More Cool Stuff to Look At

     As I sort through the last photos from my trip for this blog, I realize I still have much to sort out in my mind. I met so many great folks and saw so much great handcraft. It's hard to think about it all at once. I'm left feeling really thankful that I can make my living doing this type of work. That I'm able to travel and share what I've learned. I hope you, dear readers, find some inspiration and thought provoking ideas from these last few posts on my trip.

     The leaves are now past full color and fall is in the air. It's a bit chilly today and looks like this weather will be here for awhile. There is much to do this time of year, cutting firewood, making sure things are ready for piles of snow. I've forgotten the location of a few things that were left to be buried under the snow and have had to search in vain and wait until they have thawed out in the spring. This has been historically bits of important wood saved for some special project or beater axes for general work. I'm rambling now....

     Here's the photos with descriptions, etc....

Many folks think that I'm not interested in art or in this case fashion. It's not true, I have a deep respect for this stuff. I got to visit a famous Dutch designer here, in Borås.

Interior of the Textile Museum

Interesting stuff from this designer, not my usual fair but still cool stuff.

wild stuff..

the details and layers are very interesting

the museum has a very large collection of textile mills and weaving machines

old photo of a bowl turner in Borås

baskets are everywhere and have a strong history in Borås

split hazel basket with a wooden plank base

this is a unique basket from borås, split spruce, but down in the same style as the hazel baskets

the twisted type is boiled spruce and the other is a split type

birch root basket detail

production spoons for the area of Borås
 

craft or slöjd shop in Stockholm

all kinds of goodies

nice coat hooks

factory made production spoons, these are made in a town north of Stockholm. Folks want wooden spoons but the spooncarvers want to make one off's so the shop sells these as well.

more goodies

I had some great food over there. Folks think Swedish food is colorless and tasteless. That's simply a myth, it all had fantastic taste, great display and color.

spoon rack at Skansen the national open air museum in Stockholm

I love the details on the old iron work

old building in Skansen

ice fishing basket
 

My friend Mattias digging the wooden bible box

Folks copied the silver stuff in wood all the time. You can see this in the gravy boat as well as lot's of spoons

my favorite things the turned boxes with locking lids

This is the best preserved Viking era boat in all of Sweden. Pretty cool. Boats like this were sailed to Russia during the viking era.

here's where the boat rests....Erikskulle

Swedish splatter painting

these carving tools are very clever and fairly common, skavare

old pottery bowls from late stone age/early iron age, look familiar?

more old pottery

contents of the Mästermyr chest, one of the most important finds of all time in relation to woodworking during the viking era. This was at the Historiska Museet.