Lovely video
Vacation time
I’m going away for a week with my family to a summer house. There wont be any internet so there will be some lack of posts (not that there have been that many recently). Have a nice weekend everyone and enjoy the summer!
A lamb to sit on
Fuzzy is a classic Icelandic stool by Sigurður Helgason. It was originally made in ‘72. The base is wood with an upholstered seat that is covered with Icelandic sheep wool. I love this stool, it’s so cute and rounded, like a little lamb. I’m definitely saving up for the all white one to go with my 70’s teak dresser.
Homeward bound
We been back in Iceland for a little over a week now. There are things that I’m loving and things I am loving less. I’m noticing more the things that made me feel uneasy before: the rawness of Iceland, the weather, the people, the ideas. I have to admit that I miss the openness and politeness of Michigan but at the same time I’m loving the nature, the architecture and the midnight sun.
In professional news, I got chosen along with 11 other Icelandic designers to represent Iceland at 100% design Tokyo in October. We had our first meeting this morning. I knew most of the people there, they were either former school mates or teachers from undergrad. These people know what they want, they are cut throat and are ready to stand up and represent their ideas and creations. It’s something I’d forgotten about in the little peaceful commune that is Cranbrook, for the past couple of years. I guess it’s back to product design reality lol.
Ragnar has been offered a bunch of jobs and I think he is ready to chose and we have found a wonderful apartment in the heart of Reykjavík (the city) and will be moving there in the beginning of August. It’s small but very sweet with a beautiful view. A typical Reykjavík apartment. We’ll be staying at my dear parents place until then.
Well I’m off to bed although I’d much rather take a walk around my hometown right now. It’s so nice and still outside and the sun has just sat and it’s 1:25 am!
I’ll post some more soon since things are getting more relaxed.
Have a nice weekend!
I think I’m ready to go home
In a little over a week we’ll be back in Iceland. Our last week in the States will be a busy one so I don’t think I’ll have time for much blogging.
I’m looking forward to some nice trips to the country with my family and friends, I am craving some Iceland nature.
Nakashima
George Nakashima was an amazing designer with a great eye for subtle detail. I absolutely adore his work and I would love nothing more than to fill my apartment with it.
On Friday I’ll get to meet his daughter Mira Nakashima, who has taken over his business and continues to produce his furniture. She will be signing books at the Craft In America opening at the Cranbrook Art Museum. I’ll be working at the bookstore. I am so excited, the show looks absolutely amazing!
Above you can see George’s Mira chair and below that is a picture of Mr. and Mrs. Nakashima with Mira at a young age. Cute picture.
Keane doggies
How cool would it be to have your dog painted by Margaret Keane?
All you need is about $20.000 and a dog of course.
Moving on…..
It’s now 17 days until we leave America. Right now I’m ready to go home, today it went up to 94 degrees and we’ve basically been sitting around all day trying to keep cool.
Anyways, let me tell you what I’ve been doing to make time go by…..
We just got the awesome news that my aunt and her husband (that live in London and just had a little baby girl) will be extending their trip to Iceland in June so they can see us on the 25th when we get back. That means I get to meet my new little cousin Sædís Rhea! I’m so excited to see them all, it’s been over a year. Here’s a picture of Sædís Rhea and my other cousin (her big brother) Rhys Ragnar. Look how cute they are!
So I decided to knit Panda a sweater when we get back home and make Sædís Rhea a little gift. I found this crocheted baby afghan that I really wanted to try to make. I’ve never really crocheted before so I’m starting slow and made a lot of samples before I started the real thing.
Here are the results so far. It’s going slow but it looks ok and it’s a lot of fun.
That’s basically all I’ve been doing for the past two days and watching movies and going to sleep at two in the morning. I’m craving some kind of schedule. Maybe I’ll go to the gym tomorrow…hmmmmm
Idle hands are the devil’s tools
I’ve been digging up the good old knitting needles and knitting some stuff. I want to knit Panda a traditional Icelandic wool sweater so I knitted this one as a practice. It came out ok I think, the other one will be harder since I’ll be following a recipe. This one I just did by instinct.
Here are some more photos of Panda in her new sweater. Please ignore the laser eyes and our dirty kitchen.
Neko no ongaeshi
My friend Ying lent me The Cat Returns (Neko no ongaeshi) and some others and since I have a little too much time on my hands until I go home, I think I’ll watch them all!!
Anyways, this was a lovely one. It’s a Studio Ghibli film but it’s directed by Hiroyuki Morita. It’s very entertaining and super cute. The best thing?….. the theme song! “Kaze ni Naru” sung by Ayano Tsuji.
You can listen to it here although the video itself is kinda irrelevant: