The nerd and the needles

Checking out

2008-07-04T18:34:00.003+02:00

Summer is finally kicking in here. I'm going to swim, drink cool drinks, pick flowers and hopefully catch a fish. And swim. And knit a little. And read. And swim. Oh, and move out of my home and into the new one (trying to ignore that on a Friday evening, but the reality of it will soon take over here).
Wish me luck.

I'll leave you with this tiny update, then;

I tried not to catch the Knit Picks bug that is like an epidemic in Oslo at the moment, but I had to give in. Especially as I needed something new and wooden and circular and 2.5 mm for my Baktus project. So - I ordered a few circulars and a set of dpns from Get Knitted, and it all arrived very fast. The shop also communicated swiftly by mail when I had a question (as in responding within 20 minutes). I started using my 2.5 mm Harmony Wood thingie last night and it was love at first stitch. Really. I almost couldn't focus on all the fantastic costumes in The Tudors.
Btw. Maria Doyle Kennedy who plays Queen Katherine, looks a lot like the Norwegian first lady, Ingrid Schulerud.

There's a certain amount of pooling of the colours in the Baktus. I would have preferred it not to, but I guess it can't be avoided when the width is changing constantly. It seems the striping will work well through most of the scarf.

The guerilla girls have been at it again.

Muffin/Jorid has started selling her über cool mitten patterns, and in English!

I like this necklace. Although not for summer.

I've started reading Norwegian gardening blogs and actually bought a couple of perennials already. I know. I should have waited until the move. But who likes waiting?

I'll be back. Have a nice.

Baktus

2008-06-22T17:57:00.007+02:00

The Baktus scarf and its stockinette equivalent Karius are all over the Norwegian blogosphere right now. They make for a good, longish kerchief, perfect for using up about 100 grammes of sock yarn.

I've seen a few different descriptions of how to knit it, here's mine:

Oblong kerchief:

Cast on 4.
Row 1: Knit 1, YO, knit the rest of the row.
Row 2: Knit, make sure you knit the YO through the back loop.
Rows 3 and 4: Knit.

Repeat rows 1 through 4 until you have used up half your yarn, or until your scarf is 50% of desired length.
Then decrease 1 every 4th row (in the same side as the increases) until you have 4 stitches left.
Bind off.

I'm using my luxury hand dyed Hello Yarn Sock in the colourway "Blushing", and I decided it would work well in garter stitch.
I weighed my skein before starting, which turned out to be 114 grammes. When I think I have used up nearly half of it, I will weigh it again to find out when I need to start decreasing, I'd say around 55 grammes.

If you want to make the Karius scarf, simply purl rows 2 and 4 (stockinette).

Today I recieved this plant dyed yarn from Knitting Iris' Etsy shop. It's 70% merino and 30% silk, hand dyed with arrowleaf and balsamroot. It smells divine and is super soft. Knitting Iris included the little sachet (with mushrooms on it! Yay!), filled with lavender. Nice!

I think this yarn may become something kerchief-like, too.

The love song of aquilegia and rhubarb

2008-06-13T10:49:00.006+02:00

At the Sn'B the other day I started this Online (ONline Linie 194 Solo) ruffle scarf. I think it's kind of ugly in a good way, if that makes sense to you? I've seen a couple of these around and found them fascinating.
I actually had the yarn already, only I bought it thinking I would knit some super bulky thing on 15 mm needles.
The yarn is kind of a knitted ribbon, and you knit the ruffles by poking the needle right through the ribbon, thus making 'stitches'. I found a nice how-to here. And here's a pattern.
I think my scarf is rather dense, I wonder if I am knitting it too tightly. How would one calculate gauge on such a thing???
Ravelry.

Here's the pirate in his finished headband. This was originally going to be a hat, but I wondered if I was going to have enough of the darker green. Also the Muskat is rather thick and heavy. When we tried it on, my son quickly settled the matter by declaring he wanted it as a headband.
Specs: Yarn Muskat (100% cotton, from Garnstudio), bought on sale last year.
Hook: 4 mm.
Pattern: I measured my son's head and crocheted the circumference in chain stitches as a 'cast on'. I then continued in single crochet until desired width.
After a while I realised my crochet stitches are twisted or crossed, see how-to here.
Ravelry.

I went and looked at the new house yesterday, and got a little peek at the garden. My head is now full of words like Rhubarb, Aquilegia, Bleeding Hearts, Fritillaria and Hops. All my old garden books have been packed away in our early spring pre flatsale cleanout, and I am suffering from severe withdrawal right now.
You see, even though this is our first time owning our very own garden, it won't be my first time gardening. We have a tiny, tiny spot at our present place. A long time ago I spent years digging around in the garden surrounding the block of flats I lived in at the time. And being the nerd that I am, I have read books and books about gardening, landscaping, gardening history, plant ethymology, and botany.
Of course I know what I should do right now. I should by some new books. (Please don't tell my husband).

After that I should start packing some china.

Pirate fest

2008-06-09T21:21:00.006+02:00

The pirate captain in the house has celebrated his birthday. There were black balloons and napkins, and of course black Piratos licorice coins sprinkled on the table.
Reading blogs (like this one) over the years has convinced me that we do need some outrageous food colouring for icing on cakes. Earlier this year I bought a set of gels and we have had blue cake and red(ish) cake and now black cake. Of course the pirate needed a black cake. The sprinkles are 'silver bullets', not very nice to one's teeth, but they looked cool.
The black icing was smeared on the little guests' hands and faces, so I had to go around and wash them with face cloths to avoid having the party clothes ruined. Everyone's tongues became blue, too. I hope none of the parents think we are irresponsible. Even our pine table has some lasting memories from this party.

We didn't want to put any costume pressure on the guests because of the pirate theme, so I sat down and made some eyepatches for the kids.
I made them out of leather (from my old jacket) and black elastic from Reprodepot. Very fast and simple.
Some of the guests wore them on their foreheads, some used them as hairbands and some tried to use them as slingshots. (no casualties, thank goodness.)

I've recieved my beautiful knitting bag from Tora's giveaway, and I love it. I'm going to use it for my long neglected Tuscany shawl. Thanks a lot, Tora!

We sold our place and bought a new one, so I guess the crafting will be going through some down time in the near future. There will be hours and hours of packing and moving and painting, though. We are going to have our own garden for the first time, and I can't wait to dig my hands into the dirt!

I did however finish the green hat that turned out to be a headband, which btw was the recipient's choice. Pictures later.

And this Saturday it is World Wide Knit In Public day! I'm going to join the bitchers in downtown Oslo.

What's not to love?

2008-05-27T15:33:00.004+02:00

Hello Yarn Sock, handdyed sock yarn from Adrian/Hello Yarn.
Colourway: 'Blushing'.
I ordered it about a week ago and it arrived yesterday.
Who needs pets?

Oh, and I won Tora's giveaway in celebration of her 100th post. I won a lovely knitting bag, lucky me!

Both these gals make great patterns. Check them out if you haven't already.

Non conformist crochet

2008-05-25T21:18:00.014+02:00

While at the Sn'B the other night I discovered that my crochet stitches aren't like everyone else's crochet stitches.
That is, someone (Erica?) noticed that I was doing something odd.

Turns out I'm putting my hook over/in front of the yarn, as if to knit the stitch. This as opposed to putting it under and behind the yarn before pulling it through. (compare pics with those of ordinary crochet stitch here).
This means my crochet stitches become crossed, sort of (see bottom pic).
I quite like them this way, but I also like to know what I am doing.

I guess this is what you get for learning to crochet at the age of 11 (or something) and then hardly ever doing it for over 20 years. I'm just doing what I think I remember. And if I don't remember, I go by intuition.

I know next to nothing about crochet theory, and I'm no good at reading or writing crochet patterns. I wish I were. I bet it isn't hard, if I just take the time to learn it.

Some links:
The magnificent mitten artist, aka Muffin, has done it again. This time with frogs, and cats.
And she is working on some patterns that se is going to sell. Yay!

So cool clogs. I love clogs.

I really like this scarf(free pattern).
Looks like kelp. How appropriate if you are (like me) going to be a lot near salt water in the summer.
(via Mettetations.)

Btw, this is a curious little thing, interesting if you are a geeky knitter who likes nature (like me):
If you check Flickr for pics tagged with 'laminaria', 90% of the hits are pictures of the shawl.
Only ten percent are photos of the actual sea plant (kelp).

That's it from the nerd today, I have to get up obscenely early in the morning. Wish me luck.

17.mai

2008-05-17T08:23:00.001+02:00

Today is 17.mai, or May 17th, which is Constitution Day in Norway. This is when school children all over the country parade in celebration of the Norwegian Constitution from 1814. If you own a national costume, called bunad, this would be the obvious day to wear it. 60% of Norwegian women own a bunad. There are a lot fewer men in bunad, but there are more of them every year. See more bunad pics here.

I inherited my national costume, it comes from Sør-Trøndelag. When I was little I had a Hardanger bunad (almost like this one) which was a family heirloom. Sadly it has gone to pieces.

I've been meaning to make myself a big oldfashioned shawl for my bunad, and a pair of wristlets from the Håndplagg book, but I haven't yet. Btw here's a free pattern for beaded wristlets from that book. The description is in Norwegian, but there's a nice little chart too.

Melt beads and more Muskat

2008-05-16T18:49:00.006+02:00

Yesterday Princess and I enjoyed a little melt bead (Hama) crafts. I've done this with her from time to time, and I quite like the pixel-like quality of the beaded images. It reminds me of knitting and cross stitch, and it works with the same kinds of patterns.

I prefer the simpler, graphic designs, but the possibilities are limitless. I think I'll put a pin on the back of this red-pink-orange one here and use it on a t-shirt. I'd like to try some smaller ones for earrings, too.

Some people iron the beads on both sides, and that of course makes a more sturdy product. But I like the unironed side so much, I think I'll try and see if it can stand some use witout that.
We have both the jumbo size beads and the normal ones. The jumbo beads need a higher temperature to melt (hot iron), and a firm hand, but it works fine. The normal beads are ironed with a medium hot iron. I just put the bead plate on the ironing board, cover with some parchment paper and iron away. Note: make sure you have good ventilation if you try this. The plastic fumes aren't very good for you.
More pics.

If you're fascinated like me, you might like the archive at Swedish group blog Pärlplatteklubben.

Now some fibre content: I started another hat in the sale yarn I used for Princess' slouchy spring hat. This one is for Junior. (Improvised in Muskat, 100% cotton, 4mm hook).

I've been on a little trip, unblogged at the moment, where I got to see some Malabrigo in RL. I kind of bought it. Then I started and ripped the beginning of a shawl several times. I'll tell you more later.

And for once I was online at the right time to order some Hello Yarn Sock. Yay! Man, that stuff gets sold out fast. The colourway is called blush. Can't wait to see it in RL.

Two library books and some links

2008-05-04T23:40:00.001+02:00

These are two fairly new Norwegian books that I borrowed from the library.

This first one, 'Myk design' ('Soft design') by Gerd Fjellanger, has different projects in sewing, crochet, felting, fulling, and so on. Quite varied and the items are for men and women and kids.

The style is classic Norwegian/contemporary/vintage. See a couple of more pictures on the author's site.

I liked quite a few of the projects.
This is a good idea, embroidering a little flower on the side of a sock.

Tine Solheim's 'Maskeball'* has knitting and crochet projects like dresses, cardis, tights and accessories, and also things like afghans. She uses alpaca, cotton, novelty yarns, beads, ribbon, and other materials. The style is very feminine, a sort of boho chic, with a lot of ornamentation.
See more at the author's site.

This is definitely not my style. There's too much going on with holes, see-through effect, frills and other embellishments.
But if you like this style, there is a lot of different challenges in here for the adventorous knitter and crocheter.

Both of these designers' patterns are sometimes found in Norwegian women's magazines.
Tine Solheim also designs a lot of different clothing like wedding gowns and costumes.

* 'Maskeball' = 'Masked ball', 'maske' in Norwegian also means (knitting or crochet) stitch.

Some links:
Two of my favourites, Karin Eriksson and Camilla Engman, are doing a show together. Lots of peeks on both their blogs.

Kim Kight of Dioramarama has a new blog all about fabric, True Up. It's fantastic. And via this I found out that

...Designer Heather Ross has a new site. I love her beetle bus fabric and the gnomes. And I just bought some of her new Rabbits and Race-Cars fabric that Junior chose for himself. Looking forward to the new 'mer theme' that's coming soon.

Check out these gorgeous mittens. Don't you think she should make a pattern and sell it?

Pencil cases

2008-04-30T20:17:00.012+02:00

I've wanted to make a huge pencil case for the kids for a long time. They share a ton of pencils, and lately the pencils have been kept in a plastic bag in a drawer. Ugly and not very practical.

I wanted to make something big enough to carry all the pencils and some small accessories like erasers and paper scissors.
I guess this is three times as big as an ordinary pencil case. Also I wanted it to open widely so that the little artists could see and choose their colours easily.

I have so many novelty prints that would work for this project, but I ended up deciding that numbers and letters are particularly appropriate.

I just cut the fabrics with scissors, checking loosely that the pieces were approximately the same size. Then I toyed around with the colours a little before I came up with the design. I sewed together all the pieces for the outer fabric, and then fastened outer fabric, lining and zipper with two seams.
The end seams are made by folding in the sides so that the ends become sort of pleated.

The mushrom fabric came from Atelier Jade, I think. I've had it for ages.

I meant to use this one myself for small notions in my knitting bag, but someone came home and thought it was for them. ('Oh, Mummy, that's nice! I can use that when I bring pencils and stuff on holiday!') How could I say no.

More pics.

Slouchy spring hat

2008-04-24T16:52:00.006+02:00

I went to the Sn'B the other night (hi, girls!), and I got going on this. My daughter needed a new spring hat, and I wanted to crochet some cotton.

Princess has tried it on during the process, so I know the edging fits. But she hasn't seen the finished thing. Hope she likes it. She chose the colours herself. She would have wanted even more orange, but I didn't have any. I bought the yarn on sale last summer, and I've used up every little bit of orange now.
The whole thing is totally improvised. I crocheted the edging first, then picked up knitting stitches. There's 2 knitting stitches per crochet stitch. I started off thinking I might crochet the whole thing, but the yarn is too thick. The cotton makes it too heavy. But I decided the crochet edging would probably add some sturdiness to the otherwise dead cotton. We'll see.

Yarn: Muskat from Garnstudio, 100% cotton.
Needles: 3,5 mm rosewood circular from Susannes.
4 mm crochet hook, really old Inox one from my stash.
More pics on Flickr.
Ravelry project page.

As you may have noticed, I've added Twitter to the sidebar. I'm checking this out, haven't explored it much yet. It is supposedly the big thing in Norway at the moment. I quit Facebook months ago, but I kind of miss the little updates from people (I think that is the only thing about the 'book that I am missing at all). So I thought I might find this charming.

Matter over mind

2008-04-01T21:56:00.006+02:00

I can't seem to get the time to do all the things I want to right now. We're working like crazy on our home, making it ready for sale, and at the same time we're looking for a new place. And there are so many things I'd like to sew, knit and crochet now that spring is coming.
I guess there won't be very much crafting here these next few weeks.
In the meantime I would like to point you towards my most favourited design on Ravelry and my most popular photo on Flickr; my pattern for a knitted flower. I discovered today that 100 people call this a favourite on Flickr. That's kind of wild. Click on the photo to go to the pattern.

I got a note in the mail today, saying that Amanda's new book is waiting for me at the post office. I love it when my favourite bloggers come out on paper. Congratulations on the new book, SouleMama! That will be a great diversion in between all the house mess. I've also borrowed a couple of new knitting books at the library, which I'll show you later.

I love Knitting Iris' Easter critters which she made with wooden beads and pipe cleaners. I have a bunch of those beads somewhere, so I'm saving that idea for next year!
Knitting Iris also made me aware of this great blog earlier, Liivian Talossa. Most of the time I don't understand a word of the text, but I love the photos.

And, by the way, thank you for your nice comments. I haven't been very good at responding to those lately, either.

Nice night

2008-03-26T18:27:00.009+01:00

SnB yesterday. Nice as always. Met some familiar faces, and some new faces that belong to familiar nicks.

Some of the people from the Oslo Knitting guerilla were present, and they got lots of praise for their Easter tagging raid.

I finally got around to buying one of Felisi's bags. She's made and sold a lot of them, but I've wanted one in this fabric ever since I saw the first one that Amy scored last autumn. Since then I've been too late to get the right one a few times, but this time I was on the ball. Isn't it cool? It has got a little divider inside, with a hole for the yarn to run through.
(all photos are phone shots)

People are admiring Pinneguri´s fantastic fingerless mittens.

(As you can see, more people than me like this particular pattern on the Felisi bag.)

I brought some yarn to swatch for a spring hat for my daughter. I have a bunch of cotton for that purpose. But I only brought one size needle, which turned out to be too big. (that would be me, rummaging around like crazy for the right project when I should have left already). I thought about working on the silk hat for DH, but I've realized that needs to be done with him around for trying and testing.

Theresa lent me some yarn and needles and the chart for this nice scarf from the latest Knitty.
I kept making mistakes, so I ripped it all out. But I learned a couple of things about chart reading. Sorry, and, thanks, Theresa!

Note to self: come prepared next time.

Easter knittin´

2008-03-19T09:51:00.004+01:00

So. New try at a hat for DH. The brown crocheted one turned out to be too small (I´m happy to say it´s going to a new owner in the US, btw), so I promised to make him a new one. And he wanted something less wintery.
As =Tamar pointed out in the comments, the problem with the brown one may have been that I used a less elastic yarn than I had done with the earlier one it was based on. That would be the silk, I suppose. So why not try something 100% not elastic(100% silk)?
I´ve sat in the sun thinking about ways to make the edging somewhat elastic anyway. Ordinary ribbing certainly doesn´t do it, I´ve tried that. So, I thought, garter stitch, my good old friend. I´m thinking a long strip of this, sewn together like a headband, then picking up stitches for the top. Knitting or crochet, I´m not sure. Probably crochet.
This yarn is Silke from Idena, 100% silk, ripped from an old ´hat for DH´UFO. The photo was taken in the pale morning light, so the colour is slightly more saturated in RL.

Spring

2008-03-18T11:00:00.006+01:00

Easter is early this year and we can feel it. It´s nice to be outside in the sun, but as soon as a cloud comes out, it´s winter again.
But the signs of spring are many already. The swans are looking for bread crumbs, and last year´s chicks have become greyish youngsters. The crocuses are in full bloom. The kids have new trainers. We´ve taken out the sun screen.
At the bakery the ice cream machine is running again. (The sign says something like "Spring is here and the soft ice machine is working!"). We didn´t try any, it was too cold outside. But we loved the message.

I´ve just started using my new laptop. It´s my first Mac. I haven´t used Apple computers since university, so it takes some getting used to. Like where the heck is the at sign? Why can´t I ctrlC? And stuff. And it´s cool to be able to scroll just using two fingers on the touchpad. These two photos are the first I´ve uploaded from the camera using the Mac, so there´s no cropping or anything.

Bummer

2008-03-11T20:29:00.012+01:00

I made this hat for my husband and it turned out to be too small. This was a big disappointment, as I carefully measured one of his old hats to make sure it would fit.

I think I'll have to make another one, since the fabric looks good and feels nice, too. But since it's almost the middle of March, he wanted something lighter first. So maybe I'll take up the silk yarn that I ripped from a DH hat UFO last autumn(Ravelry link).

Specs for this one: Yarn: Silke-Alpaca from Garnstudio, 2 skeins/100 grammes. Hook: 5mm aluminum. Pattern: improvised after an old hat.

On the lighter side, I've bought a real gem on the big book sale!

This book is about all kinds of hand garments from Norwegian folklore.
I've wanted it for years, but it used to be almost 500 kroner (100 dollars). On the sale I got it for 229 kroner (45 dollars), and with free shipping. What a bargain.

This is cultural history, a big knitting source and a coffee table book all in one.

Heidi Fossnes: Håndplagg til bunader og folkedrakter.
ISBN: 9788249601875
Ravelry link.

Garter stitch in the wind

2008-03-06T19:29:00.002+01:00

More pics.

A first

2008-03-05T19:45:00.007+01:00

I've ordered something from Etsy. That's a first for me. I simply couldn't resist these kitschy cupcake toppers.
There's a 'Forest sampler' with little gnomes, fawns, and other animals, then there's a collection of tinsel trees, and a whole bunch of toadstools. Everything is from Abel Emporium (and that's where I borrowed the photos). I've been lurking in her shop for a while, drooling over all the little trinkets.
Usually I fall for things made of natural fibres, and even stuff on the rustic side. I can't explain what it is with these plastic things, except that they are ugly in a very lovely way.
I don't remember exactly how I found the Etsy seller. It may have been through Tiny Happy.

I've been browsing Etsy for a couple of years, but I find it a bit overwhelming. I usually go there following a link from someone's blog.

Last year I ordered some stitch markers and a bag hanger from Etsy's European sister Dawanda, and I was very satisfied. Don't think I ever blogged those?

I finished the yellow garter stitch scarf, it's now drying on the bathroom floor. I also finished the brown Silke-Alpaca thing, more on those later.

On the hook

2008-02-28T14:08:00.003+01:00

There has been a tiny bit of knitting. I finished the yellow garter stitch scarf, now I only need to weave in the ends.
The colour is hard to catch on camera. It's slighty lighter and dustier than it seems here and a little more acid. Almost a hint of green in there. I love the fabric, I wore it for a while one evening after binding off. Very soft and warm.

I went to the Sn'B the other night and had a really good time. I took some Silke-Alpaca and my crochet hooks, and just improvised. This is crocheted through the back loop all the way. I'm using a 5mm hook. The yarn is rather heavy, that would be from the silk I suppose. It looks good, don't know how it will wear. What it is? Wait and see!

Spring is lurking, and with it, the inspiration do something summery, maybe even cottony. I'm surfing around a lot on Ravelry, looking for projects. It's unbelievable how big and fantastic this thing has become, and so fast.

The nerd has been to an exhibition

2008-02-18T18:20:00.007+01:00

I can be terribly nerdy sometimes. And today has been a particularly nerdy day.

This weekend I went to the Carnegie Art Award (link includes slideshow) exhibition at the Henie-Onstad Kunstsenter outside Oslo. Some of the works really appealed to me. For instance I liked the video by Swedish Nathalie Djurberg, the paintings by Danish artist Allan Otte and especially the film by Danish Jesper Just.
The film is called 'A viscious undertow' and has some wonderful music by thereminist Dorit Chrysler.
On Jesper Just's site you can see some images from the film, but I haven't found a source for the music except the tiny bit in this video. Here's also a glimpse of her playing the theremin.

And here's when it becomes really nerdy.
The theremin has fascinated me since I first saw it on TV as a kid, but I didn't find out what is was called until fairly recently.
This was one of the first electronic instruments ever invented (1919), and was constructed by Russian inventor Leon Theremin.
What I find so profoundly fascinating about the theremin, apart from the sound, is that you play the instrument without touching it. The sound is produced when the player moves his or her hands around two antennae on the instrument. This makes it look almost magical, and the sound is also eerie. What's not to love for a mystery obsessed 12 year old!

This afternoon was mostly spent on the sofa, laptop in lap, googling and YouTubeing for theremin content.

The theremin has been used by many pop, rock and underground musicians, and theremin music is on the soundtracks of many mystery and horror films. Some classical music has also been composed for this odd instrument.

There are quite a few theremin videos on YouTube, including this peculiar instructional one.
The waltz from the movie 'Amelie' played on the theremin.

I realize this posting is heavy with links. If you can't be bothered, I still recommend this one; a video with Dorit Chrysler, Sustain Me.

(Photo borrowed from Theremin World.)

Old beads = new necklaces

2008-02-13T20:20:00.010+01:00

Trying not to knit for a while made me rummage around in my other stash. Out came these old glass beads that I bought at a garage sale a couple of years ago.
They came in a grab bag of old broken jewellery like this stuff that went into this necklace. I've no idea where these are made, but the contents of the bag suggest they're anything from 20 to 50 years old. It looked like two broken necklaces, with some beads missing.
I have looked at them several times without knowing how to use them. Now I found out I could match them up with these smaller beads that I bought at Søstrene Grene recently. Søstrene Grene ("Grene sisters") is a Danish discount/import chain which has recently come to Norway. Whenever in Copenhagen I've always visited them. It is the place to go for cheap spices, glassware, candles and trinkets. Now we have them in Sandvika outside Oslo. I was happy to see they have glass beads far cheaper than in the regular bead shops.
I made up two similar necklaces out of the two lots of garage sale beads. Both of the old bead sets were too small for a whole necklace, so I needed something more to get a good length. These aqua beads were what inspired me, I think. The red little dots told me I could use something red in between.
Most of this happened while watching "Thelma and Louise" last weekend. I even made a long necklace out of ice clear beads (forgot to get a pic), and these earrings. I see I've been sloppy when threading the green beads, they aren't all facing the same way. I think I'll live. It doesn't show much when I'm wearing them.
More pics here.

Those who can't, teach

2008-02-03T15:43:00.000+01:00

I've got some sort of problem with my shoulders, so I'm going easy on the knitting right now. Today I came up with a scheme to help me with the withdrawal symptoms; why not teach a kid to knit? Princess tried it a couple of years ago, but quickly found it too difficult. Now she's a little older, we figured it might be more fun. She has tried finger crochet (making chain stitches with one's fingers) in kindergarten, and in her opinion "someone who has tried finger crochet, could probably do many things".
So. Since I recently rediscovered my spool knitters, I got the idea that she might try that first.
And it's a success. First we tried with some sports weight wool. I thought it would be good because of the elasticity. It turned out to be too thick, so we changed it to some fingering cotton. The yarn is soft, but unflexible. And it tends to split. Anyway, she immediately got it. As in doing it without help after a couple of minutes. And she took care in grabbing all the little strands of every stitch. My kid is a genious. (Me, I'm completely unbiassed.)
When she had to take a break, I snuck in a few rounds to give her some progress. It will be interesting to see if she stays with it. For now, she's thrilled. She ran back to her knitting after lunch.

I have been awarded

2008-02-03T08:50:00.000+01:00

Fluffbuff honoured me with the "You make my day" award. Merete also kind of did, I got 'honorary mention' on her blog! I'm very flattered and happy to recieve this kind of attention. Thanks, guys! You both make my day, too.

Since I'm not a fan of tags and memes, I'm not passing this on as a tag.
What I will do, is I'll refer you to my links page. There you'll find a few of my favourites (my list in Bloglines is far longer). Visit a few of those blogs if you find some that you haven't read before. You won't be disappointed!

not exactly breaking news

2008-01-26T16:47:00.001+01:00

...but we're getting real sunsets again. The returning light in late January is better than any vitamin pill.

I recently learned that there's a spool knitter group on Flickr. Take a look, you'll be surprised to see how many different kinds of knitting bobbins/tricotins/påtdockor/strikkeliser there are. There's also a blog. I added my Strikkelise photos to the pool, and realized I hadn't photographed my 1970's one.

Here they are, all my Strikkelises (yes, that's were I got my nick).
The left one is from the mid or late 70's. My father brought it home from a trip abroad, I think it's from Britain. Or maybe Denmark.
The middle, unpainted one I bought in Sweden last autumn. I only tried it once with a yarn that turned out to be too thin.
The right one I inherited from my mother. I guess it's about 55 years old. From crazyhaberdasher's blog I've learned that this is probably a Spear's Knitting Nancy. It's unusually big, about 30 cm tall, has anyone seen them this size before?
On my two old Strikkelises I've knit yards and yards of I-'cord or, as we used to call it, horse reins.

Dear blogiversary giveaway winners, your parcels are in the mail. Dear other readers, nice to know more about you than I did before!

I discovered a new Oslo knitblogger through the comments (hi, knitxx0r), and through her blog I rediscovered LOLcats. I hadn't been there for ages, but my, there's some good, stupid fun in there.

knitxx0r asked about the Oslo Sn'B, and here it is again, a link to the blog. If you are in Oslo, longt term or just passing through, you are welcome to join us! We're at Bagel&Juice in Vika, every 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. Bonus night this Tuesday, 29th January.

Ancient history

2008-01-24T11:54:00.001+01:00

Petunia posted a challenge on her blog; show the first thing you knitted or crocheted. Here goes:

I went through some old photo albums, and there it was: my first sweater. This scanned photo is from 1986, but as far as I remember, the sweater was finished in 1981.
It's not my first ever FO, but it's my first big project. Also my first attempt at stranded knitting. My mother was with me all the way, and she did the cutting and sewing. But I did the knitting myself.

Specs:
Pattern: Fana sweater (traditional Norwegian pattern) from Sandnes garn.
Yarn: Peer Gynt.
Needles: metal circulars and dpns from my mother's stash.

Sadly, I don't remember what became of the sweater. I probably gave it away at some point. A sweet thing is that my daughter got a Fana sweater from my aunt, in almost exactly these colours, a few years ago.

After this I made quite a few colourwork sweaters, and even more mohair ones. The really big thing was improvised intarsia. Like, "cast on something purple, then add some asymmetrical (this was the 80s) splashes of black and take it from there". I doubt that I've made a whole adult sized garment after 1990. I've tried, but not hard enough. Patience is not my middle name.

Now, I'm passing on the challenge. Do you still have your first ever FOs, or photos of them? Dig'em out and show'em off! Please tell me in the comments if you do.