Spring is finally here. Actually this is the hottest March since the early 30s. It is warm and sunny… amazing! I have started raking leafs in the garden, and is amazed at how much plants and flowers who is starting to show themselves.
The sofa story
When you buy a new place, it usually takes some time before it is properly furnished, and/or you start to feel content with how it looks. Ten months ago, me and my husband moved from our small apartment to the house where we now live. The house i nearly three times as big as the apartment. So obviously we did not have everything we needed to furnish the whole house. We did get some help from our parents, but still some rooms look a bit bare, and some of the furnitures needs some fixing-up or replacements. Our sofa definitely needed to be replaced. It was an old leather sofa, with almost all its buttons missing (the cats have removed them). We had inherited it some years ago, and after almost 30 years it was really worn. So when we found an sofa we liked at a secondhand store, we brought it back home and threw the old one out. I am totally in love with our new sofa! It looks like it was made in the 50s (and it probably was).
Rag curls
Yesterday I made rag curls for the very first time. I have been looking for a easy way to make curls, without using my curling iron. There are three reasons for this:
- My curling iron is very thin, and it takes forever to make curls (Note to self: should perhaps invest in a better/ bigger curling iron?)
- My hair gets very dry when I use the curling iron.
- I wanted to try something new!
Before I started I did some research. And Vintage Vixen`s post on rag curls was very helpful.
Sorry about the crappy picture (I just could not stop giggeling :p ). But this is me after all the curls are made. I made the rags from some left over cotton fabric I have had for years. (Even though yellow is clearly not my color).
And this is a (terrible) picture of my hair the next day. The picture is not very good (shot at my office, with mye phone….not even a hint of a smile…. seems like I forgot to put on mascara….). I could have made more of an effort conserning the pictures, but I really wanted to blog about this right now. Because, even though I do not look like it, I was very pleased with the outcome. This is a teqnice I would like to use once in a while, when I feel like having curly hair the next day. And after some practise, it probably will not take me one hour to put in all the rags. I am curious to how long my hair will stay like this. Usally when I curl my hair (using curling iron) the curls does not stay in for long, not even one full day. Hopefully I will have curly hair to morrow as well 
And if I don`t, I will have to make pincurls this weekend.
Lipstick holders
I have to admitt that theese vintage lipstick holders fascinates me. And I don`t even wear lipstick! But seeing how absolutly beautiful they are, I almost start wanting to. Just because I want an exuce to buy something like this.
Wedding
I just realized I have not written about our wedding yet! My excuse is that we went on out honeymoon just a few days after the wedding, and when we returned the thought of doing so did not cross my mind.
But let me just say, we had a wonderful day. The day before and the day after had rainy weather, but our wedding day was sunny
The ceremony was held inside an old ruin of a cathedral, that they have build a big glass building around, and is still used as a church. Ever since we decided to get married, I have wanted to get married in this church.
My dear husband (hehe… still not used to saying that) is a kind of person that does thing at the last minute. But despite this, he actually managed to fine a west and tie that matched my dress perfectly, the day before the wedding.
After the ceremony we went to be taken pictures of by my uncle, my youngest sister and my dad. The guest wad driven around the town in an old London bus.
Oh, did I mentioned I love my dress? I never wanted a completely white dress (because it would have made me look pale as a ghost), so I was so happy when I found this champagne colored one.
We did not have a big wedding, but wanted a small and personal one. So we had 50 guests for dinner, and that was both our families and a few friends. The dinner was completely vegan (did not contain any products made from animals). Luckily for us we know a vegan chef, and she was willing to take on the job to cater our wedding. I still get water in my mouth just thinking about the unbelievably amazing apple crumble we got for dessert. Some of the guests was a bit skeptical about the food, but after dinner they was convinced that vegan food can make you as full, and tastes as good as any other food.
Later we had cakes and the London bus (who has a bar counter on the first floor) served as bar.
The wedding cake was made from chocolate and decorated with lots of different berries.
The parasol belonged to great grandmother. Both she and my grandmother uses this in their weddings. So I felt so grateful that I was allowed to borrow it.
My flowers
My husbands flower and wedding ring. He decided he wanted to wear his ring around the neck. Otherwise he would probably have lost it even before we had left the church.
My beautiful sisters. They looked like Greek goddesses.
My beautiful sisters (in law)
I had the most wonderful day of my life, and all of our guests enjoyed them self. That is the biggest gift I could get
Hello Choco
This is Choco. He is just 10 weeks old, and we picked him up two days ago. The cats are not that happy about the new family member, but are just sceptical and do not fight with him. Hopefully they will be the bestest of friends in no time. He chases them a bit, but if they wan`t to they could chase him back. After all they are both bigger then him!
According to the breeder he will not be much bigger than he is now. He is a cross-breed between a italian sighthound and a small poodle. When you cross-breed a sighthound with something else, it is called a Lurcher. So even though I tried to google “lurcher”, I could not find any pictures of dogs that looks like Choco.
Our first mission is to get him to do his biuisness outside. I have never cleand up as much pee as I did yesterday monrning! But we have started taking him outside every 1-2 hours. I have started to read lots and lots about puppy training, and some says that a puppy won`t be house broken before 6 months. That means a LOT of pee on my floor in the future!
Having a puppy is all new to me. Groving up, I always had dogs, but never someone this young. The youngest I think was a 1 year old Leonberger. We have a lot to learn about raising a puppy, so better get started
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Me: the wedding planer
(our fun little cake topp)
In just 3 weeks, and 3 days, I am getting married. And yes, I am both exited and freeked out about that fact. But now all the little details that needs to be planed is starting to fall in to places. I had never thought so much planning for just one day was posible, and we have choosen to have a fairly simple wedding. The only things that now remains is: by a suit for my dear Lars, try getting hold of the cake-lady, meet with the priest and by me some underwear. And I have to admit I am not looking forward to the underwear shopping.
I guess it is a fairly common issue, but I really hate trying on underwear. I disslike the fact that my (almost) naked body is seperated from the rest of the store, and the people in it, by a singe curtain. The sizes are difficult (I never know witch one I shold choose. At the same I know that many women uses a wrong bra size) .Usally the light in the small cubicles makes your skinn look sickly pale. And then there is the mirrors… Ok. I will stop complaining now. I guess you got the point. Luckily my sister in law have promised to come with me. And the fact that I have lost 2,5 kg the last week, due to the low-carb diet, is definetly boosting my self confidence! I am truly amazad at how effective it was, eating 20 g of carbs a day.
To morrow we are meeting the priest. None of us have met him before, and is curious about him. And I think I now finally starts to understand that this wedding is actually happening!!
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Spring!
This year I have waited and waited, anxious for Miss Spring to arrive. Since we bought our house in desember, I have been curious as to what my garden looks like….under that big blanket of snow. And over the last few weeks, more and more of what laies underneath has revealed itself. Yes, the grass has big spots moss all over, not to mention the roten appels. But yeasterday when I came home from work, my garden had a suprise for me: flowers
The quest for Irish cottage knitting
A few weeks ago, I started getting pains in my right arm, due to knitting. It uasally happens once or twice a year. But this time it feelt more severe than before, and one day the muscle just beneath the elbow on my right arm started looking red and swollen. Since I am practically addicted to knitting, and can`t picture my life with out this beloved hobby, I was terrified I had to stop knitting for a month or so. But then my friend told me about a youtube video of Yarn Harlot knitting. She uses a technique called Irish cottage knitting. It is supposed to be more ergonomic, in addition to MUCH faster.
So I decided to learn this technique. But that was easier said than done! Usually when I have problem with my knitting, or try to learn something new, I just Google it and find the answers in a matter of minutes. I had the video of yarn harlot knitting, and an other youtube video of here knitting, with a slow motion part.
I used a couple of hours searching the web for something more, but there don`t seems to be any pictures or instruction videos anywhere. And since I live in Norway, going to one of Yarn Harlots courses is way to expensive. But the technique was mentioned from time to time on forums, and some people seemed to think the technique was the same as lever-action knitting. So I found this webpage with instructions. But I had also read that this lever-action knitting was the same technique as Peruvian knitting. On youtube I found a really helpful video on Peruvian knitting:
I sat for some time, trying to learn this form of knitting. And since I noticed it was easier on my right arm, I was tempted to leave my quest and be contented with what I had discovered. But I wanted to finish what I started, and my search continued. There seemed to be more knitters out there, looking for some information on the Irish cottage knitting.
The most helpful web page I found was a blog called “the Daily skein”. Where you can read about Cailyn, and her search for the same information that I have been looking for. The most helpful thing I learned from here post, was that there is no information on the internet on Irish cottage knitting. There is the two youtube video mentioned earlier. Then there is a group on Ravelry with people that has been to the Yarn Harlots courses, where I found some pictures of how to hold the yarn in you right hand. But basically, I have watched the videos of Yarn Harlot countless times to figure out this technique. I found that the Peruvian knitting is quite similar to the Irish cottage knitting, when you knit with double-pointed needles. So the video on how to knit Peruvian was very helpful.
I have now been knitting using the Irish cottage knit for a couple of weeks, switching between DPNs and strait needles. And it is a big adjustment for me, having knitted continental style for 20 years. But I am starting to understand it, and get a good rhythm. It will however take some time til I am able to knit faster than I used to, using continental style.
If you are out on the same quest as I have been, please don´t hesitate to ask questions or share you own thrilling story of you search with me
New pair of cookie a sock on the needles
As you may have found out by now, coockies sock designs holdes a spescial place in my heart. And I was so happy when I got her new book (knit. sock. love). I love almost every one of the patterns, and it was hard to choose witch one to cast on first. I wantetd to make the German stockings, but I did not have enough yarn. So, instead I am making Twisted flower socks.
The yarn I`m using is Austermann Step Classic, witch I am suprised how much I like. It is quite similar to Drops Fabel, but comes in lager skeins. And this color is one of my favorites
I think they are turning out quite beautiful, and can`t wait to finish. Also, the sooner I bind off, the sooner I can start a new pair from the book!
