finished---partial

ready for chart 3, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

This is how far I've done with Ove's Christmas gift last year! Hehe, probably I should make it a tradition that he can buy me yarns as Christmas gift and I'd allow him to make an order of a knitting project he'd love to receive for the coming year. Really sounds like a good idea.

I finished chart 2 two days ago, and will soon move on to Chart 3, Yohoo! Can't wait for it.

BTW, this sweater has been a yarn eater...

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Dette er julegave til Ove i fjor. Jeg bør ta det som dette: for hvert jul kan Ove gi meg garn som gave, og han kan bestille en strikkeprosjekt som han ønsker i det nye året.

Summer...continues

dal09 300, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

Summer

dal09 177, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

Sommeren er endelig kommet. Det har blitt mye grønt både inne og ute. Vi har grillet allerede to ganger, selv om begge ganger hadde jeg oppfattet "oppholds vær" og "lett bris" litt forskjelig enn det kanskje egentlig betyr. 'Oppholds vær' er bare forholdsvis sagt, ikke sant? I forhold til været om vinteren. Og ' lett bris'? er ikke veldig lett, ærlig talt...

Ove har begynt med jordbærplanting i år, og er mistenksom på at alle som er levende kan ødelage jordbær-babiene. Hjertet hans var sikkerlig knuttet da han oppdaget at noen (sannsynligvis med 4 bein) har gravet opp sine jordbære.

Det er fremdeles mye grønt i hagen, selv om plenen vår har blitt totalt erobret av løvetann, da maskinen gikk på streik sammen med de som ville ha en bedre pensjonordning. Forskjellen er at de fleste er kommet tilbake på jobb, men maskinen er fremdeles i utstand.

Ellers kommer vaskemaskinen på lag med plenklipperen i dag. Denne gangen er det litt forskjelig enn forrige gang da den nektet å jobbe. Denne gangen har maskinen prøvd å jobbe i de siste 24 timer, uten stopp. Håper den kan ta sommerferie snart.

Face

Dal_09 565, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

I redid Blue's face a bit. This is a hard lesson to learn how to paint directly on fabric. Next time, I will remember to gesso.

I kind of like her gray dress, but Ove thinks I should trim the edge better. Maybe, I will see. Maybe I should make some underpants for her first. The dress is see-through under sunshine.

Here are her accessories: a shawl, a scarf, and a lue, which originally was knitted to be a sock, but I made it too small, and I didn't really like the color, so I decided to turn it into a sweater for Blue. But I made the head way too small (sigh, it seems like I can never learn). Now it is no way that Blue can squeeze her head through.Well, it becomes a lue.

May 1st

Dal_09 497, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

Today is the International Labor's Day. Here we have sunshine, flowers and demonstrations. LOL. Not a bad combo though.

Spring

Dal_09 308, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

It is spring now. Snow melts, and bird chirps. Lovely. I also finished the green cardigan during Easters. What's on the needles now? Ove's Christmas gift in 2008. hehhehehe.

Choice

Dal_09 126, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

Again, it is snowing. I do not want to nag about this all the time but, I've really really really had enough of snow this winter. I long for spring everyday, and kept getting disappointed every weekend. Why does all the snow come on weekends? Just to make sure that I don't miss watching it?...

OK. Let's be positive. Let's ALWAYS look on the bright side of life (I try to convince myself that, yes, there ARE bright sides of life). So I made this for my swap partner. It is a disco-diva monster. She has the most beaming eyes and flashy skirt on the disco floor. Not to mention how cool her hair is. :)

Though slowly, I've made progress of the cardigan. It is going to have arms soon. I got up early today and sneaked a trip down to the freezing basement to bring up this:

Then I spent the whole morning digging for 15 identical buttons, only to realize later that I needed just 9, because I misread 9buttons/15mm as 15 buttons...It makes me feel better because it really pissed me off when I could not find 15 identical buttons. Strange that I don't feel made when I don't have many sets of 9 identical buttons either.

Choice is a tricky thing. I love all of the following three matches, but whenever I thought 'OK, I will go for this', there came the little devil's voice in my head 'sure that you don't want to choose the other two?'. I haven't started the 111st time to ask Ove for opinions yet. But I guess he will be driven crazy in no time as soon as I started asking him again. And I am afraid he will lose his cool, and throw my button away, or rip my cardigan...Maybe I should ask my cat instead?

To protect the little sanity remained in this house, I need some serious help.

So, the question is 'which of the following matches do you think is the most pleasing one to the eye?'. The three nominees are:

Here are their memorable performance:

And the winner is...You can vote now!

--------------------norsk-------------------------

Det snør igjen. Jeg lurer på hvorfor det snør ofte i helg? bare for å være sikker at jeg ikke miste sjanse å se på den hele dagen?...Jeg spør Ove om når våren kommer nesten hver dag, noen dager en gang, noen dager to ganger...

Jeg trenger litt hjelp av å velge hvilken knappe-combo matcher det beste med genseren? Egentlig liker jeg den med grønne og purpule knapper, hva synes dere?

Spring

Dal_09 087, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

Spring is not here yet. We just had some new March snow yesterday. But I can still feel like spring, can't I. See, I can't wait till it turns green...I knit in spring color already. Besides, Ove and I planted chilies, leeks and celery last Saturday, and I can't wait to see them sprouting.

I have been sick. That's why I am home today and yesterday. Nothing big deal, just coughing, pain in the chest, plus sour throat which is so serious that I cannot make a sound...which might not be a bad thing for Ove :=) I think it is just a normal flu, I hope so. Actually, I already started feeling much better today.

I am just taking a break from my knitting right now, will be back to the scary hippo episode on Animal Planet, featuring a crippy fat male hippo who attacks tourists in Africa.

-------------------------------------------Norsk-----------------------------
Jeg har vært syk, så jeg er hjemmet. Det er bare vanlig influensa, synes jeg. Jeg har det så vondt i halsen at jeg ikke kunne lage mye lyd...kanskje det er ikke en dårlig ting for noen...:=)

Jeg venter på våren, ja, jeg har ventet på den siden November i fjol. Forrige lørdag var det sol, flott! Ove og jeg plantet chilli, seleri og purre. Og dagen etterpå kom det snø. Hva kan jeg si? Typisk!

Nå er jeg hjemmet alene, sikkerlig kjeder meg mye. Tror jeg skal tilbake til TV og se litt mer av dokumentasjonen hvor en flodhest angrep en turistbåt.

longing for spring

Dal_09 054, originally uploaded by Ove and Lucia.

In China we say 'It is not cold when it snows but when it melts'. There is no more snow this week, but the temperature has been hanging around minus 10 this whole week, and it dropped to minus 20 on Monday.

One more thing on my list of 'the worst things ever can happen' : an almost one hour trip on a train with heat off at 7 in the morning in a Norwegian winter.

The days are getting longer, and you probably can understand how much I long for spring now. I started planting, knitting in spring color and God, I cannot wait anymore.

Snow cake

Yes, more snow here. Isn't it lovely? The entire garden turns into a huge creamy cake.



For a non-skatter and a lame skier like me, this kind of days mean more knitting, and it makes even more sense when I tell you that I lost both my lue and one of my gloves on the train, right?