly treasures. On my first visit I bought two balls of alasca lupine dyed yarn which quickly were knitted into this scarf:

Scarf knitted of yarn dyed by Alasca lupine. I borrowed it to my friend Hraunkarl (lava guy) the other day. :)

 The last time I visited her was on the day of Icelandic nature in September. (I was a bit shocked, though, because Gauti and I had been the only visitors on that special day ...) That day, Guðrún was experimenting with the "dyeing lichen" Litunarskóf, Parmelia. They grow in many cliffs and rocks around the coastline and give a yellowish brownish colour.

The "dyeing lichen" Parmelia sp.

Slowly boiling with some wool balls.

Voilà: the result is a different range of brownish colours.

 It's very inspiring to chat with "the yarn dyeing lady of Iceland" and we have been talking about trying out to use some local fungi for yarn dyeing. (Scandinavians have been busy since many years trying this out and publishing books about it. And yes, Iceland has forests with fungi. Truely.) However, I had to promise not to come again with this fungi idea until she would have finished her Master thesis. She said, this idea is way too interesting and would just lead to procrastinating the thesis. (Why not, it's only a thesis and theses are overestimated., was my only thought, but I didn't say it aloud. ;) )

The quiet forest of Fulufjället

In March, Gauti and I went to Western Dalarna. Dalarna is the province which sometimes is called "the heart of Sweden". The midsommar tradition originated in Dalarna and the little wooden horse figures became one of the national symbols of the country. I love Western Dalarna because it has mountains, a crazy amount of snow and it is incredibly cosy. So March had arrived, but the ground was hidden under half a metre of crispy white snow and the temperatures regularly dropped under -10°C. I simply love this kind of weather and was practicing on my cross-country ski on the wide net of trails which is characteristic for many of the mountain landscapes of Sweden and Norway. Cross-country skiing became my new hobby during that winter. I was skiing on the slope of a mountain, over a mountain pass, around the mountain, through forests and through the bleak white landscape close to the top of the mountain. One day we went to the national park Fulufjället which hosts brown bears, the highest waterfall of Sweden and the oldest tree of the world. We were skiing through the quite forest but when the trail became steeper and more difficult we unbuckled the ski and walked the last kilometre to the waterfall. It was a wall of ice. No drop was moving. And I remember this little walk through the quiet snowy forest so well, carrying the ski on my shoulder which otherwise carry me so reliably. So I drew a picture of it.

Walking through the quiet snowy forest of Fulufjället national park in the Swedish province Dalarna ...

 

... carrying the cross-country ski on my shoulders.

Finished: the Icelandic pullover Sátt

Finally I'm finished with the lopapeysa (Icelandic pullover) for my Dad which I started knitting two months ago! (I think I am a slow knitter ... But knitting a bulky yarn pullover with a lighter yarn doesn't speed up a project either ...)
I really like this pullover and hope it will fit him (it is supposed to be a christmas present). Furthermore, I found the perfect picture-taking background for it: on the barb wire fence close-by a row of differently coloured wool pieces has been snagged (from the sheep going in and out under it).
I might have a good photographing day today. Here you go:

Sátt lopapeysa on the fence accompanied by small balls of white and brown sheep wool.

Close-up of the pattern. You also may call this photo: Pullover as integrated part of the landscape. (Arty, arty!)

I hope it will fit my Dad.

Little raw bounty cakes

One thing I love when going grocery shopping in Iceland is looking out for Solla food. Solveig Eíriksdóttir (called "Solla Eíriks") simply is Icelands master of healthy and incredibly tasty food. She has her own organic food label, runs two restaurants in Reykjavík and was awarded as the best raw food maker in the world in 2011 and 2012. Furthermore, she regularly publishes recipies on one of the big news sites of Iceland. Her food label Himneskt contains lots of unusual foods which this island has never seen before (and much of Europe neither, I guess): chia seeds, chlorella, lucuma, ashawaganda, or wheat grass, just to name some of them.
Quite wow, this woman! I simply love to dig through her sortiment and try out everything.

Solla Eíriks, the "best raw food maker in the world" and simply Icelands leading healthy and tasty food master.

Last weekend and today I have been trying out one cake and a muffin recipy inspired by her. And they are just so simply to make and yummy! So I want to share one of them here:

Little raw bounty cakes
Ingredients:
3/4 cup dates (dried)
1/2 cup water
2-3 tablespoons coconut oil
3 cups coconut flour
1/2 cup cocoa
2 tea spoons vanilla
2 table spoons honey or agave syrup
Some chopped fresh fruit to put on top of them, I used apricots but bananas fit as well.

Chop the dates and boil them for about five minutes with the water until they have softened enough to blend them well in a blender. Mix together all ingredients (apart from the fresh fruit), place them in muffin forms and put them into the freezer for about one to two hours. Take them out, place the fresh fruit on top and serve, voilà!

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Edit (20 Oct.): I wasn't content with the photos I posted yesterday, so I took some new ones right now. The landscape outside is frozen and crispy and this literally called for a new photography genre: raw frozen cakes in raw frozen landscape! I just might have found a new passion ...

Lazy Town, lazy nation?

I say the healthiest place to be in Iceland is being in a kindergarten. It's taken great care of the kids eating healthy, being often outside and moving a lot. Every day the kids and I get spoiled with lots of fruit, vegetables, whole grain foods, and freshly baked bread. We eat a lot of white fish and very little meat. And we are often outside, also in windy and rainy weather. Hence, the little Icelanders are healthy, happy and full of energy. They love to move. Sadly, quite a contrast to the grown-ups! Did you know that Iceland is the fattest nation of Europe? Did you know that Iceland has one of the highest vehicles-per-person ratio of Europe? Did you know that it is often said that the national food is the hot dog? Did you know that my two Italian friends got a shock when they went to an Icelandic hot pot for the first time because of the sight of fat people in tight swim suits? ;)
However, it is done a lot to keep the smallest of the nation healthy and agile. A few days ago, the kindergarten kids and we were invited to attend the "Lazy Town Sport's Day" in the little town Borgarnes. "Lazy Town" is a famous Icelandic TV series in which the sporty hero Sportacus comes to a little town in which everybody is lazy (hence the name "Lazy Town") and gets them to move. Honestly, I don't know much about the TV series but the kids know everything about it and run around in little "Lazy Town" T-Shirts and Sportacus costumes.

Sportacus, the athletic hero of the Icelandic TV series "Lazy Town".

In Borgarnes, Sportacus himself (personated by a nice looking, athletic actor though not the main actor himself) entertained the kids by standing on his hands and doing all kinds of morning workouts and little movement games. I felt entertained too and in the end he told the kids to give two extra applauses for all the kindergarten teachers that have been so diligent in taking part in all the exercises. (I'm so proud, yes, I am! :) ) It followed a sprint, ball-throwing, long jump, goal shooting practice and a jumping/crawling/balancing course. A guy with a cart was running around between the kindergarten groups handing out "sport candy" which consisted of cucumber chops and tomato quarters. At the end of the sport's day, the kids were proud like crazy. (Me too.) So the next day we did a little training with them in the kindergarten and I handed out gold medals to all of them (which I had crafted a few weeks ago).

Nevertheless, I wonder a lot why so much of this nation has become a "lazy town". (Okay, to be corrective, there are actually two stereotypes of Icelanders: the immobile ones. And the super sporty ones who do marathons up and down the mountain slopes and bike around the island.) Well, there is indeed one factor that restricts moving in this place: the climate. There come roaring winds, there comes dense fog, there come intense snow storms. There come dark days in the wintertime. And it is not recommended to hike, run, bike or ski much when the weather behaves like a fly flap and you are the fly! Anyway, there are plenty of calm days. And you don't need to go to the wildest wilderness to move. There are plenty of ways and pathes calling "Run me!". There are plenty of mountains calling "Hike me!" There are plenty of hot pools calling "Swim me!" There are even plenty of gyms calling "Pay me!" if you prefer that. ;) And in addition, there are plenty of fresh vegetables growing all year round in geothermally heated greenhouses calling "Eat me!" Open your mind and listen!

Same same but different: An autumn journey to Sweden

Travelling is great!, my body tells me. It is like coming outside of a room with fuggy air and inhaling the oxygen deeply into the lungs. It can be like removing dusty glasses from your eyes and seeing clearly. But it can also be like putting on some glasses and seeing the world in a different colour.

Gauti, his mom, little sister and I flew out to Sweden yesterday morning. Altogether, I have spend two years in Sweden and think it's a wonderful and very beautiful country. So it was great coming back. Our trip didn't start especially well, though. Most flights from Iceland to Europe have early morning departures, hence we had to leave the farm at half past three at night. We all climbed into the old Nissan which I got just a few days ago and started driving. Both Gauti and I were with a "this car won't make it to the airport" feeling. One of the rims has dents and hence, the air was released slowly but constantly from the tire. The night was dark and the streets were lonely. The mountains were disguised in the darkness but the yellow lights of Reykjavik were sparkling on the South End of Faxaflói bay. "Maybe we will make it though", I thought when we entered Reykjavik. A clattering sound in the car told me something else. A quiet hissing from the right back tire, too. The car was literally slowly slumping under our butts and we made it into Hafnarfjörður, 35 km from the airport. Then the journey ended. And it was quiet and dark.
Icelanders are never panicking though. They course a bit which basically means putting all Icelandic course words into one sentence and uttering it fastly, period. Then they continue with practical stuff, locking the car, ordering a taxi, throwing the bags in and sleeping on the backseats. Not too bad actually.

Central Sweden welcomed us with bright sunshine, blue skies and bright autumn colours. A great contrast to the dark night in which we had left. And the travelling makes me seeing Uppsala so differently than when I had left it half a year ago. Mild. Like a new place but the same time like a home. A mixture hard to describe. I often feel this when I return to places twice or several times. They change. I change. It was like this when I went from Sweden to Iceland. It was like this when I went from Iceland to Sweden.

We rent this cozy house in the countryside and I felt so welcome when I entered it again. My books were welcoming me like friends. My wool socks knitted by my grandma were smiling at me in their bright colours (I don't know what I were thinking when I decided I wouldn't need them in Iceland ...). Our landlords treated us with spaghetti Bolognese and salad (and I had a hard time trying to speak Swedish again). All in all, we enjoy our days in Sweden a lot (it is good to have guests and showing them around).
The pictures are showing our love for autumn colours.

Uppsala's Domkyrka rising from behind the colourful autumn trees.

Horse chestnuts. I one heard that it's good to carry one of them in your pocket. It is supposed to protect you from colds.

Uppsala maple leaves, Iceland lopapeysa and Estonia hat: a happy mixture. (I call it "Estonia hat" because I bought on a ship journey from Estonia to Sweden.)

An "insect hotel" in the Botaniska Trädgården (botanical garden) in Uppsala.

What do you want to be?

About two months ago, I started working in a countryside kindergarten. Being a kindergarten teacher is something completely new for me. I am a biologist and spend a lot of time in universities during the last 9 years and felt that I strongly needed something else than the ivory tower of doing research. The job offer as a kindergarten teacher here in Iceland popped up unforeseen. When I was asked if I want to work in the kindergarten I felt like I would lack the skills to work with the little kids. I was being taught how to stand in the lab with a pipette and how to write research papers (over which I fell asleep several times) and how to identify little rare fungi (the fungi thing is a fun and usefull skill, though, a deep friendship with a bunch of highly interesting fungal nerds followed which is extremely cool). But nothing at all about kids. The lab is not a place for kids.
But then they were all around me. 18 kids of the age 18 months to 5 years. Laughing, running, crying, screaming, playing. Every day I learn a lot from them. Every day is different.
Today the "horses" (which is the name of the 5 year old kids) and I went into the basement of the kindergarten which is converted into an artist's workshop. I let them do a tree which shows all four seasons in its branches and they started talking about what they want to become when they are grown up. "What do you want to become when you grow up?", a little boy asked me. I paused. My first reflex was to say "But I am grown up already and I am a biologist." Period. But I swallowed this answer. It didn't feel appropriate. The way this little boy had asked me had made me one of them for a moment. And this was a great honour. So I replied: "I am a lot and have learnt a lot. I learnt about the plants and the animals outside and I learnt many languages to talk to many people. But what I want to be now is being an artist." The little boy nodded. This answer was accepted. And I was grateful. They made me one of them during that moment, sitting at one table talking about what we want to be when we are grown up. And we were all artists. I am already.