Last words of 2011

I have really enjoyed my blog this year and will continue to bring Scandinavian kids design and fashion to you in the coming year. I have big plans for the blog, just need some time to put everything in motion.

Here are some of my favorite posts from 2011:

• Our new addition to the family - Baby L. You can find her birth story here.

• Glimling Funflectors: Elizabeth did a guest post for the blog while I was on maternity leave. We love the Funflectors, Little L gor a Fjallraven backpack for Christmas from her aunt, and she had to put a reflector on it before she used it. Not only are they cute - they also save lives.

• Lovikka Hat: I used to do a lot of crafts, but after moving to the US I didn't find much time for it anymore. It was a lot of fun to make this classic Swedish winter hat that baby L has been using this winter.

• DUNS Sweden from Vyssan Lull: We got to do a review of a gorgeous DUNS dress from Vyssan Lull that turned in to one of our favorite dressed for this year, both by Little L and Mamma.

Happy New Year!!

Scandinavian Kids Fashion Winter Sales

Here are a few of our favorites that have already started their winter sales of the season.

• Polarn O Pyert have up to 50% off
• Sweet William have up to 20% off
• Hanna Andersson have up to 70% off
• Ollypop have up to 30% off
• Marimekko have up to 50% off

From all of us - to all of you - a very merry Christmas!!

Lovikka Hat

I knitted a lovikka hat that was intended for Little L last winter. It got way too small and looks great on Baby L this winter. I have always loved to do crafts, but have not had much time to do any over the past few years. I made Moomin for Little L last year, and that inspired me to knit this hat.

(c) Baby L in her Lovikka hat

Lovikka is a classic Swedish pattern made out of 100% wool yarn. The history of lovikka dates back to the 17th century in Sweden. I poor woman knitted gloves for a living. A man requested a pair of thick durable gloves. The gloves that the woman knitted were not soft and comfortable enugh so he refused to pay the woman. The woman then decided to was the gloves and brush them to make them soft. The new washed and brushed gloves were a hit in the village and requests fro many more from all over came.

It is really simple to knit, so even a novice knitter can probably make this hat. Here is an attempt to describe the process. Please keep in mind all my knitting terminology was learned in Swedish, so here is my attempt to a translation:

What you need:
I thing of 100% wool yarn (I prefer a natural white color)
Size 8 double point knitting needles (may depend on the yarn you decide to use)
Colored yarn for decorating.

Directions:

• Cast on 60 stitched on one of the needles and separate over 4 of the needles. Make sure that this is enough for your baby's head, leave some room for shrinkage when you wash it.
• Join the needles into a round shape and make sure they are not twisted.
• Knit one regular round and one round with a reverse stitch.
• Knit another regular round and one more round with a reverse stitch.
• Continue with regular stitches for about 12 rounds.
• Turn everything so that the inside is now outside. You are now essentially knitting in the opposite direction.
• Knit about knitting regular stitches for about 6 inches.
• Now you will start to decrease.
• Knit together two stitches for a full round followed by a round of regular stitches until there are only a few left.
• Leave a long piece of yarn to sew the hat together.

Decorate the hat the way you want it to look with the colored yarn. I went with the classic red, yellow and blue. Before you decorate think about how many stitches you started with so that it looks even.

If you have any reaming yarn make a braid out of both the colored and natural yarn and attach at the top of the hat.

A bib long enough to keep the mess off

I love the Danish store Noa Noa for both me and the kids, unfortunately they don't have any retailers here in the US, but I wanted to share this bib with you. I saw this one night after I had cleaned sweet potatoe from the bottom of Baby L's shirt and was thinking that this bib would take care of that mess. So other than beautiful prints and designs, it is also very practical.

American Swedish Blogs

I shared my Swedish American blogs with you last week, and here are some American Swedish blogs. It is a lot of fun to read about what struggles they have as well.

American Swedish Blogs

A Swedish American in Swedish – America - http://welcometosweden.blogspot.com/

Antropologa - http://antropologa.wordpress.com/

Becoming Swedish - http://becomingswedish.blogspot.com/

Lost in Stockholm - http://lostinstockholm.com/

Sailing the Seas of Sweden - http://sailingtheseasofswedes.blogspot.com/

Surviving in Sweden - http://survivinglifeinsweden.blogspot.com/

Sweet Home Sweden - http://sweethomesweden.blogspot.com/

Baking cookies

The holidays are almost here and since I am a working mom I have so much left to do, but the gingerbread cookies are baked and ready to be eaten.

Christmas Eve Menu 2011

For Swedes what we eat during holidays is important and tradition to us. Christmas eve dinners usually consists of at least three courses.

The staple of the first course is pickled herring. The herring can be pickles and flavored many different ways - but it does include pickled herring. Appetizer is not really the right word for it, since one can eat as much as you want (but remember to leave room for the main course and desert + cookies and candy with coffee).

In our home the main course always included ham, meatballs and baby hot dogs. When my parents came to visit once Christmas, my mom cut up regular hot dogs since we can't find the mini version here. It is not the same - I would rather just skip it.

Since I have my hands full with working full time and two small children, this years Christmas eve dinner will include many things that are prepared by someone else. I'm so glad I made my "Christmas Eve Menu" post last yer so I can work from that to simplify this years menu.

For desert it is tradition to have Christmas porridge, and later you eat cookies and candy with coffee or maybe some glogg.

Starter

• Pickled herring - 4 kinds, just because there was a sale at IKEA (buy two get two free).
• Lox - I use with lox instead of salt cured salmon since it is easier to get a hold of
• Dill sauce and lemon
• Pumpernickel bread - I can get this in the international section of my Kroger.
• Fresh baked white bread (I am not baking it).
• Hard boiled eggs.

Main course

• Ham - this year I am getting a Honey Baked Ham. I might try and put some traditional mustard "glaze" on it but am going to wait until I can taste it to see if it will work well together.
• Meatballs I will have to make these myself. I bought some at IKEA but don't have enough left for a crowd. 
• Pickled red cabbage - I can get this at Kroger too.
• Pickled cucumbers - my grandmas recipe and only because LL loves them almost as much as meatballs.
• Kale - we don't like to much creamy stuff in our family so I make this with vegetable stock instead of cream.
• Janssons frestelse - best way to explain this is potatoes au gratin with anchovies. I use anchovie paste, instead or regular anchovies.
• Hard boiled eggs.

Desert
I will ask one of the guests to bring desert this year. I have tried to make Swedish Christmas porridge in the past, but I can't get it to taste right.

Don't forget snaps!!

Stuff & Things

• I love the Muppet's shoes I saw at Cool Mom Picks.

• This Turtle would spark a lot of imagination.

• If I had time for crafts I would totally make one of these (in Swedish).

• I made a lot of these Christmas hearts as a kid.

• I love this Swedish toddler room featured on Chick and Cheap Nursery (and here is another Swedish room - we have the bed!).

Happy Lucia

Lucia is one of the days of the year when I miss Sweden the most. A few months ago I though about flying over there for this holiday, and I should have. Maybe next year...

I have been trying every year to find a place where they celebrate here in KY, but have not been able too. Two of my favorite Swedish American bloggers wrote about Lucia today, and I don't think I can say it in a better way than they do: Saltistjejen in Swedish, and Life in the Suburb in English.

Swedish American Blogs

Throughout my years in the US I have been reading several Swedish American Blogs. Most are personal blogs about life as a Swede in the US and I love to hear the stories of others opinions and stories of Swedish vs. American cultures.Maybe I should call this list Scandinavians in America, since there is a Danish American blog as well (after all, I am half Danish).

If you have a Swedish American blog that you would like to add let me know. I think I am going to keep this as a page for everyone to look at under "blog's I read"  or something like that.

Swedish American Blogs (Alphabetical)

A Fig in Portland - http://swedishfig.typepad.com/a_fig_in_sweden/

An Ailien In America - http://alienlivinginamerica.blogspot.com/
Anna i USA - http://annaedback.blogg.se/
Anna Sanningen on America - http://indelaware.blogg.se/

Att Bo I USA - http://bo-i-usa.blogspot.com/
Charmigt sa Charlie - http://charmigacharlie.blogspot.com/

Danish Mama - http://www.danishmama.com

Elenors America - http://eleonorsamerica.blogg.se/

Frokenfraken - http://casprowiaks.blogspot.com/

Heidi’s World - http://heidisuesworld.blogspot.com/
I Vesterled - http://ivasterled.blogspot.com/
Kalas Lotta i USA - http://kalaslotta.blogg.se/
Life in the Suburb - http://kankaglenreston.blogspot.com/

Linnea is USA - http://linneaiusa.com/
Loppan Flyttar Vesterut - http://stromsloppa.blogspot.com/

Lotta’s Place - http://lottasplace.blogspot.com/
Magdalena & Co - http://attvaramagdalena.blogspot.com/
Marielsworld - http://marielsworld.blogg.se/

Morsans Vardag - http://morsansvardag.blogspot.com/

My Family – My World - http://mylove-mylife-myfamily-myworld.blogspot.com/
My Life in Colorado - http://mylifeincolorado.wordpress.com/
S w e F l o - http://swedeinflorida.blogspot.com/

Saltistjejen - http://saltistjejen.blogspot.com/

Sunny Swede - http://sunnyswede.blogspot.com/

Swedish Army Wife - http://swedisharmywife.blogspot.com/

SwedishMama - http://swedishmama.blogspot.com/

Swedish Hollywood Mom - http://www.swedishhollywoodmom.com/

Tales of a Young Mamma - http://youngmammatales.blogspot.com/

The Glimling Blog - http://glimling.com/blog/

Tina O - http://sisutaina.blogspot.com/

Umepojk I Mason Ohio - http://umepojk.blogspot.com/

Under Solen I Ohio - http://simonslane.blogspot.com/

Hanna Andresson and Serena & Lily Collaboration

(c) Baby L Scooting in her Hanna PJs

We love Hanna Andersson Pjs. We have them in sizes from newborn up to 3 years olds (and will have more as the kiddos get bigger). They are so soft and don't look like sacks like a lot of PJs do when you put them on. I also like that they are so easy to move around in. Lately I have sent Baby L to daycare in her Hanna's because she gets so frustrated in her cute little dresses or pants when she is trying to crawl around.

Now the PJs are a vailaibe in Serena & Lily prints! Serena & Lily has a knack for making beautiful prints and these Hanna PJs are just gorgeous.

Baking for Lucia

St Lucia is a Swedish holiday during the Christmas season that is often known as the celebration of light. It always falls on December 13th. We celebrate with a procession of girls and boys carrying lights and singing. You can read more about it at Sweden.se.

(c) Little L in her Lucia Crown

After the procession is finished (and sometimes during) glogg and cookies and sweets are often shared with the audience. You can make your own glogg (in Swedish), or buy it at IKEA. I get mine at World Market. I have yet to find a place here in KY where I can attend a procession, but a lot of the larger cities do. You can fins a schedule of Swedish events at Nordstjernan.com.

I try to bake three things each year. This year I have a feeling It won't be that much since having a toddler and a baby plus working full time is keeping me really busy. What I try to do is make something Saffrony, someting Gingerbready and someting traditionally Swedish. These are my picks this year. (I have a long history of making up words). The recopies are in Swedish.

Saffron crescent rolls with almond paste

Gingerbread ice cream

Oat crisps

The Neckwarmer

I haven't seen neck warmers for kids (or dickey) here in the US as much as I did in Sweden, and frankly I'm a bit surprised. They are perfect for keeping your kids or baby'c neck warm. Scarves are not good for little kids since they can get stuck on things as they run around and play resulting in injury. We have a couple that we purchased the last time we were in Sweden for both bay L and Little L. Unless you really care about the way your kids hail looks, they are really easy to put on too and right now they are included in the PO.P Up sale.

Ugly Childrens Clothing

What is better for cold winter days than a cup of hot chocolate and a traditionally knit Scandinavian sweater? The Ugly brand started somewhere in Norway in 2006 with three men and a baby. A need for a brand that was not created by girls for girl inspired their first collection, and a want for such a brand by the rest of the world has kept it going.

Right now Ugly has free world wide delivery in their online shop.

Sweden's Official Cookbook

I don't know how well known Sweden is for it's culinary excellence (Lutefisk comes to mind), but I am a lover of most Swedish dishes including the gelatin textures "Christmas fish". (I'll have to write about that later.)

Sweden has made an effort to change all this and has launched a campaign called "Sweden - the new food country". It's a collection of recipes that can be found on the blog: http://blogs.sweden.se/food/.  Dishes are made differently in different parts of the country, and this blog will have the "official" Swedish recipes in English.

Kroppkakor

Holiday Stuff @ Polarn O. Pyret USA

The Holiday stuff came in really late at the Polarn O. Pyret USA store, but it's finally here. I really love the Swedish Cross Stitch Tunic. It will look great with their red slim-fit jeans. They are starting out with 25% off too.

I love this cardigan for boys too.

Lego’s under the tree for Christmas? This one is made out of it!

This Lego Christmas tree is 10 meters tall and built out of more than  600,000 bricks of Lego. It has over a 1,000 ornaments on 172 brances and took over 2 months to build at London’s railway station.

The Christmas Star

The Christmas Star is a star shaped Christmas decoration that symbolizes the Star of Bethlehem that appears in the nativity story. It is hung up  up on the first of advent, but we don't have a star right now so I have been star shopping and found some really nice stars at Scandinavian Design Center.

Mini Rodini Puppy in Organic Cotton

Mini Rodini has created a cute little puppy print with a cute little bow (I see a trend with the rain boots I posted about yesterday). It will be available in a onsie, sweater and a short sleeved tee in organic cotton.