1st Sunday in Advent

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

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...

..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

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

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

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

Breakfast at The Nighthawk Diner.

Pitch Black

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

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

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

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

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

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..

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..

Strange in our hall? ;)

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

Shocking, or what?

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

 

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..

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

Keeping those needles flying..

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

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..

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..

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

:)

Lykke til!

Oh come on, already!

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!

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

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!

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

A cozy evening

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

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes

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!

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

*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

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..

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..

To me, anyway. ;)

Hanging above my desk at work.

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

Getting ready for easter?

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..

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.

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?

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*