Where have the torch man gone?

I have made the smallest size of the Torch man's hat

 -  without the torch man.

I wanted to see how the pattern would work with only trees, 

thinking that there might be people not so interested in this Torch man.

The Norwegian pattern is ready, and is beeing test knitted. 

English translation is on my to do-list...

I could use a couple of test knitters, if someone is interested. 

Torch man's hat

So who is the torch man?

He was one of the design elements for the Winter Olympics in Lillehamme rin 1994. And he's still alive and kicking, but the forest owners threatened to let him die. Now he is saved for some time, thanks to Linda Eide. You can see her programme here. (All Norwegian links, I'm afraid.) Althoug I live quite close to the Torch man, and often see when out skiing in winter, it was that programme that inspired me to make this hat. The recipient lives even closer than me, and can see the Torch man from his terrace. 

There's a pattern in the making! 

Here I'm working on the smallest size. 

This looks weird....

Ready to cut the steeks.....

Green and red

I obviuously like green and red! A few days ago, I made this from my Flickr favourites:



1. Whit's Knits: Three Great Baby Sweaters, 2. cham3, 3. Oh! Picasso, 4. Frogs, 5. circle yoke pullover, 6. Classic Monster Booty 2, 7. mitten on, 8. sling (spt), 9. toad hands #10

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

And today I realised, I had made another green and red mosaic a couple of years ago, that I had completely forgotten about. Similar, but different, none of the same photos.



1. i love these colors, 2. Socks-1, 3. A cardigan for Merry - front, 4. tea cosy, 5. Frog prince available!, 6. Funny Elephant Pillow, 7. age of empires sweardress over striped thrifted dress, 8. needle case, 9. manta + apolo

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

May pot holders

I had decided not to start any new projects before finishing some old... But I could not resist when Annepålandet came up with a pattern for her gorgeous pot holders! It's free, and so far only in Norwegian, but will be translated she says. The other one is Disc-Disc (ravelink) from ChickenBetty.

Thanks, Anne, it's a lovely pattern, I will make more!

(I fear pot holder crocheting can be a bit addictive...)

This was a nice pattern, too!

And this is what they look like from behind:

Canarian colours!

Leaving rainy and cold November weather for a week in Gran Canaria was a good idea! It's amazing how quickly you get used to 25 degrees celcius. (But I'm still happy I live in a place with four seasons, where I get to wear my woolly knitting.)

Puerto Mogán

In the sun I finished my green Noro Scroll Lace shawl (from Ysolda's Whimsical knits 2). The picot edging did not turn out nicely, so I omitted it, and did a plain cast off. (Choosing to blame the ugly picots on the yarn, and not the Spanish red wine..)

Knitting in colour - g r e e n -

Judith 's challenge this time is green. Which is on of my favourite colours. Just go back to my last post to see my newest green projects. Here are som older ones:

Top, from left to right

• Vaila verde (Green Vaila in Spanish, I liked the letter rhyming) And I love the sweater!


• Loppem Pattern by Norah Gaughan


• Curly My free hat pattern )

Middle, from left to right

• Lizard mittens My free mitten pattern


• Old hat, combination of two patterns from Small Sweaters: Colorful Knits for Kids by Lise Kolstad and Tone Takle


• Little fish sweater from the same book

Bottom from left to right

• Bonsai tunic by Norah Gaughan (Interweave knit)


• Green hat, no pattern, for sale here


• Square for afghan The motif is Asturias' logo, Paraíso Natural (Northern Spain, Natural paradise) A beautiful part of Spain.

Ready for a green winter

And a white one, I hope...

Droplet hat from Norah Gaughan's book Knitting Nature.

I searched for projects on Ravelry when making this hat. And found Tora's post about it. I totally agree with her that there's no reason what so ever to work this hat flat. (Unless you don't find a suitable circular needle and want to start knitting straight away, like i did.) And like her, I had to add more rows to make it fit, at least ten more rows.

About the book: Coming from a family of mathematicians and phycisists, I enjoyed reading about how she has been inspired by math and geometrical and fractal figures from nature. I read all the chapter introductions with interest (I often skip them in knitting books). Except for the Droplet hat, there were no patterns that I immediately wanted to make, but there are elements I might use later, and maybe a cardigan or a sweater somewhere in the future.

The yarn is Kilcarra Aran Tweed, bought from Koolkitten destashing. I had almost two skeins left from my Loppem, also by Norah Gaughan.

Owl mittens, "Give a Hoot", free pattern by Jocelyn Tunney fom Kelbourne Woolens.

A nice and quick project. My gauge was too tight, and I had to make them longer and block them quite a lot to make them fit not too tightly. So they're not my warmest mittens, but very cute, I think. The black and white buttons were just coincidence, I only found four buttons in my stash that were small enough.

Summer green Loppem

Another finished object - summer holiday car knitting, Norah Gaughan's Loppem.

Yarn: Kilcarra Aran Tweed, bought from Koolkitten destashing. It's hard to find this kind of yarn in Norway, at least where I live. I really like it, both the green colour, and the tweedy texture. I made size 38 (by using stitch numbers for size 32 and measurements for size 38 with a gauge of 15 in stead of 18 ). Maybe I should have made size 36, it's a little bigger than I expected, but I'll get used to it. It's warm and cosy, anyway. (Notice the cabling mistake under? The cables should have been mirrored, but I did not bother to unravel..)

The pattern was easy to follow, exept I might have misunderstood something about the placement of button holes. Never mind.

I used less than three skeins, so I think I'll have enough for a pair of mittens and a hat too. Yummy!

Norah Gaughan in Norway?

I just finished my first Norah Gaughan pattern, Bonsai tunic, from Interweave Knit Spring 2007.

I made som mods: Using another yarn (Kauni... surprise, surprise...), my gauge was little looser than called for (18 vs 20). I did some calculation, and found that if I made the smallest size, it would be appr. a 38”, which would be my size. I knitted in the round, both because I hate the seaming, and because of the color changes. So - there was a lot to think of at the same time, decreases, increases, more decreases, lace pattern etc. I should have made a chart and noted everything. Next time... So far, I have not made the belt - don't think I will.

It's a lovely pattern, and I hope not my last Norah Gaughan project. Flower Child (ravelink) in the Berroco pamphlet Norah Gaughan volume 4 is beautiful, with what seems to be an interestning constuction. Her Loppem is also in my queue.

But where do I find the patterns??

Berroco don't ship outside USA and Canada. I found a shop that would, but international shipping would cost 25 $. Then I found an online shop in the UK - but they only send to addresses in the UK.

Anybody who knows how to get these patterns in Norway??