marie fly fly

more conversations with Nene

2009-11-22T22:18:00.003+01:00

Nene: Daddy, I don't want to grow up. Grown-ups don't have teddy bears.

Daddy: Oh, but they do! Lot's of grown-ups have teddy bears. I still have my teddy bear. Now, try to sleep.

Nene: Really? how come I never met your teddy bear? where is he? I don't believe you.I don't want to grow up :starts to cry:

Daddy :whispers: hey, Marie, do you know where my old teddy bear is? is he somewhere in our house at all!?

me: do you mean the scruffy old thing in the bottom corner of that mess of a closet where we keep all the stuff we don't use??

- two minutes later -

Daddy: here's my teddy, Nene, I told you he was around -say hello! Would you believe mommy had hid him in a closet. Bad mommy.

my new shop

2009-11-21T19:02:00.003+01:00

epla.no is a new Norwegian site for handmade, which was launched on 16th of November. I decided to give it a try, and I'm so happy I did, because it's going really well. This is my epla shop. I was particularly happy to see some Norwegian etsy friends open shop there, such as dalinda/plonka, portemone /portemone and Strand/ strandRedesign. Nicole of plaskdesign has opened a soap shop, and that - which you will know if you read my previous post about handmade soap - is something I welcome with great enthusiasm!

this is their BEAUTIFUL Christmas shopping banner, which includes not one, but two, marieflyfly necklaces :-D

At first my intention was to list only a few things on epla, just to keep my name there, and try to minimise the hassle of keeping two full shops. But it's going surprisingly well, much better than my first week on etsy back in 2007, in fact it's going better than the present week on etsy. So I have some thinking to do. The fact that the first week went well, doesn't mean that the next weeks will go well too, but it's certainly interesting to track what sells in which venue. For the time being I'm keeping the same pieces in both shops, but in the future I might want to tailor the inventory to the venue. I might also list some things on epla that I hesitate to list on etsy, because I found that someone else had already listed very similar items there.

etsy friday: unique jewelry

2009-11-20T11:11:00.006+01:00

I'm continuing my Etsy Friday series, as my special Christmas shopping service to you. These are Etsy shops that I have personally tried out for you (it's such a sacrifice, but I'd do anything for my blog readers :-D), and I can vouch for their quality and service and allround greatness. Once in a while I might point you to a shop I haven't actually tried, but am drooling over and find worthy of a mention.

The top picture shows my new favorite necklace, and it's from 3squares. It's a beautiful collage in a brass setting, so unique and extremely well made, and I wear it constantly. There are loads of jewelry shops on etsy, and you'd be forgiven for getting a lot of us all mixed up, but I think 3squares stands apart with jewelry that is truly unique. Go have a look at this, this or this. My personal favorites are this and this. I bought another necklace too, that I will show you some other time, because I need to take a picture of it first. Jean of 3squares is also a super nice and friendly seller, whose customer service is stellar.

The bambi necklace in the second picture is from emedemarta and was actually bought last year. I just haven't gotten around to blogging about it yet, but it's still available in her shop. Nene (6) isn't quite convinced that this necklace is mine, not hers! It's fabulous in person too, and I have worn it a lot. Marta makes beautiful little frame purses too, just check this out. This too is a wonderful seller with high quality items and customer service.

Third is a necklace called Orbit Girl from Marmar. The seller, Mark Poulin, describes her as a "girl who knows where the action is. She may be spacey, but she sure is cute." So cute in fact, that I have bought her twice as a Christmas gift - once as a gift from Nene to her teenager cousin, and once for a friend of mine who is in her late thirties, and Orbit Girl was perfect for both.There seems to be a lot of new stuff in his shop this year - this charm bracelet is too cute, and there's a whole section of little charm necklaces, I'm guessing they're smaller versions of the other necklaces. If so I might just have to buy a third Orbit Girl, for Nene this time!

* if you write "etsy" in the search box up there in the left hand corner, you should be able to find all my etsy friday posts. I tried writing "etsy friday", but that didn't work.

big bad noro

2009-11-11T18:52:00.002+01:00

To make up for that fingering weight ribbed fiasco previously described, I decided to cast on something entirely different: Lemonfresh's Big Bad Noro using Noro Silk Garden purchased years ago in a colorway (34) that I believe is discontinued. There isn't really a pattern for this cardi, it's more like a brief description. It doesn't say anything about shaping, but I have decided to make it a sort of unstructured wrap cardi, with all square pieces, no shaping, no decreases, not even for the sleeves. This could of course go very wrong! I love the exposed seams of the original - I wonder how you do that neatly?

past and present knitting

2009-11-09T19:00:00.006+01:00

I was making good progress on MIL's Mermaid, until I reached the second last wedge, where I ran out of yarn. Unsure about how to proceed, it's been sitting in my knitting basket for weeks. I think I know what to do now, so I plan to pick it up again this week.

While Mermaid was in hibernation, I spent appr 100 hours on 2x3 ribbing with fingering weight yarn, and completed all the pieces for En Kort og Lang Second Edition.

I also spent quite a bit of money on two extra skeins of yarn for this (a-hem) knit-from-stash-project. Then I spent the remainder of my sanity on seaming it, until I had to face reality: It won't come together. The pieces don't fit. I now have a complete set of parts for a brown silk sweater in addition to half the parts for a black wool one, and neither of them will ever become wearable.

I'll have to find a way to rescue that yarn. In the year 2020.

Tomorrow I'll show you my present comfort knitting project, an perhaps my next in line. I don't mean to hold back, but I'm blogging from a hotel room with a slow dial up, so I can't be bothered to upload more photos (they do have free wireless connection in this hotel, but I couldn't find out how to use it :embarrased:)

etsy friday: handmade soap

2009-11-06T17:31:00.005+01:00

I don't buy commercial soap anymore. After I joined etsy two years ago I have switched to handmade soap, at first because they smell and look delicious, but as time passed I found that my skin doesn't get dry and chapped anymore, and I have gotten completely rid of the rash on my hands that bothered me for years. I think handmade soap is better for me because it hasn't had the glycerine removed, and is made with pure, natural ingredients.

From what I understand there are two kinds of handmade soap, Melt&Pour and Hot or Cold Process soap. Hot Process and Cold Process soap is soap made from scratch. Soap making is a process where lye reacts with fat. Glycerine, which is moisturising for the skin, occurs during the process, but is often removed from commercial soap. Very often commercial soap bars are not actually soap, but detergents. You can read more about handmade soap in this article where etsy soap makers are interviewed.

The pretty soaps in the photo are from Frost Fish Cove Soaps, and the one on top is from South Pacific Body. It's called Man Soap because of its scent, and it's particularly good for cleaning really greasy or dirty gardening hands. These are both great sellers that I plan to shop with again. One soap seller I keep returning to is Anderson Soap Company, especially for their delicious rosebud soap. Others I have tried and loved and am happy to recommend are Southern Vermont Soaps, Sudstress and for bath salts and oil Stephanie K Naturals. I have a preference for cold process soaps with floral scents like lavender or rose, or lemon, or soft scents like almond, honey or oatmeal, that don't trigger migraines, which is obviously reflected in my recommendations. Your tastes may be different, but whatever they are I'm sure you'll be able to find a soap that is perfect for you on etsy.

My last order, which I haven't received yet, is pure castile soap from CampoDiFiore. I'm really excited about that order because I've been wanting to try castile soap, besides I was really happy to find a European seller, because soap is heavy and the shipping costs from the US can be painful at times. Most etsy sellers are in the US, and if you're not, the shipping costs might be a deciding factor when you're looking for a good shop. Some US sellers offer 6-8 bars in a flat envelope for a flat rate of around 12-13 dollars for shipping to Europe - I think it has something to do with the size of the envelope. I think that's reasonable, and knowing it's possible I don't like to go much higher.

etsy friday: sunday best

2009-11-01T23:17:00.007+01:00

I'm so pleased with Nene's new party dress. Etsy of course!

The new dress is from Hana & Violet, and the seller, Hiroko, is adorable Hana and Violet's grandmother. Hiroko offers colorful dresses, outstanding workmanship and great customer service. For a small extra fee I got a custom fit, and yet it shipped in no time at all.

Nene's last fabulously gorgeous party dress was from Bellasofia on etsy, and although it's getting very small for her, Nene loves it so much that she got really upset with me when I told her I had bought her a new dress.

Until it arrived in it's full-skirted, lace-trimmed, red-rosed, machine-washable glory - now she won't take it off!

We're sad to see the bellasofia dress become too small, but loving the new dress, and I really want share both these sellers with you, because they're GREAT.

Nene loves the full skirt:

- mommy, look! The dress is making waves!

- mommy, I'm really dizzy now

* yes I know it's Sunday, but I need to put the words Etsy Friday in the title for search purposes!

old thing

2009-09-26T19:28:00.004+02:00

BF dug this out from a closet today. I had completely forgotten about it, and wouldn't have imagined that she could still wear something I knit for her when she was two. The sleeves are actually a bit long for her today!, yet I could have sworn it fit when she was two! I knit this coat with a thread of baby alpaca/silk held together wih a thread of cotton/silk, and thought I was really clever, but it made a very heavy fabric that keeps sagging and stretching. If it keeps stretching like this, she'll be able to wear it to her wedding...

paper doll

2009-09-07T08:18:00.003+02:00

We visited the Childrens Museum a while ago, and I was delighted to find they were selling new prints of vintage paper dolls. this is kjersti - isn't she adorable? she even has a bunad.

I had to fight off a gang of little girls to be able to take these pictures before they put their scissors to work.

eye candy friday: her own personal apple

2009-08-21T20:28:00.004+02:00

Nene has an apple tree that is hers alone. She's had it for three years, and it's bearing a lot of fruit this year. She's been asking for apples since the first blooms in the Spring, so she was really excited to pick the first apple the other day. She wouldn't dream of actually eating it, or (God forbid) sacrifice it for an apple crumble (my stupid suggestion, duh), so it was carefully placed in a fruit bowl with a laborously crafted note attached to it that says: BAREHELENESITTEPLE, which translates to THISAPPLEBELONGSTOHELENE. I predict we will see that apple rot in that bowl eventually.

first day of school

2009-08-17T22:10:00.002+02:00

goodbye sweet freedom or welcome new era? a little bit of both I guess...

eye candy friday:peacock

2009-08-14T20:09:00.002+02:00

vivienne and victoria

2009-08-12T18:02:00.003+02:00

news from both my all time favorite knit designers -

a new pattern from Hanne Falkenberg, called Victoria, and a new book, Precious, by Kim Hargreaves, where I really like the cover design, which is called Vivienne.

These two ladies are very different in terms of style, and yet so similar when it comes to how the patterns are so meticulously worked through , where every single row makes a difference, pure perfection.

I am reminded of their perfection as I finished a Hargreaves project only a few weeks ago, and am currently working on Falkenberg's Mermaid, so I'm very tempted to try som of these new patterns.

oh what a beautiful morning

2009-08-08T10:48:00.006+02:00

I'm not usually an early riser, but once a year or so I fight my nature and get up early to go fishing. Not so much for the fish, as for the stillness and lovely morning light. I would have been terribly disappointed if we hadn't gotten any fish though!

eye candy friday: A new pet

2009-08-07T22:03:00.003+02:00

Nene found a caterpillar. I love how she cradles it so protectively.

then she tried to feed it, much like a rabbit

she wants to keep it. It can sleep on the leaf. Because it didn't want to eat it. Who wouldn't want to sleep in their salad?

unfrogged: Waving Lace socks

2009-07-30T20:46:00.006+02:00

I started these socks in April 2007 for Project Spectrum, and finished the leg and heel of the first sock before it disappeared into the black hole that is my UFO basket. A year later I frogged it, except I didn't actually rip it, I just took out the needles and tossed the yarn and the half finished sock into another black hole, a.k.a. my sock yarn basket. Another year passed, and as I was looking for a new pattern for that green yarn, it seemed too stupid not to finish it. So I found some 2.5 mm needles that seemed right and ripped out the heel, because I didn't want to knit the other sock with silk yarn for reinforcement, and then proceeded to knit the heel again. Then I read my original post from way back when about these socks, and realised that the leg was actually knit with 1.5 mm needles. I didn't risk another frogging incident, so I switched to 2 mm for the instep, you know just to make sure it couldn't possibly come out great (and it didn't - it's a tad big - wearable, but the heel is too big and baggy). Then I knit the second sock on 2 mm needles, and it's perfect. Looks and fits great, and the fabric is nice and tight.

So this is just a reminder for myself: Fleece Artist, 2 mm needles, 64 stitches -> nice sock.

And if you wonder why I dropped the raw silk reinforcement, it's because I have tried it for another pair of socks that I have worn a lot, and I was not happy with it. My conclusion is that it doesn't work for me - I get holes in my socks no matter what, so I'll invest the extra work in darning rather than knitting with reinforcement yarn.

Spec:

Pattern: Waving Lace sock from Favorite Socks

Yarn:Fleece Artist, Moss colourway

Started: 20 April 2007

Finished 29 July 2009

I really like the slip stitch heel:

blueberries

2009-07-23T21:25:00.002+02:00

Nene: Mommy, what are blueberries made of?

me: uuuhhhm...

nene: I'm pretty sure they're made of kiwi because they're green

- ?

- and raspberries because they're red

- uuhhhmmm, ok?

- and sky

- sky?

- because they're blue. Blueberries are blue. Don't you know anything?

déjà vu

2009-07-15T21:44:00.008+02:00

BF's late aunt was a tapestry weaver, an artist, she painted with yarn instead of paint. She had a tiny house, and her looms took up most of the space, and lacking in storage space she would line the walls with her hand dyed yarn in every nuance you can imagine. It was beautiful. As far as I can tell it was all fingering weight shetland wool, and she had a gazillion colors but only a little bit of each -like a painter's easel.

When she died her looms were placed in storage, and the yarn was going to be donated to a school, but they couldn't find any that would take it, so it went into storage. This Spring MIL decided it was time to try and use it, and we had a good look at it for the first time. Big boxes full of yarn, but very difficult to use for knitting, because the amount of each color was so small. It seems almost a sacrilege to use it for mere knitting, but it's certainly better than leaving it unused in its storage boxes. MIL wanted to use it for something nice, and came over to look at my knitting books, and we settled on Hanne Falkenberg's Mermaid pattern, which I have knitted before. I asked if I could make one for her, and she put together a kit of colors that more or less resembles the poppy-coral-tomato colorway that is one of Falkenberg's originals. This yarn is slightly heavier that Falkenberg's yarn, and seems drier and scratchier, but otherwise it's very close, so i think it's going to work. It's certainly going to be an interesting project.

Here's a photo of all the little balls of coral-tomato nuances - they are all different:

and these are the ones I chose to use:

I am going to use three colors, coral, orange and brick red, and I hope there's enough, but I might have to use two close nuances of each color, if there isn't enough of each color.

poppy progress

2009-05-24T21:55:00.001+02:00

eye candy friday: about to pop

2009-05-22T15:49:00.000+02:00

poppies and peonies - I love them when they're at this point, like bubbles about to burst

"en kort og en lang" - again

2009-05-21T19:55:00.001+02:00

this wasn't really next in line, but I needed something straight forward to knit for a bunch of meetings, so I took the leftover Duo Silk Merino and started another "En kort og en lang" Isager sweater. I bought a kit four years ago, with black Isager Tvinni, and started knitting it in 2006, and then it went into hibernation. I actually finished both the back and the front back then, but for some reason I don't like it much, so I guess i'll frog it. This new version on the other hand is coming along fine. I have only used the Silk Merino double stranded before, but it's the third time I'm using this yarn in this color, so I'm not going to pretend it's a brand new experience! Here's what it's going to look like:

details

2009-05-19T20:05:00.004+02:00

shirt and sølje

shawl and apron

skirt

collar and silver buttons

bodice

- these are details of my bunad - follow the links if you want to know more!

waiting for a miracle

2009-05-16T17:21:00.006+02:00

- mommy, I'm waiting for the world to turn into ice cream

- I think global warming is more likely

- I don't understand why it hasn't happened yet

- why would the world turn into ice cream?

- because I held a ladybug yesterday

- ?

- if you hold a ladybug you get to make a wish, so I wished for the world to turn into ice cream. Except my bed. I wouldn't want an ice cream bed - that would be really cold. Can I have a popsicle?

- how many popsicles have you had today?

- only six

- I guess ladybugs do have that kind of power

hello there

2009-05-14T01:20:00.000+02:00

Nene: Mommy, Hello Kitty needs socks

Me: Can't we just call her Kitty? Hello Kitty sounds funny

Nene ((:rolls eyes in teenager like manner:): Hello, it's English! Is it Norwegian?

Me: I guess not

- anyway, she needs socks

- but she's a cat. Cats dont' wear socks

- Hello, she's not a cat. She's a stuffed toy. Duh. Does she talk?

- eh, no, I guess not

- that's why she's a toy. She not alive. And she's freezing. She needs socks. Is she warm?

- no, Socrates

- is my name Socrates? No.

-right. Maybe she can borrow some socks from your doll?

- no, her feet are too big, and they're completely round. She needs special socks

- I suppose she could wear your baby socks

- were my baby feet round? Were they big? No

- eh, I guess they weren't. But you had some baby mittens that were round-ish. Maybe she can use them as socks?

- are mittens socks?

- something tells me they're not

- Mummy, Hello Kitty's round feet are cold, and you need to knit round socks for her. And a dress. And a hat. And mittens

- maybe a small shawl will be a better fit for her un-babylike shape?

- are shawls hats? (:looking exasperated:)

- is my knitting time precious??

cate

2009-05-09T16:27:00.003+02:00

Cate is finished. I like it. It's flattering, it drapes well, and it's my favorite color. It was a fun knit, and it was even fun to seam it, because Kim Hargreaves' pattern is so thoroughly worked through, that the different pieces fit together like the pieces of a puzzle - it was fascinating. Pure perfection. I remember thinking the same when I seamed up Temptation, so I guess this is what she does. I'm definitely tempted to knit more Kim Hargreaves patterns

- pretty vintage rhinestone buttons from grandma's sewing box. I only had three, but found more in a vintage shop on etsy. The button holes are only a yarnover, but the buttons are still too small, and the yarn catches on the prongs that hold the rhinestones, so if I'm going to wear it buttoned up, I should probably change to different buttons. I probably won't, because I think they're charming. I'll try to crochet around the edges of the button holes to see if that helps.

- oops, different dye lots. The first skein was two years old, so I made sure to examine them closely, to avoid this exact problem :-( but I really didn't see it before I took this photo. It's only on the back, and like I said it only showed up in this overexposed photo, so I have decided to leave it like that.

- it has a round neckline - not the most flattering choice for me, so I'll probably wear it open, but great for skinny people. I love the 3/4 sleeves - I always pull my sleeves up to my elbows anyway, so maybe I should choose this length for all my future projects!

Pattern: Cate, from Thrown Together by Kim Hargreaves

Yarn: Duo Silke/Merino from Design Club dk, held double

Started 16 January 2009

Finished 7 May 2009

Modification: None