Peace and Love!

The 50 or so x-mas cards are on their way, hopefully finding all their recipiants safe, sound and happy. The production method was the slow kind. Hopefully the mail service is not equally slow, as good custom says December 24th is the latest acceptable day for a x-mas card to arrive. Luckily wishes for a happy new year is also included in the note - an excellent way to make sure the cards are relevant even if they do not arrive in time for The Holy Night ;o)

I wish you all a peaceful holiday as well as days filled with joy and love

Over the threshold

These photos were taken a freezing cold day; I think it was -19 degrees celsius. Our front hall holds about the same temperature as outside; very convinient for storing and even freezing food! I just could not stop decorating despite my frostbitten fingernails, so I embellished this dry branch with some x-mas ornaments. Hopefully this makes our guests feel heartly and warmly welcomed despite the cold.

Welcome

Winter is COLD but equally BEAUTIFUL around here - the crisp, biting air feels healthy and gives the extra benefit of the true pleasure of getting indoors again! This is how our entrance welcomes everyone who stops by.

Miracles are waiting to happen

A row of six budding hyacinths sitting on my window sill waiting to bloom with white pureness and spread their lovely fragrance

Lucky, lucky me :o)

I am such a braggart of a proud mama - but you must agree that I am very, very lucky to be Princess´mother, right? She is kind, loving, brave, clever, creative and COOL. This cute and very cleverly improvised advent calendar was made for ME by HER. Every day I unwrap a thoughtful, little gift. So far I got acrylic pearls, a small wicker basket that I have owned for at least 20 years ("for keeping all the little things you get", she explained)a homemade bracelet, a book mark, miniature roses (which I gave her last year...)one even contained two mother of pearl buttons that I bought to replace the broken ones on this jacket, but never came around to sew on - now found and wrapped and unwrapped as a effective reminder ;o) Todays gift was a little Kinder Egg container filled with Princess´ own tea blend. Perfect for my sore throat :o)

Feed the birds

Princess loves all animals and birds and she is such a good, caring girl - making all the little birds happy with her seed cakes! Hopefully not making the cat equally happy by gathering plenty of bewinged lunches within reach... even though she cares a lot for him too, of course :o)

Every day is a gift...

...and between the 1st and 24th of December there are gifts whithin the gift! Princess is very happy with this years advent calendar. My plan is to gradually replace the gifts with x-mas cards and let the 6 x 4 hearts wirework board decorate the sitting room wall through Christmas.

Another secret, another glimpse

This picture shows my lap covered in my beloved hexagon blanket (which I named Oriental Garden)as I am picking up another secret x-mas-related project to have a few rows done. In my opinion one of my very best and very refined qualities is to make myself comfortable and ENJOY being secretive! (yes, I had numerous lit candles and a mug of tea close at hand as well...)

Secretive glimpse

Soft, warm... pure alpaca. Say no more! ;o)

Heavenly Peace

Yes, this weekend was bliss - heavenly peace, so to speak. This of course means that a lot of my over-ambitious plans were put to rest, but it is OK. As long as I was able to rest too, I mean ;o) I still feel at peace. The first candle was lit - the big star in the window got a new bulb - all my beautiful angels are on watch. It was a GOOD first sunday of Advent!

Waiting for the waiting

2-3 weeks ago I just could not wait any longer - I just HAD TO start the outdoor decorating, which I normally don´t do before December 1st. Maybe the reason for this is that I had a hard time accepting fall and winter darkness before. The latest few years I have grown more and more fond of these seasons, and it feels so nice to complement this feeling by doing a little bit of outdoor decorating. Together with the pretty lanterns and planters on a little marble table next to the entrance door it also serves as a nice welcome for visitors. The base for this rather chaotic arrangement is my clematis pyramide climbing rack. The "ornaments" are my collection of seed stands, cones and acorns from Spain, Tunisia, Greece and Norway. While I wait for Advent (which as you know means "the coming of Christ"), I keep on working on big and small projects, both indoors and out - some more secret than others ;o)

Princess to Queen

Princess has developed kind of an obsession lately - before school, she knits. At school, she knits. After school, she knits. Before homework, she knits. After homework and before dance lessons, she knits. In bed at night, she knits. And so on. Some of her friends will find some precious, homemade gifts under the x-mas tree this year! The wristwarmers took her just a few hours to finish and decorate. Thick, cosy wool is good for keeping the spirit and motivation! Go, girl!

Glittering Prize

Remember Simple Minds...? Well. Anyhow. A couple of weeks ago I attended an inspirational seminar for teachers and other educational staff. The seminar included a workshop - we spent 1,5 hours playing with all the glittery stuff you can imagine! Our task was to make a filigree brooch inspired by the various traditional filigree brooches accesorizing the Norwegian national costumes. We were asked to bring an empty, clean tin, and as it turned out the tin lid would serve as a base for the brooch. This is what I ended up with - and I will proudly wear it in good Pippi Longstocking spirit :o)

Ready for a revelation?

Lucky, lucky me! I met adorable Eline and her lovely parents last night. It has been a bit more than 12 years since I laid eyes on my own little precious Princess for the first time. I have hardly been able to take my eyes off her again, gazing at her amazing beauty ever since - and I totally understand, and (partly - must not forget that one owns child will always be the most perfect and beautiful ;o) ) agree with Elines parents when they claim HER the most beautiful creature in the world... And THIS is what was inside the wrapped up gift from last post - a cosy little hooded sleeping/travelling bag for baby Eline! It is based on the pattern "Nataschas kjørepose" from the book "Myk start" by May B. Langhelle, but I altered the yarn, the size, the needles and most importantly the hood, which was originally knitted directly onto the body in one piece. In my experience hoods can be a real view-blocker for the baby, and also too warm inside a car, and if you want to pull it down it will create a very uncomfortable bump in the neck. Cute pink and glittery mother of pearl buttons are used to attatch the hood to the body, and this hopefully makes the whole bag-thing more practical in use. Yarn: About 475 g of super soft "Easy" (1 ply 100 % merino wool) from Sandnes garn. Needles: 7 mm.

All dressed up and somewhere to go ;o)

The gift for little Eline is good to go! I hope we will be able to meet soon - for the first time! The closest I have been so far is this beautiful drawing of her, by her extremely clever artist papa. It has been a while since I last saw her cute mama too, so it will be bliss :o)

Secret blogging?!?

First of all; thank you for the nice comments on the baby blanket! Not much progress on that one since my last post I´m afraid - as the baby turns out not to be due until January some time I got the (deceiving) feeling that there is no rush... ;o) Blogging AND keeping the blogging material secret is a true contradiction (like eating the cake and have it, I would say) - so the blog has been neglected for a few weeks. Soon, my friends, soon at least one of the secrets can be revealed! Then there is the x-mas gifts preparations, involving one secret project after the other. I think this year, I will angle my camera towards other aspects of my aesthethic ways. Maybe I will start posting more glimpses from my domestic life, or include other kind of work than the yarn-based? Maybe even dig out some old graphic work? There will most certainly be some paper crafy preparations for this season too and not all of them have to be secret, I think. So look for new content around here - as for now enjoy the wonderful colours in this photo stolen from I can´t remember where (sorry, I am BAD!)

Domino progress

I have been told that the unborn recipient of this Domino WIP will be a boy - and he is LUCKILY due quite a few weeks later than first expected. This means that some of my plans for home made x-mas gifts may also come to life ;o)

Rainbow sleeves

Princess often tells me that she wants me to make her cardigans, sweaters etc - especially every time I finish something for myself. In 2008 I made a very warm raglan cardie as seen below, and last week I cast on for a similar one for Princess. Hopefully it will do as a x-mas present. The yarn is fingering weight Fabel (75 % merino wool, 25 % nylon) + Alpaca in Princess´version while my own was Noro Silk Garden + one strand Alpaca/one strand Carisma (100% wool). 3 mm needles seem to make the right gauge for a nice and soft fabric. The Fabel rainbow yarn is fairly similar to the Noro colourway on my jacket, which I think will please the recipient. I really hope this garment will be loved and worn by Princess when it is finished.

Expecting more cold weather

I think this beautiful Arwetta Classic (80 % merino wool, 20 % nylon) could be suitable (and is maybe designed for) knitting socks. I´m planning a hat, though, and maybe some finger mittens if my 100 g lasts for both. Maybe this time I will even search for and actually follow a pattern :-))

The September When

The last day of September arrived much sooner than expected this year... The calendar decides that I should stop wondering if there will be an Indian Summer this year. I enjoy the beautiful colours around me, breathing in the crisp air doing one-hand-shooting with my camera, trying to keep the other hand warm in my pocket ;o)

Seasons Greetings

Vintage and new manufactured lace combined with Calluna - a simple and romantic decoration on my willow wreaths this season

Sneak peek

This super soft 100% merino Easy yarn knits up nicely on 7 mm needles and makes a very warm fabric - I hope it will be suitable for its (secret) purpose :o)

A Rose is a Rose is a Rose...

The roses from Superman are like our love; growing more beautiful every day and changing through the different phases with grace...