smelling salts.
Saturday, October 8, 2011 at 8:22AM Please pass them.
Nine days until King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway land in my hometown. Nine days.
Oh, look. Here I am with them. They just don't know it.
Nine days until our {temporary} business name change.
The logo is going to look just like that, too. Klassy with a K.
They're going to be in town for the rededication of Enger Tower, which you can read more about here.
Since they're going to be one block from the studio, I am hopeful I'll be able to present them with a special gift I've made.
Maybe you didn't know this, but my specialty is yarn? I dye yarn, did you know that?
So I made them some colorways? Special commemorative colorways? Colorways, question mark?
After a lot of thought and helpful suggestions from friends and Twitter followers, I decided to make something that represented my region. I thought about choosing the colors of Norway (flag, fjords, flowers), but then I realized that they probably have plenty of those colors at home.
If I were traveling to Norway, I wouldn't seek out stuff from the United States or Minnesota. I would want something Norwegian, something I could look at and remember my trip by.
We have a lot of {awesome} Norwegian customers. And we shall soon have a new Norwegian retailer so our {awesome} Norwegian customers can get our yarn locally.
And in the next few days, I'll be releasing commemorative edition colorways that will be available for an extremely limited time.
One will be based on Duluth's glorious autumn, with our blue skies, bright colors, and evergreens.
Another on the amazing auroras we get to witness. Clear skies in winter mean little snow, cold temps, and glimpses of this:
In spring, lilacs carpet the city, mostly unbidden.
And in the summer, Duluthians (and our millions of visitors) flock to Lake Superior for views, a cool breeze, and to watch the action in the harbor.
And of course, no commemorative collection would be complete without a nod to the reason for the royal visit, Enger Tower.
Smelling salts are needed. Smelling salts are needed urgently.
Question: what is the protocol for presenting royalty with gifts? I'm assuming screaming and jumping up and down is out? What would you do, if you were me?
Reader Comments (9)
Dear Yarnista,
I really enjoy reading your blog; it is relatable, warm and thoughtful. (Perhaps, like you and your yarns). I don't know how I would act when meeting the King and Queen of Norway. Maybe a courtsey is required? Maybe renaming one of your children (for the day ofcourse!) Harald or Sonja? (I only make this suggestion because my BFF's brother was named Olav in honor of King Olav's 1975 visit...) Good luck!!!!
<3 Ashley
Tough choice between the lilacs and the aurora. The most beautiful picture is the autumn trees. Hopefully, the King and Queen have "people" who will help you know what to do when you meet them. If she is a knitter, she is not going to notice what you do once you show her your yarn. Enjoy the moment!
Well, I'm no help on how to present gifts to royalty but what a great idea - I bet they love it! Beautiful pictures - love the fall colors and the auroras. I hope you will be able to show us pictures of the colorways after you present them.
Once I had the occasion of presenting chocolate to the royal children (then). It was a childrens benefiit theatre performance for the Red Cross in Oslo, and I was in my Red Cross First Aid Corps uniform near the exit, supposed to hand out chocolate to all the children. And when the Crown Princess (then, now Queen) and her two children arrived, I just handed over the chocolate to Prince Haakon and Princess Martha Luise and said "Vær så god" - just like I would for all the other children attending. They curtesied and thanked me.
yarnista ! it's hard to believe but there's an aura of seriousness to your message.
you're really serious ? you really want to present some gorgeous remember-duluth-lake-superior yarn to their Majesties ?
i'm sure it would work out. The king & queen would probably be very happy to meet you. You're the best kind of creative & successful artisan-entrepreneur & an excellent representative of your region. The only catch, now, is that you're quite late. Their itineraries & appointments have probably been set for weeks now.
can you work fast ? the idea is to fit yourself into the royal agenda ASAP.
check with your elected city representative for the district in which your business is located, & also for the district in which you reside if you like.
it will probably turn out that the norway royals are being managed by the norwegian embassy in washington. There would be input from the nearest norwegian consulate, i don't know where that would be. Minneapolis ? Chicago ? So get busy & contact the team in washington or chicago or wherever.
at some moment there will probably be an opening where they could fit you in. At least i hope so.
don't worry about what to say or do. You're a naturally gracious lady, you would just be yourself. The person (embassy ? consulate ?) with whom you'll be communicating will advise you how exactly to address them. I know in canada, with the personnage known as the Gee Gee (governor-general) & whenever british royalty comes to visit, canadians are advised to wait for the royals to initiate conversation & then just follow their lead. *
i don't think anybody curtsies anymore. The norwegian royal family is famous for its low-key, easy-going democracy, is it not ?
go for it yarnista. The king & queen look like nice people, they deserve a chance to meet you.
* speaking of casual-with-royals, canada once had a spunky, bold member of parliament named Sheila Copps. Among other adventures, copps was famous for being part of a delegation sent to greet england's prince Charles as he arrived for a state visit to canada years ago. As he got off the plane copps greeted him with Hiya Prince How Ya Doin.
My sister was trying to see the King of Spain once and so had her very tall friend lift her up. However her very tall friend (Swiss BTW) was no match for her solid American (German/Irish) stock and so dropped her. RIGHT in front of the King of Spain. I am sure he remembers the event fondly. You could try that. Perhaps your husband can assist. Or Boy Aaron? Maybe.
They will also be in Iowa--
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- Decorah, IA is preparing for a royal visit from King Harald and Queen Sonja of Norway.
The royals arrived in Minnesota Tuesday night for their eight-day tour of Minnesota and Iowa.
Four-year-old Bergen Gandrud Pickett, named for the Norwegian city, greeted the king and queen with a curtsey and a bouquet of flowers outside the Saint Paul Hotel Tuesday evening.
The king and queen will attend events this week in Decorah, Iowa, and St. Olaf College in Northfield, then visit the Mayo Clinic.
The Decorah Police Department and Luther College have been preparing for the visit for months. The Luther visit is part of the school's sesquicentennial celebration.
On Sunday, they'll attend a church service at Augsburg College, a reception at the governor's mansion and a gala banquet.
The royal couple travels to Duluth on Monday and will conclude their visit Tuesday by opening the Amundsen Exhibit at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, in celebration of Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen's expedition to the South Pole.
When this is all said and done, I'd love to see a blog entry on how it came all this came to be...did you contact the embassy? Did they contact you? All the details, please!
I have no idea how to get your spectacular yarn to them. I'm just excited to see the colors and yarn you create. Your inspiration is awesome, so I know your results will be also.