50% Silk 50% Yak

200 m per 50 g skein

This is the ultimate luxury yarn, a 50/50 mix of mulberry silk and yak, and it is just one of the softest things in the world. You might have even more trouble than usual putting down your knitting, because it really feels so lovely in your hands. And the way it drapes is absolutely amazing!

The old Norse poem Håvamål (the sayings of the high one) contains advise on a lot of things. The high one means Odin, the chieftain of the Norse gods. Odin was linked to battle, death, sorcery, poetry, runes, magic, wisdom, the gallows, and royalty (the old line of Norwegian kings begins with Odin himself, according to the myths). It was not only the Norse that worshipped him, Odin was an important god to all the Germanic peoples in the Iron Age. In old English, his name was Wôden and in high German, Wuotan.

In Håvamål, Odin gives advice on many things, including how to behave as a guest, friendships, gifts, not being lazy, not drinking too much, seducing women and a list of things no-one should trust. On this list is ice one night old, amongst a lot of other things. Some of the things on the list are very archaic, some are a bit hard to understand, but many of them make very good sense not to trust. Ice one night old is one of these. It does not take very much common sense to understand that even if going across the frozen body of water is a substantial short cut, it is a very bad idea if the ice is only one night old. Going across ice can be dangerous if you do not know for certain that it is thick enough and about any local conditions that can create weak spots. The tale of the death of the petty king Halfdan the Black around the year 860 shows this clearly. According to the King’s Saga, Halfdan the Black had been to a feast at Hadeland in the spring and on his way home, he rode across the ice on a lake called Randsfjorden. Near a place called Røykenvik there was a weak spot in the ice due to a watering hole for livestock. The ice broke under the king and his company as they rode across. King Halfdan and a lot other people drowned.

[No-one should trust]

a flying spear,

a falling wave,

ice one night old,

a coiled snake,

a bride's bed-talk

or a broken sword,

a bear's game

or a king's son

Håvamål, Stranze 86

A blue-green colour inspired by ice on deep water.