Merry Christmas!

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

A Very Merry Christmas!

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

Ooh ooh ooh!!!

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?

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

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

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

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*

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..

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..

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..

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..

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..

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..

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?

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