Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods

A coleus and a knitted cardigan

@brittarnhild

Some years ago I designed a pattern for a knitted cardigan based in a coleus (plant) in the AirB&B we were staying in in Stockholm. These last days we've seen many coleus as outdoor summer plants in Sweden, and as I had brought my cardigan, which I have called #solistockholm (sun in Stockholm) I could not resist asking Terje to shoot these pictures in the garden of our hotel in Kalmar.

I often use nature as inspiration in my knitting, and the coleus leaf was a lot of fun to work with.

We are leaving Kalmar today, starting to drive north. But before we go we will do a hike out on Öland, the island in the Baltic Sea.

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Under a lucky star

@brittarnhild

I woke up under a lucky star this morning. As always I checked my Facebook wall before breakfast, and the first thing which met my eyes were a post from the Swedish knit designer Lotta Lundin/KnittingLotta. She has a new book out and would drive down from Stockholm to Norrköping today with all her patterns, her knitting collection and the new book. There she would be at Färgargården (and old outdoor museum and café) from 11am till 4pm. I checked google maps, and YES!, Norrköping was exactly on the way we were to drive from Nyköping (where we have spent two nights) to Kalmar (where we will spend the coming three nights). And it would be perfect timing for us to have lunch there.

I discovered Lotta a few years back and kind of fell in love with many of her designs. I started to follow her on instagram, she followed me back, we sent a few messages to and from, and two years ago she invited me and Terje to come and fika in her little garden lot outside Stockholm.

With my deep love for kolonihager or garden lots, and especially the many different ones we have explored in Stockholm together with our son Torgeir, who lives there, it was a dream coming true.

Then today, this lucky star fell upon me, and I met Lotta again.

Her patterns are amazing. You can look her up on Ravelry and see for yourself.

I bought her new book of course, and can't wait to explore it.

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By the way, Torgeir, our son in Stockholm, came down to meet us today, and will travel with us for the coming couple of days.

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Preparing for a road trip

@brittarnhild

Terje and I are going to Sweden tomorrow, on a 10 (or more) days roadtrip.
So many exciting things are planned, and this time I really hope to be able to take you along as we go.
May be I can blog in the car, if I find no other options :-)

One thing I definitely will do in the car is knitting.
I have been busy working on this cardigan the last few days to finish both sleeves and put it all together. Now I can knit for a long time without thinking.......almost.

The pattern in my cardigan/kofte is something I have designed myself, inspired by a roadtrip two years ago when we drove over a mountain south in Norway.

 

When a little girl loves yellow and pink

@brittarnhild

Our granddaughter Vida celebrated her 3rd birthday a week ago. 
Vida is a devoted doll mummy, and she loves yellow and pink.

For her birthday we gave her a pink pram for her dolls. A real pram, just a little bit smaller than the pram her newborn baby sister has. And I crocheted a blanket for her dolls. A blanket in yellow and pink.

Vida´s baby sister, Eline, was born one week before Vidas birthday.
I could not crochet just one doll blanket. Of course I had to make two.

Now Vida has a yellow and pink blanket for her dolls.
And she has a yellow and pink blanket for her baby sister, a living doll.

 

Last day, with show and tell

@brittarnhild

The last day has come, too fast as always. Tomorrow we are leaving, some of us to fly home, some to continue our Italian adventures. It has been a very productive and creative week, and now it is time to show what we have knitted.

Sofia has been our teacher during the week, showing us how to make two of her beautiful mitten patterns. And look what amazing work the group has done!

I already have the mittens, and decided to do my own work during the week. A pair of wrist warmers with irises embroidered on, and something I am not sure what to cal, it is the very beginning of what I hope will be a huge Bible blanket or board. 1.Mosebok means Genesis.

Paola baked us an apple pie for the last afternoon tea,

and loads of photos of the group were shot.

 

A day in Firenze/Florence

@brittarnhild

During every retreat at Santa Maria we have one day where we leave the place to visit some special sights or places nearby. This time we wanted to go to Firenze, and left Santa Maria just after an early breakfast to take to bus to this amazing city of arts.

Our main goal was Museo Nazionale di San Marco and the most extensive collection of Fra Angelico´s work. The museum is still a monastery, as it has always been, and the paintings and murals were painted "on the spot" hundreds of years ago.

Annunciation was what we all wanted to see of course,

and knitters as we are, we couldn't help noticing the angels wings. What about making this pattern into a knitted shawl :-)

While I stood looking at the painting I overheard the conversation between two other viewers:
"Not only protecting her womb, but also protecting herself from what is required of her"

 

The duomo was next on our list. Unfortunately it was closed for tourists that day, but you can always come inside for prayers. Which some of us did.

After lunch we had a few hours to do what we wanted. I left the group to "run" over to the railway station  to get my train tickets to Venezia/Venice.

On my way back to the others, I passed a tiny little antique shop, which I could not resist. There I found a basket full of vintage santons, quite cheap. I bought The Magi, the three wise men, and they are now part of my always growing nativity collection.

I also found time to sit down with a huge ice cream. After all, Firenze is the Mecca of gelatos.

 

A new day with needles

@brittarnhild

   

At Santa Maria every day starts, and ends, in the church. With reading from the Scripture, hymns, prayers and silence.

And only then we are ready to start painting the fresh, new day.

We continue to knit. We have lunch, we have tea, we hike, we talk. And always we knit.

Just before lunch we had a visitor, the Norwegian knit designer Kari Hestnes, who now lives in Tuscany. Kari told us about her amazing life as a knit designer, and showed us a few of the many knitting books she has made.

 

Stitch by stitch

@brittarnhild

Sofia (you can find her on instagram as @sofiastales) is a knit designer. Among her many designs are a series of beautiful mittens, and for this retreat she has picked two mitten patterns, leading the participants during the process of knitting them.

The group of knitters, from Norway and Sweden, are all avid knitters, and soon beautiful mittens are on their way.

No rain today, and even though it is nice to have a light cardigan, we can sit outside.

Today is The Day of the Swedish Flag, "Svenska flaggans dag" and also Sofias birthday. One of the participants picks her a bouquet of wild flowers and Paola bakes a strawberry cream cake.

If the night is clear, we can see all the way down to Firenze/Florence

 

Stillness

@brittarnhild

I still remember the first time I visited my parents in law to be, almost 45 years ago. My bedroom was up in the attic, and I could not sleep because everything was so quiet. I was used to live close to a busy street, something I am today as well, and there you could here no cars, and very few sounds from nature as well. It was this same stillness I experienced last night in my bed in the small room where I have spent so many night before. Sharing one wall with the church, old stones, serene, and quiet. A good stillness, but how to sleep? Then I heard the well known sounds of the tawny owl, which we hear every night at our cabin, and with it, sleep came.

The knitting retreat has started. Everybody has arrived and I can feel it will be a good and blessed week.
Sofia and I had a quiet morning, spending some time together after breakfast for the last preparations, knitting together, talking together, laughing together, being still together.

 

Paola and her two helpers, Ann Karin from Germany and Anna from Italy (it is Anna you see in the picture above) were busy in the kitchen,

and just in time for lunch the first participants arrived.

It has been raining on and off most of the day. Good for the nature, and we manage anyway.

Preparing for a travel

@brittarnhild

Sunday Terje and I are flying south to Tenerife, one of the Canary Islands. Our 9th trip there, and the first one after the pandemics.

 

Today I have been making plans for some knitting I want to bring with me, a pair of wrist warmers inspired by the amazing paradise bird flowers which grow on the islands. Already on our first visit there, back in 2011, I fell in love with the beautiful flowers, and could not stop taking pictures of them.

I am no painter, but I love doing it anyway, so today I tried to make a watercolour to use as a kind of pattern for my knitting.

Painting is one thing, finding the correct yarn/colours is quite another. I do think I am into something now though (I have done some changes after I took the photos) and really look forward to start knitting.

And to shoot more photos all through next week.