away

 Our backyard view in the countryside:

I can't believe it's been so many days since I last posted but time has flown by. Last week was taken over by my last final, a 10 page long essay on The Dialectic of Enlightenment and the novel Mason&Dixon by Thomas Pynchon. It required a lot of work and I had to put all blogging on hold to get it done. Also, on top of that, I had a few meetings to attend because of my still-secret knitting project. But because of those meetings, I can soon share with you this huge mystery that's been coming together gradually this winter. For an impatient person such as myself, this has been a lesson in accepting that good things tend to come at a slow pace.

When I finally turned my final in on Friday I went straight to packing our bags for the countryside at Lake Mývatn, where we stayed for the weekend. Oddur and the kids relaxed and played outside (they forgot to take photos) while I worked and worked and worked some more. Then they left for Reykjavík yesterday and here I am, "alone", staying at my parents house and working as much as I can. I really miss my kids, it's not easy being away from them. But it's only a few days, and finding a well paying job that offers acceptable working hours for a parent in the summertime can be really hard... I am blessed to have this job at my parents' guesthouse and restaurant. I enjoy my work here a lot, so I focus on being thankful. I'll be back with my babes before I know it. 

I plan on at least trying to keep blogging regularly as I have been the last few months. I have no idea if this is unrealistic or what, but we'll see. Thank you all for continuing to stop by. I promise some great nature photos from the Mývatn area - it is impossible not to be inspired by our incredible surroundings here. 

from Helsinki to Fresh Routine

Signs of spring in Helsinki.

May day or "Vappu" is a huge celebration and national holiday in Finland. Thousands of people gather around for picnics and various festivities.  Fun!

We returned from our trip to Helsinki to find our kids perfectly happy in the arms of their grandparents. They apparently had a super fun weekend and didn't really miss us that much! Huh! I guess we missed them more, isn't that typical? Our weekend was fun as well but most of all just so very lovely as the city of Helsinki truly is. Quite calm and beautiful, not really one of those super busy, crowded big cities but rather low-key and just very interesting in that way. We walked around a lot, shopped a bit, tried some great restaurants and also slept in (heavenly, I tell you). My favorite part was when we borrowed bikes from the hotel for three hours and just randomly biked around the city. It is in my opinion the best way to really get an overview of a new city, you get to see more than you could ever see in a car or by foot. Plus biking is just plain fun. We also attended the annual ball of the law firm where Oddur works, which was the whole point of the trip, and it was great fun. Lots of dancing!

And now that we are back we are entering a new family routine. That handsome guy in the bottom photo handed in his masters thesis yesterday - hurray! So now he is almost a real lawyer, or he will be in a month after his graduation ceremony. I am incredibly proud of him. He also has top grades, can you believe it? With two kids, teaching and a part time job at a law firm, I'd say he's pretty amazing. I am pretty lucky to get to be his partner in all of this. Til hamingju, ástin mín! He has already begun working full hours at the firm and so, our mutual days of university life have passed. I still have some finals to finish but in a few weeks my first year of master studies will be over and my summer job awaits. Úlfur will be going to soccer practices and summer "school", which is more like picnics and outdoor playing, and Ósk just started a new daycare, a playschool for children age 2-5. Her new daycare is a Waldorf program and we are just so happy to be a part of such a beautiful and thoughtful community. I might share more about that later. I really like the Waldorf way and have incorporated many elements into our daily life. So this is a milestone of sorts. 

And a post tonight as well - with a sneak peak of my finished mkal shawl being blocked!

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!

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!

we interrupt this hiatus for an important announcement

Photo by genius Lilja Birgisdóttir

Well, I know it's been over a month and that's not the best strategy to keep readers around and I apologize. A few weeks ago I kind of hit a wall with the whole masters studies, having two kids and trying to design knitwear in the little spare time I had, all the while keeping a semi-functional home and having a social life. I was doing nothing very well and the worst part was that it was showing in my progress at school, or lack there of. So, I got a grip, got around to some serious studying and pushed everything around me that does not breath, such as this blog, to the bottom of the priority list. Sometimes a blogger's gotta do what a blogger's gotta do! 

But now I'm back with some great news. Not only that my hard work is paying off in school (yay!) but also that a brand new crochet book, Heklfélagið, has been published and will hit book stores here in Iceland tomorrow. It is a collection of patterns from 15 designers. And I am the proud maker of one design in it, the yellow little crocodile stitch cardigan Ósk is wearing in the photo above! It is my first design ever and I am very proud of it. It's Icelandic name is Sumargola, which would translate as Summer breeze, as it is very light and summery. However it will be available only in the book for a while due to copyright. But Heklfélagið contains so many amazing crochet patterns, I strongly advice anyone who can read Icelandic to get a copy. I am very flattered to be in the company of such amazing crochet designers.
For those living in Iceland, we are having a party to celebrate the book tomorrow! You are all welcome! More here. 

Thank you all, who have stuck around and keep visiting this space. And thanks, universe, for crochet!

Best wishes,

Sigurlaug Elín

ps. I am completely smitten with the photo of Ósk - how cute is this little bean of mine?