The Charity Auction

On Saturday was the Handcraft (Handverk) Auction held by the Ryd Sewing Mafia (official title and yes, I belong, so be careful).  I was highly privileged, according to my grandmother, in being allowed to make two pies (paj) for this.  Ha, you may say, what’s the problem? Pies are different here, so I did an apple (no Bramleys!) and a black currant crumble. I have done Board papers, been on the end of official inspections, been a government advisor (bizarro) and I have never been so nerve-wracked.  I’m still awaiting the verdict, but people are still speaking to me, so it may be OK...

The Auction itself was great fun.  They are really, really old-fashioned now and this is one of the few still going. Yeah, we be in th’coun’ry.  It would be a shame if they did die out though.  The UK equivalent would be the Church Bazaar in that women run them, raise money for charity and have lots of handmade stuff.  There was a proper auctioneer, who told funny stories and was an ex-policemen, so I did wonder what was going on there then (groan...) and, of course, fika.  Fika is the totally and utterly amazing Swedish word for snack.  It tends to mean a roll and cake.   When I say cake, I mean multi-layered fruit, cream, jam and sponge confections that also can include meringue and crème de patisserie.  The joy...

Back to the Auction.  The stuff that was auctioned was handmade and I managed to secure a hand woven table runner.  I missed out on the bags that were made out of coffee bags.  Yes, the bags that are used to package ground coffee were sewn together to make a really cool shopping bag.  I am now saving coffee bags and have asked my grandmother to do the same, though she thinks I’m mad and may not take any notice of me.  There were also things like ‘choose and cut your own Christmas tree’ and homemade crisp breads as well as the usual knitted tomte (Google it!), jams, socks, embroidered table clothes, etc. The thing that really took me by surprise is that there was so much ‘lotto’, much more than the auction itself, in fact.  There was the normal raffle stuff (American lotto – why, no idea!), but they also sold, say, bread or hand-dipped candles with a number on the packet and you could win a prize.  I thought that was an excellent idea, you get something for your money, even if you do not win.

It is a shame that less people are doing handcrafts even though here, too, there is a bit of a revival.  I suppose that we cannot fit everything in any more.  Why only yesterday, I spent all my time playing Zelda and barely had time to eat properly let along knock up a cross-stitch rug.  I think that is why it’s fashionable to knit etc, because it means that you have time and it is that that is the luxury today.