unspun (a day too late...)

I tend to push deadlines. That's why, on this blog, KCCO Tuesdays turned in to KCCO Wednesdays when I gave in to always posting about my current knitting project a day too late. And now that I've changed it, well, I have repeatedly been posting on Thursdays instead. Ay,ay,ay. No harm done really, although I do like to get things done on time. This is an area where I have a chance to improve my ways, one of the few (!).

This week's knitting project is an indulgent little lopi sweater for Ósk. I had a strong craving to work with single-ply unspun Lopi (the best kind of lopi wool!!) and had some white and pink in my stash. I also had the perfect sweater pattern, so, voila! I am already done with the body and have started one sleeve. I am anticipating a very sweet looking little sweater for my sweet looking toddler, perfect for the sometimes not so warm Icelandic summer. It's a nice project for working on in between long shifts, as well.

I am linking up with Frontier Dreams for this week's KCCO. Do check it out!

keeping up

Rye socks, in size L and S

Pattern: Rye by tincanknits

Yarn: Ístex Lopi Hosuband

Needles: 3.5mm and 4.5mm

Once upon a time I thought I couldn't knit socks. Then I defeated that dragon and will now live happily ever after in my kingdom of handknit Christmas presents. I am keeping up with my gift schedule for next Christmas and have now completed five gifts and am almost half way done with the sixth. Each gift is a joy to knit and I try to think many kind and positive thoughts about each receiver while I'm knitting his or her present. So in a way, this year's presents will end up having giving me a lot, too. Oh, and The Rye sock pattern is free on Ravelry and I can now recommend it for inexperienced, wannabe sock knitters. Simple and lovely. 

This weekend's nature adventure was shared with our dear friends. At first we opted for a mountain hike (suitable for kids) but due to too much snow on the trail we backed out of that. Instead we took to Lake Hafravatn and had a picnic. Some went for a walk, some threw rocks into the lake, some drank a lot of coffee and soaked up the sun and talked and talked and talked. (I did that). Úlfur tested the waters a little too vigorously  and had to change clothes. It was one of those moments where I really feel like "someone's mother". Someone's not-so-understanding-totally-annoyed-and-yelling mother. It turned out all right though, and we forgot about the whole thing minutes later. Still, I thought about it a little before going to bed last night, how impatient and unfair I had been. It is a reminder that keeping up with school and gift making counts for something but what really counts is being able to control myself in moments of parenting challenges. I'm keeping that in mind today. 

I hope you all had a good weekend! 

would you look at that

I really wanted to bring some rare foreign yarn home with me from Helsinki, preferably Finnish. As it turned out, I had no luck finding Finnish yarn. They don't keep a lot of sheep over there and only spin a tiny bit of wool which is hard to find for sale. My friend who used to live in Turku told me about this little yarn shop near the Kaampi shopping mall in the center of Helsinki, Fiinaneule, a lovely little shop indeed and the shop owner was so helpful. She completely understood my yarn hunting mission and had even been in Iceland a few months earlier, going from yarn shop to yarn shop with the same in mind! 

Fiinaneule mostly had Rowan and some other rather common brands (all very nice) which I bought a few skeins of. But the best part was this exquisite Indian silk which they buy directly from a Finnish woman who lives in India and gets is by fair trade directly from local silk farmers. Oh, yes. I have never, ever, worked with such a quality fiber before. Never. Ever. It is simply wonderfully soft and the color is perfect. It's not quite as finely spun as silk so often is, more like DK weight, not quite fingering weight. I bought this one skein to make a toddler silk cap for Ósk now that she's outgrown all her baby silk caps. But I might have to buy some more, this stuff is seriously drug-like. Luckily I have tracked it down on Etsy as "Gorgeous silk yarn by Craftamma" so my addiction can be easily fed. 

I am using a pattern called Junie Cap which I found by using the advanced search in the Ravelry pattern database depending mostly on the fiber weight and quality. I am about halfway done and looking forward to trying the earflaps with the short rows, it might be a disaster since silk can be so unforgiving with such knitting maneuvers. If it turns out really bad I'll just make something up. 

Linking up with Frontier Dreams - are you crafting along as well?

all spring and ocean

Can you spot Úlfur in the hammock?

Romi's Mystery Shawl 2015

Pattern: Rosemary (Romi) Hill

Yarn: Tusindfryd Engleuld

Needle: 4.0 mm

I am very satisfied with this shawl. The process was fun, not all mkals include such enjoyable knitting. And I really like the colors, I chose them carefully to be added to my wardrobe, kinda felt I needed that combination in a shawl... 

I had planned on photographing my freshly finished, washed and blocked shawl on Friday but somehow my body decided to catch a horrid cold, something that rarely happens, so I had to stay inside Friday afternoon and all of Saturday. Photos were postponed, that's fine. But what was worse was my cabin fever. I have this thing were I just have to go outside for a iittle walk or run or bike ride or whatever every day. It's probably my healthiest obsession, but an obsession none the less. Going outside is the key to every mood swing, every bad hair day, every disappointment and frustration. So this afternoon, with the sun shining and my cold much better after two days of staying inside I was more than eager to get out! We went for a long family walk in our "backyard" the seaside. It's not technically our backyard (oh, I wish) but so close it might almost just as well be. The smell in the air was all spring and ocean. Mmmmm. We got a few nice photos of the shawl, took turns relaxing in that awesome rustic hammock by the shore and then went all the way down to the sea. A perfect afternoon. 

status report

My shawl is ready! Yesterdays mission was washing and blocking and now it's all finished and lovely and just waiting to be properly photographed later today. Other than this, it's schoolwork and schoolwork and a wee bit of sock knitting to cope with all the schoolwork. 
And oh, did you know the shawl now has the offical name Moonshadow? How very fitting. 

Linking up, as usually, with Frontier Dreams for this week's KCCO. 

when the going gets slow...

After completing three clues quickly and with a smile, I had a huge setback in this week's clue in the mkal. I made one.single.error. in row 10 and didn't discover it until row 20. And oh, the undoing that awaited me! With my busy time in school it literally took days just to set things right. I stuck it out though in the hope of still having a chance of finishing this clue before next Friday. I have an early morning flight to Helsinki tomorrow so I have some spare time, I'd say. 

It's only me and Oddur going so we'll be having a lot of just-us time. Love it. And even though it will be hard to be separated from these sweet little artists of ours they will be in the very safe hands of my mother who's moving into our apartment for the weekend. And she'll have help from Oddur's parents and our sisters and brothers... so, plenty of family my children can count on! We are so very blessed with all this great people around us.

Leftover yarn alien mittens (First day of summer 2015)

Pattern: Pacman-púkar by G. Dagbjört Guðmundsdóttir

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cashmerino and Shibui Baby Alpaca

Needles: 2.5 mm and 3.5 mm

Leftover yarn hippie skirt (First day of summer 2015)

Pattern: Dorritarpilsið by Sigríður Margrét Jónsdóttir

Yarn: Tern, Geilsk Uld/Bomuld, Yaku and Gepard Cotton Wool

Hook: 3.5 mm 

MILO

Pattern: Milo by Georgie Hallam

Yarn: Phildar Pur Angora and Shibui Baby Alpaca

Needles: 4.0 mm 

Well. When I have a tough time with my knitting, such as I am having this week due to my stubbornness with the mystery knit-along, it really does brighten my mood to stare long and hard at my already accomplished things, be it actually modeled on my beautiful babies, placed on shelves or in baskets around our home or made eternal by photographs. I did manage to finish the kids' First Day of Summer gifts last week and was rather proud of myself. The skirt is a bit on the larger side for Ósk even though I went down half a hook size but that's fine since I suspect she'll grow into it eventually. The mittens were a hit and as you can see in the photo they have already, in only a couple of days, taken on a worn kind of look. 

To try and further lighten up I also finally got around to photographing the little vest I made for Ósk a few weeks back. It fits so perfectly and is so soft and we just love it. I modified the pattern a bit, inspired by the way Nicole did earlier but instead of the garter stitch going all the way down I switched to stockinette after the yoke was done and then did a little garter trim before casting off. It's a nice little pattern with the cable though and I might just try that when this one starts to look too small. 

I'll be back here on Friday with my second "Moments" photo and then again on Sunday or Monday with photos from the trip (eeek!). Until then - it's Finland, baby!

ps. I'm linking up with Frontier Dreams and can't wait to browse through all the inspiring crafting links being shared!

last day of winter

I am cutting it close with my children's Summer gifts but I am almost done with the mittens and almost done with the skirt. Almost almost. I hope I can finish it tonight since the national holiday of The First Day of Summer is tomorrow. This gift stressing moment ironically enough is a major help with not stressing over my finals and school research deadlines. Such instant gratification crafting can be a real boost of energy when times are stressful. Especially when I feel I don't have time for anything. I find that it is exactly then that it is most important that I make time for some crafting. 

So today is the Last Day of Winter, according to the Icelandic national calender. I am so ready for spring (as readers may have noticed already, ahem) and my future summer salad seems to agree since the lettuce, rocket and spinach have all begun peeking their little green heads out of the soil. Oh, yes, only four days since we put them in there. How I love instant success!

Joining Frontier Dreams for KCCO :)

grand plans

This is the beginning of a mitten. It is posing ever so casually next to our collection of pebble animals, all of whom have been gifted to us in the past few years, indicating that we look like the sort of people who seem to appreciate a nice pebble animal. The mittens are to be a First Day of Summer's gift for Úlfur this year since he needs lighter mittens for spring/cold summer activities. I am relieved that he needs these - spring must be here when the thick lopi gloves are too warm! I am also planning a new bike helmet as a gift (no, not a home made one) so that his old and too small helmet can be Ósk's First Day of Summer's gift. She'll also get a mamma-made piece of clothing; A crochet skirt. Note that this gifting will happen a week from now, that I am in the middle of a big research while taking my finals, and this cuff in the photo is the only part of my grand plan that has actually been realized as of yet. Deluded, I must be!

Linking up with Frontier Dreams, lets all keep calm and craft on, shall we...

together

Úlfur's flock of pine cone chickens. The popcorn? Their eggs. 

The little house under the dining room table.

Morning porridge apparently tastes better when sharing a seat. 

I finished Clue #2 in the MKAL...

... and had some help photographing it. 

By chance, I found this yoga book for kids at our local library last week. Úlfur wanted to give it a try.

"Look, mamma, I'm a tree!"

Our herbs have now officially survived the Icelandic winter. Heroes of the plant world. This basil plant is a promising source of some yummy future homemade pesto.

Yet another quiet weekend has passed. Well, not entirely passed maybe, we still have a few hours 'til Monday Morning hits us. I am impatiently waiting for Game of Throne to be on in two hours, Season Five, yes, welcome to my life! I have been waiting for you a long time! However, the reason our weekend was so quiet was the usual; The Everlasting Winter (ironic, since I'm a GoT fan, I know) preventing us from too much outdoor adventures and also The Everlasting Master Studies being performed by me. Studying has been my focus this weekend, well, along with some much needed mkal knitting... my hands need that for my brain to function during all the reading.

But I have been thinking about our weekends and how they tend to always be so quiet and very, hmm, filled with family time. We kind of stay together at home a lot in the weekends. Me and Oddur try to work hard during weekdays and our kids are in daycare/school every weekday from 8-4. That's a lot of hustle and bustle! I think we really enjoy all the staying at home and being together during the weekends (even though we do fight and get irritated with each other as well, it's not quiet all the time...). And I also think all of this time spent together in the apartment is finally resulting in my children accepting each other and getting along in play. This has been a struggle since Ósk learned to crawl and grab on to whatever toy her brother was holding. But now they've grown a little and this is all going much smoother. This weekend I made an effort to try and catch these moments. I got a few. And these photos really put a smile on my face. 

Back to studying I go ! Thank you all for stopping by, I can tell by my statistics that my ratings are on the up. That's better than keeping a blog no one reads, haha. And since this is my 100th post since I started this blog, I'm including a photo of my herbs. My first post was about how I was just starting to grow my own herbs and now, two years later, I've learned a few things and had some success. And I intend to sow a lot more complex herbs and vegetables this spring - more on that later. Cheers to One Hundred!