From a picture on @garnmagasinet on instagram, I got the idea to knit 24 miniature mittens as an advent calendar. It did not take me long to find paper and pencils, and draw the first pattern. As I knit I discover a few mistakes, but correct as I go, and mitten number 2 will be perfect.......I hope :-)
A new episode in my knitting pod today. The book I read from is The Borrowers by Mary Norton. I got the book for my birthday when I was eight and got so fascinated when I read that the wool was winded up to be shaped like eggs :-)
I plan to do themes on my knitting account on instagram this winter, starting with wrist warmers in November. I use Norwegian, my mother tongue, on instagram. You should be able to translate with the help of google. The Norwegian word for wrist warmers is pulsvarmere, directly translated to pulse warmers. You see, Norwegian can be quite easy when you know English.......some times ;-)
For me the wrist warmer adventure actually started with socks. Long before the colourful, especially designed sock yarn came to Norway, I think it was the German company Regia which was first out, I discovered the Regia sock yarn through a friend in Germany, Gabi.
A Norwegian craft magazine, Norsk Husflid, heard about my socks and a great pair of shoes Gabi had given me, and wanted to make an article about me and my socks. I was busy working every day then, so the journalist came to see me in my office in the Archbishop´s Palace in Trondheim and took me out to make some great shots in the historical environments.
After the story was published in the magazine, I think it was in 2002, I got a little gift in the mail, a book about wrist warmers decorated with tiny little beads. I made my first pair, I started to use them, and I was hooked.
Now I have a wrist warmer collection. And the collection is growing :-)
As I already said, wrist warmers will be my special theme on instagram in November. you find my instagram account here:
Some of you might follow my knitting blog maskerade. Here is today´s post:
The joy of starting a new project
A new baby is due in January, and I am busy knitting for this new little family member. I have had so many ideas in my head and my heart, for months the ideas have been flying around, but it was not until yesterday I finally sat down with paper and my coloured pencils, trying to transfer some of it into a pattern.
I bought the yarn many weeks ago. Not because I had a specific plan how to use it, but because I fell in love. With then colours, with the softness of the fibers. Lille lerke (little lark) from Dale of Norway, 50% merino wool, 50% Egyptian cotton. I know it will be perfect for a winter baby.
Today I am doing the very first knit and purl. The start of a new project is always the best, and from there it only gets better.......
I was so sure that I have taken you along every step of the Leander sweater, but now when I scroll down to see the latest posts here, I see that I have not showed you any progress in a long time. Shame on my! I have had quite a few updates on instagram though, on @brittarnhildsstrikkedagbok.
I have been working on Leander´s kofte, cardigan, for several months. From the very start when I drew the pattern, combining traditional designs from the Faroe Island and Norway, then choosing yarn ands colours, and then weeks and weeks of knitting.
And now I have come to the last part, the most difficult part but also the most exciting part. Sew and cut and put together.
Leander´s kofte is almost done, and when it is, I will start designing a new patters.......for another little baby. Ingrid is expecting her second in January :-)
It is Saturday morning, it is March 17th, and this winter seems to be a never ending story. The temperatures are finally predicted to rise a little today though, but the snow is still deep outside and in the green house everything is deeply frozen. I have got a naughty cough, so here I am, indoors, with a fire burning in the fireplace, a huge mug of hot water with lemon and ginger, birds busy out in the feeders, and a knitting which grows and grows and grows.......quite slowly.
I have many unfinished projects waiting, and didn´t actually plan to start this new cardigan sweater now. But then it started to play in my mind all by itself, I drew the first patterns, I bought yarn, I told myself I would just give it a start and then take it with me abroad next week to work on over Easter.......and now I can hardly put it down. The pattern changes all the time, and I want to see the next row only, and then then next, and the next.......you know the feeling, don´t you :-)
I do give myself the luxury of knitting slow though. The intricate pattern means that I can´t knit fast anyway, but I slow it down deliberately as well. Enjoying every stitch, let my fingers be caressed by the yarn, the wool, let my thoughts wander, knitting in a prayer here, purling in a prayer there.
Last night I told Terje: "Now I know what to do in my next career, in my next life! I will be a knitter. A full time hand knitter!"
I have been working on my vlog the last few days, my YouTube video blog, sorting the videos into playlists. So far I have nine videos in the "My knitting" playlist. You find them all here:
Spring is going to be late here in my corner of the world this year. I long to start working in the green house, but so far everything is deeply frozen. The garden is covered in a thick layer of snow, and more snow is predicted next week.
A lot more!
I do have quite some fun to occupy me with while waiting though. Like designing new knitting patters.......
All texts and photos by Britt-Arnhild Wigum Lindland
About me
About me
I am living in a red house surrounded by a blue garden near Trondheim, Norway. I love everydays and post about my steps through life. Britt-Arnhild's House in the Woods is open to everybody. Welcome over!
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