Green week in Berlin

Berlin in January tends to be a grey affair. All the more colorful is the ‘Green Week’, a fixture in every local foodie’s calendar. Founded as an agricultural fair back in the 1920s to present what the country yielded it has become a mecca for lovers of all things yummy. Rum from the Fiji Islands? Streetfood from Vietnam? Cheese from France? You bet.

In the olden days (1928) women in traditional garb (photo) demonstrated how to spin flax. The Spreewald region (Lusatia) from which they hailed used to be a center of linen production.

My tea towel (photo) is made from linen produced in Lithuania, and working this slip stitch pattern does take longer than expected… also, winding it into a center-pull ball wasn’t such a great idea, I ended up with a big mess as the balls basically came apart because linen is so smooth. These cones work fine now.