What a gorgeous day!

We have spent the entire day outside,
swimming, knitting, snacking...


Check out our Serrano peppers!


And the tomatoes!

I am working on several things at the moment.


This shawl has followed me on my recent trip,
brainless knitting..


I made one earlier (see here) in rust colors.
But for myself I think I might prefer these blue shades.



The yarn is from Knit Picks,
and the pattern from Drops.


Its blooming in my yard.
Plants that can take the heat,
and not a lot of water!

I am also working on a new pattern.


Still struggling a little with shape and color,
but not really in a hurry to hit the finish line.


The squirrel is watching me from the roof top..

I am back!

...after two great weeks in my beloved Norway!


I got to see children and grandchildren,


and I got to enjoy our National Day,
the 17. of May.
This year celebrated in Norway,
12 years since last time..


The mountains had snow,
the apple trees where blooming,
and the weather was nice.


At the local museum,
"De Heibergske Samlinger".
I found this gorgeous, old, knitted jacket,
in their collection.


These old handmade and embroidered baby hats
were used for Christening.




Walking outside,
the museum has collected
about 40 antiquarian buildings from the Middle Ages.



Many of these with original furniture.


I highly recommend anyone traveling in the area
to visit the museum!
And bring your family too..!

Da har jeg hatt 2 herlige uker i Norge.
Epletrærne var i full blomst,
og kontrasten mellom blomstring og snedekte fjell
var et fantastisk syn.


Løvetannen var også i full blomst,
og selv om den er hatet av mange,
så er den bare vakker,
det synes nå i allefall jeg!

My treasured heirloom

A few years ago,
my dear aunt gave me this jacket,
a very, very special heirloom.
Only having boys of her own,
she wanted me to have it.
I cherish it with all my heart,
even more now,
as she is not around anymore.


It was hand-knitted by herself,
it is absolutely beautiful,
and it is in a perfect condition.


At first, I thought part of it looked like it was wowen,
but after a closer look,
I believe it is a very tight knitted Moss Stitch.
This shows better on the inside
than on the outside of the jacket.


Looking at the inside,
I noticed a couple of things.
The edges are not cut,
so the pieces has been knitted "back and forward",
witch make it a bit harder when you knit Fair Island.


I can only see very few wrapped floats on the back side,
but the stitches are still very even.


The jacket has pewter hooks for closing,
very typical and also used a lot with the Scandinavian kofte,
and sweaters.


She had kept it in a box for many years,
and I will estimate the jacket to be about 65 years old.


I have used it for special occasions,
but living in the Texas heat,
it only see the daylight every know and then...

Denne nydelige jakken ble gitt til meg for noen år siden.
Min kjøre tante Astri strikket den for mange år siden,
antagelig i etterkrigsårene.
Jeg setter umåtelig stor pris på den,
spesiellt nå når hun ikke er her lengre.
Som bunadene våre,
så blir den ikke brukt så mye som den fortjener,
ikke her i Texas varmen,
men jeg liker å ta den frem og se på den av og til...

Stine`s jacket

Just put together yesterday,
with buttons and all..


It has been sitting unfinished for a while,
because I noticed that part of the jacket
was knitted with yarn in a wrong dye lot.
It really aggravated me to the point
where I just let it sit in the basket...


However,
I have decided to leave it as it is,
since unless it`s pointed out to you,
you can`t really see the difference.


For this one I used
Debbie Bliss`s "baby cash merino"
and US 2 needles (3 mm).
The pattern is my own
and does not exist on paper.


Endelig er denne baby jakken ferdig.
Den ble slengt tilsides
da jeg oppdaget at deler av den
var strikket med samme garn,
men feil fargenummer.
Det var så ergerlig,
og jeg ser ikke syn på å strikke den om igjen.
Vanligvis pleier jeg å rekke opp igjen
når jeg har gjort en feil,
for selv om det er lite synlig,
så vet jeg om det,
og klarer å ergre meg over det...

Barnedåp

Vårt 4de barnebarn ble døpt denne helgen,
-langt borte fra Norge...

Siden moren hadde på seg sin nydelige nordlandsbunad,
ble amming vanskelig å gjennomføre.


Men gulle jenta koste seg godt med flasken heldigvis..

Siden flere har kommentert dåpskjolen,
vil jeg bare legge til at den er sydd av min kjære eldre søster,
kort tid før hun døde av kreft.


Kjolen tilhører hennes datter,
og er så langt brukt av 15 barn innen vår familie.
Alle har sine navn og sin dåpsdato
påbrodert med hvitt.
Så langt er 3 forskjellige mor og barn døpt i samme kjolen,
og vi er veldig takknemlige for
at alle har vært forsiktige med den,
og at vi får forsatt får lov til å låne den.

My 4th grandbaby was Christened last Sunday,
and the Christening gown was made by my very dear,
deceased older sister,
for her children.
So far 15 children have used it,
all in our family,
and they have their names embroidered in white,
along the lower edge of the dress.

A beautiful gift....

...from a good friend!
She design and make some gorgeous jewelry.


Tusen takk, Ebba!


The bracelet is called "Tett knyttet"
and I love it!
Thank you so very, very much!

Check out Ebba's blog, here.

Ny genser til mormor sin gullegutt!

Begynnte på denne i helga,


og den skal over dammen til gulle gutten!


Den er strikket i Cascade,
men ikke 220 wool,
som jeg bruker til vottene mine.
Dette garnet er kaldt Cascade Soft Spun,
og ligner kanskje litt på Lopi,
men er mykere.


Oppskriften er fra boka
"the Big Sven Sveater People size".
Skrevet av Scandinavere i USA,
og utrolig artigt å lese med innslag
av litt norske, svenske og danske ord.


Likte veldig godt hvordan nakke åpningen
ble gjort litt høyere bak
ved å snu og strikke et par ekstra rader.
For som de skrev:
"Mange gensere med rundfelling har et problem med
at de enten henger litt ned bak i nakken,
eller at de gnikker (rub) fremme på Adams eplet."


Fort å strikke, og jeg elsket dette garnet.
Pinne nummer 4 og 4,5 mm.
Størrelse på denne er ca. 2 - 3 år,
men oppskriftene i boka går helt fra liten barnestørrele
og opp til voksen mann.

Mønster kan kjøpes HER

Finished the shawl

..so I can start something new.


Just kidding,
I knitted the shawl in between other stuff.
It was a easy-go-TV-knitting project.


The outside is great these days,
beautiful sunny,
and not to hot.
Perfect for outdoor activities!


Sjalet er snart underveis til Norge.
Det kan bli bedre anvendt der enn her!

Finishing touch!

After knitting a few jackets
from the Elisabeth Zimmerman pattern,
I have decided that the sleeves
always comes out a little on the short side...
I however love the pattern,
an easy and quick knitting project.


This jacket is for my "cold weather grandchild"
and need to be warm around the neck also.


It worked out fine to pick up new stitches
and knit an edge.


Disse E.Z. jakkene
blir alltid litt i det korteste laget på armene,
og litt vide i halsen.
Siden denne skal til Norge,
med litt kaldere temperaturer,
fikk den vrangborder på ermene,
og kant rundt halsen.

...another nice day.

I love it the weather these last days!
Perfect temperature.


Another little creature was also enjoying the sun today,
and since he liked it best right by my chair,
I found it smart to call my brother-in-law
to learn if he was venomous or not.


(I have to admit that I was looking really hard
to see if he had a rattle on the tip of his tail...)

But this one is completely harmless, he said,
and is called a Texas Brown Marsh.
So I guess he can stay!


Here is another little living creature,
who entertained me for a while.
A green Anole,
a male looking for a partner.
See more by clicking
HERE


Denne lille slangen koste seg i solen i dag.
Etter en samtale med min svoger,
fant jeg ut at den var helt ufarlig.
Torde ikke ta sjansen på å få den inn i garnet mitt,
siden her finnes del farlige slanger også.
Denne var ikke tykkere enn lille fingeren.
Tror jeg hadde vært mer skeptisk til en
norsk huggorm, ja.

Color coordinated?

Just a coincident,
or do I maybe prefer some colors over others?


Sitting in my garden knitting,
I realize that I am surrounded
with the same colors
as in my knitting project!


The temperature is great,
more like a "Norwegian" summer day
than a Texan spring day.


God Påske
til dere på andre siden av havet!
Vi kommer oss nok ikke til fjells,
men blir og koser oss her hjemme.

I just have to

share this picture with you!
No comments necessary ..


Mormor si lille gulle jenta!

A challenge!

Two bloggers, Aileen and Anlen
have both given me this challenge,
than you very much!
It work like this:
Pick the 6. picture from folder #6 in your photos,
then challenge 6 of your friends to do the same.
Easy..


This picture is actually from one of the shelves
in my curio cabinet.
I have a lot of memorabilia,
and like to keep it visible,
but still a little out the way.

The young lady in the old frame is my mother,
I believe she was about 20 years old here.
The little doll was given to me by my cousin
when I was about 6 years old.
He used to sail all over the world,
and this doll came from South Africa.
The book "Mine Glans"
I have had from about the same age.

My house is full of old pottery.
I love the old coffee pot,
and on the old coffee cup you can read "Bestemor",
witch translates to "Grandmother" from Norwegian.

I will not pick anyone specific for the challenge,
but please have fun
and challenge yourself if you want to!