A visit to the Swedish Parliament

My job takes me, from time to time, to Parliaments in Northern Europe. As these are not the the typical tourist attraction I will show some pictures I took while I was at the Swedish Parliament "Riksdagen" in Stockholm. The Parliament has two parts, one old and one new, as you can see from the picture of the exterior. It is situated on an island, and the high street (pedestrian) goes straight trough the centre of the buildings. If you have walked from the new town to the old town in Stockholm, chanses are you walked trough the Parliament. The assembly hall is in the new part, and has a beautiful modern tapstry as the focal point. The old part holds the first chaimber, which is not in use since the 1970s when the Parliament went from a two chaimer systen to one chaimer.

The hallway in the old part is where the King and Queen enter when the Parliament opens each autumn for a new session.

The pictures here are taken with my mobile phone hence the quality is not good, but I hope you get an impression.

First glimps of the new bathroom!

Here is the first picture of the new bathroom! More will come soon.


















Here is how it looked like a month ago;
http://thehighnorth.blogspot.com/2009_09_01_archive.html

Making progress - not socks yet.

Last Friday the Auto Knitter (a cylider sock knitting machine from 1923) arrived. So no need to ask what I have been doing this weekend! Yesterday we managed to become friends, and the scarf you can see here was the result!

Today I wanted to master the trade of knitting heels. It's difficult and you can see the progress so far.

There are lots of helpful owners on old and new knitting machines on the internet, and even some tutorial videos on YouTube. I know of no other sock knittin machine in Norway, so I appreciate helpers on the web.
I'll keep you posted on the progress!

Pattern testing

Some months ago I started to make patterns of my knitting designs. It's fun and challenging at the same time. The challege is to write down exactly what I do, so anyone who does the same end up with the same result as I did!

I have tested my patterns over and over again and that means knitting them. Here are the latest results of pattern testings. The top is great to wear and it's fun to knit (thankfully - as I have knitted it a few times now..). The same goes for the Lacy Leaf Capelet. I'm now looking for a yarn so I can knit that for the party season and wear with a dress!!!

My climate changes message bag

Some years ago I assisted in making an exhibition on climate changes that was on display outside the Parliament in Norway. We made 8 big posters that on a plastic coated canvas. When the exhibition was to be taken down, I wondered what will happen to the posters? Non of the other parties wanted them, so I took them home nthinking that they had to be recycled in one way or the other.

What to do now I thought. I suddenly got the idea of making messenger bags. They all come with a message about climate changes and the consequences - they are really message bags! I have sold a few, have on for my self, and have more posters left for a rainy day.

The bag you see here is about the Northern Sea Rout that is opening up due to melting of the ice at the North Pole. I have posters about the threaths to polar bears, idigenous people, marine life and more. I look forward to make them! The ones I have made sold really fast, so probably I will only make custom orders, and not put them on Etsy. If you should be interested you can contact me, and keep in mind that the text on the posters are in Norwegian!

A short trip to Berlin

This week I had a meeting in Berlin, and it allowed for some time to walk around and get to know the German capital better.

My meeting was in the parliament buildig, that you can see at the back (right). The building is a fantastic blend of old and new, as ti sits nicely on the bank of river Spree.

I walked past the Holocoust Monument on my way from Brandengurger Tor to Potsdamer Platz. The monument grows on me. I like it more and more each time i see it. It's a place where people can play and remember! There were a school class playnig around on this day, and they had ballons and became a fun part of the monument.
I hope I'll be back in Berlin soon!

Åland Island - the best of the Baltic Sea?

Recently I was in Åland. It's hard to "be" in Åland, because the autonomus region consists of more thatn 6000 islands. Well, I was in Mariehamn the capital. Åland belongs to Finland, but they speak Swedish.
The islands have been Russians as well, but now the 30 000 inahbitants enjoy an autonomus status. Åland is a demilitarised area and very peacful place in the Baltic Sea. I was in Åland for business, but had some time to walk around and take some pictures!

Here you can see the beautiful new Culture Centre and the marina. I spotted a birch bench outside an offical building and just loved it!