Starry,starry night...

It's been a lovely day- sunny and warm, and tonight all the stars are showing off, together with the moon. We live in the country, which means that it is easy to see the nightsky- not like when you are in a city and the lights from the city sort of makes it impossible to see the stars.


Today we cleaned the seahouse, it should be ready for our guests to arrive next weekend for our son's confirmation (kind of like bar mitzvah???or first communion???Sorry, I really dont know, but it is quite common in scandinavia.The kids are around 14-15 years old) We're holding a party for him on Saturday, after this ceremony(he has chosen a non-religious one), and we'll be 21 for dinner at our house. Hopefully the sheep will have delievered all their lambs- I don't quite picture myself helping out with a birth dressed in my nationalcostume-which I HAVE to finish...!-anyway,I hope we're on scedule...


Have a nice Sunday!

There once was a full moon...

photo taken on march31, at 8pm-it looked good on a big screen...

Bought thread to sew buttonholes on my white linen shirt that belongs to my nationalcostume...handmade it should be...(mainly because I don't have a sewingmachine at the moment-LOL)

I looked at a machine today though, a Janome Memory Craft 6600, and it looked really nice. I would like to get back to sewing again- my arms and legs are so long it is hard to find clothes in the stores (I'm 187 cm tall...)I used to make most of my clothes, but haven't sewn a thing for the last three years.

We're on schedule when it comes to the celebration next Saturday...I think...

Have a lovely weekend!

not exactly knitting...

After a long and windy winter, our fence and gate looked like this...the wind got hold of the gate as if it were a sail, threw it around and wrecked it. Something had to be done before we let the sheep out this spring. So my DS-15yr and I went to the top, carrying wirenet and fencepoles, sledgehammer and hammers-we used an hour on a tour that normally takes only 30 minutes...

Then we worked for a while, and here he is, proud of his work!He did a good job too.














The problem with replacing one thing for another, is that the first thing has to be removed. This photo shows how it was done-LOL.














I felt like a sherpa or something! Hit the shower when we came home, and ate spaghetti which DD-10 made while we were at the hills.

And then I finished the blue socks, while watching NYPD-Blue-next to last episode! Oh, no!

Have a nice day!


And yes, although yesterday was a bad day for a sheepfarmer, today brought us 3 sets of twins, which is excellent! Two of them were chocolatebrown with small white dots on their head- too cute! And I didn't bring my camera...

Progress...and pictures!

Done! My 11yearold niece will get these. Colour? My sister's suggestion..
The pattern is "Mirabella" by Mary Joy Gumayagay, I found it on www.knittingpatterncentral.com - apologies for not making a direct link! I like the pattern, but it might be a little tight around the gusset. I made one chage- I put a pattern repeat on the back of the leg as well, instead of just stockinette or a 1x1 rib.

And I made her some fingerless gloves, there is a cable running all the way up the thumb-see it? Or cable- it is only two stiches that change place every fourth row...easy, but quite effective.















The ones in the blue variegated will be for my 9yearold niece- still my sister's pick of colours! The pattern for this one is "Rayne's sock" by http://www.miknits.blogspot.com , using the same yarn she used (SISU by SandnesGarn,Norway, colour Fantasy6200)- but I knit looser than she did, so mine will fit a 9yo just sticking with the pattern!


And then: There IS progress! I am now nearly halfdone...each patternrepeat takes less than 3 minutes to knit, so it should be done quickly...The yarn is Mölnlycke crochetyarn, size 10(30), knitted on 1.5mm...

In other news I'm a bit sad and mad today, as I lost a sheep giving birth, both her lambs died too.The womb just fell out(there is probably a better name for it, I just don't know, but wish that I had a better vocabulary in English...), anyway, these things happen- she pushed out the whole thing, the lambs got "caught" somehow and didn't survive, and she went into shock and died. The veterinarian might have been able to do something, perhaps a caesarian- but then again might not. So I'm sad because I lost it, and mad because I didn't get the vet in time.

It's been raining too, but with high temperaturs, so it's been a nice spring day.

Started reading a new book- "The Grave Tattoo" by Val McDermid. I love reading. And I love knitting. I could easily do with 6 more hours a day!!!
Have a nice day!

End of weekend..

I went to pick up my son today, he had a great time- was dropped into the sea in a survivalsuit, and got picked up again. He won the 3 contests they had- and got a ceramic fish as proof.LOL. They had a fishingcontest- there were two participants, and he was the only one to get a fish...so he was pretty happy about that. But he hadn't slept much...so he fell asleep in the car!

As for knitting- both socks are done, and I've nearly finished the fingerless gloves too. pictures later.
Have a nice week!

links...

Hey- I did it!!! Thanks, Judy, nice and easy-to-follow instructions!

We woke up to another snowy(!!!)day, and it is cold. Later we did get some sun.Haven't done much today, there is always the sheep to attend to, and then my youngest got a pianolesson. The organplayer in church teaches piano, so we signed her up, and she likes it,( me being the bragging mother-she is actually pretty good, too!LOL.)

I finished the first sock last night, the second has only the half the leg left to go. Will be done tomorrow My eldest is going on an overnight trip with the youths he's taken confirmationlessons with, they will stay on this little island where about ten people lives!The coastguard will come by to show them the mob-boat (man over board),(unless there is a emergency they need to attend to) and they might even be thrown into the sea - in survivalsuits, that is...He is thrilled at the thought! Mommy not so much...

Have a nice weekend with lots of sun and pretty knitting!

Thursday morning view...

April 19th...

view from our livingroom window...

have a lovely day!

Sock in progress-this one is for my niece. Pattern "Mirabella" by Mary Joy Gumagagay, which I found on www.KnittingPatternCentral.com, a great website with lots of free patterns-on every thinkable knitted subject! I altered the pattern a little, the recipient is 11 years old, a skinny little thing, so I cast on fewer stitches and made a pattern on the back of the leg as well.( And no, I did not move stitches every few rows to avoid the "ladders"....)Hopefully they will fit her.

We've had a rainy, cold day here, it was snowing in the morning. We haven't done much- there is always school, and the sheep. Lambing season will soon be done though, and hopefully we can let the sheep out in a couple of weeks.

Also on the needles- but making slow progress- it is so hard to watch "House" and "NYPD Blues" while knitting this pattern! It is the lace edging for my national costumes apron. Knitted on size 1,5mm, with crochetyarn...

Well, enough of that!

Have a nice day!

Thanks!

Being very new to blogging, I am thrilled to see that I actually get comments! This is so nice, and I really appreciate it.

We've had a wet, rainy day, and the little lambs are all drooping their ears and hunching their backs against the foul weather. We haven't got a house for them to stay in, but they can walk in among the trees. They are really cute, and I realize I have to learn what to do with the woolonce we shear the sheep(in the middle of June)

Today a friend of mine came by to help me with my national costume (which I will be wearing when our son is having his confirmation, which is a pretty big event in Scandinavia,I think. He will be 15 later this year.) My mom made the dress for me, but only the parts, I have to mount it myself. That's where M comes in. She's done several herself, for daughters and sisters, so I completely trust her to make the right adjustments. I'll take a picture once it's done.

Not much knitting done, but I've turned the heel on my niece's sock(the first one...), a shortrow heel which looks pretty good. I'm looking forward to starting the sockamania club knitalong too:-)

Maybe I should try to figure out how to put a link to this blog? hmmm

Have a nice day!

Meet Mr.Black!

Mr.Black,whom the kids refer to as "Dot", due to his 4 white strands of hair on his throat, made it to the top....







For your information- there are birds in that birdhouse.





There was birds in the birdhouse...





And the cat climbed happily ever after.



Have a great day!

A lovely Sunday is at end. Some neighbours phoned and asked if we would join them for a hike , so we packed some apples and oranges, and off we went. It was a sunny, warm day, 20 deegres Celsius, the first day we've had spring feeling. We walked up to a little lake nearby, and it was so peaceful. The kids stopped in every mudpuddle to look at the frogs and frogs eggs- always exiting! I don't care much for frogs...but I have seen a cute felted one somewhere on the net that I have considered knitting-lol.

As for knitting-I did frog(haha) the sock for my niece, it was way too big. Just started the pattern again, hopefully it get's better this time:-)

Have a nice week!

Saturday updates!

Warm, sunny weather today. I fed the sheep, and there are now 19 little ones born within the last couple of weeks- one brand new today too. The mother was so proud of it, she looked at me and looked at her offspring, and waited for him to follow her when she came down to eat. I certainly wish I could do something with the wool! We shear the sheep in the middle of June, but since they are multicoloured, it is nearly impossible to sell it to a factory- they want white wool. So maybe I will have to learn how to spin...

In the afternoon we went to visit some friends, they have 5 children, I have 4, so it was pretty noisy...lol.

I cast on for a pair of toe up socks for one of my nieces, using a figure8-cast on- totally new to me, but it looked very neat. I'm afraid that I have to frog it though, as they seem to be much to big for her. There will be pictures later.

The felted bag here is what my 14-yearold made for me, he knitted and picked the colours, while I cast on and decided on the size and so forth. It is perfect. It carries my knitting. I am very pleased with it!

And we have a lovely view from our house- look at the background for the bag...

A lovely Sunday to you!

Finally Friday! The kids have been out playing most of the day, since the weather has been really beautiful. They've had friens over, or been off to visit friends. My eldest played golf...he's nearly 15, and got a golfset last year. We have a golfcourse not far from us, only 9 holes, but still...it's a nice one, and not one of those fancy ones!

Most of the day I've been following the news. A tug boat/anchorhandling vessel named Bourbon Dolphin, capsized west of the Shetland Islands last afternoon, with 15 crewmembers onboard. They have found 7 alive, 3 are confirmed dead, and the last five are still missing. The boat was anchorhandling an oilrig(Transocean Rather) when it capsized. The boat belongs to a company situated only a few miles north of us, and while we still don't know who was on the boat, a tragedy like this affects the whole community. Most people here on the coast are coonnected to the sea in some way, there are many working in the oilbusiness, we have fishermen on both smaller and larger boats, there are tug boats, supply boats, whatever. And yes, we know that sometimes a boat sinks, we have lots of bad weather that is a threat, but losing 8 in just a blink? That really hurts, even though there might not be anyone we know personally. I did learn however that one of the crewmembers that got out alive, came from this community. I know who his parents are. I feel relieved that he made it, but guilty because I feel relieved, because there are so many that didn't make it. Funny feeling.


In knitting news, I finished the socks and fingerless mittens I made for my daughter- I'll post pictures later. I was hoping to be able to make a list on the sidebar with photographs and some writing on finished objects. I haven't figured out how it's done yet,though! I also bought some more yarn- I haven't got any left! Next on my needles will be a lace for the apron of my national costume- which should be done by May 5th, when our eldest is being confirmated( that is obviously not the correct word!), but we are having a party in his honour, it is quite a big event in Norway and the rest of Scandinavia.

Take care, and have a lovely weekend, with lots of knittingfun!!!

more wool,and some (nearly)finished objects...

This one's pretty cute, isn't he? We have about 30 ewes of the old norwegian sheep, the lambs are popping out, and some of them look like this

.

The jacket was made as a knitalong in Garnaflækja, an Icelandic knittinggroup I joined recently. We got only parts of the pattern each day, and knitted and tried to guess what it was.Great fun!And a nice pattern, I will use it again.

These socks are in progress. There will be a set of fingerless gloves to match. My 12 yearold picked the colours herself...I'm not happy with the heel at all, it is way too small. But I'm lazy, so I will not rip it out....

here are the socks and fingerless gloves I made for my 5year old niece,she got them in the mail today, and went to bed wearing her mitts...

So that's it for today. I have also joined Sockamania-normally I don't like knitting socks, but there are so many fun patterns out there in blogland, I just have to give it a try:-)

At some point, I will have to figure out how to link to stuff...but not today, it is way too late...

Here's the wool!!!

on the needles

there is always a first time:a first time for driving a car, a first time for meeting your boyfriends parents, a first time for love, a first time for grief and sorrow- and a first time for blogging. Which is what I will try to do right here- if I get my lettters all stacked up in the right direction, that is.

To all crafters out there: there is also a first time for a new craft. Sometimes you will remember exactly when and where you took up a brand new craft, but more often you might think that:"this I have done forever and always".

I will try to write a little about my knitting, about my farming, and about whatever spins around in my head.

The big question is: do we really need yet another blog about that- there seems to be a zillion out there already!!!

You know what? I'll go for it anyway!

Have a happy day.