November 18, 2015

Cozy Knit Night

It's a cold day here in Trondheim. 
But luckily we have tea and knitting!

I'm still working on Christmas presents, and right now I'm making a Christmas Ball from Arne&Carlos' book 55 Christmas Balls To Knit. Lovely balls, easy pattern to follow and they make for lovely decorations for your home.
I have the book in norwegian, but it's available in several languages.


I do love a cup of tea when it's cold outside, and tonight was no exception.
Tetøsene is a relatively new tea company here in Norway. On the side of the box it says: Tetøsene = Teachicks. Two tea-loving girls from Norway started thteir little teabrand in September 2014. High quality loose leaf tea blended with norwegian vintage design and humor.



In my cup, with a Scot knitting undergarments straight of the sheep, I have "Halvors Herlige Hasselnøtter". It's an Chinese Pu erh tea, with strawberries, cocoa nibs, natural strawberry flavor, natural creme flavor and natural hazelnut flavor. It did have a kinda creamy warm nutty feel while drinking it. But I couldn't find any strawberry flavor at all.
I do recommend Tetøsene tea, and they have a lot of different types.

Well, I guess I'll get back to the knitting now.
Lot's to finish before Christmas!

November 16, 2015

Magnus Gardenmouse is done

And he's ready to move to Germany!

I'm sorry for the bad lighting on the pictures. I had to use flash as he was done late in the evening, and I really wanted to take pictures of him before placing him in his travel box.



The overalls he's wearing had a hole for his tail, red heart buttons, and a crochet edging.


He's also wearing a warm woolly sweater. After all, he's born in Norway.


Stats for Magnus Gardenmouse:

Designer: Arne&Carlos
Needles: 2,5mm double pointed needles Hverdagspinner in aluminium 

The pattern is written out row by row and you stuff and close the holes as you go. You start at the feet, knit the body, then the arms, put the arms and body together, then the neck, head and snout. Then you knit the ears separately and sew them on to the head. Make an I-cord for the tail and sew it to his bottom. After that you embroider on the eyes and you're done!
Clothes are optional, but the book gives you a pattern for a sweater, pants and overalls.

I made his clothes of some leftover yarn I had lying around on 3mm needles.


November 13, 2015

Garden Mouse

This is a Christmas present, but it's for a little guy who doesn't read my blog. His mom does, but I'm sure she won't spoil it for him. His dad on the other hand...
The pattern is Magnus the Garden Mouse by Arne&Carlos. It is from their book Knit and Crochet Garden

I'm knitting him up in Falk from Dalegarn. It's a 100% superwash wool and I'm knitting on 2,5mm needles as the pattern recommends. 
It's a relatively quick knit and the pattern is very easy to follow. 
There is also patterns for clothes for him, a sweater, pants and overalls. And the pants and overalls has a hole in the back for his little tail!
For the clothes I'm using leftover yarns. 

I hope he'll be well taken care of when he moves to Germany next month. 

November 11, 2015

Quiet because

I've been a bit quiet lately.

And that's because I'm mostly knitting Christmas presents.

But I have one thing to share.
I'm knitting a pair of Christmas socks for myself along with my friend Maike.
She gifted me a skein of christmassy yarn a few years ago, and a month ago she suggested a KAL.
For those of you that don't know, KAL stands for Knit-A-Long.
And this time I'm doing something I've never done before.
I'm knitting 2 at the time, toe up on magic loop! And it's not that difficult!!
And the yarn sparkles! It has 2% golden polyester in it.
Makes the yarn a bit rougher to knit with, but it's still OK.


Needles: 2,5mm, 100cm circulars.

So, yeah, I guess I'll go back to  my Christmas knitting now. Lots to do!

October 26, 2015

Pumpkin!

As Halloween draws nearer, patterns related to it pops up everywhere. Decorations, costumes and whatnot.
I don't do Halloween, but I like pumpkins, and when I saw this cute pumpkin pattern from Garnstudio, and it was a free pattern, I just had to knit it. And so I did!


I didn't have any yarns in my stash that I could use to make the size I wanted, nor that was in the right color, so I had to go out and buy some. Yay!
I've been on an yarn diet since... Forever! Well, maybe just the last year or so. Maybe a bit more.
While on vacation I only bought 6 skeins, and a month or two ago I bought 1 skein on sale that I do have plans for, but other than that I haven't bought a single skein! So I think I've been very good!

Anyway, back to the pumpkin.
I bought a skein of Mor Aase Ullgarn, color 3326 for the main color, and I found a Smart Superwash, color 8615 in my stash for the contrast color.
I'm not completely happy about the shape of it, it kinda wouldn't do what it was supposed to.
So I helped it a bit by doing some stitches through it while seaming the bottom.


Don't have any pumpkins at home right now, so I brought it with me to my local grocery store.
People might have looked at me a bit weird, but I don't care. I needed a picture with pumpkins!

October 13, 2015

Rainforest Frog

Each year, there is a TVaksjon in Norway.
From Wikipedia: TV-aksjonen is an annual national Norwegian fund raising event for various charity purposes which has been arranged since 1974. It is arranged by NRK in collaboration with a chosen organisation. The fund raising happens in several ways. It is mainly executed by approximately 100,000 volunteers knocking on people's houses with a certified collection box to all of Norway's 1.8 million houses and apartments. Besides this, donations are given by companies and persons directly to the fund raising through a telephone line or by transferring money directly to a certain bank account. NRK also hosts a live auction to the benefit of event. The fund raising also endures for some time after the official day as well. The organisation/purpose who will receive the money is decided by a fund raising committee at NRK.
This year all the money goes to the Rainforest Foundation Norway.
On their webshop I found a pattern for a very cute Frog by Arne&Carlos.
I got out my yarn and needles, and voila, a frog was born!

Quick and easy knit, but a bit advanced. I used 2,5mm needles, but maybe a bit to thin yarn.
When I make this again I'll choose a thicker yarn.

P3, one of the radio stations, are doing a live 100 hour broadcast from the square in Trondheim.
They've done it several times now, and it's a success. Maybe I'll ask them if they want to auction away the frog,

October 08, 2015

Orders!

Since I posted Klara's Deathflake mittens, I've gotten orders for 3 pairs of them!
Luckily for me I had more of the rainbow yarn, as the people that ordered them wanted the same colours as Klara got. So I'd better get cracking on them.

Also, I was asked to copy a hat for an acquaintance. She has one that she loves, and wanted another one in an different colour. So she brought me the yarn and the hat, and I found a pattern that I could use. The Bias Beehive Bubble beanie is made the same way, except for the bottom edge. So I'm just using it as an reference point.

And then, my mom came to visit. She's gotten really into spinning lately, and has learnt how to make sock yarn. So she brought the yarn and asked if I could make her socks!


The picture doesn't do the yarn justice. The colours are so pretty! I can't wait to see how it knits up.
The yarn is a 150g, 210 meters, and is a 4ply cable twist, that is made out of Shetland wool, Corridale wool, Angora wool and Firestar nylon. Need to do them toe up to be sure I have enough to finish both.

So to sum it up, I need to knit 3 pairs of Deathflake mittens, a hat and a pair of socks.
And maaaaybe another new project will appear in the next post!


October 05, 2015

Deathflakes

I know I've been quiet for some time now.
But that's just how life is some times.

Yesterday we went to my boyfriend's nieces birthday. She's finally a teenager!
So I made her a pair of Deathflake Mittens and we bought her an gift certificate to a shop that we know she loves.


I made them using SandnesGarn Lanett and Viking Nordlys on 2.0mm and 2.25mm needles.


September 21, 2015

Frogging and thinking about Christmas

Okay, so I frogged the Citron Shawl.
Life is to short to knit really boring stuff. The yarn was good, but maybe not right for this pattern, and a shawlette... What was I thinking...

So I frogged it, wound the yarn and put it back in my stash.

Instead I finished the Curious path cardigan, started a supereasy baby hat in alpaca, knit a bit on the dishcloth I always have in my bag in case I need something to knit while waiting, and started planning for Christmas presents.

The problem when asking people what they want for Christmas, is that they always start the sentence with; "Oh, I don't know, maaaaybe a hat, mittens, socks or something,,, Make whatever you want, I'm sure I'll like it."
AND THAT'S SO ANNOYING!

I have one friend that I can ask to take a look in my Ravelry queue, and she'll find stuff she likes and make me a list. I love her dearly for that!

But then you have those who have kids and has lost the "I want" and become " *kid's name* needs or wants socks", and completely forgets about themselves.
What do you surprise those people with?

September 03, 2015

I'm cheating!

The last item on my list is sooooo booooring!
The Citron shawl might honestly be the first thing I'll frog instead of finishing.
I know I should try my best to knit it, but the shawl is really a shawlette, and the pattern is very boring. And to make it a shawl I have to do a bit of math and I don't want to do that.

So on Tuesday I started cheating. I cast on for a baby cardigan. The pattern is Autumn Girl by tellybeanknits. And I'm loving it!
I'm doing one of the smallest sizes and it's flying off the needles.
It has lots of cables, it's interesting and I was knitting so fast that I'm already at the point where I only have the arms left!
The picture is from after I put the arm stitches on treads.


New post when I have finished and blocked the cute little cardigan!

September 01, 2015

Coffee!!!

My boyfriend has a coffee subscription from Kaffebox.

This month he got a very good arabica coffee from The Coffee Collective in Denmark. 


On the bag is says "Lively acidity and great sweetness. Reminds you of tropical fruits like pineapple and mango."
I can, while the coffee is working its way through my mouth, taste all of this. 

Today we made regular filter coffee with it  using our Moccamaster. 
But we also use our French Press and Aeropress regularly. 
And in addition, our apartment has an buildt-in Miele coffeemaker that makes an OK cup of coffee. 

The coffeecups I bought from a store called Kremmerhuset here in Norway. 
I thought they were so cute, and I just had to buy them, especially the sheep!

August 30, 2015

The Pointy End socks

In February I got so excited when I found The Pointy End pattern for Game of Thrones inspired socks. But then my boyfriend and I bought a new apartment, had to move out of the old one before we could move in to the new one and my head just got scrambeled...
I finished the first sock, and intended to start and finish the next sock before the new season of GoT started...
But I didn't.
Instead I knit a birthdaypresent, started a blanket, made a few pairs of vanilla socks and got busy doing other things, like actually moving.

Then I made my list!
And I knew it had to go the list.
I need to have a pair of sock on the list. And why not chose an UFO?
So I did.
And now it's done!

It still took me from August 13th to the 30th to finish it for some reason.
But it's done!
And I have new socks!



I used the Filcolana Arwetta Classic in a beautiful grey, on 2,5mm magic loop carbon needles.
The only thing I would do if I were to knit these socks again is to so the small size. I did the medium, and 72 sts are a bit wide for my feet. But that's OK, I needed a pair of sofasocks.


So now, on to the last item on my list, the blue Citron shawl in an alpaca silk blend I started in May of 2012. But where did I put that pattern?

August 27, 2015

Archimedes Von Owl

After finishing the Retro Playsuit I had some yarn left over.
And I had this tiny cute crochet owl in my queue on Ravelry.
So off I went, and out came Archimedes Von Owl!


He now lives in one of the pockets on the playsuit.
It was an easy pattern to follow, and I'm more and more fond of the magic ring start when making small things that start with a ring.


            

August 26, 2015

Finishing an ufo

So, a while ago, I knit myself this Doctor Who pillow. It was for the Ravellenics 2014... So a year and a half ago actually.
All I had to do was to sew the cast on edges shut, but I have no idea what I did with the leftover yarn.


But today I decided to finally do it!
I went through my box of unidentified/leftover yarn, and found a color that was close enough.


I mean, how many people will really inspect it?
So off I went, and now it's done! No longer an ufo!

To sew the cast on edge shut, I used Knit Purl Hunter on YouTube's Invisible Horizontal Seam video.
Easy to understand, and she explained everything so that I could understand it.

So now my pillow is done, and I've placed it in my chair!

             

August 25, 2015

Retro Pocket Playsuit

Or the Bumblebee Playsuit as my friend in Germany calls it.
The pattern is from Ministrikk and are available in both norwegian and english.


From a tip I found on Ravelry I did a few rows of garter stitch in the crotch, and added buttons and buttonholes. 


Now, back to my list!

August 18, 2015

The Peyton Heart Project

A little over a week ago I stumbled over The Peyton Heart Project on Facebook.
They scatter little handmade hearts around towns and places with little quotes on. Maybe you've found one?

The project is named after Peyton James, a 13 year old teen who, in the fall of 2014, died by suicide after years of being bullied.

The purpose of their project (clipped from their FB FAQ) is:
~We would like to help bring awareness to the issues of teen suicide and bullying.
~We are hoping to get people talking about these issues.
~We would like to show people that their life is worth living and that every life matters.
~We want to help end the stigma that is often associated with suicide.


The Peyton Heart Project is a tiny little division of the Sidewalk Smiles Campaign (SSC). The SSC was created by Julia Kubin when she was 13. 
Her mom, Jill, created the Peyton Heart Project as an extension of the suicide prevention and bullying prevention projects Julia has been working on since launching the SSC in 2014.


The project started in Morristown New Jersey, USA, and is now spreading around the world.
The list currently shows that hearts are currently being scattered in Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Jersey Channel Island, Malaysia, Namibia, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, United States.

I personally don't know anyone that have committed suicide, but I want to help prevent it if possible. Sometimes all anyone needs to know is that someone cares!



These are a few of my hearts. They can be found around my home town, scattered on buses, in the library, maybe in a cafe or other places I've been.

My town is packed with students, and some of them has left home for the very first time. Maybe they're not doing so well, maybe they miss home, have difficulties with making new friends, are from a foreign country and so on... I have hopes that this might help them. 

August 12, 2015

Why didn't I…

…just do this straight away?
I just had to rip back a bit, and finish the booties. Was done in under an hour. 

So now, on to The Pointy End sock!


Retro Playsuit


I showed the pink Pocket Playsuit to an acquaintance.
She thought it looked so cute, so she asked me if I could make one in brown and yellow for her daughter.

It's coming along nicely,


Will look like this but with narrower stripes.
And I have to look through my buttonbox to see if I have some yellow buttons to match.


Yes, yes, I know I said I'd work on the booties... 
And I said I'd keep to the list...
But I'm a knitter, and my attention span is... Well... 
If you knit, you know.

August 11, 2015

The list...

I'm still following my list.
But I've hit a snag...
I don't have enough yarn to finish the baby booties... So now I either have to frog them, or tink back a bit and be creative. But that means that I have to fix both booties.
And that shouldn't really be a problem.
But I just don't want to do it...


It's just ripping out the sole and 1 or 2 garter stitch rows, but right now that feels like a bigger job than knitting a whole sock (which is next on the list, and more tempting).

But, I know I just have to DO IT!
So, here I go!
Update tomorrow with finished booties! I promise!

August 05, 2015

Gemini fixed!

The Gemini only needed a quick fix.
I did a slip stitch crochet edge on the neck edge to prevent it from slipping off my shoulders. 


So now I can start using it again. 

Next on the list: Stay on babybooties!


Continuing the good streak


The Flax is done, done and done!
It's drying as we speak. 
The yarn bleed a lot, so I gave it a good soaking with some wool wash. 


I also ripped out the bottom ribbing and re-knit it on smaller needles. 
My boyfriend is really happy with it. 

Now, on to the Gemini. 


August 03, 2015

Test knit: "Bilskirner Hat"

HI volunteered to do a test knit for sivert on Ravelry.
She made a cute hat that caught my eye.
I didn't have lots of colors to use in it, and with her permission I did a two color version with yarn from my stash.

The hat is called Bilskirner Hat and I made it using Viking Eco Alpaca in brown and pink.
I love that the pattern makes the hat nice, thick and warm. And it was a quick knit!
Here in Norway the winters are cold and windy, and I don't think the north wind will go through this hat.


Now to fixing my boyfriends Flax.


August 02, 2015

Doing well

I finished the first project on my list!



The Pocket Playsuit turned out so cute! 
I did green pockets, and put on cute buttons, washed it, and asked my friend H.E. if she wanted it for her daughter. 



Now, on to the next project!
The Bilskirner hat that I'm doing as a test knit on Ravelry. 


July 30, 2015

Committing!

I have to many projects that are either wip's, ufo's or in my queue. So now I decided to do something about it.

I sat down with a piece of bright yellow paper, a red pen and put some of my projects on the floor. 

These are the ones I will be completing for the next few weeks.

They are not in the correct order, but you'll understand which is which.


Do you think I can do it?

July 23, 2015

Happy birthday to my boyfriend!

Today is my boyfriends birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REMY!! I love you!

I asked him in late May if he wanted a handknit sweater as a present. And to my joy he said yes! Every man should have a handknit sweater!!
Together we decided on the Flax by tincanknits that was already in my Ravelry queue. It's a free pattern, and I had an alpaca/wool blend in my stash that I could use, in a color that was OK by him.
I love knitting topdown sweaters. It's so great to be able to try it on as I knit, to get the fit just right.
Tincanknits patterns are easy to follow, and I will absolutely do a few more of their patterns.


Doesn't he look happy?!!
For those of you with a trained eye, you'll notice that there are treads hanging down from the arms. 
All taken care of now!

July 13, 2015

LibellulasStuff on Etsy

So, I've opened an Etsy shop. LibellulasStuff.
I had a few finished items lying around, and decided it was time to sell them.
Looked around, and decided that Etsy was probably the way to go.
I'm still a bit unsure of what to ask for when it comes to price, but I think I'm at an OK level. But please tell me if you think I'm to expensive. And if there is something you think I should put up in the shop. I will take custom orders later.

Oh, and I'm also thinking of making friends with my sewing machine, and maybe put out some sewed items.
Please stop by and tell me what you think.

July 12, 2015

Gemini in Scarlet

I finally did some SELFISH knitting! I made myself a summer top.
I chose the pattern Gemini by Jane Richmond, and I had some Scarlet from Permin in my stash, but not enough to make it in just the variegated. But luckily I had a skein of a green that was also in the variegated. I think it turned out pretty good. 
The yarn is 58% Linen, 26% Rayon, 16% Cotton, and was way better to knit with that I first thought! I stuck with 3,5mm needles throughout, that worked well with the yarn. If I'd used both 3,5mm and 4mm I think the top would have been way to big. I could perhaps have benefited by using 3mm on the lace... The pattern says to do both lace and stockinette on the yoke, but I decided to only do lace.Fits me great, but might become a bit loose/wide on the shoulders with wear. Have to find a way to fudge that... That might be why it feels a bit wide.
But I'm not frogging the whole thing now!




Have you done some summer or selfish knitting lately?

June 18, 2015

Do You Do Yoga?

So, I just finished my session of yoga for the day. I don't go to a class or group, but I did do that some years ago.
Now I follow Yoga With Adriene on YouTube. I love how she does her yoga. She's fun to listen to, has great videos and makes me want to come back for more.

Yoga makes me feel great. It can be challenging, exhausting, fun and soothing. It gives me energy.

I don't have a fancy yoga mat, I have a mat that my mother no longer wanted.
I don't have any special yoga clothes, I use my regular tank tops, singlets, sports bra and loose sweatpants.
I might knit myself a pair of yoga socks.

You don't really need that much to do yoga, and that's also one of the things I love about it.

Do you do yoga?

June 16, 2015

Cauliflower Soup With Butter-dough Bacon Twists

Tonight it was my turn making dinner.
I decided to make an simple cauliflower soup, and "spice" it up a bit with butter-dough bacon twists.

The soup is easy.
Roughly chop the cauliflower, and finely chop a small onion or two shallots.
Saute the onion in a small amount of oil in a casserole, add the cauliflower and cover with vegetable stock. Cook until the cauliflower is tender, then use a hand blender and make it into a smooth soup. If you feel it's to thick you can add a bit of cream or more vegetable stock.

The twists. 
Thaw the butter-dough. Divide each plate into 3, and place a slice of bacon on each. Then twist!
Place on a tray and bake in the oven until the bacon is crisp.


Beer Can Chicken For Dinner

So, last Sunday my boyfriend wanted to make dinner. And he wanted to make something we had talked about trying for a long time. I love it when he makes dinner, so I didn't deny.
And we ended up with the most wonderful Beer Can Chicken!

With the chicken we had roasted sweet potatoes, fennel, shallots and parsley root.
And the chicken was brushed with a marinade of red chili, garlic, salt, pepper and oil.

Took out the veggies and put the chicken under the grill for a few minutes to crisp up the skin a bit. *drooool*

As you can see, not much left of the chicken when we were done! It was perfectly tender, juicy and just plain YUMMY! I highly recommend trying out this. My boyfriend had a can of beer with the chicken, and the chicken was so tasty that he forgot he had beer. That's saying something!