Post 181 Windows, Hair and Runes

This afternoon I spent a couple of hours sitting on my front balcony in the sun and stitching the Icelandic Endless knot. It was pleasantly warm in the sun. The plants are looking ready to welcome Spring.


It was a busy morning. The window cleaner arrived before 8am. He cleans my outside, non-balcony window from the roof of our car park with a very long-arm tool before doing all the other windows from inside the apartment. Before Covid he employed 5 men, one of whom used to come and help. With Covid his work has dropped off to the point where he works on his own.  He normally comes twice a year, which is sufficient, but I suggested that if he ever has a job in the city between my cleans he could do an extra one for me.  It should be easier to photograph the doves (when they return) through the window now the dust from the building work has been removed (until it recurs!)

We are all in this together.


My other commitment this morning was the hairdresser to repeat my perm. It doesn't look quite so mad in reality. It will be a bit frizzy for a couple of weeks. but will settle into what I want after that. It will also reduce the oiliness of my hair for several months- the main aim of the exercise.  So the effort has been worth it.

From the hair dresser I went to Create in Stitch to replace the Appleton's 227 I had run out of for the Icelandic project. I also asked about hessian for the Jenny McWhinney garlic bag that I got free. They don't carry hessian, but did have some 18 count linen that should work in a similar way. I got enough to make two. I know Jennifer wants to make one too. The colour isn't as rich, but the texture is right. Given that most of the recommended thread is silk, the linen might work better.

My brother called to catch up and with a small research request. Unfortunately my phone battery died before we hung up.  It was so flat that it took quite a few minutes on the  charger before it revived enough to be usable. It was a very rare moment when I wished I had a landline!

I discovered this afternoon an article on Icelandic Embroidery written by Elsa Godjonsson, an Icelandic researcher who has written a now out-of-print book on Traditional Icelandic Embroidery. I'm a bit tempted to indulge in an expensive second-hand copy!  I also found some designs based on Icelandic runes. I might try working one of those and have ordered a couple of papers on their background. I hope others in the World Embroidery Study Group have become as addicted!

Here’s my progress on the one at hand. The camera picks up flaws not visible to the naked eye - but that’s helpful.

It might be possible to finish it tomorrow.