Ravenhill

Handy

It is nearly time to start wearing our new mittens as it is getting chillier in these parts!

The vibrant colors of autumn mean that Jack Frost is visting us at night.

These are going to be mine. I had to retire a pair or two of mittens last year and these will be quite handy. Please forgive my bad pun. I used a pattern in the book PT Desisn NR. 82 to make them. (I am so sorry, the website for PT design seems to be in Norwegian only.) You can see the book I used on an earlier post.

I found the patterns easy to follow and there were so many designs in the book that I would enjoy making. It was definitely a good purchase. With my growing children's constant need for new cold weather necessities : hats, mittens and socks I am always interested in new books with these patterns.

I hope your day is a fine one whatever the weather where you are!

The new arrivals

At long last... a few lovely ladies have arrived!

Please give a warm greeting to Fru Gustavson, who although rather shy, like most Scandinavians, is so warm and sweet-tempered. She is rather quiet and prefers tea-parties to horse-back riding or other more sporty ventures.

I have been busy in my sewing room.

First with my machine...

Then finishing off with needle and thread. Ouch, sometimes I miss and poke my finger!

I am so in love with this Kaffe Fasset floral on Fru Hoff's front side.

Yes, I would also like to introduce Fru Hoff, an outgoing socialite who will loves to make a grand entrance and who always has her dance card full. Fru Akershus is taking a little nap, and her manner is just as her round face and pretty lips would presume: a genuine sweetheart.

Black and white Monday

I might declair Monday the official Black and White photography day, I am just so inspired by this "new" perspective. Today was the first day of Fall vacation and since I needed some felt for a custom order the children and I took a trip downtown to Oslo.

I had my old trusty compact camera along and as always we enjoyed the views on our journey.

Noway Design had a new window display for autumn.

Finally we arrived at Husfliden for some yarn for my pjoning project and thread. This is their pretty symbol outside the shop. My children had behaved so wonderfully and were perhaps even a bit unusually well-mannered... until we got to Husfliden. While I had my back turned looking at some yarn I hear my 8 year old tearing through the shop after my 4 year old. I had to stop that. I couldn't be banned from Husfliden! They now offer ever 9th ball of yarn for free!

By this time we were hungry and the park bench in front of the parliment building was the perfect spot for people watching, a bite to eat, and to rest our weary feet a bit.

Lilly seems mesmerized here by the birds that were flitting around close by.

Oslo is a beautiful city. Here it is 11.15 am and our bellies are full as we head down the main street to Panduro Hobby shop for a half meter of felt. We had a lovely trip to the city.

These jet black buttons that I have been dying to show you and have you ohhh and ahhh over with me are perfect for my Monday B&W theme. I bought handfulls of these pretties and even have an idea of what I would like to do with them!

I have a few sets of several, some pairs and many many singles. Most of them are different. I was lucky enough to find a button collector at the flea market we went to in Maine. He had such gorgeous ones and picking was no easy task.

A new technique to learn...

I had never heard of shepards knitting before I came across it at the Norsk Folkemuseum.

In Norwegian it is called pjoning and the I picked up this little instruction pamphlet at the museum as well as the hook in brass. Here's a better look at the hook:

 

I like how shiny and pretty it looks. Shepherd's knitting is also known as panting, gobelinstitch, or Bosnian crochet. I sure want to make these mittens. They look so unusal and very warm with the rather thick stitches that the hook makes. 

These mittens are super cool looking.

Drops has a free mitten pattern in Norwegian here, but if English would be better here it is for you! Drops is a paradise of free patterns for knitters and crocheters alike. Here are all the free patterns for the fall and winter season 2009/2010.

If you are interested in reading more about pjoning, this is a wonderful resource!

I hope you have a great weekend! After writing this post I am going to sit down with a cup of tea and my pjoning hook.

 

Japanese sewing!

This morning I dropped my little one off at the little red house where she goes to her nursery school. After she and I did our ritual waving to each other in the window I took a few pictues of her while she watched the other children arriving.

I dawldled a bit on the way home enjoying the crisp and beautiful fall morning.

I figure if I take my camera along and make a habit of photographing daily I am bound to improve.

Once home I set about ironing the heap of freshly washed new fabrics I have. Then I realized I needed to show you the adorable top I am making for Lilly from a Japanese pattern book which I would highly recommend. (Anything to get out of ironing!)

 

Please don't mind my mess, behind the little top is my iron and the mountain of fabrics waiting for a good pressing.

 

This is the Japanese book with the pattern I am making. Mom and I traced many of the patterns onto tissue paper which is what you need to do if you are making a pattern from one of these books. All the patterns are true to size but are overlapping on just 2 big sheets of paper. So you first trace the pattern, then you need to add the appropriate seam allowance - then you are ready for cutting.

Here is the top I am making! Aren't the pleats great? Mom helped me do them! And the pocket is downright adorable too, so clever with a little elastic insert to scrunch it up like that.

I am sure I will want to make another with the lace trim...

 

 

 

Husflid magazine

I never walk away from a flea market empty handed. My favorite finds are of course fabrics, buttons and trims. However, books and magazines can be a great place to find creative inspiration too.

I found a few of these recent Husflid magazines at a recent flea market and thought you might enjoy taking a peek into one too.

These little carved figures have such character. It makes me want to learn to whittle.

I just had to show you these hens and chicks. I did a bit of embroidery today while lying out in the back yard catching the ever weakening rays of the sun. It was just the usual, some french knots on my latest batch of matryoshka dolls. Lilly found a little green caterpillar to play with and amused herself for quite some time with him while I stitched. We played a game of go-fish together after I cleaned out several closets and cupboards. Now there is a stack of outgrown clothes, etc. ready for giving away. It is the official changing of the seasons. Then I stitched again this afternoon sitting next to my son and helping him struggle through a mountain of homework. The poor guy was in tears over not having any time to play outside.

The children are all nestled in bed and I have a few minutes to spare! Tonight I am finally listing some new needlebooks in my shop, one with pink ribbon and another in green. They have been sold out for some time. I will try to keep things better stocked now!

Feeling blue?

I'm not in the least, but yesterday I wouldn't give you any color, and today turned out to be shades of blue, starting with my promise to show you the color of the mittens I am working on!

I am mad about the turquoise yarn and need to finish them soon as Norway is getting nippy!

Maybe you would like to see what I have been up to today? I don't spend all my time doll making. Cooking takes a great deal of my time as my growing children eat 4-5 meals a day. Yes, they really know how to put it away. This really keeps me busy! Then there is the clean up. I just finished crocheting these dish cloths. So mundane, but so nice to have them to clean up spills and messes.

I want to give a long-belated thank you to Müriel! What a delightful surprise it was to find this pretty fabric and trim in my mailbox! What special Dutch fabric in the prettiest of blues! It will be hard to cut into this but I look forward to using it. It is so much fun to be in touch with crafting and blogging friends around the world! Speaking of which, we are going to be in Belgium for two days later this fall and if anyone knows of any wonderful fabric or yarn shops to visit in Brussels I would love to hear about it!

Thank you Sarah for including my work on your blog today! Thank you too, dear Kelly for including my matryoshka (which is also a shade of blue) in one of your very first Etsy treasuries and welcome back home!

Kelly requested a better look at the trim on the photo above so here it is in all it's cuteness!

I am hoping that if I posted this final photo of pants for Sebastian that I started in July when mom was here it might shame me into finally finishing them.

PS. Kelly requested (on the comments to this post) to see a close-up of the wonderful trim from Müriel. I have one right here. Isn't it cute? And the Dutch cow is so adorable!

No color...

Where are the bright colors??? Don't go! You haven't come to the wrong place! Please give me a minute to explain.

First, I want to say how fun it was to see everyone’s kind words this morning welcoming me back from my vacation at my family's home in the beautiful countryside (photo below) and helping to ease my guilty conscience of taking my 4^th grader out of school for vacation. THANK YOU!

I thought I would share a few of the details of our time away. Like how we got a tummy bug but didn’t throw up. Well, mom did, a few days after proudly stating how strong she is now after so many years of exposure to the little pre-schoolers at her Waldorf aftercare job.

On a much more positive note, my dad took me off one day to take photos together.

And he turned me on to black and white photography. I hope you won’t mind that I will likely be snapping some B&W’s and sharing them here. I know that like me, you love color, but I have found now a fascination with the drama of the lights and darks…

Thank you dad for sharing some of your photography talents and pleasure with me. It was one of the loveliest evenings I have ever spent, delighting in your company in the peace and warmth of the summer sunset on the beach with your kind attention and patience in explaining various principles of photography to me.

I had time for a bit of knitting on my break, here are mittens in progress for me using Jared Flood's Druid Mitten pattern. You can click here to see Jared's. I got the pattern from Vogue Knitting. I'll show you what color mine are soon! They are fairly slow going with all the bobbles and cables...

A fantastic break

It is delightful to be back! Oh, how I have missed you and blogging! Please forgive me my long abscence. I had intended to blog more, but I really did need a break and it turned into the nicest of breaks as we spent it with my family in Maine! YES! We took a vacation, taking the children out of school for three weeks. For years my family has been advising us to consider a late summer visit. They have said things like, “You know, the end of summer is really the best time of year in Maine.” Or “Not only is it sunny and warm but also bug free in early fall.” Neither my husband nor my children had ever been there this time of year so at long last we took heed of their suggestion. We found that everything they said was true! The bad thing is that my son’s teacher made it very clear in her pre-boarding phone call to me that she didn’t think he should go.

Well, the magnificently sunny bug-free days were pure bliss and although we won’t take him out of school for three weeks again it is hard to have any regrets.

 We couldn’t have timed our vacation better as family and friends all moaned about the miserably rainy weather they had had to endure for months on end prior to our visit. We enjoyed beachcombing, swimming in Damariscotta Lake, picnics by the sea, family gatherings, etc.

The beauty of our surroundings and the quality of the time spent relaxing and visiting with our loved ones has allowed us to return filled up with good memories and joy. Hopefully these along with the stored up rays of late summer sun will sustain us through the upcoming winter.

I am already busy listing a few new items (Fru Bøler is now in the shop So sorry, she is already sold!) and looking forward to making some new things with my renewed energy and enthusiasm after my lovely break. Thank you so much to all of my wonderful buyers who have given me such great encouragement by nearly clearing out my shop before and after my break. A huge thanks to all of my faithful readers and those of you who are so kind to take the time to write me a few words so I know you have been by. It means so much to me to hear from you!

Experimental stitches

 

I couldn't help but buy these varegiated and very colorful embroidery flosses. Sad to say though I don't really know what I will do with them yet. I think some other crafters perhaps are quite clever and just purchase what they know they need. I seem to do things the other way around. I knew I needed these flosses but I am still pondering what I will be making with them.

 

Here I am playing around and seeing how the colors emerge on the fabric as I stitch.

 

I am still not sure how I will be using these threads. More experimentation is needed.

Mom and I spotted this sweet emboidery when we went to the flea markets this summer. She was patient and thoughtful with me as I took photos, holding things up and waiting while I snapped here and there. We both liked the innocence of this embroidery and how sweet that you can still see the markings of the pattern on the fabric. I always wonder about how long ago this might have been made and by whom.