I have seen the light!

The translucent light of spring is so beautiful - never mind the blur that comes along with the love of natural light and no tripod ;o)

2 good 2 be 4-gotten

I am so consumed with the hat projects and the endless baby blanket project that I completely forgot to blog Princess´ finished cardigan! It was actually finished weeks and weeks ago, even though I didn´t quite make my deadline as it was intended as a x-mas pressie for... Anyhow; Princess has approved the finished garment when it comes to looks, colour and design, but she is still reluctant to wear it. I am not surprised as this has happened before: she approves the chosen yarn to be itch-free in the pre-knit phase just to conclude that the very same yarn is itchy as soon as the project is finished and ready to wear... I still live in the hope for this one, as she has wanted her own version of my cardi (the last picture in this post) ever since 2008... Pattern: My own raglan based on Elizabeth Zimmermans persentage system (EPS), knit back and forth Yarn: Ca. 200 g of Tynn Alpaka # 146 (variegated) (100 % alpaca) from Du store alpakka for the dark aqua parts + less than 50 g of Sandnes Mini Palett (sock yarn; 80 % merino, 20 % polyamid)in a colourway that seem not to be on the chart any more. It was a good match to the Noro Silk Garden I used for my own cardi, as I couldn´t be bother to mail-order the Noro sock yarn Needles: 2 mm for the rib/Mini Palett, 2,5 mm for the stockinette/alpaca

The turtleneck was made longer than the chosen zipper, so a couple og mother of pearl heart buttons were used to close the last few inches. The dotted ribbon was sewn on to cover the rough and not-so-pretty zipper edge + seams. My adult version was blogged in July 2008 - read all about it here

A long, long summer also calls for many, many hats!

The title refers to this post. Our beloved friends in Sydney need hats for slightly different reasons than most Norwegians this time of year - the most important reason being protection from the sun. Even though fall is just around the corner down under, the sun will stay high in the sky all through winter, challenging the fair skin and health of our dear friends. Another hat will be on the needles any minute, so stay tuned in the shade dear E :o)

I used this pattern for size reference. I chose Sandnes´ Mandarin Petite (100 % cotton) and also altered the decrease to my own liking. The colours are 2431 (sand/beige) and 6822 (pale aqua/blue) and I spent abot 25 g of each knitting on 2 mm needles for a dense fabric, (hopefully) providing good protection from the sun. Voila! Easy breezy seaside beanie!

The arrival of spring

The blue Muscari botryoides nicely teams up with the narciss Bridal Crown - and a few of my knick-knacks. The lamp stand is old enough not to fit new lampshades (as this Alfhild fågel from IKEA, bought in 2006 but still in their assortment), but I love it as I inherited it form my dear grandmother. Alfhild is doing her best to balance on top of the fixture... The little booties are Chinese, bought in Beijing in 1993. Dear Superman made the little wooden box some time during primary school, and despite that he claims the beautiful patina of the glaze is an accident and certainly not intended, I love it! The spring light is so beautiful yet too sparse for a good photo. Still I refuse to let a flash ruin the magic atmosphere and for now I am willing to accept the inevitable blurryness. A tripod is right on top of my birthday wish list...

In this photo (above), however, I used the flash, just to make sure the Bridal Crowns details would have their fair share of attention

Our family photo-wall (above), including four legged members of the pack as well as two legged - a dear collection of memories. The Carnation (under) is luckily back in fashion! My favourite is the large, full ones, but these are cute too, sitting on my old sewing machine (also inherited from dear grandmother) in happy company with a vintage jaquard silk scarf used as a table runner. Please also notice the single orchid flower - my last attempt to keep it alive for a few more days. My fingers may be industrious, but they are unfortunately not very green...

A long, long winter calls for many, many hats!

The summery light in this photo is deceiving - it is still full winter where I live, so no need to worry that my time spent knitting this hat was wasted... As you can see via the link, it is supposed to be adorned with a button, but as I could not find the big, green coat button in my hereditary buttons collection I wanted to use, this peacock brooch does the job. Slightly old lady, slightly royal... or at least eccentric!

Yarn: ca 75 g Drops Alpaca + 25 g Drops Kid Silk held together (original yarn for the pattern was Daletta from Dale)

Needles: 2 mm for the button band, 3 mm 40 cm circulars + dpns for the cap

The Magic Dress on March 8th

Finally; the story about The Magic Dress, as advertised in this post! And what better day to celebrate a great woman like Grete Smedal, and my own aspirations to be one. The Magic Dress will be the perfect outfit for greatness! Above, The Magic Dress itself, hanging prettily in my studio/guestroom window. A few weeks ago it hung (almost) equally pretty in the window of Klesskapet (a second hand shop) in Skostredet, Bergen - shouting my name load and clear, begging me to come in and try it on, as it was obviously made for me (and who knows for how long it had been there, longing and waiting for us to meet?). I had no doubt at all, as she - The Magic Dress - appeared less than 24 hours after my very inspiring and colour/pattern/form-oriented meeting with Grete Smedal. Read on, read on!

A classic Arabic pattern - as seen on The Magic Dress 2011

...my 1993 version in an art book project at KHiB (former SHKD)

...from my colour study binder... Grete Smedals excellent classes really boosted my interest in colour as a visual phenomenon and the exhilarating mysteries of perception. I collected all the exercises in a binder that has been dear and useful to me ever after, as a mini reference book. I am soooo grateful for being her student (yes, I still consider myself a student of hers) and for her being my informal mentor through my degree studies in Textile Art at SHKD/KHiB. Her teaching methods have even been a great inspiration to me as a college teacher, and my binder has been very useful in so many ways. The methods still applies and has even been updated through her latest developement; the Chromascope! I can´t wait to dig into this amazing program! To me there is an obvious yet intricate pattern (choice of word totally coincidental...?) in this story - and The Magic Dress waiting for me in the second hand shop perfectly illustrates that divine connections are all around us, ready to savour :o)

Better an egg today than a hen tomorrow!

The merengue and muffin baking Princess is to blame and thank for our massive egg consumption the latest few months ;o) We are all happy guinea pigs for her personal twists and alterings of the original recipes. And who said playing with food is always a bad thing...? Experimenting with my mobile camera is fun too, and sometimes rewarding, but something tells me I have to re-shoot the ones for the planned post about The Magic Dress. Which means this post will have to wait for a few days - meanwhile please enjoy Princess´ egghead parade!