torirot's stitches

"Tout ce que je veux pour Noël"

2012-01-24T13:41:00.001+01:00

Christine offered to translate this mitten pattern to French, and now it's done.

Merci beaucoup, Christine!

Christine has some nice patterns herself.

I'm planning to make her "I'm a star" shawl,

just have to decide on yarn and colour.

It's been quiet on the blog lately, I think I had some kind of blogging overdose in December. It was fun, though. And I'll be back when I have some FOs to show you. But it takes time when you have many WIPs at a time (I have at least four different mittens on the needles...)

Da Wanda inspiration

2012-01-15T16:18:00.000+01:00

Halfway into January. A lot of work, a lot of snow, some skiing, some knitting. Trying to finish ufos and starting new projects at the same time has not resulted in any FOs yet. So to show you I'm still here, I'll just share some Da Wanda favourites from Zador. If you like sewing, you can really be inspired from this shop. And if not, it's all for sale...

Discovered on DaWanda

By: ZadOR

New Winter~Turtleneck sweater ML fantasy

Discovered on DaWanda

By: ZadOR

New 2011 ~ Tunic / Dress in embroidered burgundy

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T10:19:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year!, a photo by Torirot on Flickr.

♥ 24 ♥ Merry Christmas - and the winners are...

2011-12-24T10:30:00.000+01:00

So, we have winners!

And they were drawn the old fashioned way:

By my two youngest boys:

In front of the newly decorated Christmas tree:

It turns out the gifts stay in Norway:

Linda won the scarf.

Ragnhild won the mittens.

And Vibeke won the hat.

Congratulations!

(Send me an e-mail with your addresses,

you find mine in the right sidebar, in the welcome text.)

And Merry Christmas to all my readers!!

Thanks for visiting my advent calendar,

hope you have enjoyed it.

I think it has been fun,

but I can't promise to make it a yearly tradition...

♥ 23 ♥ "Not a very nice house"

2011-12-23T12:00:00.000+01:00

.. was the reaction from the 6 years old.

And many agree with him: The Lambda building won the competition for a new Munch Museum in Oslo in 2009, and people have been arguing about it ever since. Recently, the city government of Oslo decided not to build it (Norwegian link). But I doubt that is the end of the story.

Anyway, the end of our house is just a week or two away, if we manage to keep it away from two small Christmas guests, that is..

And now, off to draw the winners of the give away! Keep your fingers crossed if you have entered! And have a nice day, everybody!

♥ 22 ♥ The King's Ginger bread recipe

2011-12-22T12:24:00.000+01:00

I don't know if the king makes ginger bread cookies,

but my mother's old ginger bread recipe is called

The King's Ginger Bread

My mother has written a warning -

"these are the good cookies,

but the house falls down if you put a chimney on top of it"

As you see, this house from 2003 has no chimney.

Later I became more adventourous,

this is the church from 2004.

Here's a castle from 2005,

inspired by Harry Potter.

Last year we made a wind mill.

Photo is taken before the wings broke.

So probably my mother had a point about the chimney note.

Remember today is your last chance to join the

Ginger Bread Give Away!!

Tomorrow I hope I can show you the 2011 Ginger bread house!

♥ 21 ♥ Do you really think your readers are interested in another pair of mittens?

2011-12-21T17:00:00.000+01:00

You're probably tired of reading about mittens now, but on the other hand, if you are reading this blog, you're probably above average interested in knitted mittens, so here you go, another pair of Ginger bread mittens. New charts of the year are moose and butterfly. If you have purchased the pattern, you will have gotten an update with the new charts. Details on Ravelry. The yarn is new to me, Rauma Mitu, a mixture of wool and alpaca, soft and warm.

♥ 20 ♥ Gnomes, santas and maybe a lamb

2011-12-20T10:18:00.000+01:00

The gnomes and the santas are in place!

I did not make any of these myself.

Some are bought, many are gifts.

They stand here every Christmas,

some are added,

some have not survived since last Christmas.

I have not made this nativity crib either.

But I have purchased the booklet,

it arrived quickly and was not expensive,

from UK Knitting Patterns

Maybe I'll start with a lamb?

(I'm probably inspired by the book, "Julemysteriet"

by Jostein Gaarder, "The Christmas Mystery"

where we read one chapter each day in advent.)

♥ 19 ♥ A local Christmas tree

2011-12-19T09:00:00.000+01:00

Close to where we live, there is a small farm where they sells Christmas trees. It feels very good to buy a local grown tree.

Earlier, we have occasionally bought trees imported form Denmark. Sounds weird when you see all the trees around here. Never again...

The kicksled is perfect for transporting Christmas trees!

♥ 18 ♥ Eye candy - Ear candy

2011-12-18T08:58:00.000+01:00

Every year I am amazed by the beauty of the Amaryllis.

And here's a beautiful Christmas song by a young, Norwegian artist.

Try to stress down and listen to the music!

♥ 17 ♥ Hippocampus KAL

2011-12-17T06:49:00.000+01:00

I'm so flattered that the "Stranded group" on Ravelry has chosen my pattern for their knit along starting on December 26. It was chosen among many other wonderful pattern. It did have the advantage of beeing a free pattern, of course.

The KAL is organised by Nanette. If you're interested in colourwork, you should check out her blog, she has lots of nice links.

I was surprised to read about the KAL on a Spanish knitting blog. Asunción is translating the pattern into Spanish. It is also available in Portuguese and French, in addition to English.

This is my most popular pattern. You can see some versions in my Flickr Gallery and even more on Ravelry.

You can join the KAL here. I'll be there too, maybe knitting a third pair.

♥ 16 ♥ Mittens and places #2

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000+01:00

I hereby present...

the unofficial Lillehammer mittens!

♥ 15 ♥ Stella polaris ear flap hat

2011-12-15T06:52:00.000+01:00

A heavily modified Stella polaris hat for someone who wanted a thick and warm hat with earflaps.

I casted on 3 sts on needles 5 mm with two strands of Lett Lopi.

Worked in garter sts, increasing 2 sts (after the first and before the last sts) every 2nd row till 25 sts.

Cut yarn, and made a second ear flap. Then worked another increase row (=27 sts), casted on 18 sts, joined the other ear flap, worked increase row, casted on 8 sts (= 80 sts all together).

Joined in the round, and worked garter sts for 14 rounds.

Then with two colours but one strand of each, worked the Nordic star chart 5 times (in stead of three in original pattern). Then six rounds with a small pattern, end decreasing 8 sts a round four times (= 48 sts). Then worked top decreases as in original pattern to form the star on top. Hope the receiver will like it!

♥14 ♥ Christmas gift along - December

2011-12-14T14:40:00.000+01:00

Last year, I got a mitten book from my husbands family. I made two pair of mittens for my nieces during the holidays, and this year the grown ups are getting theirs. We usually don't give each other gifts, but exeptions are allowed. Two of the pairs I have shown before. And here is the one for my BIL

Pattern: Fugl Fønix by Annemor Sundbø

Size: man

Well, the pattern description is for a woman size. Then it says to go up one needle size for a man, use Hifa 3 in stead of Hifa 2, and make them longer if necessary.

I used the Hifa 2 that I won last year. And needles 3,5 mm (US 4). My gauge was then 26/10 cm, and I think they're wide enough. I added one pattern repeat of the palm pattern, hoping they will be long enough.

I also omitted one stitch from the palm pattern. Again, the pattern was not symmetric, and I don't see why, it was so simple just to omit one stitch. But then I might be a symmetry freak. I made the thumb 2 sts wider.

Remember there is still time to join my Give away!

♥ 13 ♥ "Lussekatter"

2011-12-13T16:30:00.000+01:00

Today we celebrate St. Lucia. It's more a Swedish tradition than a Norwegian one, but we happily adopt nice traditions, especially the "Lussekatter". I use a recipe I found many years ago. If you search the net, the recipe is offered on many places.

I'm not sure if this is real saffron, but it is yellow, at least.

A fellow Norwegian knitting blogger, originally from Sweden, posted about Lucia celebration this morning. I hope you had a nice day even if it's not the same as in Sweden, Wenche!

♥ 12 ♥ A quick knit

2011-12-12T06:31:00.000+01:00

My new mitten pattern,

Stella polaris mittens.

A quick and thick knit,

resulting in warm, cosy and soft mittens.

Yarn is Hubro from Dalegarn, a super bulky yarn,

but really soft.

$ 3

Buy the mitten pattern together with the hat pattern, and get 1.50 off.

Click here to get the discount.

♥ 11 ♥ Mittens and places

2011-12-11T08:30:00.000+01:00

A friend of mine has been to Kongsberg. Knowing that I am above average interested in knitted mittens, she sent me s couple of photos of her friens's mittens, the official Kongsberg mittens. Kongsberg is an old Norwegian town, famous for its silver ("sølv") mine.

We wondered about the criteria to become an official mittens, but googling, we found that there hat been a competion organized by "Husflidslaget".

(I'm afraid all the links in this post are in Norwegian..)

I then wondered if there is a Lillehammer mitten.

I found one pattern by Dale, made for the Olympics in 1994.

I don't know if the motifs have anything to do with Lillehammer.

And then I found a pattern called Lillehammervotten,

from a book called Norske votter by Lillill Thuve.

I found some links to this mitten, it's nice enough,

but has nothing to do with Lillehammer,

it looks like alle the patterns in the book

are named after places in Norway.

(The pattern page on Ravelry shows a different mitten

than found everwhere else, so I think that must be wrong, btw. )

Our neighbouring town does have an official mitten: Hamarvotten.

So don't be surprised if you see a Lillehammer mitten here in a while, official or not.

Do you have a special mitten where you come from?

♥ 10 ♥ Finally snow

2011-12-10T07:30:00.000+01:00

and if this doesn't look like Christmas, I wonder what does!

I can use my favourite means of transportation, the "spark"

(wearing my Vaila sweater and my Kanagawa mittens.

Lilletorget, Lillehammer, Decemter 9th

"Gågata" (pedestrian street), Lillehammer, December 9th

♥ 9 ♥ Ginger bread give away

2011-12-09T17:23:00.000+01:00

My blog just turned three years, it's soon Christmas, and an advent calendar should have some gifts, shouldn't it?

So, I'm doing a give away: Make a comment here, or on my facebook page, and you can win the ginger bread hat, a small ginger bread scarf, or a pair of mittens. Please tell me if you only want to join for one or two of the gifts. There's only one chance of winning for each person. You can comment till the 22nd of December, winners will be drawn on the 23rd, and announced on Christmas Eve.

♥ 8 ♥ Better late than never

2011-12-08T13:42:00.000+01:00

Thanks for your comments on my advent calendar!

Especially thanks to Mary Lou for enlightening us on the story (or myth) of Betsy Ross, who is supposed to have come up with the five-pointed star on the American flag. You can read about her on Wikipedia, and on the Betsy Ross page.

Btw, Mary Lou is having a give away on her blog. You can win a copy of "Craft Acitvism" if you make a comment before the 17th of December. (But don't check it out, since I am going to win that book...)

Ok, I hope you're not tired of reading about mittens...

Last year I made a pair of mittens for one of my twin boys, football mittens with the local football club's logo. I was not able to finish the mittens for his twin brother, so I just wrapped the yarn in a Christmas paper, and promised to make him a pair.

Pattern is mine: Fotballvotter, at the moment only available in Norwegian
Yarn is some sport weight yarn from my stash

It has taken some time, but here they are, ManU mittens.

Modifications to the pattern: I added the ManU logo from the ManU hat to the back of the mittens.

♥ 7 ♥ Paper decorations

2011-12-07T10:10:00.000+01:00

The youngest in the family is learning to make a five-pointed star.

I tried that last year, and was able to find the tutorial again.

You can try too.

My mother told me she heard a story

about when the Amercan flag

was first made.

They had planned to make

six-pointed stars.

Then the lady who was sewing the flag, said:

If we make them five-pointed

one cut of the scissors is enough.

Which would be correct

if she used this folding method.

Any Americans out there who can confirm this?

Every advent, my mother invites my kids

to make Christmas decorations.

Here's this year's result:

We have an old book, with lots of different motifs.

Here a tutorial for making the simple ones.

And here's a link for more elaborated ones.

(Click on each heart to see how the paper was cut.)

I also found a tutorial for this gift bow.

It's very easy!

And then there are professional artists

working with paper.

This is from this year's Christmas tree at Maihaugen.

Every year, they invite an artist

to decorate their tree.

This year it is Karen Bit Vejle,

whom I wrote about earlier.

Last year it was Arne and Carlos

with Christmas balls.

The artist was asked in an interview

- what if you make a wrong cut?

- I don't, she answered.

♥ 6 ♥ Christmas at Maihaugen

2011-12-06T06:00:00.000+01:00

On Sunday we visited Maihaugen,

the outdoor museum I have mentioned several times before.

It's a lovely place just to go for a walk,

or you can visit the exhibitions, go inside the houses,

join a guided tour, shop in old fashioned shops etc.

They often have activities for children,

and on Sunday you could bake ginger bread cookies.

As you can see, the snow is missing still,

to make it perfectly "Christmasy".

But inside the minister's house,

the table is set for Chrismtmas dinner.

Beautiful tapestry on the walls of "Prestegarden" from Vågå.

(Norwegian link)

Why do I love Maihaugen so much?

It's a beautiful place,

and I spent many happy summers working there

while I was a student.

I find the old houses somehow calming to look at.

I remember I loved having the early shift,

when we opened the houses,

and could have a quiet time

before all the tourists arrived.

But the tourists where fun, too!

It was not always easy

answering all their questions.

♥ 5 ♥ Des petites amies françaises

2011-12-05T08:45:00.000+01:00

Thanks for all the nice comments on my new mitten pattern yesterday!

Un cadeau

pour mes lecteurs français

- Mimi m'a demandé si elle pouvais traduire

mon patron de mitaines "Amiguitas" en français

Eh bien sûr! Merci beacoup!

Vous le trouvez ici:

download now

Choisissez la version française (Amiguitas Fr )

Vous pouvez voir les mitaines qu'a fait Mimi ici.

Mimi asked if she could translate my wristwarmer pattern to French!

♥ 4 ♥ "All I want for Christmas"

2011-12-04T07:12:00.000+01:00

In my town there is a Christmas jazz concert in "Kulturhuset Banken" every year. Their definition of jazz is wide, and it’s usually a varied, beautiful and joyful concert. The last song is always a cool and cheerful version of Mariah Carey’s “All I want for Christmas is you”. The scene where the concert is played is an old scene that was redecorated for the Winter Olympics in 1994. The mittens are inspired by these decorations. The original colors are beautiful golden shades, but with too little contrast to show the mitten pattern, so I chose blue for a wintery pair of mittens, perfect for a Christmas gift. The mittens feature a picot hem, Latvian braids and a decorative stranded pattern, with embroidered flower.

The pattern has been test knitted, and the pattern is now available, in Norwegian and in English. You can make a pair for Christmas if you wish! I would love to see people try out different colour schemes on these mittens. (I have a half finished pair in other colours myself, that I might be finishing soon.)

The price is $ 5.50. Just choose which file to download (English or Norwegian) after you come back to Ravelry from Paypal. Or download both if ou prefer. And you don't have to be a Ravelry member to do that.

My friend and I had fun shooting these photos at Maihaugen. More photos here.

♥ 3 ♥ Lillehammer in the morning

2011-12-03T08:00:00.000+01:00

This is what it looks like when I walk to my job in the morning now.

♥ 2 ♥ Toasty, twisty, tweedy

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000+01:00

A free cowl pattern from me to you, via Knitting Iceland.

Photo borrowed from Knitting Iceland

My parents went to Iceland, and came back with some beautiful skeins of Lettlopi for me. I wanted to make something to combine the colors of the four skeins, and I thought: a cowl. I wanted a pattern that could work from both sides, and was quite happy when I found this tweedy, slip stitch pattern. Just for fun, I decided to twist it too.

"Right" side

"Wrong" side

The Lettlopi yarn comes in many beautiful colours, so there are endless possibilities.

Photo borrowed from Knitting Iceland

♥ 1 ♥ Torirot's Advent Calendar

2011-12-01T10:50:00.000+01:00

I wonder if I'll be able to write a small post each day till the 24th of December?

I'll give it a try, hope you'll support me!

Here's our advent calendar. You might notice there are two rings on each heart and only one gift today. Well, the calendar was made when there were only two kids. Now that there are four of them, they get a gift every four days only. Bad mother, am I?

We had fun

2011-11-29T08:02:00.001+01:00

... at "Eplas Julebasar", the Christmas market. Here are Hedvig and me in front of our little shop. Photo borrowed from our good friend Elisabeth, who came to see us.

We followed our own invitation: "Christmas gifts or something nice for yourself". Yes please!

There were so many nice things to see, almos overwhelming, made by many clever crafters. Elin Isane had some wonderful redesign dresses for girls, ZN-design had cool sweater for both boys and girls, and stockings for their mums, Spesielt for deg had lovely jewellery for girls of all ages. The cute pot holders are made by TanteM.

It was not the day for buying our redesign dresses and tunics, obviously. So we had to admit we spent more than we earned... But we had fun, and luckily, we're not trying to make a living from this, we both have jobs we love.

I did sell some of my knitting patterns. I had brought models of most of my patterns, and some were interested in those, but they were not for sale. I was surprised that many asked where the patterns came from, assuming I had just found them somewhere, copied them and tried to make money selling them.

It was nice to meet the people from Epla. Our neighbouring sellers were good company, and the day passed really quickly. One of them even lives in my town, Janne, on Ravelry and on Epla. Cathrine Happy Monster made silver jewellery, and chocolate cookies, mmm... And it was really nice to meet a fellow raveler, blogger and pot holder swappee: Knitnetty came by, and was inspired.

Preparing for Christmas market

2011-11-22T15:23:00.001+01:00

Eplas Julebasar is only a few days away. Not quite ready yet, but we'll get there. Hope to see some of you!

Ginger Bread Couple and hat competition

2011-11-20T08:30:00.000+01:00

Mauds garn (a Norwegian yarn store) is having a hat competion on Facebook. Which inspired me to make this hat. If you like the hat, you can vote for me here, just click like.

The hardest part of the pattern writing was to get the ginger bread couple right - I think Babben, my test knitter, will agree on that. But we worked it out in the end.

I made two couples, used one for the hat, and another for a scarf, which will be sold at Epla's Christmas Market. If you want to make your own, I give you the pattern here.

They are worked from the head and downwards in garter stitch.

BO bind off

CO cast on

k knit

k2tog knit two stiches together

m1      make one stitch
ssk       slip two stitches as if to knit, then return to left needle and knit together through back loops
st(s)     stitch(es)

Ginger bread lady

CO 5 sts.

Row 1: k
Row 2: k1, m1, k3, m1, k1 = 7 sts
Rows 3 – 10: k
Row 11: ssk, k3, k2tog = 5 sts
Row 12: ssk, k1, k2tog = 3 sts
Row 13: k 3, CO 6 sts = 9 sts
Row 14: k9, CO 6 sts = 15 sts
Rows 15 – 19: k
Row 20: BO 4 sts, k10 = 11 sts
Row 21: BO 4 sts, k6 = 7 sts
Rows 22- 27: k
Row 28: k3, m1, k4 = 8 sts
Row 29: k3, m1, k5 = 9 sts
Row 30: k4, m1, k5 = 10 sts
Row 31: k4, m1, k6 = 11 sts
Rows 32 – 34: k
Row 35: BO 2 sts, k2 (= 3 sts for first leg), BO 1 st, k4. Put the 3 sts for first leg on a piece of scrap yarn.
Row 36: BO 2 sts, k2 (= 3 sts for second leg).

Leg:
Rows 37 – 39: k
BO and cut yarn.

Put the 3 sts on scrap yarn back onto the needle to make another leg. K 3 rows. BO. Cut yarn and weave in ends.

Ginger bread man

Work as for ginger bread lady till row 21.

Rows 22 – 30: k

Row 31: k4, m1, k3 = 8 sts

Row 32: k4, m1, k4 = 9 sts

Row 33: k4, BO 1 st, k till end. Put the first 4 sts on scrap yarn. Continue working on the last 4 sts (leg). (= 4 + 4 sts)

Leg:

Rows 34-37p: k

Row 38: k1, k2tog, k1 = 3 sts

Row 39: k

BO and cut yarn.

Put the 4 sts from scrap yarn back onto the needle. Repeat from row 34 for another leg.

Weave in ends.

The ginger bread couple is felted in your washing machine. They felt better with other items, like towels. They might need a couple of rounds.

Embroider face and buttons. If they’re well felted, the white yarn ends is easily hidden inside.

Christmas market at Heggedal

2011-11-19T08:59:00.001+01:00

My redesigning friend Hedvig suggested earlier this autumn to try and get a place at "Eplas julebasar", Christmas market at Heggedal Hovedgård , Saturday November 26th. And we did get a place, and are getting a little nervous about going there, together with all those super clever people from Epla.

We'll be selling redesign dresses and tunics, small accessories, like scarfs, and my knitting patterns. I'm sure it will be fun, and I hope to see some of my readers, that would be nice.

Two flowers for the Christmas gift along

2011-11-15T09:01:00.001+01:00

Another pair of mittens is finished. This time a Christmas gift, not saying for whom...

Pattern is my own Blomst.

The left thumb crisis is overcome, and the (literally) afterthought thumb worked just fine!

The yarn is a new aquaintance for me, Sterk, from Du Store Alpakka, a delicious sock yarn, a blend of 40% alpaca, 40% merino, 20% nylon. Super soft, and probably strong, too. (The name Sterk meaning strong in Norwegian.) I used just under 20 g of each og the CC, just under 30 g of MC.

Modifications: I omitted one pair of leaves, to make the mittens a bit shorter.

Want a pair of your own?

Get the pattern here:

If you buy the hat pattern to, you get 1$ off each pattern

(you see the discount when you come to your cart)

Mitten finishing project

2011-11-13T10:20:00.001+01:00

Annepålandet is working on her unfinished mittens. And so am I. One down now, for Annepålandet and me. My Kanagawa Mittens, as shown earlier.

I am close to finishing are a pair of my Blomst mittens.

But alas, I forgot about the left thumb!

I remember seeing a pattern once, where you left out the thumb opening, and made that later, for a prefect fit. So I decided to try that.

The yarn ends are a bit shorter than I would normally like, but with this yarn I think it'll be ok. Finished mittens soon.

Colourful and bright, with red

2011-11-10T06:58:00.000+01:00

I forgot to blog the last potholder I made in the swap.

Duvi wanted her potholders to be colourful and bright, with red. I think I fulfilled that wish, at least.

Pattern: African Flower Hexagon

I made eight hexagons.

Added one round of double crochet with red

and then sewed them together through the back loop.

The African Flower Hexagon has become one of my favourites now,

it't easy, and fun, with endless colour poossibilities.

And you can make all sorts of things from them, blankets, bags, balls.

Have a colourfull November thursday!

Btw, thanks for nice comments on my kithcen curtains.

It was originally meant to become a bedspread,

but I soon realised that would happen

in such a distant future that I chose to use it diffently

A grey November Saturday

2011-11-05T16:15:00.000+01:00

...needs some colour....

... some buns

.. and some more colour!

The pot holder swap is over, and I have four new pot holdes! So far unused...

The two last pot holders I recieved are the bottom left,

from Linda, and the top right, from Anne,

both versions of Annepålandets potholder.

Test knitting

2011-11-03T21:20:00.004+01:00

I was lucky to test knit this wonderful mitten pattern this spring.

The first mitten came off the needles in no time,

but then spring came along,

and the second has been wating.

But now mitten season is here again,

and I finally finished the pair.

Pattern: Kanagawa, by Kirsten Kapur / Through The Loops

I'm planning to use the leftovers

and make a matching hat -

maybe this pattern, by the same designer.

I have translated the pattern into English,

and am in need of test knitters.

Babben has tested the Norwegian pattern.

Send me an e-mail if you're interested.

If you want to purchase the Norwegian pattern,

use this button (4.50 $):

This hat pattern, Stella polaris,

blogged here earlier,

has been translated too, and test knitted,

by Rodrigo and Saundra.

Thanks, both of you.

Pattern is available ($3) in both Norwegian and English,

just choose which file you want to download.

"Eplas Jul" - book in hand!

2011-11-02T17:47:00.001+01:00

I have received my copies of Eplas Jul!

And of course I had to look at my own pattern first!

Looks nice, doesn't it?

The book has a lot of ideas and tutorials for Christmas decoration of all sorts. There are also some recipes for Christmas cookies and other goodies. And some knit and crochet patterns - check out this amazing crocheted ginger bread house by Hege.

Huvanlua by Kristin is cute, looks like a quick and easy knit.

I must admit, I don't put a lot of energy into home decoration (too busy knitting...)

But I fell in love with these Christmas balls. Made by Kari Anne.

And here is a link to some other Christmas balls in the book.

ETA: The mitten pattern is available both in English and Norwegian in my Ravelry store if you're not interested in the rest of the book, or if you don't read Norwegian.

Ginger bread hat

2011-10-30T08:22:00.001+01:00

Thanks for your congratulations on my pattern in "Eplas Jul".! Here comes another Ginger bread pattern!

Once again a new design is inpired by a comptetition.... Not the design itself, because I had had that in my head for a while, but the fact that it's coming now. Pinneguri told me that Mauds garn is asking people to upload a hat on their facebook page within November 1st, and she thought of me. So the Ginger bread hat was made. Partly knitted in Italy, it has even been on the top of Vesuvius!

The hat is worked in a new acquaintance for me,

Drops Nepal, a blend of wool and alpaca.

The result is a thick, warm, and still soft hat.

The pattern is ready! The Norwegian version has been test knitted by Babben. Thanks a lot, Babben! Babben used Sterk from Du store alpakka, another blend: 40 % alpaca, 40 % merino, 20 % nylon, which obviously worked fine too. (Exept for the felting.)

The English pattern is ready to be test knitted, if anyone is interested. Choose five from eight different motifs,

or draw your own in the blank chart.

The ginger bread couple is felted and embroidered.

You can buy the Norwegian pattern here, $ 4.50.

Have you heard of Epla?

2011-10-28T20:10:00.000+02:00

"Epla" is "Norwegian Etsy". Did you know they have published a Christmas crafting book, "Eplas Jul"?

And do you know who has a mitten pattern in the book? Shown on the back side of the book:

It's my Ginger bread mittens! And lots of other Christmasy ideas. I'm waiting for my copies, so I haven't had time to look closely at the book yet, but I had a sneak peek in my local grocery store. If you live in Norway, you can find it in your local store too!

Knitting in Valdres

2011-10-25T13:05:00.000+02:00

"Fishing in Valdres" is a famous Norwegian song,
by Vazelina Bilopphøggers.

I was not fishing but knitting when I was in Valdres in September.

And here's the result, a new version of my Stella polaris hat.

It's worked in Hubro, a bulky yarn from Dale of Norway,
so it's a quick knit.

Three stars around the hat,
and then the decreases on the top results in fourth star.

The pattern is available in Norwegian, $ 3.00.

The English version is beeing test knitted.

Effectivity in pot holder photographing

2011-10-24T19:26:00.000+02:00

This is my 3rd pot holder in the pot holder swap, sent to Knitnetty.

Pattern of central flower: African Flower Hexagon

Pattern of this side: Fargesterk grytelapp from Olavas verden

I think I can say that the swap has been a success (although I'm still waiting for my third pot holder). More third round pot holders here. And the whole swap thread here. Non-Ravelry members can see some of the pot holders here.

Autumn is here

2011-10-23T11:04:00.001+02:00

Autumn is here, a photo by Torirot on Flickr.

I don't have any finished mittens to show you yet. These days I'm using the mittens I got in the mitten swap last winter. I love the colours, and the knitting is very neatly done, by Laura. She's designed them herself, but I'm not sure she's published the pattern. But she has many other nice patterns.

I have some serious mitten finishing to do

2011-10-22T15:30:00.000+02:00

Pot holders #2

2011-10-13T17:44:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I sent my third potholder to Knitnetty! So it's about time to show you potholders number two:

Here's the red one I received from AnnetteK .

Nice, red and thick! Thanks a lot!

And this is the one I sent Annepålandet. She wanted blue, and it's mostly blue, isn't it?

I think she liked it.

Pattern is "Something pretty" by mille makes, a Norwegian blogger.

Inspired by one of Dottie Angel's many thrifty finds.

Here are all the pot holders I have received and sent.

King Håkon gloves 1940

2011-10-11T14:52:00.001+02:00

Votter med Håkon 7. , a photo by Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway) on Flickr.

I have a new contact on Flickr, Riksarkivet (National Archives of Norway). They show lots of interesting, old photos. Today these gloves popped up on my screen. Aren't they amazing?

(For non-norwegian readers: "Alt for Norge" is the king's motto, meaning "All for Norway". The king was Håkon the 7th, hence the monogram, and April 9 was the day Norway was invaded in 1940.)

Via Flickr:
Beskivelse: Foto i konvolutt fra NTBs krigsarkiv, konvolutten merket med teksten: ”Overalt i Norge kan man finne V-tegn, H7-tegn eller Leve Kongen. De finnes på alle plasser, så det er ikke vanskelig å skjønne hvor nordmennenes hjerter er.”

Arkivreferanse: Riskarkivet, PA-1209_Ue110_002, NTBs krigsarkiv, Ue 110.

Christmas knit along - September

2011-09-30T21:36:00.003+02:00

Just a quick visit to show you the September gift. Details on Ravelry.

Another redesign tunic

2011-09-28T21:34:00.000+02:00

Between knitting, football and pot holders I have been able to do a little sewing:

I found this skirt at Fretex second hand shop.

I liked the fabric and the colours, but I seldom wear long skirts.

So I turned it into a tunic in stead:

The sleeves are from a shirt, that had som ugly stains on the front.

I'm quite happy with the result. Makes me want to do more sewing.

September shawls

2011-09-23T06:40:00.001+02:00

Vibeke is celebrating her 2nd blog anniversary with a shawl give away! Two lovely knitted shawls!

You can join by commenting on her blog post.

Mornings are cold, and I am wearing the shawl I knit this summer for the TTL summer shawl KAL.

I am working on a 2nd shawl for the KAL, but will not be able to finish in time for the KAL (which is today) - Well, US time, so if I stay up all night.... no I won't. You can put the blame on the pot holders. But in a short time I'll have another nice shawl. Or maybe I'll give it away for Christmas. I'm using Icelandic laceweight for the Roma shawl.

News from potholder planet

2011-09-18T09:25:00.000+02:00

I have received my first swap pot holder! Isn't it pretty! BeritKristine sent it to me. Thank you, Berit!

And here's the one I sent to Babben, who has received it all right. I have been trying to photograph both sides at a time, as you can see. Would have been easier with a third arm...

The lizard side is just free fom crochet. I made a drawing, and tried to make the lizard look like the drawing, more or less. Then filled in with background, decreasing and increasing with different stitches to make it a circle. And then some embroidered decoration. It was fun!

The other side is Annepålandet's pot holder pattern, a big fave!

You can see more of the pot holders here and here (Ravelinks) and on Flickr.

Tractor tee

2011-09-15T21:40:00.000+02:00

Zaz wrote me a beautiful comment on Ravelry: "you made a tractor poetic and the fuggly sari yarn has a new side to it (....) here it is like a klee paintings touches of bright"
My husband calls it a fake.
Marguerite (who sent me the yarn) worries the sari silk might bleed. (I have changed the comment settings, Marguerite, so you should be able to comment directly on the blog, now. And I can reassure you, no bleeding after machine washing in cold water.)
Pinneguri asks me to come back from the potholder planet and show you more.

Ok, a little visit, here it is, my tractor tee!

The pattern is Striped top from Vogue knitting/ Designer knitting Spring/summer 2011. A long list of modifications:

Different yarn with a different gauge (18 in stead of 20). So I used stitch count for size 33 to get appr. size 37. My MC was Abuelita Organic Cotton from Pickles, and the CC Namaste Sathi Fils arc-en-ciel (recycled silk), given to me by Marguerite.

Worked top down, in the round, starting with a k 2, p 2 ribbing. Raglan increases kfb twice, every 2nd round till i had enough sts, then without increases till armpits.

Omitted stripes and added a different yoke pattern, and pattern/stripe at bottom and sleeves.

Hip shaping (like the raglan increases, but every 4th round five or six times)

That’s it, I think. The pattern was nice to use as a template, might use it again.

How long is a tractor?

2011-09-06T10:01:00.008+02:00

- or what's the shape of a knitted stitch?

My colleagues know I like to knit. So they showed me this photo in a magazine, a knitted dress, with tractors and traditional patterns, by Moods of Norway.

There's no way I'm going to knit (or wear!) a dress like this. But I could not get the tractors out of my head.

I searched for a chart, and found this (scroll down a bit to see the tractor chart. Perfect, I thought.

When copying the chart, I soon realised, I'd have to change the wheels. Otherwise, the tyre woud be flat, since knitted stitches are wider than they are tall. But I forgot to change the rest, so I think the tractor looks a bit long. I meant to make both tractors the same, but made a counting mistake on the second, so this one is shorter, and looks better, doesn't it?

Recognise the yarn? And the project? Not finished yet, too many pot holders to make...

Amazing paperwork

2011-09-04T21:55:00.002+02:00

Who said it was easy?

Amazing paperwork at Maihaugen by Karen Bit Vejle!

On Thursday 8th, the artist herself will do a guided tour of the exhibition.

So if you have the chance...

Sadly neglected Christmas gift along

2011-08-30T07:04:00.002+02:00

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?

2011-08-27T06:36:00.001+02:00

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

2011-08-20T07:34:00.013+02:00

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

2011-08-18T05:05:00.010+02:00

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

2011-08-14T02:47:00.001+02:00

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

2011-08-13T06:49:00.014+02:00

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

2011-08-12T19:01:00.004+02:00

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

2011-08-11T05:42:00.000+02:00

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"

2011-08-10T11:19:00.001+02:00

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

2011-08-09T09:18:00.000+02:00

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

2011-08-08T13:13:00.005+02:00

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?

2011-08-04T17:30:00.003+02:00

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?

Crafty tourism

2011-07-31T10:21:00.001+02:00

Earlier this summer, we visited Sjølingstad Uldvarefabrik. A beautiful place on a sunny summer day, where they make yarn and beautiful woollen blankets.

I came home with some yarn, of course. Wool and mohair (but not the fluffy type). I do have some plans, even a small, secret wip.

I could not resist buying a book either, "Invisible threads" by Annemor Sundbø. It's not a pattern book, although it does contain some patterns, it's more a book about knitting history, culture and symbolism in knitting. I like it. There are also charts with old motifs, which is always nice to have.

You can see some more photos on Flickr.

'Tonight the streets are filled with love'

2011-07-26T06:45:00.009+02:00

said crown prince Haakon in his speech on Monday.

On of the participants at Utøya also speaks of love: If one man can show that much hate, think of how much love we can show together.

Here are photos from my town on Monday. It felt somehow good to be there, with so many other quiet people with torches and roses.

July 22nd 2011

2011-07-24T19:15:00.005+02:00

A terrible day in Norway. It's hard to find words to describe the terrible actions in Oslo and Utøya on Friday. By now, 93 people have died, most of them young people, attending the Labour Party's Youth summer camp. I'm lucky to have my family safe and sound. My brother's office windows broke, but he was not injured. But so many have lost their dear ones, and our thoughts are with them.

These were our prime minister's words after the massacre: "Our answer is more democracy, more openness to show that we will not be stopped by this kind of violence."

ttl-summer-shawl-kal

2011-07-15T08:41:00.002+02:00

or Throughtheloops Summer Shawl Knitalong

I have joined a shawl knit along this summer! I've not knitted many shawls before, but I have faved a lot on Ravelry. And when I found this KAL, I decieded to join, Throughtheloop has so many beatiful shawls.

I had a beatiful skein of Chili Gredelin sock yarn (Marilyn), that I won on Annepålandet's blog this winter. A beautiful semisolid blue-green, amazingly soft, which I paired with some thin alpaca from my stash.

The pattern was easy to follow, very well written. Had to get new stitch markers, as I did not have 17. Found these on Epla (Norwegian version of Etsy).

I'm off to make another of shawl, now. Happy knitting! (It's not to late to join the KAL, btw. If you're on Ravelry, that is. See here .)

Tree warmers in Eidfjord

2011-07-11T06:40:00.002+02:00

Some days ago, we passed Eidfjord, on our way to Rosendal, to visit the Barony Rosendal.

Suddenly we saw some strange trees. We were a bit late for dinner, but had to stop for a minute to look at this, a big surprise.

Found some links about this project, you can see here (Norwegian link) and here (English link).

Android sweater and miraculous elastic bind off

2011-07-09T09:22:00.006+02:00

First, thanks for all your supportive comments on my last post about knitting books!

Her's finally an FO on this blog. (Well, I know there was a hat in June, but that had been finished for a while, and was posted on the receiver's birthday, just in case he should be following my blog, which I very much doubt, though.)

I had two big skeins of some blue sock yarn from my aunt's stash. Sock yarn is good for boys' sweaters, can be machine washed, and is not too warm, which they fear. So this one is accepted, but luckily not needed at the moment.

Free pattern, ("Dancing robots")by NeulovaNarttu

Modifications: My gauge was tighter, so I casted on 180 sts for hem needles 2,5 mm. Increased to 200 sts and needles 3,5 for stranded pattern, 3,0 for the rest of the boby. I made a stripy garter stitch edging for sleeves and neck, and did more stripe motifs on sleeves, also added one around the neck.

Yarn: Zwerger Garn Opal 4-ply for main colour, and some left over Rauma Babygarn and
ninukka sock yarn.

I had to rip the raglan part twice. Lessons learnt:
1) Follow pattern
2) If you don't follow pattern, do calculations.
3) If you don't do calculations, rip and start over till it fits.

After it finally was finished ( I thought), the bind off was to tight, even after blocking. I had read somewhere about a more elastic bind off, so I did a search on google: "elastic bind off". And the first hit was a super tutorial and the neck opening is perfect. Here you go, miraculous elastic bind off, brought to you from New Zealand via world wide web.

And what are you up to, young man?

New knitting book

2011-07-06T08:54:00.001+02:00

My husband seems to mean I don't need another knitting book. The book shelf tends to agree with him...

But this is a wonderful book with so many nice patterns. I fell for this one, bot knitted and crocheted.

This cute top is a fave, too:

These were the patterns that prompted me to order the book, but there is so much more (59 patterns in total, to be exact).

What about these?

Or this one, in ribbing? I have not casted on for anything yet, having way too many WIPs at the moment, as you can see in the sidebar.

The book is "A Stitch In Time, Knitting and Crochet Patterns, 1920-1949 Vol. 1" by Jane Waller and Susan Crawford (aka justcallmeruby), from knitonthenet. I baought the book from their online store.

FCBarcelona tunic

2011-07-02T09:22:00.007+02:00

I like wearing tunics, here my newest one: It's a cotton tunic from Fretex, decorated to become a FCBarcelona tunic by me.

There are many reasons why I like that football club:

Their colours.

The fact that the club is owned by its supporters.

Messi (not Pinto)

The city

Their Unicef support

The Barcelona t-shirt could have been worn by the family's youngest, but he's a Real Madrid fan, so he won't wear it ...

Tourist at home

2011-06-30T18:38:00.004+02:00

Sometimes it's nice to be a tourist in your own town.

Today we visited Maihaugen.

Young girls in one of the old houses, making "hosoband".

Somebody had done crochet, too.

I love these old mountain farms!

And all the flowers!

Natural and artificial:

Sunday lunch at Skafferiet

2011-06-26T21:16:00.006+02:00

A beautiful summer Sunday.

Skafferiet at Hovinsholm.

Helgøya, Hedmark, Norway.

No shopping today, just looking. (They have an online store, too.)

Nice clothes. but all quite expensive. I prefer Fretex and redesign.

But the place is really nice, they had a tasty midsummer salad, a delicious raspberry limonade, coffee, cakes and icecream, perfect for a summer Sunday lunch.

Butterfly tunic

2011-06-22T16:19:00.001+02:00

More than twenty years ago, a good friend of mine made me a yellow butterfly summer top. It was a swap, I sewed her a skirt, she didn't know how to handle a sewing machine at the time.

The skirt is long gone, but I've kept the top, even though I haven't used it much. It was cute, but a bit to short for my belly...

Since then, my friend has learnt to sew. In easter, during her dress exhibition, I was inspired to turn the old top into a tunic, using an old college sweater from my father and some lace ribbon.

Redesign is fun! My friend has an Epla shop now (Epla is the Norwegian version of Etsy).

Have a look!

A different view

2011-06-20T10:41:00.001+02:00

On the blog "How about orange" I learnt that you can get different views with Blogger: Flipcard, Mosaic, Sidebar, Snapshot, or Timeslide

Here's a Flipcard view of my blog: (Click on the photo to get the up-to-date version).

Or see a Timeslide view here. Those are my two favourites. On "How about orange" you can get a lot of other nice tips - check it out!

Btw - thanks a lot for all your comments on my redesign cardigan - and for all other comments, I do appreciate them.

Birthday hat #2

2011-06-18T08:28:00.002+02:00

"Ilsetra at 40", made for a friend and colleague.

A second version of my pattern Ilsetra.

Needle: 3.0 mm
Yarn: Pickles Extra Fine Merino

The yarn is very nice, soft, with a good stitch definition.

Modifications: Two skiers are substituted with the initials of the recipient.
Ø is the 28th letter in the Norwegian alphabet.
(There are three letters after Z: Æ, Ø, Å)

The original Ilsetra hat also ended up as a 40th birthday gift.....

Red sweater redesign - a small tutorial

2011-06-08T17:36:00.002+02:00

A sweater made more than twenty years ago - now with several stains.

I machine stitched and cut.

Zig-zag around the edges.

Picked up stitches for ribbing, around 2 sts every 3 rounds. K2, p2. Short rows for shaping around the neck. Four buttons holes.

Embroidery over the stains - and a bit more.

Fun with colours and stitches!

Stains gone!

Fake leather buttons.

Belt.

Et voilà! A new cardigan!

A fun project!

If you need embroidery and knitting inspiration, check out this blog.

Old sweater - new cardigan

2011-05-31T08:11:00.002+02:00

I finally have an FO to show you! My new cardigan:

I made a red cabled sweater more than twenty years ago. After some years it got some stains on the sleeves, and on the upper front, so it has stayed in my closet for many years now. So I figured it was time to do something about it, and I cut away some of the stains, and covered others with embroidery.

And I'm very happy with the result. I just read a book, The Lacuna, by Barbara Kingsolver. The colours of this cardigan makes me think of Frida Kahlo (read the book if you haven't and you'll see what I mean!)

(More details about the making of the cardigan in a later post.)

Fun with beads, needles and yarn

2011-05-24T20:20:00.001+02:00

I have too many projects going on at the moment, most of them quite far from finishing. So I wanted a small and quick project:

The pattern is "Ribband" by Laura Nelkin. It suggests to use som kind of dental floss device to thread on the beads. I have never seen that, so I used a thin needle and sewing thread, which worked just perfect, as you can see.

The yarn is a multicoloured sock yarn from my stash. My bag of beads contained almost 400 beads, a little less than called for in the pattern.

Here's the finished necklace (I did not have a clasp, so I just joined it by sewing).

And here around my arm.

I've already bought more beads... maybe another Ribband, or maybe the next pattern from Laura Nelkin's collection "Adorn".

Constitution Day Paparazzi

2011-05-17T20:26:00.006+02:00

Lillehammer May 17th 2011, a photo by Torirot on Flickr.

17th of May is celebrated every year in Norway, and if you have a "bunad", you wear it today. There are many beautiful bunads, and here are some of the ones I saw in town today.

Colourful Barcelona

2011-05-07T08:12:00.000+02:00

Last week we spent some wonderful days in Barcelona!

Park Güell

La Sagrada Familia

A golden whale...?

Food..

We all fell for these - but I think we'll have to make them ourselves, the price was not for my budget, anyway...

More Gaudí...

Food and drink....

Park Güell

FCBarcelona!!!

I did not knit one stitch.... Didn't even enter a yarn shop (didn't see one...)

Will definetely go back!

Birthday hat #1

2011-04-25T17:50:00.000+02:00

The coming months I'm planning three hats for birthday presents. First out is my brother in law, then a friend, then a colleague.

My brother-in-law plays the saxophone, he likes Egypt and arabic music, he will turn 40 shortly and his name is … تريجوا I hope he likes his new hat!

I'm very happy with the arabic lettering. I don't know arabic myself, but I do hope it’s legible! I had a university Arabic teacher write it down for me in an Arabic font. And I copied it quite accurately, I think.

And I'm happy with the top (I made the hat top-down) and the ribbing.

Not that happy with the saxophone and the camel, but that's in the back, anyway.

The yarn is Schachenmayr nomotta Alpaka, from my stash, worked on needles 3,5 mm.

"Un cadeau de Paris"

2011-04-21T11:09:00.005+02:00

- a gift from Paris!

One om my French readers, a lady from Paris, and test knitter of my Ginger Bread Mittens, Marguerite, has sent me a gift. It's a lovely recycled silk yarn from Nepal, that a friend of hers is selling, Namaste Sathi.

It's such a lovely yarn, beautiful colours. I have to think very carefully to decide what to make. Some kind of scarflette? Or a contrasting colour on a summer tee? Ideas, anyone?

Football hats for free

2011-04-18T17:55:00.004+02:00

All the patterns are now free, and can be downloaded here or on Ravelry.

Thanks to all those of you who have contributed for new football fields, it's been greatly appreciated!

Easter exhibition vernissage at Pellestova

2011-04-16T17:33:00.004+02:00

Vernissage today! It was fun. Nice dresses, photos and paintings. And music and wine. Sorry to Lars Erik and Thor-Arne that there are mostly dress photos... you see, dresses are my main interest :-)

Thor-Arne is in a blue period...

Lars Erik, some of his photos and some of his daughters.

The redesigner and a customer! Nice fit!

Another customer!

I bought a something too!

I think the designer needs to do some more sewing...

More photos on Flickr. Or on Facebook.

Spring in Oslo

2011-04-12T17:47:00.008+02:00

Although I love winter and snow, and would like to wear my new mittens, I do appreciate that spring is here! These photos were taken in Oslo this weekend.

We also visited a cool exhibition by Nick Hlobo at Samtidsmuseet (Nasjonalmuseet for kunst, arkitektur og design). It was fun for children and adults.

Great fun to walk into a labyrinth of ribbons, and say "buh" and scare your mother.

My Maya Mittens

2011-04-11T06:36:00.006+02:00

Am I not the luckiest swap participant?!

These mittens are just perfect, and very much me!

Thanks, Laura!

You can read more about the mittens on Laura's blog.

And there was chocolate (was...!), tea, yarn and more - as you can see. I've never joined a swap before, it was fun!

I do realise that to get this result, you need to pay attention to yarn dominance...

Aren't the colours lovely and glowing?!

"Twilight" swap mittens

2011-04-03T09:22:00.004+02:00

When I was invited to join a mitten swap on Flickr, "Stranded Mitten Swap aka Quit Yer Bitchin, Knit Some Mittens", I said yes without much thinking. Then I realised this was quite scary, making a colourwork mitten for a knitter you don't know.

I chose a pattern by another Norwegian designer on Ravelry, "Little town mittens" by Sigrid Rogne. My swap partner liked blue, green and purple, hence a twilight version of the town. I used Rauma 3ply Strikkegarn and needles 3,5 mm. And for the first time, since this was for such a scary swap, I paid attention to yarn dominance. But I can't say I noticed any difference from my usual results, it just made the knitting less relaxing and comfortable. So, unless someone can convince me this is crucial, I'm back to my usual way of knitting. (I'm a continental knitter, btw.)

I know my mittens have arrived in Massachusetts, so I can show them here now. I also know my mittens have been sent from Laura Nelkin, so I'm waiting impatiently for the mail man...

Easter exhibition

2011-03-30T11:27:00.002+02:00

Three of my friends are having a sales exhibition this Easter, at Pellestova, Øyer (Norway). I know many of my readers live far away, but I also know I have some local readers. The vernissage is Saturday 16th of April at 3 pm, but the exhibition is open all easter. You can have a look at their Facebook page.

Lars Erik is showing his photos.

Hedvig makes redesign dresses.

Thor-Arne has paintings to show.

Christmas knit along - M a r c h

2011-03-20T19:49:00.003+01:00

Another pair of mittens from Norske vottar og vantar, Damevott med lilje, for the Christmas knit along, Julegavesamstrikk 2011.

I used yarn from stash, the green is Tove, the white I'm not sure, some sport weight, superwash wool.

The Lily pattern is beautiful, but the sizing is a bit strange, I think.

The pattern asks for gauge 28/10 cm. No row gauge is given. My gauge was 30 sts and 30 rows per 10 cm. The mittens circumference is ok for my hands, but they are too short, only 13 cm / 5,25 inches from thumb to top (maybe I have unusually long hands? I don't think so, btw, medium sized mittens usually fit me just fine). Luckily the receiver of these mittens have shorter hands than I, so I think they'll fit. The thumb, however, is long enough for me, so the mittens might be a bit wide with a long thumb..... I also think the thumb placement is too far inside the palm, I could have moved it, of course, just didn’t think of it at the time.

This mitten book features patterns based on old mittens, so I if the original mitten was wide and short, so is the pattern (it seems to me, anyway). There are many beautiful patterns, so if you pay attention to the sizing, and add or remove some rounds if needed, I can still recommend it.

The Lily, as I said, I think is beautiful. The thumb pattern is nice too.

The ribbing is plain k 2, p 2.

Kaffe fassett inspired knits #1 - or diamond/ triangle tunic redesign

2011-03-14T14:20:00.006+01:00

I made this tunic many years ago, I think I finished it in 1993 or 1994, after having worked on it now and then for several years (I love stranded colourwork, but I really dislike intarsia). The pattern is from one of Kaffe Fassett's knitting books, don't remember which one.

I really liked how the colours and the pattern work together, and it looks pretty lying there on the floor (I think). But - it was worked in thick or double stranded cotton yarn, so you can imagine the weight... And adding to that, it was quite big. So I never used it. Which was a pity, I think.

So after many years in my closet, I decided to attack it with my scissors.

The first result was this dress:

Then came new office chair:

And there are still pieces left for embellishments, here's a pillow to be:

"Gammelfjøset" - The old cowshed

2011-03-06T14:43:00.004+01:00

My favourite cafe in the woods of Lillehammer.

Today we had "Fastelavensboller" (Carnival buns, buns with whipped cream). On Wikipedia, you can read that Carnival in Denmark is called Fastelavn. In Norway too.

There's a very cosy and relaxed atmosphere.

To the left in this photo, there's an old tool on the wall.

I believe this one was used for treating flax, to make yarn.

(A "hekle" in Norwegian, heckling comb in English.)

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

And isn't this a beautiful wall hanging.

As far as I could see, it is woven, and then embroidered.

"Håndlaga 2011" Norwegian handmade championship

2011-03-05T17:52:00.003+01:00

I'm participating, are you? You can, if you're a Norwegian crafter, that is. Click on the photo to see the blog.

Everybody can nominate, and you can nominate two items in each category, something you have made yourself, and something made by somebody else. All the items have to be published online, on a blog, on Epla ("Norwegian Etsy"), on Flickr, or somewhere else. You can read the rules here.

The organizers are Elisa Kolle from Lin & Papir and Unni Strand.

Thank you, ladies, this will be fun!

Here are my nominees:

(To nominate, you have to comment on the category on the "Håndlaga" blog, which I have done, I just thought I'd tell you about it here too.)

Category 1 - redesign

My "Birthday tunic" made for a friend last year. Read about it here.

I nominate the on of the dresses by Karin in 2jinter, MODELL: 2jK-023.

Category 2 - children

My Lullaby Love Blanket.

More photos on Flickr.

And to make sure I don't win this category, I nominate this blanket, by Pinneguri.

Category 3 - clothes

My Sparkle! cardigan, made last autumn. More photos here.

I also nominate a dress by Torill Vestad, from Cocoon Art, a local crafter, who makes the most wonderful dresses. (I'm the lucky owner of this one, btw...)

Category 4 - jewellery

I have made very little jewellery, but here is a necklace I made some years ago.

I also nominate this cute bird by Flowermouse Design

Category 5 - for your home

This is an old blanket I made 14 years ago, initially two baby blankets, later joined to cover an old chair.

And the competition is hard, look at this fantastic blanket by Solgrim, which is my other nominee in this category.

Category 6 - accesories

My Hippocampus mittens. More photos here.

Another pair of mittens, by "Knittnetty", Winterland.

Category 7 - picture

Not much to choose between there, here's the only picture I could find, made for a friend when she moved into a new appartment some years ago.

Have not decided on what else to nominate yet.

Category 8 - best craft blog

"You can nominate one item made by yourself, and one by someone else".

So, challenging the Jante Law, I nominate my blog.

And then I nominate a fellow knit blogger, Pinneguri, whit her blog "Med pinner".

**********************************************************************************

There is one jury in each category. There are already lots of nominations - I'm not sure the know what they've taken on yet. Have a look for yourself! And have a nice weekend, everyone!!

**********************************************************************************

Winter holiday

2011-03-04T09:48:00.001+01:00

Same procedure as last year...

Skiing...

Knitting...

Reading...

Christmas knit along - F e b r u a r y

2011-02-26T18:04:00.005+01:00

Just popping in quickly to tell you aobut the February gift in the Christmas gift along, Julegavesamstrikk 2011.

Which you have seen before,
The Ilsetra hat!

You can still vote, btw, but the winning chances are small... as you can see.

Mitten thumb anatomy

2011-02-22T10:49:00.004+01:00

What is a 'sore thumb' - does it mean it sticks out? asked Mary-Lou after my last post.

Yes, it does. I have seen the expression several places. Here's an example, my "Selbu meets Holland" mittens. And here's Nanette's explication. I've mostly seen this used by American designers, but that might be a coincidence. The advantage is that the thumb does not interrump neither the back nor the palm pattern. The disadvantage is that it's not entirely anatomical, and the thumb have a tendency to draw the back pattern a little bit towards the palm (at least when I wear them).

Then there's the peasant thumb, or invisible thumb, commonly used in Latvian mittens. Here's an example I made last year.

I love the way the palm pattern continues on the thumb and makes it almost invisible. But then, this is not anatomical either. The hand is broader around the thumb than around the wrist and the fingers. So when wearing, there is more stretching around the thumb.

Then there's the gusseted thumb,"Selbu thumb" maybe, common in traditional Norwegian mittens. You can see a nice schematic of the different thumbs here. (Of course the sore thumb also have a gusset, so this is maybe not such a good name.)

I have used a gusseted thumb in several patterns, for example in the "Selbu Peace&Love" mittens, and in the Lizard mittens. I like that you can use the gusset for small patterns, like a heart or a lizard. It's also more anatomical, the thumb does not stick out directly to the side, nor does it stick out from the palm, it's somewhere in between. Hence, anatomically, I prefer this type of thumb.

Designing and knitting, I think they're all nice thumbs, it depends on the pattern.

There are also thumbs that don't fall into any of these categories. These have some kind of increase to account for the larger circumference around the thumb, but there's no gusset. Like these "Give a Hoot" mittens, where the increases are done in the palm. And in my "Blomst" mittens, the increases are made on the back of the mitten, and the thumb is made like a peasant thumb, but with increases on the back, and the placement of the thumb, this makes the mitten thumb more anatomical. (And I did study anatomy...!)

Maybe there are more thumb types too?

And probably there are more names for the types I have described here.

What do you call these thumbs?

And what do we call them in Norwegian? I don't know. My knitting vocabulary is getting better in English than Norwegian. That's a pity, really. Are there any Norwegians out there who can enlighten me and add to my Norwegian knitting vocabulary?

Mass production!

2011-02-19T12:01:00.002+01:00

My latest mitten pattern, "Pepperkakevotter" has been test knitted, and is now available for purchase!

There are eight different motifs to choose from (squirrel, hedgehog, camel, reindeer, cat, lamb, snail and pig), or you can use the blank charts to make your own. The front and back of mittens are interchangeable.

Choose "Pepperkakevotter" if you want the Norwegian version, and "Ginger Bread Mitten", if you prefer English. The price is 4.50 $.

I asked on my facebook page for a test knitter for the Norwegian pattern. A friend voluntered her mother... and she made not one, but three pairs of mittens, with squirrel motif. And then she insisted on me keeping them. She worked at a looser gauge (21 sts and 24 rows per 10 cm / 4 inches), so the mittens turned out bigger than the original: circumference 24 cm, total length 26 cm, woman large/man medium, probably.

You can choose between sore thumb and peasant thumb.

There are two sizes, woman medium and child, size is determined by gauge:
Woman medium: 24 sts x 26 rounds = 10 x 10 cm /4 x 4 inches
Child 6-8 years: 27 sts x 30 rounds= 10 x 10 cm / 4 x 4 inches

The English pattern has been test knitted by
Hermionina, Craftzone and Marguerite!

Thanks a lot to my awsome test knitters!

Craftzone has also been doing mass production: Here are her two pairs from my written pattern.

Photos by Craftzone

But she also has made a few mittens from when I offered the charts free for Christmas, you can see them all here if you're a Ravelry member (highly recommended).

I felted one of the pairs Beate's mother made. One round at 40 degrees did almost nothing, the 2nd round did quite a lot, but after blocking they fit me perfectly. Thank you!

As you can see, I still have some ginger cookies left, and by coincidence, those are the three animals I did not chart for mittens, elephant, bear and moose. Maybe next Christmas...?

Lucky mail day!

2011-02-13T09:29:00.005+01:00

A while ago I joined Annepålandet's blog lottery. And last week I learned that I was one of the lucky winners! I've entered several blog lotteries, but this is the first time I win. And what a beautiful yarn! A wonderfully soft hand painted sock yarn, Marilyn from Chili Gredelin, in one of my favourite colours. It arrived in my mail box on Saturday.

(Annepålandet has a small crisis, btw, maybe you can help her out: She needs some yarn from Pickles: Abuelita Tjukk Merino/Worsted, colour Lavendel 2440, Dye lot 98.)

For me, there was more to come - this yummy yarn was waiting at the post office, sent all the way from the US.

Remember the Mystery mittens? Not a mystery for very long. But the shop only take payment from a Norwegian bank. So the problem still wasn't solved for my Ravelry friend who wanted to knit these mittens. I offered to buy the kit and send it to her (she does have someone to translate the pattern for her, because it's only available in Norwegian). In return I suggested she send me some yarn - which she did. Look at this yumminess - lucky me!