So cute!

I finished the first sock last night, started the second one today (otherwise it would just be one sock.....). I added a row of skulls at the toe. I find them cute, looking up at me like that:) Yes, I am slightly odd.

Not easy taking pictures of your own leg, but here it is, in its full length.

I like the way the striped patterns shapes the form, a very Norwegian'ish way of doing it. Socks like this (without the skulls, but with the black and white patterns of roses and stripes) are originally used by men with the folk costumes, which we call Bunad.
The sole of the foot is striped, too. I added the stripes on the toes to bring the pattern back.

You find the pattern on Ravelry. It is called Selbudeath (the original rose is called Selburose normally:)), and it is free!

Death becomes her

I found this delightful pattern on Ravelry, a Norwegian pattern with a slight twist. I find it suits my inner goth:)
This little one, (well, actually, he is over a year now, I guess he stops being little after a while?) will soon be receiving his test quilt. I just can't stop myself posting his pictures, he is just so cute in his new haircut:)

I finished quilting and binding the cat quilt yesterday. Will get it over to his mom soon.

I am looking forward to see if he likes sleeping on it, or maybe batiks aren't as good to sleep on as other cotton? We shall find out soon.

Other than that, we have had a horrid wet summer, my shoulder does not seem to get any better (though I keep on crafting...) and I seemed to be stuck with a flu that does not want to go away. It does make me slightly depressed and tired. And not looking forward to another long and dark winter.

Stars, logs, cats and a dog

I keep forgetting to blog while progressing:) I should not just wait until it is all done! Latest flimsy is a result of trying to use up the red stars that did not quite work out in its orginial plan. As none of the stars are of the same size, I 'filled' them out by making a log cabin block out of each star. I do see I need to redo a few seams...

One of the blocks has a slight Norwegian flair to it:)

A knitted eight point star! It's knitted in cotton, so it will be able to stand a whirl in a washing machine:)
This flimsy is a cat quilt, with cats. A quilt for cats, that is. I want to test out the theory that since cats seems to be drawn to sleep on quilts, maybe they will prefer sleeping on this - keeping the furnitures safe. We shall see. It will be tested by Spike and Buffy in a week or two.

I just had to share this picture. Newest family member, Teddy. I just love the look in his face:) He has an almost foxlike face. So cute! And the softest of furs!
Oh, and Spike got his summer cut a few weeks ago. Lion cut, they called it. I love the patterns that shows up. But according to his mother (or can-opener, as he views her) he slunked around the apartment for a few weeks. He did not seem comfortable in the new cut. And his partner, Buffy, hissed at him for days. However, I think he is better off without all the fur we weren't allow to brush... He still looks grumpy, but I guess that is just his nature. He is cute, though!

Just 8 months late:)

Well, it was supposed to be a Christmas gift, but it did not get started until January, then my arm started acting up and so on and so on. But now it is done!:) A Setesdal sweater for my sister-in-law. With the embroidery and all.
They say this is the antique version. The white at the bottom was the part where they used to stuff it down the trousers and would not bee seen, so they saved the black, more expensive yarn.

The embroidery is on felt. And the hook is pewter.

This is my Setesdal - about ten years or so old. It is of thicker yarn, and shorter, but with more elaborate embroideries. Done it all myself, this one, too:)

A slight taste of fall

I dog sat in the deep forest of Sweden again this weekend. After a week of cold rainy weather in Oslo, it was sooo nice to be able to spend a few days in warm sunshine, just walking (and walking) the dogs in the huge forest.
Fall is slightly arriving:) The red color of the cranberries just pop on the white moss. Made it easy to find them.

This were the first real fall colors I have seen this year - a little bit too early. But wonderfully bright with the moss.

Odin and Frøya resting after I wore them out (and we were just half way:)) Beautiful view, right?

Here they are, the little Norse godlings - Odin in front and Frøya in the back. Beautiful chessies, and mostly well behaved, even with me.

Perils of the sea

I am back on the island again:) Still pictures left to show. One of the 'sights' on the northern coast where the wreck of a ship from the 1926. The ship crashed on some hidden rocks during a horrible storm the winter.
Fortunately, the whole crew were saved. But the ship were a loss, and during another storm it were pushed onshore. There it has been since then, left to the elements. I actually liked that:) For some reason I like weatherbeaten wood.

The form and colours were just fabolous. The other tourists must have thought me crazy, crawling around taking close-up of the wood:) On the other hand, I did get some great shots of these:
Beautiful spiderweb all over.

Good thing I did not see the inhabitans of the web...

Beautiful nuisance

Beautiful, aren't they? We call them Porcelain flowers.
I inherited this plant from my mom. It is at least 30 years old, if not more. It hardly gets any water, and it has sunshine from morning to night. Mom cuddled it and looked after it and did everything she could think of to make it flower, but it never happened. I basically ignore it, and it repays me by giving me at least four or five flowers every third month or so.

Nice, right? Problem is - I am allergic to the smell! The smell of sweetness is overwhelming, it even wakes me up in the middle of the night! I have to just nip the flowers off before they spring out. Sometimes it flowers without me knowing, and I only realise it because of the smell.

So this is the only way I can appreciate my flowers. In a picture.

Not fair...