NEWS FROM THE SPINSTER!

Schoolkids from last century....

This past weekend was inspired by linen as I spent the whole Sunday in an old school from the 19th century. I worked at a Christmas market with the association Skånelin in the cozy village Stenestad which is located on Söderåsen in the south of Sweden. Skånelin had its exhibition space in Stenestad's old school, which has now been converted into a library. The picture above was taken in front of the school and shows teachers and students about the year around 1910. Dont you think it is an absolutely wonderful picture?

Christmas market at Stenestad's old schoolyard.

Around the village there were market stalls with exciting things, beautifully hand-knitted garments, Christmas wreaths, candy, Santas and other nice things that you can find at a swedish Christmas market. The picture above comes from the yard behind the school building. Once upon a time on there used to be a fruit and vegetable garden on that yard which made the school self-sufficient.

Spinning gets even better when you have a new beanie on your head!

It was nice to be at the Christmas market with Skånelin and I met many nice people who were interested in Christmas decorations and linen preparation. I bought a wonderfully soft and warm striped beanie kntted in beautiful shades of blue. A real bargain!

I also made sure to work with the linen fibre and spin. The linen I harvested and prepared some time ago has not yet been spun yet but I took the opportunity to ask nice Kristina from Skånelin for some tips on the best way to spin. I found out that you better twist it anticlockwise!

I found a very nice book inside the library that showed old school posters. A couple of these school posters had nice pictures of flax preparation and it was fun to see. I also learned something new, namely that in Sweden until the year of 1920 there was a law on dowry. Women were obliged to make their own dowry and bring their own textiles in their marriage. That was the law.

Looks very cozy in the pictures with four generations of women sitting there carding, spinning, weaving and cuddling in the cottage heat, but I can not help but think of the old swedish song "Spinn, spinn dotter min":

"Spin, spin, spin my daughter.

Tomorrow your suitor will come.

The daughter was spinning and her tears ran,

but never the suitor came.

Spin, spin my daughter dear

On the morrow he’ll appear

The daughter span

the long years ran

Never came the longed for man"

The song goes on and on like that. It is soooo depressing. Such melancholy! My grandmother used to sing it for me, I begged her to stop singing every time but she continued singing, teasing me....

This embroidery hang next to our market stall. We could see the church from outside the window.

Here is the church by daylight.

And this is a couple of hours later, the dusk comes early in Sweden at wintertime.

When I drove home over winding roads of Söderåsen Hills , I came across a deer family that stood still in the middle of the road for a long time. It felt like a magical moment and it really was a perfect end to a perfect day at the Christmas Market.