Jeg elsker blomstrende træer / I love trees in bloom

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Drama

Det er ikke vesten, der er dramatisk. Næh, den er skam stille og rolig og vokser fint nok! Omend lidt langsomt....
Derimod skabte min nabos Dobermann en del drama søndag. Og jeg opdagede det ikke engang! Den vristede sig (endnu en gang) løs af halsbåndet og spænede glad frem og tilbage i ejendommens fælles have, mens alle andre gik fuldstændig i panik......
Det endte med, at den glade, nu indfangede hund, blev ført væk på bagsædet af en politibil. En af de 3, der var kommet med udrykning og bevæbnede betjente. (Hvorfor SÅ jeg det ikke???????? Jeg må altså til at være mere nysgerrig!!!!!) Den kom nu ret hurtigt hjem igen, og har nu fået en sele, så den ikke kan trække hovedet til sig.
Min arme nabo er på ferie og skal lige komme hjem til alle nyhederne. Derefter kommer der forhåbentlig andre boller på suppen for stakkels Boston, der bare gerne vil ud at løbe som de andre hunde. Det er ikke nemt at være stor og se farlig ud!

The vest does not cause any drama. Oh no. It is just growing steadily in a very calm fashion. Maybe it could speed up a little?
It was my neighbours Dobermann that caused a lot of drama on Sunday. And I didn't even notice it! Once more, it found a way to get loose from the collar and raced happily back and forth in our garden in the center of the building, while everyone around it panicked.....
The happy, once more captured dog ended the adventure by riding away in the backseat of a police car. One of the 3 cars coming with the sirenes on and filled with armed police officers. (WHY didn't I see it????? I have to get more curious!!!!!!) He came back home quite quickly and is now the proud owner of  a new harness that he is unable to get loose from.
My poor neighbor is on vacation and needs to get home and hear all the news. Hopefully, it will lead to a change, so Boston can come out and run and play like every other dog. It is not easy being big and looking dangerous!

Legemad - der kan drikkes! / Play food - for drinking!

Dagens opskrift er ret hyggelig. Jeg har set en del legemad gennem tiden - både strikket og hæklet og ret fint! - men det er sjældent, at det er noget til at "drikke".
Har man ikke brug for en tår mælk eller juice når man leger allerbedst?
Opskriften er denne her.

Today's pattern is really nice. I have seen quite a few patterns for play food here and there - knitted and crocheted and very pretty! - but you rarely see play-drinks!
Don't you need a sip of milk or juice when you really play concentrated?
The pattern can be found here.

Noget andet / Something different

En af mine kolleger skal snart forsvare sin doktor-disputats. Han var så venlig til min ph.d. at give et gavekort til en garnbutik (sammen med en af de andre, der er lige så god til at finde på gaver...), og er blevet far til nr. 2 for ca. et halvt år siden.
Jeg havde tænkt, at han til sit forsvar skal have en noget utraditionel gave - nemlig en Bella-vest til sin lille datter. (Som han iøvrigt allerede har ringet til "børnelægen" om for at få et godt råd. Hvad er venner til?)
Eller også er det hele bare en dårlig undskyldning for at få lov at strikke den lille Bella-vest? Det er et vildt sødt mønster.......
Jeg strikker i bomuld, og det bliver så fint. (Selv om maskeantallet ikke passer. Beklager.)
Iøvrigt - tørklædet endte hos min søster. Den mindste niece dømte "KRADSULD!" (Jeps. Hun har ikke fortjent det!) og de andre var bare ikke hurtigere nok. Til gengæld er det perfekt til den grønne frakke, det nu hører sammen med!

One of my colleagues is going to defend his doctoral thesis soon (a bit like a ph.d., only much bigger. It is a Scandinavian title.) For my own ph.d. defense he was kind enough to give me a gift-card for a yarn shop (with one of the others, who also give really great gifts.....), and he had his second child about 6 months ago.
I thought that for his defense he will have an un-traditional gift - a Bella-vest for his little daughter. (By the way, he already called the "pediatrician" for advice once. What are friends for?)
Or maybe all this is just an excuse to make the pretty little vest? It is so cute!
I'm using cotton, and it is just beautiful. (Even though the stitch number is wrong. Sorry.)
By the way - the scarf ended up at my sister's. My youngest niece cried "ITCHY!" (Oh yes. She never deserved it!) and the other nieces just weren't quick enough. But it is just perfect for the green coat it belongs with now!

Farver / Colors

Tørklædet fik den gule kant, og er nu ganske færdigt. Det er blevet rimeligt stort - ca. 35 x 150 cm, og er vist også ret varmt i forhold til at det nu er sommervejr.
Mønsteret er jo ret nemt. Bare glatstrik, skiftevis 2 pinde mohair og 2 pinde strømpegarn (med glimmer) på pind 4. Den hæklede kant ville bare på.

The scarf got a yellow edge, and by now it is quite finished. It is fairly big - around 35 x 150 cm, and I guess it is pretty warm thinking of the summer warmth we are (almost) having.
The pattern was very simple. All stockinette stitch, 2 rows of mohair and 2 rows of sock yarn (sparkling) alternating using 4 mm needles. The crochet border just needed to be put on.

Det er utroligt let, lækkert og luftigt. Man tænker ikke lige over, at det er strømpegarn sammen med det lækre mohair/silke garn!
Der er gået 100 gram til det i alt, og nu skal jeg så lige finde ud af, hvad de sidste 75 gram af den indkøbte portion skal bruges til....... Nå ja - og så skal jeg lige af med det! Håber, en af niecerne vil have noget så strålende farverigt, for det er nok lidt for spraglet til min smag.

It is incredibly light, soft and airy. You would never guess that the stripes are just plain sock yarn in combination with the yummy mohair/silk yarn!
It weighs 100 grams in total, and now I just need to think about what to use the last 75 grams of mohair/sock yarn for...... Oh well - and I need to give it away to someone! I hope one of my nieces wants to wear something this colorful, since it's a little too much for my taste.

Gul kant / Yellow edge

I går fik jeg endelig hæklet den gule kant på tørklædet. Det tog det meste af aftenen, mens jeg "så" DR1. Jeg kom forbi både Bonderøven, Søren Ryge og Chris MacDonald. Ham Chris snakker godt nok sjovt......
Lige nu tørrer det, så der kan komme billeder senere.

Yesterday I did the yellow crochet border on the scarf. Took me most of the evening, while I "watched" tv. A farming programme, a gardening programme and a coaching programme with Chris MacDonald, who really has a funny accent when speaking Danish......
Right now the scarf is drying, getting ready for pictures.

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Noget jeg savner / Something I miss

Der er gået snart 8 måneder siden min mor døde. Det har været en kæmpe lettelse ikke at skulle tage toget til Hillerød 2 gange om ugen. Ikke konstant at være bekymret eller hele tiden have en smule dårlig samvittighed. Ikke hele tiden føle, at jeg ikke kunne planlægge min tid som jeg helt selv ville, og ikke føle lidt skyld over de gange, hvor jeg gerne ville planlægge selv......
Hendes sygdom har fyldt så meget i mig, at jeg har haft svært ved at huske hende som rask. Så selv om jeg selvfølgelig gerne ville have en rask mor, så føles det ikke som et alternativ til hendes død.
Når jeg besøgte hende, gik jeg gennem et lille stykke skov. Hvert eneste forår så jeg anemonerne blomstre og plukkede mange, mange buketter. Til hende, men så sandelig også til mig! I dag tog jeg til Hillerød igen. Så, at gravstenen var kommet på plads. Drak en kop kaffe deroppe (hun elskede at drikke en kop kaffe) og tog hjem med en sidste-øjebliks-anemoner. Men jeg fik dem!

It's almost 8 months since my mother died. It was a giant relief not having to ride the train to Hillerød twice a week. Not constantly being a little worried or having the little twinge of guilt somewhere in the back of my brain. Not feeling all the time that the time wasn't mine to plan, and not feeling bad about the times that I really wanted to plan everything according to my own head......
Her illness took up so much space in my mind, that I'm having a really hard time remembering her as a healthy person. So even though I really wanted to have a healthy mother, it didn't feel like a realistic alternative to her death.
Whenever I visited her, I walked through a little bit of forest. Every single spring I watched the anemones bloom and I picked flowers for so very many little bouquets. For her, but definitely also for me! Today I traveled to Hillerød once more. Found that the stone with her name had been placed on her grave. Drank a cup of coffee next to the grave (she just loved having coffee) and came home with a last-minute-bouquet of anemones. But I got them!

Fisk / Fish

Den blå planet / The blue planet

Fordelen ved en fast, ugentlig fridag er, at man pludselig kan planlægge. Når familien så også bliver klar over det, kommer der pludselig de hyggeligste aftaler om tirsdagen.
I dag blev det til besøg af nevø + kone, der skulle flyve videre i dag, men inden kunne de lige nå at overnatte og i dag tage i den blå planet. Der er så flot! Især på en dag, hvor den værste gæstestrøm er taget af, og man faktisk kan se fiskene. F.eks. de orange fisk med lilla øjne!

The great thing about having the same day off every week, is that I can do some planning. Since my family found out about it, I've had all kinds of really nice activities on Tuesdays.
Today I had a visit from my nephew and his wife. They were flying off on vacation today, and before doing that, they slept at my place last night, and today we went to see 'The Blue Planet'. It was amazing! Especially on a day like today when it's not crowded and we could actually see the fish. Like the orange fish with purple eyes......


Vi har spist frokost på 'Kystens Perle', og nu er de taget videre i lufthavnen, mens jeg er på vej hjem over Amager Strand.
Det er SÅ fedt......

We had lunch at 'Kystens Perle', and by now they have taken off towards the airport and I'm on my way home, using the bicycle path on the beach. It's SO wonderful......

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Wonder woman

Det er mandag. En travl dag efter weekend. Første dag i ugen. Jeg ved ikke med jer, men i mit liv føles det ind imellem som om det kunne være rart med lidt superkræfter af en slags!
Dagens opskrift er en wonder woman bluse.
Måske ville det hjælpe at strikke sådan en? Og vi kunne danne mode??????
P.S. Hvis du heller ikke kender wonder woman, kan du læse om hende her.

It is Monday. A busy day after the weekend. First day of the new week.
I don't know about you, but my life sometimes feels like a few super powers would be really great to have!
Today's pattern is a wonder woman sweater.
Maybe it would help knitting something like this? And we could be fashionable?????
P.S. If you are not very familiar with wonder woman, you can read about her here.

En slags striber / Stripes - sort of

De hjemmefarvede strømper til min nevø er færdige. De er blevet farverige, men det passer jo meget godt til min dug, ikke?
Han gik efter striber, og det har han også opnået. En slags striber, ihvertfald....
Der er garn til et par mere. Det får han nok. Det tager jo ikke så forfærdeligt lang tid at strikke strømper i str. 35!
Jeg har brugt 50 gram af Knitpicks gode strømpegarn. Dejlig blødt er det, så hvis du får mulighed for det, skal du prøve med deres strømpegarnstæpper. Det er virkeligt sjovt at farve!

The home-dyed socks for my nephew are done. They are very colorful, but goes well with my tablecloth!
He wanted stripes, and stripes it became. Sort of, anyway.....
I have yarn left for another pair. I'm sure he will get those too. Doesn't take too long knitting socks his size!
I used 50 grams of Knitpicks sock yarn. It is nice and soft, and if you get the opportunity, you should try their sock yarn blankets. It is really fun dyeing your own yarn!

Tørklæde / Scarf

Tørklædet er strikket færdigt. Når jeg kommer hjem og får det vasket, tænker jeg at det også kan bruge en lille hæklet kant. Måske i neongul?
Det er dejligt blødt, og striberne i strømpegarn (med glimmer!) passer virkelig godt til kid mohair.
Der er garn til et til, men først må de stribede strømper vist være færdige......

The scarf is finished, knit-wise. When I get back home, it needs a wash, and then I think it may need a crochet border. Maybe in bright yellow?
It is really soft, and the sockyarn (sparkling!) is good with kid mohair.
I have enough yarn for another one, but I guess I'd better finish the striped socks first......

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Flere striber / More stripes

Disse dage går med møder/foredrag fra morgen til aften, så der bliver strikket!
Det kid mohair og strømpegarn jeg købte i Uldstedet for et par uger siden er ved at blive til et tørklæde. Det bliver med halvt orange, halvt grønt, og jeg er netop startet på det grønne.
Det bliver ret enkelt. 50 masker på pind 4 og glatstrik hele vejen. Håber, det bliver godt og falder i en nieces smag. Bagefter kan jeg så lave er med neongul mohair....

These days are filled with meetings and talks all day, and I'm knitting like crazy!
The kid mohair and sock yarn I bought in Uldstedet a few weeks ago is becoming a scarf. It will be half orange, half green, and I just started the green.
It is very simple. Fifty stichtes on 4 mm needles and stocking stitch all the way.
I hope it turns out well and that one of my nieces will like it.
Afterwards I will make another one with bright yellow.

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Måske havde han ret / Maybe he was right

Strømperne, min mindste nevø selv farvede garn til, er godt på vej. Den første er næsten færdig. Han ville jo have striber, og striber bliver det.
Jeg kan godt lide dem, i al deres farvepragt!

The socks for my youngest nephew, made from the yarn he dyed himself, are coming along nicely. The first is almost done!
He wanted stripes, and stripes it is.
I like them. In all their colorful brightness!

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Strømper i en bil / Socks in a car

Klar til lidt sol / Ready for a little sun

Den nye sommerbluse er færdig, og den er blevet rigtig fin, synes jeg! Det tog et par timer at sy det hele sammen, så jeg er sandelig glad for, at jeg ikke går i stå når jeg når til monteringen...... Pyha. Godt nok har jeg ikke noget imod at sy, men den var hård!
Ialt er der gået ca. 5,5 nøgle rødt og knap 1 nøgle af hvid, gul og grøn til blusen. Den passer på en prik, og jeg er ret glad. Man kan jo aldrig vide, hvordan en bluse i virkeligheden vil blive, før den er helt færdigsyet og på, vel? En overgang eller to havde jeg mine tvivl.....
Mønsteret er det her, og det kan anbefales. Hvis du ikke er bange for at sy!

My new summer top is done, and I really like it. It took me a few hours to sew everything together, and I'm really happy I don't freeze when I get as far as the finishing part...... Phew.
I don't mind sewing, but it did take some patience!
In total, I used about 5.5 skeins of the red and almost 1 skein of white, yellow and green for the top. It fits well, and I'm happy. You never really know, how something knitted really will turn out until its done and worn, do you? There were moments when I had my doubts......
The pattern is this one, and it's really nice and easy. If you're not afraid to do some sewing!

Monitering / Finishing

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Knitter's pride

Værsågod. Endnu en af de opskrifter, jeg ikke anede eksisterede!
Men hvorfor ikke? Et strikket betræk til reservehjulet.
Hvis du er god til at strikke, kan du ligesågodt prale af det!

Here you go. Another of those patterns I never dreamed existed!
But why not? A knitted cover for the spare tire.
If you are really good at knitting, you might as well show it to the world!

Sommer og silke / Summer and silk

I går lovede jeg at vise den kommende sommertop/bluse. Det er denne opskrift, som jeg fandt på Ravelry, da jeg lavede en søgning på pind 4,5 mm, top, kvinder og voksen. Der var selvfølgelig andre opskrifter, men denne så god ud.
Egentlig er den ret enkel - 4 stykker strik, der sys sammen og bliver til en top. Faktisk så enkel, at man tænker, det umuligt kan blive fint! Men på de færdigstrikkede modeller synes jeg det ser godt ud, så nu prøver jeg......
Der mangler lige et enkelt stykke, som jeg håber at få strikket i dag. For i dag skal jeg bare slappe af! Ingen artikler. Ingen arbejde. Ingen planer. (eller....... lejligheden trænger til lidt opmærksomhed!)
God søndag i solen!

Yesterday I promised to show my upcoming summer top. It is this pattern that I found on Ravelry, doing a pattern search for needles size 4.5 mm, top, female and adult. Of course there were other patterns as well, but this one looked good.
It's actually very simple - 4 pieces of knitted fabric sewn together to become a top. It is so simple that you think it can no way become something good! But on the finished models I think it looks really good, so now I go for it.......
I just need to make one more piece that will hopefully be knitted today. Today is a day for relaxation!
No articles. No work. No plans. (Or...... well. The apartment really needs a bit of time!)
Happy sunny Sunday to you!

Nuttet / Cute

Dette skulle faktisk have været et indlæg om mit sommerbluse-strikketøj. Model, garn osv. Men altså. Min mindste nevø var på besøg fra torsdag til fredag, og han var - som altid! - mega-nuttet. Så I får lige lidt om ham i stedet.
Det var en slem skuffelse, at alle butikker havde lukket fredag. Men heldigvis kunne vi gå på nationalmuseet! Dog med grimme bagtanker. Der er jo en museumsbutik, og TÆNK hvad der ville være af gave-potentialer!
Først havde vi dog lavet lys og farvet garn. Spist morgenmad og spillet. Leget med ænder i køkkenvasken. Og spist frokost. Det var så hyggeligt!

This should have been a post about my summer-blouse-knitting. Model, yarn and so on. But you know what? My youngest nephew came to visit Thursday and Friday, and he was just as cute as he ever is. So here's a bit about him instead.
He was truly disappointed when he realized that all the shops where closed on Friday (National Holiday). But fortunately, we could visit the National Museum! He had his plans, though. They do have a museum shop, and just imagine, what gifts he could possibly get from there!
First we had been making a candle and dyed yarn. Had breakfast and played games. Played with the bathing ducks in the kitchen sink. And had lunch. We had such a nice time!

Før vi besøgte butikken, besøgte vi Danmarks oldtid. Det var sjovt! Vi gik gennem stenalder, bronzealder og vikinger (og sikkert lidt indimellem!). Der var en del gravfund, seje sværd, flotte økser og en masse småting. Bl.a. et skelet med hue på. Og flere skeletter begravet med perler, drikke glas mm. Vi blev ret enige om, at hvis jeg lå der som skelet, så havde de nok fundet et skelet i en kiste fyldt med garn!
I butikken havde de diverse seje ting (pyha!), og den unge mand endte med et træsværd og et træskjold. Han var ikke helt sikker på, hvornår han ville få brug for det, men det var flot! Som I kan se, kunne sværdet lige sidde i bæltestroppen.
Efter aflevering tog jeg hjem og så på at mit nyfarvede garn tørrede for langsomt. Mens jeg strikkede på glimmer-strømperne og rettede i min artikel. I dag skal jeg arbejde. I morgen skal jeg SLAPPE AF! Mere om sommerblusen i morgen.

Before we visited the shop, we went back in time in Denmark. It was fun! We passed through the stone age, bronze age, the age of the vikings (and probably some more ages in between!). They had a lot of burial stuff, cool swords, beautiful axes and a lot of bits and pieces. For instance a skeleton wearing a hat. And more skeletons buried with beads, drinking glasses and so on. We agreed that if I had been buried and was lying there as a skeleton, they would have found a coffin with a skeleton buried in yarn!
In the shop they had different cool things (phew!), and the young man ended up having a wooden sword and a wooden shield. He wasn't quite sure when he would need it, but it looked good! As you can see, the sword fitted perfectly in his pants.
After delivering him back home, I went back to my place and watched the newly dyed yarn dry too slowly. While I was knitting on the sparkly socks and revising my article. Today I'll work. Tomorrow I'll RELAX! More about the summer-blouse tomorrow.