Heklekant

Crochet sure is weirdly impressive. It really has the capacity to go just about any where, whereas knitting is much more controlled. I'm thinking about these differences because today is a holiday and so I took the opportunity to dig out one of my languishing projects and work on it a little on the patio in the sun this afternoon. It's the short jacket made out of the crazy variegated mohair yarn that a friend of mine in Eugene gave me last year. All the pieces were finished, so I sewed it together and started working on the crocheted ruffle edging:

Anyone who knows my tastes will know that I find this astoundingly ugly, but it's in fact so ugly that I might actually wear it (if I ever find the right thing to go with it, that is). I think the contrasting ruffle edging is either going to make or break it, but either way, it's amazing how much putting on even a little of the edging changes the look of the garment. Here's a close up:

This is crocheting three "dobbeltstaver" into each stitch of the first row of single crochet. The pattern calls for one more row (this time crocheting two into each stitch) to create the full ruffle. It's very easy and fun, really. I'm hooked (har har).

Småplukk

This past week has been filled with many small projects. It's fun to finally have some finished objects to show, but I am a bit bummed that I'm not getting anywhere with any larger projects. I think my knitting is definitely in a lackluster period this fall. I'm hoping that's because I'm channeling my creative energy into the Peer Gynt book instead. So, with apologies for being really boring, here are three finished objects:

First out is four crocheted washcloths/dishrags from Tove Fevang's Helt enkel hekling:

These were crocheted in a mad dash to get something together for E's school's Christmas Market (which was yesterday). I had originally hoped that the three of us could make tie dyed t-shirts together as a family project, but it turned out that the materials were just outrageously expensive here in Norway. I don't mind spending money to support the school, but this would have probably been about $75 for the supplies, and I just couldn't bring myself to pay that much. I'm happy with the substitute project: I learned how to crochet a piqué edge (easy!) and used up the rest of the yarn left over from a thrift store harvest. I really like Tove Fevang's patterns from this book, and it was a good reminder that there are still lots of things I'd like to make from it.

Next up was a pair of fingerless mitts that I knitted for myself:

I used the Rauma Inca alpakkagarn that I bought last year for something else that didn't end up working out. The pattern is from a Rauma Design pamphlet called Alpakka 1. It's supposed to be striped, but I just wanted something plain and simple to wear when I'm typing in my campus office. Although most public buildings are overheated in Norway, for some reason my office gets really chilly. It will be nice to have these at hand when my hands get cold and stiff.

The last thing I finished this week was a gift for my official mentor:

I didn't dare make anything other than the plainest of manly toques for him. I used Marks & Kattens Eco Ull for the first time. It's a single ply Aran weight yarn, and I must say I liked it a lot. I ended up using just a tiny bit of the third ball I bought, which is always a little irritating. I'm now wondering what I can use it for. The pattern is Cheryl Niamath's Zissou, which I've knit twice before (both for KE).

I had been hoping that I could report that I was finished with the second arm of the Rib-o-rama pullover too, but I'm not quite there yet. I should finish it by the end of today, though, and then start picking up the stitches for the body. I can't believe how slowly that project has been going, even when I do actually pick it up and knit on it.

Lettvint

Today was one of those days that we live for out here on Nesodden: 20+ degrees celsius, glorious sun and soft breezes. We were outside almost all day. KE needed a little break so he walked down to the marina for the first fishing of the year. He came home with a nice little cod:

We're not huge fans of cod (KE was hoping for mackerel) so I just made an improvised fish soup out of what we happened to have in the vegetable bin, which is to say onion, parsnip, potato, a little tomato, and a little spinach:

Turned out pretty good, actually.

I tried a couple of times to get going on the lace curtain for the bathroom but I just couldn't get the lace pattern to come out right. I wasn't super committed to the pattern anyway, so I gave up and ripped it out. I've been having the urge to crochet for the past few days, so I decided it was time for a really basic crochet project from Helt enkelt hekling. Tove Fevang gives patterns for dishrags using different crochet stitches. Each one has a different edging, which of course you can mix and match. I think I have enough of the Louet Euroflax to make three dishrags. I went for the easiest possible pattern first, since I was feeling incompetent after the lace curtain failure. Here's the end result:

It's the plainest of things, so I staged it on one of our rag rugs to keep the snapshot from being too boring. The rag is about 50 stitches of plain single crochet, edged with one row of single crochet and one row of what Fevang calls "krepsemaske" (crayfish or crustacean stitch). It makes a very firm edge.

In a moment of brilliance (if I do say so myself) I decided I could probably find a piece of old lace that would fit the bathroom window from my stash. I inherited a big stack of doilies from my great grandmother. I have no idea who made it all, unfortunately. As luck would have it, there actually was a table runner in exactly the right size:

It's a great old piece of crocheted lace, with the medallions crocheted separately, then joined with motifs in between. The beige color looks great with the unfinished wood window frame. Unfortunately some of the motifs between the medallions are coming apart. Not sure I know how to fix them, but for now this works perfectly and KE will no longer feel embarrassed when he's in the shower (I'm too short to be seen).

Just a couple of tasks to complete at work tomorrow, then it's packing, and away we go, off to the states. KE's nephew will be staying in our house while we're gone, which is very reassuring.

Møkkavær

Today we woke up to a blustery snow storm. I am not happy, to put it mildly. It's May, for goodness sake! For some odd reason I couldn't find my knitting bag last night, and since I had a bunch of left over Garnstudio Drops Eskimo and a crochet hook handy in my basket, I decided to start crocheting a hat rather than get off the sofa to look for my knitting. It's a rough life I lead. Turns out it was a good thing I did because it was so frigid on the way to work this morning that I really needed a toque. This one turned out better than nearly all my previous sorry attempts at making a warm hat for myself. Here it is:

It's supposed to be one-color with pompoms, but I'm not much of a pompom person (no surprise there), and I ran out of the rust. Luckily, there's a change in the pattern (from DC to SC) right where I ran out, so it seems almost natural to switch colors there too. It fits really well and is warm, though not the most attractive thing in the world. It's Drops number 93-36.

Today was a productive day at work, at least in terms of small nagging tasks. I took a little extra time on the way home to stop off in some clothing stores in Oslo. My clothing situation is becoming critical. Unfortunately, it was incredibly depressing to shop for clothes. There is so little that I even like, or that I think would be flattering and comfortable, and what little that does appeal to me here in Norway ends up being outrageously expensive. I don't know what it is with all the embellishments on women's clothing. Even a simple thing like a pair of jeans here has to have rhinestones or ridiculous heraldic crests on the back pockets. To make matters worse, this season's palette of colors is totally wrong for me. Lots of pastels and navy and cold tones of other colors, or else brilliant lipstick red. None of it works on me. It's a strange experience to walk into a store and feel totally turned off by just the impression that the range of colors makes.

Tomorrow and Thursday I'll be attending a two-day workshop on nynorsk i arbeidet, a crash course on how to improve one's communication in Nynorsk for state employees. I'm one of about 15 participants, and as far as I can tell the only non-native speaker. I'm actually pretty excited about it, though I'm afraid they're just going to kick me out since I've never had any formal training in Nynorsk at all. Should be interesting!

Vips

Two pictures of finished objects to post today. Thanks to Eyjafjallajökull, no flights are leaving Europe, and I along with the rest of my household am down with a nasty cold, so I haven't had the energy or motivation to do anything but knit the past three days. So here is the Marius yoke sweater:

Since this is yarn that has been knitted up and frogged twice before, it was pretty chopped up and there were a ton of ends to weave in. I ran out of the Jamieson and Smith Moorland with only 11 rounds to go, so I used the lighter color that I also have for the very top of the yoke. I can't decide whether it's okay, or whether I should go to all the trouble and expense to order more of the Moorland. I'll just have to see.
Since the camera was out, I took the opportunity to get a snap of the second Miss Honeychurch too:

I wasn't expecting it to be so see through, but I think it will work. Love the linen for sure. These are sweaters five and six for the year.

Not quite sure what the next project will be. I got a new book (consolation prize for the canceled flight): Tove Fevang's Helt enkel hekling (ISBN 9788202314903). I'm pretty excited about it. It's an introductory book with a bunch of projects that, though very simple, I really want to make. Here are some snapshots of a few of the projects, to give you an idea:

This last one is even written for Garnstudio Drops Alpaca, and since I already have all of those colors left over from the ripple blanket, this seems like a natural choice.

Gardinglede

Ah, that's more like it. I had to go to 2 stores in Oslo, 3 on Nesoddtangen, and 6 more at the mall before I found an acceptable curtain rod, and even then I couldn't find any café curtain rings to hang the curtain with. After trying a couple of different things, I ended up crocheting a row along the top with loops. I'm really glad that I'm getting more proficient at crochet, as it is such a versatile and useful technique. I would have never thought of this solution if I hadn't made the ripple blanket. If I do say so myself, I think the curtain is darling. Strictly speaking I should knit a second one, as this doesn't cover the whole window. I doubt that's going to happen any time soon, especially since it's mostly just meant to be decorative.

I also took a snap of the blue linen Miss Honeychurch that I started last night:

I have modified it a tiny bit so that there is a column of knit stitches at each of the raglan seams. It bothered me with the first one that only one of the four seams had that. It's knitting up rather loosely. Of course I can't be bothered to check the gauge. I hope I don't live to regret my lackadaisical attitude!

Første forsøk

Look! I sewed something and it didn't turn into a disaster. Thrilling! This is Simplicity pattern 9949 view G, using the same unbleached Ikea linen that I apparently use for all sewing projects. It turns out that my machine doesn't have a zipper foot, so I had to sew the zipper in by hand, but otherwise this was all (well, "all" is probably a stretch. There was a total of 9 very short seams) done on my machine and I don't think I swore once. There are some problems with it, but it does give me hope that I will someday be able to machine sew. I'm just going to keep plugging away at small "low impact" projects like this made out of fabric I have lying around. I cut out the pieces for another one of these, and I'll just try to do better on the things I messed up on this one.

I didn't make any fused plastic today because the weather was cold and sleety, and thus not conducive to working with open doors and windows. In the afternoon the sun came out though, so I was able to take some pictures, including the finished and blocked ripple blanket:

Bold, no? I still have loads of 10 colors of this yarn (Garnstudio Drops Alpaca) left over. I'm contemplating making a granny square afghan out of it, since that's easy and very portable. I've started looking around on Flickr and Ravelry trying to figure out what granny square aesthetic appeals to me. They're so incredibly varied, and some are astoundingly ugly. I was thinking maybe I should make hexagonal blocks rather than squares. Clearly not sure of what I want to do here, so I'll let the yarn marinate. Now it's back to the lace curtain, which feels a bit like a chore. Only about 10 cm to go, I think, so there actually is an end in sight, even though it doesn't feel like it. Can't wait to cast on for a new sweater as soon as it's done. Right now I'm thinking it will be another Miss Honeychurch (in the blue Garnstudio Drops Lin that I bought last spring), though that is obviously very subject to change.

Our social adventure last night turned out to be a good experience for all. E and his auntie appeared to really bond. AK said she had fun with E, and he was totally at ease spending the night at her house. KE and I had a nice time at the dinner party we were invited to. It was a very academic crowd, and even though it was at a colleague's home I'm not sure I really got any closer to getting to really know them any better. But given that this is Norway, it was a huge breakthrough just to be invited, and it was a lovely evening. The whole event feels like a milestone in our family dynamics. We got off the bus at midnight along with a neighbor, who remarked with surprise that she certainly wasn't used to seeing us out at that time of night.

Åpenbaring

I hate to say it, but OMG! I am so freakin' stoked! I started poking around on upcycling groups on Flickr, and discovered a craft that really hadn't made it into my consciousness until now, namely fusing plastic bags to make fabric. Here is a tutorial on how to fuse the really thin plastic grocery bags you get in the US. Check out this amazing bag lady coat (there's a close up of the wild patterns here) and this sweet little coin purse made out of US bread bags. Then, for a totally different look, there's this minimalistic striped bag. Very, very, very, very cool.

We of course have massive amounts of plastic bags, so I've spent most of the morning sorting them by color and have started cutting some up. Yay! Of course the process of fusing the bags itself is highly toxic, since you're melting plastic. Definitely something to do in warm weather with the doors and windows wide open. But once you get over that stage, the project possibilities are endless. I'm guessing (though I have yet to actually try) that the process of layering and fusing is really fun and challenging, since that's where you can build up patterns and layers into interesting designs.

I got so excited about this that I almost forgot to mention that I did actually (finally) finish the ripple baby blanket last night. It's blocking now. I was a little bummed to see that my gauge changed from the beginning to the end (the first few ripples are much looser). I'm hoping the blocking will even that out a bit.

I haven't cast on for a new project (still plodding along with the curtain), but I suppose technically this new plastic bag obsession counts as one (but since I'm just cutting up bags, I think it's okay, at least in my world, especially since I'm the one who imposed the rule about not starting a new project until the curtain is done!).

Tonight E is spending the night at his aunt's house so that KE and I can go to dinner at a colleague's house. I'm a bit nervous about the whole thing, but we have to start this kind of social activity some time.

Kavalkade

Wow. Winter really hit us again. More snow, and lots of wind. Crazy. Good thing the Olympics are on and I've got lots of knitting and crocheting to do.

This week in preschool E got to dress up for carnival. He chose to be Politimester Bastian from Torbjørn Egner's Folk og røvere i Kardemommebyen. KE painted his face and I found a police hat at the party supply store near Steen & Strøm in Oslo. He didn't look much like Bastian, but awfully cute nonetheless:


I also finally got a chance today to photograph some projects, both in-progress and finished. First up is the pair of Elizabeth Zimmermann nether garments that I knitted for E last month. This project finished off all the DK weight superwash yarn I had left over, so that's a good thing:

The next finished object is the ridiculously easy toque in olive green alpaca yarn, also left over. I have to admit that I find it a little scratchy, which I totally wasn't expecting. So my pursuit of the perfect toque will have to continue. This is the first of my three Ravelympics projects:

I can't believe how much I look like my mom in this picture. Can you see that my hair is shorter? I had KE hack off a couple of inches this morning. Too cheap and lazy to go to a salon. When you spend as little effort on your appearance as I do, there's no reason not to have the spousal unit just cut it straight across the back.

Then there's the baby blanket for KE's cousin as my second Ravelympics project. This is my first crochet project in quite a while. When I first started I thought it was going to be a total disaster, but the more colors I add the more I start to like it:

Woo. psychedelic ripples. Not sure what impact this will have on the baby. For some reason I forgot that you can (and should) actually crochet over the tail ends as you go (rather than weaving them in after--thinking like a knitter). From here on out I'll be doing that. I ran out of the black yarn, but picked up more on Friday, so I'll be able to pick this up again once I finish the Ravelympics raglan:

I photographed this on our white coffee table, which makes it look like it's floating in space. For some reason whatever I put in my pizza today is making everything on my computer look trippy right now! I've knitted all of the first sleeve, and have a good start on the second. I'm a little worried that I won't have enough yarn (this seems to be the theme of my 2010 knitting experience so far). I still have a skein left over of the red version of this yarn (used in KE's wacky artist sweater), so I could conceivably use that to finish it off, perhaps as a contrasting cowl neck?

Curling

So far the Olympics are pretty much a bust for Norway. Everyone good is choking, except for two respectable silver medals (yay Aksel Lund Svindal, yay Emil Hegli Svensen!). The only really spectacular thing so far has been the men's curling team's pants:

Wow. Talk about ugly! But they're probably going to do wonders for the sport of curling. Here's an article from Aftenposten (er, that would be the article I lifted the photograph from...).

Another "fargeklatt" that made watching the men's 12.5K biathlon sprint enjoyable last night was the guy who won it, Swede Björn Ferry. He did the most hilarious and geeky happy dance at the flower ceremony. I think maybe it was clogging? At any rate, I love it, and I'm glad he won since he appeared so incredibly frustrated at the officials for letting other racers start early. What a fiasco all that has been. Did the officials somehow forget the rules? Did the Canadians just bring random people in out of the woods to officiate? How bleeping hard is it to count 14 seconds or look at the start number on a competitor's chest? They did it with the women's event earlier in the day, then again with the men, so clearly the learning curve is pretty flat there at Whistler. Wait, it looks like it's the IBU's fault, not the Canadian organizers according to this article. That actually makes it even harder to understand. Did I mention how much I totally, totally love biathlon? It has become my favorite sport.

So the Canada-Norway curling match and the 12.5K sprint allowed me to finish a toque (and yes, I grew up 20 minutes from the Canadian border, so that's what I call them. Not beanie, not stocking cap, or any other lame name. It's a toque, dammit). I used this drops pattern and the left over olive green Drops Alpaca yarn. Going to wear it to today for the first time.

Speaking of toques, and awkward, geeky stuff, what about the crocheted Swedish Olympic toques? They're incredibly ugly, but kind of cool. I found a blog with instructions on how to crochet them (apparently scanned from a newspaper?).

ETA a picture, borrowed from Dagens Nyheter:


Still more hurdles and frustrations with the publication grant I'm writing. Grr. Will blog about that after the deadline has past and I know where I stand.

Smerte

I am so dumb. I went bananas on the crocheted ripple baby blanket that I started in honor of the Olympics and totally--I mean totally--overdid it Saturday and Sunday. I think I crocheted for something like 10 hours each day. All I have to show for it is about 9 inches of blanket and extremely sore wrist and hands.

Then last night I found this post about the challenges of knitting on a blog that I follow. It almost made me want to cry, thinking that pulling dumb stunts like the one this weekend could eventually make it impossible for me to knit.

Today I have to get a publishing grant finished. I'm totally dependent upon my editor coming through with the supporting documents I need. The likelihood is looking slim, which ticks me off to no end, but I'm trying to remain sanguine about it.

All in all, this day is starting off a little tense. Hope things work out.

Oh, and speaking of blowing things, the Norwegian men's cross country team really bombed yesterday in the 15K free event. It was painful to watch.

Penger på bok!

Happy November! Yesterday the sale of our house went through, and I deposited the check in our bank account! I'm so totally thrilled to no longer own this house. Our buyers are incredibly easy to work with, and we will be renting back from them until the day before we leave for Norway (16 December is D-day).

We barely got more than our down payment back, but really that's okay. Everyone I've told agrees that we're just incredibly lucky to have sold at all in this market, especially given that we didn't even have to use a realtor or have masses of people come and look--much easier in a family with a toddler who spreads his toys everywhere.

So now we're anxiously eying the exchange rate. Earlier this week the dollar reached 7 crowns, but now it's back down to just over 6. I know the election on Tuesday will probably bump it down significantly. I think KE would have done the exchange yesterday if he could have (we couldn't because we got the check too late in the day on a Friday). I'm kind of interested in waiting and seeing, but there are never any guarantees. This week was a 2-year high I think.

E wore his "James" (from Thomas the Tank Engine) costume to preschool yesterday. He was really proud of it. Things have become kind of a struggle with him. He is so stubborn that he resists everything. I'm starting to get tired of all the battles, especially now when my energy is so low because of my cold.


As you can see, I have been crocheting like crazy with some more of the weaving linen my mom gave me. I finished all the grannie squares for the Häkelbeutel bag and sewed it together today. Now all I need is straps and some kind of lining. And then today is the day I'm supposed to start knittng the hat for my mom's birthday next weekend...

Manisk

I can't control myself! I don't want to work. I don't want to take care of my house or family. I just want to knit, crochet, read about knitting, read about crocheting, look at yarn, and think about all of the above.

Clearly I'm attempting to avoid reality, and reality is pretty overwhelming right now: We're selling our house and moving overseas. My father is very sick. My husband is stressed out. My mother is sad that we're leaving. My son is in constant need of attention. I have students expecting me to guide and advise them competently. I have friends with whom I want to maintain friendships. I'm going to be starting a new job in a foreign country. Argh. There's just so much to deal with!

So, instead we have:


This is made out of left over linen that my mother gave me, improvising a pattern out of Erika Knight's Simple Crochet. It makes me very happy, even though it doesn't really have much of a function.

Then there's this:

Or, rather more accurately, these:

Which are the grannie squares for the "Häkelbeutel" purse that I failed miserably at last month. I won't have enough yarn to finish it, and I am too cheap to buy more, so why even bother? Manic behavior. But ah, the triumph of mastering the evil "grannie square." What I didn't understand before is that, unlike in knitting, in crocheting you don't make the stitch into the stitch below, but rather below the stitch below (if that makes any sense). It changes everything.

And then the German sock yarn (Trekking XXL, purchased used from a Raveler) for making the Drops "rillejakke" arrived in the mail the day before yesterday, and it is so gorgeous that I absolutely had to drop the Lattice lace pullover (which I'm finding rather demoralizing since I'm convinced it will be too small) and start knitting. It's kind of a midnight blue with various blue, teal, and purple highlights. I'm really enjoying the easy garter stitch. Very therapeutic for my addled mind...


And if that's not enough I spent a lovely afternoon with my mother yesterday deciding on her birthday present. I'm going to -- what else? -- knit her a hat. After visits to three different yarn stores we settled on three skeins of this (O-wool Balance, 50% merino 50% cotton, all organic in a color called "Ruby"):


I did manage to work my way through my mail-in election ballot, and turned it in today. I also finally managed to call a plumber to set up an estimate for the plumbing work that needs to be done before the sale of the house goes through. And after a reminder, I faxed a form over to the title company. Little by little I do a few things, but mostly I just sit in a fog, frantically manipulating needles.

Grimase

Actually, I sympathize a lot with John McCain in this snapshot, as he apparently caught himself heading the wrong way off the stage last night. I do things like that all the time, and usually have much the same expression. Of course that doesn't mean I'm going to vote for the guy.

By the way, I finished the purse in time for my trip to Decorah, Iowa for a conference. I'm not wild about the color, but the shape of the purse is perfect for my purposes. I made it much shorter than the pattern. Here it is, in all its wonky, neophyte-crocheter glory:

Don't heckle the hekler

I need a purse. I had a very expensive leather Coach purse that I carried for about 5 years. I kind of liked it, but not really since the straps always slid off my shoulder. It started getting worn looking, and I jettisoned it during part of my decluttering this summer for our move I had a great crocheted basic sac thing that I always used for travel since it was light weight and easy to pack, but that has disappeared. I have an ancient (I bought it when I was 16!) small leather purse that I can't quite fit enough in. So, I need a purse. I decided that I could possibly crochet enough to make one for myself. I started out trying to make one out of "grannie squares," and it was a disaster. It turns out one of the fundamental things I enjoy about knitting and the like is the continuous process of knitting (or crocheting) a long strand. Both grannie squares and the knitted mitred squares that some people use (I also tried that) entail all the things I don't really like about knitting, and very little of what I actually like. I was about to give up, but then I found this! It is the exact duplicate of the great travel purse I have misplaced, and what's more, it is super fun to make! It's just one continuous spiral of 50 rows of single crochet stitch in a big loop. I, who thought I couldn't crochet, am actually having fun and making an acceptable creation. It's so cool, and I'm so excited!

We have accepted the bid on the house and it's in escrow now! Yay! It was low I suppose (2% less than what we paid in 2005), but all things considered, I think we're very lucky to have an offer, especially even before we officially put the house on the market. We'll be doing the transaction without a realtor. We really like the couple who wants to buy the house. Here's hoping it all goes through...

P.S. Note to self: in honor of the upcoming season of Survivor, I'd really like to get myself one of these, the "pre-pixelated t-shirt produced by Ironic Sans.