Where have I been!?

Sheesh, I can't even remember the last time I posted. There have always been excuses: the house is too messy, laundry to fold, presents to wrap. You know the drill. Knitting? What's that. I have a pair of socks on my bedside table that haven't been touched since before Christmas (and they were to be a gift for my dad).

We've been happily busy, though. I got a job. Whoo hoo! Back to work I go, part-time at a preschool. My hubby and I took a vacation (via a work trip) to sunny Florida - here are some snapshots:


We went in search of some real nature and found this little park right in the middle of Naples. It's only about a city block in size, but it was a lovely walk.
But could you believe that we actually felt a little homesick for this:


That was the temperature when we got back to Minnesota. And this grand fella and his dame were outside the window feeding at the bird feeder but by the time I got a picture, he had stomped off to the edge of the yard thanks to our barking hound.

So then it was Christmas. I usually take hundreds of pictures, but this year I seemed to keep forgetting to snap pictures. Here are just a few.
Making laufabrauð (Icelandic leaf-bread) with Amma and cousins.


Belle wearing, reading and holding her Christmas plunder.

Have a happy new year! I will hopefully be back in the new year with some KNITTING! FINISHED KNITTING!!! I promise to get this knitty blog back on track.

A Question of Trees

Hi Caroline,

You had a question about trees in Iceland. Traditionally, trees are not seen as part of the Icelandic landscape. However, most believe that Iceland originally had trees when Ingolfur Arnarson first set foot on the island in the year 1000 A.D. Overgrazing and the need for building materials and firewood quickly depleted the slow-growing forests.

Having said that, there are trees in Iceland. Most were planted in an effort to reforest small plots of land. Usually, the area would be fenced off from grazing sheep and the trees planted within. So often times, driving through the country side, you'll see a neatly squared forest a few acres in size. The trees take an long time to grow because of the climate and the light. Most of them are not very tall (15-20 feet) and are usually a type of birch or evergreen, like a spruce.

Also, there are strong opinions on both sides as to whether or not Iceland should be reforested. Some are strongly opposed, saying that traditional Icelandic landscapes are and should be wide open.

But I've heard others siting the importance of land erosion - which is an ongoing concern in parts of Iceland and windbreaks for farms. There is also the aesthetic beauty of trees to consider. There are parks with trees and most cities have a good number of well established trees.

If you drive to the North East part of Iceland, you'll come to the town of Egilsstadir that has taken great efforts to reforest a large area. I believe this forest is called Hallormstadaskógur. I have to admit, upon seeing it, I did not recognize it as the Iceland I know. But I see Iceland through the eyes of relatives who romanticize the homeland.

According to IceTourist on the web, "Iceland today plants more trees per head of population than any other nation in the world around four million a year, or 16 for every man, woman and child."

If you'd like to see pictures of tree in Iceland, here is a great picture gallery.

Hope that helps. (It's way more information than you asked for, but I was having fun!)

Tradition

If you haven't yet noticed, I am of Icelandic decent. My great grandparents came from Iceland in the 1880's and with a handful of other Icelanders, settled on the Great Plains of North Dakota. They eked out a living raising sheep (yup) and loads of children. My grandmother was Norwegian and they often argued over which was the better 'race'. It was quite a coincidence when I married an Icelander. (Made my Grandpa very proud). My husband was born here in the US, moved back to Iceland when he was two weeks old and came back to stay in the states by the age of three. His siblings speak the language, which is very difficult, but poor K can only understand a little of what is being said.

Traditional Turf House, Iceland

And so, as the holidays approach, I have been given many crash courses in Icelandic traditions and legends. I thought I'd share some with you since they are quirky and strange, dark and mysterious and I can even tie it all in with knitting. Oh, and Jan Brett, eat your heart out!

The Yule Cat (Jolakottur) - The Icelanders reading this are moaning and saying, "Oh no! Not that one!"

OK. So there is an old legend of a cat; a huge, wild, dark cat with scary yellow eyes. On Christmas Eve, the yule cat sneaks around the country looking into windows to find what she will eat for her dinner. By the way, she eats children. But only children who have no new clothes at Christmas.

My understanding is that warm clothes (which came almost exclusively from sheep)* were the difference between life and death in old Iceland. Children were a part of the process - carding and combing and spinning and yes . . . knitting! Processing the fall sheering and slaughter had to be finished by Christmas or Yule time. Apparently, the hideous cat was used as a threat for idle children. You know the routine, "Snorri, you had better get going on that wool or the Yule Cat may come find you on Christmas Eve!"

Our kids get clothes every year from Amma and Afi (grandma and grandpa). This year, I am going to be extra sure that the creepy Yule Cat doesn't cross the Atlantic and come after my little ones - they'll each have something warm and woolly under the tree.

And look what I found on the web - I have GOT to knit one of these! Isn't it hilarious!


Gledileg Jol! (Merry Christmas)

*We talked to one old Icelandic fisherman that said some clothing, especially for fisherman, was made from seal skins or fish skins, like shoes. Fishing season in days of old was during the dark days of winter. If you didn't drown, you died of pneumonia. If you survived, you were made out of pure toughness. He said in very desperate situations, there were fisherman who would eat these fish skin shoes. And I wonder why my husband never gets sick and he'll also eat anything!

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

I cannot tell you how grateful I am to all of you for helping me with my sweater crisis! If I had a million dollars, I'd fly us all to some ski lodge out west and treat you to a knitting weekend up in the mountains. But I don't have a million dollars. So just know that I really really appreciate how very cool you are!

So there is the sweater up there in a heap. So exciting! I took the advice to just make one more decrease on each side and then continue on with the pattern. ("Supersize Me" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids) If all goes well, it will look like this picture from the book, except green and with a zipper:



And shhhhhh. These are going to be a gift for some tiny cold feet this winter. Another Christmas knit almost done (am I putting too much pressure on you folks?).
Any guesses as to what they are???? Hint: they were in the last Knit Picks mag.

Thanks again, my friends! I'm still here. Still checking your blogs. Just . . . well you know . . . busy.

We just discovered Deadliest Catch and we're totally addicted. Fishing runs in my husbands blood. Watching the show reminds me of what my family's life may have been like if we had chosen to live in Iceland. I don't think I would have made a good sea-fisherman's wife. I'd be a basket-case. But my husband would have loads of woolly warm hats and sweaters, don't you think?

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Peace out!

HELP!

Oh, knitting Goddesses (and Gods, if you're out there), PLEASE HELP ME!


I'm still here, but I'm knitting like mad for Christmas!

I'm trying to finish a sweater and all went well until I got to THIS strange set of directions for decreasing the arm sleeves.

"Then decrease 1 stitch at each edge, every other row, once."

What the @#*$ mother - &*@(#$(@$&!!!!!!!

What does this mean?

HELP ME!!!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know you've all see this before, but it always makes me happy to be alive.

Happy Thanksgiving!

34 days to finish my Christmas knits!!! GAH!

Gosh. I'm so sorry. I have been busy with daily life and I haven't had much chance to sit down and chit chat and check your blogs, or leave comments. But I'm still here! And I have a hodge-podge of pics and stuff.

First: My socks for my pops. I think I'm calling them "The Dark of Winter" and they are actually darker than this picture. The yarn is Dream in Color "Midnight Derby" and I'm using Charlene Schurch's recipe for Garter Rib. It's a fast, cool looking pattern. On the couch here, is Lunker's hoodie sweater. It's my first 'big person' sweater and I think I'll take it to Coldwater Collaborative (LYS) and sit with those ladies while I piece it together. By the way, does one block the pieces before one sews it together?


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Mother-in-law: Do you let the dog on the furniture?

Me: Absolutely not! Gross!


Come on. He's just so darn cute. That red chair was just MADE for him!

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So I am also working on a sweater for this sassy chick. She was angry with me yesterday so she 'stole' my camera and took pictures of herself looking mad and giving mom the thumbs down. She didn't say a word - even put my camera back! So that when I uploaded them onto my computer I just about died laughing.

Anyway, I was knitting up a sweater for her in true Icelandic Lopi but it's just so darn thick and scratchy and oh, I just know she won't wear it. SO! Guess what! It's apparently all the rage in Iceland to wear capped sleeved Lopi sweaters! Isn't that a great idea?! I snapped a photo of one in a small craft shop in Iceland. I think I'm going to rip out the sleeves of my sweater and just do the capped thing. How hard can it be? (OMG I just jinxed the whole idea.)

This next picture I "borrowed" from Knitty. It's not my picture but it's on my list of Christmas gifts. I'm going to go and buy ugly yarn (green and gold for my Packer fan and gold and purple for my Vikings fan). Yuck. But I think this is a mitten pattern that a boy just might wear. If you have boys, you know what I mean. It's gloves or nothing. But really? Gloves do NOT keep the fingers warm here. And I was thinking I could use puffy fabric paint on the palm side to give them some grip for playing on the playground and catching footballs. Cool, huh? (I did not come up with that brilliant idea.)Photo by Elizabeth Morrison

Socks are back!

Well hello! It's my old friend - Sock. Hello Sock. It has been awhile.That sock there is a "Sleepwalker" sock pattern using Painted Skeins. I love these socks! My feet are so toasty warm. They're a year old and no holes yet.

I started knitting this sock. . . . . . last night in front of the fire and it was so nice to have a good old sock on my needles. All this sweater and fancy lace business is new to me and while they are adventuresome to knit, there is nothing like the brainless familiarity of knitting socks.

These will be a pair for my pops for Christmas. I don't think he reads my blog, so I should be fine there. He has strict guidelines for socks: navy. plain. I am going out on a limb here and knitting with Smooshy "Midnight Derby" which is a shaded solid. Not FULLY navy. And I might even go crazy and put some ribs in there to make it fit better. We'll see. We'll see.

I should also mention that I am working on non-socks, too. I finished a hat for a teacher (Christmas gift) but promptly lost it. I think my middle guy, Lumpy, may have run off with it into the woods. --- Found the hat. To be fair to Lumpy, it was under a pile of laundry.

Also, this lovely scarf that was going to be for my kid sister, but she mentioned recently that she'd love just plain white. Or black. And anyhow, there may not be enough yarn to finish this, so it may just be a table runner. (KJ, would you like a table runner for Christmas? No, not really. Hmmm).


PS. Tee, I LOL at the 'tuck and roll' and the 'Loser Cruiser'. There I go. I'm laughing again. I've soooo been there. I felt your humiliation!!

First Snow

Snow Day!

Every Minnesotan that spent their childhood here knows how miraculous it is to wake up to the first snow. Our house was filled with squeals of delight as our Lumpy, the early riser, ran about waking us all to look out the window at our first snow.

Our youngest, Belle, took a look out her window and exclaimed, "Hey! It snowed on my side, too!" Imagine that.

After a flurry of bin-opening and closet-emptying we found some winter-wear (yes, hand-knit items included) and off they went, out the door. There is no school today and the snow is falling. What a wonderful morning to be a kid.

I'm on the other side of things. I'm not out there. I'm in here at my computer in a very quiet house in the woods, writing and drinking coffee. What a wonderful morning.

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I will have some knits to show off, soon. There are no pics yet. I don't think I've had a post without pictures in . . . have I ever done that?

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Gotta do my part cuz I love this country!

In the blink of an eye . . .

it's gone.

This morning we awoke to a howling wind. Our maples were stripped of their leaves and if you can believe it . . . it is snowing. (Fall Lovers: CLOSE YOUR EYES)

The Autumn party is over. Officially.

I went out for a few pics but I haven't knitted myself any Knucks or Fetchings yet, so my hands got too cold and I had to hurry back indoors. The wind is making a moaning noise, like it's being blown through wooden pipes. That scene above was just filled with 10, 10 year old boys playing football and wrestling off their cake and ice-cream filled bodies after an ambitious sleepover birthday party. Happy B-day, Lunker.

So it's bleak and blustery outside, but every knitter takes these opportune days to grab some wool. Or at least think about wool while cleaning up after 1o boys. Did I already mention the 10 boys?

Since I don't actually have time to knit today, (grandparents comin' for din din and, you know. 10 boys) I snapped some photos of my FAVORITE Woolgirl Sock Club yarn so far.

Yarntini merino sock, colorway: Plum Blossom

And she packed this yarn with loads of yumminess so that the yarn actually smells like Plum Blossoms. It's truly divine.

Darn it!

Remember that awesome dog I have that eats everything. See if you can guess what this is...
Does this help?
Yup. Socks that Rock. That's my dog eating it.

Instert very angry sarcastic voice here:

Isn't he cute. Yes. So. Cute.

(my mother's voice): Maybe you should keep it in a container.
me: He ate the container.

So. So. Frickin'. Cute.

Another ode to autumn

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.


Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.



Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,


So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

-- Robert Frost


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I was driven to distraction this weekend by the weather, the color, the sounds of Autumn. I heard crows cawing like mad in the woods, so I grabbed my camera and went to investigate. Usually, we'll find a patient owl sitting in the branches somewhere close to the crows. But this day, I found something different. Take a look for yourself.

It's a not-so-wily coyote who let me get within 20 feet of him before he noticed me and skedaddled. I was glad the dog was not with me - he would have broken his collar to get at this old fella.


Oh, yeah. And keeping with the knitting-blog theme, I have an item to show you. It's the back piece to a sweater I'm a-knittin' for my 10 year old (size 12 yikes!) in his very favorite color in the whole wide world. It's Berrocco Peruvia and it is warm and soft and lovely to knit up. Can I end that last sentence without a preposition? Is "up" a preposition? Gah, I'm reapplying for my teaching license. This is embarrassing. I must get to the bottom of this! Hmmmmm.

Anyway, the pattern is "Supersize Me" from The Yarn Girls' Guide to Knits for Older Kids. Got me a copy from the library (and yes, I realize that sentence is grammatically incorrect).

A Walk in the Woods

We're gonna take a walk outside today

Gonna see what we can find today


Gonna take a walk outside today



Gonna see what we can find today.



On a pretty little farm the sun comes up


On a curious cat and a pug nose pup


A brand new life outside the door.
Follow your nose and go explore.

Walk Outside
by Richard Tarrier
Sung by Dan Crow
find it on itunes