...aestlight...

Gudrun asked for testknitters for a new shawl she has designed, and I was one of the lucky ones! A beautiful garterstitch shawl, with a lace border and a knitted-on edging.

Gudrun spurte etter prøvestrikkere til eit nytt sjal ho har laga, og eg var ein av dei heldige som fekk strikke! Eit stort, flott sjal i rettstrikk, med ein enkel blondebord, og kant som er strikka fast på tvers. Yarn:

Tove from Sandnes Garn, it weighs 172grams, which should equal 550m...or nearly 4 balls of yarn...

Knitted on 4mm circular needles.

Fun, fast and faboulous.

The pattern is really well written, and I didn't have any problems with it. She should have it up for sale shortly.

garn: Tove frå SandnesGarn. Sjalet vèg 172 gram, det skulle bli ca 550 m, eller nesten 4 nøster... Strikka på 4mm rundpinne.

Raskt, enkelt og flott.

Mønsteret er godt skrevet, og eg hadde ikkje nokon problem. Det er snart til salgs.
The yarn I choose, is a bit heavier than the original, so the shawl is quite big- 200cm across, and 85cm at the tip.

Garnet eg brukte, er litt tjukkare enn originalgarnet, så sjalet vart stort og godt- 200cm tvers over, og 85 cm frå nakken og ned.
Love it! Thank you, Gudrun, for letting me testknit this!

Oh, and Happy Solstice! It doesn't get dark here! But it's so cold a woolshawl might come in handy...some summer we're having!

God midtsommar! Det vert ikkje mørkt her! Men det er så kaldt at det kan vere godt å ha eit ullsjal i bakhand...litt av ein sommar!

...gardening...

Look what I got in the mail! Lise had a give-away on her blog recently, and I won these cute heartpins- and blue stitchmarkers! They are great, and already in use! Perfect for when I'm knitting on 7mm needles, because of the wire. Thank you, Lise!
(btw: if you're planning on going to Prague this summer, Lise's sister has an apartment up for rent- more details on her blog here. )


Sjå kva eg fekk i posten! Lise hadde ein gje-vekk på bloggen sin nyleg, og eg vann stilige hjertenåler, og flotte maskemarkørar! Dei er allereie i bruk, eg strikkar noko på pinne nr. 7, og då passa dei fint med viren i enden. Tusen takk, Lise!
(forresten- hvis du har tenkt deg til Praha i sommar, har søstra til Lise ei leilighet der som ho leiger ut for sommaren. Sjå fleire detaljar på bloggen hennar her!) We've got almost summer here. The flowers are blooming, many of the farmers are already busy with the haymaking- especially those that have sileage or roundbales. We haven't started yet, hubby is in Houston working (any ideas of what he can bring home from there? Yarns, books, magazines???), and we will try to dry most of it as hay. I prefer that to the sheep, but it all depends on the weather. We've had some sunny days lately, but very windy and rather cold.

Det er nesten sommar her. Det blomstrar overalt, og fleire bønder er allereie godt i gang med siloslått og rundballeslått. Vi har ikkje begynt enda, gubben er i Houston på jobb, og kjem ikkje heim før etter jonsok. Vi prøver å tørke det meste til høy, eg fortrekkjer det til sauene, men det kjem jo heilt an på korleis véret vert. Vi har hatt nokre flotte, solrike dagar i det siste, men det har blåst ein kald nordavind her.

We have a proper kitchengarden this year! The potatoes are sprouting- barely...- we've had spinachsoup twice from our own spinach, we eat salad and radishes. I just wish I liked to garden...I've always wanted to like it, but sadly I don't. I'd like to have a nice garden, but I would have preferred if it came with a gardener...

We have tomatoes too. I just planted some outside, against the stonewall,, hoping they will thrive there. It's an experiment. I have a few plants inside too, but so far they are not blooming.

Vi har ein skikkeleg kjøkkenhage i år. Potetene kjem- såvidt- men det vart ikkje sett før 23. mai, og det er litt seint. Vi har ete spinatsuppe to gonger med spinat frå eigen hage, vi et salat og reddik.Eg skulle berre ønskje eg likte å jobbe i hagen...eg har alltid ønska å like det, men eg gjer det ikkje. Eg vil gjerne ha ei fin hage, men hadde foretrekt om den kom med gartnar...

Vi har tomatar også. Eg har akkurat planta nokre ute, under duk, langsmed steinane langs vegen, og håper at dei vil trivast der. Det er eit eksperiment. Eg har nokre plantar inne også, men førebels er det ikkje mykje som blomstrar.

But the cucumbers grow!!! We have 6 plants, and one especially is big. DD2 is talking to it and watering it, and looks at the fruits several times a day. They are as long as my hand, and there are many more to come! I call it my "new curtains". My mother-in-law wanted me to put up some curtains in that window, she felt that everyone could look right in (they can, but only when they stand on the road staring!). Now I have a live, green curtain! And people are probably staring more now, wondering what this is...

Men agurkane kjem! (Agurknytt;-)) Vi har 6 planter, og spesielt den eine er stor. Yngstejenta mi snakkar til den og vatnar den, og kikar på agurkane fleire gonger for dag. Dei er like lange som handa mi nå, og mange fleire kjem! Eg kallar det "dei nye gardinene" mine! Svigermor ville at vi skulle ha gardiner i dette vinduet, ho følte at folk stod på veien og kikka inn (noko dei kan, men då må dei stå og stirre!) Men no har eg eit levande grønt gardin;-) Og folk kikar sikkert meir no... og lurer på kva dette er for noko...

It never gets really dark at this time of year. Sun sets at 10:15pm, and the kids play outside till way past bedtime....not easy to get them back inside! The photo below was taken an hour ago...

Only two more weeks till school's out, and the sailing son will soon be home too. They have been sailing this week, and on Monday he will come to my "hometown". My sister will pick him up, and take a tour on the ship with him first.

Det vert ikkje skikkelig mørkt her på denne tida av året. Sola gjekk ned her kvart over ti ikveld, og ungane er ute og speler fotball til seint på kveld, det er ikkje råd å få dei i seng! Bildet nedanfor var tatt for ein time sidan...

Berre to veker att til skulen sluttar, og eldstesonen kjem heimatt. Dei er på tokt denne veka og neste, og mandag kjem dei til Kristiansand. Det var alltid "Byen" for oss før. (Ja, eg er vaskeekte sørlending- bortsatt på vestlandet;-D) Søstra mi hentar han, og får seg ein rundtur ombord først.

Take care, and have a great Sunday,- and summer ahead!

Ha det bra sålenge, og ha ein flott søndag,- og sommar!

...more fo's...

I have a working computer again!!! Hubby had a friend/former colleague visiting over the weekend, and he knows his way around computers, so all of a sudden it works, and I can upload pictures again! Let's hope it lasts...;-D

We've had a busy few weeks. Two long weekends, both with guests, one where we planted and weeded the garden, and set the potatoes, then one where the kids participated in Dragseidspelet, and the week between was devoted to rehearsals...the weather was very nice last weekend, lousy in between, and gorgeous this weekend when the play was performed! Check out that link, there are some great photos! They had two professional actors participating this year, Roger Hilleren and Mikkel Gaup, both well known in Norway. My youngest came back from rehearsal one night and whispered with stars in her eyes: Mikkel is teaching us how to "joike"!!! At the round-up party for all the participants, she and 6 other girls did a joik that he had taught them, and they had so much fun.


A few months ago, "my" Icelandic knittinggroup Garnaflækja started a KAL, "Prinsateppid". It's quite similar to the Shetland hap shawls, I guess. Anyway, I joined, and knitted....and then other projects sort of got in the way...But now I'm going to finish it, there is only the edging left. 140 repeats, I'm done with 20... Yarn: Tove from Sandnes, white light grey, charcoal and some dark red.
Needles: Knitpicks, 4mm

It was meant to be used as a babyblanket, but I think I'll use it as a shawl. We'll see when it's done. IF it gets done...

May Sockamania... the yarn is too busy to really show off the pattern, but I didn't have any solid blue or red in my stash, so I changed the colours...Another Hey,Teach! off the needles, for my niece K, but she had forgotten that she'd picked white;-)

Yarn:

Føn from Gjestal, I used 10 or 11 balls. The yarn is very soft, a blend of 30% cotton and 70% bamboo, but also very splitty!

I knit on 4mm needles, instead of the suggested 5mm.
The back. I started this with a provisional caston at the ribbing, knit the pattern up, and finished the sleeves, then picked up the live stitches, and did the body downwards. It is considerably longer than the original, more like a tunic.

I also added a little broken rib pattern, and made the neckline a bit higher.

Mother-of-pearl buttons.

I think I promised the links for my blue recycled jacket (and I've got a ton of compliments for it! )(scroll down for photos of it in my last post..those photos are not uploaded to this computer...)

Luckenbooth medallion, used on the back

doubleknot, used on both fronts, but I forgot to give them a mirror image...

Knotty Gloves, used on both back and front, and sleeves.

Elegant Celtic Cabled Rug, used for the peplum.

Then I added some beehivecables, and plain cables. Around the whole thing I made a border with a simple four stitch cable and some seed stitch.

I've used it a lot already, and really like it, despite it's flaws...like the neckline is a bit wide, and the zipper too short, and the sleeves are too long...still- it's pretty colour, it was a fun knit, and it's one of the few things that I've designed myself.

Hubby's left for Houston again, it's cold and miserable outside, the kitchengarden needs weeding, and the sheephouse should be cleaned out. But I'll get another cup of tea, read the papers and knit some more on that shawl...

Take care, and have a great summer:-)

I HAVE been knitting!

Not exactly lace weight... My first attempts of spinning. The spindle is not a favourite, I think I would like a wheel better, but it's okay for now. I just didn't realize it would get so messy! It is fun though! The wool is really soft, at least in my opinion! It's grey, but gets funnycoloured when i spin it, there's alot more white in it. Oh well, I have plenty of wool to play around with!

We bought the handcarders last summer in a thriftstore...

But I have been knitting too...My blue recycled sweater is done, even with a zipper, it used to be short and boxy with very wide sleeves, now it's long and slim, but still with sleeves that are a bit wide. And long...I knit the peplum first, picked up stitches for the body, and finished that, then knitted the border around the whole sweater, and attached it as i went along. I like it. The zipper is probably too short. I inserted it above the peplum. I'll try to find the links for the different patterns later.

The back, with the hearts in the middle, and the cables from a glove pattern at the sides (Knotty?)

Hmmm- lousy photo.

But this one is better! Lots of cables- probably too many- but fun to knit! I ripped the boxy one that I had knitted some 20 years ago...

I've worn it several times too, and I like it, even though it could have been a bit wider and maybe a bit shorter...;-)


April's Sockamaniasocks, very nice lacy ones. I haven't started the May socks yet, right now I'm trying to finish a tunic for my niece K. It's in white, and I use last summer's big hit: HeyTeach. nice H got the green one I made and forgot to take a photo of, and K wanted the same thing. I'm knitting it a bit different though- starting with a provisional cast-on at the ribbing at the waist, knitting the lacy pattern and the sleeves, sewing it all together, and then picking up and knitting down from the waist. Easier to get it the right lenght, and both wanted tunics and not a short jacket.

Hi,Michaela! ThePoppySocks are done!(I guess you never thought you'd see a photo of those;-) (Sorry, only a Ravelry-link) Yarn. the blue is Senja from Gjestal, the pink is something else...but similar. Knitted two-at-a-time using magic loop, 2,5mm. FUN!!!I haven't been able to get gauge, the yarn is a bit too thic k, and the needles might have been smaller, but they fit my large eet, and that's what matters:-)

The girls just look at me when I say I'll be wearing them: "seriously???"

Two at the same time was okay as long as I paid attention to where the yarn was...so- no tangles! I tried to knit another pair with two colours, and only two balls of yarn...that did not work out...

My youngest nice turned 7 last week. My sisters and I have 6 daughters in all, and I also have two sons, but it was the girls I was talking about... Mine have never been pink, they've occasionally used a pink t-shirt or a pair of trousers, but they've never minded using other colours. Neitehr have the other girls. The five oldest, that is. Then came O. She is 4 years younger than the second youngest. And she is PINK!!! It has always been okay to buy her clothes for gifts, as long as they were pink. Blue or green stripes or anything would make it a boy's garment. She looks good in pink though. But now, for her seventh birthday, I decided to knit her something, and asked what her favourite colour was. "Pink!" "But purple is also my favourite." So I grabbed the chance when I got it:-)
A purple tunic. Pattern found in HendesVerden. (A danish magazine. I bought it because it had a leaflet with knitted children's clothes attached. )

The yarn is DuStoreAlpakka's Babysilk, a beautiful, soft yarn that I have never tried before. Knitted on needles 3mm, size 7, and I used 6 balls. It's long enough to be a dress, but O. emphasized that it was a tunic! Mother-of-pearl buttons in front.

I like it. So did O.

Hmmmm- this was a strange post. Not even ONE sheep! But lady Grey got five kittens last night! Photos later...

Have a great weekend:-) I'm off to do some gardening. Or preferably knitting. But hubby is home, so gardening it is;-D

k

WIP's...

Still here;-D
I've titled this post WIP's- work in progress- and believe me, I have both wip's and finished objects...after not blogging for so long, the pile is high! My regular computer is still acting weirdly, so I'm using DD2's laptop. She uploaded the pictures from my camera before she left to visit a friend, and I've been looking through them. Not ONE single photo of any knitted item!!! Not one!!! So I guess I'll have to post again tomorrow...

ButI have some other wip's- a few fourlegged ones. I've just been to Selja to check on the sheep, and finally found them. They were doing fine, they really seem to like it out there!

We have lost two of the ewes, reason uknown, but the rest have lambed, and there were 20 lambs. Most of them are really wild, but some come close. It all depends on the mother. If she comes, the lamb will follow.

The ram and one of the ewes have started to drop the wool. They look awful when they do this! Most of them will lose their wool between now and midsummer. Then we gather them, and shear the rest. I suppose I should be picking up the wool...

Curious little fellow!

DS2 and DD2 came with me two weeks ago, and they got to hold one of the lambs. Photo taken at 9:15 pm...now it's even lighter.

We've been away a few days too. My sister's daughter was confirmated last Sunday, and we went home for the festivities. It was really nice to be home again, but it's a long trip...900 kilometers each way, we drove for 13 hours south on Thursday, and another 13 hours (actually 14...)back on Monday. It was worth it though. The confirmation was held in "my" homechurch.

I did some knitting at home too, but it was mostly about eating cake...

When we came home again, I finally started something that I've wanted to try for ages...being inspired by
Sandie and Suzanne, amongst others, I wanted to learn spinning. And I wanted to do something with my own wool. So last Fall, when we had sheared spælsauen, I kept the coloured wool, and sent the white one to the manufacturer's ( Nortura...) I sent roughly 50 kilo, paid the shearer NOK 1200,-, and got paid nearly NOK 1000,- for the wool... Soooo, I filled the sink with hot water and some wooldetergent and soaked the fleece.

It was rather dirty, and I realized I had not skirted the fleece properly...oh, well, I know 'till next time!

Several hours later, several waters and rinses later, the water was clear, and the wool ready for drying. It took a couple of days to completely dry the fleece. Now it sits on the washroomfloor ready for some carding and spinning...and my DD2 wants to both card and spin with me! I don't have a wheel, but I hve a spindle. My sister's husband's uncle made a spindle for me, and also combs for the wool. I bought handcarders at a thriftmarket last summer.

The colour of this is pretty accurate. Blusihgrey with some black tips, and some of it lighter. The sheep is still alive, so if I ruin this fleece, I'll get another chance the next time I shear! At least it didn't felt in the wash!

This is before washing...it looks more steelgrey, I think, but there is quite a lot of black spots in it.

And- just to prove that I HAVE indeed something to show off: Ikke lappeteknikk, men lappverk;-) "not pathwork, but patches..." A cloth for the wintergardentable. The back is bright and yellow!

Sooo- let's see if I get back tomorrow with some actual knitting to show off!!!

Have a great day:-)

(oh, btw- I asked some time ago if anyone was interested in doing a Pay It Forward? HeidiBean signed up, does anyone else want to participate? I promise to make you something and send you within a year. There are still two spots free? tell me in the comments if you want to participate. And HeidiBean, please send me your adress: my mail is: maritkoATmsnDOTcom. )

Churchbells...

Just trying something...;-)
http://www1.nrk.no/nett-tv/indeks/167933

The son went to Selja yesterday, with the vicar, some classmates, and a filmcrew from NRK. The clip is in Norwegian, but you see the island and the abbey, and the back end of a sheep running down! Also, DS2 calling with the church bell.

He reported back that at least 15 Old Norwegian lambs had been born...


The barn is also filling up with lambs! So far it's been smooth sailing- one of the best years ever. I only have 19 spælewes, but by last night 13 had lambed and delievered 27 lambs...

I'll try to be back with photo's soon....(oh, have you heard that before???;-D)

Have a great day!

...waiting for photos...

This computer is sick. DD2's computer will not upload the pictures like I want to. She showed me how to do it: like this, and this , and this... I'll have to wait until she can do it;-)



I've been knitting! Started the Poppysocks, (Ravelrylink), Michaela had started on them, and I thought they looked fun. I'm using a blue variegated and a pink variegated, and the kids say I'm not allowed to use them unless they are hidden inside some boots;-D. I'm knitting both at the same time, magic loop, even bought some new needles, bamboo circular in 2.5 mm. I've tried fairisle two-at-a-time before, but got into such a tangle I almost had to cut the yarn. So I was not sure wheter I would be able to knit both. But so far: NO tangles! And it's a fun project! I'm done with the cuff, and half the leg, and only started it a couple of days ago.

I'm also trying to sew a little,made a tablecloth. It's not "lappeteknikk, det er lappverk" (It's not patchwork, it's patching...) But it was fun, and I made a drawstrinbag, perfect for sockknitting, of the leftovers... Pictures later, maybe...

I'm also knitting on my blue recycled sweater, the body is almost done, and I'm working on the sleeves. There are lots of cables! Maybe too many...

In Garnaflækja we're knitting Prinsateppid, and I think Berglind's version is lovely! Mine will have a bit of colour around the edges... I regret not knitting this as a triangular shawl...it would have been very easy to do so. But I'm not ripping now...

We woke up to SNOW this morning! The sun is out, and it's really cold. We were waiting for spring, so this was a bit unexpected.

The sheep are doing fine. We hope to move another 15-20 out during the weekend. We've been checking on them a couple of times a week, and they come running as soon as we start calling. I have lots of photos of them- if only this thing would upload!!!

Okay, time for another cup of tea, and then some outdoorwork, I guess.

Have a great day! I hope to be back soon with some pictures...