Vacation Finds

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Phew. That was a long break from blogging.

The last few weeks of work were hectic and then, when vacation started, I headed out of town. But now I'm back with some interesting stuff I bought while I was away. (No knits or yarn, though. Next time!)

1) A super cute Max & Julie bag, the Paradise line, I believe (not the one pictured though).

2) An Iittala "Taika" mug. I've coveted these puppies since they came out and finally allowed myself to get one. It doesn't look that big in the picture but the mug is a whopping 4 dl (13.5 oz). That's a lot of tea.

3) Jewelry. I've also been coveting some glass jewelry on Etsy (mainly shoozels) so I was already in the right frame of mind when I spotted these. I visited Kenkävero (Google map) in Mikkeli, an old vicarage that now houses (among other things) a shop for local artisans to sell their creations.

The aqua butterfly one is made by Tiina Ehrukainen of Design Ihania (click the photo to see it larger).

This blue one is really interesting. I'm beating myself for not writing down the artist's name (all I know it's Eija J-something). I think she or the group she works in/for goes by the name Pohjan Akka. Apparently, the motifs she uses in her jewelry are ancient cave and rock paintings. The pendant I got is called Astuvansalmi, named after the site of the largest rock paintings in Scandinavia. According to the Wikipedia article, the paintings, the oldest of which were made sometime in 3000-2500 BC (wow, I never knew that), contain e.g. elks, human figures (which can be seen on the pendant as well), hands, animal tracks, and boats. I'm a history/archeology nerd so all of this is really cool to me. Besides, the pendant is really pretty. :)

In the meantime, I've been knitting like a crazy person. I have actual finished items. Scary! Long car rides really help. ;) More knits to come but I'm putting stuff on the FO page (and Ravelry) for now.

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