Nordic Culture

What do you love about the holidays?  One thing I do love is the reindeer.  I searched for some images of them and thought I'd share. I think they so pretty. I've found myself searching for reindeer charms, beads, fabric, hand knits....

Both male and female reindeer (or caribou) grow antlers. That is in contrast to our local white tail deer - as I read, in the white tail deer population, only male deer grow antlers; however one female (doe) in several 1,000 whitetail does will grow antlers because of a hormone imbalance.

I also found that reindeer are thought to be the only mammals that could see ultraviolet light...interesting. Is that what makes Rudolph a good choice for Santa's sleigh? You know that ultraviolet red glowing nose? 

And who doesn't enjoy a gorgeous hand knit nordic print sweater? Or mittens?  I found quite a few interesting patterns on Etsy when I did a search - purses, scarves, even pet sweaters.

My Phat fiber samples for December's Nordic Culture theme are adorable reindeer stitch markers. I added some sparkly crystals which reminded me of snow.

JBird made me some pretty fire and ice lampwork beads, too. I am posting those up on my Etsy shop as soon as I get them made up into stitch markers. Maybe a pair of earrings out of them as well!

Reindeer fabric? Yep, found some! This from MakingStuffUp on Etsy!  Lots more can be found there, animated and the more ornate like this one.

Would anyone like to share their favorite reindeer themed items? Send me the link in a comment and I'll post them!