Made by Nemo

Duplo Lego

2012-01-08T07:51:00.001+01:00

Good entertainment for big and small. ^.^

1st finish in 2012

2012-01-02T21:21:00.001+01:00

Fresh off the ironing board, here's my first finish in 2012 - a stitchery by Melly & Me, stretched over a canvas. The pattern is from the Stitchery of the Month-club run by Under the Mulberry Tree (the fourth stitchery, but the first one I've managed to complete so far..).

Or, as an alternative, bring out the tequila.

The background fabric is light yellow with tiny white spots (the picture could definetly have been better, but.. it's January, it's 9PM and I'm in Norway..). It's stitched with the lovely raspberry red Cosmo thread. On the back of the canvas I glued on a piece of light green felt, to hide the raw edges of the background fabric - and the draw pins I've used to keep the fabric stretched. On each side I've placed an eye bolt and strung a piece of ribbon through these.

For my first attempt at stretching over canvas, I think it turned out pretty good. ^.^

***
Will be back with some New Year resolutions in a couple of days. It's back to work again tomorrow - too bad, I'm on a roll when it comes to getting crafty things planned/done these days..

Cheers!

2012-01-01T22:18:00.001+01:00

I postes this picture on Facebook and Twitter last night. Here's to 2012 - cheers!

Just a few stitches more..

2011-12-29T14:34:00.001+01:00

Before Plutt wakes up from his nap. ^.^

Back home - and spoiled..

2011-12-28T13:16:00.000+01:00

Well, we're back home again after a few days in Trysil. We spent Christmas Eve with my mom and my sister, our niece and my grandparents, and I think none of us were prepared for the huge piles of presents under the tree! I think my mom was right, we could just as well have thrown out the tree and just placed a star on top of the pile of presents. ^-^

But, we drove down to Oslo again yesterday- Left the cool, clean whiteness of Trysil behind - to.. a wet, green, snowless Oslo.. Just look at the tree in the picture above. Before we left (on December 23rd) there was atleast a little snow around the yard, but now? Nothing. Absolutely nothing..

Luckily, I can sit and admire the gorgeous gifts I received in this year's SSCS! (Thank you, hhttp://chookyblue.blogspot.com, for arranging this again!) This year I was so lucky, I got to send two parcels to two (to me) new bloggers out there. I love the planning and preparations of the SSCS - I think it's even more fun than receiving a parcel (although, that's really exciting and fun too, don't get me wrong). My mom and I both placed our parcels under the Christmas tree, and opened them together with the rest of the family on Christmas Eve (after dinner and dessert).

Look at the gorgeous organiser Narelle made me! It fits perfectly over the side of the couch or the armchair, and included amongst other things, gorgeous embrodery floss and a measuring tape in the shape of a frog. Also in the parcel was a 2012 calendar featuring Australian wildlife and a lovely piece of fabric with both Australian scenery and animals. Thank you so much, Narelle!

The second SSCS parcel I received was from Fiona. She sent me a gorgeous bag, with so many pockets inside I instantly thought that this has to become my quilt guild meeting bag! I think I can fit most anything possibly needed for a meeting the quilt guild in this bag (it's bigger on the inside, I think we might say - one of mye favourite quotes from a brilliant TV-series, btw). And do you see the little guy with the red ears standing in the back there with his nose in the air?

Yes! This cute guy sat in one of the pockets of the bag! I don't have the heart to use him as a pincushion, but he seems to like the Santa next to him, so perhaps he can become his companion? Thank you so much, Fiona!


I took a picture in the mirror so that you can see the size of the bag. I love the colours!

Just before we left for Trysil, a third parcel arrived from Australia. This one took me completely by surprice - it was from Donna! Inside, Donna had included a 2012 calendar with pictures of Australian scenery, some of her own postcards and a notepad (yes, those are her pictures on the cards and the notepad - she is a wonderful photographer!). Thank you so much, Donna!

Christmas just wouldn't be the same without the Secret Santa Christmas Swap. This has been my fifth year participating - and I absolutely love it!

From all of us to all of you..

2011-12-24T22:08:00.001+01:00

A Very Merry Christmas!

The Murder before Christmas

2011-12-18T13:48:00.000+01:00

Dear Mister (or Miss) Caterpilar, who seemingly lived in our tiny tree..

I am very sorry for flushing you, but 1) this is Norway, in December - e.g. not a very happy place to be for a caterpilar - and 2) we're going away for most of Christmas, so there wouldn't be any one to look after you (or much for you to eat, unless you know how to open the fridge and make yourself a sandwich or something..).

Once again, I am very sorry for flushing you down the toilet - I hope where you end up will be some place better. Hey, look on the bright side, atleast you weren't eaten!

Sincerely,
The Caterpilar Flusher.

Saturday night's knitting

2011-12-17T19:09:00.001+01:00

Some Norwegian favourites

2011-12-16T20:08:00.001+01:00

Tonight I thought I'd post a couple of my favourite Norwegian (or Scandinavian) Christmas songs. Some you might have heard before - and some might be new for you. It'd be fun if you'd leave a comment if one of the songs/melodies are used for a different song in your country.

First off is a song called Det Lyser i Stille Grender (meaning something like "light shining in silent places"). This is one of my absolute favorites at Christmas times!

And then comes Julekveldsvisa (the Christmas Eve song). It's written by a writer/songwriter who's very known for his tales and songs for children (you might've heard about Mrs Pepperpot?).

Let's see.. Luciasangen (the song for St. Lucia) is also a very pretty one. I'm not quite sure if I prefer it in swedish or norwegian, though - both are beautiful! (But they definetly celebrate St Lucia's day the best in Sweden!)

Let's see.. hmm.. Deilig er Jorden (earth is good?) is also a very pretty song.

***

I'll leave you with another one of my English favourites, one that I (embarrasingly enough) forgot all about when posting my other favourite English Christmas songs. Who's not heard Jiminy Cricket sing When You Wish Upon a Star? It's just not Christmas without it..

Some more favourites..

2011-12-09T21:55:00.000+01:00

The third weekend of advent is upon us, and tonight I'd like to share some of my favourite Christmas-y movies. These are (basically) the ones I watch (atleast..) once every year before Christmas. It's a tradition BF and I have, and that I think we'd like to transfer to Plutt (when he's older).

The first movie is one we usually watch some time between Halloween/end of October and Christmas - it's the brilliant masterwork of Tim Burton, The Nightmare Before Christmas. A wonderful stop-motion animated musical.

The second one is one of my all-time favourites (you might remember the title and the song from last week's list of Christmas songs?). If you haven't already seen it, the classic from 1952, then I urge you to do so. White Christmas is just as charming as it would've been back in the days (and the music is spectacular!). Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye, do I really need to say more?

The third one is one I think most have seen. I mean, Home Alone, every one's seen it, right? (But it's still hilarious!)

The next one is one of my mom's favourites (well, movies, anyway). I know, I know, Die Hard might not fit the Christmas movie category precisely - but, it's set on Christmas Eve.. that still counts, doesn't it?

Let's see.. there's also National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. Hilarious! And I hope none will ever have to experience a Christmas quite like the one in the movie - but, it's a good example to use if things go a little wrong (and you can say well, atleast it didn't go as bad as it did when the Griswalds celebrated Christmas). ;)

The Snowman is another animated Christmas movie that's just incredible well made - and definetly worth seeing, if you should stumble over it.

And finally, it's Shrek the Halls - where Shrek and Fiona are back for a short Christmas adventure. It's entertaining and it's got a few memorable quotes. I really like the Shrek-saga. Gotta love the extended use of references to other movies, music, the cast, etc.

***

I hope you have a wonderful third weekend of Advent, and that you're all getting ready for Christmas. Remember to enjoy yourself, and if everything's not done it'll still be OK. Christmas will come, regardless. ;)

I'm going back to knitting a bolero while watching a concert Linkin Park performed in Russia. The boys are sleeping, so it's mostly quiet here (exect for the neighbours, that is..). Not the worst way to spend a Friday night. :)

Finally!

2011-12-06T22:26:00.001+01:00

It's here! ^-^

(Sorry for the poor quality of the pictures, cell phone camera + dark..)

The mailman

2011-12-03T21:21:00.024+01:00

The mailman certainly did a good job this week - as in, look at these beautiful and adorable ornaments my Secret Santas sent me for this year's SSCS:

Fiona's adorable ornament.

Narelle's beautiful ornament.

Currently, they are both hanging in our tiny IKEA Christmas tree-bush (about 30 cm/12 inces tall) but some day I'd like to have a "real" (as in bigger) tree again (just, not right now, with young mister Iwannaclimbthat running around the living room, if you know what I mean..).

***

The second Sunday of Advent is tomorrow. Presents are being crossed off the list as we speak (more or less) but I'm still lacking some ideas for some people.. Atleast the gingerbread cookies are done.. 4 pounds/2kg dough. A bit too much, maybe, but they are really yummy! (And a bit untraditional, as we have both cars, santas, gingy's, ninjas, pirate ships and swords, and hedgehodges. Who said you only had to use the traditional cutters?) :D

Some of my favorites..

2011-12-02T20:31:00.000+01:00

It's the beginning of the second weekend of Advent, and I've been thinking about Christmas music for some time now. So I decided to take a quick youtube-search and see if I couldn't find some of my favourite Christmas songs (in English today, perhaps I'll find some in Swedish and Norwegian some other time).

So here goes..

Do you remember this one? I was very young when the whole Band Aid first came around, but I remember that this song - and video - was played alot on the TV and on the radio when I was little, and although it's a sad song with an important message, it's just not Christmas without it (apparently, I'm not the only one who thinks so, seeing as it always seem to be on the new Christmas albums coming out every year).

Sticking to the 80's you just cannot get around Wham! Well, this is another one of those songs you just cannot seem to get away from - but it's sweet, and the video is nice (LOTS of snow!). I think every one I know knows the lyrics for this one.

I - to put it simply - absolutely love this song! (Did you ever watch the movie P.S. I love you? If not, watch it! The most hilarious memorial service - with the most unlikely, yet so loved by so many, Christmas-y song ever!

And, last but not least.. What's a list of Christmas songs without Bing Crosby? I've got two favourites.. I couldn't chose one over the other, so I'm just going to list them both.

Another movie you just have to see - if you haven't already seen it.. This man had the most wonderful voice..

And, finally, this one. Two unlikely partners in a duet that's simply out-of-this-world.

***

So, there you have it. These are some of my favourite Christmas songs (in English). What's your favourite Christmas song? Or do you, as I have, have too many to chose from?

1st Sunday in Advent

2011-11-28T05:38:00.001+01:00

We're keeping it simple this year - candle holders from IKEA, mushrooms and trees from Søstrene Grene, and an old placemat from Stoff og Stil.

Only three more weeks till Christmas.. well, ok, almost 4. Our Christmas cards are ordered, hopefully they will arrive in a couple of days. Christmas presents? A couple done - several more seem to be a little more complicated this year, but I'm sure we'll think of something.

Still no snow in Oslo.. and about 5 degrees celsius. Strange..

Quiet Sunday

2011-11-27T12:36:00.001+01:00

The boys are napping, and I'm cutting gift tags. I think we're going for a walk later on, there are at leser two Christmas fairs om the area - not to mention, the churros-guy is back in town.. ;)

Oh, what do you think of my new piggy bank? Owly bank would perhaps be a better name. :)

I...

2011-11-02T22:45:00.002+01:00

..should be in bed - or, atleast on the say there - but I needed a few minutes to calm my mind after this evening's meeting in Tåsen Quiltelag..
My mind is literally buzzing, on the edge of painful, to be honest.
Lucky for me, knitting is quite calming. The knowledge that this project is nearly finished helps too.
A few more minutes, and I think that'll do the trick.

Halloween-venn

2011-10-30T19:48:00.002+01:00

In norwegian only..

Happy Halloween, alle sammen! (Selv om det teknisk sett er i morgen..)

Hva synes dere om gresskar-lykten jeg lagde i går? How do you like my pumpkin lantern?

Sambo lagde en også, men den var dessverre ikke ferdig da jeg tok bildet i går kveld.. jeg får forsøkte å ta et bilde av begge lyktene i løpet av et par dager. ^.^

Jeg var til og med så heldig at jeg fikk lov til å åpne en pakke i dag! Via forumet Uformelt var jeg med i en runde hemmelig halloween-venn, og jeg var så utrolig heldig! Bare se på bildet her:

Yup, mobilbilde.. beklager..

Jeg fikk masse superdeilig luktende te (mmm.. lakris..), to hesper Hifa Hjertegarn (for meg, ukjent, men i en herlig mørkegrønn fage), artige lilla knapper (prøvesmakt - og godkjente - av Plutt), og en hel flokk med halloweenutkledde sjokoladefolk (som lever litt i fare.. de var veldig gode!).

Nå har jeg litt av et detektivarbeid foran meg, for forutenom at avsenderadressa er i Eikangerfjord og kortet som fulgte med er skrevet på nynorsk, så har jeg ikke så mange hintene å gå ut i fra for å finne riktig person å takke. ;)

Gleder meg til å teste garnet - må bare bestemme meg for om jeg skal smugkikke på mønstre til meg selv eller til Plutt'en.. Hmmm.. *funderer*

Today in pictures, #3

2011-10-28T19:45:00.001+02:00

After a nice cup of hot chocolate, sitting by the fire, we walked in the fog and fallen leaves down to Holmenkollen.

Today in pictures, #2

2011-10-28T19:44:00.001+02:00

After breakfast, we took a stroll downtown, and took the T-bane up to Frognerseteren. Look at the fog! It was like entering a scary movie - hearing noises around you, but unable to see more than a few meters ahead..

Today in pictures, #1

2011-10-28T19:39:00.001+02:00

Breakfast at The Nighthawk Diner.

Pitch Black

2011-10-27T19:03:00.001+02:00

Well, it's not exactly a colourful and exciting view, this work-in-progress, but there are more colourful things waiting on my list. ;)

Til Gunn

2011-10-10T20:32:00.000+02:00

In Norwegian only..

Hei Gunn!

Takk for sist! (Lenge lenge siden, første søndagen i September og Søndagsmarkedet på Blå.)

Jeg ville bare vise deg at vi er superhappyüberfornøyde med smokkesnoren jeg kjøpte til Plutt (selv om han ser alt annet enn fornøyd ut på bildet her.. men han er bare litt trøtt)!

Og så ville jeg vise deg hvor perfekt den matcher sengesettet jeg brukte da jeg var liten (og som Plutt har brukt når vi har vært på besøk hos moimo):

Håper å få muligheten til å hilse på deg igjen ved en annen anledning!

Hilsen Tonje. ^.^

There's room on the shelf

2011-10-03T08:48:00.000+02:00

For some time now - taking babysteps every now and then - we've been, slowly, cleaning up a bit in our gigantic collection of DVDs. (No, still not taken the full step over to BlueRay, but we've got about three - yes, THREE - BR's in the collection.. I'll get back to which ones these are in a little while.) Seriously, we've got a collection of about 1.000 DVDs, everything from drama to sci-fi - and everything in between. (Yes, even sports, although I do believe that one's on it's way out..)

If one should group together the different genres I think that sci-fi/fantasy would definetly win - but there's also quite a bit of children's movies and (as of the past couple of years) some dramas too.

We've got our favorites - you know, the ones you can watch over and over again, and never quite seem to get bored (I, for one, really like Master and Commander - the Far Side of the World) - and then there are the ones you watch once, think you like, buy - and then never take down from the shelf again.. Like Cursed. Although it was funny, it's just.. meh.. *shrugs*

So, over the past few weeks - every now and then - we've taken a few titles off the shelf, looked at the cover, read the back - and either put it back up, or simply removed it. Leaving it first in a pile, and then moved the pile into a box marked TSP - auction. (I'm having doubts if there will be any TSP auctions in the not so distant future anymore, but I'm keeping faith that things will work out.) Yesterday we had a look at some of the series we've bought, seen. started watching, forgotten, gotten over, just never gotten the hang of, etc. And now there seems to be a little room to breathe again. Well, the shelves are not quite threatening to collaps is more like it.. I might even be able to move my complete Buffy-collection into it's rightful place again.

During clean-up processes like this, you might stumble upon some long lost treasures - or things you perhaps watched a bit too much of in one go (it can happen.. trust me). Mad Men was a series we watched quite a bit a while back. I think we went through season 1 and 2 pretty quickly, and then came to season 3 - and got a bit bored.. I still can't remember if we're watching season 3 or 4, but after watching an episode yesterday I've got a renewed feeling about this series. Perhaps it's good to take breaks every once in a while?

Mr. Don Draper himself.

What didn't change were my feelings towards Mr. Draper (one of the main characters). He's still the selfish, notoriously unfaithful, slimy, dirtbag as ever - but he's brilliant at it. He's just a guy you love to (partly) dislike.

So, after yesterday's clean-up, Mr. Draper is back in - Ms. Mars is out (I think..), Bonekickers is (definetly) out, and so are a few of the other nowwhytheheckdidIbuythis-titles popping up here and there.

Oh, and for our three BR's? Well, Avatar (of course), Alice in Wonderland (the Tim Burton edition) and Beauty and the Beast (Disney, my all-time favorite). They're all double-disc editions, with both standard DVD and BR included.

A Bit of Crafting in the Morning

2011-09-22T12:25:00.000+02:00

It's nice to have a few minutes to spare in the morning. Today (and yesterday) I've done a little knitting in the kitchen before getting ready for work.

Red and white knitting, with tiiiiiny needles.

Why in the kitchen, you may ask? Well, we're getting close to finishing the redecoration of our bedroom, so at the moment, our bed has been moved out - due to painting of the walls, etc - and so I don't want to wake DBF up any more than I have to in the morning. And that's why I'm sitting in the kitchen knitting. :-)

Atleast today I sat on a chair. Yesterday I sat on the floor, but last night DBF moved one of the chairs into the kitchen, so that I didn't have to sit on the floor anymore. (Your legs sure fall asleep fast when you're sitting crosslegged on the floor for some time..)

What I'm knitting on? Well, that's a.. ahem, no, really, that's a secret. ;-) You know, it's that time of the year again (Secrect Santa Christmas Swap, and such) so I really cannot tell you just yet.. Only.. well, OK then, I'll tell you one more thing..

Ready?

It's in red and white! ;-P

Sorry for teasing, but this truly is the time for teasing - and teasers, secrets, planning, conspiracies, cold winds, beautiful sunsets and sunrises, fog, moonlight, candles burning and comfy blankets.

Tonight we're (hopefully) finishing the last of the painting, so I expect there will be little to no crafty time for me tonight - but tomorrow morning I might be able to squeeze in a few stitches (being that knitting or sewing).

Oh, and if you're wondering why my pictures are a bit strange lately, it's because I've been using my phone instead of my camera lately. It seems to be easier to snap a picture or two when the inspiration comes, instead of remembering to bring or take out the big camera.. Or would you rather that I blogged less frequently - and with better quality pictures?

Sunshine and fog

2011-09-22T10:42:00.000+02:00

The view outside work yesterday morning..

It looked so nice, with the fog surrounding the building's skeleton, the sun peering through the support beams.

Two songs from a lovely young lady

2011-09-16T20:44:00.000+02:00

Don't you just love her incredible voice?

Adele was only 19 when the first video came - Chasing Pavements - and last year her second album came out, featuring (amongst other wonderful songs) Rolling in the Deep. Definetly two of my favorite songs!

Up at the crack of dawn..

2011-09-16T05:34:00.000+02:00

When Plutt awoke around 04:45 this morning, looking for his "motte", I decided to just get up and start my day. The alternative would've been to go back to bed and dozing off for about half an hour until my alarm rang, and I'd get up, drowsy and feeling waaaay too tired to to much except continuing to (more or less) nod off in the bathroom, in the kitchen, manage to get myself into the living room, continuing to doze off until Plutt (I expect) finally wakes up just before 6AM (again..).

Picture borrowed from the Internet.

Instead, I'm sitting in the living room, knitting on a Christmas present, glancing through the window at the complete and utter darkness out there. Nothing like the picture above, no, that would look more like the sunset a couple of days ago. But this morning, there's nothing but darkness out there.

I might go through a couple of extra cups of coffee today.. and perhaps make another attempt at going to bed early (haha..).

Notice something..

2011-08-25T18:46:00.003+02:00

Strange in our hall? ;)


Yep, there's a tiny shoe hanging from the sleeve of my jacket..

Shocking, or what?

2011-08-25T07:59:00.000+02:00

Yea, I know! It's quite shocking, but I have been getting some sewing done this summer (and these are just a couple of the finished items).

Anyway, I had these four blocks from a Cinderberry Stitches Christmas pattern, but I wasn't sure if I wanted (needed, had room for..) another wall hanging, so I decided to try to make a pillow case. It worked out quite well, if I should say so my self. ^.^

I haven't decided if this is a keeper or a gift item yet, if I end up keeping it, I might have to make another one (same size, atleast) since we have two of these huge pillows on our couch..

I really love the way it turned out, though. The stitcheries are adorable, and I think the rhaspberry coloured thread goes well with the colour of the fabric around (which was part of the prize I won from Jordbærstedet once, a few years ago). Nice to make something from stash, and nice to cross something off the (seemingly) endless list of things to do/finish.

A few years ago, my BF designed and printed a couple of pieces of fabric from Spoonflower, but it ended up on a shelf (in our living room, actually) until this summer.

Now the two previously mentioned pillows are dressed in our own-designed, own-made pillow cases - and they fit right in with the rest of the (well, somewhat) wonky items in our living room (let's see, there's the Dalek-tin, my TARDIS piggy bank, a couple of Willow Tree-figurines, a viking head candle holder, and too many other things..).

Funny thing, when Plutt sees the pillow cases, he points to them and says "Moo!". Not quite sure where the cow comes in, seeing as there are skulls on them.. Atleast he's learned to say "Bomme!" when he sees the back side (as in blomst/flower).

I'll be back a bit later to post some pictures of finished things (both sewing and knitting). Hopefully, it won't take as much time as posting these ones. o.O

21. August 2011

2011-08-21T23:02:00.000+02:00

There are days when words just aren't able to say what you'd want them to say. Today has been a memorial day here in Norway. A day of thought, a day of memories - a day of candles burning in rememberance.

***

In lack of words, I chose to share one of my all-time favorite songs (actually two) - Somewhere (Over the Rainbow) / What a Wonderful World.

***

Light a candle. Hug a loved one.

Tonight ends with..

2011-08-03T22:30:00.001+02:00

Knitting on the veranda, with a candle burning in the summer night. Very very cozy indeed.

Keeping those needles flying..

2011-07-27T19:35:00.001+02:00

Not quite in a mood for sewing, but knitting's OK.

These little angels are carrying the results from the past evenings. Van you guess what they are? :)

We're OK

2011-07-22T23:37:00.001+02:00

Just a quick note to say that we're all OK.

From CNN's pages describing the horrendous events this afternoon.

And our thoughts go out to those who are touched, wounded or missed deeply by their loved ones..

Og vinneren er..

2011-07-15T21:03:00.000+02:00

Yay! Gratulerer så mye til Heidi!

Send meg en epost (tonjekarlsmoen*snabel-a*gmail.com) med detaljene dine (adresse, etc) så får du ganske så snart pakke i posten! :D

Tusen takk til alle som ville være med på denne lille gi-bort'n min - superhyggelig og snilt av dere!

I morgon, i morgon..

2011-07-14T12:21:00.000+02:00

Er siste mulighet til å melde seg på Gi-Bort'n.

:)

Lykke til!

Oh come on, already!

2011-07-11T09:27:00.000+02:00

Did you ever start something crafty, and things just didn't work? Well, this past weekend has been that kind of weekend..

Picture from Pickles

I've been planning for so long (well, atleast since around April or so) to knit Plutt a sweater in a really nice and squishy yarn I bought at Pickles, and finally decided to start this weekend (I think it was Thursday, actually, but since I didn't have the right needles I had to go by the LYS on Friday).

So, Friday afternoon I pulled out the yarn and the needles, browsed the pattern and cast on. Started to knit. Hang on? This doesn't look right.. *frogged it* Cast on again, using a different technique. What the? *frogged again* Found a pair of smaller needles and cast on, again.. Better. Knitted a while before going to bed.

Saturday I brought the knitting outside when Plutt slept in his stroller (I think he was quite exhausted after a long day, in addition to both not feeling well for a couple of days and possible getting some new teeth). I knitted happily along for a while, and continued when we ventured inside after Plutt woke up. Later that night I looked at the pattern again, and at my knitting.. and back to the pictures in the pattern.. Hmm.. And! *frogged* down to the elastic stitches, switched to bigger needles and started knitting again.

Sunday my mom and Emma came by. We talked about crafting while Emma and Plutt played (well, Emma played, Plutt threw his Duplo blocks all over the floor) and I showed mom my knitting. Oh, this is going to be too small, she said. It might fit him just, but you better knit it fast. Hm. Bummer.. I put it back in the basket as we were going out for a walk with the little ones. Later that evening, after Plutt went to bed, I picked up the knitting once more, looked at it - looked at the pattern, and, guess what? *frogged it*

So now I'm back at the beginning, with bigger needles (once more) and double yarn. It's definetly a bigger size (now I'm worried it's going to be a huge sweater, and not a squishy, soft, cuddly thing he can wear over his t-shirt) but I think I'm done frogging it now.. If I have to frog it again, I think I'm dumping the idea of the sweater and rather find something else to knit with the yarn.

Rats! (Pic is of Igor, one of our late rats)

Amidst the frogging and frustration, I did cast on for another miniblanket for the NFI (NBICU) and knitted another round on my Peacock Shawlette (4 rounds down - about 140++ left). I'll have to write another post soon, to show that I've actually done some sewing lately! Yea, I know, I can hardly believe it myself. :P

Gi Bort-tid!

2011-06-27T20:26:00.000+02:00

En gang rundt påsketider så jeg at det skulle komme ut en ny, norsk sybok (Made by me) - hvor en del av bidragsyterne var blogger jeg fulgte med på. Needless to say, jeg ble kjempeinteressert! En av disse, Vibeke, hadde en give-away på bloggen sin og på facebook, og jeg la igjen kommentar hos henne. Tingenes iboende, og så videre, førte jo selvfølgelig til at jeg kjøpte boken omtrent dagen før jeg fikk mail fra Vibeke om at jeg hadde vunnet en kopi av boken av henne - og dermed endte jeg opp med to. :) Så hva gjør man? Jo, man har en egen liten gi bort-runde!

Boken det er snakk om, er altså denne:

Made by me - sybloggernes beste oppskrifter

Dette er en herlig bok, med over 40 oppskrifter - på alt fra voksenklær, vesker, barnetøy og babyutstyr. Den inneholder en praktisk liten syskole, og bildene er så lekre at det formelig klør i synålene.. (Dere får bare stole på det jeg sier - eller gå og kikke i den selv. Den er rett og slett herlig!)

Har du lyst til å vinne et eksemplar av denne fullkomment herlige boken, trenger du bare å legge igjen en kommentar under dette innlegget (det eneste jeg krever, er at jeg skal kunne nå deg via epost). Vinneren trekker jeg fredag 15. juli. :) Fin feiring av (i allefall min) siste jobbedag før ferie, ikke sant?

*******

Og Vibeke; Neida, jeg har ikke glemt det jeg lovte - jeg skal lage noe fra boken, jeg bare må bare først. ;)

For my international friends; I'm having a small give-away on a Norwegian sewing book. Now, since this book is in Norwegian, I've decided to run another give-away soon, for something a little more international - but if you'd like to, you are welcome to enter this one as well. :)

SlåtteVen slår til

2011-06-26T22:14:00.000+02:00

In Norwegian only..

Forumet Uformelt har hatt nok en hemmelig venn-runde (kjempegøy å være med på!) og i den anledning fikk jeg en helt utrolig pakke. Bare se her:


Jadda, bildet er oppned..

Deilig og squishy DB Sublime, NZ Lammeuld i en herlig farge <3, oppskrift på et lekkert sjal - og yummy ego-lego-sjokolade. :)

Føler meg ganske så bortskjemt nå, jah.. Tusen takk, Blomstermamma!

2011-06-25T22:24:00.001+02:00

It's so nice to start the weekend with fresh flowers.. :)

A cozy evening

2011-06-14T21:31:00.001+02:00

Strawberries, whipped creme, pepsi max, CSI and handsewing.. does it get much better?

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

2011-05-29T10:08:00.000+02:00

I felt it was time to make a few changes on my blog - so I've changed the colours to a more purple shade, and think I'm going to leave it like this for a while. See how (and if) I like it.

I was in a great sewing mode the other day - too bad Janie (my Janome) wasn't.. Turns out she might've caught a bug or two - so she's on desk rest (haha) until my mom comes down in a week or so, and if she's unable to help me fix her, she's going to have to go to the sewing machine doctor..

Guess I'll stick to knitting a little while longer. :)

One for the gift basket!

2011-05-18T05:59:00.007+02:00

There's not only been knitting going on lately, there have been some attempts at exercising my sewingmachine (although I think - or, more, feel - that the last months of mainly knitting have made me a bit out of practice when it comes to sewing, so I'm not 100% satisfied with absolutely everything I've made these past few weeks..).

Anyway, I had some stitcheries that I'd prepared and sewn last winter and finally got the fabric picked out and found some time to sew - and the results are shown by Timmy in the picture below:

Two bakecloths (or bakeklede, as we say in Norwegian) - one in brown and one in purple (they are identical, except from the colours - that's why the brown one is folded). The brown one has been tested (works perfectly!) and will remain in our kitchen, but the purple one will go in the gift basket (or the shelf for things that will be given away on suitable occasions, as it is also known as). Fun pattern - and stashbusting!

It's been about two years since my mom and I went to Göteborg, Sweden for the Nordic Quilting Association (or something like that, Nordisk Quiltetreff), where we both bought a folder to keep our sewing equipment from the danish shop Quilt My Design (my mom bought the pattern for a larger folder, while I bought the kit for the small one). Well, I started the appliqué this winter, and then put it away - thinking that it would take forever to finish it.. *haha* I ended up skipping some parts of the original pattern, and ended up spending about 2-2.5 hours finishing it last week (minus the binding, but that was done in a jiffy later that evening).

Here's Timmy showing off the result again - and look! I've even sewn on one of my name tags (not bad, if I may say so - that usually takes a while).

Now, remember, I chose to skip a few steps in the original pattern, and it's the first time I've tried to sew elastic bands on to something like this (and I am not entirely happy with my handsewing on this one) - but, you know what? I'm happy! It's cute, it's done, it's crossed off my list! (And I'm keeping this one all to myself!) Almost two years to the day - but it's done. I think I'm going to finish this post just by repeating that.
It's done! It's done! It's done!

Btw, Timmy is one of Peder's stuffed animals. And when you squeeze his tummy, he baaaah's with delight. (Timmy Time is originally an animated show from Aardman, the people behind Shaun the Sheep and Wallace & Gromit.)

Mai-utfordringen fra Strikkere

2011-05-17T20:38:00.003+02:00

*In Norwegian only*

Det var i begynnelsen av mai at jeg så den nye utfordringen fra Strikkere : å strikke små plagg (luer, sokker, etc) og tepper til landets NFI-avdelinger - og, mellom prosjekter som jeg var, tenkte jeg at dette, dette er noe jeg kan bli med på! Og dermed var det bare å finne fram til litt myk og deilig babyull og sette igang.

Etter knappe to uker har jeg nå to bittesmå tepper liggende klare (som Timmy så fint viser frem):

Det første teppet ble strikket i rute-struktur - etter et mønster jeg fant hos Majas hobbykrok. Et enkelt mønster - men med et fint resultat, strikket med dobbelt garn.

Det andre teppet ble strikket helt enkelt og greit ved å legge opp tre masker - og deretter øke én maske innenfor første maske til det ble bredt nok (eller, som i mitt tilfelle, nøstet gikk tomt), deretter ble det felt én maske innenfor første masken til det var tre masker igjen. Superenkelt og søtt resultat.

Jeg håper at mine små bidrag kan være med på å holde noen bittesmå gode og varme ved UUS Ullevål (der jeg har valgt å sende disse to).

Og jeg skal jammen ha dette i tankene neste gang jeg er i prosjektlimbo og ikke vet hva jeg skal henge pinnene i! ^-^

Vårglad Venn

2011-05-15T21:41:00.002+02:00

In Norwegian only..

I dag var det åpningsdag av hemmelig venn-pakken fra Vårglad Venn på Uformelt, og jeg har jammen vært heldig!

Ikke nok med at jeg fikk herlig garn fra Malsen og Mor i en nydelig blåfarge (med navn Utsikt) og mønster på det som kommer til å bli mitt første ordentlige sjal (Wandering the Moor) - men det lå både med nammenam saltsild og en pakke grønn te med mandarin/appelsinsmak!

Tusen tusen takk, min hemmelige venn! (Nå må jeg virkelig sparke igang de små grå, for jeg er litt langt inne i den mørke tunnellen for å kunne si hvem dette var fra..)

Just a quick note to..

2011-05-05T14:44:00.001+02:00

Let you know I'm still alive - and be careful, there are monsters around. New ones being born as we speak. ;)

The most beautiful view in the world..

2011-04-18T17:51:00.001+02:00

To me, anyway. ;)

Hanging above my desk at work.

Here's to a new (short) week and easter!

Getting ready for easter?

2011-04-06T09:56:00.004+02:00

I think I might have killed an easter ball.. :/ A few weeks back I bought a new pattern pamplet from Dale of Norway, featuring new designs by the previously mentioned Arne & Carlos, and this weekend I started knitting one of the patterns (the basis is the same as for the Christmas balls/julekuler, but the design/pattern is more angled towards easter traditions). The one I started is the one in bright orange and white - and lets just say that (before steamtreatment - apparently this is the thing to do with knitted items - and filling) it looks nothing like a ball. Nothing. (I think I'll have to take pictures to illustrate this phenomenon..) Atleast I know where I did wrong.. I have a problem keeping the correct tension (or lack of such) when knitting with more than two needles. Perhaps it's the "I really don't want to lose any stitches"-fear that makes me pull the yarn too much, or what else it might be, but the smooth ball-shape in the pattern definetly lacks resemblence to my bulky, halfway egg-shaped thing. Yes, thing. Maybe I should give it a couple (or more) eyes and some teeth and call it the easter monster? Add a little matching hair or a tail?

*******

I've been doing very little sewing lately. In my mind, I've finished both this and that and made tons of something else - but reality shows little to no progress. It's still easier to pick up the knitting needles and watch a movie/some episodes/some general crap on TV than to go to in to the bedroom and sit down by the machine. Not to mention cutting fabric, finding a pattern - and ironing.. You need a page out of a pamplet or a book (or on the laptop), a couple of knitting needles and some yarn. Easily kept by the couch. Easily picked up during the day. Easily put away at night. Can someone invent a "think-and-sew"-machine for me, please?

Oh dear..

2011-03-18T20:13:00.004+01:00

I wasn't quite aware of the time that had passed since my last post.. :( What have I been up to? Well, mostly knitting actually. More hats - some I have pictures of, some I need to take pictures of - and getting back to work again. New projects - new people - new procedures and routines. I tried to make a "devil's hat" for Peder, using a single ball of yarn that I had in a very lovely chocolate brown, but I think it's a little too small for him.. It's too thin to be used now anyway, so I might just put this one in the give-away basket. A new picture of Martin's Space Invader-hat. I ended up skipping a couple of the pattern rounds, as Martin didn't want it to be quite as big as the original, but the result looks very good! (I've made a matching one for Peder too, but I need to get a picture of it in daylight - and, preferably, on his head.) Martin's also modelling one of the first SI-hats I made. A very easy and fun pattern to knit. And, finally, the PacMan-hat. I drew the pattern, with some inspiration from other patterns - but feeling that they weren't quite what I was looking for. This was actually made on request/as a challenge by André - but it was fun to make (and I'd like to make more in the future). ^-^ This weekend - if everything goes halfway as planned - I think there might be some sewingtime on the schedule.

What a knitty week.

2011-01-24T10:51:00.002+01:00

Last Monday Peder and I went to Trysil to stay with my mother for a few days. Well, long story short, we're still here. Peder has been ill for the past couple of days - fever, runny nose, coughing, and a tooth or two coming. So while he's been sleeping (which haven't been too much these days..) I've been knitting.

The monkey will have to do as today's model, but he's proudly showing three Space Invader-hats and a Christmas decoration (from the book I mentioned in the last post). The pattern for the hat is also a Arne & Carlos creation, and they're very much addictive!

These four items were knitted in just six days - which I guess is kind of a record for me (usually when I test new patterns it takes a little longer, but these guys have very easy-to-read patterns, and thick yarn + big needles = speedy knitting). :)

Here's to hoping the boys will like their new hats. ;)

Hooked on knitting?

2011-01-07T13:33:00.002+01:00

Well, atleast for the moment.. BF's aunt and grandmother gave me a gift certificate from one of the big malls for Christmas, and Peder and I took a trip down the day before yesterday to take a look. Well, we ended up going back yesterday and spend most of it on a pile of knitting books. One of them was this one - by Arne and Carlos - with 55 different designs for Christmas ornaments.

The reason why I didn't buy it on Tuesday, was that I had to go home first and see if I managed to knit using 5 needles (I usually just use two, and knit back and forth, or use one with a wire on). Well, let's just say that after Peder went to bed on Tuesday, I found some yarn and some nice bamboo needles, and it worked like a charm (I've only tried this like one or two times before.. with not-so-very-pretty results..).

Last night I begun knitting, following the basic pattern (aka no additional design, using only one colour) and by the end of the night (2 episodes of CSI: Las Vegas and one episode of Bones - yup, we do love our sci-fi crime in this house) it was finished. (Well, not much to look at now, I haven't filled it yet, so it's basically a flat, round thing made of yarn..)

It was so much fun making the first one, that I found some leftover red yarn (from one of Emma's strawberry hats, I think) and started on another one. I'm going downtown tomorrow (going to get an eye exam and getting my hair cut) so I might stop by the yarn shop to see if I can find the type of yarn they've used in the book (to test it) and I should probably see if I can find something to stuff them with. And then, when they're stuffed (or, the one I've knitted so far, anyway) I'm going to post a picture. I promise.

Thank you for the kind words regarding our kitchen in the last post. Today a man came, drilled a hole in the floor (a very small one) and installed some kind of plastic thingy that will help give accurate readings. He also put a very warm fan in there to help dry the concrete, and he'll be back in about two weeks to check how the floor's doing. By then we should know if it's enough with the two weeks - or if we're looking at another few weeks or a month or two.. *fingers crossed*

Not exactly the dreamy start of a new year..

2011-01-04T13:04:00.003+01:00

Well, how I wish I could say that the picture below can describe our start of the new year.. Snowy white, a blanket covering the old - clean fresh sheets, blank papers ready to be filled with good and creative stuff.. Well, creative we will have to be, I guess, no matter what happens.

You see, this is our kitchen as of 10AM this morning. Notice something a little out-of-place? Or, perhaps missing?

Could it have something to do with the piece of cupboard standing beside the fridge and freezer?

Or the stove missing beside the large cupboard?

Oh, wait, how about the missing floor?

Yup, thanks to a (we thought) minor leak in a pipe near our dishwasher (which we got to use for about 2 weeks after we bought it) our entire kitchen floor got ripped up this morning - and they even had to take out the bench, sink and some other parts of the kitchen too to get to the floor.

So there you have it - we've got an 8 months old (soon to be 9 months old, actually), who's busy crawling in lightning speed across the floor, standing up every place where he's got some support (or even up against the walls and doors) and who won't leave anything (anything) in peace - and no kitchen. Fun. Fun fun fun. I'm waiting to hear from a company who's going to come and dry the floor (the concrete is soaked..) but worst case scenario - we'll be out of a kitchen for anything between 2-3 weeks to 2-3 months. *..yay..*

Let's just go back to the first picture and let our minds be cleared, like the white, clean snow covering the ground, the playarea and the tree with it's bright little lights.. forcing the pictures of what used to be a working kitchen about 6 hours ago.. Oh, did I mention that the bathroom door won't close? Or, it will close, but you might not be able to come out again. For some reason, the door won't open from the inside - only the outside. I think something's loose somewhere.

So what did we do after the carpenters tore our kitchen down?

We lounged infront of the TV, watching In the Night Garden. (Don't you lust love Peder's new chair?) We listen to music - and, right now, Peder's having a nap while I'm getting a bit of whining out of my system.

Things can only go one way now, right? *sigh*

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-26T19:31:00.003+01:00

Wow, it's already the second day of Christmas (getting close to the third day, seeing as it's almost 8PM already). The days seem to just fly by - even though we're not doing anything special.

We spent Christmas Eve with BF's parents, brothers, and grandmothers - plus his uncle and his girlfriend also came (together with his american grandmother) - so there were plenty of people for Christmas, and tons of presents underneath (and around) the tree. Poor Peder got so overexcited and tired that he had to go to bed.. so we opened about half of his presents on Christmas Eve, and the other half on Christmas Day.

I opened my SSCS parcel before we left on Friday, and found this absolutely gorgeous wallhanging (complete with hanger and miniature clothes pins) made by the very talented Lisa. Don't it just make you smile? It's just so sweet!

Lisa also included three pieces of lovely fabric and a pattern for a cute little bag. :)

Thank you so much, Lisa! And thank you Donna, for once again hosting this wonderful event! I can't wait for next year (fingers crossed there will be a new round of SSCS). :D

From all of us - to all of you

2010-12-23T22:49:00.003+01:00

A Very Merry Christmas!

(How do you like our little tree? ;) )

Ooh ooh ooh!!!

2010-11-30T18:24:00.002+01:00

Look what I've found in my mail box over the past couple of weeks! :D I am a lucky lucky girl.

First I received "Lilo" in the mail all the way from Lynette in Australia. I won her in a giveaway on Lynette's blog. Isn't she adorable?

She's a quick-unpick, perfect and adorable! Thank you so much, Lynette!

On Saturday (yes, I know, I should've told you guys sooner, but time has just flown by - as always..) I got another parcel in the mail - but this one is currently only half opened. ;) It was my SSCS2010 parcel, from Lisa Pyke - and it took an amazing short time to travel all the way from Australia to Norway.

I've opened the ornaments, and would you just look at the gorgeous pair! An angel and a santa - in simply adorable colours. I can't wait to hang them up closer to Christmas, until then they will rest on my sewing desk, I imagine that they are tired from the long journey.

Thank you again, Lisa! And thank you to Donna, for once again arranging this wonderful swap!

It's December tomorrow - and I've got three more days left at work until I go back on leave (I can't wait!). There's snow outside now, very pretty - although I could do with a little less cold.. right now it's frigging ICECOLD outside (and after I've been outside for a little while, it takes forever to get warm again..). Oh well, better light some candles and snuggle up under a quilt (luckily, we've got tons of those). ;)

Happy last night of November to you all!

Are you ready?

2010-11-24T09:01:00.002+01:00

It's November 25th tomorrow, for all of you Secret Santas out there - and I bet you know what that means. ;)

November 25th is the last chance to send your parcel off to whoever it might be you're sending it to. (And, I guess, some time next week you can start hovering over the mailbox - or keeping an extra eye out for the mailman/-woman.)

Come to think of it, it's only one month to Christmas Eve today - which is when we'll be celebrating Christmas and opening our presents. One more month of planning, fixing, wrapping, baking, decorating, etc etc etc.

In my family we've always waited with the decorations until the day before Christmas Eve (December 23rd), and I think I'll stick to that this year too. But, it's the first Sunday of Advent on Sunday (Nov. 28th) and - according to tradition - the star will be hung in the window and four candles placed out on the table (lighting one candle on Sunday).

We went shopping last Saturday, buying more paper for wrapping, tags, strings and stuff to decorate the presents when they're wrapped. I don't know why, but I really like the process of wrapping up the presenst - and, but I'll have to wait for a while to see that, to see all the presents waiting under the tree (I don't think we'll have a big tree this year, seeing that the miniboss is moving around pretty fast already - but we've been talking about getting a tree-like plant, and making miniature ornaments to decorate it. That way it can stand on top of a table, safely out of reach from a curious little monkey).

Anyway, my parcel has been sent - and now it's just the waiting left (waiting for it to arrive safely to asifIwouldtellyourightnowhaha, waiting for the parcel intended for me to arrive here, waiting for Christmas to come - and perhaps a little more snow, that would've been nice..).

I think I'll have a date with the DVD player later this week - it's just not Christmas without Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas, even if you know all the songs and all the lines by heart..

November Blues

2010-11-04T07:25:00.002+01:00

I meant to add a picture here, of the bluish grayish rainy kind of view from my (temp) office (thought about finding a picture using Google) but ended up not using the picture I found b/c it was so big and it was a bit of a hazzle to fix the linking to the source page. So, here's to - yet - another post without any pictures..

There are not many things that I hate, but this is definetly one of them. I'm back at work, working the whole of November and a couple of days in December (5 weeks in total). It doesn't seem like much, 5 weeks aren't much, but I hate it.

It's not being back to work that I hate - I get to see friends and colleagues again - or working (although I have no idea what to do these five weeks, other than try to make some sense of the information - or lack of such - that's been given me), but the fact that I'm spending about 10 hours every day out of the house. I get up at 5:15 in the morning, leave for work around 6AM. I'm not home until around 4PM - and getting to spend about 2 hours of the whole day with Peder. Now that's the part that I hate.

I hate not being able to spend more time with him during the day. And I hate the knowledge that, after Christmas, when we both go back to work - and Peder is going to kindergarden - the three of us will have basically no time together at all - except for the weekends.

When I come home from work, it's almost time for Peder's porridge. And he's basically exhausted, seeing that his bedtime is around 6PM these days. It makes me sad to think about how little time I get to spend with him these days ( I guess I now understand how Martin felt when he was at work these past 6 months), and when things are quiet at work - like they are now, seeing that I'm spending most of my day sitting alone - it's kinda difficult not to think about these things (which, in turn, makes the days feel even longer).

According to the timer on my phone (counting down, anyone?) I have about 6 1/2 hours left until I can go home today - and tomorrow it's Friday, so the weekend is almost here.

In more crafty news, I haven't unpacked the box containing my sewing stuff yet, so I've been knitting a bit (well, I don't have any thing on the needles at the moment, seeing that I cast off on the last project a couple of days ago, and haven't come around to casting on for a new one yet). I need to find a birthday present for a friend whose birthday is next week too, so I guess the box will have to be opened this weekend (sounds like I'm battling Pandora's Box, but it's not that bad, I promise). :)

Not quite MIA

2010-10-26T21:44:00.003+02:00

But almost!

Most of our things are still in boxes - except extremely (?) necessary things, like computors, cameras, Peder's toys, all of our DVDs, etc. Those things are unpacked and sorted. The rest - including all my sewing gear - is still.. somewhere around here. It's not easy unpacking with a 6mo little bossy one demanding full attention (and preferably having you sitting on the floor next to him, otherwise it's no fun to play with his toys..). But we're getting there. :)

Lucky for me, I've got the main present all ready for my SSCS-"victim". ;) And the ornaments? Almost done. And, better yet, I know where they are! *yay*

As Donna so nicely wrote on her blog, it's only two months left until Christmas! (Or, for us participating in the SSCS2010, only one more month before it's time to send out our pressies.. stress? Nah.. none what so ever. Or, maybe some..)

Tomorrow's Wednesday, and it's the middle of my last week at home before going back to work for a little while. Peder's going to stay at home with his dad - dad's have 10 weeks of leave in Norway - while I'll be working for the next 5 weeks (luckily I've got some weeks of vacation I need to take before the new year anyway, so I get away with only - only? it's long enough!!! - 5 weeks at work before I get another two months at home with our little man. I still can't believe how fast these past 6 months have passed - it seems like only yesterday he arrived into our lives. But when I look at the way and speed he develops, he's growing up sooo quickly! Each day seems to bring something new.

Oh, and, yes, we have moved. It's been stressful and everything's a mess. But, we're getting there.

Closing in on mid-October

2010-10-12T10:03:00.004+02:00

Well, it's definetly fall outside now. This morning greeted us with a clear blue sky - and 3.3 degrees celsius.. *brr* And it's going to get colder. This is definetly the season for sitting inside and working on crafts - being knitting or sewing. I'm working on a little of both at the moment. Or, to be honest, knitting seems to be easier to pick up - you only need needles and some yarn. Sewing seems to be more of an effort picking up these days, as you need a sewing machine, fabric, pattern, buttons, thread, notions, ironing board, the actual iron, etc etc etc. But, I think/hope this will change a little once we move.

We're in the process of moving to our new apartment. Actually, we're signing the final papers on Friday, which is when we get the keys - and we'll start moving stuff on Friday afternoon, hopefully finishing the actual moving of stuff on Saturday, and have Sunday to clean our old apartment. *phew* Now, if my plans work out, I'll have a small designated place for my sewing stuff, which will mean that I won't have to invade the kitchen each and every time I plan to do something. *fingers crossed*

Have you ever seen this magazine before? I hadn't - until last week, when my mom was in town. We both ended up buying it - and have a pact to have something planned or started from this magazine by the end of this week. Well, with us moving this weekend, I think I'll have to stop by planning. It's full of patterns and ideas and all things pretty - it's very difficult to decide what to make. This is the second issue, apparently, and even though it cost a little more than the average quilt/crafts magazine does, it had a bunch of stuff enclosed too - fabric, felt, buttons, ribbons, etc - to make some of the items inside. Unfortunetly, it was wrapped in plastic, so it would be kinda difficult to flip through the pages unless you buy it.. but I can say that I really liked it, for whatever that is worth.

Well, it's the middle of October already, and I've got my head full of things that I'd like to make. Like the things in the picture above. I've actually tried my hand at designing something by myself, and although I don't really care much for my own drawings, I kinda like the way some of these things turned out. I can't show you what they really look like - or what they will look like in the end - you see, these are little secrets.. and secrets are best kept, well, secret, aren't they? But sneaky peaks are allowed. ;)

I've actually finished the main present for this years SSCS. I decided to use fabric from my favorite series - Heart to Heart, by Moda. It's an old one, but I absolutely love it! I've got some bits and pieces left, which I've been saving, but it's better for the both of us (me and the fabric) that they are used for something. I'm loving the way this little project turned out, and I do hope that the person who recieves it also will like it. Time will tell. :)

Peder's Christmas stocking has been stitched too - here's a little sneak peak of the Santa. I'm not completely happy with his beard, and I'm thinking of maybe trying to dye the fabric in tea to see if that will help the beard stand out more. Luckily (haha) I haven't finished sewing it up yet, and since I have some time before I have to have it finished, I'll leave it for a little while longer and see what I'll end up with. What would you have done, would you've tried to dye it?

Well, as I said in the beginning of this post, knitting is so much easier to pick up these days than sewing.. And I've fallen in love with purple yarn! (Well, I do like purple, but this yarn was just stunning.) I'm working on something called "pocket slippers". Will show you what that is when I'm done with this pair. I actually made one pair last week, but ended up using a size needles bigger than the pattern said, and they were HUGE! I think I can fit both my feet into one slipper.. So I started a new pair. It's a very simple pattern, I found it on a Norwegian blog a couple of weeks ago.

And here's to working on Christmas presents early! I found this wonderful yarn with variations of purple in it in my local yarn shop, and I knew that this had to be made into something for a very dear friend of mine. It's warm and soft and cuddly - and a dream to work with! I'll show you the result when I'm done. ;)

Well, the young boss of the house is awake again (so much for getting some knitting done while he slept, but atleast I got a post done).

Until next time!

aaargh

2010-10-07T21:53:00.001+02:00

And so, a couple of weeks have passed - again!

I swear, I have had a post ready to be written and published for a while now, but the time to sit down and actually write it (not to mention, take the pictures for it) hasn't come by my way yet - so consider this a "I'll be back"-notice (not said in the ohsofamous voice of the Governator).

I actually have a finish to show (parts of, anyway, considering that it's a secret - until December 25th), I have a couple of "I-designed-these" works-in-progress, and I've been doing some testing with yarn this week - one project in rich, dark purple, and one in purple and pink tones.

But, I'll have to come back to these things a bit later - right now I'm battling the beginning of a cold, and it's - to say it very mildly - freaking annoying to have half a runny nose while trying to accomplish something..

It's beginning to look alot like..

2010-09-25T12:30:00.003+02:00

Something might get finished around here soon! *yay*

Lately I've been a very good girl, and dug out some tweeting little friends of mine. I figured that if I took babysteps, I might actually finish them some day. So, as you can see in the picture below, we're taking it one small step at a time.

In other news, the stitching on the main present for my SSCS-"victim" is completed - now I just need some time by the sewing machine, and I might actually finish that one too. (Not that it's been lying around for a long time, but it's good to get as much as possible finished - atleast before we move.) Maybe I'll get lucky tomorrow, and Peder can go for a walk (as in sleeping in his stroller) with his dad for an hour or so?

And now back to stitching..

Oh, just a small Peder-note on the end, he's got two teeth now! ^-^

Byebye Bloglines..

2010-09-11T09:26:00.004+02:00

After reading Donna's latest blogpost, I had to go to my Bloglines and doublecheck (I guess that's the penalty for always having the same page open, and not checking the frontpage of these kinds of sites - you miss things, important things). And, yup, Donna was right - from October 1st 2010, Bloglines is history.

So, what should I do, without the help of such a site, I'd miss out on alot of things on the blogs I follow (or am I lazy for not checking my favorites everyday - by myself, and not with a little help?) and it's darned practical to have someone tell you when someone has made a new entry on their blog.

Well, the first thing I though of, was Google Reader. My BF uses it - and it's pretty easy (as far as my five minutes checking it out and organizing my feeds), so I did what Bloglines said, I copied all the feeds I follow (by exporting them into a file) and took the file over to Google Reads (seeing that I already use Blogspot/Google to blog, they already knew who I was *haha*), imported the file - and, voilá! All my feeds are now in Google Reads! (Which, if I'm not mistaking, is not closing down on October 1st.) *happy-happy me*

It's raining here today (or, atleast it did, some time this morning). I'm tired - couldn't sleep until way past 3AM.. and we have visitors coming later today, and I hope that today turns out in a way more positive way than what it feels like it's going to do right now. I think it started sometime last night, when our landlord gave us about 15 seconds warning before a viewing of our apartment.. Oh the joy.. Hopefully, he'll be able to find someone who'll rent our apartment very soon - so that we can move into our own, beautiful apartment - and if he can do that, I guess I can live with a minor heartattack every now and then.

I've finished the stitchery on Peder's Christmas stocking, going to put on some glass beads and buttons - and wash the darned thing (as it's got some orange stuff on it) - before I finish it. I've been a very good girl and managed to prepare some more stitcheryblocks for Tailfeathers - and right now I'm working on one of the parts for this year's SSCS! :D (So not all things going on here are going on my nerves or being slightly on the negative side. It just seems like it, sometimes..)

I'm looking forward to Christmas, hoping *hoping hoping keeping my fingers crossed* that we'll be able to celebrate in our own apartment, with our own little tree, starting to create our own traditions - and not having to do multiple celebrations (again..). But, time will tell - atleast I know what I (and, I hope, we) wish for.

Not much going on..

2010-09-07T14:04:00.003+02:00

Well, atleast not today. The little boss had his 5 months checkup (with shots) yesterday, and have a fever today (started some time last night, so not much quality sleep for anyone). :( So we're spending the day inside, napping, cuddling, trying to get him to drink as much as possible - and not really doing much else. (He's taking another nap now, so I'm trying to do something a little quiet, so that I won't wake him up.. he's the master of short naps, so the trick is to try to get him to sleep as much as possible once he finally falls asleep.)

This picture is a couple of weeks old, but shows mr boss and one of his favorite toys - the one hanging on his crib (he turns it on himself most times, either by accident or on purpose - by hitting the control buttons in yellow, green or red). In the picture I think he thought I was a little slow to come and get him after his nap, so he turned the thing on and lay there watching the stuffed animals and the pictures - and was having a blast when I came to fetch him. :)

This week we've attended our third evening in the pool with mr boss - and he seems to enjoy it. :) Still a little too occupied watching the other babies and their parents in the water, but also enjoying playing (we're preparing to dive in a week or two.. it's a little scary - for the parents - but I think it will be fun).
He's growing like a weed - and will be 5 months old on Friday. Time surely has flown - it doesn't seem like 5 months to me..

Christmas is fast approaching! My little "victim" for this years SSCS is.. a secret! Until Christmas Eve (if she/he's in Northern Europe) or Christmas Day (if he/she is in GB, Australia or the US). (Lucky me, I get to open and reveal who my Santa is on Christmas Eve. ;)

In more crafty news, I'm working on Peder's Christmas stocking. And, being a bit eager when time suddenly is available to me, I've even started working on one of the little secrets for my SSCS partner. ;D

We are..

2010-08-29T22:02:00.004+02:00

Learing to blow bubbles (and milk, porrigde, pacifiers, and all other things we can possible put into our little mouth - and blow out again..)! *phreeeeewwwwwt*

And we're counting down for ohsomanythings these days..

First off, Peder's mormor is coming to town on Wednesday - and we can hardly wait to spend a couple of days with her (and Emma). ^-^

Secondly, we're moving into a new apartment some time in the next few months. And it's all ours. Our very own apartment! (The papers were signed last Thursday, and now we're just waiting for our landlord to find someone to rent our current apartment - and then we'll pack everything up in boxes and move them to the new place.)

And last - but definetly not least, not by any means - it's once again time for the (now) wonderful tradition of Secret Santa Christmans Swap (SSCS2010)! Organized - once again - by the wonderful Donna - and we're just bubbling over with anticipation, secrets and planning for what's going to be my fourth - and Peder's first - year as a special someone's Secret Santa.

(Learning to count - a little early, but there's ohsomuch to count, be happy for - and look forward too, and it doesn't really matter if one cannot count very good _yet_ - we'll get there in time.)

But for now, I'm going to stop getting annoyd over the seemingly endless commercials running during this somewhat entertaining Ben Stiller-movie (although I really don't like any of his movies.. but seem to find this one rather funny) - and go to bed. Tomorrow is Monday, another day closer to Christmas - and we're off swimming in the afternoon. ^-^

(And for more crafty news, I'm working on Peder's Christmas stocking. There's no rush, I doubt he'll find it interesting for another year or two, but it helps to build the ohsoenjoyable Christmas'sey feeling I feel is flowing in from every nook and corner of the world (even if the shops haven't put their decorations up _yet_ - but give them a month or two and they will surely have them up).

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas..

Here there be monsters..

2010-08-15T15:07:00.003+02:00

I love the saying that's written on old maps - here there be monsters. I guess that - instead of admitting that they didn't know what was in unexplored areas in the old days - they'd write that, believing that anything unknown or places that were new actually were inhabited by monsters.. like dragons, krakens, a giant octopussy, etc. I'd love to one day have one of these old maps - or a copy of one - on our wall.

Speaking of monsters, there's one in our house too. ;) Just look at these feet!

And toes with claws!

But don't worry, it's just Peder - playing in his dragon/dinosaur playsuit. :)

He's becoming such a big boy now, 4 months old, and just last week he learned how to roll from his back to his stomack (but not the other way - yet - so we have to move him back after a little while). :) He actually started doing this on his dad's birthday (4 months and 2 days old).

We spent a lovely week in Trysil with Peder's grandmother last week. Didn't get much done - like sewing - but we managed to squease in alot of social time (with many relatives, friends, etc) and as you can see, Peder really enjoyed spending time with his grandmother. :)

Most times when we take Peder out for a walk (him in his stroller) we actually end up like this - him in a harness on my tummy. He's way to curious, and doesn't like to be in a position where he cannot keep an eye on the world (or so it seems) - like lying down in his stroller.. that's really no fun at all!

On the more creative side, I've continued to work on Sublime Season (from Cinderberry Stitches). I've got 7 blocks done now, and am working on the last two. I've also managed to get some more work done on my Tailfeather BOM (also from Cinderberry Stitches). I can actually see a light in the tunnel for having this one completed one day - but I'm not going to say when that will be, with a little one in the house even blogging seems to be a less prioritised activity.. among so many others. But, and I know I've said this before, I'm going to try to blog a little more often. Perhaps kicking myself into atleast once a week? We'll see. ;)

Believe it..

2010-05-18T14:47:00.002+02:00

or not, but I am actually able to get a few stitches done every now and then. ^-^

Since my last post, this handsome little guy has entered (and taken over) our lives. Please say "hi" to Peder Arian - 5 weeks old and celebrating his first Constitution Day (17th of May). :)

And yes, we did get some comments on his outfit. ;)

I have been working on the ever so gorgeous Sublime Season from Cinderberry Stitches for a while now - prepared all the 9 blocks before Peder arrived, and have been able to get a few stitches done every now and then (sometimes when he naps during the day - but mostly after he's gone to bed at night). So far I have 5 blocks completed. This one - for some reason - insists on being shown upsidedown.. Oh well. It's still pretty. ^-^

First post of 2010?

2010-03-11T12:51:00.005+01:00

Wow.. I guess time really has flown by lately (lately? try the last two months, that's more like it)..

I had a very good January, regarding finishing things anyway, but never got around to blog them.. So in the picture below you'll see three stitcheries from Tilda, one from Cinderberry Stitches, two (they are more or less identical) stitcheries with the wonderful message reading "Relax, Christmas will come" (I figured that these would be good for a pre-Christmas gift to some people I know later this year), and two stitceries copied from the 30's (I found the pattern in a quiltshop near Bemidji (Minnesota) a few years ago, and have planned to make something of them for ages, but never got around to it - until late last year. So that concludes the January finished objects.

Trained eyes will notices some knitting in front, and yes, I have to admit that lately knitting has been the preferred activity. It's soo much less fuss to get around - you need knitting needles and yarn (and sometimes a pattern), which suits my mood at the moment. ;) In the back is a tiny baby hat I knitted (to test the yarn and the pattern). Not quite sure how I feel about it, but I guess I get to test the sizing soon. The medium blue in the middle is a scarf knitted in lovely soft alpacca yarn. And in front there's another scarf (same basic pattern, only the stitces are different) in multicoloured japanese yarn (silk and wool - a true luxury). For some reason I started to think about next Christmas, and seeing that I _might_ not have quite as much time (or energy) to prepare handmade gifts this year, I decided to have a UFO-marathon, finish things that's been around for ages, and just decide to put them in a gift pile. I still have a pile of "needing borders" or "needing backing" to do, and I am going to try to get these done too, while I still have time/energy. (I guess I should be really lucky for living in Norway - I have the time now, no stress, because I started my leave on Tuesday this week. Monday was my last day working - until November, if things go as planned. And I have absolutely no bad feelings for not exactly doing a ton of things in a day. If I get one thing done, maybe two, I'm satisfied.)

More finished objects - thanks to my mother for doing the quilting - are two quilts for the little one. I had a pack of 30's jelly stripes from Keepsake's (bought it about two years ago) and decided to make a simple throw-quilt with flannel backing, to use whenever we had a very early morning or "up in the middle of the night" event. The depressing part is that I have about half of the strips left.. which is quite annoying.. And then there's the bunny quilt. I started this some time in August/September last year, intending it to be the little one's crib quilt. It's a little big, but then again, the size means that it'll be usable for a significant time. I just LOVE the bunnies!

One of today's main events have been cleaning toys. I've used a cloth dipped in warm water and wiped off all the toys in the toybox. Some are bought by me and BF, some were given to the little one for Christmas, some inherited from cousin Emma - and some are actually from when my sister and I were small (which makes it really cool - I mean, who doesn't like finding things from their own childhood and use for their own children? All of these are currently on display on the top of our dryer.

Another thing that I've been doing for the past couple of weeks, is landry. Several loads of laundry, in (well, to be honest) incredible small sizes. Just look at the feet on those pants!

Or the size of these socks? (I actually used those socks when my parents brought me home from the hospital - and I have a feeling they're going to be used again soon.)

Spring is (finally) coming to Oslo these days - suddenly it's not that cold anymore, with temperatures reaching into the plus degrees celsius. Still quite alot of snow - and ice.. - but we're getting there. Finally! Now, if only the snow on the roof all over the city would melt away, so that we didn't have to strain our necks every time we go outside - it's pretty dangerous outside when you can risk getting a significant amount of snow and ice in your head just heading out to the store.. :S

Christmas is almost over - and 2010 is almost here.

2009-12-30T12:34:00.002+01:00

We spent the Christmas weekend in Trysil with my family this year. For the first time (ever, I think) both sets of grandparents were with us for dinner and unwrapping of gifts (we do that on December 24th here in Norway). All in all we spent about three hours opening gifts, and we were 9 people there - including Emma. Next year, for New Years, I suppose there will be another little one with us.

Both my mom and I decided to save the SSCS-parcels for when we all opened our other gifts, hop over to her blog and see what she received from her Secret Santa. :)

My Secret Santa this year was Anne from the UK. Look at the gorgeous wallhanging she made for me - thank you soooo much! The quilting is absolutely gorgeous.

Because we weren't going to be home for Christmas Eve - nor for New Years Eve - we decided to not put up all the decorations this year. I like our Christmas decorations, but - unlike last year, when we decided to stay at home for most of the time, and even had a Christmas tree - this year we brought out the advents lights, the advent star and some of these newly made elves that were made and ended up a little bit here and there around our apartment.

I bought them at Panduro, in a kit, and they were fun and easy to put together.

There has been a little time - and inspiration - for stitching so far this Christmas. I brought with me 4 pieces of the Tail Feathers-pattern to Trysil, and managed to finish them all (these are miniature blocks, to go together with other blocks to form block 3 and 4 of the Tail Feathers-quilt by Cinderberry Stitches). I've prepped stitching blocks from block 6 and 7 to work on (I'm saving block 5 a little, not quite sure about those tiny applicated circles... hmm...) and also the four stitching blocks from one of her (Cinderberry Stitches, again, if you didn't guess it) lates patterns, Raspberry Cream. The raspberry red is a little bit too pink for my liking, but I'm giving it a go - it might turn out lovely, as most of the patterns I've tried from Cinderberry Stitches.

Wishing you all a wonderful New Year! May it bring happiness and joy, inspiration and creativity.

I know what we'll be doing the next couple of months.. and we've already started. Thanks to my sister and a friend of hers, we've got drawers full of tiny clothes, we've started to buy the basics, like a sheep's wool/skin, and other useful items. March is not _that_ far away anymore, less than 100 days away.. *yikes*

Counting down for Christmas

2009-12-07T06:23:00.003+01:00

Well, it's about 17 days left - and I _think_ we're starting to see things come together. There's a pile of presents wrapped and ready in the bedroom, some in the mail (what on earth did we do before the whole online Christmas shopping was available??), and some need to be fixed in one or two of the local stores, but I do still believe that things are under control.

Last week I received my SSCS parcel - and it came from the UK, from the lovely Anne. Just look at that cute ornament that she made - and the shiny parcel is very tempting, but it's being safely stored until Christmas eve. We'll be celebrating Christmas with my family this year, so I think that my mom and I might open our SSCS parcels at the same time. :)

Nothing much going on besides Christmas planning these days.. it's raining on and off in Oslo, so the world is grey and black and kinda depressing. We had one morning last week which was white and snowy, but it started to rain around lunchtime, so that didn't last very long.. oh well, there will be snow in Trysil, and most likely also in Hvittingfoss.

I'm thinking about arranging a give-away here on the blog in a couple of days, to celebrate 100 posts (been a while since that happened, though), that Epla is up and running (the Norwegian answer to Etsy, and yes, we do have a tiny shop there), that Christmas is near, and just because - well - in the darkest parts of the year, one needs a little light sometimes. So stay tuned or come back soon, and we'll see what we can arrange. ;)

Have a wonderful pre-Christmas day!

Ready for the postoffice

2009-11-22T18:09:00.003+01:00

Well, the time has come. The time to pack up the SSCS-parcel and get it on it's way.

This year's work was a little different than the previous ones, considering that my focus (unfortunetly?) was not completely focused (haha) on the SSCS and my "victim". But! I think that the finished parcel and it's contents worked out pretty good. I just hope that the receiver will enjoy it too.

So, there you have it, ready and packed - will be delivered to the postoffice tomorrow afternoon (just need to get through another day at work first).

Perhaps I can find time (focus??) to get some work done on some Christmas presents too, now - or perhaps that too will be a little difficult?

Some changes

2009-11-18T20:24:00.002+01:00

Well, I am painfully aware of the fact that this blog hasn't been regularly updated since.. well, almost ever - and the fact is that there hasn't been much sewing going on lately either.

With exception of some SSCS secret stuff which cannot and should not be shown on this blog - yet - there has been very little sewing and quilting going on.

Instead, knitting needles have been in use, producing some very small things.. very, very small things..

Needless to say, there's something else that seems to take over the time, thoughts and lives of ourselves and our families.

So, without further chit-chatting around the - until now - pretty much private matter, please welcome our little alien, our thingy, tiny - and what ever other nickname he/she is going to have over the next months:

The big introduction will happen sometime between March and April.

And so, to those who feel that the activity level of this blog has been non-excisting, or that we have been very little out in public lately, I hope that you will forgive us. I doubt that this trend will change any time soon - but one's always allowed to hope, right?

Last weekend

2009-10-25T19:25:00.002+01:00

An extra vacation in London.

This is taken from the top of the London Eye. Kinda fun to see some of the big sightings, like the bridge they ruined in "Harry Potter and the half-blood prince" (and, I believe, in one of the episodes of "Dr. Who"), being on the London Eye (which they almost broke in one of the "Fantastic Four"-movies), and seeing the Parlament, which they blew up last night (just kidding, but they did blow it up in "V for Vendetta", which was shown on TV last night).

Bunnies and knitting

2009-10-25T19:23:00.002+01:00

Both in brown.

I suppose that I'm getting a little tired of making stuff for other people all (ahem, most) the time. It seems that most of the things I've made lately have either been intended for others - or made as gifts. About time to be a little selfish and make something just for me, don't you think? :)

I've not completely finished the stuff going to my little victim (SSCS2009) yet, but it's not much more work until it's finished. I just need to find the inspiration to sit down by the sewing machine. It seems to be pretty hard these days. (It's easier to work on bunnies or knitting in front of the TV than to move the TV to the kitchen, where the sewing machine sits).

Fall's here!

2009-10-08T09:37:00.001+02:00

And homemade bread make's it almost perfect. :)

A quiet moment..

2009-09-23T21:13:00.001+02:00

Between the battles. :)

A new project in red.

2009-08-30T20:58:00.003+02:00

Can you guess what it'll be?

Edit : It's in wool - again. It seems cotton yarn and me don't get along very well.. Something about the flexibility of the yarn, I think. But! Wool is very nice to knit with. Especially merino. ;)

Preparing for Winter!

2009-08-19T12:21:00.001+02:00

Well, a bit early, yes, but one can never be too prepared. ;)

Not quite the summer feeling.

2009-08-10T08:29:00.001+02:00

It's raining again, but still pretty warm outside.

Blafre Design (in Norwegian)

2009-08-09T09:14:00.003+02:00

Blafre Design har en trekning på gang i disse dager (trekningen vil foretas mandag kl. 21:00) og man kan vinne gavekort fra nettbutikken deres. Blafre designer noen utrolig kule bokser og kort - og jeg vet at i allefall jeg ikke hade hatt stort imot å få en ny matboks. ;)

Hvis du har lyst til å være med, ta en tur innom Blafre Design og ta en kikk.

Lykke til!

Getting there - & sinking in

2009-07-12T21:33:00.007+02:00

Well, I have been thinking about writing this post for - well, more or less - forever, but it's been put off over and over again. I guess, when busy times at work take most of one's enery, writing a blog post is an extra mile of work.

What's been going on lately? Emma's baptism took place a couple of weeks ago. As you can see, Emma was quite pleased with the purple monster - Ox - that she got from her aunt and uncle. ^-^ (Not one of our creations, I'm afraid, but UglyDolls are quite good at making monsters too.)

I joined a block of the month (BOM) from Buttonberry about a month ago, and a couple of weeks ago I got the first block in the mail. And, just as I receive an email telling me that block two is in the mail, I finished the first block. It's the gorgeous "Tailfeathers" by Cinderberry Stitches!

I'm using the same floss and fabric range as the pattern calls for - Patisserie, by Moda - and I just have to say that this might be the cutest, most adorable BOM I've seen in a while. ^-^It was cute as a pattern, cute drawn up on the fabric, adorable stitched - and just gorgeous sewn together. Can't wait for the next block - but, with my luck, it won't arrive until we're on the plane. We're off to Iceland in about two days time - and should really be spending the time packing, but, oh well, one can pack the night before, right?

We're spending 10 days in and around Reykjavik, so if anyone have any ideas or tips about what we should see while we're there, let us know. ;)

The feeling of vacation is slowly sinking in - although so far it's more or less feeling alot like a normal weekend - only, no alarms are set for tomorrow morning. ;D

Time continues to fly

2009-06-07T10:38:00.002+02:00

Strange, isn't it, how time always seem to fly so fast - eventhough you have tons of things you would like to do - and suddenly it's Sunday, and it's been more or less a month since the last "real" post. Oh well.. I blame it on periods of sunshine, knitting and movies (Dr. Who The New Series and Criminal Minds are definetly to blame here). :)

Well, I think the last post contained a picture from the NQT in Göteborg - a great trip, but somewhat chaotic, considering all the people. The dinner had 664 registered guests (I wonder what happened to the dessert? o_O ), the city was beautiful, and a tiny bit of shopping was done. I only bought two things at the NQT shop area (well, three, but the last one was a gift for the summer lottery in Lørenskog, so it doesn't really count) - a jellyroll from Moda (Patisserie, to be used in the new Cinderberry Stitches BOM, which should arrive some time now in June) and a kit (sewing kit in blue/gray) from QuiltMyDesign - which I think ended up being everybody's favorite shop.

I went to my very first course in Göteborg (been sewing since I could hold a needle - and quilting since I was about 10 or 12) and I absolutely loved it! But I do believe that if I ever go to another course, I might be very disappointed.. According to the more course-experienced ladies attending, noone had ever been to a better prepared course. The lovely lady who held it, Mirjam Hakala from Finland, had prepared 10 projects (actually 12, since one of them had three different solutions to chose from) under the theme "The Quilter's Sewing Accessories" (course no. 22), and she had made models showing all of them, written great and easily understood (incredible detailed) descriptions of how to create them - and on top of it all, she had prepared individually packed kits for all models (precut fabric, paper templates, drawn templates, buttons, beads, string, everything you could possible need to complete each model)!

I brought my (then) 4 completed models to show a couple of the ladies in Lørenskog the following Wednesday, and they all agreed that I should finish all the models by the August meeting (the first one after the summer) and have a little presentation of the course. And I'm working on it. ;) As you see in the picture below, I have now completed 6 of the models, and have four kits left - although I am thinking about making the two other versions of the star (on the left) but then again, I have made these ones before, so I can just bring two of them to illustrate the choices.

In other news, I'm still knitting! I've figured out that I'm unable to read while driving (bus or car), I haven't tried sewing yet, but knitting works like a charm! So far - since April - I've knitted a shawl (picture will come soon, I just need to get a good one) and fall pants for Emma, and currently I'm working on another blanket in light wool (just to have something ready for when we go driving.

Speaking of Emma, it's her baptism next Sunday, so we'll be going up to Trysil - and so will more or less the rest of the family too. My national costume is ready (bunad, as we call it) and I have bought the shoes to wear with it, so I'll be sure to get some pictures of that too.

And last, but not least, I'd like to say "Hi!" to the wonderful girls from Lillehammer, who we shared table with during the dinner in Göteborg. It was lovely to meet you - and I hope we meet again soon. :)

I'm off to get some lunch now - and possible a walk outside in the sun. A Frozen Cocoa seems very tempting (it's actually very very nice).

Have a nice Sunday!

NQT in Gøteborg

2009-05-22T10:47:00.001+02:00

A bit chaotic - and some waiting.

Tempus Fugit - Busy Times

2009-05-12T21:23:00.002+02:00

Well, it's been a while, and although I've thought about blogging every now and then, time just hasn't been on my good side. Much thanks to this little girl.

Meet Emma, our niece and the newest member of the family.

There hasn't been much sewing going on lately, more knitting, actually. In the picture above, taken on her first real trip outside in her stroller, Emma's wearing a hat I knitted up the night before (the other one she got was a little tight, and nobody likes a tight hat, now do we?).

But I think - maybe - I'll manage to get a more creative post together soon. Sometime. Maybe. ;)

We're off to Göteborg next week - for the Nordic Quilt Meeting. I should definetly manage to get some pictures from there. :) And maybe, just maybe, Cinderberry Stitches will finish her new BOM soon too - my fingers are itching!

Monster's on the subway?!

2009-03-20T10:07:00.001+01:00

Just kidding. :) A friend showed me how to do this a while ago. Pretty neat, huh?

Preparations and finds

2009-03-12T20:16:00.004+01:00

On Monday we went out to Sandvika to deliver the two quilts I've entered in the NQF (Norwegian Quilt Association) yearly meeting/exhibition/stuff. It's the first time I'm entering an exhibition, and I'm both excited to see how my quilts are doing - and nervous, because, well, nobody wants to hear bad things about their work, right?

Anyway, this is a glimse of what I've entered - my Truly Scrumptious and Annie's Calendar Quilt. I feel bad for not having any of them up on the wall yet, but to be honest, we don't really have the space in our apartment..

I took a walk downtown after work one day, and came across this old - once painted over - sign, and - well, yes, I do live with a graphic designer who collects pictures of old signs, so I've just had to get influenced somehow, right? - well, I just had to take a picture. it looks like the sign for Johs Falkenberg (as in Johannes Falkenberg, I'm wondering what kind of business that was..) might be handpainted or "stensilized", but it looks way cooler and prettier then those plastic signs they use now. :)

And lastly, this guy was put up on a wall in our neighbourhood a couple of weeks ago. I think it's a stensil too, not quite sure.. but it's really cool and incredible detailed. Too bad, though, I know that tagging (as they call it here in Norway) isn't allowed and it ruins the buildings, but things like this one is actually pretty to look at and makes you smile. :) Sadly, when I came home from work today, someone had painted over him.. :( I still wonder who made him - and if the artist has more creations like this one around the city.

One Picture a day - 6, 7 & 8

2009-03-12T20:11:00.002+01:00

This weekend was truly coloured by the cinematic kind : two visits to the movies (Watchmen and The Secret Lives of Bees), and a ton of films and series on DVD.

One picture a day - 5.

2009-03-06T06:08:00.001+01:00

Quiz night!

One picture a day - 4

2009-03-05T16:34:00.001+01:00

I like this bench - eat the rich. ;)

One picture a day - 3

2009-03-04T06:39:00.000+01:00

Sunshine!

One picture a day - 2

2009-03-02T21:36:00.001+01:00

Playing with blues and browns. :)

One picture a day - 1

2009-03-01T15:52:00.001+01:00

This has been taking up alot of my time lately.

Part of my desk.

2009-02-13T12:23:00.002+01:00

This is a small part of my desk at work. Currently blinded by the sunshine and snow outside, but you can see my calendar, a picture of my Truly Scrumptious quilt, and a birthday card I got last year. Oh, and my bamboo plant (it's the green "stick" on the right). :)

Our Etsy-shop

2009-02-10T12:22:00.001+01:00

I forgot to blog the address to our Etsy-shop last week..

Nibbles'n'Bits

What's this?

2009-02-10T09:33:00.003+01:00

When I was walking to the tram (trikk) yesterday - after gettting broke in the Nøstebarn-store - I found this poor little fellow sitting outside a coffee bar. I think he wanted to go inside and get some warmth in his branches..

Would you like ice with that?

2009-02-09T10:03:00.002+01:00

Edit: This picture shows a gigantic piece of ice hanging outside the window of the office. Cool, huh? Despite the Oslo winter going from cold to warm and back again to cold, there are some pieces of beauty out there. Btw, we had to showel snow twice this weekend - BF went outside on Saturday and did a fantastic job, but when Sunday came, there was just as much - or even more - snow in the yard. Atleast we didn't have to dig out the car on the way to work today (we both take the bus). ;)

Help!

2009-02-07T21:07:00.001+01:00

We're snowing in. I wish..

Today's view

2009-02-05T10:10:00.002+01:00

Fog and snow. :)

I think that basically sums it all up. After about half a week with - for Oslo - very cold temperatures, it started to snow yesterday afternoon. And this morning? Well, still something falling down (although extremely small pieces of such) and about 10 centimeters (close to 4 inches) on the ground. Atleast they tried to remove most of it from the roads earlier this morning.

Winter's here!

2009-02-02T08:59:00.002+01:00

As the picture shows, it's a really nice day - only, it's very cold. Very cold for Oslo.. This morning, when I left the apartment around 6AM, it was about -10 degrees celsius outside. People might say that it's colder in Trysil, but I have to disagree. It's a completely different type of cold near the coast then inside the country or up in the mountains. The moist from the sea really makes everything sooo much colder. It feels like no matter how much clothes you're wearing, the cold sneaks around, finds a weak spot, and attack. I'd rather have the -26 degrees celsius up in the mountains then the -10 degrees celsius (or colder) down here today.

There hasn't been much crafty things going on lately - mostly because we're both working alot these days, and when the weekends finally come, we're spending it on the couch watching movies.. But I have been doing something!

Last night I helped BF finish 4 more softies for our Etsy shop (I'll post a link some day). I finished a pair of baby knitted socks during last week's meeting in the guild, and I'm almost done with the January block for the Sunbonnet Sue BOM. I'm also knitting another baby blanket (in very very soft and light wool) and I'm about halfway done with this one.

On Saturday I received a parcel from an online bookstore with two books about knitting. One's called 50 Baby Booties to Knit and the other is a collection of patterns from a very popular store in Norway (both on and outside the web) called Nøstebarn.

In other news, we've planned our vacation for this summer, booked the hotel and bought the tickets for the plane to... Iceland! We'll be spending 10 lovely days in Reykjavik and the area around, and we've started to plan different activities. According to BF, the guy who runs our hotel also works as a guide of some sorts, and he said he'd help us arrange things if we needed help. This will be so much fun! I've only barely been to Iceland - we had to swap planes there the last time we went to the States - but I don't believe that counts. :)

What's this?

2009-01-19T07:25:00.002+01:00

Winter has come - again - probably won't stay that long. I mean, this is Oslo. It never does. Better enjoy it while it lasts. :)

Edit: This picture was taken with my cellphone at about 06:30 this morning, as I was waiting for the bus.

Still alive - and SSCS arrived and opened

2008-12-29T11:04:00.004+01:00

It's December 29th - and we're still alive. :)

We had decided to celebrate Christmas Eve just the two of us this year - but because of things happening, we ended up celebrating the afternoon with BF's family at his aunt's house, and then took a second celebration in our apartment later that night. But it was a nice day. BF's brothers came by and spent some time with us earlier in the day. Our internet connection was repaired (it took over an hour, the poor lad fixing it being on his cell and poking our cables at the same time) after being broken for about five or six days (and that's alot, when you think of how much you depend on having everything available to you at all times - like mail and bank services).

I was a good girl and saved my SSCS gift until Christmas Eve. :) And I was a very lucky girl too. Cathy was my elf this year, and she sent me a very full, fun and pretty gift. :)

In the picture below you can see the fabric it was wrapped in, chocolates, a tazzie devil (stuffed, luckily), two patterns, postcards, Christmas decorations (I'm still looking at the tiny tiny stitches - they're so adorable!) and vegemite! (I remember that a friend of my sister went to Australia to study medicine, and he got completely hooked on Vegemite, I still haven't tried it, but I will!)

My "victim" this year was Anita. I received an email from her the other day, and everything was just perfect. :)

After spending the last couple of days with BF's family, I seem to have caught some of the bugs his middle brother's battling, I can just feel my throat getting more and more sore by the minute. Hopefully this can be battled quickly (and not end up in a two week sickleave like the last one).

Today we're going in to town to do some shopping (and looking). My sweet BF got me the new Ipod nano for Christmas and I'm so afraid I'll scratch it I'm going to look for a protective cover for it. It's soo pretty (bright red) and soo tiny and thin (and huge! considering it's about 16Gb space for music, movies and pictures on it).

Hope you're all having wonderful Christmas days!

Today's view

2008-12-19T12:00:00.001+01:00

Not very Christmas-y, but atleast white..

Made by Nemo

Duplo Lego

1st finish in 2012

Cheers!

Just a few stitches more..

Back home - and spoiled..

From all of us to all of you..

The Murder before Christmas

Saturday night's knitting

Some Norwegian favourites

Some more favourites..

Finally!

The mailman

Some of my favorites..

1st Sunday in Advent

Quiet Sunday

I...

Halloween-venn

Today in pictures, #3

Today in pictures, #2

Today in pictures, #1

Pitch Black

Til Gunn

There's room on the shelf

A Bit of Crafting in the Morning

Sunshine and fog

Two songs from a lovely young lady

Up at the crack of dawn..

Notice something..

Shocking, or what?

21. August 2011

Tonight ends with..

Keeping those needles flying..

We're OK

Og vinneren er..

I morgon, i morgon..

Oh come on, already!

Gi Bort-tid!

SlåtteVen slår til

A cozy evening

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

One for the gift basket!

Mai-utfordringen fra Strikkere

Vårglad Venn

Just a quick note to..

The most beautiful view in the world..

Getting ready for easter?

Oh dear..

What a knitty week.

Hooked on knitting?

Not exactly the dreamy start of a new year..

Merry Christmas!

From all of us - to all of you

Ooh ooh ooh!!!

Are you ready?

November Blues

Not quite MIA

Closing in on mid-October

*aaargh*

It's beginning to look alot like..

Byebye Bloglines..

Not much going on..

We are..

Here there be monsters..

Believe it..

First post of 2010?

Christmas is almost over - and 2010 is almost here.

Counting down for Christmas

Ready for the postoffice

Some changes

Last weekend

Bunnies and knitting

Fall's here!

A quiet moment..

A new project in red.

Preparing for Winter!

Not quite the summer feeling.

Blafre Design (in Norwegian)

Getting there - & sinking in

Time continues to fly

aaargh