Medallions

SweetieS has gone on hicks with her grand-parents several times. And for kids who finish the hicks, medallions are rewarded. Needless too say, SweetieS has a few…eventhough she is “only” 3 years old…

Long have I had a project in mind….and now I finally sat down and composed this post.

Earlier this year I picked up this frame at a local flea market (in Oslo these are typically hosted at elementary schools)…If you are interested in attending a flea market – and contributing to the local youth activites, you can find an updated list here

With a few coats of paint and some fabric I had laying around, SweetieS now has a place to put her medallions. This DIY project was inspired by this post on Pintrest.

I know, they aren’t hung perfectly straight..

- how do you organize your medalions?

Feeding my OCD

Most of you who know me in person, know I have my OCD moments. This Christmas I got to experience SweetieS love for beading with Hama beads. Remember those small yet colorful little plastic beads? Put the beads on pegboards to create a “pattern” and iron to “fuse” them together for a long-lasting keepsake.
With Mother Nature finally bringing some more snow to this Winter, in-door games/hobbies are welcome @CasaR. We played outside in the snow yesterday, but with the howling winds and freezing temperatures, it didn’t take long before we were cold and headed indoors.
SweetieS has beaded a few times in kindergarten, but this Christmas I got to see first-hand how SweetieS sat deeply concentrated for a period that seemed like an eternity and just beaded. So bringing along experience from my wonderful sister-in-law for organizing the beads I went shopping when stores opened today.
My sister-in-law has this case, but I wouldn’t find it in a store here in Oslo.What I really liked with this solution was that the individual boxes can be taken out of the case and has hinged lids. Luckily my trusty Biltema had an option for me here. The case can be opened and lay flat on any surface. A case has 18 individual boxes with hinged lids. The boxes are “locked” in the case for easy transportation. Just remember to lock the lids too…
Some pictures after I had filled them…

“closed”	“open”

Here is a close-up of the individual boxes…

hinged lid	clip lock	it even has a belt clip

The boxes are a handy size, measuring in at 90 x 63 x 68 mm.
Just as I had filled the boxes with the beads I had at hand, my OCD kicked in…I needed a way to label the boxes. So that when the content was gone, I knew what to color to refill. Pintrest to the rescue! I came over a few interesting pins, here is one I found particularly interesting... As the case is black I didn’t want the color swatch to be too girly, so I formed the swatches as flowers instead of hearts. They as stuck to the lids using gluedots.

The flowers are very simple to make..all you need are 7 beads. Instructions can be found here I you need it explained in details.
As we were out of wax paper I dug out my trusty craft sheet I got @Clas Ohlson (I think it’s called a silicon baking sheet) to d my ironing, and it worked just fine. You will however get a fine mesh-kinda pattern on the melted side, but I don’t mind….
Just a note, two of these cases fit perfectly into a cube in IKEAs Expedit (is no longer available, but Kallax is practically the same product) shelving unit. So I have enough boxes to cover all my coloring needs.
I had planned this to be a birthday gift for SweetieS..but that’s in May. I couldn’t wait that long to present SweetieS with her newest “toy”. So when SweetieS came home from kindergarten today she got to play with the beads while I made dinner…Even BabyL joined in on the fun. Though with the larger version, Hama Maxi. While SweetieS has been playing with the Midi size, these are 5mm in diameter. You can read more about the different sizes available here.

the girls beading…

Now off to find some more pegboards….three is not enough…

- have you tried beading?
- how do you store your Hama beads?

Errors all around

The previous post was originally written using the blog tool Windows Live Writer 2012. But when I clicked the “publish” button all I got was an error message. Working within IT, I’ve seen my fair share of error messages, but this one had me fumbled…

I know I haven’t been very actively blogging…only a post a month…but the program was working fine the last time I blogged. Well as usuall, Google to the rescue!

I found a very simple explanation…Windows Live Writer is no longer supported for Blogger, which is the service I use. A simple switch over to the open source version Open Live Writer and we are back in business (BTW, open source means free). This software is actively being updated, so features I am missing, like spell check and categorization of posts, will hopefully be available soon.

You can read more about the discontinuation of Windows Live Writer here

- what tool do you use to write your blog posts?

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?

Getting into the Christmas mood

Yesterday I went Christmas shopping with SweetieS.

Buying Christmas decorations and gifts for family and friends got us in a Christmas mood. Despite it being December and the trees are bare. Mother Nature still hasn’t released a huge amount of snow upon us.

This years Christmas wish list has been updated, here.

Now off to put together this years Christmas cards…they need to go postal ASAP….

Some stuff to give you some Christmas spirit…

gingerbread soap, available @Rusta

some “real” Christmas cookies, yummy
(had to borrow a picture as I never am fast enough with the camera when these come out)

what’s December without an Advent calendar? here is SweetieS 2015 advent calendar

- what gets you in the Christmas mood?

With my hands full

The past weekend has been a hectic weekend @casaR. With DaddyO on a weekend trip with a few KGB members, I had my hands full with BabyL and SweetieS. Luckily my mother had time, so she came over and lent me a couple of hands. Mums are the greatest! Thank you!
With the girls gone to bed and DaddyO back home. I can put my feet up and enjoy the rest of the evening. This will be a quick post just jotting down a few thoughts… I want to relax the rest of the evening before it’s gone….so if you have any questions about any of my projects, feel free to leave comment and I'll try my best to answer.
My latest knitting projects have been finished (I’ve been literally knitting up a storm) and I can now post pictures…
A Skappelgenser for myself. So wonderfully soft and light. It’s knitted with Drops Alpaca and Drops Vivaldi.

ignore the loose threads, I took the picture before I had cut them…

I googled around to find the pattern, and made some adjustments. So my finished sweater is much more fitted than the original. Wasn’t my intention, so I plan on making another one in the future.
With yarn I had laying around (Drops Eskimo and Lang yarns Andina) I finally finished a pair of cozy socks, mittens for myself  and a head band for SweetieS. The head band went off with SweetieS before a managed to snap a picture..

Now off to start my next project, a Skappelgenser for SweetieS.
- what have you done this weekend?

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…

Today the first snowflakes of Winter came falling down….late for a typical Winter in Norway. While most Norwegians start singing “det snør, det snør tiddeli bom” in my head I start playing “It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas” by Johnny Mathis.

Getting in a Christmas mood…

Growing up watching Macaulay Culkins movie “Home Alone” EVERY Christmas has left its marks. Hearing this song got me into the Christmas groove and had me thinking of this years Christmas wishlist for the girls…so here goes! This year the list is in Norwegian, as it was put together by DaddyO (and I’m too lazy preoccupied to translate). I’ll try to add more as I think/come over more stuff we “need”…

Dec 3^rd – added more to the list
SweetieS

• Bukkene Bruse på Badeland, klaffebok 239,- (link Ark bokhandel)
• Bukkene bruse på Badeland, DVD 199,- (link Ark bokhandel)
• Bukkene bruse vender tilbake, innbundet 189,- (link Ark bokhandel)
• Fargeleggingsbøker (fargeblyanter?)
• 2-delt pysjer (str. 98-104)
• Fleecesett (str.98-104)
• Smykkeskrin, svart med to "lag" (link Zendi) 460.-
• Klokke 249,- (link Juvelen)
• Barnekniv/knivsett, 349 (link Brødrene Øyo)

BabyL 

• Jellycat Bashful Kanin, beige 219,- (link: kortogkos)
• Ullsett (str. 86/92)
• Fleecesett (str. 86-92)
• Smykkeskrin, svart med to "lag" (link Zendi) 460.-
• Gyngesau, 699,- Coop obs
• Chicco Animal cottage, 279,- (link Kozmos)
• Dyne, Junior str.
• IKEA gavekort
• Trunki koffert (link cdon) 359,-

DaddyO

• Dressokker (str 43)
• T-skjorter (str L) ensfarget
• Boksere (str L)
• Deo, type Hugo
• Bildekkoppheng, til fastmontering på vegg (link Biltema) x2 sett

MommyS

• Wink of Stella shimmer pen, clear (link: Bikuben) 69,-
• Smykkeskrin, svart med to "lag" (link Zendi) 460.-
• Twilight forever DVD set (link Amazon)
• Sjerf/sjal i ull, str 60x200 i nøytral farge (f.eks: Spennerigården)
• Johaug Åslia votter (link: Gmax) 399,-

Stacked

Winter is coming and the temperature is slowly dropping on the thermometer. A few weeks ago I mentioned to my Facebook friends how I had cleaned our fire place, getting it ready for another season in service. Well this past weekend I organized our log storage better.

The before and after pictures speaks for themselves…looks way more organized. Going from a on-the-fly solution (made of what we had available, a pallet and some planks) to metal racks. After BabyL started pulling out logs from the sides, I realized we had to find a more childproof solution.

before	after

The ones we used here are available from Jula, called “Anslut vedoppbevaring”. We bought two so that we could store logs between the racks too.

picture borrowed from the Jula site – side view of one rack

- how do you store your logs?

I’m not loving it

I finished the cardigan I mentioned in my previous post (here). And after mulling it over I’m not loving it, I’ve made the yoke too big for my figure so it feels too big around the shoulders. Hopefully it will fit my mum better than me.

here is the finished cardigan…

As I had “predicted” I didn’t have enough of the mauve Sandnes Alpakka Kashmir yarn..so I had to be creative with what I had…and added a pale pink (color code 4622) to the mix. As I didn’t want the jacket to have a dark top and a light bottom I gave it a striped look (the inspiration I used is here, a jacket by Malene Birger)
I used a Drops pattern (the Elinor Dashwood Cardigan – Drops 157-4) for sizing and the pattern is “created” by G-Anette. The pattern is as simple as 1, 2, 3, 4. Well row 1: knit, row 2: 1 knit, 1 purl, row 3: knit and row 4: 1 purl, 1 knit. With this pattern I got a shifted moss stitch.

some lovely shifted moss

In total I used about 14 skeins of the Alpakka Kashmir yarn. It's knitted on 5,5mm needles. The buttons I ordered of Ebay a while back.
As I won’t be keeping this cardigan I guess I will have to plan another one with this pattern. Love the pattern, just not the shape of the finished cardigan. The other day I bought yarn for my next project, a Skappelgenser.
FYI, Garnstudio is running their Alpaca party the rest of 2015. Which means 25% discount of their alpaca yarns. More info on the yarns and pricing can be found on Garnstudios webpage here

- what do you have on your knitting needles these days?

My latest project

I’m still alive. Autumn has come and with the falling leaves, my energy levels have also dropped. So these days my evenings are spent slouching on the couch. I’ve started knitting on another cardigan with yarn I had laying around. It’s nice to do some ego-knitting too.

Inspired by G-anette and the jacket she posted here. I’ve started on one for myself. I have used a Drops pattern (same as I used for this cardigan, the Elinor Dashwood Cardigan – Drops 157-4) as a base pattern and adapted it to the look I’m aiming for. Hopefully I have enough yarn for this project…
This is a cardigan knitted top-down, so if I run out of yarn I will just have to finish off with a shorter cardigan than the pattern intended. These days I’m finishing of the second sleeve and getting ready to start the body…
I’m knitting it in a softest Alpakka Kashmir yarn by Sandnes Garn in a mauve (?) color (color code 4855). A yarn made of 84% alpaca and 16% cashmere blend. With 5,5mm knitting needles the yarn is flying of the skeins. I realize now that I have had the yarn laying around so long, it has been discontinued. Oh well, use what you have…
- what are you doing these Autumn days?

Mommy and me

Not long ago I posted about a jacket I had knitted for myself. Well SweetieS demanded requested  I make a similar jacket and the other day I finished it. Still waiting for buttons I ordered online. But SweetieS couldn't wait and have used it several days already.

Snapped a picture while SweetieS was sleeping, she's literally moved into it...

I used this Drops pattern for starters, mixed across the sizes to get the length. I used the same yarn I used for my jacket, Drops Alpaca in the color natur (color code: 0100), Marks & Kittens Fame Trend sequins yarn in white (color code: 683) and I used knitting needles in the sizes 4mm and 5mm. For this jacket I used about 2 skeins Alpaca and 1 skein of the sequins yarn.

July 22nd

It’s been four(!) years since I sat at a resturant in Albufeira, Portugal and got the news…bombing in Oslo, shooting of youngsters at Utøya. I remember how the minutes ticked by while checking with family if they were safe. Some of my closest friends where together with me in Portugal, gathered for my bestfriends’ wedding the following day.

It’s been four years and for many a time filled with sorrow. 77 lives where lost that day and countless lives affected. So taking a minute to reflect…

- where were you when you got the news?

Ego knit

Last week I finshed a knitted garment for myself. I’ve knitted quite alot since I took up knitting…this time a long cardican for myself.
I’ve been drooling some time over Tjorvens Mia jakke. But haven’t gotten around to knitting this one. Well the other day I thought I would start knitting a jacket for myself with sequins yarn I had laying around. I ordered myself som alpakka yarn to go with the sequins yarn from Myke nøster as they were having the Drops super sale  - wool edition (valid thru the month of May 2015).
With Drops Alpaca in the color natur (color code: 0100), Marks & Kittens Fame Trend sequins yarn in white (color code: 683) knitting needles in the sizes 4mm and 5mm I was ready to start my project. Of course I had totally forgotten about the Mia jacket when I was looking for knitting patterns. So I ended up using this one by Drops – though with a few alterations. I didn’t knit the pattern as I thought the sequins was enough.
After less than three weeks and some mother of pearls buttons (30mm in diameter) bought of Ebay I have a completed jacket.

still needs to be steamed so the edges don’t curl up/in…but very happy with the finished result

Now off to make a smiliar one for SweetieS as she wanted one when she saw mine…

Update July 21th:
For this jacket I used less than 6 skeins of Drops Alpaca (50gr skeins) and less than 3 skeins (100gr skeins) of the Fame sequin yarn.

A whole new world

Sorry for being so MIA here lately. A whole new world has opened up to me the last few weeks. A few weeks ago I passed my pratical exam to get my drivers license. It has worked just fine for my thirty-somewhat year not having a drivers license, but with kids needing to dropped off/picked up on a daily basis it just seemed logical to have one.

So the past few months I have been “working” hard, driving ALOT and cramming for the theoretical exam. If you are looking into getting yourself a drivers license in Norway, you can read more about it on Vegvesenet website, and Category B (“Klasse B”) which you need to drive cars up to 3,5 tons -  here. Note that it is quite expensive with all the mandatory courses and lessons. I spend about 30 thousand(!) NOK getting my license.

Well I passed  and these days I’m out and about “cruising” in Oslo. Not so much cruising as the Summer weather here is very changing - bright and sunny one moment, raining cats and dogs the new. Yesterday it actually hailed!

If you see me around in my skyblue Citröen C3, give me a wave

picture “borrowed” from Google/www.mobile.de

- Do you have a drivers license or are you happy doing public transport?

DIY planner inserts

The past few months I have been using a paper planner. I haven’t been using a planner since my university days, but earlier this year I was reintroduced to the planner society. I never knew this community was so big!

Since getting back into planners I have joined a few Facebook groups and played around with my planner.
Not finding a planner page layout quite as I wanted it, I wound up making my own. All you need is a word processing software and some creativity and you're good to go! I used Microsoft word to create mine… As I use an A5 planner, it works great to make them in A4 and just scale down to A5 – printing two pages at a time! Cut in half and hole punch. I use a hole punch bough on AliExpress, this one to be exact. Like that the holes are adjustable – in case I ever change planner size. All other options I had available where too costly on the shipping front. So far I’ve punched quite a few pages and still working smoothly for me.
So far my planner consists of MO2P – month on two pages, and WO2P – week on tw pages. Both undated so just print as many as need be. After using them for a few months now I’m pretty happy with the layout.
I promised on one of the planner Facebook groups I’m in that I would blog and post online when I got the chance. So better late than never
The files I have uploaded is in Norwegian, but the pdfs are editable - I think - so you can change the text using Adobe Reader – let me know if that is not the case. I don’t have Reader available on the computer now so can’t verify before posting this.

I purposely left out any coloring as I decorate my pages using washi, colorful pens, stickers and cute post-its. So here they are:
- Week on two pages (WO2P)
- Month on two pages (MO2P)

And here a few decorated examples from in my planner….

… the month of May

… a week in May

Well off to decorate the pages for the next two weeks as I will be travelling and not bringing my “planner stash”…

- do you decorate your planner pages?
- storebought or DIY planner pages?

A box from IKEA

The other day I was at IKEA and came over this box….

a cardboard box

to put my used light bulbs…

What is nice about this is that if you return the box with used light bulbs, IKEA will donate 10NOK to WWF.

The box is free. So why not pick one up they next time you are at IKEA?
Read more about IKEAs environmental programs here.

Patch Tuesday

For most people working within IT know that this is a term used for when Microsoft releases security patched for their software products. Well nothing IT related this time.

Just that I’ve spendt the day patching SweetieS stuff that has hole, rips and tears. With active kids comes clothes with rips and tears. And since we get alot of clothes pre-owned, there is some wear and tear from previous users to begin with.

I’ve posted earlier about patching I’ve done of knitted garnmets for SweetieS, like here.

Knit patterns I like using for these patches, so they are a little more fun:
- stars: here, thanks to Valley Yarns
- hearts: here, thanks to CreatingLaura
- square with heart lollipop, here, thanks to DesignsbyEmily
and my newest addition; butterfly: here, thanks to Lion brand yarns

a little collage of my patch works

Also on the stuff to fix were a zipper, some button holes that needed to pulled together, clothes that needed branding…not very intresting to mention.

- what have ou been doing tonight?

Ascension day @CasaR

The day started early, as any other weekday, at around 6.30 (yes, that’s AM). When do kids start sleeping in???

After consuming breakfast I started the task I’ve been planning the last week. Redoing my office/crafts corner…(just realized I forgot to take a before picture…oh well, just imagine clutter…) I started moving furniture around and came to the conclusion that I need a new desk. My old desk just isn’t using the space it takes up very efficiently. So hopefully within a few days I will have time for another IKEA trip.

I’m lucky to have great neighbors, after lunch and a few text messages (and BabyL taking a nap) we went to Ekeberg Hysdyrpark. There SweetieS got to pet/feed all kinds of farm animals – cows, horses, sheep, goats, rabbits, they even have peacocks! And if fur coats isn’t you thing they have a play area with seesaws, trampolines and slides – and big open areas to just run off any extra energy the kids might have bottled inside…

Now that the girls have gone to bed I got time for another project of mine. A few weeks ago I ordered myself a pair of cheapy-cheap sneakers. Nothing special about them other than comfortable and light weight. SweetieS has a pair of Kangaroo sneakers I’ve kinda been envious over. SweetieS seems so carefree when wearing them. So when I came over a recommendation on my Facebook group for Ebay recommended buys (it’s a Norwegian group, and its called “Ebay for jenter/kvinner”), I thought I would give it a try. A pair of comfortable everyday sneakers for under 150NOK is worth a try. They are available here. I’m normally a Norwegian/European size 36, buy I bought a size 37 as recommended by both the Ebay seller and on the Facebook group.

Yesterday my pair of sneakers came in the mail…smelling like new plastic I left them in the hallway over night to “air out”. Inspired by another Facebook group (thank you to Trine Aas and Mona Hagelund over @”Ebay Hobby”), I had to add some bling to my shoes.

The sneakers arrived looking like this…(doesn’t come in a shoe box, but not squashed in any way)

not my picture, I just “borrowed” online as I forgot to take a picture after I unpacked them

I pulled off the little triangle on the logo as it just looked misplaced – using my fingers, just pull hard when you have a good hold and it comes off nice and clean. Too used to seeing another logo perhaps? So now my pair of shoes looked more like this…

don’t mind the mess, I’m getting ready to glue on some bling

Half an hour later and a neck somewhat stiffer, I had my pair of bling’d sneakers. Just need the glue to set over night…

not sure the picture does the bling justice…

In case you are wondering about what I used…
I used this bling (2mm flatback rhinestones), from Ebay – used approx 50 pieces per shoe
This glue (E6000), from Ebay. You only need a small amount of this glue, so I recommend buying the small tubes rather than one big tube. My experience is that glue caps tend to glue shut after a while, so less wasted if/when that happens)
As the rhinestones a quite small and difficult to apply by hand, I used this tool to apply the rhinestones. Bought on sale @Panduro Hobby ages ago…

Now off to start the evenings next project – one gets so much done when one is up at the early hours! Next project: Start knitting a pair for pants for SweetieS…

- what have you been up to this sunny day off work?

Another wishlist

We are in May and both SweetieS and BabyL is turning another year older. Time sure flies, SweetieS is turning 3 and BabyL turns 1. Feels like yesterday we were rushing to the hospital….

True to form it has to be celebrated…and here are some wishes “from” my birthday girls. Will update as I remember more things.

SweetieS

Lego basic sets
Lego base plates
Kids scooter with storage compartment – Micro Mini2go(“Sparkesykkel med oppbevaring” )
Cool bicycle bell some cool ones available here
Toilet trainer (“dotrapp”)
Badevader (sz 26-27)
Outdoors toys - soap bubles - stree chalks

BabyL

Rocking sheep available @CoopObs
Jellycat Bachful Bunny, beige, 31 cm
Rain suit with fleece lining (sz. 80-86)
IKEA gift certificates (Lily needs cabinet doors for her Expedit shelf unit)
Toothbrushes for toddlers