Our take on Halloween

You either love or hate Halloween here in Norway. It's not many years since the tradition came and it seems to grow each year. Our kids don't go trick or treat as I don't like Halloween that much, yet...
So instead we have made a graveyard cake and have watched "The Nightmare Before Christmas" tonight.

Cold

It's cold too be in late October...
Today we woke up to -15 C and the sun doesn't make any warmth as she barely can be seen over the treetops where we live. In about a months time she will be gone for a couple of months and we have polar nights again. Hopefully this snow will not melt as it makes the days lighter.

And as someone commented in the snowman post

...and while it must be a bit exciting to be getting snow, I am guessing the novelty wears off eventually, living so far north.

Yes, it does. We are pretty much ready for spring when March starts... But some years the snow doesn't come until February/March and melt again in June, so the winters can be very different from year to year...
But I like those winters with snow from Nov due to the said polar nights. A winter without snow in those dark months can be hard.

Winter's first snowman

Peasoup and pancakes

We woke up to another 15 cm of fresh snow this morning, but before the kids got on the schoolbus it had started to rain. So now it's all a slushy mess outside and the wind is howling. They say it will be a bit stormy tonight so it's the perfect weather for some comfort food :)

I think we norwegians eats pancakes a bit different than the rest of you ;) Of course we eat them with sugar, blueberries or even bacon, but we also eat them as dinner together with a bowl of peasoup.

And you know Endre is allergic to eggs, so I make two sorts of pancakes. You might think that's silly as the rest of us can eat the same as Endre, but that's just one of the things I do ;) Recepie with eggs  and  without eggs.

Yellow Peasoup

1 salted pork knuckle
500 g dried split peas
2 liters of water
50 g sliced ​​celery root
2 sliced carrots
100 g sliced ​​rutabaga
1 sliced onion
4 sliced potatoes
1 teaspoon thyme 
Salt and pepper

Add the peas to soak overnight.
Boil the ham knuckle in the water and let it simmer for about 1/2- 1 hour. Remove the foam formed during boiling.
Rinse the peas that have been soaked overnight and put them in the soup.
Boil further for about 15-20 min. 
Add the vegetables to the soup with thyme.
Cook furtherfor about  20 min.
Take the ham knuckle out of the soup. Cut off all the meat and cut the meat into smaller pieces and  put back into the soup. Let it simmer until the peas are tender.
Season the soup with salt and pepper.
If the soup is too thick just add some more water.

Serve with pancakes with sugar.

Hubby has done the dishes so I can cuddle up in the sofa with some knitting. Not sure if I shall knit on my socks or if I should cast on a christmas gift...
Have a great weekend everyone!

FO's :: Owlet mittens and Skull Cowl #2

I've had these mittens in my queue for a long time and when Eirin wanted a new pair of mittens she picked the yarn and I the pattern ;)
Vottene er med i Pinnekrokens oktoberutfordring.

Pattern: Owlet
Yarn: Østlandsgarn 20 g pink and 52 g purple
Needles: 3,5 mm, but I see now that I should have used 4 mm as I know they will felt a bit when used in the snow...
Size: A mix of toddler and adult

Endre's Skull Cowl has been done since last week, but I haven't had time to take a photo of it before today.

The proof that there is two ;)
Pattern: The SkullKerchief
Yarn: 50 g Mayflower Hit Parade #4217and 5 g Patons Australia Caressa DK 8ply #4550

Needles: 4 mm
Modifications: Instead of knitting a kerchief I made this into a cowl. I casted on 95 sts.

And we woke up to snow today - yay!!

Fall Into Reading Question: WHO

It's already a month since I listed my books for the Fall Into Reading challenge and Katrina had a question yesterday.

Is there an author (or authors) whose books you are always watching for? Do you jump to snatch up the latest literary offering from certain specific authors? In other words, who are your go-to authors?

Well, I love The Hollows series by Kim Harrison. Right now I have the 10th book - A Perfect Blood on the night stand. If you like urban fantasy you have to try these books :)

I also like the Ethan Gage series by William Dietrich.
And even though I only have read the first book in the Nina Wilde & Eddie Chase series by Andy McDermott, I am always looking for the newest book in the series ;)

And you might wonder how it goes with my reading challenge..? So far I have read 6 of the 27 books in my list.

On the needles and between pages

Keep Calm Craft On :: WIP Wednesday :: Yarn Along

Reading: I finished Edgar Sawtelle and I both liked it and couldn't quite get the hang of it... It might be a bit slow in the beginning, but then in the last part of the book you start to feel a connection to Edgar. And then the end - what was that all about?? I'm not going to give away any spoilers, but come on, you don't end a book like that!
So after me being a bit disappointed of Edgar Sawtelle, I really enjoy reading His Majesty's Dragon :) Just have to love that dragon! I hope to finish it tonight so I can start the 2nd book tomorrow.

Knitting: If you haven't seen the finished Stripy sweater go check it out. And my Zigzag socks from last week are also done.
On the needles now are the 2nd Skull cowl. I think I'll get it done today. Just have a few rows left. The purple socks I had started on last week and maybe was going to me Eirin's are now being mine ;) Love the colour. They are a plain toe-up and I think I'll knit a ribbed cuff. And the last project is a shawl for my mom. She had a gigantic ball of Big Ball Soft by Schoeller+Stahl. The pattern is Larch. If I had searched a bit on Ravelry, I might have knitted this shawl instead, but the yarn is so "hairy" that ripping is hard. But the shawl will be very soft.

Wordless Wednesday :: Rowan Berries

Wordless Wednesday :: Outdoor Wednesday

FO :: Zigzag Socks

Zigzag socks are done and I think they will be gifted to someone ;) The right sock looks like it has a bigger heel, but it's just that I haven't put the sock properly on the sockblocker...

Pattern: Zigzag socks
Yarn: 64 g Sock by Ripples Crafts Hand Dyed Yarns #Assynt Jewel. The colours are a bit more darker in real life.

Needles: 2,5 mm

Close up of the pattern. It looks like cables, but it just decreasing and yarn overs :)

And I just have to show you another frost photo. It's just so beautiful when the sun comes up!! She is very low on the sky now and she will leave us soon for almost two months.

Macro Monday :: Frost

We woke up to almost -10 C today, so the world was covered in frost. But when the sun came up it glittered so beautiful :)

Macro Monday :: I Heart Macro

FO :: Stripy raglan

It's finally done! I didn't think it would take me over a month to finish it, but some time along the way I got very bored with the stripes...

But I am very pleased with the result and it fits :)

I even remember to knit jogless jogs :)

Pattern: I got the inspiration from a sweater I saw in a norwegian knitting magazine and used a basic raglan pattern.
Yarn: Sisu, 150 g black, 100 g gray and 20 g orange
Needles: 2,5 mm & 3 mm
Size: Ca. 7 years

Mom, aren't you done yet..?!

Genseren er med i Pinnekrokens oktoberutfordring :)

On the needles and between pages

Keep Calm Craft On :: WIP Wednesday :: Yarn Along

It's a gray and rainy day here in the north. It's 2 C outside and it's been snowing in the mountains... So what else is there to do than brew a cup of tea, fire up the woodstove and grab my knitting :)

My Swirl socks are done and so is Erlend's Skull cowl so go check them out :)

Reading: It's the same books as last time, but I've desided to finish up Edgar Sawtelle - I love this book! I really hope there will be a happy ending to this...

Knitting: Do you miss an item on this photo..? Well, that's because the stripy sweater is off the needles - yay! Just have to see if it fits (crossing my fingers) and then I have to sew in all the ends. So hopefully there will be a fo post later this week.
So now I can knit socks :) The pink once was going to be a pair of Van Dyke socks last week, but they got too big for my feet and when I knitted with fewer sts they started to pool... So I casted on another pattern. It's the Zigzag socks from Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Sock Book. The purple once are going to be a pair for Eirin, but I haven't found a pattern yet. Just started the toe ;)
And ofcourse Endre has to have a Skull cowl too, so I've casted on one for him this morning.

FO :: Skull Cowl

Pattern: The SkullKerchief
Yarn: 55 g Mayflower Hit Parade #4217and 5 g Patons Australia Caressa DK 8ply #4550

Needles: 4 mm
Modifications: Instead of knitting a kerchief I made this into a cowl. I used the same number of st.

And my 12 yo still thinks his mom's knitting is cool ;)

Halsen er med i Pinnekrokens oktoberutfordring.

FO :: Swirl socks

Thick, warm and cosy - my Swirl socks are done :)

Pattern: Swirl Socks
Yarn: 124 g Järbo Garn raggi #106
Needles: 3,5 mm

FO :: Larch

I had to hurry out this morning to take some photos when the sun came out :)
The shawl has been done for several days, but it seems like it took ages to dry when I blocked it...

Not sure which side is the rigt one, but I think this one is the prettiest ;)

And since Eirin is at school I had to model it myself. The shawl was a bit small when I casted it off, but blocking do wonders and as you can see it will be more than big enough for Eirin.

Pattern: Larch
Yarn: 177 g Sirdar Snuggly Tiny Tots, not sure which colourway...

Needles: 3,5 mm
Size: I knit the 84 stitch version and got 3 of the lace chart.



Now I'm taking my teacup and my sock knittig with me out on the terrace to soak up some sun while I wait for the kids to come home from school.