Cyn's knits and stuff

First off

2009-10-02T03:47:00.002+02:00

I wanted to start a new blog. I had one some years ago on another subject I enjoy. So now I am starting new with another subject that I love and rules my life.
Parenting.
I plan to touch on topics that move me, things I do and things that bother me.
I will try to post at least once a week, but we will see. I am a busy mom. :)

My disclamer. :P
I'm married have kids and am NOT a sheeple mainstream parent.
I follow my instincts, do what I feel is right and not what everyone else does.
Things to me that are bad... Drugs, cribs, strollers, circumsision, spanking, CIO, playpens, walkers, vaccines, Bush... and the list goes on.
I can be pretty blunt. I'm also pretty set in my ways. I have done tons of research to make sure I am right.

Could I be wrong? Sure I can, but more than "My doctor said" or "My parents did this and I turned out fine" will convince me.
I'm not here to debate. I'm here to share my views and maybe learn a few things.
So if you don't like what I have to say, oh well, you don't have to be here.
If you're still her, sit back and enjoy!!! .

Baby on the way!!!

2005-08-05T11:58:00.000+02:00

I has been forever since I posted here. But of course this is my knitting blog and I havent really been knitting.

Recently I found out that my DH's brother is expecting a baby! Yea, so I am off again to make my flower blanket. This blanket was the pattern that was used when I was taught how to knit, by a wonderful woman I worked with in Cali named Alison. She herself is an expat and is from Liverpool, England.
So 3 cheers for Alison!!!

So now I am off to make 48 pettles to my flower. I will post a pictures soon after I get things started. :)

Ok day

2005-04-29T20:16:00.000+02:00

Today
Today was an ok day. Ds has a friend staying overnight so he is happy and occupied. Dh is playing games in the computer and seems to be in a well mood. (He is off from work for a stress related leave, so not everyday is a good one for him.) Dd is sleeping her little head off. and dinner is almost ready.

My idea
I've decided to design and make a Bunad for myself and my dd. My dh and everyone doubts I can do this, but I am willing to try anyhooo. It is WAY to expensive for me to buy one (27,000nkr on average). Also, since I am not Norwegian and only married to one, I didn't think I could wear one and feel right about it.
So I thought I would design one. Since I am from Cali, I figured I could incorporate the state flower and the state tree into the design. Not the whole tree, just the leaves. Them mix that up with Rogalands original design since I am now part Norwegian by marriage. One of the great things if I can do this is to be able to pass this down to my dd. Since she is part American and part Norwegian she will have a bit of both represented in her dress.

Wish me luck! I have no clue how to embroider (for all bunads are done by hand). I guess I have a lot of work and learning ahead of me.

Haven't been posting

2005-04-28T15:05:00.000+02:00

Since I haven't been knitting.
Too many things have been happening to give me enough time to knit. I miss it, but have no desire to start or finish a project. Sad I know.

I still am taking care of my webrings tho. I had to put a few more people in the queue and a few more have signed on. I haven't updated the blogrolling, but when I get time, I will.

Hope all is well for everyone!

Tired of being sick!!!

2005-03-09T11:41:00.000+01:00

Yes being sick! I was sick for a whole month. :(
Got a clogged duct almost mastisis, then the flu (no I didn't get a flu shot this year! Those things are evil and I have never and will never get one!!!) I haven't had the flu for 8 years!!! Then my dh brought home a cold and 2 days after I recover from the flu, I get this cold!!!
I wasn't in the mood to do anything. No knitting, no blogging, no reading blogs.
I missed my daughters 2nd birthday. Finally this weekend after 3 weeks we will have a party for her!

The only thing I did was sit in a chair and played an on-line game. WoW, and boy is it WOW!!! World of Warcraft! I started playing these kinds of games to get my son and his father a place to play together. Who knew they are fabulous games!

Still knitting

2005-01-25T20:16:00.001+01:00

But very slowly! My dd is still making this a trial, but I am determined to get this purse done and I am almost there!
I just need to get the flap then sew it. I've got the front, border, handle and back done. I also need to buy a button for the clasp. I dont really have anything in mind, but I will see when I get to town. Haraldsgata is opened late on Thursday, so weather permitted, I may go. :)

Another thing that is slowing me down is the kitchen. We are finally putting up tiles, so cleaning up after my brother-in-law and trying to find room to make meals is taking up a lot of time.
How is it looking so far?

Webrings

2005-01-20T23:23:00.000+01:00

Funny thing about web-rings. I never find the subjects I'm curious about. So I have started a new one.
For those of you that don't know I am the owner of Nordic KnitBlogs. Most webrings I saw on knitters were all in the US, which is fine, I'm a Californian myself. But now I live in Norway and have gotten curious about the knitters in the Nordic region. The ring is doing quite well, currently we have 68 active sites! :)

Now my new curiousity is expat crafters (Crafty Expats). People that have left their homeland for whatever reason. What kinds of crafts are they doing? What crafts maybe they found in their new home? How they are adjusting to life? My craft helps me relax when I feel lost. Which happends a lot when you move away from what is familiar to you.
So if you are an expat and blog about your craft, please join. Oh and if you are not, please enjoy surfing the webrings!

Fantastic day

2005-01-19T01:00:00.000+01:00

No knitting was done today (actually yesterday, it is midnight here). It was my anniversary! 3 years with my fabulous husband. We did nothing major, just the way I like it. Got my mil to watch the kids for the day then we went out.
Took a nice long walk through Haraldsgata the had a bite to eat, after that we played a bit of pool. I won every game! hehehe Of course he was happy for me, he loves me!

The past week not a lot of knitting either. We were out shopping, those January sales are a good thing. We finnaly got new tiles for our kitchen, then a couple of days we took the kids out. There were a few things they wanted to buy with their Christmas money they got.

And now as I read my mails I am relaxing with my knitting. I have sewn together the front, and now need to finish the back. I decided to stop working on the back till I had the front of the purse done. I realized I may get the size wrong if I don't. I will be putting up a picture soon. :)

Search in hopes to finish

2005-01-14T22:30:00.000+01:00

So yesterday I finally got the back of my dd purse going. All is done but the back and putting it together. So when dd stopped me from knitting, I went in search of old projects around the house. I found 2 sweaters that I started and are more than half way through. I plan to get those finished next.

We shall see. :)

Phantom of the Opera!!!

2005-01-08T21:47:00.000+01:00

Well today my dh and I went on a date. I am very strict in my beliefs as a parent and stubborn. I don't believe in having my kids babysat until the age of 2. My dh has been wonderfully supportive of this. So her comes Phantom of the Opera! My dd will be 2 in a month (great timing) so off we went with my mil babysitting at our place. (It is great when people, especially family respects my desisions on such matters. It made me comfortable and relaxed on my date.)

The movie was FABULOUS!!! I have seen Phantom on stage twice, once on tour at the Pantages Theater in Los Angeles and once in New York at the Majestic Theatre, and I must say I was blown away by the movie! I didn't expect it to be as great as it was. Usually I am disapointed in things made for one arena and adapted for another (musicals, play, books to movie). Yet here, FABULOUS, just simply FABULOUS. Go see it if you haven't! :)

Trying to occupy my time

2005-01-06T16:43:00.000+01:00

What little free time I have. HAHAHA Well it is spent at trying to stop my dd from stealing my knitting. So I am trying to do something she can't get into like desiging a cross stitch pattern while she is awake. I have a program to do this but am completely screwing it up. LOLOL

I'm not good at colors and hugs and all that, so I tried to import some pictures. I guess it takes time to get the hang of some things. I'm not quite giving up yet, but getting close. Maybe I need to stick to knitting.

Little things, hahaha

2005-01-06T01:10:00.000+01:00

Well my dd (22months) is finding it oh so fascinating that I have started up knitting again. So far she has hid the needles 3 times since last night alone and I've had to put the whole project back on my needles about 20 times.

At least I think she is adorable, or I would go insane. MUAHAHAHAHAHA

Knitting again

2005-01-05T03:35:00.000+01:00

Well I started to knit this week. With being so busy for a long while and my little one wanting so much attention, I have not been in the mood.

So my blog has gone abandoned, I hope a few of you out there had faith that I would get back in the groove.

I decided to start back easy since a few things are still keeping me busy. So I started with a purse for my dd. She is very UN-like me (LOL). Girly girl type. She likes to carry around purses. So I am making up a purse using a pattern I have for a flower blanket. Hopefully I will find my dreamweaver so I can post a pic when I'm done. We had to re-instal this computer and now cannot find the cd. :( Wish me luck!

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL!!!

Fixed

2005-01-02T15:04:00.000+01:00

Ok, my dh fixed the title!!! Now you can see all of the name of my blog. I have been so busy and haven't had a chance to do much of anything. Since the New Year has started...
Happy New Year All!!!
I should have more time for these things. :))))

Yes, I'm still here

2004-11-27T14:27:00.000+01:00

Alive and well! I have had so much issues with the computer that all my blogs and things got put on the back burner. Well so far I think things are working again. yay!!!

As for my knitting... It too got put aside. My little one enjoys terrorizing me while I try, so I do very little while she is sleeping. So no work to show. I think the last thing I got done was for my secret Nordic friend. :)

Right now I am working on my Nordic KnitBlog webring. So, back to work I go.
Take care! :)

Computer issue

2004-09-21T14:22:00.000+02:00

Things are starting to look up. We got a few new things. The main computer is up and running, but had to be re-formatted for the new system board. So things are getting there. Next on our list is getting a new harddrive that can fit all our stuff.

I did find an on-line place to store photos! Unlimited storage! hehehe

So here is a pic of my little one slinging her doll (yes slinging, no toy strollers aloud). Hope you enjoy. :)

Disclaimer...
Just so you know, I'm a very opinionated mom. I have my views and have no desire to make people think the way I do. If you ask, I will give my opinion, and trust me, my opinions are strong.
I am an NOT a mainstream type parent and I have very little tolerance for a lot of what is deemed "normal". Now don't get me wrong I am a live and let live also. My views are strong so if you disagree with me that's fine. Just don't expect me to smile and nod. I'm not shy about letting my thoughts known. Also I'm not here to change the world so if I don't give out my views don't worry, they are still as strong as ever. :)

Since this is my knitting blog, you may never have to hear my views on these things anyway. I have my rambling blog for that. :)

Speaking of knitting, I haven't done much. I have been busy with a lot of things right now and my projects are on hold. Which is a problem since I need to do my NSF gift! Oh and I have no clue who I am sending it too. The e-mail that told me got stuck on the harddrive that we had to re-format. Now, my dh has backed it up, I just hope I can get it out. If not I will have to send an e-mail to the organizer of NSF.

Take care all! :)

What's New

2004-08-30T23:21:00.000+02:00

I bought more yarn. I think I am a yarn junky. There are so many projects and so little time. Yet, I can't seem to find the restraint to buy the yarn when I plan on knitting the item. :-/ I think my dh is going to go nuts. He had made comments when I bought 30 balls that were on sale last year. I've made a blanket and am almost done with a sweater for Maya with it. Yet I still have about 10 balls left. I also bout yarn for a Dale sweater 2 years ago that I plan on making, but haven't had the time. Then I went to Gjestal Spinnery and bought patterns and the yarn for 2 more projects. I'm also in the middle of making a Setesdal sweater and a Dale Ridderspore for Maya, I want one for me too, but am doing a good job at holding back buying that yarn.
Well the other day we had a new addition to the Nordic Knit Webring (strikker) and while checking out her blog I saw a post with variegated yarn. I did my best to resist, but I ended up giving in less than a week later. So now I have socks to make.

Ohhh, update on the computer situation. We have a friend that just gave my son a computer! He is a good friend and thought we could use an extra one for my ds homework. The hardrive is 20g (I think that is how it is written) so when we get it set up to our home network, we can move some files over and I can get on with more pictures! Yay!!!

Papas Little Girl

2004-08-29T23:49:00.000+02:00

Well a friend was commenting on seeing a baby in a sling while she was visiting in NY. So I had to mention this is what we do with our dd.
Last year we took a trip and took a few pics so.
Just for Cat, Papa and his little girl slinging it! :)

Nothing!

2004-08-24T21:47:00.000+02:00

I got nothing fun done today. No knitting, no cross stitch, nothing!
But hey, that is the way it is sometimes. I'm trying to set up a space so dh can paint his minitures and I can keep my knitting and other stuff. So far it is working, but is taking a lot of time to set up.

Hope all is well with everyone in the blog world. :)

Back to school

2004-08-22T14:30:00.000+02:00

Summers are so short here! My darling son is back to school and it feels like it is too soon. He seems very happy to be back, but isn't to happy about the homework.

As for me, I have been working on a few projects. I started a cross stitch of a colorful cat and I have gotten half of the Ridderspore body done.

Oh and on the computer, we need to buy new stuff. Since we aren't that well off, this may take a bit of time. So pic's might be a bit delayed On top priority at the moment is my ds wanting to get on-line with his dad. So we are setting up an Asheron's Call 2 account for him. So upgrading our computer is in progress. To even get in the game we had to get a new video card. So it is running, but barely. Next will be a new system board, than a bigger hardrive (then I can get the pics and my blog going full speed ahead), and lastly extra memory. I'm thinking maybe about Christmas we should (hopefully) be up to scratch.

Take care. :)

Ok, here is another

2004-08-04T12:53:00.000+02:00

This time I only froze the mouse. I un-pluged it and re-plugged it in. As for the picture, I had to adjust the brightness and contrast to be able to see the actual look of the pattern.
So this is a pattern in the other book I bought with the yarn.

Off I go again. :)

Trying again

2004-08-04T12:24:00.000+02:00

Ok, this is going slow. I've tried to make a post earlier, but things froze. I had to scrap it and re-boot the computer. Now, I think I've got at least one picture available for you all to see.

While I was on vacation I traveled to the Gjestal Spinnery. Here is one of the patterns with yarn I got. Well, actually I got the book, but this is the only pattern I bought yarn for in it.

I'm off to try to get more things working on this puter.
Take care. :)

Photo issues :o(

2004-08-02T11:59:00.000+02:00

Hi all, I'm still around. I haven't been doing a lot of knitting lately. We've had a bit of computer problems and posting photos problem, and now an uploading photo problem. *sigh* Our phone is also having issues (we have an ip line). I wonder if this is the stem of it all.

With it still being summer vacation and all, I don't have a lot of time to try and fix all of these, so it is going slowly.

Nordic Secret Friend
I've been wanting to post a pic of what I got from my N Secret friend. It is 3 balls of Blizzard Silke Frottè. Unfortunately, I can't find a pic on line of it, so you will have to wait till I get my photos back in order.

Ridderspore
I've got a bit of this pattern started. I had planned in my mind to make one for my daughter and one for me. While I messed up on the gauge the first time around, I decided to do hers first. Since she is littler, it will give me a chance to get use to this. I guess I am still a little scared of messing up on a pattern like this. I have barely dabbled into 2 color work and here I am attempting 7 colors.

Take care. :)

Out of space

2004-07-22T15:46:00.000+02:00

I have several things I wanted to show, but my puter is a bit short on room. I need to do a bit of re-organizing then I can upload some pics of things.

One will be my gift. Yes, I got my Nordic Secert Friend gift and I got several patterns with yarn while I was away also a book and booklets. So give me a chance. I still have my children to deal with and my dh who is still on vacation from work, so it shouldn't be long.

I'm Back!!!

2004-07-20T18:37:00.000+02:00

Miss me?

Well I had a great week. Nice and relaxing, even tho I didn't get much knitting done.
We headed over to Stavanger which is a bit south of where I live. We stayed at Rainbow Hotels which gave us tickets for Kongenparken (theme park) and Havana (water park). The rest of the time we wandered the city.

On Thur we had planed to goto Kongenparken, but it turned out to be a horrible day weather wise. So I talked my son into waiting a day in hopes of better weather. He unhappily agreed. So we took a drive. As we went I decided to look at the map to see where we were and guess what I found... Gjestal Spinnery!!!

Unfortunatly the production was stalled for the summer. Yet, I did have fun brousing through all the yarns and patterns they had avalible.

I've got more to post, but i have to get a few thing done. I'll be back! :)

Vacation

2004-07-10T16:58:00.000+02:00

I noticed I forgot to mention I'm on vacation. Well, I'm not on vacation, but my dh is. We have been out and about all week and Monday we are heading out of town for a week. So I will be away from the computer.

Have a great summer and I will post when I get back!

Take care! :)

Happy 4th!!!

2004-07-04T17:27:00.000+02:00

Not much is going on here. Most celebrations for the 4th of July for Americans is located in larger cities, so we were unable to go.
We do plan to have our own little BBQ and we are all wearing our ribbons to honor the day. I havn't been able to locate a flag, so I have non displayed. :(

So for the 4th I thought I would put a link of a book I've run across on the net.
Here is an on-line book called How to Become an "Expert Knitter"

Enjoy and have a wonderful holiday!

Bad-Ass Knitter

2004-07-04T01:02:00.000+02:00

How to Be a Bad-Ass Knitter

1. Knit whatever the hell you want . . . whenever you want.

2. Buy as much yarn (and books and needles etc.) as you want, whenever the hell you want.

3. Never, ever, apologize for knitting.

4. Never, ever, apologize because you think something you knit isn't "good" enough.

5. Never, ever, apologize about how you knit: right-handed, left-handed, or with your toes!

6. Traditional knitting is timeless.

7. Display your stash with pride!

8. You don't have to follow a pattern exactly -- make changes if you wanna.

9. Never apologize for knitting cat/dog hair into your sweater. It's all the warmer!

10. Whenever a non-knitter asks you a stupid question, remember that you carry long, sharp sticks.

I qualify! Too cool. I'm a !!!
Anyone else?

Good news for me.

2004-07-02T13:36:00.000+02:00

Actually, life has been busy. My in-laws headed out for vacation, we had Ulie's birthday party and several small get togethers. So there has been very little time for knitting. Finally I got a chance to go see Harry Potter last night. Yep thats right, I am a fan and have read all the books. I was pretty impressed. This one gave a better view on the story and the way it was filmed to see the grounds was much much better.

On to the good news.

There is a new LYS in town and this one is in the local mall with normal hours!!! Marianns Haandarbeid (Marianns Handcrafts). I have already spent money there. I'm so happy over this!!!

New bag

2004-06-28T20:25:00.000+02:00

Well you can just call me the bag lady. As I bought a ready-made cross stitch project that I thought was too cute for Maya.

Betty's Green Bag
Cute huh? On the back side there is no design, so I plan to do the same top part, then put "Maya" on it. She has been getting a kick out of walking all over the house and lately she has tried to pick up anything that looks like a purse. So I couldn't resist. Could you?

As for my knitting Ridderspore. I had gotten 5 inches into it and realized I have to frog it. I have no clue how, but I got the gauge wrong. It was comming out way too big! So I took it all out and now I am re-gaugeing it. Argh! At least I was relaxed during the knitting. Now I won't be able to relax till I get it started again.

Here I go. :)

Changing Colors

2004-06-25T20:39:00.000+02:00

Well, I haven't had much time to knit. I have been so busy with everything. My ds' birthday party went well. He had a fabulous time and enjoyed the gifts he got. One was a new video game, Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg. He loves it! I have no clue what it is about this game, but he was so happy he got it.

Since I haven't had much time to knit or blog or surf blogs, I did have time to think about my project. I love the sweater pattern for Ridderspore, yet there is one thing that I am not fond of. Pink! I have no clue why, I've just never been a pink person. So I've decided to take out that color. It is a very small amount, so I think it won't hurt the finished project. Now the question is what to replace it with. There is very little green in the pattern and I was thinking just to put that color in place. Yet my dh was thinking to replace it with a contrasting color like white. Any opinions?

Oh, I did a bit of blog surfing today after I got my house back in order and noticed Garn, Te, & Sjokolade is setting up Nordic Secret Friends, a knitting exchange. I've never really done one are they fun? I'm thinking of joining. :)

Have a great weekend!

This will be a busy week.

2004-06-21T08:56:00.000+02:00

I've got a busy week here. School is ending for my ds this week. There is a get together to clean up the school then a party. Also one of ds' friends birthday. Plus my ds' birthday. So that's 2 parties, one I have to set up. Also my dh last week of work before his vacation. There are things he will need to finish before he does since he will be off for 4 weeks.
I know I am forgetting a few things.

I feel like taking my knitting and locking myself in my room for a week. I guess I will do that next week. :-P

Oh, my ds took a spill the other day. I had called for him and he came running. He usually freaks out when I call him if he is up to something he shouldn't be. As he turned to the hallway he slipped and cashed! Banged his head hard on the tile floor and did a nice gash in his knee. He's better now. I just thought I would share the weekends drama.

Have a great week!

Yesterday's purchase

2004-06-18T18:35:00.000+02:00

I got in so late and was so bushed, I decided to wait to post.

I have finally decided to make Ridderspore for myself. I've never made a sweater specifically for me, so this is a first. I also wanted somethng for summer (since they are colder in Norway than what I am use to) and something for indoors. So I decided to try this pattern with cotton.
After my hubby got home from work, off we went into town and walked through Haraldsgata (Haralds street, which is a walking street. No cars allowed). It was a nice day and on thursdays the shops are opened longer. The LYS there usually closes at 4:30 (which barely gives me time to get there if I'm in the mood) on thursdays they close at 7pm. Yay!
I went and put some of the yarn to the side and brought a few balls home. I'm not sure how it is in the US (as I always got yarn from Wal*mart since I had even less money to work with when I lived in Cali), but at my LYS you can collect all the yarn you would need and they will hold it for you in a bag so you don't have to buy it all in one go and you don't have to worry about dyelots and all. Kinda like layway I guess. Which is good for money strapped knitters like myself. :)

It has been cold

2004-06-17T08:21:00.000+02:00

We had such fabulous weather for about a week, then it went to cold again. Well I would say freezing, but what do you expect from a Californian living in Norway? If it is below 65F I am frozen.

Well my ds finally went back to school today. He had been a bit under the weather this week. He wasn't too happy to find himself going back tho, but with a week left of school, it can't be that bad. Can it?
My little one is walking all the time now too, so I have the new duties of chasing after her as she has also figured out that running away is fun. This age is just too great!!!

As for my knitting, I'm getting there on the Setesdal. I'm over half way done on the top pattern, so hopefully the body will be finished this weekend. Then I can get the arms started and this done. I want to get this one over with, mainly because it is my first Norwegian style and I want the experience. There are a few other patterns I would love to start and my dh won't add to my yarn stash till I finish. :(
Ok so we started a budget and I agreed. I should have made a loop hole for yarn.
Well I'm off to knit, little one is still asleep. Somedays I can't get any knitting in if I don't take advantage of this time.
Have a great day all!

Just an update

2004-06-13T13:02:00.000+02:00

As you've probably noticed, June is a busy month for me. Like today we are getting ready to go to another family gathering. The family members visiting from the US are going home tomorrow. They just got back from traveling around Norway. So we will visit with them one last time before they go.

As for my knitting, Maya has been doing a great job at keeping me from it. I've gotten a decent amount of progress done considering her efforts:

Not bad, huh?

Oh and I want to thank Anett for the help and trouble she went through for me. Thanks Anett!!!

Finished the book.

2004-06-09T15:38:00.000+02:00

A good friend of mine from Cali had sent me a book One for the Money. Well I just finished it. It wasn't that bad. It is in a series of books by Janet Evanovich. I think I will look into reading the 2nd book. Has anyone else read any of her works?

Well today it is rainy at about 52F/12C. So I have yet to venture outside today. It had been really warm lately. I was getting use to the idea of taking walks, but it seems like that is out.
I need to come up with ideas for my son's birthday party anyhow. I am thinking of an outside party. Hopefully the weather will be up for it in a few weeks. :)

As for knitting, I've gotten a little more done on the Setesdal. I kinda got side tracked while I was knitting and had to frog a few rows for knitting the wrong part of the pattern. That costed me about 2 hours of work. I've never frogged one garment so much before.
I want a nap. :)

Morning :o)

2004-06-08T09:52:00.000+02:00

Life is good. It is morning and the sun is up and I am about to knit. My little one is still asleep for about another hour. Here is my progress so far on the Setesdal:

As you can see, I've just started the top part of the pattern around where I will be cutting for arm holes. I am so not looking forward to streeking this. Yet the more I read Wendys efforts, the more relaxed I will become. I'm guessing that may be one reason why I haven't finished this sweater yet.

As for my birthday, I had a good one. I got a call from the states and a few e-cards. Also my son made me breakfast in bed. Later we had a few friends over and a fabulous dinner. Cuban Pork with black beans, rice and fried bananas. Very yummy!
My wonderful husband also got me an addition to my collection of Rosina Wachtmeister. This time I got a tea cup and saucer.
Here is the cup and saucer.
Here is my whole collection.
I never thought I would have my own collection of art works. :)

Busy, busy, busy

2004-06-06T00:35:00.000+02:00

Life is Busy as you can tell. Maya is walking now, but still prefers to crawl and I've been trying to get the rest of my spring cleaning done. It is my birthday tomorrow (well in Norway it is Today already! Happy Birthday to me!!!) and I have a few friends coming over for dinner. My dh went to school with one and the other is also an American. He fell in love and moved here just as I did. I don't see him much tho. He works here in town but lives a bit away, so hanging out is not an option a lot of the time.

I also got a package in the mail from a good friend back in Cali. She sent me a book One For The Money, so I have been reading that. Not to mention some stuffed Cat in the Hat characters and a few books for the kids. (Janet, your the best! We love you!!!)
Maya just feel in love with the Cat! She gives him kisses the whole time she's playing with him. Also Ulie got a book of Dragons he just loves.

Oh and I have been working on the Setesdal a bit. I have started the top part of the sweater. After I finish with that part I can go on to the sleeves. (Finally!)

Well I doubt I will post tomorrow or get any knitting done for that matter. So have a great Day and weekend and all! :)

Button, button, who's got the button?

2004-06-02T21:52:00.000+02:00

I do! I did like I said. I went out yesterday and bought buttons for my Twist Cardigan. :)
Here is what I chose:

Not bad? I was thinking getting a white and lavender. Then have the while button on the lavender yarn and vice versa, but decided against that.

One thing that drives me nuts in this town is that the LYS closes EARLY! I am not a morning person, but the shop is. It closes by 4:30pm and my dh gets off work around the same time. So by the time I get up, clean the house, feed Maya, welcome Ulie home from school and all the other motherly duties. My dh is on his way home. I also try to go outside with the kids as much as I can and help Ulie get started on his homework. So all my personal errands gets pushed back till later in the day. By that time the shop is closed. It is VERY frustrating!

Well as the shop had 5 minutes to closing by the time I was able to go, we headed to a sewing shop instead. They were closing too, but hadn't closed the door yet and they didn't mind one last customer for the day. Nice people! :)
It didn't take me long to pick out the buttons and my dh noticed something on sale:

I've been in the market for a sewing machine. This one is on an introductory sale for 1765kr. I've never sewn before, so I hope it is a good one for beginners. What I want to learn to do is quilting. Hopefully this will be good for learning that too. :)

Relaxing in the sun

2004-05-31T14:35:00.000+02:00

Today is a nice day. It is a holiday so everyone is home. My dh is painting his miniatures, my ds is playing a few games and my dd is doing her normal exploring of everything. I've done a bit of knitting on my Setesdal. Earlier today we cleaned part of the house and in a little bit we will head out for a walk.

It still is a little strange for me. When I lived in So. Cali, no matter what the day was, there was ALWAYS something open, some place to go, or something going on.
Here in Norway it is normal to have EVERYTHING (exception of gas stations) to be closed for days on end. I think 3 days is the longest, but for me it is extremely long!

On to knitting, here is a pic of the finished Twist Cardigan.

I know I know, I need to put on the buttons, but like I said everything is closed till tomorrow. So I plan on taking a nice walk into town tomorrow. :)

Right now I'm working again on the Setesdal. That one and the Yoke Pullover will be gifts for Christmas. So I think I will try to get those done so I won't have to worry about them at the last minute. Yet knowing me I will probably start something new before there done.

Have a great week! Ha en god uke!

Finished!

2004-05-30T01:30:00.000+02:00

I finished the twist! Yippy!!!
Ok well almost. It is a holiday and stores closed early today and won't re-open till Tuesday. All I am missing is the buttons. But I still consider the sweater done!!!

It is about 1:30 am here and I just can't sleep, but too tired to put a pic up just yet.
I will take one of the finished sweater tomorrow and post it then. You don't mind waiting, do you? :o)

Hard Day

2004-05-28T00:00:00.000+02:00

Hello all,
I've had a hard day, but everyone does.
I've just learned my ex lost most all of my things. I was unable to send them to Norway and we were really close back then and he had promised to do it for me. Well when you move away, you really learn who your friends are. So keeping the promise and all my things went on the back burner. Now they all went up in flames. Well not literally. He had put them in storage. (Don't ask me why he would pay for a storage instead of just sending them to Norway is a mystery to me.) Well he didn't pay the storage and now all is lost. My heart is broken. :(

So lets talk about something good. KNITTING!
I'm still almost done. I thought I would get it done today, but with my current mood, I went slower than I hoped.
Here is where I was yesterday,

And here I am tonight,

I should be done tomorrow. After a good nights sleep, hopefully I will be up to it. :)

This is something I started a while back and wanted done for spring and summer. I was going through my knitting stash and came across this.
I really need to get a handle on my projects!

Natti natti.

Hi Everyone, hows life in Blog world?

2004-05-26T13:58:00.000+02:00

There was a jacket I wanted knitted for Maya, yet I didn't have time. Hard to believe a knitter not having time to do all the projects they want. Well there were a couple of reasons for this. One was that I wanted it done for the holidays. Another was I had other projects I am currently doing I want done before that. Then my last excuse is the pattern is in Norwegian which will cause it to talk longer to knit. So, I showed the pattern to my mother-in-law, who is an experienced knitter and she was happy to do it for me. :)
She came over yesterday with it all done. It looks fabulous don't you think?

She is so fast at this it makes my head spin. Well most people that knit fast can make my head spin. I do good work, but I am slow. It has always been a pet peeve of mine. I would love to be able to get more projects done than I can.

How do some of you go so fast?
Well Maya is currently napping and I am this >< close to a finished project. I will update more when I get it done. It should be tonight unless some unforseen issue. :)

Cyn~

P.S. I was thinking I could try to practice my Norwegian with my blog writing. What do you think?
Jeg tror jeg skal prøver a skrive i norsk med blog min. Hva tenker deg?

Baby radar

2004-05-23T14:40:00.000+02:00

Okay, I have snuck up to the computer and started typing. Lets see how long this lasts. It seems lately my little Maya has a computer radar and it goes off the minute I do anything in front of the computer. She is currently in the back room with her brother. Wish me luck. :)

I'm doing ok so far. I'm starting to feel better and have been doing a bit of knitting. I got another washcloth done for Ulie and have made up my own pattern. I was inspired by Wendy, well not totally. I've had a few ideas in my head for a few months now, but never did anything with them. You know those thoughts that prevent people from taking charge. Like, 'What do I know about designing.' 'It will take too long.' 'Who would buy something I created?'
All those low self esteem comments that plague when a new idea comes along and you have no idea where to start. So when Wendy brought up she was actually working on a pattern, I decided to put some of my ideas into action.
I figure, if no one likes them, I do!

She found me! At least I got something written. LOL
I'll sneak back later when I get a chance!
Ha det bra. :)

Maya's 1st Bunad

2004-05-18T22:14:00.000+02:00

Hello all,

I'm not feeling too hot. Just as I thought I was over being sick for a while, I woke up today all yucky. Well yesterday was Norway's constitution (independence) day. 17.Mai. So I guess being out in the cold wind in parades wasn't that good of an idea.

I've got a few pics to share for everyone. This first is of my little one in her first Bunad (Norways traditional dress).

Most Bunads are custom made and expensive. Unfortunately I don't have the money to go that route, so we got her a basic one. It resembles very well to the one in our family. There is another generic one that looks very wrong compared. So I am glad we found this one. (Not to mention it is extremely hard to find or see most children her age wearing bunads. Like I said they are custom made and most people wont pay the money for something that will be worn for one year.)
Here she is with her Farmor (grandma), Oldemor (great grandmother), and maybe soon to be tante (aunt). (I say maybe because she hasn't made any wedding plans with my brother-in-law as of yet.)

Now this is a picture of my son before his parade starts.

He really enjoys these days, but after a while all the walking gets to him. Yet after we picked him up out of the croud and took a little time for lunch, he was up an rearing to go again. So we headed to Åkra to visit with some family visiting from the states for the holiday.

And lastly a knitting picture.

This girl we saw sitting on the steps of town hall. She is a Russ which is what you are called when you are a senior in High School. They wear overalls with the color of their school. If you go to a general high school you would wear red, if you go to a business high school you would wear blue.
Oh yea, what does this have to do with knitting.
She is wearing the sweater I am currently knitting, a Setesdal in blue. Goes perfect with her Russ clothing.
I thought it was neat! :)

Blog mistake fixed.

2004-05-12T21:22:00.000+02:00

For some reason I had my links in black. So they weren't showing up. I had no clue since viewed links were a different color and I had viewed the ones I put so they all looked colored to me. :-P I have no clue how I messed that up, but it is now fixed. The links are now reddish and the viewed links are blue.

If you still can't see them your computer may be using a cashed version, just re-fresh and it should work fine. Sorry for the inconvenience.

I am well again. Yippy!!!

2004-05-12T20:16:00.000+02:00

I climbed out of bed yesterday!
Yet now I am playing nurse maid to my wonderful dh who caught whatever I had.

Since I have been bed ridden, I did a little mindless knitting on my Setesdal. There was too much thinking to do on the Yoke Pullover, so I took time off on that while I was sick.
Now we have my hubby's birthday coming up and 17.Mai (Norway's independence day). I also found out that we have visitors from the US at my in-laws. So it seems I may not get it done in time. I'm not a fast knitter and I have not done a few techniques it is asking for. I think I will change the deadline on this to Christmas.

Other news, I have made a new page. The link for it is on the top right. It is for my WIPs. I'm finding un-finished projects here and there, not to mention forgetting needle sizes and such. I hope this will help fix that problem of mine. :)

Sweetie just woke from her nap. Have a good day! <---Ha en fin dag!

Miss me?

2004-05-08T21:30:00.000+02:00

Hello there,
I have been a bit under the weather lying in bed playing my sons Zelda the Windwaker game. He's been real sweet about giving up his games for me! :)
He also has been a wonderful help with Maya this past week, I feel the need to do something special for him after I am all better.

My dh has been taking care of me all week also. So I didn't mind him going play his Epic war game today. He had made plans before I got sick, but would have willingly canceled if I asked. He loves these games! So I relaxed all day (these games literally take all day!) with Zelda and Ulie playing with Maya. He was so happy when he got home he picked up a gift for me. Italian ice cream!!! Cappuccino!!! This stuff is SOOOO good!!! And not cheap either. He is SO sweet!!!

As for knitting, I am going slow. I'm to a point where it is a little confusing on the Pullover, yet my mind is too fuzzy to really think about it. I figure if I don't get it done by my friends birthday I will give it to her for Christmas. Not a great time to have a deadline when you can't think. So I rather put it off so it comes out good instead of half as good.

On other news, I've gotten 2 more flags done for the Nordic KniBlogs. Four all together so far. Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. I'm doing a knitting motif and am a bit stuck on the Greenland and the Sami flags (I found out they were a part of the Nordic countries from this page). Well they have a circle in the flag and I'm not sure how I will do this yet. I have so many stitches on the knitted motif. I may have to get a new one with more stitches and rows to pull it off. :-/

Well, hopefully I will be up to par soon.
Happy knitting!
Lykke til med strikkingen!

Cyn~

Nordic KnitBlogs

2004-05-04T17:05:00.000+02:00

Hi there all, hope everyone is doing great!

Still Spring cleaning here. I have a little 14 month old keeping me on my toes, so things are going slow. Which dosen't bother me one bit. She is such a cutie!

Other reasons my cleaning is going so slow. I've got a few projects I'm working on. One is the Lace Yoke Pullover. I am about 25% done, so I really need to get my tush in gear if I am gonna get it done before my friends birthday.

Seems my only time on the computer or knitting has been when cutie is taking a nap. Yet she dosen't mind me cleaning when she is up tho! LOL

That is not all I've bee working on. As some know I have started a web-ring called Nordic KnitBlogs.
Which has been taking off nicely. :) (If you want to join feel free)

Well I've been trying to make a tag or logo for the list and came up with an
idea that I thought was cute. Flags. Since there are several countries in the
Nordic area, I thought I would make a flag for each one and the bloggers that
are members can download the flag of thier country. Good idea?
I've made 2 so far. Norway's flag (of course since that is where I live) and
Denmark. Well here they are...

Please let me know what you think of them.

If you figured out that my little Maya is taking a nap, you're correct. So I am going to get a bit of knitting done before she wakes up.

Have a great day all! Ha en god dag!

Found it!

2004-04-30T23:12:00.000+02:00

Guess what!!! I found my camera!
It was on the TV. I never put it there. Yet it was there in plain view for 3 days. Can you believe that?

Well I took a pic of the Lace Yoke Pullover.

Last time I only could find a pic of the front of the magazine. So I figured those who didn't have a copy of it were curious to what the pullover looked like. :)

Well little cutie has been wanting Mommy a lot and I'm trying to get a bit of spring cleaning done, so I have only gotten so far with it. I plan on putting up progress bars soon for all my WIP's. I have a tendency to forget things I am working on. I'm also gonna make a WIP page so I can keep track of yarns, dye lots and needle sizes just in case I forget. I've done that a few times and had to rip a few things out.

Any one have other ways of keeping track?

Oh well, we have 3 more additions to the web-ring Nordic KnitBlogs. 12 so far, not bad for the first week! :)
Ha en god helg! <---- Have a great weekend!

I lost my camera!!!

2004-04-28T22:05:00.000+02:00

I can't believe I lost it! I've looked everywhere!
Well I guess I have to just tell you what I've done with no pics.

First off I still haven't gotten to the next pattern on my Setesdal yet. I forgot I was gonna make a summer top for a friend for her birthday and it is rapidly approaching! So I've dropped everything to get it done. The pattern is from Vogue Knitting Holiday 2003 issue and called Lace Yoke Pullover

I went over to my lys and didn't find any yarn I liked at a reasonable price. So I went over to Sparkjoep (kinda like a mini walmart) And got some Gjestal baby yarn. It is 100% Merino wool. I have to double strand it to get the gauge, which is fine with me.

As for my new web-ring Nordic KnitBlogs there have been no new sign-ups today. Yet the first few days we got 9! Not bad to start off with!
I know there are more Nordic Blogs out there, so don't be shy! We want you a part of this so we can get to know you!!!

A BIG Hello to Justyna! I didn't know you left KME4U. I just thought you were as quiet as I was on the group. It was so great to hear from you! I'll send you a private e-mail soon!

Well this was the first chance I got away from the little one who wants my attention again. She is growing a new tooth and has been experimenting with walking. All things that cause extra neediness. I love being a Mommy!!!!

Morning world

2004-04-26T12:22:00.000+02:00

How is everyone today?

I have a notice, if you haven't already heard form Theresa, I've started a web-ring. It is for Nordic Knitters. Nordic KnitBlogs is for anyone who has a knitting blog and lives in any of the Nordic countries. Now be patient. I have just started this and still learning. If you have any comments or helpful hints feel free to post them or e-mail me. In the meantime, feel free to join! :)

On to other news.
This weekend we went looking around for tiles. A little while back we had our kitchen gutted and re-done.We went through an Italian company called Vabene. To go with it we picked a white marbleish countertops and now need to get tiles.
Once dh gets home, we are off to look at more.

I got a bit of knitting done, but not enough to really post about. On the Setesdal, about 10 cm. I have about 6 more to go till the beginning of the arm section and next pattern style on it. Then got half way done on ds' 2nd washcloth.

Hopefully I will have more to post about later. :)

Cyn~

Missed my boy!

2004-04-23T13:37:00.000+02:00

So how is everyone this fine day?

Well, he's here! He got home yesterday with all smiles. He had a blast at the camp-out with his class. He loved fishing and everything. :)
Now he is glad to be home and back to his games. LOL

As for knitting, not much got done. Hanging out with my handsome son. (Boy did I miss him!) Then this morning we had an appointment for him. So while he was in with the doc, dh and I took a walk and landed at the LYS. So I got to browse some new patterns from Dale. It seems a lot are not available on the net. Too bad I can't afford to buy them all since I'd have to get the yarn to go with it. I can't quite afford that.

Dh had to rush me out since we had to get back to pick up Ulie, so I didn't grab any sample brochures. Next time, I promise!

Well in yesterdays comments, Chelsea asked about my resource. As I said in reply to the comment, it is my mother-in-law. She has been doing this for years. So I thought I would post a pic of my handsome son in the last sweater she knitted for him.

The pattern is from Idena called 'Skoeytetroppens offisielle VM-Genser' 2004. Meaning 'The Norwegian Ice Skating teams official World Championship Sweater 2004'
and a pic of dd's in hers.

Isn't my mil talented? She did these so fast! I wish I was that good!!!

Have a great day all!

Cyn~

2004-04-22T20:56:00.000+02:00

Fun and spunky, you link, there for you are! This
is all fun and games, and you do what you
damned well please!

What kind of blogger am I?
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He's coming home today!

2004-04-22T10:47:00.000+02:00

My ds has been to camp with his class. He's finally coming home today, YIPPY!
Before he left he asked me to knit him a washcloth for the trip, but he asked the day before. I only got half done. So Hopefully he will still want it since I did finish it.

The red on is what he asked for, but I started a blue one too. His favorite characters are Sonic and Knuckles, blue and red. I have a feeling he will find other uses for them other than washing his face. LOL

In other news, we have to replace our car. There is a requirement in Norway to get your car checked up every couple of years. The WHOLE car! So this year there are so many minor details and a lot of rust damage that we cannot afford to fix it. It is actually cheaper to replace it. So we found a guy that is unloading his used car for a really cheap price. So here is our new car.

Well, I'm off to knit some more before Maya wakes for her first nap.
Ha en fin dag! <---- Have a nice day. :)

Cyn~

WOW, Check it out!

2004-04-21T08:16:00.000+02:00

I'm actually posting in this blog! I've stopped knitting for a few days to get this one up and running. There are a few things I wanted to do with my blog that I couldn't do over at Live Journal
So I will turn that one into just a place to ramble and this one into my knitting blog. I like the community over there, so I don't really want to give it up.

As for knitting, I have a few projects in the works.
I have a sweater I HAVE to finish! it is for a cousins new baby. I also did a blanket for her, but haven't sent it yet. I wanted to get both in the package. (I will have to mail them to her.)
Another is a Ribbed sweater for my daughter. Peach and mint green.

It is from the book Quick Baby Knits by Debbie Bliss.
Also the last project I finished was from the same book. Which I think came out great!

I am also doing a sweater for a friend of my husbands. It is a Norwegian pattern in Norwegian. So it is going slow. It is called Setesdal Genser (Genser is Norwegian for Sweater).

Now that has been a bit of a pain in the tush! First off my Norwegian isn't that great yet. Secondly I've only done texture knitting but never dual colors. So that is a first. Plus it is knitted in the round and that is a first too.
Not to mention I've had to frog it 3 TIMES! I'm getting close to the next pattern for the yoke and my mother-in-law (Gunn) is helping me with the translation says I have to increase and purl where it will be streeked for the arms. She seemed a bit unsure. LOL My guess is she is use to Dale of Norway patterns and this was a Peer Gynt. I just hope she is right so I won't have to frog it again!

Well thats enough to bring you all up to date.
Oh one more project. For my son, a washcloth. Something he has been wanting. He just went to camp with his school (and I miss him!!!). Well he asked for one just before he left. The DAY before he left. Little too short notice. I got half done before he walked out the door. Oh well, at least he will have a nice cloth when he gets home. :)

Have a great day all!

Cyn~

Hi everyone and anyone,

2004-01-27T16:05:00.000+01:00

I finally started one of these blogs! I love knitting and trying other crafts. I also love to share with others what I am doing and finding out what others are making.

I've never been a good journalist, so we will see how this goes. Since I have always wanted to document projects I am doing and things I've finished, hopefully this will prove to be a good place for me to do this.

Welcome to my Blog. :)