Christmasgreetings..

Happy Holidays from a stormy westcoast...

an update...

So what do you do at 6 in the morning when your view is like this: and you can't/ shouldn't go back to bed because there will be some electricians in to install a lamp at some point during the morning? You catch up on blogging, of course!
At least I'll try...I have Molly the male kitten on my lap- he's pretty interested in the moving figures on the screen...!
Thanks a lot for all your comments, it is always nice to hear from you! I've been reading your blogs too, but don't often comment, which is a shame.
So, are you all ready for the holidays? I had decided to calm down this year and not stress at all with gifts and cleaning and that stuff...which I did...only that I somehow "forgot" that I needed to mail off a few packets, and the mail had a deadline which I missed by a couple of days...my sisters might not be getting any Christmasgifts this year, I'm starting a new tradition: NewYearspresents-lol! Instead of cleaning the house-which is much better done in spring- I read a couple of books...got the latest Harry Potter-book on the first of Dec., and suddenly realized I haven't even read #6! So -seeing that I had plenty of time (since I wasn't doing any Christmasstressful events), I started at book #1, and read through the whole pile...Then I got back to knitting...
This is a bag that will be felted and given to the daughter of a neighbour.

Her sister's bag looks like this...
But yesterday I spent a few hours at the hospital again- DS2 took off his cast, his arm has grown nicely, and he can finally be put to work again! You know, feed the sheep, or peel potatoes, or empty the dishwasher- no more exuses! Anyway, this time I went prepared, and knit a hat while waiting...also started a pair of fingerless mitts to go with it. (and yes, it is a present that needs to be done by Christmas Eve...)
Tomorrow we're off to pick the tree, we'll put it up on the 23rd, and probably take it down either Jan. 6th (Hellig Tre Kongers Dag- twelfth day or Epiphany ) or on the 13th (2o.dag Knut jager jula ut)

Why I'm up at this hour? Hubby's off to repair the car, he has a two hour drive to get to the garage, and his appointment is at 8am...he took with him DS2 and DD2, and they will drive up to see grandma too, maybe stay the night, maybe come back this evening.

I have some more knitting to do, and some cleaning, and would like to catch up on the laundry (the baskets were empty yesterday morning. Then hubby had the kids tidying up their rooms...) I'll just get myself another cup of tea, and enjoy the quietness. The kids had their last day of school yesterday, and will be off till the 3rd of January. Molly is warming my lap. It is DARK outside.

I'd like to wish you all Happy Holidays! Take care:-)

Have a great day!

Welcome!

Having creative children is often a challenge; trying to find something that they can make, which gives a good result and is not too expensive. Or you can just let them be in charge of everything themselves...
My daughters, Vigdis age 12 and Åshild age 10, decided to make Christmaswreaths for the front door. They bought a few supplies at the florist's on Monday, and came back from school yesterday and headed for the forest. I asked them to bring moss and pinecones too, but they had no need for that(haha) so they only found some greens : spruce and pine. Then they transformed the kitchenfloor into a workarea...(there are spruceneedles everywhere...) They had great fun, and did a good job. And while waiting for their result, I'll show you the little afghan...It is knitted in Alfa,( 85%wool,15%mohair, 50g=60m, 13st=10cm on 7mm needles)colour 8715. I used a pattern I found in this book, Den store boken om julemat og julepynt. I've used 10- or maybe 12?- balls so far, I'm out of yarn...and there are 18 short rows left...you see the gap...so this requires a trip to a yarnstore shortly. I had planned to go today, but it is pouring down here, so guess I'd rather wait till tomorrow!
It was fun knitting lace on big needles! I've made lace doilies for years, but never with this kind of yarn, but after seiing brooklyntweed's blanket- and also this (scroll down to Oct.21st- she does have some other great projects too!), I decided to give it a try. DD1 had picked this yarn for a poncho, but she's a strange creature and told me the yarn was scratchy(???) so she didn't want anything out of it....
Size? It isn't blocked yet, but it stretched out to approximately 130 cm (or 50 in). There are around 100 rounds. The pattern said 86, but I did something different, because I thought it wasn't big enough. I might do it again, but with a different pattern.
And the welcome on our door? This is how it turned out!
I'll have another cup of tea in my little advent/knittingcorner, and then off to feed the sheep.
Have a great day:-)

advent...

Time to slow down, time for reflection, it is finally advent. My knittingspot has been transformed into a neat, tidy, quiet place, with the adventstar, candles, and a few angels. On Saturday I got a white azalea for the green pot too. And yesterday the vet and her son came over for a cup of tea in the morning, and we sat out here. I like these weeks before Christmas. I like to prepare the traditional food, I like to bake, I like to make presents and write Christmasletters, although I haven't been very good with the letters the last four years...What I DON'T like, is standing in line with lots of people, walking in crowds trying to find too expensive gifts to people that has too much already, listening to noisy "music" in every store...Britt-Arnhild is hosting an advent party over at her blog, I'd encourage you to go over and read her daily reflections- and the comments too (and the commenter's blogs...)- it's a great way to find the true spirit of Christmas. I am knitting, at least a little bit. The angels are felted, and turned out great. My kids saw them drying and said: That's one for each member of the family! (I had made six in different sizes) So I guess I'll have to make more if I want some to give away..
This green stuff is a blanket- or actually I've used a doily pattern and heavy yarn (Alfa), on 7mm needles, it is not very big, but will be perfect as a lapghan, I think. We'll see how it looks when it is blocked. I need to finish it pretty fast, because I only have one set of 7mm needles, and DD1 needs them, she's going to knit a teacozy as a gift before Christmas! (I'll help her a little, it is a pretty quick knit...)
The days are getting shorter, and it is dark when the kids are off to school in the morning. We saw a tiny slice of the moon this morning. It is freezing cold, and they went off literally in T-shirts and sweatshirts...DD1 didn't even need her hat...they might be true Norwegians (ref. my last post...-LOL)
I'm off to feed the sheep. Have a nice week.

Norwegians...

I got this e-mail from hubby this morning...
+15°C / 59°F
This is as warm as it gets in Norway, so we'll start here. People in Spain wear winter-coats and gloves. The Norwegians are out in the sun, getting a tan.

+10°C / 50°F
The French are trying in vain to start their central heating. The Norwegians plant flowers in their gardens.

+5°C / 41°F
Italian cars won't start.The Norwegians are cruising in cabriolets.

0°C / 32°F
Distilled water freezes.The water in Oslo Fjord gets a little thicker.

-5°C / 23°F
People in California almost freeze to death.The Norwegians have their final barbecue before winter.

-10°C / 14°F
The Brits start the heat in their houses.The Norwegians start using long sleeves.

-20°C / -4°F
The Aussies flee from Mallorca.The Norwegians end their Midsummer celebrations.Autumn is here.

-30°C / -22°F
People in Greece die from the cold and disappear from the face of the earth. The Norwegians start drying their laundry indoors.

-40°C / -40°F
Paris start cracking in the cold.The Norwegians stand in line at the hotdog stands.

-50°C / -58°F >
Polar bears start evacuating the North Pole.The Norwegian army postpones their winter survival training awaiting real winter weather.

-70°C / -94°F
The false Santa moves south.The Norwegian army goes out on winter survival training.

-183°C / -297.4°F
Microbes in food don't survive.The Norwegian cows complain that the farmers' hands are cold.

-273°C / -459.4°F
ALL atom-based movent halts.The Norwegians start saying "Faen, it's cold outside today."

-300°C / -508°F
Hell freezes over, Norway wins the Eurovision Song Contest.


Have a great day:-)

Winter...

First: THANK YOU so much for all your concern for DS2. He's back in school, happy as a fiddle. because now he has an exuse for not writing...(He's a clever boy, but hates to write by hand! And now, with a cast on his right arm, he is allowed to used a computer in school!),As you can see, we got some snow over the weekend, and the kids. yes, DS2 also..., has been out skiing and playing. DS1 has a snowboard that DS2 had to try...with a broken arm...I'd better get that emergency knitting kit ready! Thankfully, he is in no pain anymore, but it's itching.

Yes, we've got snow, and icy roads. Saturday night a car drove off the road just where the kids wait for the schoolbus, because he drove too fast and the roads were icy. Nothing wrong happened, and he called friends that helped him get the car back on the road.



I've started feeding the sheep a bit extra, these are the socalled wildsheep. They get hay. Most of them also has this shelter, an addition to the barn, to go into. They also have plenty of wool, so as long as it is not raining too heavily, they are okay. We shear them only once a year, in June normally. I've been thinking of doing it twice, but it has to be earlier, like in May and SEptember, so they get a nice layer of wool again before it gets too cold.
They can go from the shelter and out, next to the road, and down to the sea. This is behind the barn.
There has been little knitting lately, as I've been busy with the meat. We butchered some sheep at home, as we do each year, and make the traditional Christmasdinners. I always salt and dry the ribs and thigh, we also make meatrolls, liverpaté, and use the blood for pudding. On Saturday the girls helped me stuff sausages. We CAN buy everything, there is plenty in the store, but I like to do it my way, and also feel it is important to be able to do it, due to traditions. This year DS1 helped. The freezer is packed full with steaks... Around here, pinnekjøtt is the traditional Christmasdinner. How to cook it? Sorry, can't help you, hubby's always doing that! It is not my tradition, I'm originally from the south of Norway, and we usually eat cod. Delicious! (But around here they think I must be nuts...)

Nearly enough foodtalk for the day- I'm getting hungry!
But Kristy asked for the recipe for Christmastea- it is a tea that I bought at the pharmacy, it consists of black tea, dried orangepeel in small bits, small bits of vanilla and clove. It tastes good!

Time to pick up my knittingneedles again, and try to figure out what's for dinner...
Have a nice day!

waiting...

9:15am- phonecall from the school:" Could you come by the doctor's office, your DS2 slipped on a football this morning, and his arm hurts? We took him to the doctor."

9:30am- Doctor's office (and waiting only 5 minutes, if we had an appointment, we would have waited for 3 hours. Or possibly 4...)- kid looking gloomy, doctor examining arm... " I want you to get an X-ray of this. Do you want to drive yourself, or would you like a taxi?" We decide to drive ourselves. After all, it is only an hour. (Thankfully we have a hospital in Nordfjordeid- otherwise it would have taken us two or three hours to get to one!)

9:45am- stopping by the store to get a cocacola and some bisquits and fruit. Stopping by the school to pick up his bag, and have a few words with the teacher.

10:45- arriving at the hospital in Nordfjordeid. The arm hurts. Icepack is no icepack anymore...

11:15- X-ray.

12:15- a nurse comes by- sorry, but the doctor was needed somewhere else, you might have to wait for some time.

12:45- " Mom, I'm booooored.I've read the Donald-pocket at least five times now. My arm hurts!"

13:00- The doctor turns up, an inturn from Poland? Speaks rather good Norwegian, though. Checks the X-rays. " I think there is a fracture, but I will go check with the radiologist to be sure."

13:05- Doc comes back- "yes, there is a fracture, look(shows on the computerscreen). I'll get a nurse to come in and put a cast on"

13:10- Nurse arrives, puts on cast, doc tells us to come back in four weeks to remove it, and take another x-ray.

13:20- pay and drive back home.

The kid doesn't even want to go shopping! Hmmm...

13:30- crossing the mountains in snow!!! But here at the coast it rains.

14:30- finally back home. Oh, no, I've forgotten to feed the sheep!!!

22:00- DS2 in bed, with a painkiller.

My knitting? I dropped it on the floor when I got the call...
The boy will be fine. It was his right hand though, so he won't be able to do much writing the next couple of days!(not that it bothers him- quite the contrary...)

I'm going to make a nice cup of Christmas tea- with oranges, nutmeg and vanilla- it's been an exhausting day, even though I haven't done anything!


Have a nice day- and Happy Thanksgiving to those of you celebrating that day today (and now I know the Canadians celebrated in October...)

monday morning view...

...and then we're back on track...

Sorry for the late "next post"! I've been busy with what they call "life"! We delivered some of the sheep to the slaughterhouse nearly two weeks ago, and it took some time to mark them and prepare them for sending off. Last weekend I also had a date with hubby, he flew in to Oslo on Thursday night, I took the bus down and arrived Friday morning, and we spent the weekend on a hotel, including a spa-treatment (ouch- I HATE the massage, it hurts! Hubby of course loved it!) We went to a show Friday night- Ylvis 3- two young brothers who had a great show), and out for dinner. On Saturday we did a little shopping and spent the evening listening to a singer/songwriter in the hotellobby (she was really good! She has a webpage that I haven't checked out yet, you'll find it here.
I took the bus down, as I said, and tried to knit some. The Koiguhat, the beanie, is too small, but I haven't decided whether to rip it all out(beanies are not my type of hat...) or just reknit the top of it, since I really like the band around the head. Anyway, I decided to make another one, more slouchy, still using Cassie's Loksins! pattern. With my own twist, that is.
I also need more angels...these are knitted in Mor Åse- yarn,on 4mm dpn's, and will be felted. I found the pattern in Familiens Juleideer 2007.
On the bus from Oslo last Sunday, I finally started Ripples, the Novemberpattern of Sockamania. This is how far I got (the busride is 12 hours...), but after a few hours I kept dozing off, losing both stitches and needles, so I stopped knitting- and haven't picked it up again... Mr.Black is trying his best to help me with the writing, he lies in my lap with his feet up, trying not to fall off.
We've also sheared the sheep, so they all look neat before winter!

I also had to make an unpleasant, complaining phonecall this morning. As I said, we delivered the sheep to the slaughterhouse a week and a half ago. We are not allowed to slaughter at home and sell the meat, and almost everything goes through cooperations. Well, I had a few sheep, a decent number of lambs, and a few castrates. We often castrate the male lambs in the fall if they are too small to deliver. Then they get an extra year up in the mountains to gain weight. I had 10 to deliver, and they looked good. I also had three that I slaughtered at home on Saturday to keep myself. Anyway, I got the payment for these on Friday... The castrated ones had been classified as rams, and we got NOK 1,71 per kilo... That is not much... To make it even more confusing- two of the castrates were classified "lamb", which is good, and being paid NOK 31,05 and 35,77 per kilo...a third was classified "young sheep"( which would have been correct for all of them) and paid NOK 24,91 per kilo.... And to top it off- we delivered all of the sheep as ecological, but it turns out the wildsheep should NOT have been marked with the "eco"label...the prizes would have been better if delivered as "wildsheep"!!! Confusing??? I'm mad! And disappointed. The prizes are too low, there are too many "if's" and "but's" and "maybe's", so I've been a nasty lady on the phone today...Sorry!!! This is supposed to be a knittingblog-LOL- but sometimes this socalled life interfere with my knitting:-)
I've just salted 5 sheepskin that will be "garvet" sometime in the future...but I doubt if I do it myself, I'm more likely to send it off to a garveri ( for those of you reading Norwegian...but there are pictures,so all of you will see what I mean- unfortunately I STILL haven't bought a book of translations between Norwegian and English!)

Enough of that. It turns out to be a great day here on the westcoast, the sun is up, and it is not too cold. Have a beautiful day!

nice weather for knitting...

Of course I should have shown you the weather...it rains...and rains...and rains...I'm getting worried the kids will develop swimfeet just like the duck... A good thing about the weather, is that it is okay to not do anything outdoors(exept for gathering and marking the sheep,deciding which ones to keep and which ones to sell to the slaughterhouse, which we did on Saturday. In the rain. With all that wet wool....) So I've finally blocked my poncho! And DD2's poncho. And the one I made for her friend. Wonder why I didn't do it sooner? It softened up the wool( the yarn is not superwash, but I threw it in the washingmachine on 30C and woolcycle, and it came out great.) So now it only has to dry!
THIS will be a hat, I'm using Koigu and Cassie's Loksins! socks. I'm planning on knitting it like
Farmor did with this. DD2 is also a knitter, she's making a scarf for a friends birthday. Boring to knit garter stitch, but she has only a quarter left, and then we'll put on the rest of thr fringes and some crocheted flowers. I made a pair of fingerless gloves and a

calorymetri to go with it, knitted in Gjestal Babyull. I used almost exactly 50gr, on needles 2.5, for a small 10yearold. Only lacks buttons and a few flowers out of tha Kitten Mohair.

And finally:I don't know how many times I've tried to upload this photo...the mittens I made for two small friends. Selbumittens are always popular, and fun to knit.

Off to feed the sheep, and knit some more, I'd like to finish the hat before the weekend.

Have a great week, with perfect weather:-)

Revestreker...(foxy business...)

Mr.Black is defending his territory...Foxy was not exactly welcomed this morning, and I choked on my cup of tea!
It was fun seeing the cat this way, and he ended up chasing Foxy off the premises. I did try to call the hunter, but he probably had to work today (Work? When I need a foxhunter??? How inconsiderate of him!!!) See the fences? That's were some of our sheep go...
Have a terrific day:-)

Finally something to show off....

The angel was supposed to be at the bottom of this entry...but since I haven't figured out yet in what row the pictures upload, it is on top. It stands 18cm/7in tall,knitted in Cortina from Gjestal ,and it is not felted yet, I would like to make a few more. My mother-in-law has one that I used as a guide, but yesterday I bought one of the Xmas-magazines, and there it was... A pair of fingerless mittens, yarn KOIGU!!! Great! it was part of a trade with Cassie , she got a book she wanted, I got this Koigu, and Elizabeth Zimmermans Knitters Almanac(which is a funny book, I laugh and read and want to knit- it is just great). I think I came out of the trade a lot better than Cassie... Anyway, I knitted these in Cassie's
Loksins! pattern, and they came out really well, I think. There is enough yarn left for a scarf or neckerchief- it seems too good to be used for socks! The pattern is easy to knit, well written, and very pretty.
Remember a few days ago, I said I'd been making a pattern? I've seen a few blankets knit after lace doilies (Hemlock ring blanket, also found here ), and thought I wouldn't do what "everyone" else is doing. But the patterns I had, didn't work out that good, so I decided to give it a try myself...This is how far I got. 2 balls (100gr) of Gjestal Babyull. It was fun, but rather tedious. And I really wanted a round one...I guess designing is a lot about math... I would like to make this bigger, but I have to buy some more yarn first. It is about 60x60cm (22.5x22.5in) And then the Kitten Mohair yarn...it knits into a scarf , it is done, but needs blocking. I used 100gr of yarn on 4.5mm needles. Fun and easy to knit. I had a couple more photos I should have uploaded, but Blogger didn't want anymore today...



We've had a WET weekend. The pictures yesterday was taken on Sunday morning. The river is normally not so big, but it was pouring down, so we had rivers everywhere! It is still a grey day, had a bit of hail when I was feeding the sheep.

Some of you have been asking what kind of sheep we have. We have two kinds: spælsau and gammelnorsk utegangersau. The photo in the heading is spælsau, and the photo on the side is uteganger (often called villsau). We keep the spælsau inside the barn during winter, and feed them. Villsauen is going outdoors all year, but they are tamed, so if I call and have some grains, they will come. I also feed them extra during winter with hay. Some are more sceptical than others, of course, but they are nice animals, Very cute and curious, and great mothers. We have had some problems both with the fox and the ravens taking lambs. I deliver the sheep to a slaughterhouse, the wool is also delivered, the advantages is that I can deliver everything, the disadvantage is that we can do very little to get better prizes.

Utegangersauene have been butchered at home so far, but I'll try to deliver some this year. The wool is not used, it seems to be too coarse. And of course coloured... They are not too happy about the spælsauwool either... Maybe I have to learn how to spin? It is really interesting to browse the internet and see what people do, both spinning and dyeing, and in general processing the whole thing. Hmmm.

It is time to shear the sheep, but only the spælsau. Villsauen was sheared in June, they usually let go of their wool around that time. If I want to use the wool, I might have to shear them too twice a year.

Time to get another cup of tea, pick up the mail, and get something to eat. And then: back to the knitting.
Have a great day!

Water...

You make me smile...

Britt-Arnhild awarded me with this award- and I've been smiling ever since! Thank you, Britt-Arnhild!!! Your blog always make me smile! I would like to pass this award on to some special people, whose blogs I read with great joy.
Craftmouse
Ok!What next?
Pink Purl
Strikkepinner og andre pinner


I did plan on posting some knitting too! But my pictures won't upload...so I'll save it for later. Today I'm baking bread and a teacake. I have started a new scarf, in KittenMohair, a yarn I don't like, but bought because it was on sale...smart, eh? I've knitted more mittens, and I tried to make a pattern for a babyblanket in lace...which convinced me that I'm not cut out for that stuff...Lace is fun, knitting is fun, browsing the internet for new patterns is fun, making a pattern is no fun...
We've had several days of great fallweather, sunny days, and clear nights.
I'll be back...
Have a great day:-)

Tagged!

So I've been tagged...Bjørg tagged me for another "7 random things..."but I've already done it twice, in August and in May (and how do I link to that particular blogentry??? I'm such an ignorant when it comes to computerknowledge.) Then Anne tagged me for a bookmeme. I'm very fond of books, I read -almost...- all the time, when I don't knit, that is.... I've been reading all my life, so did my parents and my sisters.

Well, here we go:



1: Hardcover or paperback, and why?

I prefer hardcover. They look a lot better,and they wear a lot better... but I tend to buy a lot of paperbacks since they are cheaper...



2: If I were to own a book shop, I would call it...

Lesekroken (the reading corner)



3: My favourite quote from a book (mention the title)

Sorry, nothing comes to mind! Oh, I've got one! " Du ock jag, Alfred! Ja, du ock jag, Emil" ("You and me, Alfred! Yes, you and me, Emil" from the books about Emil i Lønneberget by Astrid Lindgren.)



4: The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be...

Sigrid Undset, a Norwegian author, now deceased, but I think she would be interesting. She has written some amazing books. I also think Chaim Potok would have been a good choice- or possibly those two together!



5:If I was going to a deserted island and could bring only one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be...

The Bible. Or maybe Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitter's Almanac- lots of laughs and some nice patterns:-)

6: I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that...

...made it possible to read and knit at the same time-maybe all books should be bound in spirals? And be at least twice as big as they usually are? And there should be something that turned the pages. Maybe that's why they invented CD-books...

7: The smell of an old book reminds me of...

...the books in the attic...


8: If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title) it would be...

Miss Marple. In all of Agatha Christies books... She's a gem!



9: The most overestimated book of all times is...

Gone with the wind. Yes I know you will not agree, but really?



10: I hate it when a book...

...is made into a movie!!! It is almost always a disappointment.

Should I tag someone? I think I'll pass this time, but please feel free to consider yourself tagged if you read this!

In other news the sheep are happy to be home! More about them later. Have a nice day:-)

Fårikålen er sikra! (Now there will be lambstew!)

Do you see the peak? No? What about here? And all those white spots?
Yesss!

THANK YOU to the vet's hubby and DS1(the 15yearold)- they did it. 70 sheep should be back home.
It's going to be a good week:-)

sheep? what sheep?

Blogger is being less than cooperative today- I needed three tries to upload these pictures- maybe a sign that I should do something else soon, and not bother you with all those "no sheep ,plenty nature" photos... Oh, well, I'll share anyway! DD1 and I took a hike on Tuesday, and the weather was just like it is supposed to be: cold, clear crisp air, sunny, and no wind at all. The first photo is a "seter", where the farmers kept sheep and cows during summer, they would cut whatever grass they found and dry it, and then bring it down during winter. They milked the cows and carried the milk down to the farms. It would probably not take them more than 30 min. to walk from the farm to summer pastures.But it is pretty steep...
A clear sign of King Winter not being far away- frosty leaves. DD1 found ice on most of the puddles and had great fun shaping them into animals or faces,and then throwing them on a rock, it sounded like glass breaking!
There is a cliff in the background of this photo- Hornelen- Northern Europes highest seacliff- it is 860m straight into the sea. The witches are believed to dance there on Midsummernights Eve. We can see it from most places in our village, and it is quite impressive.
Finally back home- only 2 more hours to walk-LOL! We saw some sheep, but they were too far away to fetch, it was getting rather late at day, and my knee hurts a lot, so we just had to get back down. It was a great trip, though! Unfortunately we don't have any sheepdogs, it would have come in handy now. The kids want a dog, and Hubby wants one- I'm the reluctant one, because I don't know if a dog would like it here, I just don't seem to have enough interest in one, and they need practise and exersice every day to behave properly. I will have to think it over. A properly trained sheepdog works wonders!!! I've seen them in action, and it is impressive!

Back in my schooldays we always wrote an essay about the holiday or a special day or event, and the ending line of that would be " And they all agreed that it had been a lovely day!"
I think that is what we said too, even though we didn't find any sheep...

Have a nice evening:-)