Marsvin er ikke hvad de har været / Guinea pigs are not what they used to be

Lykkelig genforening / Happy reunion

Sweateren til min nevø er kommet godt hjem igen.... Som I kan se, nåede jeg et godt stykke videre i løbet af kongressen, og lige om lidt skulle jeg være ved ærmegabet.
Jeg tror, den bliver rigtig fed!
Garnet er købt i 2 forskellige indfarvninger, hvilket selvfølgelig ikke er optimalt. Der er nok i første indfarvning til kroppen, men ribben øverst på sweateren og ærmerne bliver i den anden indfarvning. Jeg håber ikke, det bliver alt for tydeligt at se.

The sweater for my nephew returned home safely..... As you can see, I made a good deal of progress while at the congress, and in a short while I should be able to divide it for back and front.
I think it will be pretty cool!
The yarn for the sweater is 2 different dye lots, which is very far from optimal. The skeins in the first lot are enough for the body, but the rib-part at the top of the sweater and the sleeves will be from the second dye lot. I hope, it won't be too easily visible.

Is / Icecream

Det er tid til is, ikke? Det er "sommer" og længe lyst, og solen skinner! (Ind imellem, ihvertfald)
Hvis det nu er koldt, så kan det være tid til is alligevel. De her diagrammer kan give tanker om sol og varme - også selv om de sidder på et par strikkede strømper!

It is time for icecreams! It is "summer" and the sun sets very late, and sometimes it is even shining!
Even though it may be cold sometimes, it can still be icecream-weather. These charts can bring the thoughts of sun and warmth - even if they are sitting on a pair of knitted socks!

Hjemme igen / Back home

Vel hjemme igen, fik lørdagen hurtigt ben at gå på. Først en smut forbi en 1-års fødselsdag med åbent hus. Desværre havde hovedpersonen fået skoldkopper, så der var ikke helt så mange gæster som ventet. Men han var præcis så sød som sidst jeg så ham, og havde mest skoldkopper under tøjet......
Så fandt jeg pludselig ud af, at jeg ville få gæster om aftenen. Den ældste nevø, UDEN at han havde brug for mere garn!
Derfor gik det hurtigt hjem at pakke ud, hvilket ikke tog lang tid, men jeg opdagede - oh rædsel! - at jeg havde glemt mit strikketøj på hotellet i Portugal! AAAARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!!! Sweateren til min nevø, hvor jeg lige var nået næsten til ærmegabet.
Jeg spam-smsede min kollega, der først skulle hjem i dag, efter at have ringet til hotellet for at finde ud af, at det desværre var rigtig nok....... Heldigvis - efter en aften i nervøs venten - har hun hentet strikketøjet og tager det med hjem idag. Så kan jeg forhåbentlig få det mandag. PYHA!
Nå ja - og så kom der jo lige "lidt" regn. Lige pludselig. Denne gang holdt kælderen heldigvis tør!

Well back home, my Saturday just ran away. First I went to a 1-year birthday party. Unfortunately the main person had got chicken pox, so a lot of guests didn't show up. But he was just as cute as last time I saw him, and the rash was mostly under his clothes.
While there, I discovered that I was going to get visitors in the evening. My oldest nephew, and NOT because he needed more yarn!
So home I went to unpack, which didn't take long, but I discovered - to my great horror! - that I forgot my knitting project on the hotel in Portugal! AAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!! The sweater for my nephew, and I just knitted the main part of the body.
I send a sms-storm for my colleague, who isn't going home until today, after calling the hotel and finding out that they did find it....... Fortunately - after an evening of nervous waiting - she has picked up my project and will bring it home with her today. So hopefully I can have it by Monday. PHEW!
Oh well - and then we had a "little" rain. Very suddenly. This time the basement stayed dry!

Garn / Yarn

Med lidt besvær - og fine sporvognsture - fandt vi garnbutikken, der ligger i en lejlighed på 2. sal, nogenlunde i centrum. På adressen Rua Do Loreto 61-2.

With a little difficulty - and a nice tram-ride - we found the yarn shop, located on the second floor in an apartment, not too far from the center of town. The address is Rua Do Loreto 61-2.


Det var mægtig fint og hyggeligt. Der er både garn og stof. Vi fandt både noget lokalt garn og noget af det mere kendte fra Katia, Noro og Zitron. Der var en del japanske mønsterbøger, hvilket altid er sjovt!

It was a nice and cozy shop with both yarn and fabric for quilting. We found some local yarns, but also yarn from Katia, Noro and Zitron. Furthermore, the shop held quite a few Japanese pattern books, and those are always interesting.


Her ligger butikken!
Hvad jeg købte? En smule portugisisk garn fra et meget gammelt spinderi, og et bundt spansk garn fra en helt speciel fårerace. Meget lækkert og lige til et sjal. Mere. Engang.

This is the location of the shop!
What I bought? Some Portugese yarn from a very old spinnery and a skein of Spanish yarn from a very special breed of sheep. Very yummy and just enough for a shawl. Some time. In the future.

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Portugal

En god ting ved kongresser (og møder) er, at man får så meget tid til at strikke! I flyet startede jeg på en strømpe, som er fra bogen 'Socktopus', og lur mig, om ikke den første når at blive færdig på vej hjem.....

A good thing about congresses is all the time I have for knitting! On the plane here I started a sock from the book 'Socktopus', and I wouldn't be too surprised if I manage to finish it on the way home.....


Lissabon er mægtig smuk. Flotte huse og fortove, sporvogne, bjerge og vand. Gad godt blive her lidt længere!
I dag skal jeg i en portugisisk garnbutik med et par andre strikkere. Det bliver spændende! (Hvis vi kan finde den)

Lisbon is mighty pretty. Beautiful houses and pavements, the old trams, mountains and water. I wouldn't mind staying a bit longer!
Today I'm going to visit a Portuguise yarn shop together with some other knitters. It will be so much fun! (If we can find it)


De har lige haft sardin-fest hernede i onsdags, og som man kan se af udvalget i supermarkedet, er de vist generelt glade for sardiner!
Iøvrigt er sjalet nu også beundret af de andre. Utroligt, så mange jeg kender der mangler sådan et sjal! Jeg kunne vist godt strikke de første 10 og give væk. Hvis jeg gad. Men hvis det bliver aktuelt, bliver det over flere år! Basta!

They had a sardine-festival here on Wednesday, and as you can tell from their number of different sardines in the supermarket, they generally love them!
By the way - the shawl has been admired by my other colleagues too by now. Amazing, how many people I know who are in desperate need of a shawl like that! I could make at least 10 to give away. If I wanted to. But if I will do it at some point, it will be stretched over several years....

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Må jeg præsentere / Allow me to introduce

Sjalet blev tørt, pakket ned og taget med til Portugal, hvor jeg lige nu er på kongres. Det blev afleveret, og modtageren blev rigtig glad.
I får lige nogle ordentlige billeder af det.... Først på hotelsengen.

The shawl dried, was packed and brought to Portugal, where I'm at a congress right now. It was given away, and the recipient was very happy.
Here you have some proper pictures of it. First on the hotel bed.

Jeg er ret vild med kanten, der jo helt klart også var det mest tidskrævende at strikke. Det er næsten magisk, som sådan et lille bundt garn kan blive til noget så fint, ikke?
Ialt brugte jeg 85 gram Drops Lace til sjalet. I den store størrelse. De sidste pinde på kanten talte jeg masker, og der var 600+. Ikke noget at sige til, at det føltes som nogle meget lange pinde! Aflukningen er hæklet, og tog 2 timer....... Det var skønt, da det var færdigt!

I'm in love with the border, that was the part of the shawl taking most time to make. It is almost magic, how a little skein of yarn can turn into something so beautiful, don't you think?
I used a total of 85 grams of Drops Lace for the shawl. For the large size. On the last rows, I tried counting the stitches, and each row had 600+. No wonder these rows felt very, very long!
The cast-off is crocheted, and it took me 2 hours to do....... It was a great feeling when it was finally done!

Endelig et billede i solen. På det dejligste, grønne græs. Denne gang var sjalet fuldstændig fejlfrit (jeg har ikke fundet dem, ihvertfald!). Maskeantallet passede hele vejen, og jeg er lettere imponeret af mig selv......

Finally a picture in the sun. On the loveliest, green grass. This time the shawl was totally without mistakes (I didn't find them, anyway!). The stitch number was correct all the way, and I'm quite proud.......

Snart er den væk / Soon it will be gone

Stædig / Stubborn

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Jeg strikker og strikker / Knitting and knitting

Der mangler ikke mange pinde, men de er lange og seje..... Og jeg GIDER ikke. Men jeg gør det! Og jeg ved jo, at det bliver så fint, og jeg vil være så glad for at aflevere sjalet. I morgen.

There are very few rows to go, but they seem never-ending....... And I REALLY can find better things to do! But I'm doing it! And I know it will become a seriously beautiful shawl that I will be very happy to give away. Tomorrow.

Bzzzzz

Summende fluer er en fast bestandel af sommeren, i varierende grad afhængigt af hvor man bor......
På Frederiksberg har vi (heldigvis!) ikke mange af dem.
Men man kan hækle sin egen lille flue, hvis man savner for meget......
P.S. Nu mangler jeg kun 16 pinde i sjalet. Til gengæld er de lige blevet dobbelt så lange i maskeantal, så det har sænket hastigheden betydeligt!

The buzz of flies is part of summer, depending on how and where you live......
Here in Frederiksberg, we (fortunately) don't have a lot of them.
But you can actually crochet your own little fly, if you miss them too much......
P.S. I just need to make another 16 rows in the shawl chart. They just turned twice as long in stitch number, which has slowed me down considerably!

Boblerne / The bubbles

Ind imellem mine sjalsfrustrationer er jeg også kommet lidt længere på bobletrøjen til min nevø. Når sjalet er færdigt, skal jeg nå endnu længere!
God søndag! Her er jeg nået til at have strikket 8 pinde af de 37 i diagrammet (+ de 5 ekstra bagefter), men der skal bare STRIKKES i dag!

In between my shawl-frustrations I have come a bit further with the bubble-sweater for my nephew. When the shawl is done, I will get even more done!
Happy Sunday out there! I've made it to the 8th row of the 37 in the chart (+ 5 more afterwards), but today I'm going to KNIT!

Stress

Dette er, hvor langt kanten er lige nu. I går startede jeg på første pind, kunne ikke få maskerne til at passe, og trevlede hele pinden op igen for at tælle. Bare for at finde ud af, at maskeantallet passede, men det var mig, der ikke havde kigget rigtig på diagrammet...........
I dag skal jeg arbejde. Formentlig kommer jeg sent hjem, for det er svært at forestille sig, at jeg skulle være heldig at komme hjem allerede kl. 19, som sidst jeg havde en lørdagsvagt, så det med at strikke i aften sker sikkert ikke.
Og det skal være færdigt på onsdag! Pyh, hvor skal der strikkes hele søndag! Håber, jeg kan finde ud af at strikke i solskin på en plæne, for ellers har arrangementet i Kongens Have vist dystre udsigter.

This is the size of the edge right now. Last night I started the first row, but the stitches didn't match the chart, so I un-ravelled the entire row, counted the stitch-number and discovered that everything was fine. It was me, who couldn't read the chart.........
Today I'll be working. I'll probably come home very late, since I find it hard to imagine that I will be lucky enough to come home at 7 p.m. like last time I was working on a Saturday. The idea of knitting tonight is very unlikely.
And it need to be done on Wednesday! I will have to knit so much tomorrow! Hopefully I can read the chart and knit while sitting in the sun on a lawn, because otherwise I don't think I should join the World Wide Knit In Public Day in Kongens Have (Kings Garden).

Mens jeg stresser, kan I andre jo så nyde synet af en soldat i blomster, som jeg mødte udenfor Erik Berings blomsterbutik i går. Er den ikke fin?

While I'm stressed out, you can enjoy this soldier made from flowers. I met him outside a very fancy flower-shop yesterday. Very pretty.

Gule striber / Yellow stripes

Som den opmærksomme læser nok vil bemærke, er dette IKKE et lilla sjal, der skal være færdigt på onsdag. Jeg gentager. Det er IKKE et lilla sjal.....
Næh. For det arme sjal blev også ignoreret i går. På det groveste! Jeg skulle til tema-eftermiddag om supervision, og tro mig - hvis man skal strikke hulmønster, så har man ikke engang en svag lighed med én, der er opmærksom og lyttende!
Derfor blev det til et strømpeskaft i striber af gul arwetta og stribet glimmergarn. De bliver meget - ahem - gule. Gad vide, om evt. hostende kolleger også vil stå i kø til disse strømper!

As you, my intelligent reader, may have noticed, this is NOT a purple shawl supposed to be finished by Wednesday. I repeat. This is NOT a purple shawl.....
Oh no. The poor shawl was ignored yesterday too. In a very rude manner! I was going to a theme-thing on supervision, and believe me - if you are knitting lace after a chart, you wont even have the slightest resemblance to someone being very alert and listening!
So I started a sock in stripes of yellow and glittery sock yarn. They will be very - eh - yellow. I wonder if any of my colleagues will develop a nasty cough and get in line to have these!

Ikke som planlagt / Not as planned

I går var jeg på arbejde. Inden jeg skulle hjem, skulle jeg lige have ordnet noget, jeg havde udskudt, og når jeg kom hjem skulle jeg strikke (mindst) 12 pinde af kanten på sjalet. Og i seng.
Bedst som jeg sad på arbejdet og ihærdigt forsøgte at tage mig sammen til at læse de der 100 abstracts igennem, ringede min søster og spurgte, om jeg ville med på stranden og grille. Om jeg ville?
Så her er et billede, der nærmest er en madblog værdig, selv om alle lækkerierne skyldes min søster og svoger. Uhm, det var godt!
På en strand flyver tiden af sted, især med 3 børn til at grave huller, hente vand, sørge for sand diverse steder og bare til at sørge for underholdningen generelt.

Yesterday I went to work. Before going home, I wanted to do some things that I had been procrastinating, and after coming home, I wanted to knit (at least) 12 rows of the shawl-edge. And then go to sleep.
As I sat there at work, trying my best to get a grip and read those 100 abstracts, my sister called me, asking if I wanted to go to the beach for a barbeque with them. If I wanted?
So this picture is almost worth one of those fancy food blogs, although my sister and brother-in-law are the ones responsible for all this deliciousness. It was so good!
When on a beach, time flies. Especially if you have 3 kids ready to dig holes, getting some sea-water, put sand here and there and just entertain.

Bagefter fik jeg lov at flette niecens hår. Om jeg kunne lave franske fletninger i en cirkel? Det kunne jeg! Er ret tilfreds med resultatet.
Sjalet? Det må blive strikket lidt på i dag i stedet......

Afterwards I had the chance to make braids in my niece's hair. If I could make these braids in a circle? And I could! I'm rather happy with the result.
The shawl? Well, I guess I have to knit a bit today instead.......