Operation Julehygge 2009

Well September and October wooshed by kinda quick - I've barely had time to think much less do anything crafty ...

But all that is about to change this weekend. A weekend devoted to craftness. A whole weekend of Christmas based activity. TWO FULL DAYS OF JULEHYGGE!

Tonight I start packing as this sort of activity takes organisation! It's not just a simple matter of throwing some clothes into a bag and taking yourself to the train station. Oh no no. I have materials to bring, materials to prepare, books to index, plans to make - and of course presents to wrap. Frankly there are whole countries run with less precision than this most glorious of weekends.

Hygge - it's a Scando thing

ahh October - the days are getting shorter, the nights colder and the scarves creep out of closets and drawers like colourful woolly snakes.

Oh autumn you bring colour in your own special way - oranges, browns, reds, yellows that are too quickly replaced by the bleak, grey existence that winter promises. You also bring the promise of evenings spent indoors, talking eating and generally avoiding the cold and wet outdoors. in scandoworld we have even invented a special word which covers all these sorts of activities - HYGGE!

several attempts at trying to find a good translation of Hygge into English is impossible - this is a translation from danish...
hygge ¹ (en): comfort, cosiness;
[skabe hygge] make the house (etc) look comfortable, make you feel at home.
2.
hygge ² (vb): [hygge om en] make somebody comfortable;
(ofte =) give somebody a pleasant time;
[hygge sig] make oneself comfortable, feel at home; have a pleasant time;
[i aften skal vi rigtig hygge os] we will have a nice cosy evening;
[hyg jer!]
(: afskedshilsen) have fun!
3.
hyggefølelse : feeling of cosiness.
4.
hyggekrog : cosy corner.
5.
hyggelig (adj): comfortable, cosy ( fx room), homelike ( fx place); snug (
fx corner); cheerful ( fx atmosphere, room);
(rar) pleasant, nice ( fx chap);
[gøre det hyggeligt for ham] make him comfortable;
(ofte =) give him a pleasant time;
[have det hyggeligt] have a pleasant time;
[en hyggelig snak] a cosy (el. nice) chat.
hyggespreder (en -e): [være en hyggespreder] create a genial atmosphere.


none of these really hit on the essence of the word and all it encompasses. It is more than cosy, or homelike. it is a feeling and a state of mind. to truly understand the sentiment is to truly understand scandos. and one has to experience it to understand it fully. it involves people (you can also hygge on your own), usually food (of any kind - from a good meal to sweets, to cakes) drinks (not just alcoholic), candles, a good movie or some good music - anything that creates an atmosphere where you feel like your emotional self is wrapped in a large down duvet, and the world is a happy and beautiful place - talk about an endorphin kick.

its about treating yourself, it is about spending quality time. and if you are really going to push the boat out - you have an evening of rå-hygge - or raw-hygge - this is when you may eat whipped cream with a spoon, drink champagne because its tuesday and why not, gorge on chocolate cake without guilt or sin. it is immensely important and it is about feeling good and having a good time with those you feel close to.

the best kind of hygge is jule-hygge - christmas hygge! (lets face it - you knew that was coming) now, in scandoworld we dont just celebrate christmas for 3 days - but we start to build up to it properlyfrom the first sunday in advent (if before the 1st of december) or the 1st of december. Advent calendars (and i dont mean tacky disney ones with chocs), advent candles, calendar candles, evenings of 'christmas-lunches' (an oxymoron, but that is what you call them in danish), evenings spent making christmas decorations (or days at school if young enough). We also have christmas-calendars on TV - a 'nailbiting' series always shown for kids (sometimes for adults too) where the question of will christmas be saved is the constant theme. closer to the date mothers and fathers across the country will start to prepare the food - cookies will be baked, old-school rents will make cold meats for christmas day lunch, marcipan chocs will be produced etc etc.

so a few years ago, as charlotte's sister kat and i 'accidentally' spent an entire grey, wet and misreable weekend in november holed up in my appartment, watching every christmas dvd we could garner, eating waffles (the heart shaped ones that are traditional to norway) drinking and making christmas decorations, we came up with the plan to hold a 'Julehygge' every year. a day of feasting and crafting - followed by a night of drinking and jolly times on the town. we promptly invited likeminded craftiacs - and had a wonderfully hyggelig day - and a boozefuelled laughter-filled night. and got some awesome christmas decorations out of it.

i know its early - only october - but i now declare my christmas deco-making period officially open (well the clocks go to winter time in a few days) and let the games begin!

happy hygge all round!

long time no sew

so i have been under the blog-dar for a spell - but have been busy sewing on my dinky wee sewing machine - which is actually going so much better than i ever anticipated! pics and full details will be posted anon.

the above is an ikea hack (yay!) using 24 of those cheapo frames (i think €1.50 for 3), treated only with colourless beeswax and stuck together using batons of bog standard pine. the photos are family ones i have inherited from times ago - some pre 1900s! :) showing a selection of fun stuff like beach trips, bicycle tours and various other activities. prob altogether cost me €12 not bad in my book .

"Craft" fair

On Saturday I went to a sewing and craft fair with my mother. She was looking to expand her stash of quilt materials and I was having a look see for some ribbons for tassles.

Mostly it's scrap booking .... acres and acres of scrap booking. I do not understand scrap booking. Is it a photo album? Is it a diary? What's with all the stickers? Don't get me wrong, I found my old sticker collection (scratch and sniff's do not age well) and it was huge, I have nothing against stickers but why put them in a book on top of other pieces of paper? I just do not understand the appeal.

Of course I have my share of totally useless hobbies (see large cross stich works which take 12 months to complete) so should not throw stones.

However despite the scrapbook theme to the day I did succeed in getting some tapestry to canvas to restore the pipetable backing. Or rather create a new backing and then start to recreate the old one. The pipetable is a family hierloom and probably a bit over 100yrs old (could be as old as 150yrs) and the back is a hand embroidered (by my mum's paternal grandmother) Norwegian style motif. It's completely faded now, and parts of it are rotting (or just disintegrating) - the back however is still in reasonable shape so I hope to be able to recreate the pattern and colours from that. Despite searching the interweb I have not found much in the way of information on traditional Noggi embroidery... of course I haven't.

In the meantime however I will start work on a new backing - I have found two motifs from the arts and crafts movement that will look ok I think. So at Christmas I will be measuring up and starting work.

Is it a bad sign that the lady at the canvas stall called me very brave? Or is she just lacking in vision?

To fail and fail again

When instructions say they are failproof, or simple or any adjective indicating that success is a cert you can be certain of one thing ... and that is that it will not go to plan.

I wanted a slouchy beret shaped hat thingy to go with the socks I made for K. The socks by the way were difficult and I changed some stuff in the instructions but they've worked - so I am not a knitting dunce. So there. However, the hat instructions were simple, knitting it from the top in the round would avoid all that messy tinkering at the end. To make it warm I added a thread of green alpaca to the sock yarn (Sweden is cold in winter) which matches the colour way and gives it a mottled rather than stripey effect. All seemed well as I cast on and fiddled a bit with the first few increases. Then I lost a needle (still haven't found it) which proved challenging as I now had more stitches than the needles could realistically cope with. I improvised with a long needle (not a good idea). The instructions called for a number of decreases before you got to the end ribbing and this seemed like a fab idea, giving the hat some shape. I cast off, tried it on and realised I had made the equivalent of a head bucket. A very shallow bucket. It's so depressing I couldn't take a picture.

This failure puzzled me. I went back over the instructions and decided that I must have got something wrong. Ripping it back without understanding what to do to correct matters struck me as foolish so as it was a fast knit I cast on for a purple hat for myself (also with sock yarn and alpaca). I knitted this one on bigger needles (can you see where things might go wrong here?) and more slouchy. I decreased before the ribbing as before (taking notes) and cast off. The 'hat' would not even go on my head. It is far too small. Now either I expect to make the same mistake especially when I go out of my way to exagerrate the problems (bigger needles people, more increases!!!) or that following the instructions will leave me with something wearable. Making an entirely different type of failure is not helping me figure out the first one.

So I ripped back hat the 2nd and reknitted the end and cast off and now it sodding fits. I am no closer to understanding why the first one did not work. grumble guess i'll just rip it back and reknit humpf

Nam nam Banan

Or Yum yum banana to the anglophiles ...

I had a desire for banana bread this morning. So I duly went forth and examined my cooking books (of which there are many) and came away shaking my head at what can only be described at overenthusiastic folly. Why why why put lemon and orange and cinnamon and nuts into banana bread. Now that's an awful lot of flavours going on. Or a generous helping of extra dried fruit (banana's were obviously not enough). Or the sacrilege of raisins and currents - shudder.

Undetered I stauntered off to Sainsburys where there is frequently a bank holiday whoopsy on stock control and much stuff is on offer. Frequently overripe bananas feature and indeedily I picked up a kilo of fairtrade lovelies for only £1.

I decided to wing it with the recipe and the result is currently being enjoyed with a cup of tea.

You will need:

2 mixing bowls (1 large, 1 small)

1 bread tin

Mix these dry ingredients in the large bowl:

225g self raising flour (I used white but I think it would be nice with wholemeal too)

1tsp cinnamon (if you adore cinnamon increase this to 2tsp but I prefer my banana bread to taste of bananas)

150g sugar

Wet ingredients - add to dry ingredients and stir with enthusiasm

100g butter - melted

2 medium eggs

450g bananas (preferably a bit over ripe) - mashed up roughly with a fork in the other bowl.

Optionals - I roughly chopped ca 100g of dark chocolate and stirred in at the end.

100g Walnuts or pecan nuts roughly chopped

100g Dark chocolate roughly chopped

I then poured the batter into a bread tin and baked at 180degrees centigrade for 1hr 10mins (but I think I could have taken it out about 5 mins earlier)

I like my banana bread still warm from the oven with the chocolate all melty.

Snail's pace progress

I have pictures of the snail in progress and have been unable get them from my camera to the computer. There is no reason for it to not work it just seems to be having a sulk. Tonight I finally got it to cooperate!

Anyhow the snail is progressing - there is a body (unstuffed) and part of a shell (also unstuffed). Still to make are eyes and antenna things.

I am also in a frenzy of baby hats. The hat for baby T is done and ready for sending off. The hat for unknown sex baby 1 is all done (and knitted in the round which is definitly a much better option than knitting it back and forth). To try to account for either possibility I have made the hat stripey in pastel shades of yellow, green, cream and orange. I need to make another one of these hats for another unknown sex baby - but am going to change the stripes a bit. I'm not very pleased with how the changes worked this time especially at the bottom. This morning I cast on for a blueberry hat for a little baby boy - and it needs to be finished quickly as the child is due in a couple of weeks.

Perhaps there are too many projects now.

Charlotte

WOOO WOOOOOOOOOO

all i will say is that i had a VERY exciting email in my inbox just now the 2010 IKEA catalogue is out online!

life is good!

vanish for my varnish?!?

i will start with a GRRRRRRR, and add a little (*^&$BCSUY(£*&. i started varnished my box of firsts, normally i do quite like the varnishing bit as i guess i am a bit weird and like the uniformity of the a nice even coating.

ooooh yea i had the grand idea of using a mini roller. GRAND. except for the fact that the paint i used is not waterproof (curses i am used to oils) and thus upon my first attempt at the rollering - the colour started running!!! PANIC ENSUED, and i managed to save most of the fine lines, and grudgingly had to pick up a brush. the consolation is that the second and third coats will be applicable with roller so all is not lost.

Except that the bloody brush moved the black paint of the football onto the white parts and i nearly had a varnish-induced nervous breakdown (must not craft when ill). it is moments like these that puts me in mind not to craft, and reminds me why i dont do knitting. had i been knitting (though its saving grace is that at least it does NOT require varnishing) i would undoubtedly have stabbed myself in the leg or possibly strangled myself with the yarn.
As it was i put down the brush (curses later for not washing it thus having to discard it) and walked away and the box survive to see another lay (er of varnish).

Magic yarn

Well I know it's actually magic but it's still pretty cool! It's self patterning and even tho' this is nothing new it's still amazing when you knit and this just happens all on it's own.

Eventually this will be two knee high socks. They're done with a ribbed pattern at the back, and I've got ribbing on the top of the foot too.

This is not OCD

So I made some stitch markers in purple and aqua. And then I made some more in green, olive and gold.

Because I wanted the stitch markers to match the wool I was working with.

You can't really see it on the pic but there are olive and gold tones in this yarn too.

My next project is going to be for a baby and is in a muted pastels (yellow, peach, pistachio and cream) and none of those markers go. Nor will they match the blue cardigan. And don't even get me started on the wrist warmers ....

I knew there was a reason I shouldn't have moved away from using safety pins.

Charlotte

teddy boys

my current bout of summer cold (or is it swine flu!??) obviously has rotted my brain as i now have embarked upon the next project - making a teddy! it started pretty simply but has VERY quickly escalated to a level that really would warrant some sort of sectioning.

instead of making simple teddy - 2 bits o' cloth, stitched together, chuck on some buttons, and knock it up with some stuffing. but nooooooo. no no Ditte is TEEDY MANIAC! so now have made a hundred bits to stitch together and attach to eachother. it is so throughly overwhelming i nearly forgot to make legs! creepy.

i had to sit down and plan in my head - and drew a template, roughly guessed for ratios and have ambitiously decided that there should be bits that are protruding (belly and snout) - made out of the same towelling material i used for the rattle.

needless to say it will either be a rip-roaring success (never to be repeated due to frayed nerves) or a TOTAL failure, which will be put in the large craft box, to serve as a reminder not to attempt anything unless 100% compus mentus.

i have almost finished the head - so far so good, but am now on the worst part which is sewing the two faces together, with the stuffing in the middle. boooring! haven't the foggyest how this will turn out, i guess its a cross your digits kinda time. -d-

sleeping beauty

So, i am trying to keep a very certain vibe going in my bedroom, a room i think should only ever serve two purposes (unless you are lucky enough to have a dressing room) sleeping and getting dressed.for this reason i believe in IKEA - which means storage storage storage! i am lucky to have some ridiculously lovely in-built cubboards - which are almost half the size of the room which means i can keep all my shoes in boxes!




I picked up a whole heap of boxes from lk bennett - nice white boxes which are a bit sturdier than normal boxes and mostly of similar size. i then picked up some thick wrapping paper from paperchase (in the sale no less yay!) i didnt want them all to be identical so have used both a geometric pattern and a flowery motif - a bit kidston-esque. i have only covered one end and left the lid as it is so that i can write the style name (yea i know) or description. i based it on the old favorite of taking polaroids of the shoes, but prefer the unity of this.










In order to keep my danglies untangled i made this little hanging rack for them - using a small frame some pretty paper and some hard paper string (all IKEA total cost about €5). i took out the glass and strung the string across the front - then you just pop your earrings on the string - no more tangled/missing earrings!
















As with most appartments in Paris, all windows are shuttered (thankfully i have wooden ones rather than the rolling metal ones) but it also means there is no space for curtain poles as curtains woudl be superfluous. To resolve the problem of not scaring the neighbours with my nakedness when dressing i knew i had to find a window dressing solution. And where did i go for that? IKEA!!! simple - one of their ready made packs (€19.95) has two curtains - each wider than my windows. So i cut each panel into two, hemmed the sides (by hand - yes i was that bored) - then simply attached hooks, using adhesives, to the tops of each window section, clipped rings onto the curtains and VOILA!! two sets of curtains for the princely sum of €25.00!


I splurged (!!) on a set of silver glass birds, with clips (IKEA christmas decoration 2008 €5.99 for a set of 4) - and use them as tie-backs. At christmas i use pins to attach felt hearts (any craft shop in france will sell these about €1.20 for 10)and large crystal beads (from paperchase £3 for a box of 18) i think one could easily attach silk flowers etc etc. but i like the simplicity as it is.







The latest addition is wall hanging - i am usually unbelievably indecisive about wall stuff as i love images and always have too much to choose from. But then i found a charity shop on my last visit to England, where they sold old vinyl records - and i found two which fit the feel of the mood i was aiming for visually- dire straits and eric clapton (both of whom i love anyway) and then it was as simple as clipping on a ring to each and then just stick a nail in the wall. cheap, easy, and looks great (i think). cost - records £3 and £5 and the clips i cant even remember.

shake, rattle and roll

I have been working on the rattle, as the box of firsts is now nearly done (and thus has now been abandoned) and am at the bit i hate the most - finishing off! yuck

I did all the reverse sewing bit, i even sewed the fluffy stuff to the fabric, which was quite ingenius if i do say so myself. now i have turned it all the right way and have to close the hole - which is BOOOOORING and difficult to get nice looking. the result this far though is rather nice, and though it looks more like a bear than a dog, i think it is quite cool.

As you can see it is only a teensy bit pointy at the bottom - but i should be able to restitch a bit and hopefully get this nicely smoothed out.

Pretty sparkly

Recently I have seen a lot of very pretty stitch markers - frequently for an exhorbitant price! So I thought I'd make some myself.

You can get stitch markers that are made of plastic and ones that are beaded. The plastic ones that I have seen come in bigger multipacks in primary colours. The beaded ones come in various degrees of pretty.

All you need for this project:
1. some metal rings (I have ones which will fit needles up to 6mm)
2. some beads, not too heavy
3. for the tools I have some jewelry pliers but depending on the sort of beads this is not always necessary.

The finished product on a needle

I am making these in pairs - so similar theme but different colours and shape so that I can see which is the start and finish marker easily. In the past I have just used safety pins and moved them up but even when I use different sizes it can get confusing . . .

Charlotte

Sock it to me baby

Yers . . . more sockage.

I am knitting over the knee socks. Apparently not satisfied with the first sock experience I immediately came back for more. Naturally these coming from a Drops pattern they are made for tree trunk legs and the reductions are completely unreasonable. After much swearing (who would have thought knitting would turn the air blue?) and frogging it is however starting to take shape. And it is vaguely leg shaped.

This time I am using an exciting self patterning sock yarn called Drops Fabel. It is sort of magic the way it creates a pattern all by itself!!

The second sock of doom is also in progress - I think I am only about 5 cm away from the heel (akkkakarkk!!! not the heel!)

Hardcore babysitting

This weekend I took care of my friend's (E & P) little baby boy (T).  T is only 9mnths old and looks so Norwegian! 

The things that I discovered were as follows:
1. If it can be chewed it will be chewed (this includes electrical wires and my shoulder)
2. Screaming = communicating
3. Babies do not sleep anywhere near as much as their parents pretend they do
4. The most fun toy is the dustpan handle but the brush is just too scary
5. The washing machine is fine when it is off but when it is on it is tragic
6. Small children are remarkably efficient at removing scraps of wallpaper.
7. Their arms are elastic - they may look short but the reach is phenomonal
8. Let sleeping babies lie
9. When the baby is awake you are awake, when the baby is asleep you are tidying up the mess you made trying to be entertaining
10. I can only play peekaboo for so long and that is not as long as the baby

box of delights - nearly done!!

YAY! nearly done - and it didnt take me all that long - great it means i didnt get a chance to get bored and 'forget' about it. so the following a wee picture essay on the development

firstly, decided to paint the outside green (as mentioned) as i wanted to paint a football on the front. now, the last one i did i used a wide bruch for the background colour, but wished i had had a roller - TADAAA! mini roller (1.95€) and i mixed the green. this can cuase problems if you runout as you will NEVER match the colour. so make sure you mix enough.

for the last box i made i freestyled the teddy bear (that was the cover image on the last one) but footballs are surprisingly harder! so i downloaded a b/w image and traced on baking paper (much cheaper and JUST as effective as tracing paper) and then painted in. easy as pie. the lettering i freestyled though.

as there were no compartments to decorate like the last time - i decided to add a few images inside the box - i chose boyish themes - well transport, i hate to be quite so predictable but there you are. so i plunked for a locomotive and a plane. both of whom i made stensils for as i wanted to see if i could paint them that way. same trick as with the football - baking paper, then made the stensils out of normal paper (good for one careful use only) i had to make 4 layers for the train - here are the results of the first two layers.

the finished result - inside!! inside lid - plane (stensilled) and small wooden beads in the shape of cars, butterflies and dragon flies) i then hand wrote the list of my firsts - trip to tivoli, football match, campingtrip with grandma and grandpa (Mads' maternal grandoldies are avid caravanners) and finally first ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT. this will only makes sense to Mads' mum so no point going into it here. the inside bottom has the train, more wooden beads - this time of teddies, and then a tiny eiffel tower!

outside - the finished football, MADS in large lettters on to and front edge. then around the other three edges i had made another stencil of AbC. on the front and two side lid edges i have stuck more wooden beads (hears, flowers and teddies) this is helpful for grip when opening.

inside bottom detail

the 'bits' - booklets for first song and words (the words one has an additional line for 'translation' as i recently learned from my niece that cheese is in fact called SHYI - no-one knows why but that is what its called in the entire extended family now). the boxes are first birthday (heart shape with wooden teddy bead on front) first holiday - green oval xeample below, first JUL! milk teeth (i want to add some fabric or a little pouch inside. and another random box as you know it might come in handy (see below)

random box - with mini wooden car - i painted road markings on the box too. even if its not used its rather cool and i might just steal this idea for something else.

first holiday box - lots of mini travel related stickers round the edge. green for the globe. next time i will use a round one and try to paint the world map on the top as i think that would look cool

first steps (thanks C) this one is entirely made of card. it wasnt actually too fiddly, but involvedme getting wasted on superglue! excellent! i used three bits of card -its actual size is 3-4 cm in length. then i used a fine point calligraphy pen for the writing.

the complete finished work!!! very exciting! ok now i can start getting out more. ha ha ha

- d -

The sock of doom

I wanted new winter socks - nice sturdy ones that keep your toes warm. Nice traditional socks. I however met the sock patterns of doom.

This sock has been knitted at least 8 times over the past 12 months or so. The first pattern I tried came free with the yarn and was somewhat sparse on the instruction. It told me to decrease for the heel but then said (helpfully) knit the heel into the remaining stitches. Now even a rank amateur like myself could see that either there needed to be an increase in stitches or a picking up of stitches somewhere. Only as this was my first sock I did not know where. So I tried a variety of options and ended up with a sock for someone with no foot - possibly just one very looong toe. I frogged it back to the ribbing.

So I decided to try a different pattern. This pattern had the advantage that it acknowledged the need for further stitches after the reductions for the heel, but no hint as to how the heel and the foot were going to be joined - perhaps I was supposed to sew it together afterwards? Though there was nothing in the pattern to indicate that this was the case. So I frogged it and reknitted from the same pattern paying very close attention to the heel - I ended up with the same result.

Undeterred I located a third pattern, which was for a completely different type of yarn and the whole reducing and increasing bit got a tad complicated. The resulting mess had an interesting lace pattern around the heel which was unfortunate because at least everything was sort of knitted together. Frogged it again and put it away in frustration.

The sock was not going to beat me into submission! I perservered and have infact finally conquered the sock!

Proof that the sock is done!!

Things I have discovered about sock knitting:

There are two ways to knit heels
There are two ways to decrease for toes
The instructions will invariably leave out 1 important tip, which if you haven't done it before will leave you non-plussed and with a misshapen mess.
Some instructions forget to tell you where & when to decrease
Some instructions do not tell you how to knit the heel and the rest of the sock into one piece.

get your BOXing gloves out

alright alright i know, i just couldnt think of anything wittier.

i am almost done with the box of firsts, just have to figureout the final version of the firsts list. i have made the little boxes (milk teeth, first christmas, first birthday, first holiday). i will also make a small book for my first words, and my first nursery rhyme. i am going to steal charlotte's idea about the first steps.

i will also add a list of the following
- first football match
- first trip to Tivoli (thats a copenhagen thing)
- first sejltur op af aaen (thats a Line and i thing he he)
- first trip to Lydolphs Isbar
want to think of a few more but i think this is a fairly decent start!

i have also decided that i want to get a little mini eiffel tower to represent his aunty in paris.

hmm ideas seem to have dried up a bit. will try to post some progress pics tomorrow

- d

Train knitting

This time on my train journey home.  Now I don't actually have to keep an eye on every stitch I make and in this case I was knitting in the round with a ribbed pattern, so I had the leisure to look around the carriage.

 

Of course as I am in the UK there were a few sidelong glances and then I was seriously ignored.  People were far too busy and important to notice anything like a sock - except for three guys.  One who kept leaning over (rather precariously I thought) to get a better look at what I was up to, the second spent 30mins glaring at me (srsly every time I looked up he was frowning at me which seemed a little odd) and the third young man sitting opposite me who stared attentively at the knitting and only at the knitting.  This was also a little disconcerting as usually people are not that interested in knitting. 

 

More surprisingly when I got off the train he came up to me and said "I couldn't help noticing you were knitting and I was wondering what you were making."

This was just such a British thing to say as if his noticing the knitting has been some terrible intrusion on my privacy.  Made me smile.

 

taking a leaf out of C's book

I have started both my baby projects at the same time - strike will the baby is hot i say. actually i find it works a treat - as the paint is drying on the box i can start making the rattle.

The box is now green on the outside - i will paint a football on the front and find a funky font to write Mads' name as well. i also managed to pain the inside, and the boxes as well, its going swimmingly, though i think i may need to lighten the green a bit.

on the rattle i have cut the ears, head and the strip for attaching the ring. i also sewed a patch on which one of the eye will go on top of (that was very penickity). today i must procure foam for the insides. shoud be able to finish this this weekend. yay!

i am also thinking about the next project which will be a mini ballet theatre made out of a cigar box, with glansbilleder (dont know the name in English!??) and i will paint a back drop of some kind. this will be for la niece as she is only getting homemade pressies from me. lucky her hahahahah

-ditte

Controlling the stash

As per the previous post I have a small stash of yarn, beads, embroidery stuff, and a slightly larger stash of painting stuff. Fortunately I have chosen hobbies which pack up pretty flat and can therefore be more easily hidden.

Until now the yarn stash was pretty well contained in one large bag behind the sofa. This is no longer the case. So as there is nowhere for it to really go expect spread across the floor, this is not acceptable. I want to sort it into little compartments and other boxes and colour code it.

So I have looked for inspiration and looked to my mother. My mother is a quilter and her stash is a) totally hidden and b) enormous (she could probably quilt for the next 20yrs and not use up all the material and still she buys more). So I have a plan!! It is perhaps not immediately obvious but it has started with a new kitchen (did I mention I like to cook?).

The new kitchen has absorbed some things from the living room (where more storage is being created). This has emptied out the vintage ikea sideboard. Once I get rid of the old sideboard a new item of furniture will be purchased which will house the stash and allow for proper sorting of materials and maybe some labels and cubby holes. I have already identified the new piece of furniture and think that with some creative thinking it should a) hide the stash in plain site b) make me appear more tidy and c) allow for the stash to grow.

oh babies

So, i have finally decided on which bits to actaully make for les babies.

For my friend Netty's wee son Alexander i am going to go for something completely new - a towelling rattle. sounds weird right? well for this particular project i will be sacrificing a white facecloth (a la IKEA - they sell a stack of 10 for about €1), i will also be slicing and dicing a bit of v colourful cloth (i bought about 3 years ago in..IKEA) but any should do. A couple of buttons mis-matched for colour and size i think, a ringly-jingly bell, and a wooden curtain ring (actually i have bought a ring that i found in the beads section, but a old fashioned curtain ring should suffice)

The pic here shows the bits i have gathered for the purpose - including the rather gorgeous turquoise embroidery silk i will use for the nose and mouth. oh, yea i am intending to make a dog face, with buttons for eyes, embroidered mouth and nose, floppy colourful ears, the ring will be attached using the bright fabric as well.

For Mads i am going to make the box of firsts, i couldnt get the same box as i got my niece (it had nine internal compartments) so i bought some more small paper boxes which i will paint and label (like milt teeth etc). the theme will be decidedly boyish with a heavy leaning towards football (both his folks are BIG into footie) i have bought lots of small bits and have a fair few odds and sods in my craft stash already.

the firsts i will make something for are:
1. milk teeth (box)
2. words (minibook)
3. football match (little pouch for keepsakes)
4. hospital bracelet (box)
5. seaside holiday (box)
6.favorite song
there are more and i will have to think of some obscure ones for a laugh (and pinch a few from my niece's box) suggestions welcome!

each will be decorated in different (and appropriate) themes, and i think i will paint the outside green with a football on the front. inside will be light blue. i have found miniature bits (like cars and trains etc) that i will stick inside.

am quite excited about the box especially as it really is only ones own imagination that will be the limit to the possibilities.
-ditte

Craft stash denial

I don't have a stash really. After all most of the materials I have were for a specific project or purpose, even if I may not have started it and I've been hoarding embroidery thread like it's going out of fashion. Recently I decided that the stash situation needs to be brought under control and started to go through what I have squirrelled away.

1.In my box of embroidery stuff I found 1 unstarted christmas table cloth, 1 christmas runner complete except for sewing up, 6 christmas decorations started, 1 kimono lady almost finished except for border, 1 bag full of embroidery thread for unknown project and two smaller boxes almost full of embroidery thread for already completed projects.

2. I transferred all bead and jewellry items to a new (slightly larger) box - I have not really got enough in there to make anything specific tho' I see that I have no less than 5 bags of the beginnings of projects.

3. The various knitting bits and pieces now fill the bottom part of the vintage ikea cupboard. I have 1 baby hat waiting sewing up, 1 completed raggsokk the other is in progress, 1 wrap in progress, 1 cardigan in progress, 1 sock in progress, 1 blanket or something 3 squares done and of course the lusekofte awaiting an act of god or miracle to get it done. I also have wool for a pair of green socks for Kristina, wool for a cardigan for myself, posh wool for a scarf for my mother, lovely exciting dark blue wool for something, lilac mohair nightmare wool, and some cerise wool. Also of course leftovers from earlier projects.

4. However by far the biggest stash of stuff is my painting chest. It is full to the brim with paint and art stuff. Mostly paper, but also paints and some wood models. The easel did not get space so is squashed behind a book case. I would make a list of every item but that would challenge my view on how good I am at not just buying stuff for the sake of it.

I think I need help.

Patterns and size whinge

You would think that knitting or sewing your own garments would guarantee that what you end up with would be a perfect fit. This is not always the case as the patterns I follow do not all tell you exactly what measurements their sizing is meant to fit. So a small often ends up too big from granstudio patterns. I've knitted one thing from Rowan but it was a one size fits all type shrug thing. From Dale I have knitted a lusekofte (a traditional Norwegian type of jumper) and I knitted that in the smallest size and it came out pretty ok, despite my mother repeatedly telling me that it was far too small.

This sizing issue is very annoying. It means that I have to take the recommended tension now let's assume that the knitting tension is 23 x 30st over 10 cm. Now that means that if the measurement at the top of your hips (approx where your hip bones end) is 90cm you will need 23x9 = 207 stitches. Now I do realise that you probably want to knit it a few centimeters bigger than your exact measure ment but it is surprising when I look at the pattern and it claims I need to cast on in the region of 250 stitches. That is plainly going to be a lot bigger than I want (250-207=43stitches so by my calculations by about 20cm or ca 8ins). Even if I do not want a very tight jumper I still don't want to be wearing the wool equivalent of a burlap sack. So to get a jumper that looks like it was knitted for me I have to make a stab at working what number of stitches (assuming I am knitting to gauge) will give me a jumper I will not be swimming in.

I have seen quite a few American and UK charts which appear to give better instructions, but of course Norwegian or at a push Swedish is my preferred knitting language.

The alternative is of course that I start to design my own knitwear from scratch.

Is knitting really frugal . . .

or am I just kidding myself?

Ok, I have a yarn stash. Mostly it's for things that I intend to make, so I feel that I am being very good and not buying it just because it's pretty. Not like my mother and her quilting stash . . . nothing like that at all. Much. Yet.

My mother keeps telling me that it is not cost effective to knit things to wear as it is cheaper to buy it ready made. I think this is a cheap ploy to get me over to the quilting side. Which by the way is a much more expensive hobby than mine - you need a sewing machine and the sort my mother has does not come cheap. In fact she has been trying to pawn her old sewing machine off on to me!!! I will resist

Now I obviously buy some new yarn and have bought some fabulous silk and merino blend in soft browns to make a pretty scarf for my mother - and this yarn is not cheap at £12 per ball (or skein). Now I know that some of the really luxurious stuff retails at closer to £50 a ball but I'm not crazy!! I'd pay £25 for a beautiful handmade silk scarf, I would not pay £100.

Ulitmately making stuff yourself gives you a one of a kind item which is often customised for the wearer. There are things I see in teh shops and often think if it were a little longer, a different colour, didn't have that pattern etc.

See I can always find justification for doing the things I enjoy!

let's play hide and seek

Today I played where the !@*%$ is my camera. I last used it to take pics of the bread, but the bread refused to pose properly so hence no pics on here.

I started the search for the camera this morning and hunted high and low at my parents house (scene of bread making) but it was nowhere. I emptied and repacked every bag and then searched my car.

Usually I am not that bothered if the camera goes missing - it usually turns up eventually. But I have a new kitchen and I want to take pictures of the 'pre decorating stage'. So today I have made no progress on the kitchen but I have torn my flat apart looking for the blessed camera.

This afternoon I admitted defeat and had to go back to my parent's house to tidy up the mess I had left there. I picked up my bag and went into my trashed bedroom to pick up my sunglasses and as I turned I saw my camera. Lying on the middle of the bed. In plain view.

I think it's pixies. They hide things from me and put them out in obvious places so I can feel like an idiot.

Knitting in the car & future projects

I was stuck in traffic on Wednesday. It took 30mins to get out of the multistorey car park at work, and I happened to have my knitting with me. So I knitted, it was the only logical thing to do. This is probably the oddest semi public space I have crafted in ... so I think the challenge this year will be to find a more unlikely place.

On other news I have found a pattern for a tea cosy that can be converted into a shaun the sheep tea cosy!! I am ridiculously excited about this as it is the perfect present for the Partridge. However, as she has two small children it has been pointed out that this could lead to small child & hot object collison. There is only one solution - I will need to make decoy shaun the sheep tea cosys and a more sensible one for the tea pot. If I start now I should be finished for Christmas ... And yes I know Kat I am still working on your shrug but it's like knitting with sewing thread and really hard on my hands!

Ditte I am jealous of your local shop of joy - I do not have one. It is depressing.

Charlotte

Oh Baby!

I am in the happy situation of having at least 5 pregnant friends and even more who have just had babies. Happy because it means I can get my stitching needle out.

For some reason this is the year the entire world has chosen to procreate and that really will leave my local shop of heureux with slightly lower stocks and ever bulging coffers. I have always wanted to do a sampler but two things stop me.

1. I have NO patience for one though I think them incomparably pretty and I like the historical value.
2. I can imagine NO ONE who would have one in their homes. Except maybe Charlotte hahaha.

Instead I tend to go for the (evergrowing line of) teddybear with embroiderable t-shirt/scarf/cloth which serves the purpose of being commemorative and useful (excellent recepticle for drool, vomit and other unmentionable bodily fluids). But I think this lacks originality now. My oldest friend has just given birth to a boy (Mads) and I need to find something more suitable for him. So while I start musing on best possibilities for him - everyone else gets the tried and tested teddy.

For my niece it was little booties (she has a traditional Danish double barrelled name so that worked well), and for her first birthday I made her a Box of Firsts (pictures of which I will try to procure from my sister in law) - first teeth, first words, first museum visit, first holiday etc etc. Perhaps a second version of this would work for little Mads. Hmm certainly worth a ponder.

One thing is certain - there will be NO knitting!! ha ha ha

I made bread!

I confess. I cheat on knitting a lot. Today I made bread. It's lovely rye and some leftover wholemeal.

Bread is one of the easiest things to make - people seem to think it's difficult but it's not. It is also very low maintenance, there's really very little for you to actually do.

My bread recipe in basic terms

Mix the dry ingredients

Flour (any) about 600g

Salt to taste (way to personal I like mine quite savoury)

Yeast - 2 sachets

Seeds/nuts/dried fruit - whatever you fancy

Add the wet ingredients

Oil

finger warm water or milk (about 500ml - but this will depend very much on the flour - add 300ml to start and start stirring)

the dough is the right consistency when still a little sticky but one fairly solid lump. Cover and leave to rise for 45 - 60mins. Try to eliminate cold and draughts.

Leave the dough alone! Do not move it do not peek at it just leave it alone for at least 45mins. Go knit something ...

After 45 - 60mins the dought will have increased in size (for white bread it should have at least doubled a bit less for brown in my experience).

Turn dough out on clean table. Pound a bit. Knead a bit (add more flour if it is too sticky).

Shape into whatever shape you want. put on to a baking tray (with some baking parchment underneath) Cover with clean tea towel. LEAVE IT ALONE FOR 30 - 40mins. In the meantime you can turn the oven on (200degrees centigrade)

The bread should increase by about 1/3 in size (probably a bit more). Now put it into the oven a bit below the middle and leave it for 40 - 50mins. Take out after 40 and give it a tap - if it sounds hollow it's ready. If it doesn't put it back for another 5mins. Repeat.

And voila. The bread is done.

Unfinished business

I keep my works in progress (I have 4 at present) separate from the works that need finishing off (2 in the bag). This gives me the illusion that I am not really all that bad and that I can maintain focus. Because once the knitting is done it's as good as finished and moves to a different, entirely separate from the stash and works in progress bags. I have chosen a relatively small bag for this to encourage myself to actually finish stuff in there from time to time.

Mostly this tends to not work. I don't like finishing things off. It's boring. And it's the moment of truth where frequently I learn that things have not gone according to plan. This means that it is too big or uneven or knitted in two different sizes or some other calamity.

Sometimes I think I should just switch to a diffferent hobby.

New Project

I want a new cardigan. It should have stripes. The yarn is bought (Debbie Bliss Prima - Bamboo and Merino - yum). I cannot find a pattern I like. Therefore with no experience and much enthusiasm I am going to adapt a few patterns that I sort of like but aren't quite there. I've been using http://www.garnstudio.com/index_lang.php (my favourite site and I like their wool) to find patterns that I like.

Things that I am doing right :

1. I have (for the first time) knitted a swatch - I feel this should come with applause

No doubt you will note that the swatch is not the right shape (this is because it was reknitted a few times and there were frayed edges and tempers). Anyhow as I am not really using the patterns as anything other than a rough guide, the important thing is the number of stiches per 10cm across not up.

Things I am probably doing wrong but we won't know till later:

1. Not using a pattern

2. Trying to adapt patterns with slightly different knit gauges

3. Patterns are not for this type of yarn

I will not let this deter me. See picture - I have cast on stiches my least favourite part of any knitting project. It seems impossible to get it right the first time I never leave myself enough yarn.

Future projects

I like to plan ahead. It means that I've got things to look forward to.

So I've seen a pattern for a cardigan that I rather like the look of - it's even the sort of thing I'd want to wear! It's a Paul Smith cardigan knit pattern.

http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/Fashion/Paul-Smith-Cardigan/99511/v1

Of course I'm not intending to do it quite the way it is described in the pattern. I do not want to use the suggested wool. I want to wear this in the winter when I go to the land of cold and snow (Norway) soI want to do this in Alpaca wool. I knitted some handwarmers and just loved the feel of the wool. I used a brand called Garnstudio - which I bought in Norway. But fret not . . . you can get the brand here (Norwegian wool in the UK!).

http://www.scandinavianknittingdesign.eu

I realise the tension is totally different, but that cannot be so difficult to figure out - can it?

Now I am not allowed to start on this (but I might buy the wool) till I am finished with the sock of doom and the blue stripey cardigan (long or short sleeves, long or short hmmmmm).

Charlotte

To knit or not to knit? Ditte's intro (well, she is Danish)

I am not a very apt knitter, in fact I am a bit of a knitwit. Any attempts I have made at knitting generally ended up being shapeless blobs of unwearble wool-mix. I find the whole thing too reptitive perhaps; being of very short amounts of patience, and prone to bouts of throwing things about in frustration - the whole thing could amount to a dangerous sport when you consider there are large needles involved.

Having now firmly established that I will more than likely be the 'notlimitedtoknitting' part of this venture, I feel it would be pertinent to add my own crafty endeavours at this juncture. I am a total christmas nut. Not in the 'wear snowman jumpers' way, but in the scando way. Charlotte will no doubt join me in regaling the infantissimal joy that is Jul (Christmas in all the scandinavian languages); but this particular endeauvour can take up an entire post (if not blog) by itself, so more of that another time. I, like Charlotte, love to paint (I am an oils girl, but also partake in H2O) - let me tell you oils are NOT ideal for doing anywhere but your home/studio; I also cross-stitch (for the stress relief) and like to come up with new and creative ways to do simple things, for a lot less money! But my biggest love, and most effort, is expended on making Christmas decorations with not a scrap of tinsel in sight!

I think it would be a good idea to mention that we are not the decorate "frames with shells" kind of craft fans. And I do not believe that any of us have ever gone hunting for driftwood to make a seaside themed dining room table (though Kat's obseesion with all things nautical might just tempt her). For hundreds upon thousands of years people have handmade everything, often with beauty and immense skill, I think we are aiming for that level of quality, even if we don't always succeed - which brings me back to why i dont knit - in public or otherwise!!

Other bloggers

There will from time to time be other bloggers - Ditte and Kat (now possibly known as Christmas Kat). They will be introducing themselves.

So with a drum roll

Ditte is our Danish correspondent. Her intro is above.

Introduction

Well then ... I had an introduction post but I managed to delete it. Of course I did. Why wouldn't I delete it.

Anyhow introduction post the second. Not to be deleted this time.

As per the little blurb at the top I do enjoy making things. Currently I'm knitting but I don't like to limit myself to just the one hobby.

Things that I do (in no particular order):

Knit

Cook

Write

Paint (watercolours)

Embroider

Christmas decorations (usually with cocktails)

Things that I really shouldn't do:

Try to fix the taps (even if they are just dripping call the plumber)

Try to put up shelves (books are heavy they cause damage when they fall)

Try to put up lights (abandoned this one half way through too complicated)

Use power tools probably (no injury so far)

Hobbies in public . . .

Hobbies in public . . .

I had a bizarre experience the other day when knitting outside. It got me thinking about the hobbies I can take with me and those I can't or don't. Jewelry making is not on my list of portable hobbies - what if I had a bead accident, it just wouldn't make for a happy experience. Painting is a bit borderline there's an awful lot of stuff you need to bring with you but I do enjoy alfresco painting so I put up with it.


When painting people will stop and have a look. Sometimes they want to know how long you've been painting. Sometimes they offer praise or advice. It's always been a very positive and laid back experience. Probably because it's not unexpected to paint a landscape outside.


In years gone by when I commuted to work by train I would sometimes take my embroidery with me - easy all you need is needle thread and the thing you are embroidering. Doesn't take much space in your bag. It sometimes elicited curious looks but few comments. I've knitted on trains more recently for a couple of long distance journeys in Scandinavia and I was not the only one knitting so perhaps it is more common. And on occasion I've had my knitting on the train in the UK - but I no longer commute by train (I drive or bike and neither one of those forms of transport will combine happily with knitting).

A few weekends ago the weather was lovely and I had a baby's hat to knit. I did not want to sit inside all day so took myself and the knitting to the park. Within 15mins of sitting down and taking out my knitting I had been joined by a man who found my knitting deeply interesting. First he felt the location was all wrong for knitting. Secondly I should really be reading or sunbathing. Thirdly only his aunt knitted. Fourthly I was weird to be knitting outside. I admit to having a terrible habit of engaging strangers in conversation, but generally not to tell them what they are doing wrong with their life (yes he felt that I was living my life wrong too).

Oddly I declined to give him my number or go for a drink with him in the pub. Can't think why.

This is not going to stop me knitting outside, or on the train or where-ever, but I do hope it is not the beginning of a trend.