Warming a little one . . . (värma liten)

Yesterday I cam across this post in another blog (it's in swedish), which immediately caught my attention. It refers back to yet another blog, which writes about a project called Värma liten - "warmin a little one". The original post is also in Swedish, but let me translate the important bits for you...

"In the civil war in Congo, many women suffer. Rape has become a weapon of mass destruction. Some of these women are helped at the Panzi hospital, led by dr Denis Mukwege. (...) A lot of children are also born at Panzi hospital, and those children we want to help. The children need hats to protect against cold nights and harsh sunlight, they need blankets and other clothes. 


The magazine Dagen, the publishing house Libris and the charity organisation PMU are collecting knitted and crochéted baby hats, baby blankets and other baby clothes all of this summer. We will make sure they go directly to Panzi hospital, where they will be put to good use!


Would you like to contribute?
Knit or crochét in sizes from newly born to 1 year. Use yarn that is easily washed by hand and remember that what's needed isn't exactly winter clothes.


Knit something that you just as well could give to a little one close by, and a mother in Congo will surely be just as happy as a mother would be here!


Send what you (and your group?) have made to


Dagen - Värma liten
105 36 Stockholm
Sweden


If you send it so that it's delivered before the 15th of August your contribution will go in the very first shipment."

Now of course I feel like contributing! Although I am getting a hang of crochéting I still work best with needlebinding, so that's what I'll do. At least to begin with. Now I just have to figure out how to make a hat that fits a baby... But I'm sure I'll work it out!

Now, if anyone is reading this post and feel like joining in, but feels a bit lost in all this Swedish stuff, just post a small comment here or send me an email and I can help you with info or whatever. Let's make sure the Panzi hospital is totally swamped with wonderful and practical baby clothes!

Mead making part II: review

A month and a half ago when we bottled our first batch of mead I promised you a review of the result when the bottles had rested for a while. So here we go!

The 6th of June held a wonderful medieval picnic with a bunch of friends, in the woods by a small pond. Of course we felt that this was a great day for some mead tasting, so we brought a small bottle. It was somewhat disappointing as the taste was far from what we expected (though it tasted better after a while, courtesy of the Alcohol...). Hmpf, not what I wanted.

Now, at midsummer we decided to give it another shot, this time adding a bit of honey. Eureka! Suddenly it tasted like we wanted it to, marvellous! So now I can't help wondering if the mead we've tasted before has been similarly spiked with honey... hm... But anyhow, I can now say that the first mead batch was a success after all! We just gotta remember the honey.   

Update on the buttons!

I have now made 60 cloth buttons in grey and almost 24 in blue. In other words I am far from done, and the button-making is already feeling a bit tedious. Hmpf.... Making buttons is certainly NOT one of my favourite crafts!

Making buttons!

I have been putting it off for a long time... but as of yesterday I have begun the great work of making buttons for our 14th century outfits. Since I have never ever made buttons before it has taken a bit of experimenting, but I think I've managed creating something that will work. Unfortunately, the fabric has turned out to be horribly easily unravelled, and the buttons don't end up very neat on the underside. But right now I don't care, I just have to get the buttons done!

The wooden thingy to the right may not be entirely historically correct, but hey... at this point in time, with so little time left, I just have to get it done so I don't mind a little innocent cheating. 

Medieval embroideries worth millions of pounds... wow...

Check out this link, it's an article from the guardian about a rather fascinating case of lost and found... Apparently two medieval embroideries were found in an old lady's appartment in Mayfair, London. The finder had no idea of the age and worth of these embroideries, but as he took them to an expert who estimated their value to "hundreds of thousands, if not millions of pounds"... Just imagine finding a national treasure like that! *jealous* I haven't found any pictures of the embroideries which is too bad, I really really really want to see them!