May 21, 2016

Pictures in passing #2

Today I want to share a picture from my veranda with you.
I couldn't find a pot for my new lavender, so I found one of my big mugs for it to stay in.
And I'm pretty happy with the arrangement! 
The mug has been in my brothers basement for a few years, and probably haven't been used for way longer than that. 


May 19, 2016

Pictures in passing #1

I was recently inspired to start taking pictures again, thanks to The Playful Day podcast.
They won't always be pretty, and certainly not professional, but I enjoy doing it. 
So here is my first one. 
I hope you like it. 

This is a stream by the place I'm working this week. 


May 18, 2016

Prepping for Stash Dash!

So, The Knit Girllls are once again hosting Stash Dash.
And this year I decided to join!
This year there will be 3K, 5K, 7K, 10K and 15K levels.

I'm aiming for the 5K, hoping for 7K, but will probably end up at 3K.
But we'll see.
It is after all 89 days of knitting. Much can happen in that time, and I might surprise myself.
Stash Dash starts May 27th and ends August 21st, and the good thing, for me at least, is that I don't have to pick a finish line until the end is near.

But I do have a list of things that I want to knit during Stash Dash.
So far that list has 13 items, but I might add more to it as I finish some.
4 are old WIPs, 1 are a sweater I have to fix, 1 are a my travel knitting, and 7 are new projects that needs to be done in preferably under a month.

  1. Pinson sweater. Need to redo the i-cord edge around the neck.
  2. Oline-hat for baby girl. Almost done, just have to knit the last row, bind off, do the i-cords and pompoms.
  3. Oline-hat for Andrea.
  4. Go'klompen cardigan for baby girl. Almost down to the arms right now.
  5. Go'klompen pants for baby girl.
  6. Flora top for Andrea.
  7. Tube socks. One almost done.
  8. Surya shawl. Am about one skein in.
  9. Forecast cardigan. Arms, buttonband and bottom part of ribbing to go.
  10. Colorful crochet blanket. Probably 2-3 repeats to go.
  11. Breezy baby blanket. Maybe half way on this. Depends on how long I want it.
  12. Mystik spiral socks.
  13. Smartypants.
I think these projects will take me to about 5K, but I'm not really sure how many meters each project will take. So I' doing the best I can to knit on a few of these projects before Stash Dash starts.

I think this will be fun!!

April 18, 2016

Mystery Knit-A-Long

Yesterday, Sunday 17th of April, I joined a Mystery Knit-A-Long.
It's for a shawl, and the first clue was pretty easy, but still interesting.
The pattern is by Ardilanak, and the pattern is called Udaberri Mystery KAL.
When I first saw this KAL I was thinking of using a variegated sockyarn, but then I remembered that I had some yarn with sequins in my stash. And it should be enough for this pattern.

When I went to have a look at the yarn I found that I had 3 skeins of the yarn, in different colors.
So why not make 3 shawls?!
Well, I'm doing 2, and my mom got the last skein, so now we're knitting the same shawl.
I had one white, one grey and one brown. Mom wanted the grey one, so that went to her. And I'm doing both of the shawls on one long circular needle.
Can't wait for the next clue to come out!


April 05, 2016

Making

I'm inspired!
Yesterday, I was listening to A Playful Day, and in that episode she talked about preserving and eating seasonal produce.
In Norway in the winter months, you don't get much fresh produce, but we do have those veggies that you're able to store for a while, like potatoes, carrots, beetroot, parsnips, onions and other.

I had to go to the grocery store yesterday after I listened to A Playful Day, and started looking in the vegetable shelves to see what was produced in Norway.
Of course the lemon and lime and oranges was from Spain, but that is not something you typically find produced in Norway anyway.
But the leek was also from Spain, and I know we can grow that during the fall and in greenhouses and have all winter.

To my glee, I found beetroots, ecological, grown in Norway at Rosnes Gårdsdrift in Sande.

So today, I decided to do something with them!
I could have done a numerous things with them, salt baked them, made brotsj or whatever.
But my choice fell on pickling. Or preserving as it's also called.
Off I went!

First I boiled the beets for almost an hour. Check if they're done with a knife, they should be tender.
Then, peel them! For this you should wear rubber gloves! Unless you want your hands to be pink after. Then you cut them into the shapes you want.
I did small cubes, whole slices and half moon slices.
You also need a preserving liquid.
For 1 kg of beets I made it out of:

6,5dl 7% vinegar
5dl water
3 dl sugar
2 teaspoons of caraway seeds

Let it come to a boil and let it cool down.

Then you put your beets into a jar and pour the liquid over.
Let it sit for 2 weeks before you have a taste.


March 24, 2016

Chai Masala #2

Today I decided to try out a new recipe for Chai Masala. 
I added some grated nutmeg, and sweetened with demarara sugar instead of white sugar. 

2 peppercorns
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
1,5 cm cinnamon stick 
a small grating of nutmeg
1 deciliter water
1,1 deciliter milk
1 bag of tea
2 teaspoons of demerara sugar


I put the spices in the mortar to crush them up a bit, added them to the pan of boiling water and left it to simmer for 7-8 minutes. 
Added the milk, sugar and bag of tea, brought it to a boil and let the tea steep for 5 minutes. 

I wish that I had crushed the spices a bit more, and maybe simmered it for a few minutes more to reduce the water. 

All in all, a good attempt. With the demerara sugar it became a bit less sweet, but that was ok. 

March 15, 2016

Not throwing away food

The Spanish call it tortilla, the Italians frittata.
We Norwegians call it bondeomelett, which translates into farmers omelet. Or as I call it, "chop up veggies and leftovers, cover with eggs and enjoy" omelet.
That's what we had for dinner today.


Here I have onion, chili, garlic and spring onions.
In the fridge I also found some potatoes that I peeled, chopped up and boiled.
The chorizo is something my boyfriend usually put on his slice of bread for breakfast. I'm sure he won't mind that I used some slices in his dinner.


First I put the potatoes in the frying pan with a knob of butter.
Then I added the onion, garlic and chili, then the spring onions and chorizo.
Five eggs were beaten together with a splash of milk and a pinch of salt and pepper and poured over.


I remembered that we had some cheddar in the fridge as well! Nom nom! So I grated some over while it was still a bit wobbly.


I didn't want to flip it over, so I covered it and let it set completely. Then I slid it over on a plate and served.
It was yummy! We each took a fork and shared it on the plate.
I love doing that some times. It makes the simple omelet a bit more exciting and slightly romantic.

March 14, 2016

#14 Leftover Retro Mittens

Last year, after I finished the Retro Playsuit I had some yarn left over. I did make Archimedes von owl out of some of it, but still had a bit left.
So I decided to make mittens.
But did I finish them? No...

But today I did! I finished the #14 Leftover Retro Mittens!
#7 and #9 is taking some time to finish, and I really really really wanted to finish something!
So into the bag I went, pulled out the mittens and started.
There was only 1 thumb, seaming and fastening of the treads to do. And I got them done within the hour!


Yay, another item to cross of the list!

The pattern is from the book "Strikk til Nøstebarn" by Kathrine Gregersen, and the yarn is Garnstudio Drops Baby Merino. The mittens are knit flat and seamed up the side.

March 10, 2016

Trønderrokk 2016 update

I'm so glad I went with my mom to the Trønderrokk 2016 last weekend.
Not only did she spoil me rotten, but I had a really good time!
Thank you mom!!

I had met some of the ladies before, bot most of them were new to me. But everyone was just lovely! Friendly, including, loud and chatty and interested in what others were making.

My mom spun on her Schacht Sidekick that she bought last summer at Spinnvilt.


And I got to try one of her drop spindles. We don't remember who it is from, but the hook has a weird shape. It is lighter than my Kromski drop spindle, and I found it easier to spin Shetland with it, than with mine.


After trying it for a while, I got to try my mom's Turkish Spindle. It was pretty and light, but I felt that it was to light for me, so I went back to her other one.
Suddenly mom got up and went over to the sales tables and came back with another Turkish spindle.
Try this, she said, and so I did.
It was lovely to spin with! You're welcome, mom said! She had bought it for me!!!
It was an 24 grams cherrytree Turkish dropspindle made by Kjerringrokk, or fru_elle as she calls herself on Instagram. I highly recommend checking her out!


After I got my new Turkish I was allowed to dive into moms fiberstash. There I found a pretty braid of 80% merino, 20% silk. And it plays so well with the Turkish! So I can't wait to get it spun up!


Oh, and mom showed me a new technique! If I'm spinning on the other dropspindles I can do the Andean plying bracelet if I want to ply my yarn.
Very practical! There are lots of YouTube videos on how you do it.



There was also a talk about wool at Trønderrokk 2016, by Rhonna Robbins. And we also got samples of the wool she talked about.
This year she talked about the three C's; Cormo, Corridale and Cotswold. It was very interesting, and I learned a lot about the different types of sheep.



 Kittens love wool, did you know that?



In addition to 3 samples of unwashed wool, we got 3 small samples of prepared wool. The difference is miles apart!



And we also got a goodiebag from the people arranging the Trønderrokk 2016.
Bamboo circulras, a ribbon, a balm for our spindles, stitch markers, wpi gauge and a tiny bag of lovely Cashmere!



I really had a lovely time! And I might go again if I can.

Chai Masala #1

I was looking around the web, looking for something yummy to drink, and I stumbled across Chai Masala. Chai Masala is an indian tea made of spices, milk and sugar.
And I foundt that there must be equal as many recipes as there are moms in India!
So today I'm trying out one of the recipes I found.

Chai Masala recipe #1
1,5 cm cinnamon stick, broken
3 black peppercorns
4 green cardamom pods, crushed
1 dl water
4 cloves
3 teaspoons of sugar
1 dl milk (I used lactose free, 1,5% fat)
1 bag of black unflavored tea

Add the spices and water to a small pot, bring to a boil and let simmer for about 10 minutes.
Add the milk and sugar, bring to a boil and turn off the heat.
Add the tea and let steep for 1-5 minutes (depends on what tea you have).
Give it a god stir, strain the tea and serve.
Enjoy!


It's nice and creamy, the taste of the cloves and sugar is quite dominant.
The next time I think I'll let the tea steep a bit longer, and maybe cut down on the sugar. 1 1/2 - 2 teaspoons will probably do it. And maybe I'll crush all the spices coarsely in the mortar, to free more of their aroma.

But all in all, a very good Chai Masala!






March 05, 2016

Trønderrokk meetup 2016

This weekend my mom came to stay because we are attending the Trønderrokk meetup. 
It takes place in one of the hotels here in Trondheim. 
So this will be a weekend with spinning, lots of chatting and LOADS of wool!

My mom brought her Schacht Sidekick, and it spins beautifully!

And I'm trying out her drop spindles in addition to my own Kromski drop spindle. 



March 01, 2016

#6 On The List

I asked my friend Siw what she wanted for her birthday. "Sheepy socks!!", was her constant reply! So sheepy socks it is!

At first, I figured that I'd just use a regular vanilla sock pattern, and do colorwork on them.
What I forgot to take into consideration was that I knit tighter when working with two colors. Or rather, I pull the yarn I'm carrying to tight...
Of course this didn't occur to me until I'd knit the cuff and leg on both socks, and the heel and gusset on one of them.
I decided to try that one on, since Siw and I have almost the same size foot.
To my horror, the socks was waaay to tight! I almost cried!
I could get it on, but I really struggled to get it off again. Well, after I pulled on it for a little while, I got it off. And I sat it on the table to think about what it had done.



Deep inside I knew what had to be done. I had to rip it back...
And I did. All the way up to the cuff.

I looked at a few patterns, found some help in the Saueflokksokk by Hifa, and followed their instructions for the sheep. That meant that I had to increase some stitches after the cuff, and decrease again before the heel. And so I did.

They still feel a bit snug when I pull them on, but they fit a lot better, and don't strangle my foot.


Needles: 2,5 mm, and 3 mm.
Yarn: Jarbo Mellanraggi
Pattern: Plain vanilla sock with Sheep chart from Saueflokksokk by Hifa.


February 29, 2016

The List: #8

Why do we hesitate to frog?
Is it because we really want to finish the project?
Or because we think of all the hours already spent knitting on it? On all those thousands of stitches.
Wasn't the yarn as expected? The fabric to dense or to loose?
Or didn't the yarn and pattern go together as well as you'd hoped?

Why do I ask?
I decided to send my #8 Kragejakke to the frog pond.
If I finished it, it would probably have made an OK "I'll just throw this on and run to the store" cardigan, but would I really get the wear I want out of it?
Probably not.

I think the yarn would rather be a sweater or a different type of cardigan.
Maybe with some patterning, and not just plain stockinette.

So, rip-it, rip-it! Off to the frog pond it goes!


#7 Colorful Crochet Blanket

I started this crochet blanket in 2013.
It's an easy enough project, but crocheting is not my main craft, so crocheting large things makes my wrist hurt a bit.
I got half way on this, then, for some reason, I put it away...
Suddenly a few years have flown by, and the blanket is still not done.
I didn't have a plan for it, like giving it away or anything like that, but still.
But now I'm making good progress on it!
The yarn is a bit splitty, but that might be because of the way I'm handling the yarn when I'm crocheting.


 Agate of course had to try it out, and seemed pretty happy with how it felt.


The list is getting smaller. Actually, I'm half way now!

February 24, 2016

Yarns In Stash

So, I was going through my stash.
And it seems I have a lot of yarn in my stash.
I think I have put it all in my Ravelry stash page, and it is a bit overwhelming.
48530 grams is what it tells me. 810,32 skeins/hanks/cakes.
And then there is all the unknown leftovers I had from before I put everything in my stash page.
I bet there is 3-4000 grams there as well.

I think I'll take this as a sign that I need to use up some of it. And not buy anything new unless I really really need to. There are loads of yarn for baby projects, socks and maybe a sweater or three for me.

I do have plans for some of the yarn, and have paired them with some of the projects in my Ravelry queue. But all those skeins that I just have one of... Or skeins I only have one color of.
Yeah yeah, I can check Ravelry and find patterns that I could use, or get ideas from there.
And that's probably what I'd do.

But, for the last year, year and a half, I haven't bought more than maybe 6-7 skeins of yarn. An I think I've been gifted 5. And I think that calls for a celebration! So when I'm done with my list, I'm gonna cast on a sweater for myself!

February 17, 2016

Minor Setback...

It seems like #6 on my list has to be ripped back... And a lot back that is!
And I have to make bigger sheep!
So, here we go, back to square 1 I guess.
But anything to make Siw a wearable belated birthday present!

February 15, 2016

#6 Teaser

As I said in my last post, I can't really talk much about #6, because it is an birthday present for my friend Siw.
But as you can see, it has sheep on it! And she looooves sheep!
And you can also see that I'm using more than two colors for this project.


I really hope she'll like the present.
I'll share pictures and tell you some more about it when I'm done.

February 10, 2016

#4 and #5 Done!

The list is getting shorter!
Two more projects are done, and I can start a new one!


The Newborn Vertebrae is finally finished. It was #4 on my list.
Not really a project that should take me, well, no more than a week to knit up.
The pattern is very easy to follow, and well explained.
For this pattern I chose the DROPS Baby Merino yarn, which is really soft and can be stretched out a bit and takes blocking well.
I was 1 stitch away from getting gauge on this pattern, and I feel that's ok. 
Oh, and I picked up 2 more stitches under the arms than the pattern called for. 




This cute/weird looking owl is my #5!
The pattern is Big Snowy Owl by Purl Soho, but there is nothing big about this one!
My Owlie is just a small one, just 13 cm tall.
He's made of Viking babygarn if I'm not mistaken. 
I started him a few years ago, just never got around to making his eyes and beak. I have no idea why...

Now, #6 on my list is something I can't really show you.
It's a very belated birthdaypresent for my friend Siw Rita. 
So the moment she gets it, I will post a picture here. I just have to knit it first...

February 07, 2016

Lazy Sunday

Today we're having a lazy Sunday, Agate the cat, my boyfriend and I.
He's made coffee, and I'm knitting on #4 on my list, the Newborn Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker from PEKAPEKA Design studio.

The coffee is from a subscription we have from Kaffebox.no. 
This one is Incahuasi from Peru, roasted by Kafferostare Per Nordby. I'm really enjoying it. And I love my Mymble moominmug. 

Oh, and that pretty pincushion behind my knitting? That was a Christmas present from my wonderful friend Maike! She made it herself, and I love it dearly. 

I hope you're having a nice lazy Sunday as well.

February 04, 2016

#2 & #3 On The List

This vest is my second out of fourteen projects that I wanted to finish.
I talked about it a bit in this post where I picked it up, and now it's finished!
It wasn't really that much left to do on it, and it didn't take me long either.
I just had to sit down and concentrate a bit, and whoooosh, it was done! 

Pattern is by Trine Lise Høyseth, who did this design for Sandnes Garn.
I used the needles and yarn called for in the patter, which were 2,5 mm and 3 mm needles and Sisu from Sandnes Garn.
It took a total of 131 grams for this size, that was the 4 year old size. 
The pattern is very easy, but you do have to like seed stitch and cables, if not, don't even look at this pattern!
The yarn is quite easy to block out, or pull in to shape, and if my memory serves me correct, it holds up well with wear.
The back of the vest is just plain seed stitch.

#3 is a babyhat. The pattern is called Lullaby, and is by Drops. It's knit on 4 mm needles, so it's a really quick project. I think I used 4-5 hours to finish it.
The yarn I used was left over from a project I did in 2012 I think. Pretty sure it is Schachenmayr SMC Extra Merino, but who knows… 
Anyway, I had about 40 grams of it, and thought it was to much to put in my leftover blanket that I’m making. So a hat it had to be.
I used about 30 grams for the hat, so 10 grams left for my blanket!



The hat has this cute eyelet row on each side of the head. I think it's super cute!

And the picot edging around the face is so pretty.



On to #4 on my list!

It's the Newborn Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker. It's a free pattern on Ravelry.
The pattern is also available in other sizes as a paid for pattern on her design page.



My list is starting to look good!




February 03, 2016

The Picture Of The List

I did take a picture of my list, in case anyone wants to see.
The numbers on the picture matches the numbers on my list.

January 31, 2016

#1 done, #2 started

So, that's the first project on my list done! Yay me!!

Mom's socks has now been washed and is drying in the bathroom.
I made the socks toe up to get the most out of the yarn. But I didn't want to make them to long either, so I still have some yarn left over actually. But I think it will be nice for her to have, in case she wears holes in them.




Project #2 is a vest with a shawl collar. The pattern is by Sandnes Garn, and is called "Hans". The pattern calls for Sandnes Garn Sisu Superwash and size 2,5 and 3mm needles.
I'm doing the 4 year old size.
On my project page on Ravelry, it says that I started this project 14th of January 2014.
The only things I have to do on it is to knit the left front, for the arm edgings and the shawl collar.
Stuff that should take me a day at most.
So why has it been put in a bag and ignored for so long? I have no idea... But it's probably because I got sick of all the cables and pearlstitches.