Ravenhill

Knitting on the journey

We just arrived home this evening, 4 weary travelers after a little trip to Belgium! I don't know what happens but both times we have taken this journey we have forgotten to bring the camera along, and I had been so determined to remember it this time! I did snap this photo of my knitting project before our trip and it is what I brought along to keep me busy when not coloring or playing cards with the family on the journey.

I am making socks, once again with another recycled cashmere that I purchased on ebay. The yarn isn't very kinky despite it's past life and it is so soft. My black pants did get a bit furry looking though after the plane ride.

Lately I make two socks pretty much simulaneously, it seems to go faster that way. I take the yarn for one sock from the center of the ball and yarn from the outside of the ball for the other. I do the casting on and the ribbing on one, then the other. Then I get down to the heel on one, put that aside until I get to the same place on the other. When I do it this way I can easily ensure that I have done the same number of rows on each one, and that they will be just the same size. I find it easier to see that then when I did one sock at a time. I am still not sure if these are going to be a gift of for me. They are really looking like just what I need...

Back to our trip, and the never-ending topic of the weather... When we left Oslo it was -17 C and it was +10 C in Belgium! Wow, that was a delightful change for us! It certainly felt like spring with the soft rain that fell most of our visit. Upon our return the newspapers here tell us that we can expect 3 more weeks of bitter cold! I guess I should keep on knitting! 

Treats

These springtime-fresh and dainty blossoms appealed to me on another blustery cold day in Norway.

The children keep asking what it will look like when all of the tulip bulbs they planted last fall come into bloom. Then I talked to mom yesterday and she tells me of looking at her hellibore and how it is growing and doing well. Mine is so very well covered with a thick layer of snow, but will be a most welcome sight when the time comes.

Another treat came in the mail to brighten my day even more. Isn't it wonderful how little gifts can appear when you need them most? This prettily quilled card really brightened my day! Simone sent me this card, above, and the button bookmark pictured below.

Simone, thank you so much! Blogging is incredible. Simone won my last giveaway and she wrote me the card telling me what a thrill it was to win, especially since it was the first time. How delightful it was that she would take the time to let me know and thereby spreading even more joy, because that really made me happy to know how much she appreciated it. Maybe you would like to see a bit of the Japanese book, Story Quilt? You can find it here on Amazon.co.jp with ISBN 4391133318 or 9784391133318.

I have never seen anything quite like these small appliquèd stories.

The author imagines children in every imaginable type of play, sometimes simply and other times with painstaking details.

I adore this little scene. I like how she has kept the faces so simple, but uses so many textures in her fabric selections.

There aren't detailed instructions for each figure, but she does step by step instructions for a couple of her figures.

The book seems like it will be a great source of inspiration. I hope this was a little treat for you?

We have a wonderful week now ahead of us. My two little cherubs have winter vacation and my husband is going to have a couple of days off to enjoy it with us! We certainly have a winter wonderland to ice skate, sled and ski in!

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

Since making garlands and needlebooks with doilies I have accumalated a few scraps from the precious handmade vintage treasures. Not knowing what to do with them and not wanting to throw them away I have held on to them.

I considered that these lacy scraps might do well transformed into hearts. So Here I am sewing one onto a piece of linen. I like how it it turning out, how it ends up slightly ragged at the edges.

Some of my favorite people are so very far away and I thought I would surprise them with some special valentines treats. I ordered some delicious looking caramels from this nice Etsy shop, Calabasasas Candy  Co run by Cheri. My Dad called me to thank me for the treats, and he exclaimed over how beautifully they were wrapped and how they had come with a surprise extra treat to sample.

I hope you are having a fine day filled with love.

 

Flown in

At our house we daily revel in the antics of the birds who come to our feeders right outside our kitchen window. We have a couple of bird books at hand to identify new birds that we aren't familliar with.

I have been wanting to make some bags with birds and now they are made. I finally found a good enough reason to cut into the gorgeous Japanese fabrics I had been saving for a special project. The teal and pink fabrics have the most wonderful linen like texture on the yarn dyed and woven fabric.

These bags are all in my shop. I will have to get busy because my son wants one and so does my daughter. They will be quite handy for storage of their small treasures, like marbles, toys, or things we might find on a walk.

A nice day in Norway

Wednesday's there is no nursery school. It is lovely to not have to go at by a certain time and to have one less lunch to pack. Today was especially nice because we had another little friend over for lunch and lots of playtime.

In between loads of laundry, helping with snowsuits and boots on and off, a game of cards, etc. I have been organizing my ribbons. Some have been looking very pretty in glass jars on my shelf. Others have been stored in a pretty wooden picnic basket. Every time I went to find a ribbon I had to paw through the worst tangle.

All I did was cut rectangular peices of cardboard and then I cut several slots on the sides for the ribbons to be wound around. After winding them on I pin them in place.

Both my 9 year old and my 4 year old were able to help with the ribbon winding. It took Lilly awhile to get the hang of it, but she tried again and again until she managed. We all just love working on little projects together.

Easter Matryoshkas

Easter is fast approaching and I have made a few matryoshkas for my shop with decorated Easter eggs on their backsides.

Please welcome Fru Bekkely and Fru Falkenhaug, they are both sporting the cute bunny fabric by Lakehouse Drygoods.

Fru Rosenlund and Fru Solberg are also ready and waiting for new homes where they hope to spread good cheer and the delight of handmade and handstitched. As you can see Fru Rosenhund feels full of hope and is entirely eager to meet her future owners, while Fru Solberg is feeling slightly apprehensive.

Poking around

Now that it is warmer outside I hoped you might enjoy a trip out with me?

We can take the tram to a delightful shop called Purpur.

I love how these have handknit trim on the hood and sleeves.

I could spend the day here.

Are you tired after poking around? Perhaps it is time to sit down. The turquise bench was once a church pew and will be perfect. The patchwork pillow on it is so pretty, and I would so like to make some similar for my sofa.

Thank you so much for coming along and I hope that you will enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Messes here, there and ahem, everywhere

At the moment I have too many projects dancing around my head and unfortunately also cluttering up the house.

In the playroom is the quilt I am working on. There I am piecing together the quilt back. In our little office where I sit and type my posts I have hobby books and magazines covering up the desk and on top of these are items to list in my shop as well as a hand sewing project I am in the middle of. The living room is littered with more magazines and books (all craft related), then again there are several hand sewing projects strewn about, not to mention the threads, flosses, needlebooks and scissors that are from current and previous projects but not yet put away. Well, I could go on, but you get the gist of it. Luckily my husband is not one to complain about my crafty/messy ways.

Here is one of the things I am working on. Just small rectangles of fabrics in shades of pink, stitched on with running stitches.

Your houses are all probably neat as a pin?

Taupe potholders ready for action

Thank you all for your warm wishes for a quick recovery from the tummy bug. Everyone is now happily well again. Thanks so much too for all the birthday greetings! What fun it is to read your comments daily and be in touch with so many kind hearted and talented people. Your generosity in your encouragement is touching and I must say enormously motivating for me.

The bright sunshine yesterday made the snow sparkle with near blinding beauty.  There is little warmth in the sun here now, but it gave us hope of warmer days ahead and the promise of melting the snows here soon. Today though we had a big storm, with big winds and snow flying. I had some time to finish up the potholders I started here.

They aren't very big but are completely hand sewn. It was the perfect small project to do while lounging around with the family on the weekend. I would surely recommend this as an initial project for anyone wanting to try hand sewing and quilting.

It would be nice to make more in bright colors too. Funny, right after finishing these this weekend was when I grabbed the brights to make the quilt. I seem to crave both, the taupes and the brights.

Working on a quilt

My beloved pincushions from my dear blogging friends are helping me in my latest projcet. The square log cabin pincushion is from Mette and the mushroom is from Kristin. I think the presence of these gifts from such experienced and talented quilters in my sewing room is giving me courage to attempt this.

I didn't plan on it. My tummy was still growling and uncomfortable, but somehow I found myself picking out fabrics, sewing them together and making a quilt. The bright colors seemed to offer comfort and distraction. I looked into a box I've stored of charm packs, I found 3 that seemed to work together: Erin McMorris, Kaffe Fassett and a third which I don't recall.

Each part of it is so pleasurable: selecting the fabrics, arranging them, the repitition of the sewing and ironing, all the while being completely engrossed.

The best part though was when my kids came home after a Sunday matine with daddy. When they saw the quilt top all laid out on the floor just like this their eyes lit up and they exclaimed and oohhhed and ahhhed. I couldn't have been happier.

Now, as you can see I have to sew the white strips on the ends, figure out a backside and then even tougher, how to quilt it. I haven't ever made anything this big and it isn't even very large, crib size, it says on the cottong batting (60"x46"). That makes me laugh, because it seems huge to me! I think it will make a good lap quilt for the children. I rearranged the squares until my head was dizzy, and I still see some annoying repeats, but well, hopefully my eye will improve with practice.

Right now I am a little nervous about the how to make a quilt back exaclty the right size. It is just a tad bigger than my usual matryoshka dolls and a bit bigger than my comfort zone of the familiar. Just don't put any pressure on me for a deadline for being finished...