as it was

There are 300 unread posts in my feeder, and I feel like I am missimg out on everything that is going on. I don’t want to be out of touch with you.

This is the reason why Im not writing, reading or spending time with you. This is the town house” we bought (or “rekkehus” for my Norwegian readers, which literary means “house in a row”). This is how our new and modest 98 square metres (or 1054 ft² and 124.3 in²) house looked like when we bought it in January

And this is pretty much how it looks like know.

We are tearing down walls, taking down all the electric installations, and shaking up old dust.

And opening up between the hallway, kitchen and livingroom

I am terrified. What have we gotten ourselves into?

a quick hello

I just want to wish everyone a Happy Easter!

I am enjoying mine with an Easter egg filled to its brims with chocolate and marzipan, Norwegian radio drama, yellow daffodils, and British television crime shows at nights.

signs of spring

They might seem like small signs but never the less they are very important signs for a spring hungry Norwegian gal.

By the way, I am still alive. I have had an expected and unavoidable setback with my back/shoulder and am under good treatment. We are also busy preparing for renovating our new house. This weekend we get our keys and can begin the work. Photos shall be shared in the future.

Now I'm on to a very longed for cup of tea and visit to your places to see how you'all are doing and how much spring you have around at your place.

two requests and a pair of baby mittens

Thank you so much everyone for your well wishes, good advice and shared thoughts. It feels special to have so many people care about our well being and share this new adventure with us. Thank you.

Baby mitten made in baby wool for my friend R's daughter

Sarah-Jane and Homebody at Heart have made each their request some blog posts ago. Sarah-Jane would like a neck warmer pattern for grown ups. So I have begun working on one based on her request and perfect for anyone who would likes to be warm around their neck but wants something else than a scarf. I share the pattern once I get happy with the result.

Homebody at Heart has asked me if I could share an apple cake recipe and I can. I just need time to bake it so that I can take photos to accompany the recipe. Cake day will be put on the calendar.



For everyone living in Japan or knowing someone living in Japan, I hope yours ones are doing well. All my Japanese friends and friends living in Japan are good. I love what some artists have come up with this last week to show their thoughts with everyone hit by this tragedy. Check out Gera’s free cross stitch chart “We are with you Japan” and Natascha Rosenberg’s illustration “Hug Japan”.

Wishing everyone a good week!

Ravelry link

many life changes

They are all good changes but right now life is so busy that I don’t know how to relax when I have some time to do so. I keep finding my shoulders tight up under my ears and no matter how many times I roll them around and try to relax they keep up ending under the ears. I need a massage, yoga class and some relaxing acupuncture, all at the same time. Do you know what I mean?

Jacket made in baby wool for my friend R's daughter

The funny thing is that all the busyness is related to changes that we have wanted for some time and that we are very happy to welcome.

As you might now, I have been day dreaming of a house where I can put a food tray for small birds right outside our kitchen window. Well, in January we bought a house! It is a small “town house”, but still a house. With garden. AND garage!

A garage might not mean much to you (depending on where you live) but for most people living in Oslo it means a million in saved time from driving around the streets looking for somewhere to park the car. During winter it means saved back pain from hours of shovelling snow before parking or before driving away to get the car out from where parked.

The last two weeks have been extremely busy  putting our flat for sale, choosing a real estate company, preparing the flat for the property appraiser, the photographer, and then for the flat viewing. Lots of hard work in short time. It all paid off. Two days after the viewing our flat was sold for more than the asking price. Happy, happy, happy!

In the midst of all this I left a job on Friday and began a new one on Tuesday. Today was my second day and I am so very content with the change I have done. Life is great. It was already good, now it is even better.

We get the keys for our new house in the beginning of April. There are several things we need to do with it before moving in (in June) but that I’ll save for another day. Now I’ll go on with my shoulder rolling and yoga.

Happy Thursday!

Ravelry link to jacket

neck warmer for kids

Before Christmas I was busy making gifts and was for the lookout of practical gifts I could knit with one skein and knit fast. I remembered the typical neck warmers that we used to have when I was a kid. They would simply be a neck with a front and back panel to keep your chest and the back of your neck warm. When our coats and winter jackets were closed it looked like we were wearing a sweater with a long neck.

I knitted them for a two and four year old, but the pattern can easily be adjusted for kids of other ages or grown ups by adding 4, 8 or 12 stitches more and adjusting the length of the front and back panel.

The top to bottom knitting was inspired by JCasas Neighborly that I have made on several occasions.



Neck warmer

Sizes
Approximately 2 years and (4 years)

Needles
3.5 mm circulars (US 4) and 4 mm circulars (US 6), (both my circulars were 40 cm long (15.7 in)
Yarn: Drops Merino extra fine

Notions
Stitch marker
Stitch holder or scrap thread

Abbreviations
k – knit
p-purl

Pattern
Cast on 92 (96) stitches on 3.5 mm (US 4) needles. Join the stitches making sure not to twist and place marker to designate the row.
k 2 and p 2 to the end of row
Continue to [k2, p2] until the piece measures 6 cm (2.4 in)
k four rounds.
Switch to 4mm (US 6) needles and k four more rounds.

Bind off 7 (8) stitches after marker, k 39 (40) and place these stitches on a stitch holder or a scrap yarn. These 39 (40) stitches are for the back panel of the neck warmer.

Bind off 7 (8) stitches and k 39 (40). These are the stitches for the front panel of the neck warmer and the ones you will continue to work on now. Turn work so you are looking at the wrong side (purled row). Knit the following rows like this:

From wrong side: k3, p 33 (34), k3
From right side: k 39 (40)

Continue with this until your work measures 12 cm (4.7 in) or your desired length from the point when you divided the work in back and front. k 6 rows and bind off.

Now take the stitches that you put on the stitch holder or scrap yarn (for the back of the neck warmer) and do the same as with the front.

Happy knit!