A pocket full of ants....

...for Oskar.

A happy boy

Our little friend and neighbour celebrates a very special day today.

Tillykke med fødselsdagen, Oskar :0)

Do you like the same favourites as me???

Do you like the same favourites as me???, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

Maybe this one???

When Anne-Sophie and I saw this tunic/dress in the new issue of Ottobre Woman, we both loved it right away. It's the kind model which will suit a young girl - like Anne-Sophie - and an older girl like me. It all depends on fabrics and accessories....

I would like to make it in a wonderful black fabric like this

http://www.smaatekstiler.dk/product.asp?product=5128

or this

http://www.smaatekstiler.dk/product.asp?product=5708

But this georgeous green is definitely an option too...

http://www.smaatekstiler.dk/product.asp?product=5702

All the fabrics are from Små Tekstiler - if you have a look at the shop, you will see that a sale is going on....

Which fabric Anne-Sophie would choose is a bit more difficult for me to say. When she was younger I knew excactly what she liked, but as she has gotten older, it's not as easy to figure out as it used to be!!

But since she is in to Liberty fabrics at the moment, these would probably be a qualified guess - I think!!!

When she returns from school I will ask her to have a look at this post, and then I will know whether I'm all wrong ;0)

Colourful and fantastic

I still enjoy bright colours like these on my new fabrics. Even though autumn is here there is no need to give in to the dark fabrics!!

Pricking problem

The time has come for me to admit a pricking problem of mine. My husband has been saying it for years and now I have to deal with it in a proper way! Somehow I ALWAYS leave my sewing needles all over the house!! Several times this has resulted in unfavourable circumstances for the rest of my family - mostly Christian, who once - or actually twice - stepped on one of my needles!

Sometimes you can find them in places like this

or even here (SO embarrasing!!)

To avoid these unfortunate situations in the future I have being searching for suitable options.

I could make a strawberry pincusion like this one,

Picture from Martha Stewart's homepage

which I found on Martha Stewart's homepage.

But I think that I will be better off with a needlebook, like the one from the book Tilda's House.

It will be perfect for when I bring a needlework in my bag, and I will avoid being pricked in my finger when ever I pick up my purse from the bag...

Sugar, rhubarbs and raspberries

I wish that jam would look like this forever.....

Sugar, rhubarbs and raspberries, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

Too bad - but good anyway ;0)

Do you remember how excited I was about this book being released??

Well, now I have it and I'm sad to say that I was SO dissapointed! The new example didn't have any new stuff at all - as I thought it would....

It's still an incredible good book and I love my old, tattered "Børnetøj du selv kan sy - 0-4 år". But I don't need 2 of the same kind...

If you are thinking about buying this book, then please let me know. Mine is for sale - the new one, that is ;0)

Or else I have to save it for a looooooooooong time, and give it to my daughter ;0)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Thanks to this sweet girl the book has found a new - and very creative - home! Thanks a lot, Rosanna :0)

White frost

When I stood on our outside stairs this morning to wave Emil off to school, I felt rather cold. And as Emil noticed, white frost covered parts of the pavement. I even wondered whether it soon would be time to wear mittens in the early morning hours. Somehow members of my family seem to loose 1 - or more - mitten every single autumn and winter, so it would be nice to be able to make some myself.

I have never ever knitted a pair of mittens, but I must say that I would love to try it out. Especially after seing a bunch of georgeous mittens on Ravelry. If you are a bit nervous about starting your first mitten, you can find a great link for - Danish, sorry English folks! - mitten help right here.

Favourites which make me smile

Favourites which make me smile, originally uploaded by lille-ursus.

A personal knitting encyclopedia

It's getting rather embarrassing - I have started yet another knit! But in my own defence I must say that it's a tiny, quick one... The 1st "Djævlehue" is done and the 2nd pale blue one, is on the needles. (The pattern is from "Sødt og Blødt" by Lene Holme Samsøe. )

When I wanted to finish the bright one, I all of a sudden couldn't figure out where to sew or not!

Luckily I have my very own knitting encyclopedia: my mother!

She has knitted for years and years, and in the past we hardly ever saw her without her knitting in her hands, whenever she had a spare moment.

Sadly she no longer knits due to the fact that she had a stoke 7 years ago, and got lame in her right hand side.

Actually she has knitted a scarf since then using "knagerække strik" - with the use of only one hand. I don't know what this specific technique is called in English, but it's done like you see in the picture below.

But my mother hasn't lost her huge experience in crafting...So she could give me a useful piece of advice to move on with the "Djævlehue".

Now I will not start any more knittings before the "Ansigter" and "Stikkelsbær" are done!!! Honestly!

(Oh, how I love the fact, that you can't see whether my fingers are crossed or not ;0) )

Nephew feat. L.O.C - Hospital

I definitely like these 2 men with GREAT voices and amazing words...

Oh yes!!!

A brown package with the most beautiful handwriting, arrived at my door yesterday... The stamps said that it was from Norway and I got so excited - could it be the magazine which Bea so generously bought for me?

Yes, yes, yes!!

There it was the pattern to the beautiful Konfekt Cardigan...(I have already picked out the yarn for it.)

And the package also included the sweetest card from Bea.

Thanks a million, Bea :0)

Now I will send her something good...it's almost ready to begin the journey to Norway!

Eatable fungi

For a few weeks my husband and I have been talking about going to the wood to collect eatable fungi.

We haven't got around to it though, but after seing these at Anne's blog, we simply had to go the following Friday morning!!

So off he went with his little basket - my sweet husband....

True fungi collecters never tell where they find their treasures, so I will be totally secret about that part ;0)

But I will show you the many wonderful things we saw, while searching for them:

A "Blækhat" which, to me, looked like it had exploded and spread it's ink all over the wood!!

Poisonous fungi - but oh my, how beautiful and proud this one looked - all red with georgeous white dots.

The finest little bird's egg, which I had an incredible urge to pick up and bring home to remember the fantastic colour. But I didn't eventhough it's was broken.......

And when I spotted this, my first thought was: "I wonder what happens if I push the red button in the middle of the wood??"

This purple fungus I had to bring home, due to it's colour and to the fact that I had to look it up in a book, to find out whether it was a "Violet Ametyst".

The treasure ended up looking like this - and it tasted wonderfully....

??

Am I really the only one who adore this little Frost-y man??

Signs of autumn

The smell of autumn has been in the air for weeks already, and now so many signs of summer's goodbye are showing in our garden...

The very last apple is hanging all on it's own on our appletree - too bad that the rest of them have been eaten, because they are simply devine!!

But this one is for the birds to take - the insects have already made a big hole in it...

The tall and handsome Sunflower - which turned up out of no where, but in the very right spot!! - is nodding and looking tired.

The raspberries are blushing faster than we can eat them. But that's obviously not an issue for Otto - he can eat them faster than any of us!!

Sct. Hansurt is more beautiful than ever. I just love it when they are just about to pop open their little pink and green flowers...

And - inside - loads of these are waiting to bring a little cozyness on dark autmn evenings........

I love September!!

Tunic for autumn

Oh, how I still wish that I had brought home some more of this fabric!

Floss + rings = buttons

When I was a child, I often wondered how a friend of my parents, made the most amazing buttons out of floss. She brought the materials for the buttons in her bag, when she came to visit us. I was always excited to see what came out of that bag!

She was a teacher at "Skals Håndarbejdsskole" and extremly good at knitting, sewing, embroidering - you name it.... I haven't seen Lisbeth for many years, but I still haven't forgotten the buttons she made...There have been times, where I wish I knew how to make some, so I could sew them on to a dress, where they would fit perfectly! Then all of a sudden I saw a tutorial in "Hendes Verden" - and it told how to make Lisbeth's buttons!!! Actually that tutorial was made by Skals Håndarbejdsskole....how funny and coincidental is that??

Of course I had to try it and these are the ones I have made so far. Only the blue one is done.

I plan to make loads of them. It's such a cozy - and quick - little job...

Home is where the heart is :0)

Dale Konfekt cardigan

I have always liked many of the knitting patterns which the Norwegian company "Dale" creates. Ever since Anne-Sophie and my sister's 1st child, Ida, were born, I have knitted Dale sweaters and cardigans.

The latest one is this (sadly it's not all done yet!!) but it's not for either Anne-Sophie nor Ida ;0)

Recently, I found this amazingly beautiful cardigan on Ravelry: Dale Konfekt Cardigan.

I would love to make it for myself sometime in the future, but I have been searching and searching for the Dale magazine #196 without any luck.

I have found Dale yarn in some Danish yarnshops but none of their magazines!!

I will keep on searching....

Pause- fish and knitting

When I was a child, our only TV channel - DR - had a phenomenon called "fill-in-fish" or "pause-fish" if you like!

Whenever there was an interval between the programs lots of swimming fish would turn up on our TV screen and it almost felt like looking at a fish tank....

Now I have started my own pause-fish phenomenon: pause-knitting. And don't we all know that???

In between knitting on "Ansigter" I started making a little sweater size 4. It's "Stikkelsbær" from the book "Hønsefødder & Gulerødder". (Actually it's a Christmas present! I have to start now, to be sure to finish it in time!!!)

I just needed something to knit while watching TV or talking to my family....that is not an option I have while knitting "Ansigter" ;0)