Det scrappes!

For ganske nøyaktig ei uke siden, så var jeg på scrappekurs på Smykkestein. Timene fløy, og jeg fikk masse inspirasjon til å fortsette med denne hobbyen jeg såvidt har prøvd meg på før. Jeg har famlet og ikke funnet helt ut av det, men nå ble jeg fortalt litt om hva som ser bra ut. Og det er jo godt å ha med seg.
Dette er ikke LO'en jeg lagde på kurs, men en jeg begynte med for et par dager siden. Jeg visste hva jeg ville ha, men manglet noe utstyr. I dag var jeg innom TreL på Alstad, og fikk med meg de siste bokstavene jeg manglet for å få den ferdig.

Historien bak bildene er Elina som er bare ei uke gammel, og har på seg sokkene som er med i LO'en. Teksten er "to bittesmå sokker -men fortsatt altfor store" Bildene er ikke teknisk gode, de er altfor kornete og mørke. Men likevel har de en betydning for meg, og jeg ville scrappe dem av den grunn. Papir og teknikker er jeg overhodet ikke inne på, men jeg kan prøve å forklare hva jeg har gjort. Bildene har smale rosa rammer av håndlaget papir. Helt bortkastet, jeg kunne brukt vanlig kartong. De er etter det montert på ensfarget brun kartong, hvor et par journaling ark og noen billetter er stukket under. Sokkene henger med klesklyper på ei snor som er et satengbånd, jeg lurte litt på hvordan jeg skulle få festet dem. Med lim på rull gikk det veldig greit. Pynten er litt ymse.. en stor, brun rub-on, flere blomster som har fått en glasstein eller knapp i midten, noen klistremerker og enda flere rub-ons. Jeg kjøpte pynten etterhvert som LO'en vokste frem, så sammenhengen ble ikke så veldig fremtredende..
Alfabetene er to forskjellige. De store bokstavene er av papp, opprinnelig uten farge. Jeg har gitt dem en omgang med stempelpute for å (nesten) få den fargen jeg ville ha. De små bokstavene er hvite klistrelapper jeg har skjært opp med skalpell og strøket samme stempelpute over. Likte effekten de fikk. Det blir nok gjort igjen!

Jeg famler fortsatt, men ikke så mye at jeg har lyst å droppe hele greia. Et nytt prosjekt er allerede i gang, forhåpentligvis litt mer ryddig enn denne.

Prestekrager og pølselegger

Hva gjør man ikke for at ullsokkene skal bli gjenkjent i barnehagen? Broderte blomster kan være en løsning, om enn ikke en veldig god en. Jeg har aldri brodert på ull før, så det var en artig erfaring. Særlig pene ble de ikke, så det er kanskje like greit at de skal gjemmes nedi bittesmå sko..
Til og med hælen fikk litt pynt..
Ullsokkene er et vaskeekte resteprosjekt, en rest finull og en alpakka som akkurat holdt til to små sokker. Litt store ble de, men det utjevner seg raskere enn man skulle tro. Småunger er greie sånn sett... Da jeg strikket disse brukte jeg mine helt nye Harmony Wood-pinner, og de var faktisk like fantastiske som folk skal ha det til... Minst like fantastiske! Flere er naturligvis underveis i posten ;)

Trodde du sommeren var slutt?

Vi nærmer oss oktober, og i helga blåste høstens første storm ned fire trær i gata vår. I morres da jeg dro på jobb måtte jeg hente frem både hansker og lue, og gradestokken viser sjelden over 10 grader. I hagen er det fortsatt jordbær. Jeg synes det er veldig merkelig, det må være siste krampetrekning og et hyggelig minne om den nydelige sommeren som var. Det er riktignok ikke så mange bær som det var i glansdagene i slutten av juli, men tre bær er akkurat nok til en liten skvett fløte som jeg skal kose meg med før samboer kommer hjem og finner ut at jeg har slukt de siste bærene helt alene. Eller kanskje det kommer flere?

På norsk?

Ville det være helt for galt om jeg begynte å skrive på norsk..?
Igjen?

poor Elina

She doesn't get food, so she has to eat banana skin... And as the good mother I am, I ran to get the camera instead of taking her "food" away from her.

miss saggytights

The sweater fits her perfectly. I couldn't be happier!

Stripes, stripes and more stripes

Finally, I've finished something! I started this sweater while I was in Sweden on vacation more than a month ago, and it took a while to get it done.. It's a small project, so I have no idea why it took so long.

It's a Norwegian pattern, from the book "Strikk til Nøstebarn" which is pretty popular. I haven't used the original yarn, but thought it would be fun if I used Noro Kureyon Sock. I was a little inspired by scarves knit with two different colorways of Noro, so I got a couple of balls, and started knitting.
The pattern is really easy, but it's not a top down-pattern. There's also room for some improvement on the pattern, I've made a little note to myself if I am to knit it again. The owner is in Kindergarden at the moment, so I'll try it on when she gets back.

Doesn't the buttons look like rasberry candy? It reminds me of the fact that I was so eager to get this project done that I forgot to eat..

do you have something for me to knit?

My mother asked me that question when she visited in January.. Sure! I always have thousands of planned project, pick anything you like!
She ended up knitting this jacket, which I've planned for ages. But I really didn't find the time to start it.. Luckily she did. All I had to do was to sew on the buttons, which are vintage metal with little cute "stitches" on to make them look like leather.
Hopefulle the jacket will fit Elina next spring and summer, it's a little to big for her now. It's rather heavy, about 200 grams and is knitted on needles 2,5 mm which makes it rather compact as well. Maybe that's a good thing in windy Bodø.
Sorry about the picture! The program I use to fix them didn't start... SO annoying!

Hihi, I put this jacket out on Ravelry before I blogged about it, and when I'd finished the blog update, I saw that 4 people had viewed the jacket, and all four of them had put it as a favourite! Fun for mom!

the balls are back in town

The yarn balls, that is. I've been away for my holiday for the last 9 days, and it's been a stressful experience. We've been to Sweden and Finland (by mistake, actually) and have slept in 5 different locations. I've never had the time to really sit down and knit, so all I've produced over the last week and a half is nearly two arms and the upper part of a pant. I might have knitted about 50 grams, and I brought nearly 500 with me! I'd never planned to knit all of it, but I wanted to have something to chose from, if I was to start a new project.
The picture above is the arms I've mentioned. It's a little sweater for Elina, and it's made of Noro Kureyon Sock, in two different shades (219 and 229)
It's supposed to turn out as a raglan (some day..)

Well.. after I came home, I counted 31 balls of yarn, which I've bought during my vacation. Addicted, me?
Here's 28 of them, which are for me. The remaning 3 is a gift for someone who might "read" my blog.. ;)

I've used my camera quite a bit while we were in Sweden:




Both pictures are from Teknikens Hus in Luleå, Sweden. Recommended for the playful!

jumping around

Yes, I'm happy. What a day! And I just got out of bed! This is what I found in the mail today, from lovely Colourmart. A whole cone of 100% pure cashmere, in a khaki color. I love it. I can't wait to knit it. But the annoying part about luxury yarn is that I never find the perfect project. I just save it for ages, until it isn't that special to me anymore. I'm not going to do that this time. My original plan was to knit these mittens. I've ordered a fingering weight yarn, but I think it's thinner than that. It isn't twisted that hard, so it might be ok to knit it double. Oh, I can't wait!

I also ordered this little piece of paper, with tiny skeins taped to it. Why doesn't all yarn stores do this? I can really feel the different qualities, and see how thick they are. All samples are cashmere, if not other is mentioned. There's some camel, silk, merino and mohair too. I love the blue/purple heavy lace, and I want it now.

I even got a ball of merino, as a gift. It's the softest merino I've ever felt. I'm not sure what there's enough yarn for.. it's great to have kids with small heads, hands and feet, isn't it?

At last, a little cute picture I took this morning... Has she got the yarn madness as well?

disagree (4)

After "my" forum, or the forum where I spend most of my online time, was shut down for a while a few days ago,as a substitute I started spending more time on Ravelry.
Wow, how many groups there are, and how many topics that are being discussed! I found myself anticipating in topics about everything! There are tons of inspiration to get, and I'm planning more and more projects. To bad I only have to hands.. How many Ravelry groups do you belong to, and what is the weirdest?

Suddenly, I found myself being a member of 72 groups, from tall people (I'm just tall enough!) to zimmermania and everything in between. It's really great to discuss patterns with other people, there's always someone who knows how to do everything.. Isn't it great that all this knowledge about knitting is avaliable in one place?
As for the topic of this post: It's ironic.



Even if my blog is struggling to stay alive, I still am knitting. I've made 3 christmas presents, and recently started Gretel by Ysolda. I've wanted to do a beret for ages, and I've also wanted to do cables... This might be the perfect project then? It's knitting at it's most extreme, I'm not sure if I have enough yarn! I've bought it 4-5 years ago, and know it's Gedifra. I'm pretty sure I've only got two balls, and I'm not sure at all where to get more, or if the yarn still exsists. Fun, isn't it?

happy days

Not much to blog about these days, I'm working almost full-time, and enjoying the great weather! Two things which is often hard to combine, I've realized...
Other than that, I'm making christmas presents. That is a really fun thing to do when there's so many small children in the family! I've completed one, and have started on the second one, which will be done in a day or two.
A little early to start thinking about christmas, you might think?
Not at all... Last year we bought most of the presents while we were away for the summer, and it was SO great to relax, bake and enjoy Desember, instead of stressing through stores to find presents. I'm hoping to make a couple of things every month, so far I think I'll make 6.

monogamy is cruelty

Who would have guessed that headline was about shoes?
I love them both! After 2 days, I still couldn't pick a pair, and had to go with both pairs. I think they're so cute, in a comfy kind of way... Not the kind of sandals I would wear to a wedding, but perfect for everyday wear. In rainy Bodø.(Does anyone make tiny umbrellas for the feet?)
I'm hoping for a dry autumn, I think they'll look pretty cute with tights and a skirt too.
When it comes to crafts, I'm cleaning out my studio. I want to weep while I do it, mostly because of the dust,but also because I have to store most of my yarn, fabrics and fiber in plastic boxes in the basement. I will still have a studio, but a combination of a studio and a guest room. So I'll keep some fabric, the yarn I'm hoping to use in the next decade (a growing amount, for sure), the sewing machine and some other stuff, but it will be crowded in there with a queen size bed as well. Why can't my guest be very tiny and very, very in love with each other? They're so much easier to store in beds!
Anyway, it's a huge job, I regret not asking Helen to come and help me. She's a yarnaholic who would love to make a system in my stash!
I'm also knitting a little christmas present. I've knitted an A and most of a B.. after I've finished the B I'll start on a C, and then they will all be connected into a D. Which will turn into a garment. I'm afraid the reciever, or the recievers relatives are reading my blog, so I have to be a little vague. And it's fun too. To be vague, I mean.

they're small, fast and binds off easily...

Yep. You guessed right. I'm talking about hats. Or caps, berets,tams, beanies or whatever. I prefer the slouchy beret-type, and I'm so extremely bored with my current project, that I want to make something small NOW.


The shawl I'm making only needs 5 more rows before I start the ruffled edging, but they're some pretty long rows... I can't decide if I should put it away until I'm bored with hats and are longing for an easy and mindless project, or if I should get it over with ASAP! Gah!
Why is knitting so hard? Why are there so many beautiful patterns I want to make right now? That's just mean!
Garnstudio have released some of their autumn/winter patterns too, and I found a couple of hats I want to make... I'm also pretty impressed with Ysoldas hat patterns, mostly Gretel. Or maybe Estella?
Again, there are to many great patterns out there!

tagged

By LissM

Circle of Friends Award

The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. Each player answers the questions about themselves. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5-6 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

1) 10 years ago:
I was 16, and had just finished elementary school. I'd applied for an art/craft education and got in. I got a little summer job at my fathers company. I remember getting in to the local pub, even if I were 2 years to young, and thought it was great... until someone told the owner. I tried to explain that I really was 18, but he knew better. It's also almost 10 years ago since the biggest football match ever, when Norway beat Brazil 2-1 in the world cup. Norway didn't do it to good in the rest of the their matches...

2) 5 things on today's TO DO list:
Go for a walk with child and boyfriens
Trick boyfriend into getting me a knitpicks needle
Cook a healthy soup for dinner
Knit!
Comfort poor boyfriend who has to go to knit stores, buy me things there AND eat soup

3) Snacks that I enjoy:
apples, raisins, kiwis... That's the snacks I DO enjoy, what I want to eat is a different story. (Chooocooolaaaate!)

4) Things I would do if I were a millionare:
Create places for people to work
Eat more organic food
Buy all the knitpicks needles!
Get more education
Get a haircut and some I.D Foundation

5) Places I have lived:
Bodø
Skedsmokorset
Oslo
Stamsund
Mehamn
Kabelvåg
Skjelfjord

It's Saturday morning, and I'm tired. That means I'm to lazy to tag anyone, but if you read this; please feel free copy and paste!

teal+purple

The second spin I talked about, completed a few days ago. It's a BFL roving which I've painted. I love to spin this fiber, it is so easy to "fluff up" and pre-draft. I don't know if I was lucky with this particular wool, or if BFL usually is this soft. I've heard someone mentioning it's not as soft as merino. I have som pretty cheap merino, and this is ten times softer than that. It's the only BFL I've ever owned, so I don't know. I think it's a bit more shiny than merino too.

A little about the yarn:
It's a 2-ply Z-twist, about 12-14 WPI. That would make it a a fingering weight? I don't know what to make of this, maybe a hat or a neckwarmer for Elina? Or maybe I'll swap it, it's to sad to stash a lot of yarn I have no idea what to do with. That doesn't mean I don't to it..

what is that?

You might wonder, if you aren't a spinner. Or maybe you're clever enough to figure anyway?

Yes, they're rovings. Bluefaced Leicester wool dyed into a badly planned color combination. I wanted to experiment with the idea of purple and orange. And to put a little more life into the yarn they eventually will become, I added some green and pink as well.

At this point it looks like a child went crazy with all her favourite colors, not thinking about the result at all. I have absolutely no idea how this will turn out as a yarn. Or even what it will look like once its dried.
Most of the times when I've dyed rovings, they've turned out better than I thought they would. Acid dyes are really that easy to use. This time I don't know.. Isn't it a bit to clown-ish?

a wooly update

I've been dyeing, again. This time I painted a skein of Rauma Lamullgarn. It used to be white, now it's green, teal, olive and turquoise. I've used Jacquard Acid Dyes this time too. It didn't turn out as dark as I wanted, but ok enough. I have no idea what to make of this..
I've been spinning too! This is a BFL roving I dyed a while ago, and finally finished spinning it yesterday. I have no idea how much yarn there is, since it's still wet and can't be put on the weight for a while. It's a pretty thin and light quality, I think it turned out good. It might show up in someone's mailbox in about a week ;)
I'm already working on another project, also a BFL roving I dyed. It's a teal/purple/turquoise mix, and there's not that much of it.I hope I'll finish it pretty quickly, as I'm hoping to spin a blue/brown/grey yarn for the Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl. I quess I have a thing for shawls!

once in a lifetime?

Yesterday I went to a dyeing-class, where Sissel tought us how to dye yarn and fiber, using Jacquard Acid dyes. I've done this before, both with fiber and yarn, but I did learn some more. I also got really inpired, so I bought a ball of white yarn, which I threw it in some hot water as soon as I got home!
Then I mixed up some purple, blue-ish purple, green, brown and hot fuchsia, and started pouring them on the yarn. It didn't look that good when I put it in the pot, but after drying up the whole night it looked kind of different... I'm extremly pleased with it! It's the best dye I've ever done.
It's almost religious.

mmmm... strawberries!

Another new and exciting taste for Elina... But it was more fun to squeeze them in the sofa than eat them!

fruity

It's completed. At last. First I started knitting the biggest size on bigger needles, to get a size 2 years. It turned out more like size 8 years, so I knit the 12 months size on bigger needles, and it turned out a little big. But it will hopefully fit before I forget all about it..
Pattern: Five Fruits by Amanda Kerr. It's a free Ravelry download. Here's her blog.
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, color 224. I used 200 grams.
Needles: 5 mm, circular and double points.
I found this pattern at Magknits, the great pattern recourse which suddenly shut down, without a warning. It's okay to shut down your site, but it's NOT ok to do it without a warning when thousands of people are using the patterns for their knitting projects. (yes, it's smart to copy it to your computer. There are several things that's smart, but it doesn't mean we do it) It really pissed me off, but the designer was luckily kind enough to share the pattern as a free download. I really, really appreciate that!
Anyway, quite happy with the result, it's an unusual pattern, many things were new to me. It's well written and easy to follow. It's a top down, for me that seems to be the easiest way to knit a sweater. I even found a top-down group at Ravelry, so there are more fans ;) The sweater has some edgings that are new to me, the neck stockinette all the way, no rib or garter to make an edge. Same thing on the sleeves. I think it's really cute!
Here's the edging. I didn't bind of, but sew it on to the back. Yey for that, it turned out good. I will probably knit this patterns again very soon, but use a yarn which is more like the one used in the pattern, so I might have a little idea how it turns out.

challenged

Gurin challenged me!
It goes like this:

-Pick up the nearest book
-Open on page 123
-Find the fifth sentence
-Post the next three sentences
-Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

Ok, here is the nearest book. It's got 26 pages...
So I had to pick another one, from the shelf. With my eyes closed, to make it a little more realistic. The one I picked is Affinity by Sarah Waters. It's in Norwegian, and is called Renkesmed.

From page 123:

"Jeg sa at det var sånn han svarte for å erte meg da vi var barn; han tedde seg som en utlært advokat allerede den gangen. Jeg så at Helen holdt øye med oss. Hun hadde perler i ørene - de så ut som små voksdråper, jeg husker at hun hadde dem på en gang i gamle dager, og at jeg så for meg at de smeltet i varmen fra huden hennes. "

I pass the challenge on to Liss, Merete, Dolci, Muffin and Beate

parklife

It's summer! Or at least almost. Summer to me means bringing my knitting project outdoors, in this example to the park. Nothing is better than relaxing an knitting in the grass on a sunny day!
I'm continuing the shawl I started yesterday, and I think the colors will turn out pretty good. 12 is my magic number, so I'm knitting 12 stripes in each color, but I started with only 6 rows of the garter-stripes to push the colorchanging 6 rows forward, and change the color of the garter stitches in the middle of the stockinette rows... If you understand what I'm trying to explain. I don't blame you if you have no idea what I'm talking about.
I'm also planning some beads on the ruffle edge for this shawl. Maybe a row or two with some small matching beads... don't know. It's exciting to plan a project while I'm knitting, who knows how it will turn out!
Isn't the colors just shockingly different from the last shawl I made?
"Yey, I'm so happy to be in the park!"

UFO to FO

Finally! God, this was boring to bind off! But I was so eager to get it done, so it didn't take more than a few hours.. It turned out bigger than I expected, and it was surpricingly easy to block. Normally I almost hate blocking shawls, as they never turn out how I want them to. Maybe it's the yarn? Here are the facts: The patterns is Flower Basket shawl by Evelyn Clark. The patterns is from the 2004 Fall issue of Interweave Knits, but it has been avaliable as a free pattern. I got it from Mauds garn when I purchased the yarn.
The yarn is Evilla artyarn 8/2, color A-70. A greasy, "natural" yarn to knit, I had to pick out some hay, but I've seen worse. Noro, that would be.
The shawl is 180 grams, knit on needles 5 mm, it's 2 meters long and 80 cm wide. A perfect size! I think I knit the pattern a few more times than suggested. Lovely and easy pattern to knit, I would do it again! But on the other hand, it was an UFO for several months, I've been to busy knitting childrens garments. I actually used nearly 6 months to get it done!
I've started a new shawl (and a cardi which I forgot to take pictures of), a pretty pattern I found on Ravelry a few days ago. I have some alpaca in nice colors, and this is the perfect project. The shawl is called October Nursing Shawl, and is a free pattern. I'm not planning any nursing the next few years, but if I knit this as fast as the last shawl, I would have to start any day now. We might actually plan another baby in 4 years or so ;)

nearly done

I'm so excited! I've started the edge on the shawl I'm knitting, and I think it will turn out pretty good. I have no idea how big it is, since I haven't tried to put it on two circular needles to get an idea about the size. It's FBS, or Flower Basket Shawl, one of the most "common" shawl patterns to knit, I guess. Pretty and easy, and hopefully pierced with many needles on the guestbed tonight. I really wish I had a simpler system for blocking shawls. Wires would be great!

cute as a button

I have thousands of buttons. Or maybe millions! And the collection is still growing! I will never get the chance to use half of them if I'll only use them for clothing and scrapbooking. I could sew and make more layouts, but it would be fun to try something new, wouldn't it?

Next project is a matching bracelet, which I have no idea how to make..

a trip down memory lane

A thread about knitwear for newborns were started at Hobbyboden and I got to think about our little girl when she was just 2 days old. She was born 18 days earlier than she "should", so I never got the time to get scared.. or buy some of the most nessesary things for a newborn, like a car seat. So we had to borrow a big blue plastic bag at the hospital, which was fully legal to use in cars! I can't understand why this is safe travelling for a baby. Anyway, I remember being so tired after 2 days at the hospital, and sitting in the back of the car breastfeeding while my boyfriend ran around town to get all the babystuff we needed. Like diapers, babycream, some clothing and something to give her a bath in. It's only been a year, but the extreme stress is gone!
Oh, now I remember why I uploaded the pics.. The knitwear! Isn't it cute? A midwife at the hospital "begged" to put it on Elina, and afterwards she had to run around the whole floor to show them the "little doll". Proud parents? Nooo.. ;)
Again, the knitwear... It's made by my mother. It's pure wool, and we used it until the weather got to hot. It was really simple to put on and take off, as the pants have buttons all the way. I can't believe it's been this long! What a year!