My, that's creative!

I'm going skiing in Les Arcs, France, next week, so I bought some new winter clothes. My favorite piece of kit is my new hat...It's a little too small (because my head is the size of a watermelon), so I decided to knit an earwarmer/headband to fit underneath. One of my friends gave me the most amazing yarn for Christmas--- it's made out of bamboo, is incredibly soft, and turned out to be the perfect color for my new project.

Problem was, I didn't have the right size needles for this new project. Almost all of my knitting supplies are back in Massachusetts. I came up with a creative solution, though.

CHOPSTICKS!

That's right, I'm knitting with chopsticks. I think that they work quite well.

Here's the work in progress...

Cable patterns are awesome because they look really difficult but are actually quite easy to knit up.

Musical Stylings of Sweden... First Aid Kit and The Tiny

Over the past couple of months I've developed a taste for Swedish folk music. I know, it's very eclectic of me, but with musicians like First Aid Kit, how can anyone resist?

Like 98% of their fans, I discovered First Aid Kit through their youtube cover of Tiger Mountain Peasant Song by the Fleet Foxes. WATCH IT. This song is full of awesome, especially with the resounding harmonies and the tranquillity of the Swedish forest. This song was my gateway drug into the rest of their catalogue, which includes the Drunken Trees EP and their new cd, The Big Black and the Blue. Other favorites include their latest single, I Met Up With the King and You're Not Coming Home Tonight.

Seeing First Aid Kit live was one of my top things to do in London, since I knew they rarely made it to the States. Luckily I bought tickets early to guarantee that I would actually go to the show on Thursday, March 4. The venue, Union Chapel in Islington, blew my mind. The club is a converted church--- the audience sits in old pews, flickering candles line the balcony rail, and colored spotlights create stained glass behind the stage.

Union Chapel was the perfect venue for First Aid Kit and their support band, the Tiny. Both bands combine resounding harmonies, old soul lyrics, and acoustic instruments like cellos, harps, and musical saws. The amazing acoustics 0f the church let the music resound and expand up into the vaulted ceiling.

This was one of the best concerts I've ever seen--- Klara and Joanna Söderberg actually sound better live and unedited than on their produced albums. Not many bands can claim that. The best moments were when they unplugged their guitar and stepped away from the microphones--- the audience sat in rapt attention, letting the music fill their souls.

And now, for visual aids...

The Tiny, who also hail from Sweden.
Playing the musical saw... Kristi and I were both quite impressed.
My concert buddy...
First Aid Kit.