Not so matching stripes

I had these skeins of Eventyr yarn in grey and purple/orange that I didn't know what to knit. I have tried to knit a pair of socks with just the purple/orange, but as the stripes doesn't match at all, they didn't look good. So I finally just decided to cast on a pair of stripy socks together with the grey (who also didn't have matchy stripes..). And despite one of the socks having more of the orange I quite like them.

Ravelry project page
Pattern: 64 sts, 2x2 rib, 1 row of 1 purple 1 grey, then 3 rows of grey, 1 row of 1 grey, 1 purple, 3 rows of purple and so on. I made a german short row heel.
Yarn: 77 g Eventyr in #901 and #903
Needles: 2,5 mm / US 1.5

With the leftovers I have casted on a pair of Ludwig socks. They are fun to knit and the patterning is made by mosaic knitting, or slipped stitches, which makes a cool effect. 

Macro Monday :: Lingon Berry Flowers

Macro Monday :: Nature Notes

We went for a little hike in the forest yesterday, in the rain. Which always makes the forest smell so good! The Lingonberries is in full bloom now and by the looks of all the flowers, it looks like it will be lots of berries this fall.

Macro Monday :: "Coffee Flowers"

Macro Monday :: Nature Notes

Yesterday my daughter had a little birthday party with her friends, so the rest of us went hiking in the forest to our lean-to so she could have the house by herself for a couple of hours. I brought some needles and yarn and casted on a pair of thick wool socks the perfect project to knit on in the forest. Around our fire pit a lot of Dwarf Cornels grows and they are in full bloom right now. We call this flower for "kaffeblomst" or "coffeeflowers" because the black flowers looks like small coffee beans ;)

The white leaves in the top of the plant are not petals but regular leaves that have lost chlorophyll. The flowers are small and black and are seated in an inflorescence. What looks like a big white flower is really a collection of many small black flowers. When the flowers mature, they turn into crispy stone fruits eaten by birds and animals.

Almost too hot to knit

Summer came over night last week and we went from 3 C and snow to 23 C and sun from a clear blue sky! The trees turned green over night and I had to plant the potatoes and get all my vegetables out of the greenhouse and out in the kitchen garden. It's been warm and wonderful over a week now and some days it has been almost too hot to knit. I found some Fabel yarn leftovers and decided to cast on a pair of socks - the perfect mindless knitting project. I am blending the two colours together and I am pleasantly surprised how they turned out :) They are ready for the heels and I am going to make a german short row heel.

Macro Monday :: Cloudberry Flowers

Macro Monday :: Nature Notes 

The Cloudberries are in full bloom on the marshes, so hopefully there will be lots of berries to pick in a few months :)

The Arctic Shawl

I've been test knitting this shawl for Nordic Stitches and as summer finally arrived this week I will not need it for a while. But it's big, warm and soft so it will be great to wear when it gets cold again.

I used various types of babywool and sisu, so it's a great pattern for leftovers. The pattern was easy to memorize and perfect for tv-knitting :)

Ravelry project page

Pattern: Arctic Shawl

Yarn: 177 g babywool and sisu, see my project page on Ravelry for the different colours

Needles: 3,5 mm / US 4

Florisse Socks

With the lack of flowers outside it's great to have a few on my feet instead ;)
This is the Florisse socks and they turned out just the way I imagined when I bought the purple skein of Nordlys yarn.

Ravelry project page
Pattern: Florisse by Bitta Mikkelborg
Yarn: Nordlys purple #969 and Silja white #302
Needles: 2,5 mm / US 1.5

The gusset decrease is under the foot which I think is a neat detail!

Macro Monday :: Straight-Leaved Apple-Moss

Macro Monday :: Nature Notes

Spring is late this year and we still have lots of snow on the ground. But here and there in the forest things have started to sprout and grow despite the cold and snow. Like this moss - the Straight-leaved Apple-moss (Bartramia ithyphylla - stivkulemose in Norwegian). They are tiny tiny and very fascinating. 

Loppa :: Flea Cardigan

I have had the pattern for the Loppa cardigan in my queue for quite some time. So when I saw that Skeindeer and Voolenvine was going to have a kal for it I knew it was time to cast it on. I decided not to buy new yarn for it as I want to knit down my stash. I had some grey and pink Tove from my Setesdalkofte I knitted earlier this year so I'm hoping it will be enough grey for the main colour. I am going to knit the sleeves first and what is left will be the body. I don't mind if it will turn out to be a short kofte. And with some Ask and some other unknown wool from my stash for the fleas and the yoke I think this will be a warm and cozy kofte :)

Close To You Shawl

I might have mentioned it before, but I have a box of skeins that can not be used for socks as there isn't any nylon or polyamid  in them. And at the beginning of each month my youngest pick one skein that he likes. In May he picked an old skein from Spunkey Eclectic. It's a 100 % merino yarn and the colourway is Kentucky Derby. I knew it had to become a shawl and I have had the Close to you shawl in my queue since it came out, so it seems like the perfect match.

It's the perfect size for this type of scarf shawl. And I think it's a little bit more elegant than i.e the Hitchhiker because of the lace part.

Ravelry project page
Pattern: Close to you (free pattern) by Justyna Lorkowska
Yarn: 110 g Skinny Sock #Kentucky Derby
Needles: 3,5 mm / US 4

A very unstyled photo of how I wear it ;) The colours are not right here, they are more like the photo above.