Gifting money

Those who know me in person, know I don’t like gifting money in a plain envelope. I feel it’s too impersonal and lacks creativity. So when SweetieS started school this last fall and all the parents agreed that we would give money when it came to birthdays, I went on Pintrest to get some ideas.

So far I have “toilet rolled” a few and made “piggy banks”.

- how do you gift money?

Knitting up a storm

Winter is coming, no doubt about that. Yesterday I woke up to a thin white blanket covering the streets infront of my house. Not long until I will be shoveling snow again.

In preparation for winter, the girls need a layer of warm clothes to wear with their overalls. I concluded I would use the Drops “Starshine” pattern and make my own pattern on the yolk. For the pants I started with the pattern for “Power leggings” but didn’t like the shape of the finished pants. So after recommendations from a good colleague, I ended up using “Winter wolf” for all three sets .  I bought Drops Karisma yarn when they had a sale earlier this year. I even made a set for my niece, hope she likes it.

For the waist I followed a youtube video on how to knit an icord.

For my niece I used the colors “dark purple” (uni color 76) for the pattern and “rose” (uni color 80) for the rest. She got two pair of pants as I made that one first with elastics in the waistline. I used 5 skeins of the main color for the sweater and 5 skeins for the pants. for the accents I used 2 skeins.

for my niece….

For SweetieL I used the colors “light denim blue” (uni color 30) for the pattern and “navy blue” (uni color 17) for the rest. When I was almost done , SweetieL requested the waist cord to be in a different color. So she got to choose from some yarns I had in my stash. She was still not happy with the end result until we added the pom poms. On this set I also used 5 skeins of the main color and 1 skein for the accents for a total of 12 skeins of Karisma.

for SweetieL….

And the last set, for SweetieS, I used the colors  “light grey green” (uni color 69) for the pattern and “sea green” (mix 50) for the rest. SweetieS got her set in a bigger size. So for her set I used 6 skeins for the sweater and 5 on the pants in addition to the 2 skeins for the accents.

the picture doesn’t do the color justice…

These would make great Christmas gifts, but the girls need these garments now. Not in a few weeks….so will just have to go shopping for other gifts for Christmas.

Before I forget., Drops is having a sale on all alpaca yarn. 14 different alpaca yarns to choose from and beautiful colors. With 30% discount you can save some $$$. The sale lasts thruout the year, so stock up while you can.

- what are you knitting these days?

- any knitted Christmas presents?

A sunny day

Summer is slowly coming to Oslo, Norway. On this this beautiful sunny day we went for a longer drive and visited a friend DaffyM in Bødalen (Norwegian for boo-valley). Mostly because SweetieL is very intimidated by dogs, and my friend has a cute little jack russell terrier called Bella. We planned a longer visit for SweetieL to warm up to Bella. A few hours later SweetieL isn’t runing after dogs, but she doesn’t run the opposite direction either. So some progress. We might have to give it a few more rounds before SweetieL warms up to dogs…

Part of warming up for our visit, I have been showing SweetieL pictures of Bella. And this picture on the Garnstudio website is a nice picture of a jack. In this pciture there is a very nice coat for dogs. So why not make it for little Bella? well just a few days before our visit I dug out the necessary yarns and started. After making a major mistake (I misread the pattern) I had to almost restart this project. But with a few hours less sleep this weekend I finished in time for our visit…

sweet little Bella

I followed the pattern called “The lookout” by Drops design. I did however make it shorter than the measurements for the medium size. Bella is on the petite side of Jack Russells. I used 3 skeins of Drops karisma In the color Lavendel – 074), I had some left over from a My sister & me project, where I made matching tunicas for the girls. Luckily Bella tested the coat long enough for a snap.

- how have you spent this beautiful day off?

New project in the works

With my best friend Hoaneypoos announcement of a new family addition I have started planning my next knitting project.

 

Something for the new baby perhaps?

I was looking at past baby gifts and came over a dress I had knitted for baby Tilde earlier this year that I see now that I postponed posting about, and than consequently forgot...

 

Well better late than never...

ready for a playdate

This dress is knitted using a Drops pattern called Playmate, you can find it here. I used Drops Merion Extra Fine in the colors 01- natur and 25- rosa (I think it was…)

Off to do some more surfing on patterns…

- what are you knitting on these days?

A trip to the library

A while back my good friend Lexipo told me about the option of lending knitting books at the library. So with this new information at hand I did a little research and found that the Deichman library has a ton! of books on knitting.
There has been a few books I’ve been drooling over, and these where available at the library!
When my friend Cl8 told me she was pregnant with a girl I knew a few patterns I wanted to knit for her little girl. BabyL has more than enough clothes, both inherited from her sister and gifts from family and friends. So I felt knitting clothes for her first months just would disappear in the mountain of clothes. But will be knitting more for her as she grows bigger.
Well my latest two knitting projects are gifts for Cl8 baby girl.
Note: this post was written and put up for a scheduled publish – so Cl8 didn’t see her gifts before she got them, so sorry if the past/present-timing is a little off  
My two gifts are both knitted bodies. One is from the knitting book Myk Start: strikk til babyen (author: May B. Langhelle) and is called Fuglemammas omslagsbody. I love these wrap bodies – and have a ton of these. Great for small babies – when you feel the baby is so small and fragile a warp around body makes dressing those small little bodies so much easier.

a book available at my local library (picture borrowed from Gyldendal)

en fuglemamma

This body is knitted with a yarn I found on Ebay (shocker!) It is a bamboo and cotton blend and SOOO soft. At times the yarn was so soft I had a hard time holding the yarn while knitting. It just melted in my hands…The yarn is in the color 941 – with white as the main color with pink dashes of color. Here is a listing for the same yarn. I used about 2 skeins for this body. I used both heart shaped wood buttons and snap buttons for this body.
The second body is from the newest collection by Drops for babies. Found in the catalog Drops Baby 25. The body is called First impression. The pattern is free at the Garnstudio/Drops website, link to the body here. I made a few personal touches to this body. I used snap buttons instead of the pearl of mother pearls in the pattern. I love the bodies by Lilleba. Especially how their bodies are made to fit two sizes, due to an extra row of buttons. So I thought I would try this on this body. I dropped the knitted edge – mostly because I didn’t like the edge..Lastly I knitted with very broad stripes instead of the thin stripes the pattern suggests.

first impression by Drops (picture borrowed from Drops)

first impression

This body is knitted in Viking Babyull yarn, in the colors 307 – light brown – and 302 – offwhite. Didn’t keep count, but think I used about 1 skein of each color. On this body I also used snap buttons, in baby pink. Bought from this Ebayer.
- have you knitted these bodies?
- do you visit and borrow books at your local library?

For a baby boy

I’ve been trying to be consistent when it comes to gifts for my soon-to-be parents-friends. I think I’ve managed so far…

Well today I meet up with my friend that has just had her third baby. As the first of my friends having a third child I had to go into the think tank and find something fun and creative. I turned to my newly found love, Pintrest for inspiration. It had to be something that I could make/buy while BabyL is sleeping or I can bring her along. I found this cool diaper motorcycle! I just had to give it a try….

Drum roll please…

On top of the motorcycle is Elly the bashful elephant by Jellycat. (the recipient of this motorcycle asked for Elly for her newborn) These stuffed toys are super soft and cuddy. SweetieS loves her bashful lion, while BabyL has a bunny for when she is in need of a cuddly buddy.

Instead of using a baby bottle for the headlights, I used a package of nipples for when her baby starts drinking “velling” (a type of watery porridge – very popular in Sweden) that I know her boys love.

Hope she likes this gift…

- what do you give to your friends when they become parents?

Knitted stroller bag

I’ve been drooling over the stroller bags made by RisaRosa. Who wouldn’t??? But at 3000NOK I couldn’t bring myself to order one.

down bags with cable knit by RisaRosa

But I have been contemplating making my own…after A LOT of planning and surfing the web after tips on how to make a stroller bag, I felt I had a good starting point. With 20 skeins of Lana Grossa yarn called ‘Ragazza Lei’ in a grey color (color code 031) I started my own version of a stroller bag. But as I was starting to finish up I realized that a grey stroller bag wasn't very coordinated with my brown/cream stroller…what was I thinking when I bought grey wool yarn???
With my best friend Hoaneypoo just giving birth to a baby boy, I asked if she wanted the finished bag. And she was super happy with the bag.
I did my bag with a mix of cable knit and moss stitch…
- ever knit a stroller bag?

In a galaxy not so far, far away…

An evening not so long ago I saw one of the Star Wars movies (The Empire Strikes Back for those of you wondering). On one of my surfs around the web I was inspired to do a Star Wars themed baby gift for one of my expecting friends…as the babys father is a huge  Star Wars fan….

Today I got the SMS that their little trooper had arrived…and tonight I finished her gift, a Storm pooper beanie..

In the lack of a small head teddy bear Gunnar had to model the beanie for a picture…

Happy Birthday to baby Isolde!

The beanie was super easy, pattern from Garnstudio here.
The text I put together using a knitting alpha I found online, here.

Poor Gunnar looks a little tired…but not shabby for a 30 year old teddy. He was actually DaddyOs teddy when he was a kid…

- have you combined simple knitting patterns to make a great product?
- have your old teddies survived the wear and tear over the years?

Talk about knitting

As I mentioned in an earlier post….baby blankets for all my friends who have given birth lately. A few have still yet to be given their rightful owners…but I thought I would post these pictures while BabyS was sleeping and I don’t forget…

The pattern	The result
I used my favorite blanket pattern by Pickles http://www.pickles.no/p-veg-helseteppe/ Knitted in Babyull by Viking
I wanted to make a stars and stripes blanket, but couldn’t find a pattern. As I couldn’t decide which color I wanted as the main color I wound up making this one a reversible on, like the one I made for BabyS. Also knitted in Babyull by Viking
I’ve wanted to try out the pattern for Mor Signe blankets – knitted diagonally in stead of strait up… While surfing, I came across this beautiful blanket. Knitted in Ullteppegarn by Gjestal.
And my latest creation, a simple blanket for sweet baby Maja. This is a reinvented version of Garnstudios pattern Bundle of joy. Instead of the blackberry pattern I stayed to plain garter stich (I think it’s called) To make the name part, I found a cool font on my computer, typed up the name and saved it as a picture. I then converted the picture into a pattern with knitPro – this is a super online tool! Makes a pattern from most pictures. Don’t remember who tipped me, but thank you!

Hope the newly made families appreciate the blanket they receive. After making so many blankets the past few months I’m taking a break from my blanket producing days. For some reason I tried out the game Candy Crush Saga and I’m totally hooked!

- have you knitted any blankets lately?
- which model is your favorite?

So off to get me some Candy Crush….

Baby boom

Here at CasaR we are still adapting to our new life. About a week ago BabyS turned 9 months. Time sure flies! With me slowly returning to work and DaddyO gradually staying more at home with BabyS, we are still adapting to new stuff all the time.

Barely over the shockwave caused by BabyS arrival, we are now seeing that all our friends are starting on their second round. Babies are literally popping out of the woodwork, with babies expected left and right. With the upcoming baby boom I’m hoping I have time to craft a gift to each baby.

When my friends were expecting their first child diaper cakes were all the craze. So I made a few for the coming parents. I thought that since they already had received a diaper cake, I didn’t want to make another one for them…I try to be a little original. If you are a close friend and expecting….stop reading now! These days I’m all about knitting, so this time around I thought I would knit a wool baby blanket.

I’ve decided that I will follow Pickles baby blanket pattern for a few, and a self made reverse double thread knit blanket for a few (will try to write up a post on that soon). The rest I haven’t decided yet…I know that each blanket will take some time to knit, so hopefully I will have enough time to make them all before the boom hits.

I’ve started on one blanket…and it sure is taking time when knitting on 2,5 mm knitting needles.