Merry Christmas

This beautiful sky on the fourth Sunday of advent sends us right into Christmas and holiday spirit.



The tree is decorated and we're as ready for Christmas as we can be. Marie evend made us spend over half an hour walking around the tree singing. She calls it practice for tomorrow. I guess we'll be doing a lot of walking and singing the next week...

I wish every one who reads this a very merry Christmas.

(I knit myself a new hat, I forgot the one I usually wear at my office before I went on holiday. I only have that one that I like to wear. You can see me briefly wearing my Urchin here. I've given it away alreay. It was a smidget too big for me. There are three more in the making as soon as the LYS opens up after the holidays.)

Matchey matchey

Fancy huh, when the scarf and glasses match? I did not realice until I put both on this morning.



Huckleberry Ascot from Interweave Knits Holiday 2007.
Alpaca softness, silk strength and bobble crazy. And classy! I like it:)

Mr. Postman

Please do your best to get these socks to Trondheim before the holidays!

Phew! I managed to finish the socks from my previous post/rant today. I'm mailing them tomorrow and will cross my fingers very hard hoping that they make it to my cousin before the 24th.



The pink ones are for a 1 year old girl. Knit from Sandnes Lanett using 2.25mm needles. The pattern is from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush.
The red one is for the 3 year old big sister. Using the same stitch pattern but thicker yarn and 2.75mm needles. I only cast on 40 stitches. I also did short row heel and toes, after trying a "normal" heel first ending up with a sock that fit my 5 year old and frogging a whole lot!

I'm happy about both pairs. I am also sure of one thing: 2008 is not going to be year of the sock for me. Hats and mittens maybe? And I'm hoping to squeeze in the odd sweater!

Can I have 48 hours in a day, please?

I don't do holiday knitting. I hate to knit stuff on a deadline that is as fixed as Dec. 24th.
Even though I feel this way I said I would knit two pairs of kids socks and mail them across the country in time for Christmas, so my cousin could give them as gifts for two little girls she knows. Norwegian Mail says send all your holiday mail by Dec. 16th. That is TODAY and they are closed on Sundays. I still have not completed the socks. One is near the toe and one is not even ready to get it's heel tuned. I had this silly thought that kids socks were fast... I wish there was a way to peel potatoes and do dishes while knitting. I have not done anything but knit AND RIP this whole weekend.
Who needs sleep? Eeeek!

(Sillier: I even thought I'd have time to knit and felt three Schmeebot rabbits and toss in the same package too. Who am I kidding?)

More vine

The second pair of Vine is finished and in the mail.

This time I used Chrystal Palace Taos. That changed the project a lot compared to the previous pair!


That pink little thing I'm working on is a Infants Fancy Silk Sock by Nancy Bush. Two pairs are going to be given away as christmas presents by my cousin. I'm really liking knitting these, they are so sweet!

Vine please...

I just finished a pair of Vine fingerless mitts. Lovely pattern, though I'm not sure I managed to follow it properly. I have no idea where I started to deviate though, but I ended up with a wrong row count!



A nice gift for a good friend I think. I got to use up some leftover yarns. Pt5 by Rauma (I have a huge cone) and some pretty and sparkly Kidsilk Night to soften it up a bit.

Applause to hubby for improving on his photo skills. (And, this photo is heavily edited lightwise. I'm gonna miss the lighter seasons alot this winter.)

I have another friend that turns 30 in a couple of days. I've started another pair of Vine. This time in a completely different yarn, Chrystal Palace Taos. More on that this weekend, because these babies knit up fast!

Winter wonder land

Some people* are under the impression that Norway is a winter wonder land, and as soon as you get close to December the whole country will be covered in snow. You'd expect nothing less from the nice little spot on this planet where Santa has chosen to live, would you?

Well, here's proof of the contrary. Picture taken December 2nd on a hike in woods where I live, testing out wether "My so called scarf"'s is good for hiking.



See that? Pretty christmas trees in the wild, but no snow!

The scarf... It's been my out of the house-project for quite some time. I started it back in October. Overall, it's a good scarf, though a bit short.
The main purpose of this projeck: Knit up the two pretty balls of Rowan Tapestry that I had in the stash, to see what it looks and feels like knit up and how it wears. Because I thought I wanted a larger garment in this yarn and wanted to test knit something small first. Well, I don't really plan on knitting with Tapestry again any time soon. Though it is a wool and soybean yarn, feels more like a mohair blend. Hairy and tangle prone (I had yarn barf that stuck on itself). It also has a dry feel to it. It's hard to describe but if you have some Tapestry handy try holding it up to your ear and give it a gentle squeeze... Hear** that "dry" sound? I don't like that at all! I can kind of hear it with my hands when I knit too. So there will not be a pretty vest, bolero or sweater out of Tapestry for me, no way!

I've been writing a bit about when hubby is taking pictures of me and my knitwear. I can not for the life of me understand how other bloggers get their partners to take such pretty pictures. Here's the best picture out of the first 8 he took when I told him to focus on the scarf, not me.


Not my best piranha impression, I can do so much better!




* kids under the age of 5, and people who have never been here.
**Am I the only one who listen to yarn this way? I do it every time I meet a new yarn, straight after I've sniffed it.

Lots of things

It does not feel like I get a lot of knitting done these days, but when I look in my at my knitting photos on Flickr I see that I am in fact finishing things.

I've finished a tiny Tuscany shawl

I used 4mm needles and one ball of Rowan Damask. A pretty viscose/linen/acrylic blend. Very nice and shiny! I wish I had used one size bigger needles, after washing and ironing the shawlette it did not become as drapey as I thought it would.
I came up with a little cufflink thing to use to fasten it around my neck. The buttons are from a knittyboard secret pal round. The leaves go so well with the lace pattern on the Tuscany. I think it's very pretty (and smart).


I usually wear the the tiny thing like a neckwarmer, like this:

It can also be worn in other ways, but I prefer the one above.


Then I finished the Roza's socks I started sometime in september. I was a bit disappointed in these socks. I do like them, it's just that I was a bit bummed about not realising the yarn in the two balls I used was wound in opposite directions. Especially since I made an effort to get the stripes to match in the beginning of the socks. (also blogged here)

The pattern was great though, and the brioche stitch made the knitting easy but not boring.

Then I'm trying to get Marie ready for winter and snow.
I had mentioned for her that I could knit her a pinc "ice cream" hat, and a month ago she started to ask me (a lot) about when it would me done.
It finished it a finished it two weeks ago and the hat is already in regular use and is very much loved. "Mom, the other kids are pretending I'm an ice cream and are licking my head" she told me the other day.

I learned that I have been doing my backwards look increases the wrong way while knitting this hat. I frogged half a hat when I realised it, and then there was some minor ripping incidents later on too. There are only two increases that are the wrong way now. I did not see them until I had bound off.
I also love this hat because it's the first thing I have knit from my own handspun. I had to use the yarn double stranded to get a nice fabric on 7mm needles. I adjusted the cast on number too, to make the hat child sized.

Marie also has new mittens. I knit them with the leftover Cascade 220 from my Subway/Flexus mittens and some mystery leftover yarn I've had "since the dawn of time". They are loosely based on the Subway Mittens pattern too. The thumb is the same and I used twisted rib for the cuff. The rest was made up as I knit.


(as always all photos can be clicked to take you to Flickr to see larger versions if you like)

Why this long and full post? I'm sitting here with a small suitcase beside me, holding all the important things you would pack for a long weekend in London. Except knitting... I did not bring any, I don't think I can fit any knitting in between being social with my collegues, spending a day with my friend Boyce, seing Lord of the Rings (musicla), spending hours looking at and tasting food and beverages at Borough market, etc. I did remember to bring my camera. There will probably be a picture or two taken. Maybe I'll try to look up one of the yarn stores. Are there any pubs near by do you think?

Also, another thing I'm really happy about; one of the bands my brother is in have released a new cd and are getting great reviews. After listening to it and seeing the cover I do understand his x-mas gift wish "anything as long as it is in black and white and looks vintage".
This band has the greatest drummer ever! He's a sweetie:)

Have a nice week end! I will!

Baby it's cold outside

Subway mittens from the latest Interweave Knits. A very fast and easy pattern. I think I would have been able to knit the pair in one day had I not been distracted by other things.* The yarn is Cascade 220. That is actually the yarn the pattern called for. I've been dying to knit up my skein of 220 since Theresa gave it to me in February (Thankyou, sweetie!) . Since I'm in Norway, but knit mostly from english/american patterns I don't have the chance to knit with the yarn a pattern calls for very often. I've been very close to ordering some Cascade online many times, but there is something scary about ordering large amounts of a yarn I have never knit or even touched before. Now I know it's safe next time I get the urge. I really like it. I also think there is enough yarn left for a pair of mittens for Marie too.



Coming soon to this blog; a tiny Tuscany and an icecream hat.

Just in time I think

I finished another baby bonnet. Just in time for it to go in the mail and be at my aunts house by Sunday I hope. She asked me to knit this bonnet to go with her (and my) family's christening gown.

I struggeled a bit to get this thing together. First I had trouble finding a lace pattern I liked that went well with the gown. It has a fair bit of lace on it, waves and flowers theme. I did not want to knit a flower lace pattern. It was hard to find one that worked well with the lace on the gown while at the same time not being too feminine. I know baby boys can pull off feminine quite well but it was not what I was after. So I decided to try the waves instead and went with the wave/jigsaw pattern I fell in love with when I knit the Jigsaw socks during the last sock swap I was in.



I struggled a bit with the cotton yarn (Rowan Cotton Glace) and knitting this particular pattern flat. It involves a p2tog tbl, and I find that very hard with cotton yarn with minimal give. It did turn out very pretty in the end though.
I also had to knit and rip the ribbing around the neck 3 times before it all looked pretty the 4th time. Very frustrating, messing up simple ribbing and a row of eyelets multiple times!



My favourite thing about my way of knitting these bonnets is the back. The decreases add a certain somethin-something that makes it all come together so well.



As you can see I'm now heading into the poor lighting photos period known as winter. I had to take these pictures at work. It's dark when I leave home in the morning and dark when I get back home in the evenings. You might end up seeing a lot of Ikea office furniture this winter. I'm not patient enough to wait until weekends and home time during daylight hours to take pictures of my knitting.

When cheating works out just fine...

I cheated! I wore my Tuscany shawl to a party before it was done.



The punishment for this kind of thing is red eyes and a shiny face, even though I did all I could to avoid both.

How I did it: after the last row on the 8th pattern repeat I threaded a lifeline through all the stitches. I used "button sewing thread", it looks almost like machine sewing thread but it's much stronger. Then I bound off all the stitches using the knitted bind off, because that one is fast to do and easy to rip out.
Then I spritzed the shawl with water and let it rest for a while, before steam ironing it on the reverse side.

I loved wearing my Tuscany, but I'm glad it's going to be bigger still. The more lovely, soft, shiny, silky goodness there is the happier I am.

I'm no Yarnstorm

But I can make a cake look nice too...


Also, I can assure you that the toes inside these socks have no nailpolish. In fact, I don't think they've ever had a pedicure.


If you don't know Yarnstorm, you should go check her out here. Be sure to bring chocolate!

I knit the socks for my cousins partner. I gave them a pair of tiny tiger baby socks this summer, and since then Stefan has been totally in love with the thought of owning his own tiger socks. So when my cousin told me about his love for the tiger socks I really didn't think I had any choise but to knit him a pair. He'll get them on his birthday on Sunday. They are knit with Opal 6-ply yarn on size 3.25 needles on 52 stitches (instead of 44).

The cake... I did not make that! I did not even put it together. I did put the flowers and hearts on it. Looks good I think. It's for MIL and FIL's 75+70 year birthday party tomorrow. I have a new dress and all, and will be wearing my Tuscany shawl, even though it's not quite finished yet. I have a cunning (I hope) plan!

I'm going to London at the end of the month. I'll try to pick up Yarnstorms book then. And yarn!

It's not always about knitting

Let's just say I had great fun on Sunday!



We're nearly ready for winter now.

Tuscany shawl class and stuff (photo heavy)

First of all I have to show you the yarn, because it's so pretty!


Indian handspun 100% pure silk. It's like knitting with pink butter.

Now the shawl


That's about as much as I did in the class. Only I did not knit that in the class. I ripped what I did there, there was some fudgeing and stupid corrections on that shawl, and after thinking about how the fabric looked I also felt the need to change needles.
You can also see the variegation in the yarn a bit better in this photo.

After three hours of









We headed to downtown Oslo


(Love Amy's Lexie Barnes bag)

to see the Strikknikk exhibition at the Decorative arts and design museum.

Then food at a nice little place called Bacchus


That's Theresa, trying to hide behind a nacho, Amy and Sandy.



Also I have a new little knitting bag, that I love!


Felisi is a very smart woman!

And a new work in progress that's looking like it's going to be very pretty!


My socalled scarf. There is one thing I find odd though. I'm sure I cast on 46 or 48 stitches, there are now 44 and I can not for the life of me find out where I've dropped or lost stitches. Hopefully I will not loose any more. I'm not aming for a triangular scarf!