Jane Eyre

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

"Orphaned into the household of her Aunt Reed at Gateshead, subject to the cruel regime at Lowood charity school, Jane Eyre nonetheless emerges unbroken in spirit and integrity. She takes up the post of governess at Thornfield, falls in love with Mr. Rochester, and discovers the impediment to their lawful marriage in a story that transcends melodrama to portray a woman's passionate search for a wider and richer life than Victorian society traditionally allowed. With a heroine full of yearning, the dangerous secrets she encounters, and the choices she finally makes, Charlotte Bronte's innovative and enduring romantic novel continues to engage and provoke readers."


I thoroughly enjoyed the story from beginning to end, and was really sad to finish it. This is such a unique romance, with well developed characters. I should have read this a long time ago!

And I'm so looking forward to the new movie :)

View all my reviews

Yarn Along

Joining Ginny over at Small Things for Yarn Along
"~ Two of my favorite things are knitting and reading, and the evidence of this often shows up in my photographs. I love seeing what other people are knitting and reading as well. So, what are you knitting or crocheting right now? What are you reading? ... ~"

Right now I'm reading Jane Eyre. I love books, films and tv series from this period! I have no good reason why I haven't read this book before... It's so good, and I'm just halfway through. Hopefully the rest of the book will live up to my expectations. After finishing Eirin's Totoro mittens, I could finally cast on The Inspired Cardigan which I'm test knitting for Maya. I'm knitting mine in black. And I'm not sure if I dare to admit this, but even though I have a pair of socks on my needles too, I'm actually starting to gt a bit fed up with sock knitting.... So it looks like this year I might be able to knit up  few other things. Like a few jackets, shawls and some toys. The kids really like to play Little big planet on their ps3, so I think I'll to make them a Sackboy each :) Just need to decide on which pattern I should choose. I think I'll go for one of the crochet one.

Totoro Mittens :)

January is coming to an end and so is the NaKniMitMo.

My third pair of mittens came off my needles this morning. Hopefully Eirin will love them as much as I do when she comes home from school. I really must make a pair for myself too :)

Pattern: Norwegian Totoro Mittens. I ended up with a thumb pattern like this, because the one in the pattern got so tight.
Yarn: Mor Aase superwash, 50 g each colour.
Needles: 3 mm.
Size: 8 years.

Astrid and Veronika

Astrid and Veronika by Linda Olsson

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

So beautifully written that it almost hurt a little. I had to put the book in my lap very often, just to dwell on those beautiful words.
And the end made my cry..

"With extraordinary emotional power, Linda Olsson's stunningly well-crafted debut novel recounts the unusual and unexpected friendship that develops between two women. Veronika, a young writer, rents a house in a small Swedish village as she tries to come to terms with a recent tragedy while also finishing a novel. Her arrival is silently observed by Astrid, an older, reclusive neighbor who slowly becomes a presence in Veronika's life, offering comfort in the form of companionship and lovingly prepared home-cooked meals. Set against a haunting Swedish landscape, Astrid and Veronika is a lyrical and meditative novel of love and loss, and a story that will remain with readers long after the characters' secrets are revealed."

Rainbow waffles, sort of....

Eirin needed a pair of new socks, so I dived into my stash to see if I could find some fun colours. I ended up with this ball, thinking it would make some cute rainbow looking stripes.

As you can see, that didn't happend. I really hoped the whole sock would have stripes like the heels and toes... And ofcourse one of the socks had to get a blue part of pooling too... But in the end, Eirin dosen't care and the socks will still keep her feet warm.
Pattern: Blueberry Waffle Socks.
Yarn: 45 g Sisu #4438.
Needles: 2,5 mm.

Playing in the snow

We've spent hours outdoors today - sledding, kick sledding and building snow forts and caves :)

Hubby have a rather "weird" hobby -  he collect us military stuff  o-0
But I must confess that I think the tent is quit useful ;) There's a oven in it, so we can fire with wood to make it warm and cosy. Great for warming up after playing out in the snow :)

We're hoping for great weather tomorrow too. I'd liked to go skiing ;)
I've finished a pair of socks, but more about that another day. Tonight I'm going to knit on a pair of Totoro mittens for Eirin :) Have a great Saturday night!

Mitten Month

January is NaKniMitMo (National Knitting Mitten Month). I've just managed to knit two pairs so far. Both pairs are for Erlend.

I'm definitaly making more of these mittens. So easy to knit up and they become thick and warm. I knit the first row instead of purling both rows for the slipped st rows, so I wouldn’t have those dots.
Pattern: Newfoundland Mittens - free pattern here :)
Yarn: Mor Aase superwash, 50 g each colour.
Needles: 3 mm.

Pattern: Lopi mittens.
Yarn: Mor Aase superwash, 50 g each colour.
Needles: 3,5 mm

The winner is...

... Rose Thorne :)

I'll contact you at Ravelry to get your address.

Boy, it's cold outside...

We're in a cold periode - again... It's been -30C for a couple of days now. To cold to go out to play, so the kids are climbing the walls here 'sigh' Needless to say that I think we've had our share of cold this winter!
But the sky and tree looks beautiful though..

Endre needed a new wool pants, so I casted on for a pair during christmas. The colours are a bit dull in the picture, they are much more bright in real life :)
Pattern: Monsterbukse, but without the monster ;)
Yarn: Mor Aase superwash
Needles: 2,5 , 3 and 3,5 mm
Size: 5-6 year

Don't forget my book giveaway :)

52 books in 52 weeks update & A giveaway!

Those of you who have been reading my blog for a while know I've been reading some (alot of) books ;)

However there haven't been many in December. Mostly because I've read The Mists of valon, a brick of a book, which I loved!  And I must say I'm pretty impressed with myself for reading 122 books in one year when I was aiming for 52 :)
 
December
119 - Bloodline - Maggie Shayne
120 - The Alchemy of Murder - Carol McClear
121 - Ragnarok - Tom Egeland
122 - The Mists of Avalon - Mrion Zimmer Bradley

Now for the giveaway. I want you to tell me which book(s) you enjoyed most in 2010 and if there are some book(s) you are looking forward to in 2011. The price will be this necklace and the 1st book in the Hollow series - Dead Witch Walking,  which by the way have been my favourite series last year :) 
On the book on the necklace says it : "Hva er livet uten bøker?" = "What's life without books?"
I'll draw a winner on Sunday 9th :)

I have some books I'm looking forward to :)

* The Land of Painted Caves, Earth Children #6 by Jean M. Auel. (March 29th)
- I love this series! And I've been waiting for this book for years. It's one of those books you buy in hardcover edition because you just can't wait for the pocket book to be released ;) 

*Dead Reckoning, Southern Vampire Mysteries #11 by Charlaine Harris. (May 11th)

 * Heartless by Gail Carriger. (July)
- I really must get myself together and read Blameless first ;) If you haven't read this series - you must!! 

* Lover Unleashed, BBD #9 by J.R. Ward. (March 29th)
- This is my favourite vampire series, no doubt!

*  This Side of the Grave, Night Huntress #5 by Jeaniene Frost. (February 22nd)

* Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. (January 25th) 

* The Witch's Daughter by Paula Brackston. (January 18th)

* Graveminder by Melissa Marr. (May 17th)

* The Girl In The Steel Corset ,Steampunk Chronicles Book 1 by Kady Cross. (June 1st)
- A new Steampunk series, I can hardly wait!! 

* Song for Erabu #2 by Kristine Tofte. I've heard the book is going to be published in the fall.

2010 in pictures

Another year has gone by so quikly... I feel like I haven't had time to do all the things I wanted to... But I guess that's just how it feels like each time we are about to start a new year. This year I'm not going to make any resolutions. Instead I'm going to look at the new as a sheet of white paper that I can colour and draw on as I wish :) In a norwegain song about a little boy that tries to draw a picture there is a line like this:

"Du ska få en dag i mårå som rein og ubrukt står, med blanke ark og farjestifter tel,

og da kæin du rette oppatt æille feil ifrå i går, og da får du det så godt i mårrå kveld."

"You will have a day tomorrow that clean and unused stands, with a blank sheet of paper and crayons,

and then you can correct all errors outstanding yesterday, and you'll feel well tomorrow night."

I've been making two collages using a free program Shape Collage. This one is showing all the things I've knitted and crocheted in 2010. I made 71 things all together :) Mostly socks this year too... I haven't joined any big kal's for next year. I've finally learned that all that comes out of it is me being grumpy ;) But I'm going to do the NaKniMitMo in January. Some of us really need new mittens :) I've also joined the 12in2011 group on Ravelry. It's not a kal, but a group to encourage each other to use up yarn and pattern we already have. I've made a list of 12 project I'm going to try to get done during next year. It might look like a boring list to some, not many challenging and big project going on. But these are things I've had in my queue for a long time and I really want to make them.
So do you have any big plans for what you'll make next year??

This is a collage made of some of the pictures I've taken during the year when we've been hiking and exploring the outdoors :) Looks like it's mostly winter pictures, but that is what it feels like up here in the north too... It seems like the year consist of 7-8 months of winter and cold and only 4-5 months of summer and warmth ;)

Hope you all will have a wonderful new year filled will good memories!!

Finally weather for sledding, skiing, skating and snow lanterns :)

Orange sky

 

We are having cold weather again, -23C yesterday, -20C today... So the kids are having lots of ants in their pants these days because they haven't been outdoors in a few days 'sigh'. No need to say I'm looking forward to school starting again next week ;) The weather forcast tell us that we have some warmer weather and snow to come, so I really hope we can head out in the forest soon. We get to see some beautiful colours on the sky now that it's so clear. The sun is slowly making her way back to us, and today around 13.20 the sky was all orange. So I just had to run out and take a picture -almost  freezing my nose and fingers off ;)

Merry Christmas

It's the night before the night here. It's snowing outside so we're going to have a white christmas this year :)
The gifts are under the tree and we have all in order for our dinner tomorrow. We're having my mom, my sister and my brother for dinner. In Norway people have "ribbe" or "pinnekjøtt" for Christmas dinner. We have both - they are both so good it's hard to choose just one ;) For dessert we have "riskrem", and it has to be my mom's :) We serve it with a rasberry sause.
The kids are excited and I guess some will have troubles going to sleep tonight ;) And not to mention how long the day is going to feel tomorrow. We don't open our presents until after dinner here in Norway.

I hope all of you will have a wonderful Christmas!!

Sleep well, little children.

Sleep well, little children,

wherever you are;
Tomorrow is Christmas
beneath every star.
Soon the snowflakes will fall
and tomorrow you'll see
Every wish, one and all,
waiting under the tree.

Sleep well, little children,
pleasant dreams through the night;
Tomorrow is Christmas,
all merry and bright.
Soon you'll hear the bells ring,
time for dreams to come true
As the world wakes to bring
Merry Christmas to you.


A.Bergman, L.Klatzkin (c) 1956

Tiny socks

A tiny pair of socks for my shop. I've casted on for a matching pair of mittens too ;)

Pattern: It's a traditional norwegian pattern, and I think I've pulled it out of some kind of christmas magazine one year ;)
Yarn: Silja sock yarn
Needles: 2,5 mm
Size: 6.12 months

The weather is back to cold again after a few days with warm teperatures and rain. Enough rain to make the roads slippery again :(
But not enough to melt the little snow we have, so the water seems to have enough isolation to prevent it from freezing ;)
And with a clear sky the polar nights dosn't feel so dark, we could even see the sun paint the clouds pink the other day! And it's not many days until she turns, so the days will get lighter again :)

 

Remember the moose family we had wandering around our house last week??

Well, they left us after a few days and started to walk into the inland and the woods there. Like most of the mooses do. But on the way the mommy got hit by a tractor :( And they had to kill her due to her injuries...

I'm pretty sure it's the same family we had here, because she got hit not far from here and she had two little calves... So I really hope they will survive the winter. They need a winter with little snow to manage that.

Hats :)

I've been knitting some hats lately ;) They're all for my Epla shop.

Pattern: Hello Kitty hat.
Yarn: I've used a yarn with a wool/acrylic blend (Mor Aase ull/akryl)
Needles: 3,5 mm
Size: Pink flower - 2-3 years, purple flower - 4-5 years

This is a baby hat, about 0-4 months in size. Knitted in merino wool. Pattern is from an old norwegian booklet, I just added the ears and face ;)

Pattern: Norwegain sweet Baby cap and the mittens are made up as I knitted along. They are without a thumb.
Yarn: Less then 50 g of Babyull from Gjestal
Needles: 2,5 mm
Size: 0-4 months