Tuesday, May 31, 2016

A day for dress up


This is a bunad, in size 4-7, purchased at Oslo Husfilden in 1984 for my daughter.  She didn't wear it much, certainly not once a year... until she grew out of it.  It was a sentimental/impulse purchase as we were leaving Norway.  Actually, it was my husband's idea, and I thought at first it was just silly, but the longer I have it, the happier I am!  Especially now that my granddaughter who is half Norwegian can get lots of use out of it.  
Define: lots...
lots= once a year or more. 
It is very plain compared to most "bunads".  Others have beads, embroidery, shawls, capes, and woven braid trim, and are longer.  I think it's lovely, and with her Norwegian grandmother's jewellery, it's good enough to get a special report in the local newspaper.  


How does it fit a 4 year old and a 7 year old?  It is heavily hemmed, and the side and shoulder seams are overlapped so they can be opened up.  It should be good for one more year!

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Knitting red


Icterine with my iPad mini for perspective
The Norwegians celebrate the 17th of May with lots of RED, white and blue.  That's why I used all my "free" time to finish and block this shawl.  It's called a CURL, however, mine didn't curl much, and it could have used another 2-3 skeins.  
LOOK at what the blocking did!!  The cables were 8x8 and really thick and bulky until a soak and a stretch produced this great design!  
If you look at the above photo closely, you might notice a bangle and beads in the bottom corner.  I intended to dress it up with a row of these.  It didn't happen, because life goes on, so I might get to it another time.  Should they be placed randomly or along an edge?

The Pattern:  My Ravelry Link

The Yarn:
Sport / 5 ply, 100% Merino   136 yards / 50 grams 

Monday, May 23, 2016

And Norway


For my now and future knitting friends... A shopping trip to Panduro (craft store) in Bergen, looking for buttons, I discovered a bit of Iceland.  ---Heaven!

Sunday, May 22, 2016

Pre-Iceland visit or KEF

A 2 hour stopover at the airport leaves me just enough time to snap a few pictures from the duty-free gift store:


Enough to entice... but wait, there's more!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Good Eats


Western New York!  A visit there a few weeks ago coincided with a Friday, and Western New Yorkers know what THAT means...  Fish Fry!  
My visit also coincided with the season opening of The National Hotel, in Cuylerville.  It was a family affair, with owners/operators being friends/family, and it was lovely as always.
Cuylerville, you might look it up, but whatever you find, may or may not include this local history: 
WAY back, there were native Americans living here who took offence to the newly self-acclaimed Americans marching around.  Everyone got treated badly, and there's a tree and a park reminding us of it. (See Boyd & Parker.)  
Cuylerville in the last century was the home of my grandparents, and my father attended high school there until it closed (1945).  
Cuylerville later became the home of my other grandparents just as the salt mine was relocating, and lots of people relocated with it.  (My favorite "growing up with grandma" story is my grandma's reaction to my collection of snakes in a (meant to be planting spot) tractor tire in the front yard. She thought it was funny. My mother did not!)
Cuylerville has other colourful stories that I'll ignore at this time, but I just want to say, I'm kind of attached to the place.  All four streets!

Tuesday, May 10, 2016

Quiet

In the "Quiet Car"...

Needles...sssshh!
No talking, no listening to music (even with headphones),  and a suggestion to use a touch keyboard...no clicks.  But the train!  What a racket!  And the automatic doors?  Shup, shup, .... Shup,
"--Neste stasjon Levanger. Avstigning på høyre side."

Sunday, May 8, 2016

Could be worse?




The sun shineth, at 9 pm...

Activity outside;  it's Spring!

You bet!
As a knitter, I'm probably typical in that I expect results that will please me. Patterns can be ornery, and I don't mind starting over to gain more pleasing results.
But travel? I plan, plan, rethink, check and recheck, expecting that I have chosen the best plan for smooth sailing. Yet, what can go wrong?
1. Weather (snow storms on Christmas Day)
2. Mechanical failure (no arguing there...a broken plane?)
3. Accidents (can't protect yourself from stupid)
4. Holidays in May IN NORWAY!

Yep, number 4 got me again. And even the ticket machine, upon producing a "valid for one hour" ticket announced that there would be a train in 21 minutes. Yet when I turned around and saw the monitor, nada! I failed to notice that my Monday through Friday only train means that when "Ascension Day" (that highly anticipated holy day) falls on Thursday, Thursday is not Monday through Friday. The trains that normally run every hour, run every two hours.
So, I had to sit in the sunlight of evening, staring at the train tracks and the mountains, and ...knit!

Thursday, May 5, 2016

Camp life

A tour around camp... Inspirations

Activities, if we have time!

Early Spring

Goodie bags!

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

The hometown Diner

The specials menu at Brian's in Mt. Morris!  Oh, I wish it was a better picture...I had the Hog Melt.
Click to enlarge.

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Design elements


A photo taken of a photo during Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's workshop in Efficient knitting.  It was incredibly fun and funny, and she sure has a way of telling a story!

I've been using her method of knitting "lever" style.  However, I needed a few tips at breakfast the next morning to adapt it to circular needles.  It works!

Monday, May 2, 2016

Fling time

We enjoyed the Loopy Ewe Spring Fling in Loveland, Colorado. Here's a taste...
Jenny enjoying a feel of the shawls designed by Franklin Habit.  His lecture was super interesting, and he could hardly speak from hoarseness.
Outside our room window, the Great Plains punctuated by the Budweiser event center.

The attached conference center hosted "The Loopy Lounge", open day and night for knitting, complete with ball winder, swift, and water!

And I got to pose with a fun, gracious Yarn Harlot, while she held my sock!

Then there was the trip to The Loopy Ewe shop in Fort Collins.

Lots of tempting fiber and fabric!

And a shot of the group shot from behind.
Ewe

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