Spring rain - in February

The weather forecast is so bad that we decided not to go to the cottage. They called for strong wind and maybe even rain in the mountains. If we end up spending most of the day inside, mignt as well do it at home...

Today I dragged the sewing machine out and got my circular knitting needles organized! YES!!! I have to buy a thingy for the top so i can hang it on the wall downstairs in the basement where I keep some of my supplies, but it'll be nice not having to tug them all apart in order to find the right one.

At the knitting cafe on Wednesday I finished this hat that I had started a while ago- and then I had tucked it away- and the scarf to go with it was finished before Christmas and displayed in this blog at the time.. Both the girls wore it once already!

I have used Hubro yarn and the pattern can be found here:

http://www.garnstudio.com/lang/no/visoppskrift.php?d_nr=102&d_id=31&lang=no

After I finished the hat I started on a teddy bear. I knit one like this right before Christmas and gave it to my youngest nephew- but forgot to take a picture of it. This was as far as I got on the knitting cafe that night:

Last night I finished all the pieces that makes the head. This is a pattern that was featured in a Norwegian weekly magazine years ago. At the time I didn't even notice the name of the designer, but this time around I noticed it was DEBBIE BLISS- a well known designer name in the English speaking knitting community. Ain't he cute!? I have now started the body and I'm opting to finish it tonight. Because:.........

Friday is usually a good TV night. The last show of the evening as far as I'm conserned is this:

http://www.itv.com/Drama/copsandcrime/morseweekend/default.html

Knitting Cafe tonight. That means I have to drag myself away from the fireplace at home. But once I'm there it's always nice and I get a lot done usually.

Don't exactly know what to bring though... Can always bring the everlasting crocheted curtain I'm working on... maybe i should bring yarn for a teddy like the one I made before Christmas (and forgot to take a photo of!!). I have promised someone to make one..

Since we're on holiday this week I've had the opportunity to walk the dog in the early afternoon. We went to my mom's for a coffee... that is, the dog got her regular treat of goat cheese when she arrived. She knows my mom will give it to her, so she races into the kitchen to see her as soon as I open the door.

This is Emma with my oldest daughter up at the cottage.

I metioned last time that I had ordered yarn. Here it is. The colours are not that good on the photoes. My daughters' camera obviously doesn't do the yarn justice.

Here I am halfway on the first one.....

..and here the pair of socks are done. I definetly would knit more socks with this yarn.

As you knit, the pattern appear ! Magic!!!

I am also proud to announce that my last item of a stash of UFO (Unfinished Objects) is now done. I opted for finishing it before 2008, but that was too ambitious...obviously. But this is from some yarn I got really cheap due to discontinuing the colours. It is NOT a pretty thing, but warm without the bulkyness of heavy wool. (it's a blend) The yarn is a tweed yarn called Sisik. I intended to have it up at the cottage, so I bought it with me this weekend and finished it while we were up there.

We went in with Bills' snow mobile- which worked fine- but he will do some adjustments on the steering: not quite good enough. We were looking forward to sun and snow for skiing, and I did indeed ski halfway in to the cottage while the dog got a run, before Bill came and got us. It was late in the afternoon and minus 16 so I was glad he came. So was the dog, she kenpt lifting up one foot or the other- i think her paws got really cold..

Bill and I had to shovel in front of the outhouse in order to get to the toilet and get more firewood. It was hard work. Afterwards there was skiing on TV. We all enjoy the biathlon, my sister brought her knitting and my brother in law also came over and we all watched it. I must admit there was quite a bit of coffee and a little too much chocolate cake that weekend..

The next day was nothing but strong winds- not at all fun weather- and this continued all weekend. I skied over to my sister's for a great brunch but nobody really cared for the outdoors. I did however shovel quite a bit of the area where we usually sit outside along the one cottage wall. I managed to get one bench an d the table free of snow. Our plan is to go up there again Friday morning, and if the weather is good I'll continue the shovelling. It's been lots of wind and very mild weather so lot of the snow might have melted. *There sure was enough of it! They say it hasn't been this much snow since -93

book talk

my camera is most likely not to be rescued. That means I have to beg my daughters to use their phones with Bluetooth in the mean time. Next posting I will go for that..
Since I'm off sick I can blog more- so this camera accident sure happened at a bad time.

But in I can tell you what books I'm reading! Both books have been made into movies, one is old and one is new- and I intend to watch both after I finish reading.

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoj

and Atonement by Ian McEwan




















I have now knitted altogether ( blocks for the LIZARD RIDGE blanket, the 9th is on the needles now.


Today I received 2 balls of Opal Crazy yarn from Mauds garn. I did it because it was on sale and i thought I'd put it away for my mother's birthday in May. But you know how it is: I might just try out one of the balls myself! When you knit with this yarn it makes a pattern on the socks. Magic!!!

FOUR this 'n thats....

Four jobs I’ve had in my life:

nurses aid
served in a donutshop
teaching flute
being a teacher (stuck with that, now!)

Four movies I could watch over and over again.

1 Annie Hall
2. the Birdcage
3. Fairies
4.The Santa Clause (sorry, i’m really a kid at heart!)

Four places I have lived.

Rjukan, Norway
Atyra, Paraguay
Trondheim, Norway
St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada

Four TV shows I love to watch.


Friends

Everybody loves Raymond
I love Lucy (just had to bring in a classic)
any show on books and authors

(this wasn't easy- i get bored with series fast..)

Four of my favourite foods:

Norwegian traditional barley soup with salted meat and dumpling
polish kielbassa
Cesar salad
empanadas (trying to show off an international blend here!)

Four places I’d rather be right now.

Somewhere where I don’t have to shovel snow!
Florence, Italy
at an open air market in London, England (and pretend it is summer)
In a very deep, old fashioned bath tub with a good book and a glass of red wine. And lots of hot water, of course!

Four places I’ve been on vacation:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (sounds cool, but we got mugged!)
Spain (yes, cool. Met a canadian there-ended up marrying the guy)
Legoland, Denmark (that’s what happens when you marry and have children)
Croatia (that’s what happens when your husband does a lot of businesstrips; you tag along at some point)

Four bloggers you’ll be tagging:
... Consider yourself tagged if you bothered reading this.

I don't seem to have a fan club consisting of other bloggers. People randomly pop in here I suspect.

I think i am having a camera crisis!

I grabbed my camera from the kitchen counter and was going to take a photo of my last block for the Liszard Ridge blanket- and dropped my camera on to the tiled floor! So now I don't have the opportunity to take any photoes with it. Either I have to see if it can be repaired or wish for a new one for my 50th birthday. But that's not until May!

A craft blog without photoes is no good!!

Maybe i can use one of my kids cell phones instead (mine is too basic i think... Gee, I am not that updated on technology am i)

Right before I dropped the camera, I took this photo. I'm baking a syrup cake, recipie handed down for three generations. It has spices in it like in gingerbread cookies and is delicious, freezes well- and we always bring this cake up to the cottage in the wintertime. Our "March break" is in February this year- we call it Winter Vacation here. It's a week off school and we usually spend it at the cottage. This year my husband has his own snow mobile. He bought an old vintage skidoo, picked it apart completely- and has now put it together again. it's all set for a trial run next weekend. We will have our permit in hand by the end of the week. He has a blog about this project, ELAN 76

- although I don't know a lot of knitters that also take an interest in skidoo parts.... IF YOU ARE A KNITTER WITH A PASSION FOR VINTAGE SKIDOOS , LET ME KNOW, 'CAUSE YOU ARE RARE... and I take an interest in "rare".

I'm still off sick, but I got in with the dentis yesterday, and he concluded with muscle pain in my jaw, just like the doctor had said. He checked every possible thing there is to check- and ended up making me a little moulded thing to put on my front teeth at night when going to sleep, as well as using in any other setting where I'm not involved in conversations. Used it last night and my front teeth are a little tender until they get used to it, but I didn't have a headache upon wakening. And when Iknit or watch TV I wear it. THAT WOULD BE WORTH A PHOTO! I look like that beaver in the Narnia movie when I use it!

The physiotherapist might be able to fit me in on Friday...

I might have a few more photoes sitting in my computer from the last few days, that I can put on my blog later this week..

Anyway- my cake is done! Gotta go.

off sick for a while

I was at the doctor's last week due to long lasting pain in my teeth, jaw and headaches to go with it. This has been going on for so long now that I can't function at work without chewing pills constantly.
He took some blood tests and stuck a long thingy up my nose and into my sinuses,pinched me in the face, by the jaws with his fingers, sent a letter to the physiotherapist and concluded temporarily with it being tight muscles. That's what I thought he would. The pain is wandering around in my head. I was at the dentis's a while before Christmas, thinking he had to do something with a tooth, but he couldn't find anything. And even at that point I suspected it could be a headache that sort of took hold in my teeth...

So now I'm off work this week. Trying not to chew pills. Yesterday was good, except one bout of pain in the late afternoon. managed through that one without any pills. Today I just had to take some almost right away.. Try to lie down after breakfast so that i would go away, but to no avail.

We'll have to see how this goes as the week progresses. Havenæt heard a word from the physiotherapist yet..

This is something that is going to take me forever finishing.Thin alpacca wool. Scarf to go with my hat and gloves.















I made this one out of shere boredom the day after being at the doctor's. It's a little bowl ...for....whatever... I crocheted it. Material: Bast (raffia)














Yesterday was the first day of lent and Norwegians bring twigs in, decorate them with feather's (do NOT ask why. Feathers and twigs !?!?) and bake buns. The buns are usually filled with whipped cream (another completely crazy combination.. Cream and sweet buns!?!?)

We skipped the feathers on twigs now that the kids are too old to care that much. We baked buns however! (not too old for that evidently)














I also felt so good yesterday that i started another block on my Lizard Ridge blanket. This is the fifth block. This ball of yarn was not as colourful as the previous ones... Yo'll see my other ones if you go on to my November 07 postings.



















The fifth one finished, and the sixth one started today.. Doesn't look like the sixth is going to be that colourful either. Will let you see result as soon as it is finished.