I've joined for another year of madness ;)

I know, I must be crazy to attempt another try in knitting 52 pairs of socks in 12 months, but I've joined the next plunge :)
I didn't make it to 52 pairs in the last plunge, but I think 31 pairs of socks knitted in 12 months isn't bad either ;) You can find all the details about yarn, needles and patterns here on my blog or here at Ravelry.

Chocolate chip cookies socks :)

It's been raining during the night, so we woke up to a foggy world this morning. But the clouds blew away and the sun came out after midday :) So out we went. I brought my knitting and manage to finish up this pair of socks for hubby.

Pattern: 60 st, k2, p1.
Yarn: 104 g Mellanraggi #28014 from Järbo Garn
Needles: 3 mm.

Endre and I went to look for coltsfoot, and we found one tiny one. Bad picture, I had to hurry to snap a picture before Endre picked it...

And with all the warm days we've had, the trees are finally starting to turn green :) The snow is almost gone due to the fast melting. But the fast melting has it's bad sides too... A lot of roads have been closed due to flood, landslides and ice in the rivers.

Maybe this little man could help ;)

Seems like we've got ourself a nest in the garden too ;)

Serendipity socks

I've knitted 30 pairs of socks in almost a year . Since the 52 Pair Plunge III ends this month, I have not been able to knit up 52 pairs. But I don't care. I think 30 pairs of socks is great too. And I might manage to squeeze out one or two pairs before May is over ;)

Pattern: Serendipity sock from Sock Club - a great book! And the pattern was so fun and easy to knit. Perfect tv-knitting ;)
Yarn: 77 g Regia Color 4-ply #4157.
Needles: 2,5 mm.

Endre has been home all days this week. Due to playing in the water his been down with a cold and have been a bit asthmatic... So despite the sun is shining, we've been playing inside the last days. He's all into games now, or rather the bits and pieces of all the games ;) He sort out and counts the money and all the other pieces. Right now we're watching The adventure of Clutch Powers ;)

Tomorrow is Ascension day, and that is a holiday here in Norway. The school have a day off on Friday and we have our Norwegian Constitution Day on the 17th of May, so we are having a long weekend with 5 days off :) I managed to squeeze myself in my bunad today (it's been some years since last time I managed to do that...), so I don't have to worry about what to wear on Monday ;)

Vanilla socks & some fuzzy monsters

I had not heard of the term "vanilla socks" until I saw it on the 52 ppiii forum a while ago. And the word “vanilla” is used to mean anything plain,ordinary,simple. I've just knitted 3 pairs of vanilla socks :) They are all knitted on 2,5 mm needles, with 64 st, but they have different ribs. They are all knitted in yarn from Tama's etsy store.

Neopolitian socks
k2, p2 rib.

Strawberry & Cream socks
k1 through the back loop, p1 rib.

Blue & green socks
k1, p1 rib.

I bet a lot of you have some (ugly) fun fur yarns laying around..? I do - in different colours and brands. I'm not sure why I have bought some of it, but I have gotten some in swaps and gifts, so it's not all bought in some crazy, brain dead moment *lol*
Anyway, I didn't know how to use it up so I found out the kids could make pompom monsters of it ;) So I cut out the paper rings, dugged out the yarn and we got to work. Endre got bored after a few minutes... So I had to finish it.

They turned out quite cute after they got eyes on, but and it's a big but. They shed alot of fur. I guess fun fur is not the right type of yarn to make pompoms with... So the fuzzy monsters have to live outside in the playhouse ;)

Yellow lace socks and a sunny snow day :)

This is the March pattern in the Sockamania knitalong. They were a dream to knit up, the pattern was easy to memorize. And I love the way the yarn knit up.

Pattern: "Wearin" O' The Green" by Tama.
Yarn: 76 g ONline Supersocke 100 Florida Color #1130
Needles: 2,5 mm.

The snow has been falling all week, so when we woke up to a sunny day today, we had to head outdoors :)

Remember Blue?? He's one of the toys I've knitted that's been played with alot. Otto is another. And today Eirin requested for another one ;) So I'll have to dive into my stash and see if I have any yarn ;) Maybe it's time for Blue to get a girlfriend *lol*

With all the snow we could finally dig out some snow caves :)

It looks like it will be great weather tomorrow too, so we'll be heading out and up to our lean-to :)
Click on the photo and you'll see where the lean-to is ;)

Have a great weekend!

A bunch of felted mittens

These mittens have been done for a while, I just haven't bloged them yet ;) I've been going through my wip's lately, and have some that are done. I'm just waiting for better weather to take pictures. It's snowing and windy today, so there won't be a photoshot today... I've also frogged a couple of projects - better than getting resentfull each time I see them in my basket.

These are mine :)
Pattern: Nr 179-30 Tovete votter by Bjørg Bertelsen.
Yarn: 100 g Heilo and 30 G Popcorn, both from Dalegarn.
Needles: 4,5 mm.

These are Endre's :)
Pattern: From the book Krymp.
Yarn: Leftovers of finull and pt2. The rib is knitted in superwash so it won't felt.
Needles: 3,5 and 6 mm.

Purple - has to be Eirin's ;)
Pattern: Same as the blue.
Yarn: Hifa 2 ullgarn and Mor Aase superwash.
Needles: 3,5 and 6 mm.

These are Erlend's.
Pattern: Same as my red.
Yarn: The homespun yarn I got in a swap a while ago.
Needles: 4 mm.

I've also knited Endre a pair of woolsocks. I needed something mindless to knit on while I watched tv this weekend ;) I didn't manage to take a picture before he used them, so they look a bit sloppy ;)
Pattern: 48 st, k2, p2.
Yarn: 32 g Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Weight.
Needles: 2,75 mm.
These are my 24th pair since I joined the 52ppiii. And with just 12 weeks left, I don't think I'll manage to knit up 28 more pairs... Ad I'm not going to try to do it either!

We went skiing yesterday. And as you can see Endre had a great time.

The snow was a bit wet, so we managed to make some snow sculptures too :) I'm not sure what this is - a reindeer, a moose or a horse with antlers *lol* Anyway, we had a great time for hours outdoors yesterday, and you can read and see more pictures here.

And the easter coloured yellybeans I got last week was yummy :)

Do you darn socks?

A few days ago someone asked me if I do a lot of darning on all the socks I knit. I don't. Mostly because I knit most socks in a yarn with some kind of nylon blend. In the last 5-6 years hubby and I have worn holes in just a couple of socks. The kids do wear holes in socks if they are knitted in pure wool though. Like the pair under here...

I knitted this pair for Erlend some years ago, but he don't use socks much, so they survived until they fitted Eirin's feet :) But after this winter they have been darn once and not in a pretty way... I have never learned how to darn socks, but there is some great tutorials to find at youtube and here is a great article about reinforcing socks. My mom have a darning mushroom, an old one painted like a toadstool and I think I have to buy one too ;)

I found these two old advertising in Invisible threads in knitting by Annemor Sundbø :)

I like this way to darn holes. By making st around a thread seems like a way to both make the sock stronger and beautiful at the same time.

Despite that I know that they will get holes after a while, I've knitted Eirin a new pair in pure wool ;) After all they keep little feet warmer!
Pattern: Simple k2, p2. 56 st.
Yarn: pt2, 36 g purple #48 and 13 g gray #82.
Needles: 2,5 mm.

# 22/52 Arch-shaped socks

My pair # 22 in the 52 ppiii along and my first project to be added to the WIPs Dancing in the Ravelympics :) I love the colours and it's the first time I'm knitting with a sock yarn with stretch. The yarn feels a bit "loose" when you hold the tread, but it knits up great. And they are good to wear too.

Pattern: Arch-shaped socks by Jen Showalter.
Yarn: 72 g Meilenweit Mega Boots Stretch #503.
Needles: 2,5 mm.
I knitted the toe by decreasing at the end of each needle = 4 st decreased every other row. To make the decrease go oposite ways, I made a ssk at one sock and a k2tog on the other ;)

Happy New Year!!

It's New Years eve and I really can't believe how fast 2009 has gone by. It's been a year filled with both good and bad things. I hope you all will have a new year filled with great experiences, great memories and lots of knitting :) I have been knitting a bit through December, but haven't had the energy to blog about it ;)

Erlend wears out his mittens fast, so I knitted him a new pair in mid December. Luckily he got two pairs of Selbumittens for Christmas too :) I have a grand mother who knits and Hubby's aunt always give the kids mittens or socks for Christmas :)
Pattern: Vante i gåsögonmönster from Vantar, mössor, sockor & sjalar
by Anita Gunnars.
Yarn: 100 g dark brown and 50 brown Trysil Garn Superwash Ullgarn.
Needles: 2,5 and 3,5 mm.

I needed two presents that I could knit up fast, so I made two pairs of fingerless mittens :)
Pattern: Strata from Knitting New Mittens & Gloves
by Robin Melanson.
Yarn: 50 g Trysil Garn Superwash Ullgarn & 50 g Mor Aase superwash.
Needles: 3,5 mm.

And I managed to knit up pair #21 in the 52ppiii along before the year was over. I am way behind and I'm not sure I'll manage to knit 31 pairs before May 31st.... There is so much else I want to knit ;)
Pattern: Just a simple k2, p2 pair of socks with a short row heel. 64 st.
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit 100 Colortweed #1011.
Needles: 2,5 mm.

And last, here is all the stuff I've knitted during 2009 :) I still have projects that are on the needles and I've froggd a few too ;)