December light

Photos taken on the darkest day here in the north.
We might have polar nights and no sun, but the light is awesome!                              

Julekuler & Julehjerter

These are the balls and hearts I have made so far. As our tree already is decorated to the brim, I had to put them up on birch branches instead. And I like how it turned out.

Pattern: Julekuler and Med hjerte for strikk
Yarn: Fingering yarn such as babyull i.e
Needles: 2,5 mm

Happiness is

When Endre ask me to learn him how to knit ♥

FO :: Cowls

Two more cowls are off the needles. The last one was a bit boring those last few rows... But I still like the look of this cowl and need to knit myself one soon ;) Eirin has been asking who I am knitting the pink one for and has asked me if I can make one for her too. So I know she will be happy when she open her present :)

Pattern: Same as the grey cowl.
Yarn: 150 g pink and white Thea
Needles: 4 mm
Size: The white is 250 st and the pink 230 st

FO :: Socks

The light is bad for photo taking of projects now, so this was the best I could get during the little daylight we have in the middel of the day ;)
Erlend's socks are done and I think they will end up in his stocking on Christmas morning. Just need to finish a cowl and a hat so the other two also get something in their stockings too...

Pattern: Cuff down, 64 st, k2, p2 ribbing, short row heel and st st for the foot.
Yarn: 62 g Drops Fabel #521p - I really like this colorway, real boyish colours :)
Needles: 2,5 mm

Started: December 2 2012

Completed: December 13 2012

Not on schedule...

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

 

I am not on schedule with my christmas knitting - not at all... I have five gifts on the needles (two pair of socks are not in the photo..), two I haven't casted on yet and I have just started to stuff my Julekuler. Hopefully I will have them done today, and maybe a pair of socks.
Remember a few weeks ago when I said I didn't knit a lot of gifts? Well, I wasn't going to cast on more, but they are mostly for the kids and other close family members that I know will appreciate the gifts!

So what's on those needles?
Knitting: Julekuler. I love how fast these balls knits up and they dosen't need much yarn either. I hope I'll manage to knit up a few more :) 
The socks are for Erlend who finally has started to wear knitted socks :) It's a simple cuff down with k2, p2 rib, short row heel and st st over the fot.
The white and pink are cowls just like the grey one I made a while ago. They are both gifts, the pink is for Eirin. 

Reading: Right now I listen to the audiobook of City of the Beast. So far after listening to 3 of 8 cd's, it's ok. Hopefully it will start to get more exciting. I also read at night and those books can you find in the sidebar ;)

The tradition here in Norway is to put up and decorate the tree on the 23rd - Christmas Eve, but I feel we need to feel a bit of christmas mood before the 24th, so we put up the tree two weeks before so we can enjoy it longer :) I know some thinks it's not right, but I feel one doesn't have to grow stuck in old traditions, but make new ones that fits the way one live.

Blue hour with -17 C and frost fog

Wordless Wednesday :: Outdoor Wednesday

Ice skating

This year I have made an advent calendar with a combination of activities and a few presents.
Today we went ice skating :)

The ice on the little lake in our town has safe ice now and at the library we can borrow skates :)
The boys didn't want to try them on, but maybe next time ;)

We didn't stay for long as the wind was so freezing cold... But we managed to watch the fireworks as the Pepperkakebyen (Gingerbreadtown) opened :) We will visit it another day.

FO :: Simple Cowl

A lot of knitters are knitting this cowl here in Norway. I am not sure who or where the pattern comes from, but I found the pattern on Strikkesida (a knitting group on facebook).
It's a very simple pattern and knits up really fast. This is a gift, but I think I have to knit me one and maybe one to Eirin too :)

Pattern: CO 250 st join for knitting in the round
Row 1 and 2: k1, p1
Row 3 knit
Row 4 purl
Repeat until the size you want and bind off :)
Yarn: 150 g Thea from Trysil garn. Yes, I know it's 100% acrylic, but it's great for those who get's itchy around the neck of wool - which includes my daughter, so if I'll knit her one it will be with this yarn too. It's very soft and shiny and ok to knit with. It doesn't squeak on te needles as some acrylic does ;)
Needles: 4 mm

Frost fog

We still have a few hours of daylight in the middle of the day and today we also had frost fog that gave the landscape a little touch of magic.

It's been a great Weekend with sleeping late, movie night with Hubby watching Dark Shadows, knitting, sledding, snow lanterns, feeding the birds, candlelights and knowing it's just a week until Advent starts :)
Hope you are having a great Sunday!

Selfish knitter..?

Maybe I am... I had this idea about homemade christmas gifts this year. But so far I have only made three and I don't feel like knitting more... Partly because I want to knit everything else and partly because I don't feel that everyone deserves my knitted items...
The thought behind a homemade gift whether it is knitted or made in another way is good, and I really like the idea. But I think I start too late each year so it becomes more like a duty than a cozy moment with my crafting.
How do you feel about all this?
Do you make your gifts?
Do you start arly or do you knit like crazy the last weeks?

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

Knitting: I casted on a Julekule yesterday and before I knew it I had made three. They really are a fast knit and they are so pretty! I also casted on a heart and love it! I plan to knit lots of these so I can decorated with them in December :)

Reading: Heartless has been put aside for The Glass Books of the Dream Eaters (Miss Temple, Doctor Svenson, and Cardinal Chang #1). I am halfway throug the 800 pages and I find it hard to put down at nights.

Note to self

Always check out all the projects with helpfull notes before you start a big project!
I didn’t, so my Dollar and a half cardigan has been frogged :(
I was looking on other projects to see how others had fixed it so that the pattern would come on line on the body and the sleeves. And then I found all the "problems" with this cardigan...
The front pieces are designed to be narrower than the back piece, so it might be an idea to knit them a size bigger. I wish I had found out earlier that you need to go down 2 needles sizes for the reverse stockinette part so it has the same gauge as the lace pattern. And if I try to knit this cardigan again, which I really would like, I would knit stockinette instead of reverse stockninette as I think it looks better and the reverse stockinette can be hard to block.

But since I really want a black cardigan that goes with everything, I have started another cardigan :)
And no, I won't try to finish it this month for the NaKniSweMo as it would not be a fun knit...

It's growing

Knitting: My Dollar and a half cardigan is growing. I have half a sleeve done and a little bit left before I start to shape armholes on the back. The pattern is easy to memorize, but the black makes it hard on the eyes when I knit. You kow we don't have much daylight here nowsi I knit like crazy those few hours ;)
I have also started to knit x-mas gifts. This year there will be a lot of socks and a couple of cowls I think.

Reading: If you like books about books, you have to read Libri di Luca (or The Library of Shadows in English). I started to read it this weekend and have a couple of chapters left. Very exciting so I'll finish it tonight. I am also reading Heartless, the 4th book in the Parasol Protectorate series. I am only a few chapters in, but I hope it will be as good as the other books in the series.

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

Casting on

Yesterday when I was browsing through blogs I saw someone who was taking part in NaKniSweMo. So I had to check it out and desided to knit the Dollar and a half cadigan.
I might be crazy starting a week later than the others, but I hope I can manage to finish it by the end of the month.

FO :: Felted mittens

I took a dive into my feltable yarn before the weekend as I found out I wanted to knit some felted mittens for the two youngest. So after a swim in the washingmachine yesterday they came out a little big... The biggest pair fits me. I'd love to have them as they are soft and warm, but Eirin needs them more. So I think I'll soak them in water and put them in the dryer too see if they will shrink some more ;)

Before felting.
Pattern: Tykt og tovet from the book Strikk tilbehør.
Yarn: Finull, pt2 and other unknown wool. Blue mittens 58 g and pink 75 g.
Needles: 7 mm

And I have started my x-mas knitting. This is "raggsokker" which is thick wool socks :) Hopefully I'll manage to knit up some pair this week.

FO :: Ornament

Remember back in April/May that I told you I was reknitting an old model for an upcoming norwegian knitbook? Well, the book is published and I got my copy today :)

Here is the hat and jacket I knitted with s lot of help from my mother. Without her it would not have been done as I didn't know I had to do steeking!! So I am giving my mom the book as a thank you since the pattern in it is from 2-8 years and that's too small for my kids... My mom knits jackets and sweaters much faster than I do and she knits for a lot of friends and family so I think the book will be used a lot :)
I am not sure why the pattern appears to be a bit asymmetrical the further up you look at the jacket, but I guess it might have something to do with the buttons or the buttonbands... It bothers me a bit, but it's nothing I can do about it now...

Photo from Tove Fevang's facebook page. I like this photo better than the one in the book ;)

Pattern: Ornament
Yarn: Smart from Sandnes Garn, about 350 g each of red and white.
Needles: The pattern calls for 3 and 3,5 mm, but I had a hard time getting the right gauge so I used 4 mm.
Size: 8 years

I really love the sweater on the book cover!

Tove Fevang has delved into the archives to Sandnes Uldvarefabrikk and found traditional patterns dating back to the 1950's. The result is this book, which includes patterns for beloved garments and patterns all adapted to our time.