Koselig

Such a great term "koselig" -- it's Norwegian for cozy and snug, but it seems to be a term used for a lifestyle or environment as well.  According to the exhibit I saw at Nordic Cool at the Kennedy Center last Saturday, it means snuggling by a roaring fire with your handwork and perhaps a hot toddy or glass of wine.  How sweet is that?!  I'm trying to create a bit of koselig for myself today since Washington DC is effectively shut down for the day, though the snow was a bit of a bust.  It's all rain and slush now, with nothing much remaining on the ground.

But back to Nordic Cool.  The main reason I went to the Kennedy Center on Saturday was to see Steinunn Sigurd, an Icelandic knitwear designer who was giving a literally hands-on knitting demonstration -- she had us put away our knitting needles and try knitting with our fingers!  She's the one in the middle in the picture below:

There was a large screen projecting her demonstration videos of the technique, and she promised she'd be posting them to YouTube soon.  It was a lot of fun to work with yarn in such a different way.  The place was packed with predominantly women (but quite a few men also) of all generations, and Ms. Sigurd commented on how happy she was to see that and how hard she's working to ensure that knitwork stays alive and well.

So, after the demonstration, I went wandering around to see the Lego exhibit and came across another exhibit of Scandinavian furniture, fashion, and koselig.  I also of course had to stop by the gift shop, where I found a fabulous book on Swedish Knits. Mmm, now there's an idea, I'm going to go and koselig with my new book!