Supernatural again

I just realized that I am again choosing to watch Supernatural when dealing with long winded and boring..ish quilt work. I watched it while sewing that big hexagon quilt for my aunt, and I am using it now for quilting Dear Jane. It really works well to keep me going.

I am now over half way. Woho! It's only weekend work, I just do not seem to be able to get around to quilting during the week.

I found a new yarn place this summer. I have socks on the brain at the moment, so I was excited to find Malabrigo!! Love it. The colors are really nice, fall inspired. Love the name of the color, Archangel:)

I also bought three colors in Cascade. These will be gifts, I think, as I am not a pink person AT ALL! I actually rather detest the color, but some people, it seems, love the color. Brrrrr....

He needs socks

- said the mother of my grand nephew. Could I knit some?

Two days later: how many do you want? I am on the fourth pair....




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What ever time that will suit you

My great nephew can arrive any day now. Though, it's still a few weeks left. But the gift to welcome him into this world, is taking over my bed to be blocked. The only thing left is to sew on the backing.



That one.... I am not so sure about... I will have to figure something out. But as the lady who knows these things said, we don't want little fingers to get caught in the threads on the backside. I got the softest grey flannel.

The idea comes from this blogger.

She based it on a pattern for mittens, these ones.

And then she got the designer to expand the pattern, so that it covers a slightly larger area than a mitten:) nice of her:)



I thought it would be harder than it was, to follow a pattern like this, but it was surprisingly easy. Well, a few mistakes here and there, but still:)

Other than that, I am a fourth day of a flu..ish thing. My throat does not feel good. Sigh. Work again on Monday. We shall see how that works out.

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Dark illusions

I just finished a latish Christmas gift. A black and grey striped scarf...


that looks slightly more sinister when you slightly change the angle :)


I think this has been the most fun knitting I have done in a while. The illusion grew as I knitted.


Front

.
Backside.

Not sure if the recipient will ever use it, but he will definitely enjoy it:)

Pattern from Ravelry, Mark's Skull Illusion Scarf

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How I spent November and December

All gifts have now been received, so I can finally share how I spent the last two months. Apart from my job, that is.


A penguin Christmas hanging for my niece.


Two Bridgewater shawls, one for my mom and another one for my SIL.

My goddaughter was born on the second day of Christmas, which here in Norway means 26th of December. This year she turned 18! When do they stop getting older? Sigh. So yesterday I was there for the family celebration. Lovely, as always:) she got her first sewing machine this Christmas. Can't wait to see here creations:)

I had found a lovely Norwegian knitting, Jorid Linvik, and went wild with her mittens.


The text is the snow-song from Winnie the Pooh, in Norwegian.


Angel for an angel:)


I made these for her mom. The moose is the same as we have on out traffic signs, watch out for crossing moose:)

I also made this Leftie scarf for the 18 year old. Yarn bought at Fancy Tiger crafts in Denver. Fun store. Madeleinetosh. Gorgeous yarn.


Colors a little wrong.


This is closer.

So, now it is just three delayed gifts left. No, I am wrong.... Six. Goodness.... I really should start earlier. Or give myself a year off making gifts...

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Secret time of the year

It's the secret time of the year. It is hard to post any finishes, as most of the recipients  read my blog. But this one I can share. It is another 'Bridgewater', second one. It is for my mom.


She saw mine last year, and told me she wanted one. In white. So here it is.


I used my new blocking pins, it was sooo much easier than using a lot of needles:)


It goes into my Christmas gift bag, the secret bag with the rest of the gifts. The bag is from the exhibition we visited in Denver: Becoming Van Gogh. As every good Whovian, I could not miss that one!


And as a quilter, I could not miss this bag. (a gift from a good friend:)) The picture is of a quilt, inspired by Bedroom in Arles, Vincent Van Gogh. Six quilters made one strip each. Wish I could have seen this original. However, the exhibition was incredible.

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Still hate this part

I knitted my first sweater at 13. My mom showed me how to machine sew the seams and then cut the opening. It made me shaky and nervous then, and it still does. Which is why I can knit four sweaters in a month, but wait weeks before I finish them. (There is one in my closet I finished knitting a year ago...). It is so easy to destroy weeks of work with one snip of the scissor. Still, I have only made one big mistake, so far, (and that was two years ago).


But it is amazing that something like this,


and this,


can in the end turn out ok! The only mistake this time - it might too small for the recipient! Darn. But that train has left the station many weeks ago, I am afraid:)

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On my needles tonight

I just started a new sweater, a Shellseeker. I am using a Norwegian yarn, Lerke. It is a wonderful yarn, mix of merino wool and cotton. Should be perfect for our Norwegian summers:)
It is knitted from the top and down, something I haven't tried before. In addition it has a pocket in front, what we used to call a cangaroo pouch in the 'olden' days:) I am wondering if I can interpret the pattern correctly. We shall see.

Progress in a rush

Not sure why I am rushing this. I had a dream that I would be done with this sweater while it was still winter, so that I could actually use it this year. However, the days are very clearly turning into less winter and more spring, so that deadline has probably passed.

At the same time, I need to finish this before I start a new one. Traditions tells me that if I don't finish it, I never will...

Only neck left, so it should not be a big thing. Colour is a little off, it is more reddish and not so blue as the picture is showing.
I have done a little on the hexagon quilt. Still not sure what to name it. It's for a gold anniversary. My aunt and uncle, my substitute parents, have been married for 50 years. Amazing in these days and age. Goldflowers? Hexagon gold? Golden quilt? Ah, it will come to me. Does it really show that the hexagon flowers are put in circles of light and dark? Not sure if it comes through enough. Funny thing is that when I looked at it through the camera, it really stood out. Strange...

The quiet space of Christmas

In Norway, the days between Christmas eve and New Years eve are viewed as a quiet time. Stores are closed between 24 and 27, among others:) Growing up, I weren't even allowed to knit or sew those first days in Christmas, as it was holy days and we should 'not work'. Thankfully, I don't have to adhere to those rules any more:)

I intend to spend these free, quiet days crafting as much as I can! At the moment I am having a LOTR marathon while appliqueing on my Civil War Bride quilt, interspersed with some light knitting.

Since everybody has unwrapped their gifts by now, I can finally show what I have been working on these last few weeks.
Yup, another pair of skull socks. I mixed a few patterns for this. The receiver hasn't received them yet, but has seen pictures of them. They pass.

For my good friend in the US, I knitted another shawl, this is corral red. Hopes she likes it.

Three ladies all ordered table runners this Christmas. Is there an epidemic? Not easy ones, either, as two of them are in colours I find difficult to work with. But this one is for my niece, who wanted something 'romantic' and shabby chic.

Simple pattern of squares. The quilting made it all go togheter, I think.

My sister-in-law wanted something for spring, lilac, grey, silver, green and so on. Sigh. Again, hard colours for me to use. I found it hard to find a pattern that would even show up with these fabrics, but I tried. For some reason I did not take a picture of this finished! I quilted star patterns on the open spaces, just to make it show at all.

Colours are a little off on this one, but you can see a star:) This one is very long, as she has an old table that can be taken out to seat 20 people....
A friend wanted a table runner in dark blue and purple, to fit on a black table.... Ok... So I decided to make my own interpretation of that:) Turns out she likes it:) Can not ask for more than that.

Tomorrow, hopefully, I will rearrange my living room and start laying out the Dear Jane for it to be basted. A full day spent on my knees bent over the quilt - I can feel my back aching already, not to mention my fingertips. But it has to be done before I can start quilting it! Another goal this Christmas break is to rearrange all my fabric to find new ways of putting them together. Enough to do, but fun work.

Different

When I rearranged my furniture last year, I did not take into account that the space for the Christmastree got moved to a place where I only will see it when I am on my way out of the apartment. What is the point of a tree, then? So after seeing different wonderful ideas on Pinterest (highly recommended, by the way!) - I am trying something different this year:) This one contains all my favourite ornaments, and I can look at it all the time. I might look for new lights next year, I would like for it to have more lights.
Since most of the people I have made Christmas gift for are frequenting this blog, I can't share all the things I have completed! But this one has already been opened by the receiver, so I can share it:) It is a beautiful colour, a light green colour.

I am almost done with all of the gifts. Just a little more knitting and a few more stitches. And it is still a week left! Feels almost luxurious.

Frustrations and annoying solutions

I am in the middle of knitting christmas gifts. I am knitting something for the third time, but this time it completely eludes me!!! After a while you just have to admit defeat, as annoying it is, and start over again. This time - smaller needles. Starting all over again - such annoyance. Sigh. Oh well! In the middle of annoying solutions, I have started on my tower of fabric from the previous post. It amazes me how the same block can look so different, just because the difference in colours:) It is fun, but I can't really indulge in them at the moment. Soon:)

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.

Long time, many stitches

I started a sweater as a Christmas gift last year. However, shoulder issues kept me from finishing it in time. So when I finished knitting Rock Island, I decided to not allow myself to start something new until I have done with this.

It's an old Norwegian pattern, the yarn a thin wool that slides comfortably enough on the needles. The only problem is that there are almost 400 stitches! By the time I was at the top of the sweater, it was long and quite heavy! Not helping on the shoulder, I must say. But now the body is done, and I only have to do the sleeves! They are featherweights in comparison!

This particular pattern has an interesting addition of embroidery around the neck:) I will keep you posted as I start embroidering it.

Lacy rock

Never knitted lace before. I just had to try. So this is the result of two weeks knitting. A lot of ripping...
I am now done with the lacy knitting, the rest is in garter stitch. I wonder, though, if this will ever look like this?

However, the allconsuming question, as it is in lot of knitting - do I have enough yarn to finish it? Travelling across the sea and half of the US to get more does not sound like a solution. Crossing toes (as I can't cross fingers AND knit at the same time:))

Nature in different shapes

Long weekend in Norway - Pentacost. Spent yesterday with family visiting family out in the 'woods' in Sweden. With older parents you always wonder if this will be the last time we can get all of us together like this.
Anyway, got the opportunity to photograph nature. I was fascinted by the 'flatness' of these flowers. No need to press these:)

Rain just ended and left its leftovers on some of the leaves.

And my all-time favourite in early summers, the unfurling ferns. Love the shapes.

Started my own 'nature' shape today - Rock Island Shawl. Never tried knitting lace before. We shall see how it works out:) Oh, and the other nature shape? Spike, visiting for a few days. He and his companion, Buffy, is spending the holiday with me while their mother is off galavanting:) hehe.