All is warm

I have been having blogging withdrawal symptoms lately. Going from posting every day throughout October to about once a week in November has been a shock to the system; my head gets overloaded with things that would have been fun putting on my blog. The good news (to me anyway) is that there’s only a few weeks left of my assignment, and my life will get back to normal, or at least what counts as normal around here. I have been hoarding quilting and art supplies since August and cannot wait to get back to my studio.

Anyway; being too scared of getting sucked into my fabric stash, I don’t even touch it other than to put away whatever I add to it. I’m holding on to my knitting needles in the evenings though, and I have finished up quite a few knitting projects that will keep us all warm through the winter.

For grandchild-to-be:
The alpaca Baby surprise jacket,

the cotton jacket,

the wool blankets,

hats

and booties

For grandson:
The alpaca Tomten jacket. I keep forgetting taking pictures of him wearing it.

For daughter:
Wool belly warmers (pattern bought on Ravelry). When she asked if I could knit one for her, I was expecting to find gazillions of patterns and tutorials on the web, but I had to search high and low to find even one.

These are brilliant, and daughter is very happy with hers.

For me:
The wool leg warmers in super simple garter stitch

very stretchy and warm; my legs and ankles will thank me this winter.

I still have a few more projects on my list, like the alpaca baby hat that I had to frog as it came out too big. Oh well, as soon as my arms have gotten a much needed rest, I’ll be ready to have another go at it.


Have a wonderful week!

Ten Thanks on a Thursday

As we still are not celebrating Thanksgiving in Norway, I’m yet again missing out on the delicious food typically eaten on this day, but there is no better day to saying thanks than the present.


I am thankful for

1. the joy of cutting paper
2. that we are all still alive and kicking, one of us more than the others.
3. comfortable shoes

4. that my creative muse doesn’t give up but keeps on nagging me while I’m working.
5. antibiotics no matter how much my body disapproves of them.
6. that I don’t really mind being cocooned inside my house not talking to anyone outside my closest family for quite a while.
7. our almost water- and windproof house and that we’re not going to demolish it until next year.
8. reruns of favourite TV shows to keep me entertained in the evenings.
9. reading glasses.
10. patience.


Happy Thanksgiving!

Sew In # 10

Last night’s Friday Night Sew In was spent on the couch watching TV and doing a little hand work:
Stitching a self protrait for Make a Boob

making some fabric covered buttons (tutorial here)

using scraps of a damask cloth which makes them a bit chunky but oh so pretty

and knitting a few rows on my leg warmers in the making.

Have a wonderful Saturday! I’ll be spending a huge part of mine at the doctor’s waiting room trying to get rid of the strep throat; seriously it’s been 4 weeks and 2 long and exhausting rounds of antibiotics and they are still having a ball down there. Aaaaahhhrrrrg.

All is bright

Despite the fact that I haven’t switched on my sewing machine for weeks, my days are still filled with bright colours.


I’ve continued on my mission of knitting warm and soft stuff for a little one,

socks for the big brother-to-be,

each one marked with a string of orange yarn,

and started on a requested tummy warmer for my daughter.

The yarn is Smart from Sandnes Ullvare and according to the receipt in the bag, the skeins have been in my stash since 1996. I have made a promise to myself not to buy yarn this winter; with a 15+ years of yarn in my stash that shouldn’t really be a problem, should it.


I did my last Make a Boob workshop of the year at Fellsgruppen for kreftrammede, a cancer patient organisation, on Tuesday, but forgot to ask permission to take pictures of the participants at work. It was so nice to sit down and do a little hand stitching that I continued when I came home. I’m still stitching faces, using some of the chaotic bead mixes in my boxes.

My guild meeting is coming up on Wednesday and it’s time to make another batch of triangles for the swap. I was very happy with the results from the 1. round of swapping.

And last but not least, a little colour studies with my grandson who is totally into mixing colours these days. We were making doors, or rather he was making doors and I played along. The Poster Art pens from Faber Castell are my favourites.

Lesson learned from this study: I should include a little white into more of my work. We bought more paint and crayons yesterday and hope to get started on some Christmas decorations for his mom as soon as he is tired of playing outside with grandpa who is having the day off. They bought a chain saw (toy) with lots of doodahs yesterday, so it might take a while.

Have a wonderful week filled with colours!

All is well

No news are good news; we are still the proud grandparents of one little boy with another one expected in March. The mom is out of bed, grandson back home and everything is almost back to normal. The big difference is that we all rather abruptly realized that things might change by the drop of a hat and that uncertainty will be our companion for the foreseeable future. That’s how it goes, isn’t it; love and worries go hand in hand.


I have taken Deborah’s advice and am engaging myself in a little knitting therapy while I am waiting; knitting a preemie blanket and hats just in case. If our little loved one doesn’t need them, which he hopefully won’t, there will always be other babies that do. I’m knitting them the same way I knitted these blankets and hats last winter but with a little extra grandma love in each stitch.

What I have learned from the last two weeks is the following: stop procrastinating. Finish whatever needs to be finished. Now. So that’s what I’ll be doing the next few weeks; finishing my assignments ASAP and not waiting for upcoming deadlines. Like a true girl scout I’ll be prepared so I can deal with whatever comes around without so much stress. Hopefully I will be on top of things soon and can get back into my sewing room; I do miss my creative mess, but in the meantime I’m thankful for my yarn stash and some quiet evenings in front of the telly.


Thank you so much for all your well wishes and prayers; it means so much to me!


Have a wonderful week!