Third time lucky

I assume you remember this sweater.

The notorious birthday sweater for Christian. and maybe you wonder why you haven't seen it done, here on my blog (or maybe not because you are used to me being a slow knitter!)

But here is the reason why I haven't felt the need to flash it. 3 sleeves. 3!

Almost done with the 2nd one, I discovered that my incresing had gone terribly wrong. And after a despressing fit on Christian, I sadly realised that a 3rd one was a necessity.

Now I'm nearly done with that one too - finally! Sleeves are boring, and definitely even more tedious when it's sleeves x 3.

However I have to say that I did find some icing on the cake. Christian is absolutly thrilled about his forthcoming sweater, and that is all worth it to me.

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Jeg går ud fra at du kan huske denne sweater. Den famøse fødselsdags sweater til Christian, og måske undrer du dig over, at du ikke har set den gjort færdig her på min blog (eller måske undrer du dig ikke, fordi du er vant til at jeg strikker langsomt!)

Men her er grunden til, at jeg ikke har haft lyst til at flashe den. 3 ærmer. 3!

Næsten færdig med det 2. ærme, opdagede jeg at mine udtagninger var gået helt galt. Og efter en nedslående prøvepasning på Christian, indså jeg desværre at et 3. ærme var en nødvendighed.

Nu er jeg næsten færdig med det også - endelig! Ærmer er kedelige, og helt bestemt endnu mere kedsommelige når det hedder ærmer x 3.

Jeg må dog sige, at pynten på kransekagen var der trods alt. Christian er utrolig begejstret over sin fremtidige sweater og det gør virkelig, at det er alt besværet værd.

A new aggregat

My husband made me a new aggregate. A yarn holder!

I have missed one of those for ages, and meanwhile I have been very irritated at all the tangled threads, whenever I have been knitting something with many different colours of yarn. And at the same time I didn't want to buy and spend several hundreds of kroner on one, when I knew that Christian could make me a very fine yarn holder.

Christian made it from a heavy piece of oak wood and some metal sticks. It's so useful and I love that he put his time and effort in to it.

The wooden bottom doesn't move when I knit, something which I had pointed out as an important matter, before Christian started making it. We have searched for some metal helical eyes, to make the threads go through, but we haven't had the luck yet.

It works perfectly without them, though - and I especially love that the big spools with 5 kilos of yarn or more, don't turn over every time I pull out yarn.

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Min mand har lavet et nyt aggregat til mig. En garnholder.

Jeg har manglet sådan en i evigheder, og imens har jeg været frygtelig irriteret over alle de filtrede tråde, når jeg har strikket noget med mange forskellige farver. Og samtidig ville jeg ikke købe en og betale flere hundrede kroner for den, når jeg vidste at Christian kunne lave en rigtig fin garnholder til mig.

Christian lavede den af et tungt stykke egetræ og nogle metal pinde (i mangel af bedre ord). Den er så anvendelig og jeg elsker at han har lagt tid og kræfter i den.

Træbunden bevæger sig ikke når jeg strikker, noget jeg havde fremhævet som en vigtig detalje, før Christian begyndte at lave den. Vi har ledt efter nogle metal lignende spiraler, som trådene skulle gå igennem, men vi har ikke haft heldet med os endnu.

Den virker dog perfekt uden dem - og jeg kan specielt godt lide at de store spoler med 5 kilo garn, eller mere, ikke vælter når jeg trækker i garnet.

My favourite calendar

Today is the day when the calendar I love the most, is - finally - for sale.

For years and years I have bought the calendar made by Skals - skolen for design og og håndarbejde. Always excited to see which beautiful ideas the school has come up with for the coming year.

Each month represents a piece of craft or maybe some food related to the school. And the fact that you find recipes in the back of the calendar, makes it all even more lovely.

This is a photo of November from the 2012 calender, because I haven't been to town to buy my 2013 one yet. I keep it in my kitchen in a place where the fine photo of the month meets my eyes many times during a day. Often, I flick through the pages of the calendar, and refresh the ideas.

If you would like to get one for yourself, you can buy it at the school, at the online shop Sommerfuglen and in many shops in Viborg.

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I dag er dagen, hvor min absolutte yndlings kalender - endelig - kommer til salg.

I årevis har jeg købt kalenderen lavet af Skals - skolen for design og håndarbejde. Altid spændt på at se hvilke smukke idéer de har fundet på til det kommende år. 

Hver måned indeholder et stykke håndarbejde eller noget mad der har relation til skolen. Og dét at du kan finde opskrifter på det bagerst i kalenderen, gør den bare endnu mere skøn.

Ovenover er et billede af november fra 2012 udgaven, for jeg har endnu ikke været i byen for at købe mit 2013 eksemplar. Min kalender hænger i mit køkken på et sted, hvor månedens fine foto fanges af mine øjne mange gange i løbet af en dag. Ikke så sjældent bladrer jeg gennem kalenderens sider og genopfrisker årets idéer.

Hvis du gerne selv vil have dig et eksemplar, kan du bl.a. købe det på skolen, hos online butikken Sommerfuglen og i mange forretninger i Viborg.

Farve forvirring

Jeg har besluttet mig for at købe mig endnu et par Duckfeet. De gamle har jeg haft i 3 år, og de har levet fuldt ud op til mine forventninger, så jeg har ikke den mindste tvivl ved at anskaffe mig endnu et par. Modellen har jeg udset mig - men farven...det kræver et par dages overvejelse.

Men foreløbig fører de blå i farven JEANS. De koksgrå er nu også seje...

ENGLISH

Colour confusion

I have decided to buy myself a new pair of Duckfeet. My old ones, which I have had for 3 years, has completely lived up to my expectations, so I have no doubts about buying a yet new pair. I have already picked out the model, but the colour...that needs a couple of days of reflection.

So far I'm loving the blue ones in the colour JEANS. But the charcoal gray ones are cool as well...

In one way or another. . .

. . .I'm going to get this little beauty inside the walls of our house. (My husband doesn't think that it's cool nor beautiful at all).

I can imagine it having a purpose in almost every room of our house, so that part will not be a problem. It oozes 50ties style and charm in the right way. I just know that it will look fine, no matter what one decides to put in it.

Source: blogs.babble.com via Ulla on Pinterest

It will become available in IKEA soon - in case you like it too. . .It's called RÅSKOG and it's already in the IKEA stores in Denmark. You can get it in a wonderful turquiose or in grey.

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.

For marks and x x x x

Once more Maileg has come up with new and wonderful things for those of us, who like the whimsy stuff.

I might have to get myself one of their new calenders. It seems as if each month and day have plenty of room in which we can write down the plans and appointments of our family. That is indeed a necessity, because I have become so forgetful over the recent years. 

I haven't seen the whole calender yet, but from the photos I'm pleased with the fact that Dorthe Mailil's  characteristic figurines have made their entry in there as well.

So now we wait for 2012 . . .

Brave new (sewing) world

Have you ever seen anything like this pair of scissors??? With a laser light to show you how to cut straight!

It's absolutely a first time for me...and I think that it will stay that way.

If this technological marvel all of a sudden has become your most wanted Christmas wish, you can find it right here. ;)

I desperately need...

...a new pair of glasses. For far too many months have I threatened myself to buy some new ones.  But somehow one day after another goes by, and I haven't gone to the optician's yet.

Maybe it's because I don't quite know which pair glasses I'm going to look at this time. I do have an idea about shape and colour, and I'm aware that I'm not getting red ones again. That's all.

But then all of a sudden I spotted the perfect ones this evening - in fact I saw 2 spectacle frames which were right for me. (At least I think so - one never knows before trying them on).

Source: katespade.com via Ulla on Pinterest

I just adore the stripes on the inside of the side bars. Elegant and dark purple on the outside and with a little surprise on the back.

While I studied I had glasses which were a bit similar to the ones below - I loved those glasses. But our acquaintace promptly stopped the day that I dropped them on the floor, and they broke into 2 pieces.

Source: katespade.com via Ulla on Pinterest

Both pair of glasses can be bought at Kate Spade - sadly they are only reading glasses!! But now I have come a bit closer to what I want...

I'm waiting for Tusindfryd dukker

These days I have been thinking a lot about Wenche. The sweet, sweet woman who has the much inspiring blog Tusindfryd, and whom has made a deep  impression on me with her caring and heartwarming personality.

She's a very talented dollmaker, and has just had her first book about dollmaking published. In fact it was released at Klematis the other day, and that's the reason why I have had her in the back of my mind lately.

Photo from Klematis

I'm so happy for Wenche - to see one's hard work and beautiful ideas in a book, must be such a fantastic thing. I know that she will have done her utmost to make the book, so it will present itself in the very best way - both for the eyes and the mind.

I have already ordered my copy of the book Tusindfryd dukker - I couldn't wait until Christmas!
And I'm convinced that we can learn and enjoy from the minute we turn the first page in Wenche's book. I can hardly wait...

For only 25 Danish kroner

...you can buy the new 2012 calender from Skals - Højskolen for design og håndarbejde.

Photo from Skals - Skolen for design og håndarbejde

It's always a highlight to me, when their calender gets revealed. And I truely enjoy having the calender, and it's numerous beautiful photos and recipes, hanging on my kitchen wall throughtout the year.

The calender can be bought directly at the school for 25 Danish kroners, which is about 4-5$. To that you must add shipping costs as well.

It has been far too long ago

...since I made a flickr favourite mosaic. So here you go - a little view of the things I love at the moment.

1. Owl Family, 2. free-motioning, 3. Tjulahopsasa..., 4. Little Snowy, 5. Untitled, 6. Periwinkle Monster and other monsters4, 7. love... !, 8. chicken brooch, 9. Usynlig eller..., 10. Thanksgiving, 11. Les filles onomatopéiques, 12. tweedy stripes..., 13. ., 14. Lovely Design's Lovely Little Forest Quilt, 15. pop bottle curtain, 16. dress shirt, 17. patchwork pincushions in progress, 18. HIMYM top, 19. Abby Jacket, 20. Tula Pink tunic 2, 21. dots 002, 22. Stella's summer outfit2, 23. Stella's top1_1, 24. Wearing a Scarf II, 25. <3

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...

Glimpses of a Sunday

On a rainy Sunday afternoon I did a bit of knitting...

Made the frosting for cupcakes....

Enjoyed the sight of my new old owl...which only cost me 10 Danish kroner...

And felt happy that I now get to wear colourful, shiny, wooden beads around my neck.

I'm so tired

I don't know if you have noticed, but it has been such a long time ago since I have made something at my sewing machine.

Some how everything has taken a turn towards yarn, knitting and crocheting. The patterns I find are for knitted dresses, cardis and that kind of stuff. And lots and lots of crochet items seem to overpower me whenever I go to Pinterest, etsy, flickr and those places.

And of course embroidery.

It's not that I don't feel like sewing anymore, I simply haven't had the energy to do whatever it takes of preparations and other acts in order to sew something. Then it's much more easy to crochet a tiny circle...

My energy level has been low and I have been SO tired for months and months. I usually don't sleep that long, but I think that I litteraly could sleep a whole day, if I didn't turn on my alarm clock! It actually came to a point where I got a bit worried about all that tiredness...But then - in it's own strange way - it became a habit because it had been there for so long.


The other day I had a doctor's appointment on another matter, and by accident my sweet doctor found out that I had a very low haemoglobin count. So there was the answer to my lack of energy - and need to sleep much more.What a relieve! Lovely that something could be done about it.

Hopefully I will feel more spunky in a while, and feel that my energy for sewing and many other things gradually comes back.

I did however manage to start on a little pair of trousers a while ago for a friend of mine. Now they are finally done and soon I will send them in the mail.

Another thing I would love to make before long, is this embroidery by Cathy Gaubert (again).

It's this month's Stitchalong on Feeling Stitchy, so if you want to take part in the stitchalong you can download the pattern for free right here. And of course remember to show your result in the flickr group when you are done...

At least I'm very busy finding new and funny projects in my mind...

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...

I have a question

Has anyone seen these fluorescent embroidery floss colours here in Denmark? And if you have - where can I buy them?

I have managed to find them in shops abroad but with shipping fees and all, the floss becomes rather expensive.

But I really do want to embroider some cool details with a neon pink and some of the other fabulous shades...

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.

No words needed...

...the beauty of the paper from Minimega speaks for itself. Underneath you can see the paper on a beautiful photo from the shop, since my photo was taken at night time, and I don't think that it does justice to the actual colours of the paper.

How can I ever have the heart to use such pretty paper?

Photo from Minimega

o o o o o o o

Circles, circles, circles.... I'm crocheting this.

With the many little circles which are needed for the scarf, I will most certainly get a bit more experinced in this particular kind of handwork. (At least I hope so). And maybe then I can take a wee step ahead in the wolrd of crocheting. But first things first - the scarf must get done.

I have decided to make the scarf 3 circles wide contrary to the recipe, where they have used 4.

The easiness of making the cirles, the size and the convenience of bringing it along, suit me perfectly. Especially in these days, where the warmth has finally hit us.

I like to sit in our little patio in our old garden furniture with Otto runing around. He loves to look for the titbits I hide for him. And since he doesn't possess the patience of an angel, I think he's rather satisfied with the fact, that a half-finished yarn circle can be put at the table in no time...