Easter Dress

Some people get a new dress for Easter. A pretty little number, sometimes with bows, sometimes with lace, sometimes with a matching hat. Others of us 'get' to wear the same clothes 4 days in a row. This grand fashion event culminates on Easter, when you would so much rather wear something besides the clerical collar, but well, this is a calling, and its not always up to you. And so you put on the clergy shirt again (I only have 2 to choose from) and off you go, not a tough choice.

So, while others buy the new Easter dress, others of us, well, we buy something else new for Easter. My seminary roommate suggested a snazzy new pair of paints. But as a tall, non-stick figure woman, I don't like buying pants. They never fit. So, that would not be Easter fun.

Instead, I purchased a 'Do It Yourself' garmet. Yes, that is correct, I bought some more knitting stuff. I actually bought a knitting kit, even though kits make me feel constrained and uncreative. But, this particular knitwear designer only sells her patterns as kits, with the yarn included. Once I did some research and learned that these kits are cheaper here than in the US (they come from Denmark), and are not too expensive considering the amount of yarn required, I decided that this, named 'Promenade' would be my new Easter Dress.



No, I haven't yet finished that fancy Norwegian mitten. But, I decided that for Holy Week, I would need something simple, yet fun to take away some of my stress and to help me relax without a complicated pattern. And I quite enjoyed it. A woman I met at Husfleiden, the handcrafts store where I purchased my garmet, told me that she had purchased the same kit a couple years ago. She knit the back panel last year and is now working on one of the front panels. We'll see if I get this garmet finished before leaving Norway!

Goings On

My mom recently told me that I couldn't talk about the weather anymore. I'm sure that she will now tell me "no more knitting". Maybe I'm a bit obsessive compulsive, but maybe its just that my life tends to focus on certain things at certain times (or maybe I lead a very boring life). The funny thing is that when I'm actually trying to focus on something in the moment (like reading a textbook), I can't. I will read or do the task at hand for 15 mn or if I'm lucky a half hour, and will then have to do something else. So this general blog focus on one area is quite strange for me.

So, after that long and confusing preamble, I have some more knitting fun to share. The Norwegian mittens are coming along, but will most likely be too small for me, so some lucky person may receive these as a gift at some point. I hope you like them! I hope they turn out.

The new knitting creation is actually much more simple, and is also norwegian. Here in Norway, it seems that just about everyone wears "pulsevarmerne", which translates, as you can probably guess to pulsewarmers, or wristwarmers. Most people wear these under their coats, with sweaters, all the time. Its like an extra warmer, that I'm told really works! I always thought, oh, I don't need those. Plus, they'll make my arms look chunkier, I don't need more bulk at my wrists. That's the skinniest part of my arm. (I learned long ago from Trinny and Susannah that for those of us with sausage type arms, we are not to wear bulkiness on our wrists.)

But, one day I saw one of the high schoolers wearing some that were quite light and airy looking (not heavy and bulky. She looked so great. It was like she was wearing funky knitted bracelets instead of pulsevarmerne. So, I decided that yes, I would give these pulsevarmerne a go. I had been accumulating wristwarmer knitting patterns and had bought some great sparkly yarn while in Turkey. I decided to combine the two and make some fun wristwarmers that hopefully wouldn't give me chunky wrists. Or, if that did happen, these pulsevarmerne would be so cool that I just wouldn't care (shh, don't tell Trinny and Susannah, or Stacy and Clinton).

Last night I finished the little sewing bit that I had been putting off, and the new fabulous pulsevarmerne are now completed. I can now have warm wrists like many Norwegians!
OK, so yes, they just look like wings laying on the chair like that. But look how sparkly they are! oh my! But, never fear, here's a pic of them actually warming my wrists.
P.S. If you are a fellow knitter and would like the pattern, you can get it for free here. Somehow the bottom portion of mine came out a little different, not sure what I did. But, they are very easy. Enjoy!

Norske strikking

Since the time I saw my first pair of norwegian mittens, I have wanted to learn how to knit in such beautiful designs and they keep your hands warm! But, alas, I always figured it would be too hard for little ole' me who so loves to knit scarves! Knit mittens? And knit a fancy little design. Oh my! Plus, it requires a different technique right? Oh my! No way could I even desire such a skill, let alone learn to knit in the Norwegian tradition. (These are not my mittens by the way, just an example for you to gaze on.)

But, somehow I am learning. To my amazement, many people here do actually wear the Norwegian style mittens with all sorts of designs. To my surprise, many people know how to knit these designs and even read the patterns that look so complicated to me. Maybe its this great cloud of Norwegian witness who surround me in my knitting, or maybe its my feable lenten attempt not to watch tv. (I'm failing at this by the way, but I am watching less tv!).

The pattern book I am using is called "Selbuvotter: Biography of Knitting Tradition". These mittens originated in an area of western Norway, in a town called Selbu. So, these mittens are known as 'Selbu mittens' or Selbuvotter in Norwegian. Anyway, there are several different designs and ways to create the mitten or glove. I have chosen one that has a modified double star. (The traditional Selbu mitten is a star pattern.) Mine should look similar to the picture to the right when I am finished.

But of course mine will not be black and white. Traditionally these mittens are knit in neutral colors of black, white, brown, gray, and sometimes light blue. In fact, the only ones I have seen knit in any colors are knitted by people in the USA. Interesting...

So, in just two days, I have finished the cuff of my first mitten! Yeah!! I only had to start over twice, after messing up the pattern on my very first row. Then I did something wrong again the second time, don't remember what though. But, since then I have been progressing swimmingly!! Oh, look at that great work of crafty-ship.

So far I have just used the little cuff pattern, not so intimidating, not too terrible. But now I get to start on the hand portion, following the great big gigantic knitting diagram.

OK, I can do this. Its just a diagram. Just one row at a time. Let's hope this goes well. If not, I suppose I now know how to make fancy wristwarmers!

P.S. I was just cruising around on the internet looking at various Selbu mittens and found a web company based in California that sells what they say are authentic Selbu mittens that are still knitted in Selbu. They sell for $50-$70 for regular mittens and gloves. Not to mention the $100 love mittens which I think are so fun.
Now, mine will most likely not be as fabulouso as those knit by the Selbu women who have been knitting mittens forever. But, my goodnes, that's a lot of money! So, if you think you might receive a pair of these for Christmas (or if you ever receive a knitted gift from anyone), I am commanding you to be appreciative, even if you don't like them, darn it! Be kind to knitters everywhere! Look how much money we could make if we would only sell all our strange projects (oh, don't we wish!).