Sadly neglected Christmas gift along

In last year's Christmas knit along, I managed to make a Christmas gift almost every month. This year - well two so far.. (I blogged about three, but the hat became a birthday present in stead.) But here's finally the next: Kiss me fingerless mittens.




Pattern: Kiss me by Dorothée Moulé
Yarn: from my aunt's stash


I fell in love with the cute frogs. The pattern is free. There are some long floats, and several rounds with three colours. If I were to make another pair, I'd consider embroidering some of the details.

Pot holder geek?

Knitnetty calls herself a pot holder geek. There are more of us out here... Not the worst thing to be, or what? (Btw, I just started crocheting Knitnetty's pot holder for the Pot holder swap. You have till September 1st to join.)

On a Swedish crochet blog, I found a pot holder give away. I want to win the blue ones! (I like the red ones too, but will be receiving four red pot holders in the swap.) The winners will be announced on September 1st also.

Here's a pot holder I saw at Fretex second hand shop recently. Old pot holders are really small. But with thicker yarn, these would make useful pot holders. There are probably many patterns like this available, or you could just look at the photo. Somebody know of a pattern link?

Vintage pot holder from Fretex

Have a nice weekend everyone!

Sea horse socks

Those of my readers who are not interested in pot holders, have probably stopped following by now. In an attempt to get you back, today I'll show you some beatiful socks.

Remember my Selbu Sea Horse Mittens?

Here are some Ravelry projects of the mittens.

It's a free pattern that can be downloaded from the "free mitten pattern" page on top of my blog.



Rose Hiver (ravelink) has made a beautiful pair of socks based on the pattern.

Photos © RoseHiver

"Hold your Sea Horses"

Btw, there's still time to join the pot holder swap, click here.

Pot holder week - evaluation

So, did I find a pattern I want to make five pot holders from?
- No

Did I find patterns I want to try?
- Yes, many

Solution?
- Norwegian Pot Holder Swap!

To join, there are two requirements:
One: - you have to be a Ravelry member (which is free, fun, but addictive)
Two: - you need to understand Norwegian (which is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway and not learnt in a fortnight).
And of course you need to be able to crochet a pot holder in two weeks.

I suppose the language is the hardest part. But the idea is free, and you can start your own swap if you like, in English, Spanish or any language you like. (I might even join you..)

We've organized the swap in a Ravelry group.



The participants can ask for specific colours or style in the pot holders they are to receive. (So far bright and colourful is a popular choice, some want red or blue, some want warm earth tones - it will be fun to se what people come up with.)

We have a list of participant, and you shall then make one pot holder for each of the four participants under you on the list. The first within a certain date, the next two weeks later and so on.

That way, you'll get four pot holders in the colours you want. So far we're nine, and there's room for more - you have till September 1st if you want to join! Click here to find us on Ravelry.

And here's some inspirational crochet blogs:

In Norwegian: Olava and Sols(tr)ikke


In English: EmmaLamb, Dottie Angel, Crochet with Raymond and Attic24


You can find more links in the swap's dicussion thread.

Pot holder week - day 7 - Welcome to Norwegian Pot Holder Swap 2011

Annepålandet and I invite you to join Norwegian Pot Holder Swap 2011.

It's organized in the "Nowegian Hookers" group on Raverly. You can read the rules and join here (for Ravelry memebers only).

We hope it will be fun!

Pot holder week - day 6

So - I've been waiting till the end of the "Pot holder week" to show my production, really nothing to brag about. These are the two pot holders I've made this year. So far, that is... We'll see where this inspiration gets me.












Pattern: Granny Mandala , free pattern by Alice Best, a blogger and crocheter from New Zealand, who has a fun and colourful blog.
Yarn: Gjestal Bomull Sport, from my aunt's stash.

Pattern: Little Star Dish Cloth or Wash Cloth by Elizabeth Ann White, another free pattern. (You should have a look at her blog, she has some amazing crochet projects.)
Yarn: Gjestal Bomull Sport, from my aunt's stash.

Pot holder week - day 5

Pot holders!, a photo by Torirot on Flickr.

ETA: Not made by me, just a collection of favouroites from Flickr.

Pot holder week - day 4 - or looking for addicitve pot holder pattern

The last two winters I have seen that there's been a pot holder swap going on, and I have considered joining. But you have to make five pot holders, from the same pattern, and so far I haven't found a pattern that is addictive enough to make it likely I'll be able to finish five pot holders in time.

I started out this winter trying to find a pattern I could enjoy making several times.

So far I only have finished two (coming later this week).

Last year I made one from Annepålandet's pattern.

Nice, isn't it?

Allows for a lot of playing with colour.

So far I think that's top one on my addiction list. But most of the yarn in my stash is a bit too thin for my pot holder patience, and I try not too add to it at the moment, so there might not be a pot holder swap for me next winter either. Time will show.

In the meantime, enjoy Annepålandet's summer collection of pot holders. What a bright and colourful collection!

Pot holder week - day 3 - a visit to "Mågebua"

Annepålandet has shown some of her old crochet pot holders, and so has Misemor.


I don't have any old pot holders, but look what I saw on a small island in the south of Norway this summer:

This is "Mågebua" on Sælør.

What a collection of vintage crochet pot holders!

Pot holder week - day 2

Does anyone recognise this pattern? Have you seen a pot holder like this, or do you know what magazine it was published in? Around 1960 is my guess.



I think my mother made a pot holder like this around fifty years ago (before I was born, that is). She gave me the pattern many years ago, and I have saved it, but not yet tried it.

Is it wrong to share the pattern here, or is it so old that it's ok (I'm thinking of copyright issues.)

Pot holder week

First, thanks for commenting on my last post and reminding me that knitting is for fun, nobody counts the wips but me and I can have as many as I want. For my own sanity I will try to keep the number constant... Which means there might be an FO and a new WIP to show you in the near future.

Before that, I'm joining Annepålandet in her Pot Holder Week. She wrote about her first pot holder, but didn't have a photo. I don't remember my first pot holder, the ones in the photo are the first I remember, but surely not the first. It was my first try at tapestry crochet, before I even knew the technique had a name.

Pot holders, a photo by Torirot on Flickr.

We use them in our mountain cottage. You can see that I liked colours also as a girl.

What about your pot holder stories? Will you join Anne and me?

Optimal number of wips?

What if I only could start a new project after finishing two wips? How long would it take to reduce the number of wips to one? Is it at all possible? Or desirable?