Well I got back yesterday and I can truly say I had a wonderful time, I am glad I went there instead of Norway. After spending the first couple of days in stockholm, we spent most of the two weeks in a holiday cabin owned by the parents of one of Phil's friends in Darlana county (about the middle). They were the nicest people we ever met, and both had an avid interest in craft and history, so we got on really well with them. once they knew I had been making sheaths, they decided to take us to meet a local friend of theirs who was a knife maker, and they also took us to meet a blacksmith a viking boat builder and old car restorer. we just would not have seen these things had we simply booked a lodge somewhere. They preserved a local history museum in dalana county as well and took us to see how the houses were made and explain all the artifacts. He showed me a rope made out of spruce roots, which dont absorb water, a traditional wooden house lined with birch bark and a birchbark moses basket for a baby.
We also spent some time on our own in a hirecar exploring the country. Its beautiful I want to go back! the forests are endless and pristine, and Sweden is good enough to provide these free cabins at numerous intervals for campers. they come complete with hearth, firewood and saw. Some have wooden benches to sleep on and others have tables in them. Spend a while checking them out, you will soon find a good one, like this on the bank of the river.
I need to admit something terribly unbushcrafty now - once we set the tarp and bivys up, we decided the hirecar would be nicer to sleep in
And it was. you can stuff ground camping, I wish I had brought my hammock, but if I did it again, admittedly, Id just park up and sleep in the car. the backseats folded flat and we didnt have to worry about mozzies which are much worse than I imagined.
The Knife maker, Harry (I will find out his second name!) was kind enough to show me about his workshop and his best knife, which came first in a swedish knife show This one:
His workshop was crammed with wood, tree burls, antlers,bones leather and blades. he spoke a bit about sheath making and the kind of leather he used, I asked if he sold many knives to people in England but he said he didnt, I dont think he has an internet site, which is a shame but he seems to be known well in Sweden.
He also did Scrimshaw which he showed me and let me read one of his books on the subject.
This picture is only about a centimetre tall..
Everybody I met was so eager to show us their skills, all saying the same thing - If the younger generation did not show an interest, the skills would die out. And everybody fed us and gave us copious amounts of coffee. Its been great to peep inside the houses of real Swedish crafts people. I am suprised just how many old artifacts everybody has in their houses, I dont think I have any.
This is the blacksmith in Dalarna who let us make some iron hooks for free. our hosts had the good idea of me sending them all leather patches as a thankyou
These next photos are of our road trip up to Northwest Dalarnia and the National Parks. We got lost for several hours and when we found a town we could place on the map it turns out we were in Norway!
Me in Norway
Swedens Largest waterfall
"kantarell" in Swedish! I found these in the forest behind the cabin. We also found puffballs. James showed us tonnes of edible fungi there, but these were the only ones I was confident to pick on my own.
Ill make a seperate post about the viking boat builder I think, As he runs a course building the boats, and like all the other people we met, was very eager to have people learn his craft, especially as his health is deteriorating, he encouraged me to give him a mention to everybody I knew who might be interested.
We also spent some time on our own in a hirecar exploring the country. Its beautiful I want to go back! the forests are endless and pristine, and Sweden is good enough to provide these free cabins at numerous intervals for campers. they come complete with hearth, firewood and saw. Some have wooden benches to sleep on and others have tables in them. Spend a while checking them out, you will soon find a good one, like this on the bank of the river.
I need to admit something terribly unbushcrafty now - once we set the tarp and bivys up, we decided the hirecar would be nicer to sleep in
And it was. you can stuff ground camping, I wish I had brought my hammock, but if I did it again, admittedly, Id just park up and sleep in the car. the backseats folded flat and we didnt have to worry about mozzies which are much worse than I imagined.The Knife maker, Harry (I will find out his second name!) was kind enough to show me about his workshop and his best knife, which came first in a swedish knife show This one:
His workshop was crammed with wood, tree burls, antlers,bones leather and blades. he spoke a bit about sheath making and the kind of leather he used, I asked if he sold many knives to people in England but he said he didnt, I dont think he has an internet site, which is a shame but he seems to be known well in Sweden.
He also did Scrimshaw which he showed me and let me read one of his books on the subject.
This picture is only about a centimetre tall..
Everybody I met was so eager to show us their skills, all saying the same thing - If the younger generation did not show an interest, the skills would die out. And everybody fed us and gave us copious amounts of coffee. Its been great to peep inside the houses of real Swedish crafts people. I am suprised just how many old artifacts everybody has in their houses, I dont think I have any.
This is the blacksmith in Dalarna who let us make some iron hooks for free. our hosts had the good idea of me sending them all leather patches as a thankyou
These next photos are of our road trip up to Northwest Dalarnia and the National Parks. We got lost for several hours and when we found a town we could place on the map it turns out we were in Norway!
Me in Norway
Swedens Largest waterfall
"kantarell" in Swedish! I found these in the forest behind the cabin. We also found puffballs. James showed us tonnes of edible fungi there, but these were the only ones I was confident to pick on my own.
Ill make a seperate post about the viking boat builder I think, As he runs a course building the boats, and like all the other people we met, was very eager to have people learn his craft, especially as his health is deteriorating, he encouraged me to give him a mention to everybody I knew who might be interested.
