New knitting bag and new friends

Did I show you my knew knitting bag? No, I didn’t did I. Well here it is. Besides being made with gorgeous fabrics bought at my favourite fabric store in Barcelona (I’ll tell you about the fabric store in a later blog post), what makes it special is that it was a gift from my new friend Alicia behind the blog Ganxetades. She’s a blog friend that I met this summer while visiting BCN. This is the second time I meet someone in real life that I have first known through Blogland. And I must say, I feel lucky to get to know so lovely people through this place.

Did you see the beautiful detail on the shoulder strap? I love details like that. Small quirky details on simple designs.

We spent an afternoon together in Barcelona where she showed me a beautiful yarn shop, introduced me to more nice Spanish knitters and took me to my dream fabric store.

Now go and take a look at all the beautiful things she makes. After that come back in a day or two to see the beautiful yarn shop she showed me.

Have a nice week!

Good bye summer, hello fall

Welcome back back after a long summer break and renewal of energy. Since last, I’ve knitted (of course), bathed, eaten ice cream, spent time with old friends, met new friends, had a few GT’s, enjoyed the sun and turned 40. Yes, I am finally 40! And so far it is working out fine.

My once a upon gospel choir- and high school friend Anja gave me this beautiful lithography for my birthday. She is a talented, beautiful, generous and inspiring soul. Not afraid to live life and not afraid to be who she is …or perhaps her true bravery, is to be who you are despite of being afraid. Well, that’s her.

If you live near the Oslo area, I recommend visiting the art gallery she founded in 2008 “Pikene ved broen”, to see some of the beautiful art she makes and the beautiful work by other talented artists.

Before I begin to share my knits and photos with you this fall I would just like to say welcome back and “Drink your tea with tenderness”.

pink ants

I had big lunch & coffee latte plans today together with my friend T. Unfortunately her son might have gotten the chicken pocks and they are waiting for an appointment with the doctor to get it confirmed. Instead of fun girl time over an aubergine salad and warm coffee I’ll have fun girl time together with you while I post a photo of another napkin that I made. This one is for Astrid’s third cousin Iris who lives in Oviedo, a beautiful city in the region Asturias in northern Spain.

Since I’m staying at home I should be cleaning what will be Astrid’s room (still my office and craft room). But it is raining outside…and I just feel like baking chocolate buns and sew.

and the winner is...

Thank you so much everyone for stopping by and celebrating my second blog anniversary together with me! It was fun finding out where everyone is reading and writing from and especially fun to know how you found and when you began reading my blog (for those of you who shared that).

Looking forward to share more time and projects together with you but first:

Mr. Yonder helped me pull out a name from the hat (actually it was a salad bowl) and the name on the note that got picked was Di. Congratulations Di!!! Give me you address (through flickr mail) and I will send you your goodies.

two years in Yonder

It is celebration time in Yonder! Together with you I have reached the two year anniversary of this blog, and I am so happy that I began writing two years ago. It has been such fun to get to know everyone through this internet based world. You have been there with me through my crafting endeavours, giving me compliments when you liked what you saw, encouragement when I lost faith in a project, and good advice when I got stuck. Thank you!

I’m celebrating by baking cookies and doing my first give away. Sign up for the give away by leaving a comment on the post I wrote on Tuesday the 21st and let me know where you’re writing from. If you win you will get this French book about softies that I used to make the blankie bear (you can see another photo from the book here).

In addition you will get this softie kit from Tilda, which comes with everything you need to make this beautiful vintage angel.

Swap'arama

It’s been “swap’arama” here lately and today another beautiful package arrived, this time from a Danish friend. I knew about one of the fabrics that were in the parcel since that fabric was and is the whole reason for why the swap was initiated in the first place. But, in addition Marie-Louise also sent some other beautiful details like the blue button that I am absolutely completely and utterly in love with. Together with the blue trim it is a perfect match with that fabric.

I have also fallen in love with the cherry and flower fabric that I have never seen before, it looks so delicate. The apple trim is brilliant for a project I have had in mind since I bought this fabric, and the red roosters I am planning to use together with other red fabrics for a quilt to Astrid sometime hopefully soon. Another happy day in Yonder.

Necessity is the mother of creation

A couple of weeks ago Marie-Louise suggested a small fabric, trim and button swap. She did this because she had noticed that there was a certain fabric I had fallen in love with (ehem... I just went back to find the link to the fabric and I'm embarrased *blushing* for how many times I have made comments on it...), and she had some of this fabric to give away. Anyhow, as I was putting together fabrics and combining trims and biased tape I realized that I don’t have any cool buttons. I only have a few buttons that has been given to me on earlier swaps (and which I don't want to part with), but no big box, glass or jar with buttons to combine with fabrics for giveaways. Now I couldn’t send off the fabrics without any button. Instead I decided to make my very first embroidered button thinking (and hoping) that one handmade button would equal several bought non-embroidered buttons.

To make it a bit more interesting I took an extra look at the main fabric I had prepared for the swap and sucked in inspiration from it before I drew my first embroidery design. Nothing fancy, just a plain and simple design to go with the fabric. For someone that has always dreamt of being able to draw (but never found the talent) this was a big step. Usually I am always looking for images that can be used for embroidery, whether it is in magazines, newspapers, milk cartons, adds or pattern books, to make up for my lack of talent in drawing. This time I drew one myself. Necessity is the mother of creation.

Coffee mug for my glasses

Look what I got in my mail box! Actually it arrived last week and has been waiting for me to take photos and write a few lines bout it. It came all the way from Canada and the very talented Laurraine. She has been keeping this coffee cup mug reserved for me for oh what…a year an a half. She is a very nice and patient crafter. I fell in love with it first time I saw it, and I was so happy when I could finally wrap off the paper and actually touch it. It is even more beautiful in life than on photos. Perfect for my glasses. I also got these super cute fabrics and lots of tiny tiny buttons. My favourite are these adorable fish buttons. Thank you so much Laurraine!

Christmas Craft Weekend

This is the last weekend I’m home before I leave for my mom’s house to celebrate Christmas. I’m planning on spending the days making gifts to my nephews, nieces and the children of some good friends. My living room looks like a mess with fabrics stashed in bundles here and there and my table covered with thread spools, buttons, trims, a rotary cutter and scissors.

I have already made placemats for two super cute girls (they don’t know about the blog so the surprise is not spoiled). Now there are four more to go before I can pack up the sewing machine and clean the table. Hopefully by the end of the weekend I have completed this years home made gifts.

I share with you this wonderful snow man that our neighbourhood kids made a couple of days ago.

Have a great weekend everyone!

A Lavender Thank You

In my last post I said I had some loose ends still to be tied but that they might be fun to do. I was thinking about the “pay it forward” crafty exchange. Last October I promised to send a home made goodie within 365 days to the first three people leaving a comment on the post. I should of course never have committed to a time limit since I’m hopeless at keeping deadlines. The 365 days came and went. But I will keep my promise of sending a home made goodie together with the saying “better late than never”. These small Thanks giving houses filled with jersey lavender are about to be packed and sent on there way. Thank you for waiting!

Finally finished & back again

After a long unplanned blog break I’m back to blog land.

Before I continue I would like to say a big THANK YOU (!!!) to everyone who has written to me during these nine months, either to ask me how I’m doing or to tell me that they miss me. All the mails and comments have been highly appreciated. It felt good to know that you thought about me and cared enough to write some lines. Your words gave me positive energy in an otherwise tough time and it motivated me to come back… although it has taken some time; now I’m here.

In February I found out I was pregnant; the week after, I found out that my employer wasn’t going to prolong my contract…I was without a job. The following days and worries took away all my energy. I needed to use all my time in finding a new job before my belly became too obvious.

Fortunately nothing is as bad as not being good for something. The situation gave me the opportunity to experience, and be reminded of how many good friends I have and how they are there for me when most needed. A former co-worker talked with his boss and after a week and a half I got a job interview. A couple of months later I had a new job. The best part was that my new employer new I was pregnant and still wanted to hire me.

Here in Norway we have nine months of 100% paid maternity leave (or 12 months with 80% paid maternity leave). The only requirement is that you have been working six of the last ten months before the leave starts (it usually starts three weeks prior to the due date). So as you might understand, this made it even more important to find a new job as soon as possible. I am therefore tremendously grateful for my friend that reached out a helping hand.

With the pregnancy end beginning of a new job it took me longer to come back than I thought, but here I am. And the first thing I want to show you is the finished needle book that I’ve made for Laurraine. I am especially in love with this needle book because it has its origin in a flickr-comment Laurraine made on the first needle book I made. She is an angle for being so patient with me, since this is a swap that has been on for more than a year, I hope you like it Laurraine…it’s finally on its way.

Klippeangst - Cutting anxiety

Hei igjen! Håper alle sammen har hatt det fint de siste dagene! Jeg har brukt helgen til å begynne Blue & Bear prosjektet som skal bli en nålebok til Laurraine. Vi har snakket om å gjøre en liten swap i evigheter og nå skal jeg til pers med det hun skal få av meg.

Designet på denne nåleboken er litt annerledes en Tilda-nåleboken jeg laget i fjor. Som første ledd i prosessen har jeg derfor klippet ut mønsteret i plast. Det gjør det enklere dersom jeg vil sy flere nålebøker senere. Neste steg i prosessen er å klippe ut stoffbiter. Det gruer jeg meg til. Ikke fordi det er kjedelig (slik som mange andre synes), men fordi det sniker seg en redsel i meg for at jeg klippe feil og ødelegge stoffet. En hobbydame med angst for å klippe i stoff er en dårlig kombinasjon. :-)


Hi again! I hope everyone has had a nice couple of days. I have used the weekend to begin the Blue & Bear project which is going to be a needle book for Laurraine. We have been talking about doing a little swap for ages and finally I will begin to make her swap gift.

The design of this needle book is a bit different from the Tilda needle book I made last year. The first step in the process is therefore to cut a stencil in plastic. This makes it easier in case I want to make more needle books in the future. The next step in the process is to cut the fabric. This part I never look forward to. Not because it is boring (like many other crafters think), but because I always get a sneaky fear that I’m going to cut wrong and destroy the fabric. A crafter with anxiety of cutting fabrics is a bad combination. :-)


Hola de Nuevo! Espero que lo hayáis pasado bien estos últimos días. Este fin de semana he aprovechado para empezar el proyecto “Blue & Bear”. Va a ser una libreta de agujas para Laurraine. Durante mucho tiempo hemos estado hablando de hacer un pequeño swap y por fin hoy voy a empezar a hacer su regalo swap.

El diseño de esta libreta de agujas será un poco diferente a la libreta de Tilda que hice el año pasado. Por eso el primer paso en el proceso es hacer una plantilla en plástico. Eso lo hará más fácil por si decido hacer más libretas de agujas en el futuro. El siguiente paso será cortar la tela que voy a usar. Para mi eso siempre es lo peor. No porque me aburra (como a muchos otros), sino porque siempre me entra el miedo de que vaya a cortar mal y estropear la tela.
Hacer de costurera y tener miedo a cortar telas es una mala combinación. :-)

Endelig bilde - Finally photo

Endelig har jeg fått tid til å ta et bilde av vesken jeg fikk av Diane i dagslys! Er den ikke fin??!?

Finally I have had the time to take a photo in daylight of the purse I received from Diane. Isn't it lovely??!?

Por fin he tenido tiempo de hacer una con luz natural al bolso que me ragaló Diane. ¿A qué es bonito?

Nytt år - New Year

Velkommen tilbake til Life in Yonder og velkommen til 2008! Håper dere alle har hatt en fin jul og at disse første dagene av året har vært en fin start på 2008. Jeg har så mye å dele med dere at jeg ikke vet hvor jeg skal begynne; de fine overraskelsespakkene jeg fikk like før jul, det nye skjerfet jeg begynte å strikke på like før vi dro til Spania, de hyggelige jentene i Barcelona Knits, 2 garnbutikker i Barcelona, en super te butikk, herlig tradisjonell katalansk og spansk mat, de deilige muffinsene fra bakeriet ”180 grader” eller et nytt baby quilt jeg har begynt å jobbe med. Jeg må derfor forsøke å dele det over flere poster slik at jeg klarer å få med alt uten at det blir et tre kilometer langt blogginnlegg.

Jeg tror jeg begynner med overraskelsespakkene jeg fikk like før jeg dro på juleferie. Diana sendte meg ”Pay it forward” gaven min; en strikket og tovet veske i nydelig grått og rødt. Sammen med vesken lå et kjempekoselig kort. Tusen takk Diane! Gleder meg til å bruke den så snart våren kommer. Jeg har dessverre ikke fått tatt bilde av den men jeg skal vise dere vesken så snart jeg har fått tatt bilde i dagslys. Jeg fikk også en annen overraskelsespakke før jul. Nora sendte meg disse deilige og myke ullstoffene. Jeg er spesielt takknemmelig for jeg vet hvor travelt hun hadde det med å organisere bryllupet sitt (hun giftet seg 5. januar) og likevel fant hun tid til å springe på postkontoret. Tusen takk Nora!

Welcome back to Life in Yonder and welcome to 2008! I hope everyone has had a nice Christmas and that the first days of the year have been a good start to 2008. I have so many things to share with you that I don’t know where to start; the nice surprise packages I received right before Christmas, the new scarf I began before we went to Spain, the nice girls from “Barcelona Knits”, 2 yarn shops, a super tea shop, lovely traditional Catalan and Spanish food, the lovely muffins from the bakery “180 degrees”, or a new baby quilt I’ve started to work on. I will have to do it over several post so that I can write about it everything without ending up with a three kilometre long post.

I’ll begin with the surprise packages I received right before we went on Christmas holiday. Diana sent me my “Pay it Forward” surprise; a knitted and felted bag in lovely deep grey and red. Together with the bag was a lovely card. Thank you so much Diane! I look forward to using it this spring. Unfortunately I don’t have a photo to show you yet but I’ll post one as soon as I can take on in day light. I received another nice surprise as well. Nora sent me these lovely and soft wool fabrics. She got married the 5th of January and even so she found time to run to the post office. I am so grateful. Thank you Nora!

¡Bienvenidos otra vez a Life in Yonder y bienvenidos a 2008! Espero que hayáis tenido unas buenas navidades y que los primeros días del año hayan sido una buena manera de empezar el 2008. Tengo tantas cosas que compartir con vosotros que no se por donde empezar; con los paquetes de sorpresa que me llegaron antes de Navidad, la nueva bufanda que empecé antes de irnos a España, las chicas simpáticas de “Barcelona Knits”, las dos tiendas de lana, una tienda de té fenomenal, comida tradicional catalana y castellana, las riquísimas magdalenas de la pastelería “180 grados”, o la nueva mantita de bebe tipo quilt que he empezado. Para que no acabe siendo un post de tres kilómetros pienso repartir todo escribiendo varios posts.

Empezaré con los paquetes sorpresa que recibí justo antes de irnos de vacaciones en Navidad. Diane me envió mi sorpresa de “Pay it forward”; un bolso tejido y de fieltro en rayas grises y rojas. Un gris y rojo precioso. También me envió una postal preciosa. ¡Gracias Diane! Desafortunadamente no tengo foto para enseñaros pero pondré una en cuanto pueda hacerla con luz natural. También recibí un paquete sorpresa más. Nora me envió unas telas de lana muy suave. Ella se casó el día 5 de Enero y aun y así encontró tiempo para ir a correos y enviarme estas preciosidades. Estoy muy agradecida. ¡Gracias Nora!