Zombie Monster Pants

I know.. I suck at keeping this blog updated. I guess I'm just not a true blogger at heart. Or maybe it's that I don't have enough time for the 1,001 things that Andreas and I do on a weekly basis. Either way, I figure it's still fun to post from time to time.

Lately we've been very busy with the garden. Everything is growing nicely, even though it's been a rainy colder summer. Nothing like Holland of course, but not exactly perfect growing weather either. Andreas is building a greenhouse from scratch, which will hopefully be ready in another month or so. We won't get much use out of it this year, but next year will be nice.

When we aren't in the garden, we've been taking long bicycle rides and hunting for mushrooms in the woods. So far we've only found a few large edibles, but the famed golden yellow chanterelles are poking their squishy hats up already. In another week or so I expect we'll have our first batch of these beauties, and then we'll be simmering them into some delightful dish or another.

The rest of my time I spend learning Swedish, programming, running (I'm training for a 10k race a month from now), reading Swedish books, cooking, cleaning, more Swedish, applying for jobs, feeling sorry for myself and lack of money, scheming on ways to make money, and bothering Andreas ;)

On the knitting front, I've accomplished two projects. The first is a soft, washable baby blanket for my friend Prathiba, who is about to deliver a beautiful baby girl any day now.

The blanket:

The pattern was really simple, using single, double, and triple yarns overs which were later dropped to achieve the cool effect you see. It got a little repetitive at the end but I was so excited about finishing and giving the gift that I made it through it. The pattern is from Pickles, a Norwegian yarn company who has some patterns for free. You can find it here: http://www.pickles.no/breezy-winter-baby-blanket/ 


Funnily enough I used similar colors to their example but that is a coincidence. I asked Prathiba to pick out some colors she liked from Cascade 220 Superwash (the yarn I used) and then I came up with these three colors). The orange-ish one you see is actually pink but I'm a horrible picture taker. In any case, the baby shower is Saturday so that will be fun.










Besides that, I finally finished the monster pants (now called 'Zombie Monster Pants'.. you'll see why shortly). I took the plunge and figured out how to duplicate stitch. A friend of mine from my knitting group suggested I use a thicker yarn so I first started by trying to use some white worsted weight yarn that I had on hand. That was a disaster though, so I reverted back to the white yarn in the same brand and size (Drop Baby Merino) that I used for the pants themselves. Some of the green and pink shows through a little bit but for a first time, I'm satisfied. 


Here they are!

These are going in a tightly sealed box for a while yet, but I look forward to the day when we have a little cute butt and legs in these things, walking and crawling around. :) 




What's next? I'm learning how to crochet, so that is fun. Nothing serious yet, just learning the basic stitches. An added twist is I'm learning it both in Swedish and English, since you know, just learning something in one language isn't challenging enough! ;) I also want to start again on the Dane shawl, that tricky tricky piece of work. I know I can do it though! And there is the baby blanket I was making for myself, which I really should just finish already so it's out of the way. And I really want to knit a pair of socks. There's also that skein of yarn I bought to make Andreas a matching winter hat to go with his scarf....

Guest Post #1: Hiking the Sörmlandstrail (episode 1)

Go here for the photo album without narration

The snow was mostly melted, the frosty air had given way to a chilly breeze (warmth is relative!), and the ground was much too solid for the gardener's trowel. Hiking plans were forged, maps were printed, soup was cooked and poured into a thermos, the GPS unit was charged, and we were ready to face the first of many sections of Sörmlandsleden: the Trail of the South Man Land.

Placenames sound pretty cool when translated literally.

We (Jessica, our dog Björn, and myself) took a train to Flen and followed signs from the train station towards the trailhead. The landscape in and around town was fairly hilly, with many exposed granite buttes and boulders, so we were excited to get started. It was nearly noon when we reached the trailhead.

Being overconfident as we always were, we calculated 20 km (12.5 miles) to our destination, and about 6 hours of good daylight (7 hours before the train that would bring us home left). That equates to "easy", in our book, so we started off at a relaxed pace and enjoyed the surroundings.

The recent thaw left the boulders embedded in the trail oddly sunken, probably the results from expanding water ice which subsequently melted away. Interesting effects, whatever the cause!

We soon encountered an enormous pile of boulders, left there by a long-gone glacier from the last ice age. It had delightful cracks and crevasses, ideal for wild animals to use for shelter or to hide from predators. I'm glad we did not encounter a wolverine (järv) there, because a human with our feeble fingernails and teeth would stand no chance against the fearsome claws and bone-crunching jaws of these creatures. Very glad, indeed.

Having exhausted the entertainment options offered by the boulders, we carried on with the hike, realizing our average pace was significantly lower than anticipated. That's fine, we still had plenty of time! As long as we pick up the pace a little, that is.






Picking up the pace is difficult when there are so many enticing distractions. For example, in one instance we turned right when we should have turned left. We quickly realized our mistake and turned back, and were surprised by a giant Ubo ubo, the Eurasian Eagle Owl, probably the largest bird found in Sweden. It made a slight noise when it dropped from its perch about 5 meters ahead of us and 5 meters above our heads, which is what caught our attention. Its camouflage was so good that we had passed right under it without noticing. Its nearly 2-meter wingspan scarcely made a noise as it swooped over our heads and turned into the forest. Stunning. To my great dismay, I was unable to take a photo of the animal.

Look at these frozen lakes, sprinkled amidst the now-verdant forest. The melting ice painted convoluted  patterns in psychedelic monochrome. Look closer, and you realize there's a galaxy of tiny worlds hiding within - secret constellations of suspended bubbles were responsible for the varying shades and textures of the lake.

At this point, we started to realize that 20km was not a realistic approximation of our hiking distance. It would be closer to 25, and our average pace would put us at our destination long after dark. Stupid, stupid hikers, we were! Rest stops were ruled out, food and drink could wait. We had to move.

But wait! These frozen marshes offered such a cheerful alternative to the inky black waters to which they would return in only a few short weeks. Treacherous pools were a pristine white, and solid through and through. They brightened up the forest like beacons. Remarkable!





Still we pressed on. My GPS-enabled phone reported our pace, and we pushed and we pushed until it told us we were doing alright. I checked our progress by comparing our position with landmarks I had copied down previously, on a morning that now seemed very distant. How far is 0.02 degrees, again? Can we make that in an hour? Mental arithmetic kept me sane, while wife and dog plodded on breathlessly behind me.

Finally, we reached our destination - a village with gunpowder mines and a trainstation. It took an additional 2 kilometers to reach this trainstation, because the village roads were apparently designed by the village idiot. No matter, we had reached the platform with our tickets in hand, and finally unscrewed that thermos of soup.






It was heavenly.

Spring.. a time of intense knittyness

Hi hi! It's been a while... I didn't come back as I had promised in the fall. That's because life has been busy - learning a new language, working full time, and well... knitting. Yes, lots of knitting. But I feel inspired this evening to write a blog post, so here it is: projects I've completed in the last 6 months.

Josiah's cross stitch:

It took me an entire year to complete this, but I finally did it. It was worth it in the end and considering I was a novice cross-stitcher when I started, I'm pleased with the result.

Mug cozies:

I made two different mug cozies: one to go around the mug, and one that holds the mug. Unfortunately I don't have a picture handy of the finished product for the holding one. The pattern for the first one is the "We're just that Awesome mug cozy" which can be found on ravelry. I thought the diagonal stitch was finicky and didn't look that nice after all. The second one I sort of made up, but it was loosely based on this pattern. It was my first time not strictly following a pattern so that was pretty fun, and for a porcelain mug it is much more practical.

Irish Hiking Scarf:

Next up I worked on a cabled scarf for Andreas, for Christmas. This was a fun knit and it was my first time making cables.. ridiculously simple to do and I was fearful for no reason it turns out. Even though it was simple, it still took ages to finish as it's fairly thick and it had to be long enough for my husband to wear it the way he likes. Project page with more pictures and pattern here.

CanCans

These were so much fun that I was sad when I finished them. I frogged them the first time I started on DPNs; things went much better with circulars. I really like the fake cable motif and they fit perfectly. Project info and pictures here. Link to pattern here.

Monster pants (Monster byxor/bukse):

As you can see, they are still in progress. The pink bit there is going to be the monster mouth. These are knit top down and I'm doing them in size 1 year old. The pattern is from duBedåre on Ravelry, pattern here. Check out her super cute monster pants!

I actually am farther than in the photo above; I just did the increases for the legs. I can't find my 40 cm knitpro cable though, and since I only owned one set of 3mm needles for the knitpro circs, I went ahead and ordered two 40cm cables and another set of 3mm needles. I think I'll set these aside for a week while I wait for those to arrive. I'd rather wait and knit on the circulars than going ahead with DPNs.. I'm just not that comfortable on them. I end up with laddering and tend to have a too-tight gauge.

Other projects I'm working on but aren't far enough yet to give you a picture are:

• "Textured Blocks Baby Blanket" on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/textured-blocks-baby-blanket
• Hermione's Everyday Socks also on ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hermiones-everyday-socks

Bonus pictures for this post:

My mother-in-law's cat, very silly. She likes me for some reason..

Three things I love: programming, knitting, and Andreas ;) On the right, a picture of me having just bound off my first CanCan on the train home.

Homemade pickles from our garden in the Netherlands, and a glimpse of the nature surrounding us here in Katrineholm.

In February we went skiing in Austria, Zell am See. A picture of us at the airport in Innsbruck, and a picture of us on the slopes in Zell am See. It was my first time skiing.

Random cuddling with Björn, whom I missed very much all autumn. I was happy to see him in January.

Our garden plot, where we will be planting this year, and the beginning of the garden - a bunch of newly planted seeds in our windowsill.

Other news:

I'm getting a sewing machine! I've been wanting one for over a year but we couldn't really afford it. I've been saving my pennies and I finally ordered a Bernette 15 (a review of the features here). It will arrive Friday and I'm so excited to try it out. I signed up for a apron swap on Rhonda's Down to Earth blog, which sort of prompted this entire purchase. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I signed up, but I guess I needed a little extra push to finally go out and buy the machine.

I will try to update soon. I promise.