It's hard to be a nissemann. (Nissemann= the norwegian santa. "It's hard to be a nissemann" was also the title of a very funny song in a christmas-calendar- comic- show on norwegian TV some years ago. Listen to it!). Yes, it is indeed hard to be a nissemann- especially when it comes to knitting presents. I sort of lost courage and time being sick, so I decided after all to only make this one - the green clapotis for my mom:

The name of this scarf/shawl is indeed very describing, clapotis = french for "little waves":

 It's slowly growing and with a little luck and extra effort I might even get it done in time to send it off before christmas!

All christmas-preparations have been on hold for the last week or so, we've all been sick! Finally it starts looking and smelling a little like christmas around this house. A round. House.

Ms. Fiberspace in the prosess of making gingerbread. House, a round one that is, on demand. You get what you ask for.

Yes, it's not perfect and we love it!

 And Serinakaker. I love these simple but gooood butter-vanilla-almond- christmas cookies:

 I guess it's not so hard to be a nissemann after all...yumyumyum and then let's do the "stoveldance"....

It's winter. It's cold, it's dark. Sick child, for the time being only one, fingers crossed. Sick me too. I need some knitting to warm, soften and color my day. A dive into my stash. What could be better than this:



It's soft, it's warm, it's fluffy and it's colorful. It's delicious. It's Noro Blossom. Almost one year ago I decided I wanted to knit this. I ordered the yarn from here, they seemed to have a very good deal. It turned out that they had problems getting the yarn in from their supplier. So I waited. For 9 months to be exact. I've waited 9 months for great things before - (yes - even greater than yarn!) - so no problem - there was even no sickness nor extreme tiredness!  - Anyway - the long awaited fiber arrived this fall and it has been looking at me ever since - begging me to wind it and cast on. I think I have resisted long enough now, so here we are:



I love the little contrasting bumps:



Aren't we glad there are colors in this world?!

I finally got the last fringes on. It's not easy to get good photos these days with little daylight. The bulky-alpaca green is really more intense, but this is the best I got:



details:
yarn: 1 strand of fingering weight garnstudio's alpaca, dark olive, approx. 3 1/2 skeins, 50 g each, including the fringes, and 1 strand of 1-ply bulky alpaca (discontinued) from Du store alpakka, approx. 3 skeins, 50 g each. (60 m pr. skein)
needles: 10 mm circular
pattern source: Du store alpakka

Lots of things I like in the new issue. I want these! Right away! Just need to finish 20 other projects first. As if.

 A knitter's twist to advent:

Two candles will be lit later today. I might remove the yarn first. If I can bring myself to stop looking at it.
I was very lucky to be able to go to a beautiful city this last week. Among many other events I was able to visit this shop. Two rather small but tall rooms packed with Rowan yarns from floor to ceiling!  I was in yarn heaven! And a very nice lady selling them. I should have had an extra suitcase. I restrained myself to only buy yarn for this, which I have been wanting to knit for a long time. For those not familiar with the scandinavian yarn-market I must explain that just walking into a store full of Rowan goodies is only possible a very few places in this part of the world...

And then there was this:



This was from a different shop where they had this incredibly soft wool - Visjö - yarn. The colors are so vibrant and the yarn is as soft and non-scratchy as cotton! Unbelievable! I only got me one skein so I was happy to learn from their web-site that they sell yarn on-line... I'm thinking hats, gloves or maybe cla....

I just can't take my eyes off of you......

swedish, british treasures...sigh....

I have "some" alpaca yarn in my stash... And one girl who needed a new hat. She even wanted me to knit one! Give me a knitting mom who could resist that! I have knitting needles and I have one Sarah Dallas knitting book. So here we have one alpaca beret - finished the other day:

details:
yarn: 50 g of red thin alpaca from du store alpakka and a little bit of bright green
needles: 2,5 mm circ. for ribbing, 3 mm circ. for the rest
pattern source: sarah dallas; "knitting"
She is actually wearing it every day now!:

And there is more. New knitting.
I knew last winter when I knit two clapotis-es that these were not my last ones... I didn't realize how empty my knittinglife was without a clapotis on my needles before I split some yarn (garnstudio's cotton viscose, yes I split it lengthwise to get one thin strand to knit together with - well - yes of course - yet again the alpaca..) - and was ready to start Clapotis III:

Shhh - don't tell her, this is going to be a christmas present for my mom:...



No, she doesn't read my blog!

Once i took a personality test that showed that I was great on multi-tasking. Well. I don't know. I guess I am really great on getting all excited and starting new projects. Especially knitting projects. And some of the time I am somewhat great on finishing them. Or almost finishing them. Like the intended green alpaca-shawl I mentioned a couple of posts ago. It's almost done, meaning half-fringed. But has now been hanging for a week by the entrance door just to remind me of the little something I need to do in order to file it as a FO - or better - start using it! That was sort of the reason for knitting it! Here it's hanging in it's half-fringed glory, on the balcony to get some day-light. For the photographing:

I also finished this little wrist-warmer, alpaca, 2,5 mm needles, took me forever...:



My older daughter picked the yarn, the beads and the pattern. They are for her. She really wanted a pair of wrist warmers. But trying this one on she proclaims: TOO SCRATCHY!! I should have known. She is a true princess on the pea. But she loves it and says she wants to use it as a bag for her mobile phone! Yess! That means I don't have to make another one and I guess it therefore also qualifies as one more FO! If I get around to seam one of the ends...

And on we go; The somewhat sad status of the frog-exposed Splendour:



Good news is that I feel the motivation for picking this one up again is slowly growing!

Just a little here and a little there, knitting and finishing... Christmas is 4 weeks and 2 days away. There are a few gifts I have started....To be continued.

One big brown bulky knit is done! A fun, quick and very rewarding knit - such a great and shapey design:

(It IS really sunny today -after days with extreme rainstorm!)
I am indeed very pleased with how it turned out - and I love the details - the buttons - the little KH-tag - the edgings..and the extremely soft wool!

details:
yarn: Rowan's Big Wool, shade 023 "Camouflage"
needles: 10 mm (for the sleeve-ribbing and the waist) and 12 mm, circular
pattern source: This kit!
and the designer: Thank you,

- for making such great designs!

I'm ready to go!:

Woohoo - into the sun! - for as long as it lasts...

Tari tagged me with this meme which I just couldn't resist to do. A knitting meme in a knitting blog - that's the thing!

What is your all time favorite yarn to knit with?

I don't have only ONE. Rowan has a lot of wonderful yarns. Kidsilk Haze - I'm a big fan. Kid Classic, Yorkshire Tweed Aran, Felted Tweed. Wonderful yarns. Then there is Du store alpakka. I keep returning to their fingering/sport weight yarn - I love the feel and quality of alpaca and all the colors it comes in. And their Baby Alpaca Silk is lovely. And the Noro yarns - so magically beautiful that I even can accept the shedding from some of them (as kochoran...)

Your favorite needles?

That really depends on what yarn I am using. I usecircular needles nearly always. Hardly ever straight ones - only DP when called for. For Noro Silk Garden I love using bamboo needles - truly "natural" knitting! And Addi Turbos are really great for some yarns and sure speed up my knitting - they're perfect for Rowan Kid Classic!

The worst thing you ever knit?

A fair-isle pastel mohair sweater-attempt in the 80s. Fair-isle. Pastel. Mohair. 80s. Explosive combo. It's still an UFO somewhere in the attic. Maybe. It haunted me for years - kept turning up every time we moved. When I come to think about in now - I guess in the end I hid it so well that I don't know where it is anymore. Maybe I gave it away. Hopefully to someone with froggy fingers...

Your most favorite knit pattern? (the most fun to knit)

I think Birch and also the Debbie Bliss scooped neck cardigan (the one on the cover). I so far made 2 of
it - one modified version for my younger daughter which turned out very well, I think:

(too dark today to get a picture without flash, this is not quite fair to the beauty of Noro Silk Garden...)

and one version for me:

That one was my first meeting with Noro Silk Garden and I was in love. So I did not pay attention to my gauge - and it turned out too big. I plan on ripping and reknitting it. That pattern is really great, a fun and quick knit! And I really love this colorway so I absolutely want to turn this into something I actually can wear!

Most valuable knitting technique?

Kitchener stitch/grafting. Theresa has a great tutorial here.

Best knit book or magazine?

Best magazine: Interweave Knits. Best book: the TWO books I found most inspirational this year: Teva Durham: Loop-d-loop and Francoise Tellier-Loumagne: Mailles (english version: Inspirational Stitches). One great collection of patterns: Rowan's Vintage Style.

Your favorite knit-a-long?

I never participated in any but enjoyed lurking around a lot...I guess I am too much multi-project oriented to dare to comit to one KAL.. But I never know...

Your favorite knit blogs?

Look to the left. In the side bar.

Your favorite knitwear designer?

Kim Hargreaves. And the danes. The danes: Marianne Isager, Hanne Falkenberg, Jytte Slente and Lone Bullinger, take a look at one of her designs!:

I don't think I'd ever have the patience to knit this - but I find it lovely and inspirational to look at! Make sure to have a look at this and this too! Then there are two norwegian knitwear designers I have to mention: Mette Møller and Merete Taule. These are ready-to-wear designs - sooo gorgeous!!

The knit item you wear the most? (how about a picture of it?!)

My two alpaca shawls - knitted 2 winters ago: 

I use them all the time. They are knitted on 10 mm needles with one strand of bulky alpaca and one strand of sport/fingering weight alpaca. So warm and soft. I also have a green one in stash and mind and almost on the needles...

In progress:

A quite quick and delightful knit, here we are, finished and a little steam-blocked:

The kimono is knitted in one piece. When I had knitted it all up I discovered that the sleeves were rather  short. So I had two options; rip almost 1/3 of the whole kimono or work out some other way to add a bit of length. I went for a bit of length - picked up and knitted 4 cm moss stitch. Not perfect - as I think the original design with the simple sleeves is just the right thing - but it saved me a lot of work...

details:

yarn: baansull merinoull/alpaca, double stranded - used aprox. 120 g, size 1/2 yr.
needles: 3 mm circular
pattern source: interweave knits summer 05
model: baby kimono, designed by Kristin Spurkland
modifications: picked up stitches and knit 4 cm moss stitch for extra sleevelength.