Jeg venter...

...med glæde i hjertet på at Christian skal komme hjem. De seneste 5 dage har han været på mandetur til Sverige, og nydt naturens mange fornøjelser - noget han holder utrolig meget af. Men jeg ved, at han også glæder sig til at komme hjem igen.

Det er underligt hvordan man med tid får sværere og sværere ved at undvære hinanden, men samtidig gør det mig glad at det er sådan. Tænk hvis vi hver især bare ventede på at skilles for en stund.

Imens har jeg været herhjemme og haft huset fuld af glade unge mennesker. Jeg synes at det er sådan en fornøjelse, at være sammen med dem alle og mærke hvordan de hygger sig i hinandens selskab. Gode film er altid et must og i går aftes var det True Grit der var på plakaten. En god film - med Jeff Brigdes og Matt Damon - på trods af at den tilhører western genren.

Om lidt vil jeg gå ud og lave Skinkestang og bønnesalat - det gælder om at lave de livretter ens mand ikke ynder, så længe han er på tur.

Og så har vi efterårsferie - hold op hvor bliver det godt. Det er tiltrængt for os alle - ikke mindst Christian som har arbejdet hårdt i lang tid...

.........................

I'm waiting...

...happy at heart, waiting for Christian to come home. For the last 5 days he has been in Sweden with some of his friends,  enjoying the pleasures of nature - something which he loves a lot. But
I know that he looks forward to coming home as well.

It's strange how it gets harder and harder doing without one another as time goes by. But at the same time it makes me glad that we both feel that way.

In the meantime I have been at home with a house full of young people. I think that it's such a pleasure to be with them all, and feel how they like each other's company. Good films are always a must and last night we saw True Grit. A good movie - with Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon - in spite of the western theme.

in a minute I will go start making Skinkestang and bean salad - the idea is to make the favourite dishes my husband doesn't like, while he is away.

And then it will be autumn holidays - oh, man it's going to be nice. We all need that - especially Christian who has been working so hard for a long time...

Masser af sildeben

                                                                                                                        ENGLISH below 

Den anden dag blev jeg færdig med Stella - den anden. En beret designet af Hanne Falkenberg.
I december 2010 strikkede jeg den første af slagsen til Anne-Sophie - se den færdig her hvis du vil - og da hun blev særdeles begejstret for den, spurgte hun forleden, om ikke jeg ville lave endnu en.

Og selvfølgelig ville jeg det.

Allerførst startede jagten på opskriften, som jeg havde haft i hænderne ganske få uger forinden, da jeg sorterede alle mine opskrifter. At den så var væk da jeg skulle bruge den, er typisk. Derfor måtte jeg investere 187 kroner i et nyt kit. Desværre var der ikke en farvekombination som passede helt perfekt, men det betød ikke det store, da vi allerede havde aftalt, at Anne-Sophies hat skulle strikkes i sart lyserød og neon pink.

Det er et skønt stykke strikketøj sådan en hat. Jeg holder meget af at se mønster udvikle sig, og ikke mindst fornemmelsen af når alt går op i en højere enhed (læs: når jeg undgår at strikke fejl og tælle forkert).

I går aftes fik hun så den færdige hat, og heldigvis bragte den stor glæde. Jeg syntes ikke at den pink fremstod helt så neon agtig som jeg ville ønske mig, men Anne-Sophie var helt igennem tilfreds med farverne,  og det var jo nu engang det mest væsentlige.

Jeg har stadig garn tilbage fra denne hat, og overvejer nu om jeg skulle strikke et par sildebens vanter der kan passe til.

Og i min strikkekurv ligger der et garn kit til endnu en hat, blot i smukke petrol lå nuancer. Tiden vil vise om jeg kan lokke Anne-Sophie til at bruge en hat i de farver...og gæt engang hvad jeg fandt i går, pænt sorteret i en skuffe med mønstre, som jeg havde glemt i min jagt??

. . . . . . 

                   Lots of herringbones

Stella - the second one. A beret designed by Hanne Falkenberg. In December 2010 I knit the first one for Anne-Sophie - have a look at it being done here if you like - and since she was very keen on it, she recently asked me whether I wanted to knit another one for her.

And of course I would love to do that.

At first I started hunting down the pattern, which I had had in my hands a few weeks earlier when I sorted all my patterns. That it was gone when I needed it, is typical. Thus I had to invest 187 Danish kroner in a new knitting kit, as the pattern isn't sold without yarn. Unfortunally there wasn't a colour kombination which was suitaible, but it didn't matter that much as we had agreed that Anne-Sophie's hat was to be knit in a pale pink and a neon pink.

The hat is a wonderful piece of knit. I love to see a pattern grow, and not least the felling of everything coming together (read: when I avoid knitting any mistakes or counting the pattern wrong).

Last night she had her hat, and luckily she liked it. I didn't think that the pink colour was as neon pink as I had hoped for, but Anne-Sophie was completely satisfied with the colours, and that is by far the most important thing.

I still have some yarn left from this hat, and now I'm thinking whether I should knit a set of herringbone mittens to go with the hat.

And in my knitting basket I have a kit for one more hat in lovely teal blue colours. Only time will tell if I can persuade Anne-Sophie to use a hat in that colour scheme...and guess what I found yesterday, in a drawer with nicely organised patterns, which I had forgotten in my search??

En Liselotte til Anne-Sophie

Endelig fik jeg færdiggjort den Liselotte cardigan jeg har været i gang med over foråret. 3 neon  koral farvede knapper fra Betty P. satte prikken over i'et. Og dertil trenser syet i den fedeste sytråd også fra Betty P. 

Jeg er rigtig tilfreds med trøjen og synes at det var et dejligt stykke arbejde at sidde med. Og endnu en gang blev jeg overbevist om, at runde bærestykker er lige noget for mig - både at strikke og bære.

Jeg ville rigtig gerne have den stribede cardigan klar til weekenden, så jeg kunne tage den med til Anne-Sophie. For det blev hende der fik ejerskabet over den. 

Til min fødselsdag forelskede hun sig i trøjen, og da jeg hellere end gerne vil strikke til mine børn, ja så skyndte jeg mig at sige, at den var hendes. Først ville hun slet ikke høre tale om det, da hun syntes at jeg skulle beholde den, når jeg endelig havde strikket noget mig selv. Men det tog ikke længe at overtale hende derefter og stort hurra for det.

Så nu bor den hos Anne-Sophie og jeg er glad. Glad for at hun gider gå i mors hjemmestrikkede, og glad fordi jeg selv mangler en Liselotte cardigan nu, og er nødt til at strikke en ny til mig selv...

* * * * * * * * * * 

Finally I finished the Liselotte cardigan I have been making over spring. 3 neon coral coloured buttons from Betty P made the finishing touch. And the attendant loops made in the coolest thread also from Betty P.

I'm very pleased with the cardigan and thought that it was a wonderful work to make. And once more I was convinced that tops with round yokes are just me - both for making and wearing.

I wanted to finish the striped cardigan for the weekend, so I could bring it to Anne-Sophie. Because she got the ownership of it.

At my birthday she fell in love with the cardigan and since I'm more than happy to knit for my children, then I told her that she could have it. At first she didn't want to hear of it, because she thought that I should keep it when I finally had knit something for myself. But afterwards it didn't take long to talk her into having it, and a big hurrah for that.

So now it lives at Anne-Sophie's place and I'm happy. Happy that she cares to wear it and happy that I don't have a Liselotte cardigan now, and have to knit a new one for myself...

H a p p y

I dag skal der ikke mere til at gøre mig glad end super smukke farver, en masse solskinstimer....og mest af alt at Emil har det en lille smule bedre :)

*******

Today it doesn't take more to make me happy than some beautiful colours, a lot of hours with sunshine...and most of all the fact that Emil is feeling a little bit better. :)

R o u n d - & - g o r g e o u s

Today I had a look at Lis' lovely shop. I always read her blog, but it had been a while ago since I passed by her shop.

Maybe I shouldn't have done that, because the beautiful pillow below was such a brilliant palet of soft colours, which I just couldn't keep my eyes of. At the moment I'm very fond of mustard coloured interior items and clothes. And along with the coral triangle in the circle the mustard colour is perfect.

Photo from Karlsons Kludeskab's shop

So I bought the pillow - but not for me. Anne-Sophie has some of these pillows at home, and I thought that this round beauty might present itself well with them. Now I hope that she likes it - otherwise it's not a problem. I can easily find a good spot for it in my livingroom...

A - F r i d a y - e v e n i n g

Liselotte will soon be done. The cardigan. I have truely enjoyed knitting it. Because of the amazing yarn and because of the size 5 knitting needles. What a difference that is instead of size 2½-3 which I have been using a lot for recent projects. And the pattern has been so easy and wellwritten. No procrastinations, only kind and necessary knitting information to make the work go as smooth as possible.

1 button at the top of the front pieces when the cardigan is done. Perhaps 3, but time will tell. If I go for a single button, it will be this one. Or perhaps some dots. 

The other day the prints from Jennifer Davis arrived, and they completely fulfilled my expectations. For now they are standing on my grandmother's old chest of drawers, until we decide which frames they are to be put in. (The hen bowls keep them from sliding down on the floor - in case you wondered why they were standing in front of the prints).

Now I will go talk to my husband - he has just come home from work. And give him a big hug. He has been working hard lately, which means away from home for far too many hours. 

This evening it's just him and I - Emil is visiting his sweet girlfriend Ronja.

Have a lovely weekend...

Good old Bjørn!

When I were a child we had some of Bjørn Wiinblad's plaques (like many of other children at my age had at home). Right there on the wall next to our dining table in the kitchen.

I remember how much I loved the women on the plaques. Their big dreamy eyes and their little pointy  noses, made me admire them whenever we sat at the table. I made up stories about them if I were bored, which happened once in a while, when I sat at the same table doing my homework.

What I didn't think of at that time, was the way the plaques could appear 32-33 years later.

This one below is from Anne-Sophie's kitchen. She has collected 5 or 6 plagues from thrift shops, and has added her own touch to Bjørn Wiinblad's people.

Source: Uploaded by user via Anne-Sophie on Pinterest

I like what she did. A lot. Somehow the black lines on the porcelain, invite you to fill out the spaces. To prepare them for a life in 2012.

How funny and wonderful that we both - with a time interval of 30+ years - got to look at the same kind of plaques in our kitchens...

Crocheted garland for Ida

Crocheted garland, a photo by lille-ursus on Flickr.

I can hardly believe it - I made my first crocheted garland.

A while ago Anne-Sophie asked me whether I would do her a big favour. She wanted to give her dearest friend Ida (whom you might remember is our niece and cousin) a crocheted garland as a part of her birthday present.

Of course I wanted to help, so Anne-Sophie bought the materials and I did the work.

The beautiful garland which I had seen on Karen Klarbæks blog, also came with a free pattern. Perfect for me. Thanks a million to Karen for her generosity.

And to my pleasent surprise I picked up the crocheting very fast. A new kind of crochet stitch has been added to my mind - and hands! As the very last thing I added fine little bells in pastel colours, which made me think of spring.

Luckily Ida liked the garland...and I need to make more for my own house and garden.

I always knew. . .

. . . that Anne-Sophie's 20th birthday would have a bit of a different touch to it. Well, first of all it's special because she turns 20, but also because of the fact that at the exact same age, I gave birth to Anne-Sophie.

It's strange to imagine that I were 20 years old - 20 years ago! So much has happened and somehow time has gone far too fast, and yet suitable slow.

I remember how happy we all were, when we saw that little girl for the first time. And we have felt the same way about her ever since . . . an unexplainable, never ending love, which contains so many feelings. (What a joy it is for us to feel this paramount kind of love twice).

Later we are going to visit Anne-Sophie in her new apartment, and celebrate her. We did start the day with a birthday song on her cellphone. And as we didn't catch her the first time we called, she now has the birthday song on her answering machine. . . maybe not a good thing at all. ;)

I must admit that it still feels a bit strange not to set up the breakfast birthday ritual with presents, birthday mats, the orchestra and candles. But it's a very heartwarming delight that Anne-Sophie's boyfriend Tim made his very own birthday ritual for her this morning - they are both so good at remembering and pleasing each other.

So, my dearest Anne-Sophie - if you see this, I send you a warm happy birthday and my very best birthday hugs.
Love mom,
xoxo

Old patterns for a new year

Just before Christmas I were lucky to get some old knitting magazines from a very sweet woman. She had been cleaning up her cellar and came across them. What a treasures they were - and what a great thing that she thought of me instead of throwing them away!

There were lots and lots of wonderful patterns, all presented by little chubby babies.

And they have become modern again, the patterns that is. There were some which are to be knitted and some to crochet.

The magazines were published sometime in the late 70ties and I just love the fact, that I remember seing some clothes made by similar recipes in my own childhood. (Worn by babies, of course).

Starting off the new year with old inspiration is absolutely marvellous. It doesn't always have to be brand new ideas.

I hope that you all had a gorgeous holiday time with your loved ones.
I certainly did - it was busy but so nice...

For our hands - and eyes

Anne-Sophie has been busy with her studies for a long time, but she has spent some of her precious sparetime on making the most beautiful Christmas ornaments I know.

A whole bunch of Froebel Stars were among the things she showed me, when she was home this weekend. She's going to use the lot for a mobile. And the ones you see here are not all of them - many more were folded in her hands while she was here. 

It didn't take her many minutes to finish a star. My skills, on the other hand, are a different story. I'm not good at making the stars - they always tend to look inaccurate and somehow I manage to get the paper shreds wrinkled. As a side befinefit my temper usually gets the better of me.

Today we had a wonderful afternoon, playing with self-hardening clay and listening to so far unheard Christmas music from the radio. Both of us enjoyed it (apart from the music).

It's a magical feeling to mould the clay in your hands and get things to come out of it.We mostly made ornaments for Christmas, but also a bit of jewlry and some signs to put on jars containing flour, sugar and the likes of it.

Anne-Sophie didn't get to bring home her things made from clay this time. They hadn't dried up yet, and I think that the items need the night to set completely hard.

Maybe we are going to paint some of the letters which we put into the clay...and of course add some string in different colours to the ones which need that.

It's was almost too late to begin with the Christmas stuff, but we are absolutely not done playing with self-hardening clay.

Laz(c)y day

It's definitely a lazy day today - in more than one way.

Emil and I slept through the morning and I barely heard Christian go off to work. Now we are having a cosy time doing absolutly what we want to, and maybe I can find a little moment in a while, to do some more knitting on the Lacy Baktus I'm knitting. And some flicking through the magasin RUM.

I have a thing for mustard colored scarfs at the moment. And ever since I saw the Lacy Baktus made by Terhi on flickr, I have wanted to have one of my own. With holes and everything...

Later on we are going to spend time with some of the people we love the most - my sister and her family. Not a bad day in the middle of December.

The little red pig is Christian's from his childhood and the angel is my childhood favourite at Christmas.

A wonderful day is almost over

After a wonderful day spent in Århus with Anne-Sophie, I'm full of happiness, love and loads of new impressions.

We talked and talked, and laughed and laughed...Anne-Sophie took me to the architecture school, where she spends a huge amount of her time now. We had food - which undoubtedly was a not so delicious experience - and we did some Christmas shopping.

Photos from COS

Anne-Sophie has a few favourite shops, which she likes to visit and wanted to show me. I were particular thrilled about COS.

It has been ages since I have seen a selection of so much beautiful clothes. The colours were stylish, the details were elegant, and it all resulted in simple and gorgeous looks. All clothes which were able to be used for several years, due to style and quality, if you ask me. And for many occassions, too.

There were things for women, men and children. Anne-Sophie and I both loved the little A-line dress with all  the colours - it made us think of Marimekko. And the Gingham shirt was (of course) just the kind I think little boys should wear.

Photos from COS 

I also got the chance to visit Ingers lovely yarn shop. Oh, what a place. I could have looked at the beautiful yarn and other goodies for ages. But I ended up buying 100 grams more of the soft Duo silke/merino. I chose the pale pink - it's going to be used for a stripe on a hat for Anne-Sophie, and for a third scarf made from Theresa's pattern. 

Photo from Design-club.dk

Finally I saw a recently published book by Elisabeth Amdisen - it looked so interesting that I have to add it to my own wishlist (the one from me to me). It's an embroidery book called Tusind og én nats broderier, and in the shop's window the book was presented with little pouches made in colourful Arabian inspired x-stitches.

What a lovely day - now it's time to rest...

Cool cowls

I don't think that one can have too many cowls - and scarfs for that matter. Especially when the weather gets cold and the wind seems to crawl in through every layer of clothes.

Cowls are a brilliant idea, if you ask me. It is not a new and ground-breaking invention. When I was young we had similar ones - only they were called skorstensrør (chimney stacks(!!) - if it's directly translated!)

Photo from Phildar

At that time only girls and women wore them, but nowadays men use them as well. And it suits them.
I wouldn't mind if my husband asked me to make him a cowl like the one above. It's from Phildar - and so are the rest of the ones you see in this post.

Photo from Phildar

Boys can wear them and still look cool. Sadly I will never get Emil to warm his neck with a lovely cowl like the greyish one above. Maybe I would get more luckily if I asked Anne-Sophie whether she would like to have a cowl with the most gorgeous patterns.

I really like the pink and the blue together - eventhough I think that the wristwarmers in the same pattern are a tad too much.

Photo from Phildar

At least I know that I would adore wearing cowls myself. I have faved an unknown number of patterns for cowls on ravelry, but they have mostly been in one colour only. Using several colours of yarn is tempting indeed - and just using two also make a whole lot of a difference.

Photo from Phildar

All the recipes can be bought individually as kits on Phildar's website. And if you want to see more winter accessories you might like this.

A gorgeous American guardian angle

The day after Anne-Sophie left for her holiday in L.A., there was a flickr mail waiting for me, when I popped by flickr to have a look.

It was written by this sweet and talented woman. (She's amazing at sewing and makes the most beautiful clothes for her lovely daughter).
In the mail Sarvi told me that she would be more than happy to help Anne-Sophie, if she had any questions or problems at all, when she arrived in L.A.

I can't tell you how happy and very touched that mail made me. It really moved me to tears - and my husband too. (And that's not an easy thing to do).
At the same time it gave me a feeling of peace at mind. The kind of peace of mind a mom likes to have when her children take off to new adventures in foreign countries. (Even if they are grown up too!) ;)

It's so fantastic that a woman who practically lives on the other side of the earth, and whom I know from flickr, sends a couple of flickr mails full of warm and caring words, her phone number and her email adress. So many of us could learn from her way of embracing and acting, and how she meets new people with an open mind and heart.

Anne-Sophie was happily surprised and very grateful to hear about Sarvi's mails. - How absolutely sweet of her, she said to me when we spoke on the phone.

I have written it to you already Sarvi, but it can't be said enough - thank you from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful way of being, and for caring. That, I will keep in mind for a long, long time.

Lots of love to you too...

And off she goes again - for a while

It will not be long before Anne-Sophie and her boyfriend Tim take off to Los Angeles. They have been wanting to go to the USA for a long time, and all of a sudden they decided that the autumn break would be a suitable time to travel.

I totally understand why they look forward to their 10 days in the country. I really hope to go there sometime in the future.

It's truely interesting to visit a new place and meet other people. What is their culture like, how is the weather and how do the local people deal with the many issues in life??
Besides that, it's always lots of fun to get to use a foreign language. And Anne-Sophie loves speaking English as much as I do.

When Anne-Sophie and Tim come back, I know that they will tell us all about their adventures, and probably show a bunch of lovely photos as well.

I can hardly wait for them to come home.

A mail with proof

Yesterday I got the sweetest mail from Anne-Sophie and it also contained this photo.

Have a look at the attached photo, mom. I'm using it...

She's busy at architecture school with a project she and her group is making in between lectures.

They were told to make a piece of furniture for storing from two items, which were not optinal. Anne-Sophie's group had to make it from an armchair and a hoover!

It's so interesting to see the different stages they are told to go through, in order to create their new piece of furniture. Anne-Sophie has made so many drawings, and in order to make a new item they had to completely take apart the hoover and the chair.

By now it's looking really good, and in the photo Anne-Sophie is at the school sewing a piece, which is supposed to be used on the project.

I'm so glad that she feels the need to use my old machine.

Ready for a second life

Yesterday Anne-Sophie came to pick up her new machine - or should I say new old machine.

When I got my new sewing machine a few years ago, I promised Anne-Sophie that she could have my old Singer. (Actually Emil was supposed to use it as well, if he ever had the need for it! I have a feeling that it might never occur again. I think that we must see it as a thing he loved to do, once in a while, when he was a very little boy). ;)

The old Singer has been standing at home waiting for Anne-Sophie to need it. And so she did yesterday.

She is making a project at the architecture school, which needed just that kind of tool. Now I hope that having the sewing machine close by, will inspire her to sew again. She used to sew when she lived at home, but in recent years she has been too occupied by her studies.

The Singer was my very first sewing machine and a graduation gift from Christian. I still remember how happy it made me, when I opened the present.  A gift he knew I would cherish and use a lot.

By now it's time that it starts a new life, with new hands operating the buttons and buttom thread - and another person who finds out about all the many funny advantages and - not so funny - disadvantages such an old machine has.
I know that it will do a good job, even though it has become a bit more yellow over the years.

I couldn't be more delighted about the new owner...I hope that she will get as many wonderful hours of creating with it, as I have had...

Memory jar

Source: inchmark.squarespace.com via Ulla on Pinterest

This . . .
. . . is an idea that I want to make for my little family. A beautiful jar full of paper notes about our everdaylife and funny episodes through a whole year. And when New Year's Eve is reached, all the notes are read out loud to the family.

Eventhough I have books - one for Anne-Sophie and one for Emil - in which I continuously write about anything and everything in their lives, I still think that the jar is brilliant. It's an easy way to remember to get the little joys in life on paper, and it's also more practicable. . . and best of all it's much faster than having to pull out books from shelves far away.

I'm off to find a big jar in my kitchen cupboard...

My thoughts ...

...are with this beloved girl of mine today.

Because eventhough she's nearly 20 and a clever, sensible, indepentent and warmhearted grownup, she's still my little daughter whom I'm never stop caring about.

Today she starts a new and important part of her life at the architecture school, along with 150 other young people. Well, the official start is on Thursday, but the next 3 days are RUS-days.

I know that she will do just fine, and luckily she's good at connecting with other people - eventhough she's a bit shy. Still, I remember what it feels like to start an education...so many new and unknown people and places to figure out.


But tomorrow everything will be a whole lot easier, and seem a tiny bit more familiar than from the day before.

Anne-Sophie has been very exited to begin, and that really fills my heart and mind with joy. To hear her talk so enthusiastically about using her creative side along with her academic skills, tells me that she made the right choice for her future. I hope that the education will live up to her expectations.