Gruuusomt varmt!

I dag er jeg helt matt.
40 grader celcius i skyggen!
Var ute i 10 minutter for å stikke noen nye planter ned i jorda,
har konfirmasjon på søndag.
Jeg svetter så det siler.
Salte dråper inn i øynene så det svir...
Sommeren er kommet,
og de melder samme været hele neste uke også!


Nei takke meg til sist helg i Marble Falls.
Jeg reiste avgårde for å treffe 4 venninner
klokka seks om morgenen, 18 mai .
Tre timers kjøretur, men vel verd det.


Vi treffes hvert år her ved denne innsjøen,
min venninne Sue eier en leilighet og båt der.




Dette er et sted hvor de med mer penger enn de fleste,
har et "second home" (hytte..)


eller Lake House, som de kaller det.


Vi pleier kruse litt rundt og sjekke ut nye hus,


bade litt, spise god mat,
sladre om alt som har hendt siden sist gang vi møttes,
og ellers bare kose oss...
Jeg er den eneste i den gjengen som drar med meg strikketøyet,
de har vennet seg til det etter hvert.



Vi bor alle i forskjellige byer,

men jobbet en gang i samme butikk.

Darby fikk være med også!


Last weekend a group of my friends and I
met at Marble Falls,
west of Austin Texas.
We meet every year
the week end after mothersday.
It's a great traditon,
that I hope we can keep doing
for years to come.

17nde Mai

The Norwegian Independence Day.


We celebrated the day at
the Norwegian Seamen's Church in Houston.


This year there was a lot of people celebrating,
Most Norwegians or people of Norwegian heritage,
also other Scandinavians.


It was a great day,
not as hot as it normally gets here this time of the year,
and we also got what they called "liquid sun",
small rain showers. Refreshing!


I always have a hard time when the brass band play
"Ja vi elsker,"
our national hymn.
My thoughts goes to family in Norway.


The local Police Force was helping out with traffic.

I got an award..

Thank you Trollmor for thinking of me!
I believe I am supposed to give it to 4 creative blogger friends,
and a few comes to my mind right away,
even though the list could go on and on and on and.....


1. The first one Celeste, at La Rea Rose.
She is a dear friend from when I lived in Dallas.
A great decorative painter,
who also has been especially invited
to paint Christmas decor for the White House, twice!

2. An other friends through several years is Ebba.
Past years she has been working with ceramic and painting.
Now her heart is set on designing jewelery,
and I love her style.

3. Harpa. A girl from Island, with an eye for beauty.
I don't know her personally,
but she makes the most fantastic felted and embroidered hats!
And she lives at this gorgeous place on the beach,
like in a fairytale.

4. Gawo. A biker and hiker, who with her nature pictures,
let you take part in her travels
and bring you to the most beautiful places.
Go to her blog, and you too will see what I mean.

My first Kit

It's available on Etsy from today.


For Scandinavian buyers,
contact Projo for information.

Isrosa/The Ice Rose

Sommeren nærmer seg med raske skritt.
Air condition anlegget surrer dag og natt,
og et nytt vottemønster har blitt til i godstolen.


Dette er blitt døpt Isrosa,
og blir mitt første mønster som blir solgt som Kit,
mønster og garn i ett.
Disse blir kun lagt ut til salg i USA og Canada,
men Projo Produkter vil ha noen av mine vottemønster
pakket i Kit's, om ikke alt for lenge.
Isrosa kan forøvrig kjøpes som mønster på Etsy,
enten på engelsk eller norsk.


Dette med Kit's er nytt og spennende for meg.
Jeg har tenkt på det mange ganger,
men aldri tatt skrittet fullt ut.
Nå har jeg en avtale med garn produsent,
og det gjør ting lettere.
Jeg har som vanlig brukt Cascade 220 wool,
det har blitt min favoritt etter hvert,
spesiellt siden norsk kvalitetsgarn er for langt unna.
Håper noen av dere finner veien til Projo etterhvert.


This pattern will be available on Etsy as of today,
but also as a Kit, same place,
containing pattern and yarn in near future.
It is called The Ice Rose,
the rose is blue on a snow white background.

Mothers day today!

I happen to be alone this morning,
everybody else gone...
Sleepover, out of town business...
So, - no breakfast in bed this mothers day.
Oh, it's a mess anyway!


I got this beautiful bouquet
delivered at my doorstep last night,
thank you , thank you,
I love them!!

It's a day where I think of my own mother.
We children used to make her breakfast in bed.
A couple of slices of bread with jam,
a cup of coffee
(our father would help!),
balancing it upstairs to her bed,
and she would pretend as if she was sleeping.
We crawled in with her,
and helped her finishing the food..
Sometimes I really wish I could go back in time,
just for a little bit...

90 years old

She is not here anymore,
but I sure do have a lot of great memories!
She taught me all about knitting,
and knit was about the last thing we did together.
Me knitting by her hospital bed,
she admiring the colors.

Happy Mothers Day
to all you mothers out there!

Den fyrste song eg høyra fekk,
var mor sin song ved vogga,
dei mjuke ord til hjarta gjekk,
dei kunne gråten stogga.

Dei sulla meg så underleg,
så stilt og mjukt te sova,
dei synte meg ein fager veg
opp frå vår vesle stova.

Den vegen ser eg enno tidt,
når eg fær auga kvila,
der stend ein engel, smilar blidt,
som berre ei kan smila.

Og når eg sliten trøytnar av
i strid mot alt som veilar,
eg høyrer stilt frå mor si grav
den song som allting heilar.

Knitted animals

Horse

Still knitting on the fishes (below - boring!),
I try to make room for more fun projects also.


The horse is done,
leaving for Norway
to live with my youngest grandson
in a few days.


It was a really fun project!
I used a thin wool yarn,
but almost any leftover yarn will do.


For the horse blanket I used more leftover yarn,
and the saddle is made with brown felt.


The size of the horse laying down
is about 11 x 10 inches (28 x 25 cm).
The pattern can be found in the book Dream Toys,
and can be bought here.


Denne hesten er helt herlig.
Strikket i babyull,
og stoppet med polyester fyll.
Her kan fantasien få fritt utløp.
Salen er sydd i filt.

Kittens
This week I also made a couple of kittens,
and this litter will most definitely grow.


I thought they came out really cute.
Great little present for a new baby.


Strikket også disse kattungene denne uka,
og de har fått lovende kritikk fra ungdommen i huset.
Hun knabbet den ene,
så jeg får vel strikke et par ekstra....
Mønster her.


Have fun, and enjoy the spring weather!

Mindless knitting

My fish are being worked on.
I am having house guests, girlfriends,
for a couple of weeks,
and needed a mindless knitting project
so that it wouldn't interfere with our chatting!


We have to catch up with everything,
since we haven't seen each other for a long time..

Weekend trip to Colorado

What a beautiful place!
Cold crisp air, blue sky, gorgeous nature.

We stayed in Golden,
a smaller town on the out skirts of Denver.
On our evening walk I captured some great pictures...


Outside Golden,
we visited a fantastic rock formation,
Red Rocks.


Having a geologist for a husband,
I got some good info about how these rocks were formed,
the sight was breath taking,
I have never seen anything like this...


One of the days we went to Estes Park,


and to the National Park near by.
And we found snow!! Jippi!!


See who we bumped into right in the small town center.
A large herd of Elk.


Next day we visited another small town
called Central City.


Driving there we had this fantastic view
of the Rocky Mountains. Beautiful!

We where told that Central City
is where the "Gold rush" started.
Now it is a town full of casino's and gamblers.


We went for a stroll,
and I have to admit
that I got the "ghost town feeling"..


It was sad to see all these pretty old houses,
I'm sure with bucket loads of history,
all with little shop front,
and all empty!


They where screaming for retail business.

I wish we had a little more time for exploring,
here was a lot of very interesting details!
I tried to imagine these streets 100 - 150 years ago,
it was like going back in time...


Vi hadde en fin tur til Colorado denne helga,
nydelig natur og masse frisk luft!

"Cute as a boot"

I have made many, many,
of these baby booties,
and finally got the pattern written down.
It was by requests from several other knitters.


The pattern is available
in both Norwegian and English.

The booties are knitted in garter stitch and felted.
It has a small crochet button for closing,
and fit a newborn.


Jeg har strikket mange av disse,
og garnet jeg har brukt er PT2.
Endelig har jeg fått skrevet ned
mønsteret,
etter at flere har spurt etter det.

"Midnight Sun"

With warm reds and yellow,
these mittens got a good Nordic name.


It is my newest mitten pattern,
and I hope to be able to offer
yarn + pattern in "kits" in the near future.


For right now,
pattern can be ordered here.

Har inngått en avtale med Projo,
en norsk net butikk.
De vil om ikke så alt for lenge
kunne tilby mine votte mønster + garn,
på det nordiske markedet.

On the needles today

I am knitting this horse for my grandchild.
They will be moving to,
and living at this beautiful farm this summer,
located in the heart of Norway.


The farm is boarding several horses,
and they will be breeding Friesien horses.


The book is called "Dream Toys" and you can get it here.


The book contains several knitted toys,
and for the girls,
the horse can be made as a unicorn.
Very cute, I totally love the legs...

Helene - Rosa

i en sterkere farge variant.


The mitten pattern is altered just a little,
and can be found here.

Two Norwegian "blogger" friends..

Muffin and Berit,
gave me this award:


Thank so very much!!
There are so many gorgeous blogs out there,
and I think they all have purpose.
Its a great way to communicate world wide!

..for better for worse..

Two beautiful souls,
hand in hand,
together into the future...



My little girl,
now grown and married..


..to the love of her life!


Best wishes for a long life together!

Hei hopp og hurra for brudeparet!!

Mormor sin golle klump...

My youngest grandchild visited for Easter.
He is just a lump of joy,
but living so far apart we don't get to see him to often..!

I did however get to have him
a whole, long evening to myself,


as I was babysitting.

On the beach in Florida

We celebrated the wedding of one of my daughters
in Forth Walton Beach,
a small town in the panhandle of Florida.


The beach right outside the window,
the temperature great,
not to warm, not to cold.

A walk on the fantastic white sand,
white as snow..


I met these pelicans,
one of them giving me the "evil" eye...
Click on the picture below,
he is watching me...


Maybe I got a little to close,
because he decided to head for the fishing pier.


I can never pass up the shells.
Great colors...
Different shapes.

Busy...

I have been busy lately,

preparing for my daughters wedding next weekend.

Lot of friends and family are coming,
many of them all the way from Norway.

They got engaged last summer at Prekestolen(under).

It's been a while

...but I am still here!
I had a request for a smaller pattern,
based on the "Helene" pattern.


It is now done,

and the pattern can be bought here,
the pieces seperate from each other.


It will fit a 3-4 year old,
and this time I knitted using Rauma 3 tr. strikkegarn.
If they don't sell this yarn in your local store,
you can buy it here.


Endelig har jeg fått fullført en mindre utgave
av dame mønsteret Helene.
Jeg ble spurt lenge før jul,
lovte det,
la det i glemme boksen.


Denne luen har fått et par fletter på toppen..
Men den også være fin uten.

Imagine...

This guy is only 17 years old,
and my favorite singer
in the American Idol contest...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ovborwDaooQ

Spring, spring, spring...

The temperatures are great,
birds are chipping away in the morning hours,
and new growths are popping up everywhere in the garden.

Working on a great sock pattern called Slippery,
by Olivia M., from knitty.com

How can I hold back,
fighting the temptation to run to the nursery for more flowers,
when I know we could still experience night frost..

This beautiful blue Lobelia is still enjoying the cooler weather,
but will not survive the summer

I love this time of the year,
it is so full of expectations,
nature is coming back to life...
Oh, and I saw the first Hummingbird a couple of days ago.
The feeders are up,
welcoming their return!

Strikker på et par sokker,
tynnt garn, tynne pinner,
seint går det, men kjekkt mønster.
"Slippery" fra knitty.com

One can take the girl out of Egersund, but not Egersund out of the girl

Thats my husbands words,
and I guess he is right.


I had this urge to make mittens,
capturing elements from my home town.

I called the pattern
"OKKA BY",
its the nick name for the town,
and translates to "Our Town"..
It`s a long story....

...and Egersund is a small town
on the coast of Norway,
where the main income has been the fish industry.
It still has the charm of a really small town,
where most people know each other,
for better and worse...


A mitten has limited space -,
but I got the old Church`s tower,
some small white houses,
and an old bridge
with the ducks swimming underneath.


Boats, seagulls,
and on the back side,
fish, fishnet,
and a crab..

I had fun,
and longed home a little....


De jo måtte bare komme,
vottene fra Okka By, made in junaiten..
De har ligget og ulmet i underbevistheten en stund...
Sender nok en del tanker den veien kan en si..

Nostalgic vignettes

One of my very best friends,
whom I miss very much spending time with,
sent me some pictures from her kitchen.
I would love to have a cup of coffee,
homemade waffles


(have to mention that her husband is a waffle expert!!)
and a chat.
One of those long chats,
where you forget time and place,
laughing about stupid things we did together,
remembering school friends,
tenting on the beach,
talking about kids, and now also grand-kids..


She must be one of the most creative persons I know,
and I have known her almost all my life.
As teenagers we went to school together,
and we already then had all kind of plans
about opening a sewing room,
and offering interior consultations.


It never happened..
Family life hit us both at a young age,
and now we are living on two different continents.
However,


I know that cup of coffee
will be ready any time ....

Litt nostalgi på morgenkvisten.
Gode venner er godt å ha,
gode minner er viktige å ta vare på...

I have several of these

These are old Norwegian week magazines from 1939 -46 -47,
a time when Norway was occupied by the Germans,
it was World War II.

They where my mothers,
and given to me many years ago.
She was about to throw them out,
and I am really glad she didn't.
They have some really interesting stories
about how to manage with little,
sometimes nothing..

"Vi selv og våre hjem"

Jeg har mange av disse,
de er kaldt Vi selv og våre hjem.
Kan det være opphavet til Hjemmet kanskje?
Noen som vet?
Det eldste er fra 1939,
resten er fra krigstiden.

Fremsiden på disse bladene er rene kunstverk!


De har forskjellige artikler,
og de fleste har et par strikke oppskrifter
mot slutten av bladet.

Votte mønster!