Multi-function?

An apple cozy can also double as a glass cozy with built-in coaster?

Bags..... and more bags?

May Britt published a post on her blog yesterday, related to us quilters/crafters and our need (?) to make bags (or similar systems for keeping and storing things) - and gave the challenge to show some of the bags (etc) that other quilters/crafters have made. Well, after a quick phone call from my mom, I started rounding up some of the stuff I've got hidden in nooks and corners (some are often in use, others not so often), and I ended up with a nice pile of things (note, not all of these are bags, but they can and are used to store things in).

(Blogger and I had a bit of a discussing with regards to keeping my photos turned the right way. I lost..)

My Sue Daley-basket/box is often in use, and it lives next to Aurora (my sewing machine) - holding pen, glue, oil for my sewing machine, and other useful items. The green one is my needlekeeper, made from a pattern from Cinderberry Stitches. The purple one is a bag (with zipper!) that I made a few years ago, and I use it to keep tighteners and ends for my exchangeable knitting needles in it. The roll on the right/bottom keeps my straight knitting needles nicely sorted, and the other small items are various bags, needle books and keepers that I've made, either with my mom or while attending a class in Göteborg a couple of years ago.

The second picture shows some of the items opened up. I especially love my needlekeeper and the keeper for my knitting needles. They're in use almost daily!



I also found some pictures from esrlier posts, like the coin purses my mom and I made a few years ago, the drawstring bags I made - I think - a long time ago, the handy bag for sll you necessary sewing gear from Quilt My Design (a danish quilt shop who was present in Göteburg 3 years ago, for the Nordic Quilt Meeting - and, finally, the bag I made a couple of months ago (in daily use, I keep my current knitting-wisps in it).

And there you have it, some of the bags and such that I've made, some which are in daily use and others that were alot of fun to make, but might've been stored in a drawer for some time now.

Pjona cuffs - O'hoi, Captain!

The Nerd Wars Tournament 5 is nearing the end of round 1 (28h of June) so there's still time to hand in a few more projects (but I think this one might be my last project for this round).

For the challenge (Intellectual) A Most Excellent Adventure Through History, I chose to learn a new technique, and found inspiration from both my newly acquired skills in crochet (..haha..) and from the ideas I got from reading about pjoning (which is an old technique for knitting/crochet). Pjoning is also known as bosnian crochet, shepherd's knitting, dutch knitting or påtning (in Swedish).


The color's a bit off, it should be a little darker.



A perfect fit!




Stretchable enough for a guy too.

 ***
More information can be found on my Ravelry-page.

Teacher's Pet - Apple Cozy

For my second finished object for Nerd Wars, I chose the following Google Doodle for inspiration :



Google Doodle for Teacher's Day 2012.



My mom taught me how to crochet an apple cozy, and I thought that would fit perfectly for this challenge.

My very first crocheted project!

More information can be found on my Ravelry-page.

***
The Nerd Wars-tournament is divided into three rounds, each with 6 challenges. Read more about it on Ravelry.

Tardis-hat - Bigger on the Inside

I decided to join Nerd Wars Tournament 5 (run through Ravelry) this summer, to see if that might help me get some inspiration in regards to crafting.

My first finished object is a TARDIS-hat inspired by the character Amy Pond (Doctor Who, new series, season 5) and her childhood encounter with The Doctor.

TARDIS-hat

More information can be found on my Ravelry-page.

***
The Nerd Wars-tournament is divided into three rounds, each with 6 challenges. Read more about it on Ravelry.

Since.. since when?

Yes, since when seems to be the right questions. A quick glance at the list of posts shows that my last post was dated early May. And now? Now it's June 10th and a lot of things have happened in those weeks.

Just to have somewhere to start, I think I've managed to get my mojo (or inspiration to craft, if you want to call it something else) back. Not quite sure when it happened, but it might have returned during the two weeks in the middle of May when I was on leave (removed my tonsils, finally! *cheers*) and suddenly found myself in possession of,  not only time and energy, but also the want to create something. Which means that the pile of working-ons and the pile of finished stuff has actually grown, and I finally feel, well to quote one of my favorite characters (Skeleton Jack, from A Nightmare Before Christmas) just like my old bony self again. Well, perhaps not bony, but I think you know what I mean. :-)

Anyways, I thought I'd show you a peak of what's been beating it's wings and shaking it's tailfeathers around our living room lately. Don't worry, you'll see more when it's all done. But for now, just a peak.

Perhaps one of my haunting shadows for the past three years (or longer?)..

But let's get back to the stuff that I will show you - stuff that are all completed (down to the last stuffing and stitches.

First couple out are these two darlings. The pattern is originally a Melly & Me-pattern, from their line Sew Little and is called Stuffie Play. I had completed the stitchery on the giraffe some time last fall, and made the bunny in a whiff - they're both backed with some vintage fabric I had in my drawers (the giraffe in a soft blue, and the bunny in a light green vintage copy). Very cute - and very fun to make!

Cute critters!

When the cute critters were completed, I decided to try and finish one of the small kits which seem to just collect dust on the shelves. I picked the kit to make some scented Christmas ornaments which I received on the last meeting in Tåsen Quiltelag just before Christmas. They were quite simple to sew - only, I haven't had much experience in sewing the lace border on.. well, I don't think it's bad for a first-timer. They're stuffed with batting wrapped around anïs and cinnamon sticks, and smell absolutely divine!

Cute and simple .

This last one has actually been completed for a while. Originally, the pattern called for the stitchery to be stretched around a canvas and hung on the wall, but after trying 5 times (or more, I lost count..) and not getting it centered, I gave up. Yup! I gave up - and made it into a bag to keep my wips in. Very handy when it comes to keeping a knitting project organized (I've tried). The stitchery is from Rosalie Quinland, and is called Free as a Bird.

Sometimes the finished object doesn't look quite like the orginal pattern.

We've just come home from our first real trip with Plutt - spending most of the previous week in Copenhagen, Denmark. Things have worked out surprisingly smooth, considering all the new things for all of us (traveling with children, spending two nights on a big boat, hotels, lots and lots of walking, etc) and perhaps one of the biggest changes since coming home (well, we came home yesterday, so it's basically a test project at the moment) has been Plutt's move from a crib to a cot (not quite sure what to call it, but we've removed one of the sides of his crib so that he can climb in and out by himself). It worked so well when we were in Copenhagen and Plutt slept in a big bed all by himself, so we decided to see if it would work at home as well. Last night worked liked a charm. *fingers crossed for tonight*

***

Well, I have a couple of surprises hidden up my sleeve, but I'm going to keep them for a little while longer. So this is it for now.

Have a good Sunday everybody!

Out of Order?

Or just losing track of time - again?

Well, half'n'half, perhaps.

Lately - OK, for quite some time now, I've been having less and less time, desire, inspiration, and, well, want to make stuff. It's not that I have been completely ignoring everything - I've been knitting a little, sewing a few stitches now and then, looking for patterns and bookmarking quite a few ideas that I'd like to try - but the whole I want to make something-feeling has just not been there. Closesly followed by the good, old I should've blogged, but.. that often comes hand in hand. I guess that's the reason for the lack of "proper" blogposts lately, and an increase of blogging photos from phone-posts.

I'm not going to promise to post so and so many posts a week, but perhaps I can sign up for a little more often than once a month?

Anyway, I've been knitting, and sewing - and actually have some finished stuff to show - once I get around to it. Until then, here are a few pictures from when our little family took an outing to the Oslo Reptilepark. (Yes, I'm the one holding the snake - and yes, it was very cool! ^.^)


Nice python



I love the expression of the guy behind me..

This little guy was chillin' on a branch in his cage.

Not afraid of snakes, but the place was a bit too
crowded for his liking..

*******
Until next time..

A wall of roses

Outside the courthouse in Oslo a wall of roses is rising again, as the trial after July 22nd continues.

Roses, cards, lillies, drawings, songs - and a beautiful stitchery are only a few of the things people have left there.

May 1st glowed with colours, a brilliant blue sky - and sunshine, long missed in the darkness that has passed.

Easter

Happy Easter!

This is what the weather's been like here in Oslo - a little chilly, but with barely a cloud in sight.

New desk = new view.

Hemmelig (U)Venn / Secret (Not quite)Friend

I participated in a swap on a knitting forum, where your task was to send some of your "notsonice"-yarn to your "victim". This is what I received today.. 
This post will be in Norwegian only..

Da Uformelt-gjengen skulle kjøre en ny runde med Hemmelig (U)Venn fant jeg ut at det var noe jeg kunne melde meg på - og dermed bli kvitt noen av mine (vel, ja) irritasjonsmomenter når det gjelder garnkjøp. Heldigvis (?) ble min HUV kjempeglad for pakken. Jeg regnet med at jeg kom til å få igjen så det holdt - og, jada.. I dag kom pakken min..

 For et herlig (ahem..) utvalg!

Skal vi se.. noen rester Alfa og Easy (ganske alrighte farger).

Et ellers stort utvalg garn i babyull-kvalitet (legg merke til det delikate lakserosa øverst der). Nei, seriøst, en god del av dette her er faktisk veldig anvendelig! (Jeg tenker, barnehageklær.. og dukkeklær?)

Mohair.. auda.. *hosthostatsjohost* Dette skal jeg ærlig innrømme at jeg var forberedt på at lå i pakken - men ikke helt forberedt på hvor krislete halsen min kjentes av det.. o.O

Det var en ansamling bomullsgarn der også - både strikkegarn og heklegarn.

Og noen nøster uten merkelapp.. Hmm..

Norsk Ullgarn, alpakka og blandingsgarn. (Både det grå og det orange er veldig mykt og godt..)

Mange nøster oransj 100% ullgarn, et hespe spelsau (koksgrått), alpakka/silke og et (for meg) ukjent garn (det grønne).

Konklusjon: Mye bra - med potensiale - og en del.. njaha? Å skar'n gjørra med detta da, tru?

Jeg har et par idéer til hva som kan lages av en del av ullgarnet - og kommer nok til å donere bort en del av det andre (til barnehagen, kanskje?). Vi får se hva som skjer (jeg stresser ikke, for å si det mildt).

Somewhere along the line..

The contents of these boxes went from the idea pictured on the boxes, to..

something a little, well, off..

I think we both agree, the pattern is poorly written - and drawn. However, Ms Porcu-bear-pine and Ms Slightly-tipsy-pine are quite charming!

Duplo Lego

Good entertainment for big and small. ^.^

1st finish in 2012

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!

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

Just a few stitches more..

Before Plutt wakes up from his nap. ^.^

Back home - and spoiled..

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..

A Very Merry Christmas!

The Murder before Christmas

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