Dummy dress coming out of the closet

This is the dress I wore in my dear friend A T´s wedding on June 12th. It was originally started as a test/dummy-dress for my own wedding dress last year. As my wedding day got closer, I had to focus on the "real" dress. The work on the dummy was not wasted, though - sewing on my brand new serger for the first time was a little less scary after my trial with these light and "hard to keep still"-fabrics. It was a bit of a challenge to finish the test-dress as I had tucked it away without adjusting and correcting anything - but I made it! Just like my wedding dress, this one was finished less than 24 hours before I wore it. If I work best under pressure, you ask...?

...and this is me, being a bit blurred (and shy) at the wedding reception carrying an old Ladybag by Baglady (my own brand) and the stola from 2006

Swatch me now!

I am starting two large projects simultaniously these days - while trying to finish the cotton granny circle-in-square project and finding time for painting the bathroom ceiling and a wall... even thoug the clear weathr and sunlight gives me more energy these days, 24 hours are still 24 hours. So Don´t hold your breath while waiting for the transformation of these two patches into a cardigan for Superman (top picture) and a dress for me. Oh, and I am also planning/preparing a white, long and partly lacy crochet cordigan for me, sewing a black linen dress (also for me) and of course finish last years attemt to knit my Princess a halterneck or tank top... And who knows, even finally complete the Tulip Secret dating back to 1991! And it is still more than two weeks until my holiday starts, so we´ll see about the progress of all this ;o)

In the scrappy, not crappy, mood...

Going away on a two day conference I grabbed my cotton scraps and a 4 mm hook running out the door - hoping that my playfulness and love for colour would come to action and provide a nice "something"! Over the last few years I have started (and completed) several scrap projects that just grew and grew... requiring new purchases of yarn (but still leaving my stash slimmed down in the end). This time I decided I would just make as many squares as the scraps would allow, and THEN decide what to use them for. I stayed true to one simple principle as I hooked happily away with a new and exhilarating feeling of freedom: A strongly coloured centre, a paler mid row forming the circle and a bright hue on the last row. I had a few balls of white cotton to join the cicle-in-square patches. The pale scraps for the mid row lasted for 54 squares. The rest of the yarn will be used for the finishing touches of this project (and will even last for some dish cloths, purses etc) - stay tuned to find out where my scrappy mood leads this time :o)

Sweetness!

My clever Princess made delicious meringues filled with whipped cream and finely chopped peaches last week. I must admit mine was gone in seconds so I am glad I got this snapshot to prove her talent as a baker ;o)

It´s a nice day for a white wedding...

...and an even better day for a red wedding on June 12th! "Hey little sister what have you done? Hey little sister who´s the only one?" We all got the answer on this rainy but oh, so beautiful day. The bride in red, the groom in off white, the seremony so soulful and solemn, yet light spirited... a wonderful party of about 65 people aged 10 months to + 80 years all contributing to the collective feeling of a truly loving and happy athmosphere. Yes, my dear friend - this is soooo right! Congratulations A T & G - I love you! (-and I am so pleased that the bolero came out fitting perfectly, as the weather truly required something little and snug to warm the brides proud shoulders...)

Crown Imperial Love

The title is taken from a 90s Norwegian hit (you can listen to it here) by Weld/Vibeke Saugstad. I find the song melancholy and bitter sweet, so it doesn´t really match my associations with the crown/chocer shown here - but I like the song and love the title :o) This piece of jewellery was made in 2008 for an exhibition, and it was displayed as a choker at the time. It is made from original postal stamps, silver, aquamarines and Chinese bookroll fabric. Later I added a silk chiffon veil and used it as a bridal crown with my home sewn wedding dress! In just a weeks time my dear friend A T will get married and I REALLY hope the wedding bolero will come together nicely for her... I am so happy for her and her groom, and I am sure they will have a wonderful life together with or without this bolero, but still... FO-photos will be posted soon - I HOPE ;o)

PS - a little colour makeover has been going on in here; maybe you noticed? I like it so far.

Soft and scrappy baskets

The eager observer will recognize the background from a few posts back; my scrap baskets were made for our closet at the cabin - to organize all the little items like extra toothpaste and cotton pads that are floating around on a big shelf inside the closet, occupying valuable space meant for storing clothes. They are also practical for placing on the bathroom shelf when we are staying for a few days - they save space, keeps the small bathroom tidy and look cute enough to be displayed. Or what? the pattern for a bread basket came handy - thank you UnePune!

Blonde Ambitions

Thank you for complimenting me on my speediness on the Granny blanket from last post Trinemor - I will need to keep up this speed now, as I just started designing and knitting a wedding bolero for a dear friend... it is due June 12th! Yes, this is a blonde ambition! ("blonde" is Norwegian for lace, and "blond" is Norwegian for the colour of my hair...)

Folklore Forever!

This is the finished Granny Square blanket seen for the first time in it´s natural environment as Sir Attenborough would have put it :o) It is made from various scraps of wool and alpaca - and a considerable stack of new alpaca skeins for the joining together and the border. Never the less my scrap stash has shrunk a great deal. This is my 3rd and by far quickest crochet blanket. It was started om April 1st and finished om May 16th. It measures ca 200 x 135 cm, and probably weighs more than 2 kg... It consists of 126 squares of musty, folklore-like colours. They match my parents traditionally decorated cabin so well you would think the blanket is far older than the actual cabin (built in 2000/2001)...

Joining forces

Again, thanks fo the nice comments - I am sooo glad you liked the little scarf from last post, Formigrafisk! And it warms my heart that you appreciate my love for details. I have been like a hooker on speed lately - or at least doing some high speed hooking - so all 126 granny squares for the cabin blanket are finished. I have even started joining them together, using a clever method described in a tutorial here. So far it looks a bit wonky, but I think that it will all come together nicely in the end. And with a little steaming and pressing it should be close to perfect. As perfect as a scrap project containing various qalities and weights can be ;o)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Thank you for the nice comments lately :o)

Today is Formigrafisks AND my own Supermans birthday - congratulations to both of you! I hope you like my little gift, Formigrafisk - after all it is directly inspired by you (and Dans på roser). This was the first of two narrow scarves I made as gifts during April. You can see the other one here.

Lucky, lycky me :o)

True love from a very dear friend! She gave me this beautiful ring as a late birthday present - I think it is needless to say it was worth the wait :o) Thank you sooooo much, A T! Our friendship means the world to me, and this heart is such a nice reminder. A few days before I got this ring, my little Princess decided to surprise me. I was happily crocheting away at the knitting café - yes, we are allowed both to knit and crochet ;o) - while she was baking these WONDERFUL cup cakes. What a yummy treat, and what a clever little Princess! Lucky, lucky me!

Inspired!

Inspired by both Dans på roser and Formigrafisk I made this narrow scarf/neckpiece for a friends 40iest on april 15th. Congratulations to you, dear, and thank you for sharing your day with me and the other girls. A great night in even greater company! Thanks also to Dans på roser and Formigrafisk for all the inspiration you give us all on your great and beautiful blogs :o)

The scarf was made from scraps of cotton (the middle section) and two tones of Plumet (mohair/lambs wool/nylon). Moss stitch in the centre and a crochet lace all around. A crochet flower with a safety pin on the back makes it easy to vary the use and look of the scarf. It was a joy to make and a joy to give away, as the recipient texted me the day after to let me know it looked great on!

Yet a gigantic blanket?!?

As usual, I tried NOT to think of ideas for new, big projects as I finished the last (the ripple), and as usual I just could not help myself... The colours of these granny squares are a bit musty and retro-ish pointing vaguely bacwards to the 70s and will work great in my parents mountain cabin. So far, all the yarn has been found in my considerable stash of scrap yarn/odd balls - but I will need refill to make the blanket as big as I like. It should cover a bed measuring 120 x 200 cm, as this is the size of our guest bed at home AND our bed at the cabin. I also like my blankets to fill more than one purpose. If "draping my self in velvet" is out of reach (ref. George in the Seinfeld show...), this size will make sure I can really wrap myself in granny squares, snuggling up on the comfortable corner sofa. I already bought a couple of thin alpaca balls in an coordinating colour, for the joining together of the squares and my experience with so called scrap projects is that these will not be the last.

As usual, I tried to convince myself that it is OK to make the blanket as big as the yarn I already got allows, and as usual I did not buy this sensible yet unreasonably idealistic idea - so we´ll see if my stubbornness wins this time as well. My latest calculations concludes that I will need 126 squares + a border to make the blanket the desired size. 54 squares done, 72 to go... It can be a bit of a challenge being equally impatient and enduring! Update: while blogsurfing right after posting this, I discovered a VERY familiar-looking crocheter in the formigrafisk blog. Likewise, dear friend - it was a great catch up on life and rippling - and you are making excellent waves! :-)

The Rising of the Ripple

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SISTER DEAR!!! I hope you have a great day, and that you enjoy the present (not the ripple, I´m afraid...)

So, this is it for the ripple... it took me a couple of years! Most of the time it has been stashed away while I´ve been working on other stuff, but here it is, all 155 x 200 cm of it! As you can see, even the last little scrap of yarn was used for the narrow border. This fact makes me feel sooo proud, as it is kind of a proof of this being a scrap project ;0) It all started here, and as I had miscalculated the number of stitches for the original width of 90 cm, I soon realised I would need more baby wool. MUCH more!

Yarn: 1626 g baby wool (different brands)

Pattern: Traditional ripple; 6 double crochets between every zig and zag!

Hook: 4 mm

Pretty pretty...

First of all; thank you very much for the award, Moan!!! I am honoured :-)

Princess is very happy and pleased with her new stockings - she designed dem herself for me to knit, and they were done just in time for the Easter break. She wore dem indoors during our weekend at the mountain cottage, but the original idea was to wear them on her way to and from her dance class. Alpaca is not exactely a durable fibre for socks, so I guess my "thumb-heal" will come handy. It is easily replaced - I keep the scrap yarn on hold ready for the first hole on the heel to appear ;o) Design: Princess Pattern: My own Yarn: almost 100 g of Drops thin alpaca Needles: 2 mm dpns

PS - the ripple was FINALLY finished during Easter - stay tuned for some bragging pictures!