Knitting with Ólöf

1001 Secret Santa

2011-12-28T23:45:00.000-06:00

Several of the girls on my 1001 book forum on www.ravelry.com got together and decided to do Secret Santa. We decided not to spend more than $20. I was so happy when I found this on my front pourch this morning.

In the package there was the book Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, a tin of whole leaf tea which is so yummy (having a cup of that as I type) and my favorit chocolate. I'm a chocolate snob and Lindt is my favorit. Thank you so much Kitterluvspurls.

I forgot to take a photo of what I sent my person but I'm not going to say much about it yet. I didn't send it till yesterday so I was a bad Santa but better late than never and I hope she enjoys.

Merry Christmas Everyone! Icelandic and American Traditions.

2011-12-25T19:44:00.000-06:00

Happy Holidays to all my readers. I just wanted to share a glimpse of what it is like on Christmas Morning for us. We are extremely lucky to get to puzzle together traditions from two different countries. That of my Icelandic background and the American traditions of my husband.

My knitting corner got a new lamp from my parents. It is the Eiffel Tower which was so fitting since we just came back from our trip to Paris.

A cold coke made with real sugar and Nóa fine chocolates from Iceland. This is a family tradition from my side.

My Oldest brought this home from daycare. These are so much fun.

Traditional Icelandic Christmas Folk art

For as long as I can remember there hung a Santa head like this one but different between the living and the dinning room of my parents´ home. Now this one hangs between the living and the dinning room in my home.

The American Stocking Tradition and my new Master´s degree folder. I graduated with my Master´s in Psychology on the 15th of December.

These are all Icelandic Yul lads or Jólasveinar. They use to be trouble makers back in the day but now they are nice and leave presents in children´s shoes which the children leave in the window of their rooms. There are 13 Santas and they start showing up 13 days before Christmas. One comes each day before Christmas but little boys and girls have to be very good and go to bed on time to get anything.

American pancakes made with whole wheat for Christmas Morning breakfast.

Coffee a must in both countries.

Knitting basket over flowing but being ignored. I´ve not had the time or drive to finish these long forgotten projects.

O got his first camera. He loves it. It´s a Vtech - Kidizoom Spin & Smile Digital Camera
We got a pic of us taking pics of each other.

I got one of these. It is a Brilliantstore Logitech 720p Webcam C510 from my boys, the cats and the opossum that lives in our backyard. I will be starting some video podcasts soon on reading and knitting for mental health.

I got The Book Lover's Journal from Santa. He left it in my stocking. I was so happy when I opened it up and saw that is doesn´t just have pages for book reviews but also for the books you have, books you are borrowing, books you want, book clubs you´re in and so on.

M got his own Wooden Train Tracks which he has not been able to stop playing with. Now they can lay tracks clear across the living room floor. I was so happy to find the cheaper version that fit the Thomas stuff.

We´ve had way too much fun with Quercetti Marble Run today.

O got a new game for his MobiGo. Toy Story 3
I like this game system because there is both a touch screen and a keyboard.

Got Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share for the hubster. He follows his blog so I thought he would like the book. It´s from the boys to him.

Apparently these were good plain for a snack after opening presents.

What are some of the traditions that you keep with your family? Do you go chop down your own tree? All do secrete Santa? How is your family holiday different from everyone else´s?

A Modest Proposal by Swift Review

2011-12-14T15:36:00.001-06:00

A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Wow OK um I wish I had been warned before reading this book what it was about. I had no idea that it was mostly talking about cannibalism as a way to control the numbers of the poor and the catholic population. I know it is written as a satire but with much thought put into it and thinking of the poor more like animals. Swift much talked about the poor mothers as them being a step up from poverty by giving birth to a gourmet cuisine for the higher class. It is worth reading. It makes you think about if the poor were edible animals wouldn't they most likely be treated better and pregnant poor women be treated with more respect? It really shines a light on the injustice of poverty and how dehumanizing it is.

Kindle Review

2011-12-06T19:54:00.000-06:00

I received a Basic Kindle for my birthday in October and thought I would write a review on it. I've read quite a bit on it and for reading (which the device is really for) it is great. The only thing that I would change is have a built in light at the top that you can turn on if you need it since it isn't back lit (they sell separate reading lights for this at the moment). It is a black and whiteish device, no color, so if you are buying this to view your fashion magazines this is not the device for you. If you want color then you should go with the new Kindle Fire.
This kindle does not have a keyboard. Not with buttons. It has a keyboard that you have to navigate using the arrow buttons and I have to say that it is a bit annoying. It takes a while to type up a name of a book sometimes. But for the small price of $79 USD I guess I don't mind. If you war willing to pay more then there is the Kindle Touch where the keyboard will appear and you can touch it like you do on a iPad or an iPhone. The Kindle Touch is available in both WiFi only or WiFi and 3G so that you can always connect where ever you are.
I got the kindle with the advertizements on it. Don't get discurraged from these kindles because the ads are only on as screen savers, when you are not using the kindle, or when you are on the main screen or searching for another book. They are not bothering you while you are reading on it. The ads are also often pretty good and you get some good deals from them. It also makes the device much cheaper to buy.
My Kindle is WiFi only so it is not like the kindles of old that you had wireless access all the time almost everywhere. The WiFi only doesn't inhibit you from reading the books that you have already downloaded to your device but it does inhibit you from finding another book and downloading it on the go. The basic Kindle has a simple browser that you can use to access your email if you are in desperate need,where you need to use the little arrow buttons to navigate through the screen. But to navigate the web is what I have a laptop, an iPad and iPhone for. I don't recommend this device for anything but reading your books, news papers and magazines.
The battery life is amazing on this thing. I think I have only charged it a few times in the last 2 months. It's suppose to last 12 days with continuous reading as long as you turn the WiFi off.
And there you have it. I am mostly happy with my Kindle even thought I would love to get my hands on a Kindle touch and a Kindle Fire. It's great for reading books on with non of the eye straign that you might get form a back lit device like a computer screen or iPad. There are plenty of free books to pick from as well. Most of the classics you can get for free which is really helping me get through the 1001 books I must read before I die.

The Life of Pi by Yann Martel Review

2011-12-06T14:36:00.000-06:00

Life of Pi by Yann Martel
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Life of Pi is an interesting book. As you can see from the cover it is about a 16 year old Indian boy that survives 227 days out at see with a Tiger. It tugged at my heart strings and had me wanting to jump into the book and do something about some of the things the boys was going through. I learned a lot about survival out at sea for long periods of time. It threw me for a loop several times. I was never bored. I could have sat and read through the whole thing in one day had I had the opportunity. Maybe that wouldn´t be a good idea though. You sort of have to process this one in between each reading session. Was a bit disappointed in how little it touched on the 3 religions that the boy believed in all at once. As a person that struggles to believe in one religion it was interesting to read about someone that believed in 3. I really wanted the book to go into detail on how they all worked together.
This book is on the list of 1001 books to read before you die and I read it as a read along with my friends on a Ravelry Forum. I really love discussing these books with these intelligent ladies.

Dracula vs. Frankenstein review

2011-12-04T21:58:00.000-06:00

I recently finished reading Brian Stocker´s Dracula and have to admit that it was a lot better than Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. I read Frankenstein first and I have to admit that I thought that Dr. Frankenstein was a bit of a pansy. All he did was complain and moan about how horrible his life was when he had created this monster and left the poor thing to fend for itself. The story told from the Dr's perspective annoyed me but when I read the monster's story I really enjoyed it and it was really written well so that you could feel the monster's loneliness and need for companionship. The human men in the story seemed a bit feminine. You can really tell that the story is written by a woman. Because when the letters are written by the men they talk much more about feelings and such than the average guy. The talk of needing companionship from another man borderlines on being homosexual in nature but if it were a woman talking like that about the need for feminine companionship it would sound natural. I thought maybe that back when the book was written that it would have been more natural to speak that way but I don't know. My knowledge there is limited.

Dracula on the other hand is fantastic. It is a book about how a group of great people get together to rid the world of a great vampire named Dracula. I really enjoyed the whole book and before reading it I had seen several Dracula movies I don't think that any of them did the book justice and that if someone were to take the book on now that they could do a much better job of it with today's technology. The format it was written in is fun too. I really enjoy reading books that are written like journal entries or letters to one another and this books is composed of letters, journal entries, news clips, and telegrams. It just comes together so nicely and really builds the characters nicely. It also has great suspense and great descriptions. I give Dracula 4 and a half stars out of 5. Shaving off half a star just because of how it went on a little bit.

Nook Users Beware! Nook Review

2011-12-03T13:27:00.001-06:00

I Recently started having problems accessing my Nook Books on my iPhone and iPad. I have spent quite a bit of money on books with Nook. I read a lot of eBooks. Well suddenly all of my books on both devices were gone and I needed to redownload them again. I didn't see it as a problem at the time since I knew that they were sill in my Nook online library. Boy was I wrong not to worry. I start trying to redownload my books and it tells me that there is an error and that I need to try again later. I wait a few days and try again. Same error. Then I wait a few days and try again. Well I'm a very busy girl so I didn't have time to deal with it and call trouble management until today. I wanted to make homemade bread with dinner tonight, and the recipe book for the bread is on my Nook app, so I call and ask them to fix the problem. They said that my credit card had expired and that I needed to update it to access the books that I ALREADY HAVE PAID FOR. They told me that if I didn't give them credit card information that I would not be allowed to download the books I have already purchased. I talk to manager after manager. They tell me that I will get a warm transfer and that they will explain the situation to the next person and I get someone that pretends not to hear me and hangs up on me (I use to work at a call center and saw people do this all the time so that it would shorten their call times to meet quota. I never did because I have integrity). I have to call again and explain the whole thing again. I am on the phone for 2 hours being bumped from one person to another and each says that I have to give them credit card information to access a product I have already paid for. I asked for a refund and they said that they would do that and then they come back and say that they won't. They don't even stick to what they say in the same phone call. I have hundreds of dollars worth of product with nook that I can't access unless I give nook more information about myself. I PAID for the product but I don't get to use it. Barns and Noble will hold on to it unless I will give them credit card info. They said "Don't worry we won't charge it. We just have to have it on file for the publishers so that you can download the books." The books that I have already paid for. It isn't a rental where I have to return them. They are my property now that I have paid for it. So, Don't think that just because you pay for those eBooks at Barns and Noble that it means that you get to keep accessing them. You are going to have to be willing to always give Barns and Noble access to your financial information. I even asked if I could pay the difference and just get the paper books and they said no. They were completely unwilling to fix this problem. I give the nook two thumbs down for costumer service and label them Thieves! If you one day become smart and get rid of all of your credit cards you will not be able to get your eBooks from your Nook library. They penalize people that are smart with their money.
The website is easy to navigate and the prices are similar to the Kindle prices but I will stick to my Kindle thank you very much where I get all of my free books for the reading through the 1001 books you should read before you die and they don't access my device and take back the books I have downloaded when my credit card info runs out.

Wacky Windmill Winner!

2011-11-14T00:32:00.001-06:00

We have a winner!

Went to Random.org and from the 90 entries it chose lucky number 10 which was this entry

NicoleNov 7, 2011 01:03 PM

What beautiful yarn and fiber! My favorite item in her shop is the "shadowland" sock yarn!

HermioneWeasley on ravelry

Thank you Nicole for participating. Now you will get to choose if you get the yarn or the fiber.

And thank you Everybody for participating in this giveaway.

The Wacky Windmill Giveaway

2011-11-07T09:00:00.002-06:00

Hello everybody! Long time no post again! Well this time I come baring gifts. The amazing Kim or KimLyn as she is known on ravelry has blessed me with her talent. She has sent me some of her hand dyed roving for me to play with and I am ecstatic. She is the owner and artist behind The Wacky Windmill product, blog and Etsy store.

Kim was nice enough to send me the October roving from the Big Bang Theory fiber club and it was the killer robot instability themed. It amazingly came with the roving, a robot charmed stitch marker and 2 crayons shaped like robots from a place that re-purposes crayons on Etsy.com which my kids LOVE.

Kim sent this all the way from Canada and when she said that it was on its way then I got so excited that I couldn't wait to play with it. Little did I know what life had in store for me and my family but my kids got ill and I got ill and before I knew it November had arrived. I feel so ashamed that this review took so long to manifest itself.

The fiber is just so amazing and so soft. It is a 100% Super Fine Merino Wool Top and the colors in it are just, I don't even know if I have the words. The light purplish grey, dark purple and the red and pink just come together like a well rehearsed dance with passion. I can't wait to make yarn with this and then make something beautiful for myself. Might even be a shawl. I've started spinning with it but the photos that I have of the yarn does not do the in real life look justice. I will post photos of that later so that I can get this post up and running.

Here is a bit of Kim´s amazing story as she tells it.

"I picked up crochet about 15 years ago when I found out I was going to be an aunt for the first time and decided to make a blanket for my future niece or nephew. Turned out it was a niece whom I love dearly. I kept up with crochet casually, but then really got into it when I was diagnosed about 6 1/2 years ago with Stage III Hodgkins Disease which is a cancer of the lymph nodes. I have been cancer free now for a little over 5 years, but crochet and other crafts helped to get me through treatments and made me feel I had something useful to do. From there the obsession has only increased. I taught myself to knit a couple years ago, and then I also started spinning and weaving earlier this year. I loved it so much that I started dyeing my own yarns and fibres. My friends liked them, and so I figured if they liked them, then others might like them too. I started up my shop to share my yarns and fibres with others and hopefully they get as much enjoyment from them as I do.
My full time job is working as an Addictions Counsellor at a residential treatment centre. It can be pretty high stress sometimes, so knitting and spinning especially are helpful in keeping me stress free and balanced.´'

The treat that I have to offer is......... You get the December club roving OR YARN which is going to be called Soft Kitty, Warm Kitty with the treats that come with it if you follow the rules of the giveaway you can enter up to 4 times.
Here are the rules:
1. You need to go to Kim's Etsy store and look at her products. There is yarn and spinning fiber.
2. Pick out what of her products you enjoy the best.
3. Come back to my blog and state what you liked the best in the comments to this blog post and make sure to leave a way to contact you. It can be an email, your ravelry name, or an address where the fiber can be sent.
4 you get an extra entry if you start following my blog and leave a second entry stating how you are following my blog.
5. You get another entry if you go to The Wacky Windmill site and follow it and then come back and tell me that you are following it in the comments of this blog entry.
6. Last but not least if you blog or tweet about this giveaway and then come back and leave in the comments a link to your blog or tweet then you will get another entry.
7. Each entry has to have it's own comment and contact information so we can tell you if you have won.

I will draw from the comments using random.org to find the winner on Sunday the 13th of Nov 2011 at 10pm.

Long Time no Knit

2011-09-26T18:28:00.000-05:00

Hello my dear readers. As you might have noticed I have been a bit MIA. The last semester of Grad School really did a number on me. I was taking a full load of classes plus over 25 hours of internship each week on top of the 2-4 papers that were due each week and my family and home to take care of. Since I have last spoken to you I have had a systemic infection that took 2 months to diagnose where I had a low grade fever and swollen lymph nodes and of course they had to rule out cancer, a miscarriage where I thought I would bleed out and never be heard from again, and the stomach flu that lingered for days. You think my body is trying to tell me something? On the up side I have lost 13 pounds all in all since I last wrote so I'm not going to say that it has not been all bad. I'm starting to feel better and am about to start running again.

I put the knitting needles down for a while and didn't feel like picking them up again until a few weeks ago. I have started knitting myself a shawl called Faraway, so Close by Carina Spencer. I'm using the same yarn I used for my iPad Cozy. It's turning out quite nice. I'm looking forward to the final product.

Newly added to my Queue of things to knit are:

Rosamund's Cardigan by Andrea Pomerantz (for me)

Love Bytes (robot mittens for my boys) For Nerd Wars

Pembrook Vest (for my boys to make during Nerd Wars)

Anybody else doing Nerd Wars on Ravelry? I'm going to give it a try since I will finish my 900 hours of internship the first week of November. Then I just have to finish the paperwork for my LPC license and get a job.

In the last couple of months I have been working on the 1001 books to read before you die list and I read the poisonwood bible, the war of the worlds and the time machine. All surprised me on how much I liked them and will give you a review of them in a few days. I'm about to start on Frankenstein and then Dracula this October. I have really enjoyed the company of the girls on the 1001 book forum on Ravelry. They are all very smart ladies and the discussions that we have about the books after they are read are very enlightening.

I hope you are all well and I look forward to hearing what you have on the needles or hope to have on the needles.

Scrumptious Toppers for Tots and Toddlers. Book Review.

2011-05-30T12:45:00.001-05:00

I received Scrumptious Toppers for Tots and Toddlers: 30 Hats and Caps from Debby Ware as a gift and when I saw the cover I thought "oh how fun!" But then I started looking through it and my heart fell a little. In every photo it shows that the hat is not long enough to cover the child's ears and I just have to say that the color choices are often horrific. I know that I can choose my own colors and lengthen the hat to fit my child but then when I really look at them there is nothing in this book that I want to make for my sons. The only hat that I sort of like is the Tea Garden Hat and that is because it has a brim and it isn't suppose to cover ears but that is for a girl which I do not have. I would link to it on Ravelry but nobody seems to have knit it and only 23 hats have been linked to this book. The kids are cute in the photos but the hats just are not making it on the kids' heads. They look too small and the colors again are not flattering.

On the other hand the patters seem well written and it looks like it would be easy to follow them but I don't know what to do with this book now. Keep it for that one hat I like out of it in case I have a girl?

Any of you ever had this happen? Gotten a book on the Internet or as a gift and thought that you would really like it, but when you opened it to look at it you were very disappointed in what was on the pages in the book?

Organize Now! Book Review.

2011-05-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

Hello everyone,

Long time, no post. Been busy with internship, family and reorganizing my home.

A few weeks ago I got in the mail a book called Organize Now!: A Week-by-Week Guide to Simplify Your Space and Your Life by Jennifer Ford Berry. It´s a colorful modern looking book that looks like a little organizer on the cover and is much like the size of the average organizer except for the fast amount of pages that are full of information on how to tackle your home and your life and organize it so that you can be proud to have people over and in your closets.

This book is split into 56 weeks of organization where each week you do something new and keep up with what you have already done. The first 4 weeks are about Organizing Yourself, The next 8 weeks are spent organizing your papers, the 7 weeks after that are organizing your things, the 11 weeks after that are spent organizing your High-Traffic Areas such as your living room, the entryway and so fourth, the next 7 weeks are spent on Personal Spaces like closets and jewelery boxes, the next 6 weeks are spent organizing your Storage Areas like your garage and your basement, the next 9 are for special events such as birthdays and the families safety plan, and then the last 4 are your routines such as your meal planing and grocery shopping. Note that some of these won't apply to you like organizing your pet if you don't have any but then you can just jump on over to the next week of organizing.

Jennifer is big on the fact that less is more. She is not going to tell you to just throw everything away but if you don't love it and use it then it is time to part with it in one way or another like selling it on eBay or craigs list. She also talks about how going green can lower you electric bill and has lot of tips on how to go about this.

I love how this book is put into weekly projects and how she tells you how to stay decluttered. The book is beautiful and the great part is when you finish all the weeks then you can restart the book and keep up with it all. There is no guilt trip given just because you have been messy and unorganized up until now, there is just positive regard and even the goals have little places where you can check off what you have accomplished that week.

The only down side to this book is that it is spiral bound. I have had bad results on this type of binding on books I use much. Usually the cover at some point just comes off because the spiral rips out of the cover. Also sometimes the once a year and once every 3-4 months things on the check list don't fit into what you are doing that week but that might just be the way I see these things. Other than that I recommend this book to anybody that is trying to take control of the modern home that is filled with things we believe that we have to have. Join me in my effort of owning less junk and more money because when you are organized then you don't have to buy double of something because you can't find it and you buy less stuff that you don't love or need because when you do go shopping you will ask yourself those hard questions before spending your precious hard earned money.

USA ranks number 31 with Save the Children!

2011-05-07T13:00:00.002-05:00

Did you know that the USA ranks number 31 on the Save the Children´s State of Mothers 2011?

M right after his birth in Iceland.
Delivered by a midwife naturally.

At the top of the list is Norway, then Australia, and then my home country Iceland comes in third as the best places to be a mother.

This is all based on mother and child health and mortality rate, socioeconomic status, access to clean food and water and their level of education.

At the bottom of this list is Afghanistan.

In Norway, Australia and Iceland over 80% of all women use some sort of modern birth control, almost every birth is monitored by a health professional like a doctor or a midwife, most women have more than 14 years of education, the average Norwegian woman reaches 83 years of age, and only 1 of every 175 women loose a child in the first 5 years of its life.

While in Afghanistan, only 16% of women use some sort of modern birth control, the average Afghan mother only gets an average of 5 years education, and won't reach the age of 45. Then there are the children where 1 of every 5 die before the age of 5 and compared to that statistic each mother in Afghanistan will suffer a loss of a child.

Why is the US rated 31 on the list? “We are the wealthiest country in the world, but there are still pockets of our population who are not getting the health care they need,” said Mary Beth Powers, a reproductive health adviser for the U.S.-based Save the Children, which compiled the rankings based on health data from countries and agencies worldwide.

The US maternal mortality rate is so high,1 in 2,100 die because of complications pertaining to birth. More women die during or immediately following childbirth than in any other industrialized nation. Only Albania, the Russian Federation, and Moldova scored lower in this category of industrialized nations.

The US children under 5 years of age, mortality rate is very high, with 8 deaths to every 1000 births, comparable to less developed countries such as Latvia. A child in the U.S. is more than twice as likely to die in the first five years of life as a child in Norway, Greece, Iceland, Finland, Japan, Singapore, Luxembourg, Slovenia or Sweden.

The US is the country with the fifth lowest preschool enrollment rate. Only 58 percent of American children are enrolled in preschool. The U.S. ranks 5th-lowest in the developed world in early childhood education.

As most mothers know, we have the least generous maternity leave policy of any developed nation. The U.S. maternity leave policy of 12 weeks of unpaid leave is called “the least generous of all wealthy nations”. Of all the countries on this list, only one offered women less: Montenegro. In Iceland the maternity leave is 5 months and it is also paid leave. Letting mother and child recover, bond and breastfeed. Even India has 12 weeks of 100% paid leave.

The US is lagging with regard to the political status of women. Only 17% of congressional seats are held by women, compared to 45 percent in Sweden, one of the countries that made the top ten.

By posting this I hope that someone that knows somebody can make a difference in the lives of both women in the US lives and in the countries that rated the lowest on the list. Woman should have the right to modern birth control with out it costing them anything and they have the right to stay home with their babies with out it being a strain on their finances. The poor can not afford 12 weeks of no pay while at home with a baby.

Yarn Play!

2011-05-06T11:12:00.003-05:00

Arroyo

Hello everybody! I´m happy to announce that my Spring 2011 semester is over and that my Summer semester in Grad School will not start till the beginning of June. At the end of July I will finish my last class in my Master´s Degree in Counseling Psychology and will only have internship left in the fall. I can´t believe that this degree is almost over. Graduation is in December.

But enough about that. Do you SEE this yarn?!!! I got it in the mail 2 days ago and I have been dieing to start knitting with it. It is a test yarn called Arroyo from Malabrigo and these are test colors that I am trying and going to let them know what I think of and you will also get to know. The top one is called Arcoiris, the Red one is called Jupiter, the dark one to the left is called Escoria, and the grey ones are called Plomo. It´s a sport weight superwash merino wool and Oh I am so in love. I can´t wait to wind it up and then knit it up into something amazing. Just touching them is amazing.

What yarn are you really loving these days?

Quick Update.

2011-04-26T23:20:00.000-05:00

I only have a week of this semester left and then only one more semester of classes and then another semester of internship and then I will have finished my Master´s of Science in Counseling Psychology. Sigh. It´s been a tough semester with 2 small kiddos but been worth it. I can´t wait to finish and start really making a difference in this world.
Happy Late Easter and Passover: I was super busy this weekend so I forgot to wish this to everyone.

The Easter chicks at my brother´s house

O in his Easter best

M looks like he thinks his chocolate egg is not big enough.

My Parents are here and have been such a help.

Here are some of the things I have been working on.

Still adding to the scrappy blanket

The things I am making for my great nephew that will be born in a few weeks

Tea Leaf getting some love again.

These just need thumbs now.

Jumped on the bandwagon and helped Japan

Your knitting and crochet time

2011-04-03T09:52:00.000-05:00

Day 6:
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys? What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords? Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter?

This is a good one and it made me think of how great my kids are. I guess both of them are raised on watching me knit and are really great about letting mommy knit in peace while they play. I mean look at them.

This is O and he is turning 3 tomorrow.


And here is M and he turned 1 in February

These guys have both been my inspiration and my distraction.

In my home I have a knitting love seat. It is right next to my yarn corner and all of this is in my living room. It is in front of my TV and the toy corner. Normally it has a white slip cover on it but it is in the wash. One of my little men smeared chocolate on it. That is why I love white slip covers because they can just be bleached and then look great again. This love seat is a hard worker because it is also where I do my homework for grad school and where I write my blog posts. I´m sitting there right now.
I tend to knit while I do something else. Like watching TV or watching my kids play or reading on my iPad. These are all things that I would feel guilty if I only did those things and not something else productive like knit or sew on my sewing machine. I tend to only sew though when the boys have gone to bed. I also knit on trips. I can´t just sit in the car and watch the road. Hubby drives and I knit while we listen to podcasts or audio books. I´m not big on eating while I knit because I am so into it that I would probably get food and stuff all over my knitting but I do have a cup of something near by like coffee in the morning or water in the evening.
That´s my crafting story.
Thank you for joining me this week on a weeks worth of structured blogging. Hope you stick around and see what comes next.

Where and when do you do your crafting?

Something to aspire to

2011-04-02T15:26:00.001-05:00

Day 6:
Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make but can admire the result of those that have.

I am a quick learner and usually am quick to start a project and get into it but I have still to learn the art of true lace knitting. Like this piece which was knitted by a friend of mine Rod who just started his own blog. He is an amazing knitter and just an amazing person that moved to Iceland for love. But lace knitting like this is such a time consuming thing and I believe that I am just too ADD to really tackle it.

What sort of knitting makes you wish you could but just would rather not start?

And now for something completely different

2011-04-01T21:10:00.001-05:00

Day Five:

This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.
There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog.

Oh Sweater

Oh sweater

oh sweater

Why have you taken so long

Taken so long to get knitted

The pattern is easy

The yarn is so yummy

But for some reason I have taken so long

At the moment I look at your half knitten sleeve

and want to finish you fast

But just like me you are unfinished

Waiting to see what the final project looks like

But enjoying the process of getting there

Where are They Now?

2011-03-31T10:18:00.031-05:00

It´s day four for the Second Annual Knitting & Crochet Blog Week.This post is about where my projects from the past are now and it is an interesting thing for me to think about. I love making things for others.

These are wash cloths that I sent my friend in France.

this bag went to France as well

and so did these socks.

I really enjoyed making these for my friend which I don't get to see very often anymore. These were also my first pair of socks with actual sock yarn.

These went to the little girl next door shortly after she was born. I had fun with these because I don't have very many girls to knit for.

Sold these. For a while I thought I wanted to knit for hire but it just didn't pay enough for the time I put into it.

these went to a neighbor boy for his first birthday. They are made with Icelandic wool so they have a root to my heritage.

this little hat went to a nephew for his first birthday. I also made 2 more for my boys.

this went to a friend´s baby. I made several of these for friends and family. It was a very quick and easy project.

This little Doll went to the little neighbor girl. It was a lot of work and at times I was discouraged but at the end worth it because I think she is loved.

These are at my local yarn store

This sweeter went to one of my best friend´s little boy in Iceland and I loved knitting it. It was such a quick and easy pattern.

This one went to the Neighbor boy for his birthday. It was a free hand design that I never wrote down.

The sisters and the hats went to the Children´s Hospital here in Tulsa for Christmas 2010

This was made for my neighbor down the street as a birth present. It also included a little hat and booties.

And these are on their way to France at the moment.These are so soft and pretty.

Tidy mind, tidy stitches

2011-03-30T09:00:00.001-05:00

Day Three of................

Today is all about how we keep our projects and yarn organized. I´m all about Ravelry.com to keep my projects organized and my queue up to date on what I really want to knit next. My queue is a bit long now and I´m sure I need to go through it and get rid of items that I´m not interested in anymore.
But I don´t use Ravelry for my yarn. I have this shelf for that. It´s two 9 cuby storage shelves stacked on top of one another. It´s been the best storage for my yarn and I see everything and am able to choose from my stash easily. My books are right there to grab when I need them and then at the bottom I have canvas drawers for those half skeins and left overs and tools.
Then on the little table next to my knitting couch I have that standing project tote which I bought at Garden Ridge for $6 if I remember correctly and it keeps most of my works in progress so that I can grab what ever I am working on quickly.
When I have several small projects I get gallon size ziplock bags and use them to keep everything I need in one place for each project.

Skill + 1 Up

2011-03-29T03:36:00.002-05:00

Day two of the......

And today we are talking about skill level and how my skill has changed in both my knitting and crocheting this past year.
I know after knitting all of these toys and not having ever knit toys before that my skill in toy making has much improved.

You get the point.

My crocheting got a lot better since all I had made in the past was purses and here are the shoes I made for M. They were a real learning experience.

I tried my hand in designing

I never thought I would call myself a designer but here I am. I was even laughing at the thought of it last time me and my husband went out for lunch. The last project is still in the works and I'm enjoying the process of designing it. It's a fun way to learn a lot of different stitches. I hope to have it for sale some time in the fall.

How have you evolved this year?

2KCBWDAY2

A Tale of Two Yarns

2011-03-28T03:46:00.002-05:00

As a part of the second Annual Knitting and Crochet Blog Week (this is my first year participating) I am starting my first post and it is about two yarns. One I LOVE an the other not so much.

OK on to the one I LOVE. OK I got to this point and had picked one yarn and then I thought of another and I love them because of two totally different reasons. Maybe I will just do two that I love for totally different reasons. OK I have settled on that.

The first one is Bambino from Be Sweet yarns. The reason I like it is two fold. First it is so amazing to touch and just sooooo soft. It does split a little if you are not paying attention when knitting with it but the way it feels makes up for that one thousand times over. The second reason I really LOVE this yarn is the company that makes it. It is so social and eco friendly and just has the whole feeling of what humanity should be all about. Be sweet was nice enough to sponsor the sisters toy which after I finished them had a whole bunch of left over yarn which I used to make premee hats for the children's hospital here in Tulsa. I also donated the Sisters reversible to that I knitted with it.

Those were the softest things I have ever knitted. I would love to knit myself a short robe out of it and just wear it all the time with nothing underneath that is how soft it is. ;)

OK on to my second yarn that I LOVE. I have to say Balance by O-Wool was such a pleasure to work with as well. I really loved working with it. It's a 50/50 organic wool and organic cotton in a DK weight and it's not scratchy. it has this hard to describe texture to it but yummy all the same. sort of cottony but not as stiff as cotton can be. It also has this rustic look to it that just makes the product look like and heirloom. This was another sponsor of mine while I was knitting through the itty-bitty toy book and I knit the baby bird in the egg and a nest too with what the owner sent me and I still have plenty left over to make the rest of the reversible toys.

I would love to get my hands on some of the Balance bulky in the brown or the light blue and make jackets for my two boys. Maybe when I get rich. I'm sort of on a yarn diet since we can't afford anything right now.
I love the fact that all the O-Wool products are eco friendly and the preson behind the company is such a good person with a large heart.

Thank you guys for stopping by and if you don't have the time to blog what are your two favorite yarns?

2KCBWDAY1

Knitting Blog Week

2011-03-27T12:16:00.000-05:00

I'm planing on taking part in the official knitting blog week to revamp my blog. It starts tomorrow. Who is going to join me?

Here are the guidelines:

Day One: Monday, 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns
Part of any fiber enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

Tips: It is a good idea, if possible, to choose a yarn that you adore and a yarn that just didn’t work for you. You do not need to be critical of any yarn if you do not feel comfortable in doing so, but perhaps you came to realize that one yarn wasn’t suitable for a particular project, if possible you could blog about what you have come to learn about choosing the right yarn, or your love of experimenting with fibers.

Day Two: Tuesday, 29th March. Skill + 1UP
Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

Tips: Don’t be abashed at admitting your own skill and progress. If possible, include pictures of projects that you gained new skills from.

Day Three: Wednesday, 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches
How do you keep your yarn wrangling organized? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organization exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organized at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organized, blog about an aspect of that organization process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organized stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

Tips: Many people use their blogs partly as an organizational tool – logging and cataloging projects and newly attained skills, projects and modifications. Did you bare this in mind when you began blogging?

Day Four: Thursday, 31st March. Where are they now?
Whatever happened to your __________?
Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.
There are a lot of different aspects to look at when looking back at a knitting project and it can make for interesting blogging, as much of the time we blog about items recently completed, new and freshly completed. It is not so often that we look back at what has happened to these items after they have been around for a while.
How has one of your past knits lived up to wear. Maybe an item has become lost. Maybe you spent weeks knitting your giant-footed dad a pair of socks in bright pink and green stripes which the then ‘lost’. If you have knit items to donate to a good cause, you could reflect on the was in which you hope that item is still doing good for it’s owner or the cause it was made to support.
Tips: This topic is similar to one we used for the first Knitting and Crochet blog week. This is purposeful and is intended to help the blogger to reflect on past items and refer back to previous posts and projects once in a while.

Day Five: Friday, 1st April. And now for something completely different
This is an experimental blogging day to try and push your creativity in blogging to the same level that you perhaps push your creativity in the items you create.
There are no rules of a topic to blog about (though some suggestions are given below) but this post should look at a different way to present content on your blog. This can take one of many forms, but here a few suggestions:

Wordless, photographic post
Video blog post
Podcast
Cartoon/sketch of an idea
Write about a subject from a different perspective (for example, you could write about a day in the life of a knitted sock from the point of view of the sock).
Interpretive modern dance (why does someone always suggest this?
A poem or piece of rhyming verse
Stop motion animation

Tips: The actual subject matter of the post might be quite dependent on the media method(s) you choose to use and as such there is no specific ‘topic’ to blog on. You could blog about a recently completed project, a knitting experience, a trip to the LYS or anything else that takes your fancy. The point behind this post is to get people thinking about using their blogs in different ways and pushing he boundaries of what they use their blogging platform for.
PS: Yes, it is April Fool’s Day, so have fun with the post.

Day six: Saturday, 2nd April. Something to aspire to
Is there a pattern or skill that you don’t yet feel ready to tackle but which you hope to (or think you can only dream of) tackling in the future, near or distant? Is there a skill or project that makes your mind boggle at the sheer time, dedication and mastery of the craft? Maybe the skill or pattern is one that you don’t even personally want to make but can stand back and admire those that do. Maybe it is something you think you will never be bothered to actually make bu can admire the result of those that have.

Tips: If you think you have learned all you ever want to in your craft then say so. Maybe you have been knitting for nearly 30 years and yet never learned to purl (many my think this is impossible, but I met a woman on the bus who told me exactly this once… Maybe she was following the E. Zimmerman school of thought to closely?).

Day seven: Sunday, 3rd April. Your knitting and crochet time
Write about your typical crafting time. When it is that you are likely to craft – alone or in more social environments, when watching TV or whilst taking bus journeys. What items do you like to surround yourself with whilst you twirl your hook like a majorette’s baton or work those needles like a skilled set of samurai swords. Do you always have snacks to hand, or are you a strictly ‘no crumbs near my yarn!’ kind of knitter.

Tips: Last year we had a topic asking about the actual location of where you knit or craft, this is similar but not the same. Try and concentrate on all of the little aspects that make up your knitting time. Maybe you always head for for your Flaming Lips CD when taking on simple knitting but prefer a bit of Brahms when tackling more intricate work, or maybe you enjoy knitting with audiobooks or complete silence. Perhaps your crochet time is never complete without a cuddle from Tiddles the cat.

If you find yourself stumped by or otherwise unsuited to one of the above topics during Knitting and crochet blog week, you can choose to play the wild card.This alternative topic is provided to ensure that the blogger does not get stuck frustrated by blogging about something which is not appropriate to them.

Wildcard – Embellish the story
Embellishments come in all types and forms. Some are more than purely decorative and form a practical function – pretty buttons are as much part of holding a garment together as mere decoration, and some are just there to give a piece an extra ‘something’. Blog about an embellishment, be it a zipper, amigurumi eyes or applique patch which you are either saving to use or have in the past used to decorate a project with. Write about whether you are a very minimalist kind of knitter with classic lines and timeless plain knits or whether you love all the bells and whistles or sticking sewing and otherwise attaching decoration to your pieces.

Use these topics and brief descriptions as a springboard for your posts and take them in whatever direction you fancy. If you are a Ravelry member and fancy chatting about what others are going to do to take part, then feel free to pop along to the Blog Hub group and find out what other folks are up to, or if you have any comments or questions please don’t hesitate to leave a comment below and I will be sure to get back to you ASAP.

New Blog.

2011-03-12T19:56:00.000-06:00

Hello dear readers,

Thank you so much for reading and commenting on my blog this last year. I know it has slowed down quite a bit because of illness and me being so busy. I also can't let myself knit when there is so much that needs to be done around my home for me and my family.

I have started another blog and I hope you will start following it as well. I am not giving up on this blog and I have not quit knitting or designing but right now I have to focus on me, my family, my home and my education first.

The URL for my new blog is http://teatimewitholof.blogspot.com/

Mondays I will post how I am doing on the home front of decluttering my home with product reviews and photos of before and after and on Fridays I will have a post about how I am doing on my body clutter. I have 30 pounds to shed in 4 months. I'm sure there will be a lot of sweat and tears to get there but here we go.

Please go over to my new blog and become a follower. The more followers I have the more things I will get as giveaways. I plan to give away books on both home and body clutter and cleaning supplies. And many other things. If you sign up for my posts then you will be notified when those giveaways are going on.

If you would like to join me in my quest of getting rid of clutter and blog about it please let me know and I will link your blog to mine and we can cheer each other on.

Thank you for being so great to me,
Olof

Been Busy.

2011-03-10T23:48:00.001-06:00

I have to apologize to all of you.
I have been so busy with grad school and illness. At the moment I am fighting a sinus infection and crazy allergies. I'm on penicillin and steroids, and allergy medicine and a inhaler. Last week both kids ran a fever of 103F and I think M has a sinus infection now as well.
My knitting is sort of on hold and my quilt is as well. My house looks like a tornado went through it and I don't have the energy to even think about picking up. My deal with myself is that I can't take out the sewing machine unless the house is clean. I do have a few things on the needles but they are all sort of long term projects. I will post photos later.
During this illness I have been able to watch quite a bit of TV since I don't have to look down to see it and I can watch the kids play while laying on the couch and I have watched the whole first season of Army Wivesand I have started on Season 2 while eating way too much candy. I'm totally addicted to the show now.

I have decided to shed 30 pounds and my first baby step is to quit while flour. I have done really well in that department and not had any white flour in 2 weeks. I also was going to quit white sugar but haven't been as good on that front. My next step is to get a routine going with exercise. I've been really bad about sitting around on the couch lately since I had M. I don't know what it is about child number 2 but I've been a lot less active. But to get me started I got myself a nice pair of Reebok Women's Runtone Running Shoe and they are super comfortable. But in all the illness and studying I have been doing I have only ran 3 times since I bought them and I can't wait to feel better again so that I can run on my treadmill.
Here is a good video if you would like to start running with me.

Here is to health and happiness and the fact that grad school will be over in December and then no more school for me for a while.

Tell me what are you up to.