the 10 km scarf / WIP Wednesday

No, I have not gone completely mad and are planning to make a 10 km scar by my self. Im to easily bored to even finish of Baktus...

It's going to my my contribution to the 10 km scarf project, which started out here in Umeå, and have spread through Sweden, and also Europe. It's a joint projects where the goal is to knit a 10 km long scarf that is going to be show cased in 2014 when Umeå is the Europan culture capital. After that, the scarf is going to be cut up and made in to blankets and normal sized scarf for a orphanage in Russia for handicapped children. The combination of joined effort, a big ass scarf and charity really makes is something special, I think.

So, this week I started my contribution. I had almost 1 skein of Natur Uld left over from Owls which is the grey, the yellow is the yarn used for Maplewood (which are finished by the way, and will be posted on Friday) and the hot pink I just started with is just something I had laying about.

The only rules for the scarf is size 5 needles, 40 stitches, then knit away! So anyone can do it, newbie or pro. I chose garter stitch for fast progress and then a simple braid to keep me from going garter-mental.The scarf all in all is about 3600 meters atm, so there is quite a bit to go. Hopefully the project will keep on spreading and more people can chime in with a couple of inches here and there.

If you want to join in, just send me a message and i can provide more info and also give my address so you can send your contribution, and I'll make sure it gets delivered, with proper reference to you of course.

50 cm down, quite a bit to go. I'm aiming for 2 meters to start with.

Latest thrift finds / Map, Tin, Cotton, Pattern

Thought I might show some finds from my lastest thrift shop rummage. Above is a framed old map over the nordic countries (with Latin names). Pretty happy about this one, since we really lack decorations for our walls, and my husband is very fond of maps. Need to hang it still, but our wall is concrete so it's easier said then done.

I also found a small baking tin with a nice triangular pattern, about 3 yards of turquoise cotton fabric for about 20 sek (3 usd) and a nice cape/coat/jacket Burda pattern (paid a measly 10 sek, 1,50 usd, for that one).

It was a good day.

Owls finally finished

Owls. Such a pretty pattern, such a fast knit.
Then how come it took me about 3 years to get this done?
I have no idea, but now it's finished, so lets leave all that behind. This is actually my first "big" project. Something went amiss in the back, I think i might have attached the sleeves at the wrong place. Anyway, it left me with a big bulge on the back, so I improvised some pleats and now I don't think any one notices.

Knitted with Natur Uld from Hjertegarn. You can get the pattern here.
If i where to do it again I would probably chose a less bulky yarn. It is very warm. Very. So it makes for a good cozy sweather for cold evenings, but it is hard to wear as an everyday sweather, which I would have liked to.

Have a nice weekend, and check out some other FO's at Tamis Amis

Who needs flower arrangements?

This is how i store my baktus scarf at the moment. Just as pretty as flowers, less maintenance. 

The vase is from the 60s designed by Mari Simmulson, and gifted to me by my mother for my last birthday. 

Baktus Scarf half way done / WIP wednesday

My baktus scarf is coming along slowly but steadily. It has become my socializng knit, since you can knit it and still hold an intelligent (more or less) conversation. It might be the reason that the edges is coming out a bit wonky but I don't think it's something a good blocking can't help, or in worst case, a crochet edging.

I've just reached half way, and started decreasing. The pic above is a decent representation of the color shifts, although a bit washed out by the sunlight (taken with my iphone). 

So thats my WIP atm, since i finished off my Maplewood mitts yesterday. Results to come, but I'm very pleased with the results.

Don't forget to check out some other WIP projects over at Tami's Amis, how enourmosly cute aren't these daisy shoes by Ginx Craft for example? Or the so-far headless gnome by Amination 

New fabric and a crafty schedule

When to the thrift shop with my sister in law yesterday and cam home with this little pile of awsome fabric. It's quite thin and airy (and here is were yo realize I know absolutely nothing about fabrics), so I'm probably gonna make an infinity scarf out of it.  I love the charming pattern shifts, i got if for 25 sek (3.96 us dollar) and it's about 3 yards I'd say.

I also bought an old sheet just because i needed some yardage for a experimental sewing project I've got in mind..

In other news i have quite a crafty week ahead of me. Today I'm gonna check out a knitting café I haven't been to yet, in one of the yarn shops in town. Tomorrow I have some sewing planned, possibly with good company and a glass of wine. Thursday spells my usual knitting café (which will be the first time post-op, yay). I also need to get my sewing machine situation sorted, which probably means buying a new one. Sigh, I wish i could keep my old Husqvarna Automatic, but I'm simply not knowledgable enough to get it running smoothly.

Thrift find touch up / Retro chairs with new upholstery

We picked up two new chairs for the board game table (yes, we have a designated board game table) at one of the local thrift stores last week. I like the style of them, but the old fabric was a bit old and.. ugly. So i gave them some new pale green upholstery.

I think the the style of the chairs go well with our retro couch (peaking out in the background above), and the pale green doesn't clash with the orange, which is proving to be a tricky color to decorate around.

Original upholstery

 A good thing with this kind of DIY projects is that you can make it look nice and smooth from the outside, and it doesn't matter that the under side of it looks like a mess.

10 + DIY projects with buttons!

Because of the big button bag gifted to me through the Make & Create give away, I decided to compile a list of some fun DIY projects with buttons. I've made sure all of them include tutorials or instructions of some sort, because i find it so annoying when you see this interesting project, but have no idea how to go about it. I think the monogram and the magnets are probably my favourites.

Button Book Marks from iheartnaptime.net

Button Magnets from Big Box Detox

Button Necklace, from Yellow and Backbird

 Or another kind of Button Necklace, from Adventures of a DIY mom

Button Monogram from the Stonybrook House

Button Earings from Artsy-fartsy Mama

Button Tree Ornaments from Beneath the Rowan Tree

 Button Flowers from Craft and Creativity

Button Bowl from Kumquat and Junebug

Button Headband from Crafted

Heart Button Cushion from All About You

Button Embelished Cards from Martha Steward

Happy Crafting!

The anatomy of a Semla / Semeldagen

Semla, here with intact top

Us Swedes seem to like having days designated to different sorts of bakery, we have waffle day, cinnamon bun day, and the most important of all, Semel day (Semeldagen/Fettisdagen). I don't know much about the other cases (I usually eat, content without knowing why precisely)  but this one has to do with being the last tuesday before the christian fast (which about not  many care about in Sweden, but we like our bakery).

Swedish blogs has been tattered with Semlor the last week, and Im gonna be no better. Bur for those of you not from these freezing bakery-goodness filled corner of the world i thought I'd present something helpful.

The Anatomy of the Semla!

Recipe? Ask Google, thats what I did.
Almond paste, I can tell you, is something close to marzipan, but with more almonds. Very easy to make your self with a food processor, 50% almonds, 50% sugar. Tada! Mine was store bought, because i didn't feel like it.

I am hereby placing my self in a bakery quarantine until further notice. I've become like Shirley the last couple of weeks...

Have a nice Semel evening!

Consolid... I'm-fantastic-prize

I got a happy suprise in the mail the other day. Well, kind of suprise, I knew something was on the way, since i was declared on of the winners of a consolation prize in the Craft & Creativity / Make & Create give away over at Hildas Hem.

Consolation prize sounds so.. sad, so I chose to see my self as one of 10 in second place!

So, I recived a nice blue parcel, with some tiny clothepins and glittery hama beads taped with to the front. And inside it was..

Half a kilo of colorful buttons in every size imaginable, from super tiny to really big and chunky!
Look at them! Don't they cheer you up just by their pure buttonessnes? (Yes I am making up words)

I spent a good long while sorting through them, and inspecting all the different kinds. In the end I sorted them roughly by size so that finding the right kind for the right project would be a bit easier.

Oh, and I found this one.

I'm not quite sure what it means? You love to make babies? You'd love to, Baby? (Love to what? Are you hitting on me, button?)

Big questions.

Anyway, I have a tutorial round up comming your way in honor to this great pile of buttons, so stay tuned for that.

WIP Wednesday / Maplewood

So, it's Wednesday again and time to post som knitting progress. Last week I was missing in action due to doctors carving in my back, while heavily drugged (me, not the doctors. I think.). But this week I'm back on track, and as soon as my nausea subsided I got started on a pair of Maplewood mittens.

I've started these once before, while trying to figure out two at once knitting, but I was way of gauge, so I had to rip out and start over. This time I do them one by one, and lo and behold, Im already on my second one, and determined that no one-sock/mitten curse shall fall over this project.

It's a fun knit, and quite fast. I had to rip out about 15 rows on the second mitten, since I made the common misstake of doing another right hand mitten. It's almost tradition to do this, right?

I have managed to do a couple of rows on the baktus scarf as well, but it is boooring ( but pretty).

Check out what some other blogging peeps has been working on over at Tami's Amis.

Raspberry Sugar Cookies and Brownies - post Op baking

I get better each day, it's such a great feeling. The nausea is getting much better, and i have been able to do some knitting. Yesterday I ventured outside for the first time since the Op, all the way to the trash bin (although my knees where shaking afterwards). I even got some baking done , so a lot of things are possible with some well planned rest-sessions inbetween.

Raspberry Sugar Cookies - simple is often better

First, I made raspberry sugar cookies. It's just a basic batch of sugar cookie dough (without egg) such as this (for Swedes, I used this one)

* you roll it into small balls
* place them in paper baking cases/cups (not the giant muffin version)
* make a dent in the middle of each one and place a raspberry.

Bake for about 10 min (til' they looke nice and slightly brown) in 200° C  (approx 390° F)

I would say that is my best tip for sucess with these cookies, to go for whole raspberrys (frozen is fine) instead of (the traditional) jam. Jam tends to float out during baking and make them messy looking, and the cookies are sweet enough as it is.

I also made Brownies, something I'm not as familiar with. I used this recipe from Instructables.

Yummy Brownies from Instructables

They turned out fantastic, with the perfect gooeyness in the middle with a bit of crust on the edges. Mmmh.. They reminded me of the brownies my first longtime boyfriends mother used to make, a giant batch for all his firends. That, I think, really played into why we mosly hung around his place.

The recipe was a bit annoying since it was divided into pages, and the amounts where listed on the first page, and the instrucions on the following pages. But since the result was so good I forgive them.

I hade to bake it way longer than instructed, but I think that has to do more with our highly unpredictable oven than anything else.

That was yesterday. Today I have eaten them (not all of it...yet.), and made this blog post, and that is about it.

Closed for Renovations

What started out as a doctors appointment this Monday ended with a disc herniation operation. It was no supprise that It was going to happend, just that it was going to happend this week. I've spent 2 days at the hospital and are now at home recovering. I've recived flowers from friends and family in the other end of the country and visits from friends and family here at home, and my husband is Florence Nightingale reincarnated.

 I'm so glad to have it done, it was a long time comming, but the painkillers are making me stupid and i still feel quite dizzy, so I'll have to take some time of from both tinkerin and studying. Perhas I can get some knitting done on my Baktus scarf, but right now staring at stitches makes me queasy.

This blogpost is by far the most productive thing i've managed since the operation, teeth brushing on a close second place, so I'll leave it at this.

Be back soon, new and improved, with functions such as painfree sitting and walking.
Fantastic, right?