Sjølingstad hat - from me to you!

Inspired by the Shetland Wool Week hats, I have made a hat pattern for a knitting event at Sjølingstad Uldvarefabrik (Mandal, Norway) in September.

Free beret pattern here, beanie pattern here.

Enjoy!!

♥ 6 ♥ Christmas at Maihaugen

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.

Amazing paperwork

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...

Crafty tourism

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.

Tourist at home

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:

"I think it's more than thousand"

said my five year old. And he was right - there are 1.300 Christmas balls on this year's designer tree at Maihaugen, Lillehammer.

Read about their "Julekuler" book here (in English).

We went to have a look at the traditional Christmas market. It's always nice to visit the market.



Yarn from Leine Merino.

And before leaving, we even had a chance to say hello to Arne and Carlos!

Have a nice weekend, everyone!