the collected winter

Talks like Marlene Dietrich.

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Visible mend on a pair of shorts. I used alpaca yarn because that’s what I had on hand, plus a small patch of cotton to strengthen it. The patch is under the lining of the pocket, so it won’t come up against the skin when you wear it. Curious to see how the yarn will wear over time.

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Cross stitch I made for a co-worker after she received an email with this reply.

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Last year I decided to make something like the advent calendar we had when I was a kid.

This was a super fun project using a bunch of different techniques, which kept things interesting over the many hours it took. I got pretty handy at using a beading needle and doing basic work with sequins. Also, it is almost impossible to buy flat sequins in Denmark.

Pattern from Purl SoHo.

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I started making my own toilet cleaning tablets for hippie feel good reasons of using fewer harsh chemicals and reducing plastic waste. Having a jar full of stars and unicorns on my shelf is just a bonus.

Recipe from Apartment Therapy.

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I wish someone had told me that darning was just sewing with yarn. I would have gotten into it a long time ago.

Visible mend on a pair of fingerless gloves.

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Cate Le Bon, shot at Jazzhouse in Copenhagen back in November. This gig was the day after the election, and it was like pain relief.

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Britt Daniel and Spoon at their first-ever Copenhagen show at Amager Bio.

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Jesca Hoop at Ideal Bar, Copenhagen.

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Alison Mosshart with the Kills at Vega, Copenhagen.

Interesting side note: That blouse was designed by Kate Moss.

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Stay Focused and Extra Sparkly. Cross stitch made for a friend who just likes that phrase. Algerian Eye tutorial courtesy of @badasscrossstitch.

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Hamilton Leithauser at Vega, Copenhagen.

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Puce Mary live at Jazzhouse Copenhagen.

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We very much regret the inconvenience it might possibly involve, but I can rejoice you with a delicious renovated staircase when the work is finished.

My building manager’s personal translation of an email informing us that our main staircase will be inaccessible for a week while they renovate it.

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This is the year that I began to understand why people who start out as music writers drift away to what they consider more important topics. It's been an emotionally exhausting year, and there have been times when I've wondered why or how I could devote energy to analyzing a record. But then this year has been so emotionally exhausting that I've found as much as ever that only a good song, album, gig, can make me feel okay. In a year of losses and strife, I can't help but feel that this brilliant year for releases is what has gotten me through. Maybe there's something adolescent about relying on a record to help you make sense of your emotions, but there's a big part of me that's grateful that a record can still do that.

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With some slight adjustments, it’s entirely possible to play chess on a spherical board. Game board by Paul, using magnetic pieces.

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I don’t typically talk about any volunteer or charitable efforts I’m involved in because I’m trying not to be self-aggrandizing. In the last few days, however, I’ve heard a lot of people say they want to do something but feel hopeless or powerless. And we’re not. So here’s a run down of what I’m doing that you could totally do, too.

Donate

If you’ve got the cash, there are plenty of worthy causes that need help. Jezebel has a great list here. I gave a small amount of money to two large groups, and a larger amount to one small group:

Planned Parenthood: Okay, I don’t feel like we’ve paid enough attention to what a total monster the vice-president-elect is, and women’s reproductive rights are in his crosshairs. Planned Parenthood is an amazing organization. When I had no health insurance, they were the reason I could afford cancer screenings and the birth control pills that made my heavy, painful periods manageable. Now that I don’t need them, I will always give them cash, knowing how much they can do for other women.

ACLU: A lot of people said that they never considered the outcome of the election as a possibility. The American Civil Liberties Union, however, knew this could happen, and they’re ready. If the president-elect makes good on even half of his campaign promises, there are a lot of vulnerable people who will be effected. We need someone with the resources to fight back.

The Human Utility: Formerly the Detroit Water Project. This is a non-profit I’ve given to in the past who work to get people’s water turned back on in Detroit and Baltimore. One candidate in the race said they would do something to help tackle income inequality. The president-elect was not that candidate. You can’t work to fight against oppression if you’re worried about a fundamental like having water. If you want to see your money make an immediate difference in someone’s life, this is the scale of operation that will make that happen.

Volunteer

I spend my Saturdays at Trampoline House’s Women’s Club. Trampoline House is a community center in Copenhagen that helps promote integration for refugees and asylum seekers. Women’s Club is their weekly day where the house is a space given over to women only (and their children, regardless of gender).

Trampoline House offers invaluable resources like legal advice, language classes (Danish, English, and Arabic), and medical care, as well as offering a safe space to people who need a place to belong other than the camps they live in. As a foreigner, I can tell you that there is a lot more to integration than language. You need contact with people if you want to learn about a culture. Recently, Danish volunteers taught the women at the house how to make a Danish-style lunchbox for their children, so they could fit in at school (this reminded me of my aunt, born in America to immigrant parents, telling me about how all she wanted for lunch as a kid was a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, like the other kids at school).

In case you’re wondering what refugees in Denmark have to do with the American elections, look at it this way: A lot of votes for the president-elect were fuelled by fear. I’ve heard a lot of American talking about ISIS in the guise of asylum seekers heading for the US to destroy everything they hold dear. These tend to be people whom have never met an asylum seeker.

I hear plenty of ignorant talk in Denmark as well. I’ve heard, “Of course we’d like to help everyone, but…” so many times I’m afraid I’ll pop a blood vessel. If we’re going to change a global attitude about the suffering of displaced peoples, we have to start locally. If people regain their senses in Europe, maybe they’ll regain them in the US as well.

No, we can’t help everybody, but I usually hear that phrase from people who don’t try to help anybody. Do what you can, no matter how little. Maybe the first volunteer shift you show up for will make you feel useless, but that’s why you have to show up for the next one. Maybe you’ve only got a dollar to spare, but their are organizations who need those drops in the bucket (unlike the Salvation Army, who ask you to drop cash in an actual bucket).

And these things have a way of self-propagating. That first donation, that first volunteer shift, will make you want to do more. It will make you find a way to do more. So whatever it is, don’t wait for tomorrow. Do it now.

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Jenny Hval live at Jazzhouse, Copenhagen.