Ear of Corn Mittens

Here is a photo of my favorite pair of mittens made from Classic Elite Tapestry (a wool/mohair blend with a lot of shine) and the Year of Mittens pattern book. The main pattern is the ear of corn pattern and the hem was from a different month. I gave these mittens to my friend Sam in Colorado who uses them to take her blind dog on his nightly walks.

I am still working on the Sirdal cardigan and have ordered the Norwegian braid and buttons. I'm near the collar and it is slow going because I'm finding it annoying. The Nature Spun yarn has too many knots, the Addi Turbo needles are too slippery, and I'm not sure if I like the pattern anymore. I really think my bad attitude is because I'm working on one project exclusively which is not my preference. I think I may actually be more productive by working on several projects simultaneously. Perhaps I'll get back to work on the second cashmere mitten today.

NORWEGIAN KNITTING RESOURCES, PART 2





The mailing list for Norwegian knitters is Norgeknit and it is wonderfully run by Wendy Johnson. Join us and browse through the pages of photos of sweaters and accessories. The French counterpart for Norgeknit is TricotNordique and a visit to their photo files, especially the folder titled Norvegiens, is quite inspiring.



The Dale sweater construction FAQ here should be printed out by everyone interested in making a Dale sweater. Also, Knitting & Assembling your Norwegian sweater written by Geane Helfrich can answer many questions. Wendy has two pages of photos and information on Norwegian steeks Here and Here. Karen has added a photo-rich section of her web site documenting in detail the construction of a Dale sweater. Finally, Flor has put together a list of mistakes in Dale of Norway patterns at her Dale errata page.



There are many inspiring web pages by talented knitters. Get yourself a cup of tea because you need to check out the Norwegian knitting photos at Wendy's site, Flor's site, Geane's site, Laurie's site, Amy's site, Karen's web site (with lots of great Dale baby accessories), Sandrine's site (in French but make sure to click on the "realisation" or "plus de details" buttons to see some great steeking and detail photos), and Saartje's site from the Netherlands which has a few Scandinavian knitted accessory photos. Drops has a huge selection of Norwegian patterns here - even if you can't read Swedish, Danish or Norwegian you can enjoy viewing the gorgeous designs.



Theresa has a terrific blog called Bagatell Knitting in Norway which has daily entries about her life and knitting in Norway. There are dozens of online stores for purchasing ready made Dale of Norway sweaters so I won't even attempt to list those. And if you check out Norwegian Wool you'll find out that there is even a market for your used Norwegian sweaters and accessories.

Here is a photo of my second house rabbit, Snickerdoodle, shown with some rabbit socks knit from a Blackberry Ridge Farm pattern. I don't remember which yarn I used - I gave the socks to a friend responsible for us adopting Flip from the House Rabbit Society. Snickerdoodle and Flip hate each other so have separate territories in the house. Flip has the second bedroom which also houses all my crafts supplies and Snickerdoodle has the rest of the house. I have to watch them both around my knitting stuff. Flip enjoys sticking his nose in baskets of fleece and ripping up knitting patterns and Snickerdoodle was caught once trying to eat a tatted snowflake. But his worst transgression by far was chewing on the edge of my signed copy of Alice Starmore's out-of-print and very valuable In the Hebrides.



Still haven't quite finished the main pattern on the Sirdal cardigan - I really can't wait to be finished with this sweater. I should probably order the buttons today. More Norwegian Knitting Resources tomorrow...