Oslo thus far

Greetings from sunny Oslo!

As promised here I am writing a proper blog, not just a "here's a bunch of pictures of the things I've been up to" lame ass post! as is typical when I'm away from home.

{Vigeland Sculpture Park}

To start off, the weather is gorgeous! Much warmer than the forecast I read before leaving home predicted it would be. My take on Oslo thus far is that its denizens are warm, the public transport system is easy to navigate and punctual! (I'm looking at you British Rail), and the city has enough shops to keep me happy for weeks. In particular; home goods and design stores. There are also numerous parks, many museums that afford a glimpse into this nation's rich history and everything else one would expect from a world class city.

{electric cars 'refuelling'}

I've never had a tongue for languages (and by languages I mean German, French and Spanish), my pronunciation lets me down without fail. 

Or so I thought. 

I find the Norwegian language straightforward to read and can make out enough snippets of a conversation to understand what is being said to me. Quite the confidence boost.

There is one peculiarity I must tell you of. I noticed a slope in a number of buildings I've visited. I imagine this is put there in place of a single step to make for better accessibility(?). I might ask a local about that one. 

On the whole, I'm having a pleasant time and other than "the toothbrush" by addi,

{addi swing hook}

there will be no yarny purchases. Instead, I am concentrating on things for our home. 

to take two projects

{Damask by Kitman Figueroa}

Well, here's my pretty in all her glory. I had planned to take lots of pictures but I'm rather short on time! 

Today has turned out to be unexpectedly crammed. I'm off to Leeds in search of a nice tie for S and hope to find spare batteries for my camera too. Then it's back here for my haircut before heading home where I'll begin packing for my trip to Norway. So excited! 

I've seen a fair bit of Europe but this will be my first trip to Scandinavia. I'm particularly eager to see the folk museum, the sculpture park, check out the local knitting and sewing shops and fabrics, I'm more excited about fabric than I am about yarn.

I was in a tizzy over what knitting to take with me before I found the summer flies shawl. I really like the look of it and can't wait to get stuck in. I briefly considered taking the naughty socks, which I'm gagging to see the back of, but decided to work on only happy things. As such I'll start a pair of toe-up socks with a difference using this gem

{jitterbug in jewel by colinette}

Yes, I agree it's optimistic to take two projects for a week's holiday but like many a wise knitter before me, I'd rather have too much than too little. Besides, I'll need something brainless while having a coffee and a knit with Pinneguri (eeep!).

I'd love your recommendations of things to see and do in Oslo and Bergen.

VERY annoying socks

Damask is done and blocking! and she is simply divine, even if I do say so myself. And you will see her just as soon as she is ready.

On the other hand, in the naughty spot we have my very annoying socks. I find myself short on yarn yet AGAIN. This shortage isn't entirely my fault, this time the fault lies squarely with the yarn! Had it been better behaved and gotten along with the first four patterns I chose for it, I wouldn't have had to frog and re-knit over and again. 

Of course, the yarn didn't like being frogged and kicked off by fuzzing like crazy so I had no choice but to chop off the offending fuzzy bits. This left me with a considerably lighter skein. Fortunately I've found just the thing to fix 'em: yellow! to finish off the toes. Personally, I blame the summery weather we've had lately for making me want to make everything yellow.

Speaking of which, I now have over 700 perfect 3.5" squares. I've had to take a break from cutting due to the bitch of a headache that's afflicted me since Friday :(

Yes, Friday. The day we had friends round for dinner. It was also the day I got all 'heston' with dessert.

{cake batter}

My plan was to make a chocolate marble cake but as I really wanted something over the top, I split the plain sponge bit in two and chucked some frozen berries into one part of that. 

And to really take it over the edge, I made buttercream icing!

{yes, it tasted every bit as good as it looks}

I don't recall ever icing a cake. Not once. 

It was interesting to see that though I went so far off the grid, somehow it all worked out very nicely! Yay, for playing with your food! 

(recipes on the way)

Oh and Happy EASTER!

ETA: alltheeggs just for Larissa :)

cutting 900 squares

I've no knitting to share with you today.

I could bang on about my interminably annoying sock(s), but i won't.

I suppose mentioning my Damask wouldn't go amiss but this is on hold while i wait for yarn on it's way to me, yet again. Yes, after all that research and even though i went down from 4mm to 3.25mm needles. i am still wondering where I went wrong.

So while my knitting sits and ponders its wrongs, we'll move on to some sewing. We've had the most glorious sunshine these past few weeks, and consequently the nights have been a bit too warm for a duvet. not uncomfortable mind, just not cool enough to warrant snuggling under the duvet. This invariably brings to the fore the need for a summer quilt, closely followed by a rush of guilt. So yesterday, in an attempt to beat down the guilt, I began the daunting task of cutting 900 squares.

As this poor quilt's been patient with me, I've decided to make it worth the wait by not cutting corners. To this end, I am fussy cutting - an arduous task - where applicable.

After all my anticipation and planning, I'm pleased this quilt is finally off the ground. I feel like a sculptor that's been staring at his blank for far too long! It's early days yet but I'm already looking forward to my next king size quilt.

Tonight B & J will be joining us for dinner, so now I'm off to town to pick up ingredients for a cake that will hopefully be 'a teeny bit more special than usual'.

What do you have planned this Easter weekend?

ever so slightly eccentric

I'm back home now following a week in the beautiful City of Cambridge during which I finally got to visit my gran in London. It was so good to see her, she looked well though she'd lost a lot of weight and wasn't her usual sparkly self. I think the accident brought home her own mortality. How I wish I could replace the worry on her face with happier thoughts. My gran was always easy to talk to so that's what we did, talk. I'll see her again in two weeks and I can hardly wait. In the meantime, I'm putting together a 'care package' of her favourite things starting with bright red nail varnish!

Nicola and li'l G were here yesterday and we spent the afternoon planting my herb garden. This, as you may recall, was Nicola's Christmas present to me. We don't yet know which plants will make it and which will die off but it's safe to say this is a gift that will keep on giving :)

Last night, brought our first BBQ of the year. S and I were invited to the home of a neighbour (& friend) where we met a number of people that live on our street. It was a fun night, lots of interesting conversation and good food but I missed the brownies baked by number 55. Yes, we all addressed each other by house number the whole evening! This was an ever so slightly eccentric lot, just how I like my people so that was fine by me.

Today we will finally get to tackle the 2 un-tackled bedrooms which have served as a dumping ground for weeks! Because we are wardrobe-less (we're still considering what features we require of a built-in system - there are so many options!)  and with it being an 'in-between' season, I refuse to put away my winter clothes and start on the summer ones and even if i wanted to, there's hardly anywhere to put them anyway. Thus everything is out in the open albeit behind closed doors. But as we're having a houseguest this week, necessity compels.

Now on to what's giving me happy these days. Well, thanks to my friend Heather of a tangled yarn (not forgetting the Haruni knit-a-long) fame there's this skein of deliciousness that I've been gagging to get my hands on without success...until now

{Der letzte versuch by Wollmeise}

and this, a swap item ;)

{magnolie dark by Wollmeise}

and in London I picked up this fat little bugger. No seriously, fat = 1740 yards and little = lace.

{Tambopata by Wollmeise}

In the past week I visited the M.A.C. Pro store and stocked up on pots of prettifying products and while in my old stomping ground, I took the opportunity of stocking-up on presents for family and friends. 

All in all, 'twas a lovely week and weekend. Here's hoping the one to come is half as nice for all.

my week in pictures

{tulips in my garden last weekend}

{my viaduct}

{S on my viaduct}

{The Bridge of Sighs}

{old door, St John's College, Cambridge}

{looking up, St John's College, Cambridge}

{E staircase, St John's College, Cambridge}

{2 Dots at King's X; off to see the wizard - how adorable are they?}

{real grass on glass}

{leave me here for hours}

{Natural History Museum- not a place to be in the school holidays!}

{'sleeping with the fishes'}

{you say vicuna, I say yaaaarn.}

I've had the most amazing week and look forward to the weekend. 

Have a good one.

my 20-stitch swatches

As a new knitter I was so eager to learn as much as I could as quickly as I could. To this end each new project I chose brought with it a new technique. The problem with this was that new projects took too long, I wanted the next new technique NOW! So without a project in mind I began knitting swatches from the original harmony guides given to me by my landlady at the time. I wanted to know what effect different stitches had and how they changed the fabric's texture, dimension, density and so on. I gained a  better understanding of knitting through this exercise. 

{ a few of my 20-stitch swatches}

There never was a grand plan for these; I never intended to turn them into blankets or a bag or anything else really, they were just swatches.
I stumbled upon the box containing these whilst unpacking last week and had to share them with you.
Come to think of it, I also knitted lace swatches using different yarns to see which were best at keeping things holey. 

I wonder if I'll ever find those.

rows getting shorter

I'm currently working on Damask - a shawl knit from the bottom up i.e. both long sides inwards - a first for me. I'm really enjoying this knit. A while ago I wrote how lovely it is to knit a project in which the yarn and pattern are well matched. Well, this is shaping up to be one of those and bonus!, there's been no fudging so far. well, actually there was but I was highly dissatisfied with it so I frogged and restarted and I'm now pleased as punch. 

Before casting on any project, I go through project pages on Ravelry. I seek out those projects knit in my chosen yarn in search of: modifications; exactly how much yarn was used (proven most useful time and again); things the knitter would do differently (e.g. YO's instead of M1's...); and weigh these factors in my mind. Then, (and only then do), I throw out the rule book in favour of doing it my way! Mostly things work out well - after all it's only knitting - but things have been known to go very wrong indeed (running out of yarn being the most recent example of this).

Anyway, I did my research on Damask then went for it and all things considered, it wasn't a huge leap from medium to large (36 sts more). Having settled on the large, I'm now on row 71 of 158 and according to my trigonometry-on-the-back-of-a-napkin calculations, I should have enough yarn to get me through. I'm slightly incredulous but yay! for the rows getting shorter. 

Something else I like about this pattern (in addition to nupps) are the 'columns' of stitches acting like a visual guardrail so that if a mistake is made, it's caught within that very pattern repeat. This way I can't go too far wrong. 

Oh, and did I mention that I planned to wear my damask rose to a wedding this Saturday?
Yeah, I don't see that happening either. 

of beautiful plants

We now return to our regular programming following the excitement that was the daily, full-on experience of blog week! I didn't get through every blog (I knew I wouldn't have that much time) but will be visiting over the weeks and months to come. Many thanks to everyone that stopped by this blog and took the time to leave comments - I appreciate them.

During the week I didn't get much knitting done, instead S and I emptied boxes which is great because not only do I see the light at the end of the tunnel, we're finally at the end of the tunnel! That's right folks, we're fully unpacked and my itchy fingers have moved on to 

paint samples for the kitchen. I wanted a bright citrus green but think I might be chickening out.

In other news, last week Nicola, l'il G and I visited RHS Harlow Carr Garden in search of inspiration for my garden and we found lots of beautiful plants. My favourites being:

and

and

and

and

It was a wet, blustery day full of colour. It's looking like they'll make a gardener of me after all. Speaking of which, my sweet peas are finally poking above the soil and they're the sweetest little plantlings. 

{day 12}

Whichever way you dice it, new life is amazing.

p.s. all pictures except the first and last were taken with Nicola's camera.

Your knitting and crochet time: anytime! | 2KCBWDAY7

2KCBWDAY7

"Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with"

{gratuitous picture of a knitting needle and ball of yarn}

Hmmm, my typical crafting time? I don't think there's such a thing. I will whip out my sticks anytime, anyplace, anyhow. I knit on trains (not buses nor cars though cause I get motion sick), in waiting rooms, with friends on Thursday afternoons, at knit nights...anywhere really. By far my favourite place to knit is on trains, accompanied by playlists on my iPod. Train rides are free time, an in-between, wedged in that space after goodbye and before hello. 

And in those awkward social situations that I find myself by myself, I'll whip out my current mindless (it has to be mindless if I'm knitting in company), portable, work in progress and away I go.

One consequence of knitting in public is the interest that strangers show in the activity- anyone else notice this? There's always someone telling me of a mum, aunt, nan or other female relative whose memory is triggered by seeing me knit. Also, I'm always surprised at how open people are with me when I'm knitting; they share (what I consider private) snippets of their lives. I recall how shocked I was the first few times this happened - I wondered, "WTF?!" and didn't know how to respond. But in time I realised it just goes with the territory. 

Knitting at home is not as good as it should be. There's usually a strong sense of guilt over other things I should be doing. So I end up bargaining with myself in some variation of what follows:

me: I really should get some sleep now.

myself: yeah, but this is no place to stop! you need to stop on a nice round number, like row 40 or 45.

I: o.k. I'll get another load washed, knit 7 more rows and then I'm off to bed! 

me @ row 60: I really should get some sleep now...

Speaking of which, I really should get some sleep now. 

To read more on this topic from knitters and crocheters across the globe, google: 2KCBWDAY7.

Something to aspire to: uncharted waters | 2KCBWDAY6

2KCBWDAY6

"Is there a pattern or skill that you don't yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that maked your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft?"

{Flower Market Bag}

Now I'm not a bag person. Nor do I like the texture of felted items. What I do like is bold, vivid, intense colour! And for that reason alone, I will knit and felt this bag someday!

Something else I aspire to is THE perfect hand knit cardigan. For years this has eluded me. I dream of knitting myself a cardigan with cables and lace using a soft yet durable yarn that feels nice to knit with,  wears beautifully and washes very well. I'd also love if the detail remained intact after years of loving use. 

It's fair to say, the perfect hand knit cardigan is my holy grail.

{Nightingale}

These socks stole my heart from the moment I lay eyes on them. They will take me forever and a day to knit but I'm happy to put in that much of myself because I know it will be worth it in the end. 

And hopefully by the time these are off the needles I'd've overcome my slight disinclination to wearing my own hand knit socks. 

Don't ask.

{Momo's Nightingale}

Yeah, so about what I said earlier. 

Scratch that. 

THIS is my holy grail! 

I have a few more techniques to explore, including: 

intarsia - which does nothing for me. AT ALL. but I would learn it for the sake of drawing a line under it; entrelac - I've dabbled in this in fits and starts and somewhere in my future is a throw with entrelac's name on it; double knitting - I would love to knit socks this way. Even if just the one time, to blow some other poor unsuspecting newbie's mind :)

To read what other knitters and crocheters around the world have to say on this topic, google: 2KCBWDAY6

And now for something completely different : a cast on | 2KCBWDAY5

2KCBWDAY5

"This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create."

I've found this to be the most challenging day of blog week so far. But I was determined to try my hand at something totally new to me. So for your viewing pleasure, here is my go-to cast on;

begin with a slip stitch on the needle...

I find that this cast on gives a stretchy edge that's also decorative and best of all it doesn't require the knitter to estimate a length of yarn to cast on with - something that really irritates me. 

It's been said that knitting into the loops (first row of knitting) is...meaty. Just a heads up.

So? what do you think?

To see how other knitters and crocheters across the globe interpreted this topic, google: 2KCBWDAY5.