The Viking Princess

Tour de Fleece

2009-07-04T15:14:00.000-07:00

Happy Independence Day!

(Photo by Teekay)

So I think I neglected to mention that I got a new spinning wheel. It's a Mach 1 from Spinolution. It's the same exact wheel that I rented back in April.

I joined Tour de Fleece on Ravelry, pledging to spin every day they ride during the Tour de France. I'm working on spinning up all that Scandinavian fiber I have collected so I can knit a Danish Tie Shawl.

I actually sat and spun for an hour this morning. Got to watch a bunch of the time trial, too. I was a bit disappointed that Thor was only shown coming out of the gate, not on the road.

It is hard to say who is happier about the new wheel.

He's such a good sport about knitting and such. He loves to wind yarn. And who can blame him when his clothes match so well?

Summer Knitting Goals

2009-06-18T13:42:00.000-07:00

There's a contest over at Skeins Her Way. You need to state your summer knitting goals in order to enter to win one of three great prize packages. Go check it out, she's a mom of seven and knitting designer.

Here are my goals for the summer:

Design and knit a bunch of Scandinavian themed items to sell at our Daughters of Norway "Christmas in August" sale
Swatch and wash some Black Water Abbey in preparation for my Aran vest
Knit at least one pattern repeat on my Garden Gates a week
Secret item for a family member

Knitting Update

2009-06-13T15:07:00.000-07:00

Here are all the f.o.'s I have neglected to post. Most of you knitters on are Ravelry and have seen them anyway, I know, sorry.

The easy Branching Out scarf that had me pulling my hair out. I was doing it on metal needles, and finally gave in and bought bamboo, then things got better. Before and after blocking.

Next we have the really fun "Fleeced Earflap Hat" by Cocoknits. We had quite the photo session. It is knit in Lamb's Pride Bulky and the thrums of wool are knit in as you go.

These are the Vespergyle Mittens. Another challenge. The pattern just didn't speak to me, I had to keep my eye on the chart constantly.

This is Foliage, found in Knitty.

I had a lot of yarn left over and made up a pair mitts with the same lace pattern.

And finally here is a cupcake (pattern). I knit one for a friend, and one for K. I can totally see myself making more knitted toys. Fast and fun.

About Last Month

2009-06-12T14:05:00.000-07:00

May zoomed by, it was really busy. I'll post knitting photos another day, there are a few f.o.'s that need photos.

First was Norway Day where I dressed up as a boy and slayed trolls.

With the aid of an elixir.

In the end I saved the princess.

It all made my kid laugh. "Mommy boy".

I did some spinning with the guild and met Wonder Mike. There was also good eating, drinking, and shopping at the festival.

The next day I took an all day spinning class with Ossian Kidholm, who had come over from Norway to demonstrate at Norway Day. (I rented a wheel). Very informative and a good time to get to know some of the guild members better. Wonder Mike has a bunch of photos on Flickr from Norway Day, including Mr. & Mrs. Kidholm, and me in my everyday bunad.

***

Next up was demonstrating at the Zoo's sheep shearing day. We had a lot of fun, didn't let the rain deter us. This is Mocha, I brought home a little bit of her fleece:

And a little of the alpacas' as well.

I already blogged about our trip to Idaho. Never got pics of the fiber I bought, but it was some local alpaca, more colors of Norwegian and Icelandic, and some Pygora.

***

I forget when Mother's Day was, but I got a cup of coffee in bed, and a really cute card slammed in my face. I was impressed, it had a baby in a knit fruit hat on the front (I made several of them in the past). Is it horrible I can't remember what my gift was? Oh yeah, I got flowers, too. It was Daughters of Norway Day, and I was a hostess. I know something crappy happened, too, but I don't remember what.

***

Next we went to Las Vegas. Wow, first time for all of us. It was hot and tacky. That sums up my feelings about the town. On the other hand, I got to meet Mr. TVP's old friend from grade school and his family. That was fun, especially since our trip east got canceled for this year.

The kid is still asking to go back to Circus Circus. He won a lot of crappy toys, which I ditched here and there. Who thinks a pillow with the word "Hottie" on it is appropriate for little kids? I let him keep the dog I won him by spraying water at a target so well that my Viking Ship won a race.

The biggest challenge was finding anything healthy for him to eat, without going to a sit-down restaurant. We resorted to apple "fries" from MacDonald's and room service. He got that hang of that really fast! Note many residents of the Island of Sodor on the bed.

We spent one day as a family and then took turns with the kid so the other adult could do more, well, adult things. Kid things included the monorail. Yay!!

And goldola ride at the Venetian (Boo!)

Got back and the next weekend was my cousin-in-law's kid's 21st birthday. Here is the least incriminating photo of the over-nighter:

The next day was our wedding anniversary. We had a low-key dinner with my parents. K. got ahold of the camera at our favorite pizza place.

I swear I don't know why that kid is such a ham.

Culture Shock

2009-05-20T10:23:00.001-07:00

I know I haven't posted in a long time, there was shearing day at the zoo, Mother's day, and knitting. But right now I am recovering from a five day trip to Northern Idaho. We went there because of this, my sister graduating from UI:

First, highlights of the trip to rural/small town Idaho and Washington, without photos:

Driving up and down the Lewiston Grade, whoo-hoo
Attending a three-hour graduation ceremony with a 2-year-old
Driving over the Snake River on a blue bridge, twice
Almost missing a flight due to airport signs continually changing location of the gate
Beverage service canceled due to turbulence, after having to dump out the sippy cup at security
Getting sprayed with beer at the recycling center on the way to the airport
Driving around the Palouse. It is truly beautiful country. Endless rolling hills of wheat fields

And photo highlights:

Climbing in a rusty old engine:

Various signs of Spring:

Dairy Queen:

Walking one block to the local co-op for groceries:

Lunch at the cafe in Cabella's, with three vegetarians. My son ate ostrich meat. There is an enormous stuffed dead animal display among other things.

The giant rocking chair:

And last, but definitely not least, visiting the wonderful Paradise Fibers warehouse store. Bonus for being on Thor Street and next to an adult bookstore. I got stuff!! (At Paradise Fibers, to be clear)

What to do for an encore? Go to Las Vegas with a toddler.

Lamb Cakes Past and Present

2009-04-13T19:38:00.000-07:00

The lamb cake was a big hit:

Here's a picture of a lamb cake my grandma made for me when I was a kid:

Happy Easter!

2009-04-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

We've already stuffed ourselves with candy, and now we're off to church.

Later tonight we are going to celebrate my mother's birthday with a surprise lamb cake:

Winner

2009-04-11T13:12:00.000-07:00

As chosen by the random number generator at Random.org, Kristen of audioknits is the winner of "Ethnic Knitting Exploration".

Thank you all for entering the contest.

Now I'm off the crank out a knitted birthday present. 27 reps of a 10 row pattern, I'm on #5, and need to get it blocking by Monday night.

Up In Your Grill

2009-04-09T10:32:00.000-07:00

I shot this yesterday on the way to the dump.

There's a whole lot going on here. Click to see it bigger. The grand opening sign says April 2005. You can trade your gold with them. For what? Hint, those are not tiaras, but diamond, well I don't know what to call them. You can get gold teeth, but only Monday-Saturday. You cannot add bling to your grill on Sunday. Sorry.

I have come back and added this photo. First, as proof that I really do go to the dump. Second, because it is so weird.

There are a lot of seagulls at the dump as you can imagine. But they were really swarming yesterday. This guy had something on a fishing line that he was swooping around in the sky. As I drove by I was kind of scared to look because the item looked suspiciously like a dead bird. But I'm glad I looked because if I hadn't I would have missed the hunting dog in the back of the pick-up.

I don't know if this is a dump employee having fun, they all wear day-glo, too. Or was he hired to terrorize the seagulls? Or is he a random guy who thought it would be fun to stir things up?

One of the stranger things I have seen there. Also please note the statuary on the hill. It is only a fraction of the vast collection of religious and decorative items.

The Spinning News

2009-04-07T22:05:00.000-07:00

Don't forget there's a contest going on through Friday. Check out the info post. I'm enjoying reading the comments.

A couple weeks ago I did a marathon spinning and knitting project. I spun up a Jacob/Alpaca blend to make a hat for the Zoo to use in a contest for the people who work behind the scenes at the barnyard. I'm organizing a group of spinners to go the shearing day on May 5th to teach kids about wool and let them try their hands at the drop-spindle.

I was overzealous in spinning. I only needed a little more than half the yarn. I couldn't find a cabled hat pattern I liked in the gauge the yarn knit up, so I just made it up. I did redo the last 20 rows. Two people I showed it to have asked for one, so with just a bit more spinning time, one person will be made happy.

I've joined a new Ravelry group whose goal is to spin a bit every day this month. Of course I've jumped so far into it that I haven't been knitting much this week. It's been neat documenting the spinning progress, and challenging to get daily creative photos.

I think this Falkland will become the contrast color for a pair of stranded mittens. The color is California Redwood from Girl on the Rocks. I'm trying to keep the green and the salmon separate so the mitten pattern will progress from one to the other.

I did take a break yesterday and knit up this submission for the The Milkweed Project, an art installation project. I spun the yarn a couple weeks ago from a Finn/Mohair blend.

Tonight I cast on for Garden Gate socks. We are doing a mini-KAL. The toe-up cast on really slowed us down.

On another note, have you ever seen an albino pea hen? This one lives at the zoo. Pretty weird.

A Contest - No Fooling

2009-04-01T14:11:00.000-07:00

I just realized a big thing I missed yesterday: the contest.

I have an autographed copy of "Ethnic Knitting Exploration" by Donna Druchunas to give away. If you aren't familiar, Ms. Druchunas is the author of several books including "Artic Lace" as well as articles in Piecework and other publications.

I enjoyed the first book in the series, "Ethnic Knitting Discovery", which talked about Norwegian, Andean, Danish, and Dutch knitting so much that I pre-ordered her new book, "Ethnic Knitting Exploration". The approach is less about copying patterns, and more about learning and understanding the techniques so you can design your own sweater. Each category starts with a small project like a head band or gloves. It uses drawings rather than photos, to further stimulate creativity.

The new book explores Lithuanian, Icelandic, and Irish knitting traditions. I'm interested in all three. Although I know about Icelandic and Aran sweaters, Lithuanian knitting is totally new to me. Check out the author's blog, she is posting tips and there is a blog tour.

The author is of Lithuanian descent and has studied the language as well as knitting. You know how much I'm into my Norwegian heritage, so I decided on an ethnic theme for the contest. I want to hear something about your ethnic heritage. A story, song, saying. Maybe your favorite food, Lutefisk, perhaps? If you could link to a photo, that would be fun. You don't have to have a blog to enter, but if you do, why not comment with a link to it? I have found so many blogs reading comments on other people's blogs.

The Rules:

Anyone can enter. I will mail the book anywhere.
Contest ends Friday, April 10th at midnight Pacific Time.
To enter leave a comment on this post telling me something about your ethnic heritage (see more ideas above). You must leave a comment in a manner that provides me with an email address so I can contact you if you win.
Each commenter will be assigned a number, and the winner will be picked via a random number generator.

Three Dot Blog Post

2009-03-31T22:16:00.000-07:00

It has been so long since I have blogged that I don't know where I left off. I have been super busy, and have been fighting a sinus infection and tree alergies. I will just share some high- and low-lights of the past few weeks.

***

40th Birthday part four involved a lovely lunch at a French restaurant with a dear friend followed by a trip to Imagiknit. It has finally sunk in. I am forty years old.

***

I had the honor of being an escort at the institution of the new Daughters of Norway lodge, Elise Waerenskjold. There was a lot of marching, that's me in the stripes.

A friend drove, so I got a lot of knitting in. To my horror I discovered I left my laptop at the church. In a panic and feeling like an idiot I phoned my friend, the president of the lodge, who went back out and retrieved it. I had to drive all the way to Roseville with my poor kid the next day, an hour and three-quarters away. I was sick as dog, all feverish and trying to stay awake. Things turned out fine though, we had a nice visit and lunch, then K. and I went to the State Train Museum in Sacramento.

***

Last Monday I took K. to the Conservatory of Flowers to see the train exhibit. He told daddy we went to the "plant museum". Little brains are amazing.

***

A couple weeks ago I was so sick I told K. that I just needed to lie down on the sofa. He said mommy was "brokedown" and proceeded to comfort me with his trains, a book, a half-eaten frozen waffle he found on the floor, and a can of beer (unopened) . He said he was "mommy K" and I was "baby mommy". Just the sweetest thing ever.

***

Speaking of sweet, K. still gets to see his little friend every week. He loves her so much.

***

I knit the pink glovelets with my birthday cashmere. The pattern is "Sweetheart Glovelets" by The Rainey Sisters.

***

Did I mention I was giving a talk to my lodge about spinning? It went well, and we had fun with a spinning lesson on CD drop spindles.

***

The other morning I was playing trains with K. after having fixed the engine "James" who had taken a bath, rendering his electronics non-functional. K. informed me that "mommy useful". For those of you without a little boy, Sir Topham Hatt, the director of the railway on the Island of Sodor, where Thomas the Tank Engine lives, often tells the engines they are "Really Useful". It is always the engines' goal to be really useful. I'm glad I succeeded. I often fantasize about living on the Island of Sodor. Although their safety record is not very good.

Things Are Looking Up

2009-03-11T19:05:00.000-07:00

Just a status update. I've been busy working on several non-knitting projects the past couple weeks. And I've got a few things on the needles, like these mittens.

I do want to talk about my Stitches class, I'm just waiting to have time to write something coherent. And the contest, yes that will happen soon. I think things will slow down next week.

I leave you with this image. I drive a red construction truck, but there's no company name. And if this was the name of the company, I would probably wear a hat and sunglasses. Or at least make the "R&S" more prominent. Just saying.

40th B-Day Part Two: Stitches West

2009-03-03T12:37:00.000-08:00

I know some people don't care about their 40th birthday, or birthdays in general. But I love my birthday, in fact the whole month of February has always been my favorite. The pink-ness of Valentines Day, then my birthday, and back when I worked or had a regular job, Presidents Day off. I think we got both Washington and Lincoln's Birthdays off when I was a kid.

I also know most people tend to throw big parties on their 40th. I, however, couldn't think of a theme, and frankly, what I really have been craving is a whole day to myself, and the pleasure of being able to focus on something I enjoy. So way back when registration opened I bought an all-day class at Stitches West to make Sami handgarments. My mother volunteered to stay here all day with the little one, and Mr. TVP scheduled a late start that morning.

This was my first Stitches, and I was going for the class more than the shopping, but I took my birthday money along, and a short list of things I have been looking for. I went to the preview Thursday night to get my badge and the lay of the land. I checked in to say hi to a couple vendors I know. To get ready for an upcoming project, I got the lovely green Blackwater Abbey yarn from Ireland pictured below. I also picked up the Compass Rose Sanquhar Glove pattern from them. It's in the last photo. Look at the beautiful pair Fluffy made.

Friday I morning left at about 6:30 to avoid morning traffic. I made a bonehead move and missed one exit, (cut me some slack, coming from 280 you have to get on 85, then 237, neither of which are marked Santa Clara). But I still got there nice and early. The class was challenging and fun. The subject deserves its own post, so that will be tomorrow, or as soon as I can get a good photo of my progress on the project.

At lunch I went over to see my contest socks on the wall. Photos allegedly weren't allowed in the market, but I asked and one of the judges took my picture with the Fana sock. I'm sure the two judges I talked to were famous, but I didn't recognize them.

Here's were I will say that I did not win a prize. At first I didn't care, at one point I had actually forgotten about the contest last week, and didn't realize the socks were there until I read the booklet Thursday night. I was kind of bummed thinking about it yesterday when the realization set in, but the winning socks are truly amazing. I think what makes it hard is I spent all the time and money but haven't even worn the socks yet!

The Bohus sock is here on a wall with several of the winners. Go here to see photos that do them justic. The stranded sock top right, made by an amazing Raveler, won third prize. The green one bottom right won Southwest Trading's "Uleash the Creativity" category. I believe the long white sock is the viewer's choice winner. My sock touched a winning sock!

Next I did some shopping. I was thrilled to score some Gotland fiber from A Verb for Keeping Warm to use at my Scandinavian spinning presentation Sunday. It's long and silky. (The fiber that is, hopefully the presentation will be short and concise). Also on my list was Jacob fiber and I found some at Toots LeBlanc's booth. It is actually a 50/50 jacob/alpaca which is good because I want it to be soft, for a project I'm making for the Zoo's shearing day. Those are up there in the photo with the yarn. I also got some Targhee from 'Verb', just because I haven't tried it before. It was too shy to be photographed, I guess.

I picked up a couple patterns at my friend Karen's booth (Royale Hare). I had to show her my sweater, spun from her fiber.

I also got a few back issues of Wild Fibers Magazine and spoke to Linda Cortright. She kicked off knitting the Longest Scarf in the World, which is part of Keep the Fleece. As part of the International Year of Natural Fibers the goal is to raise $250K for Heifer International. Actually the scarf started at Stitches is part of Carolina Homespun's team.

Back for the second half of my class. By the end I was really burned out, and not just due to the 000 needles, so I made one last spin of the market, and headed home before dark.

The word seems to be that there weren't as many vendors, freebies, or deals as in the past. Since this was my first year I didn't know exactly what to expect so I had a blast just being in the fiber zone all day. A perfect way to celebrate entering a new decade.

But my birthday isn't officially over until we drink that bottle of Veuve Cliquot.

40th Birthday Part One

2009-03-02T17:31:00.000-08:00

So much has been going on that I'm breaking up my 40th birthday celebration into a couple posts.

My birthday started a couple days early on knit night when my Purl Jam buddies totally surprised me with cake and gift certificate to Imagiknit.

They totally rock!! What do we do at knit night? Share projects, get advice, talk, and sometimes model socks. These are Karyn's "Oceansides".

On Thursday I went out for drinks at Tommy's Mexican Restaurant (a world class tequila bar) with my husband. Then we had dinner at Mel's Diner for fun. Since I had already had birthday cake, I got a chocolate malt for dessert, one of my favorites. The next morning I discovered we were out of coffee. It is so rare that I let that happen. It was not a very pretty picture. Tea was just not the same for what ailed me.

Later in the day I rallied and went to Imagiknit. It was such a pleasure to be able to go in there and just get whatever I wanted. I was pretty sure I wanted something luxurious, like cashmere. I was looking around and couldn't find pure cashmere, turns out it is kept in a locked showcase right by the door. I never noticed that before, but then again I've never shopped for something so dear.

I got a skein of pink cashmere which will become the Sweetheart Glovelets from the Rainey Sisters. I also got a skein of Malbrigo Lace, I'm still hunting a pattern for that. On a practical note I got a skein of green Cascade Heritage to use with all the pink sock yarn I have left from the Bohus Socks.

Tomorrow: Stitches West

Secret Lives of Toys

2009-02-26T15:36:00.000-08:00

I'm off to Stitches West for the preview tonight. Lots to tell about my birthday, it just keeps going.

I walked into K.'s bedroom the other morning and found that one of his trains, a crane, and a mug of water I left in there had been turned into a rescue mission diorama.

I don't know why I like this photo so much, even though I know a little boy set them up, it's almost like the toys have a secret life of their own. I was a moment frozen in time.

Also makes you wonder wait little boys are thinking when they think no-one is watching.

About Next Thursday

2009-02-15T15:41:00.000-08:00

I will be turning 40 this Thursday, just wanted to get that out there. I always love my birthday, and I'm not bummed out about the changing of the decade, but it does give me pause when I stop to think that I've been on this planet forty years.

Sometimes it is hard to believe. I mean the grey hairs are getting out of control and my 2-year-old wears me out, but I thought I would feel a lot wiser at 40 than I do. Maybe there will be some huge change in the next four days and the wisdom fairy will visit me. I'll be sure to let you all know if that happens.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T19:18:00.000-08:00

Hope everyone had as pleasant a day as I did. We went out early as a family for coffee at the ocean. There was hail standing on the ground, which is pretty unusual, it generally melts right away. There was even ice right on the sand at the beach. I only had my cell phone camera, what a bummer! Then we took a little trip for me to visit the job site I had yet to see. A rainbow was poking out of the clouds down the coast and back.

There were roses for me, a book and chocolate for K. Then a visit from Grandpa and naptime. This afternoon Mr. TVP and I went out on our own chocolate shopping and for a gourmet snack and drink.

On the way home we stopped in the park for a photo shoot. If we are "friends" on Ravelry then you've already seen my sweater there or maybe in person. But I did alter the sleeves and the overall length this past week.

I'm really happy with it. Makes me want to knit more sweaters!

Pointy Hat Parade

2009-02-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Here's another pointy hat:

I blogged about the yarn I spun, 'Blue-Haired Mafia", here. I made up the pattern as I went along. I soon found it was easier to leave the paillettes on the back of the work, rather then pull them through (they are spun into the yarn). I'm sure there's a name for this, but instead of purling, I knit a section stockinette in the round, then did a wrap and turn and knit the next section, wrapped and turned. I like the roundness of the purl stitches with the pailletes. Only part of the yarn had paillettes, so I used them as an accent on the purl sections. They didn't look good right next to my face, so I frogged and left them off the first section on the second attempt.

It looks really good on the little guy.

I have a bunch of the yarn without paillettes left. Not enough for mittens, but almost. I guess I'll spin some white yarn or use something from the stash and make them striped.

Gnome Hat Project

2009-02-05T18:13:00.000-08:00

My gnome hat partner is really, really into gnomes. She has a garden full. I wanted to make her a very special hat, but not too crazy. I found out she likes purple, and with that in mind I started to look for fiber.

At first I was going to wet-felt a hat, but my practice attempt proved I am not good enough at that yet. So I looked for spinning fiber, and found just the thing. The braid is from Traveling Rhinos. I pulled some dark purple from my stash.

The pattern is called "Gnomey Child's Hat" by Adrian Bizilia of Hello Yarn. I really liked the two-tone effect, so I decided to split the fiber up into a mostly purple and mostly green. That was a bit challenging and also caused me to have to do a lot of joins in my spinning. I only used about 1/8th of the purple fiber in the photo, just enough to ensure that the purple yarn really came across as purple. In ended up with these 2-ply skeins.

I got just the effect I wanted. To me the green is like moonlight reflecting, and the purple a midnight shadow. I can picture gnomes running around the garden in the moonlight. The yarn is really soft and there's just a bit of green in the purple and vice-versa. I altered the pattern by adding a bunch of stitches and rows. It is still pointy, but not outlandish.

Gnomey Goodness

2009-02-04T19:23:00.000-08:00

Look what I got in the mail today!!!

A totally awesome gnome hat from my Ravelry swap. It is a bamboo/silk/wool handspun, shiny and sparkly.

And look at all the other goodies. That bracelet has glass and felted beads, I love it. My partner makes wonderful stitch markers.

I cannot wait to wear this hat out. It was just too warm today.

Next time I'll show you the hat I sent out.

Bohus Socks

2009-01-16T13:26:00.000-08:00

Here are my Bohus socks. I am so in love with them! Too bad I am mailing them off today for the contest. Better photos will have to wait until after they come back to me.

The pattern, called the Red Palm, was designed by Kerstin Olsson and appears in the book "Poems of Color" by Wendy Keele. There was one photo of socks in the book, but it wasn't one of these yoke styles. I just thought of it as a sweater for the legs and knit ribbing and a yoke and a plain foot and heel. The big difference was I had to decrease within the pattern instead of increase. It was interesting. Managing the two colors and occaisonal purl stitches, which is what makes these Bohus designs so striking, was fun.

The biggest challenge was finding the nine colors of solid sock yarn. I got a bunch at the LYS, but then had to really hunt for the rest. I got one skein from a Raveler, and the others at another LYS. I tried dying yarn but couldn't get it right.

A whole lot of pink!

Fana Socks

2009-01-15T09:29:00.000-08:00

I designed these socks for the "Think Outside the Socks" contest. The winner will be chosen at Stitches West next month. Colinette is sponsoring their own portion of the contest, challenging you to use Jitterbug in a Fair Isle pattern. I first bought the grey and had no clue how I could make a pattern with another Jitterbug yarn because they were all so very variegated. I went back to the store at a later date and found the pink, which is much closer to solid.

I played with different patterns, but it finally turned into a Fana pattern. I guess I still had it on my brain from the sweater. These socks are basically a Fana Sweater for the legs. The twisted cast-on, checkerboard, stripes and star are all traditional to the sweater.

I'm quite happy with them. They make me think of something seen in a reflection of a pond or stream. As the trees above move, and ripples go by the colors shift.

Next time: Bohus Socks

Hverdags Bunad Preview

2009-01-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

Part of the reason for my lack of posting lately is that I have been working on my hverdags or everyday bunad. In contrast the fest bunad, the hverdags bunad is not heavily embroidered, or as regemented.

For the last three or four weeks I worked here and there to make the blouse, dress, and belt with the goal of finishing for our Lodge's installation of officers this past Sunday. A dear member, Paula, picked out the fabric for me and helped immensely with the planning, fitting, and execution.

I just made the deadline, attaching the belt buckles right before the meeting. I was so happy that I had something special to wear as I had the honor of acting as installing marshal, presenting candidates to be installed. I wanted to look nice for them. And to my surprise, our new president had just made herself an everyday bunad for the occasion, too.

I will wear it again in March when we go to Roseville to assist in the official institution of a new lodge there. I have a few adjustments to make (belt is too big, skirt 1" too long, cuffs too loose, other piece of silver won't stay on blouse). I will get full-length photos when it is looking more polished.

It is so great to have something fancy and Norwegian to wear. I usually put on a Norwegian sweater for our meetings but on these special days I wanted something nicer. I do have a plan for getting my fancy bunad done, I'm going to devote one day a week to the embroidery.

Paula is quite the bunad expert and is holding workshops so other members can make their own. The "Old Country Nordic Pattern" comes from Vesterheim, the clasps from Ingebretsen's in Minneapolis, and the jewelry and shoes I got in Norway for my fest bunad.

Modern Lady Update

2008-12-29T12:42:00.000-08:00

First things first. I love this truck. I want to know if a man or a woman owns it. There's a pink tool chest in the back.

Christmas was very nice. I didn't knit any gifts, but did send out quite a few cookies. We stayed in town and went to a couple events, and had a quiet Christmas dinner. There are photos of a house in the neighborhood we have visited for years on my other blog.

We managed to keep the quantity of gifts down so the little one really appreciated each item, especially his new workbench. The platform bed with a slide (not a Christmas present) is set up and he immediately decided he wanted to nap in it. Woo-hoo! He also set up his trains underneath which is win-win. I win because the living room is less cluttered and he wins because he gets to leave them out all the time. The timing of the new bed's arrival and his use of the word "own" as in "my own" was excellent.

I have been knitting the second pair contest socks and still spinning yarn for my sweater. I need to get back to knitting it, because I think I am getting close to enough yarn spun. The XRX sock contest deadline was extended to the end of January, so the pressure is off. I'm even thinking of a third pair.

I haven't forgotten the blog contest. The item I want to give away isn't going to be ready until sometime in January or February.

Finally, I have been out taking photos in the neighborhood. There was some interesting trash on the street.

Christmas morning:

What a crappy gift! No wonder it was tossed to the curb. Not only insulting, but obviously second hand. Aren't Abdominizers from the 1990's? Couldn't spring for an Ab-Roller, huh?

It looks like someone's recycling bin spilled here:

This was a couple feet away:

Must have been quite the party. From afar I assumed that the pink package had housed some type of marital aid.

But it was really a pack of seven size small:

Ladies' Disposable Panties
PANTY-O
The Life Style for Modern Ladies

Off the top of my head here are the "life styles" that would require disposable underwear:

Frequent spa visits
Giving birth
Incontinence

Judging by the "modern lady" on the pack and the empty beer case, I think I must have missed one or two.