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For the first time in over a year I've actually picked my knitting up. I'm quite surprised with myself. While I haven't been knitting I've been busy - first moving (again), and then making one of these:

This is Rory Aloysius, born July 9th. I seem to be the only knitter I know that doesn't go into full on baby knitting mode when pregnant.

So, we're all doing fine. Let's see if the blog keeps going or if it languishes.

Moving photos...

Hoorah, we're online at home now. Let's celebrate - ginger beers all round.

Now that we've got the computers set up at the new monkey house, I've finally properly downloaded my photos from during our move and thought I'd share a few:
This is us driving over the pass between Norway and Sweden - I don't think the Abba was quite playing by this time - as you can see there was a bit of snow!
This is a statue of George and the Dragon in Stockholm.
This is the boat we were on between Stockholm and Helsinki.
This is David enjoying a beer on the boat.
And this is David pretending to be a pirate (he needs more practice)


And this is us arriving into Helsinki the next morning. Arriving at a city (especially one that you're just moving to) by boat is different than arriving by plane - there's something less immediate and quick, and therefore more real about it. Or maybe I was just pleased to finally be in Helsinki at last?

Helsinki one week on...

Well, as I said last Thursday we've made it to Helsinki safe and sound, our stuff (which seems to be getting more and more with each move despite the efforts to not let it grow) arrived the day after us, which is good - as now a week on we're pretty much packed and able to live. The house is better than I'd remember when we'd seen it back in August. It feels very grown up, I can't explain what it is about the house that makes it feel grown up, maybe it's that it's new, or that it has a working dishwasher (that isn't from the 60s), or that it has a walk in wardrobe (or should I be pretentious and call it a dressing room?), or that it has two bathrooms - I don't know, but it feels grown up. It's nice and warm, so despite the fact that the temperature is going to plummet we have underfloor heating and a very efficient fire, and lets not forget the sauna, to keep us warm.

David seems pleased with the kitchen and has already started restocking the freezer!

We've been given a date of next Monday (Nov 19th) for the internet to be turned on - ahead of the expectations we'd been given, which is good - and hopefully in time for a work meeting I have scheduled. In the meantime I'm hanging out in our local library, which is part of a culture centre in our local area - from what I can tell it is very well used and looked after.

While we've been in the midst of moving two friends have had babies - Sophie has had a baby girl, Beartrice on Oct 31st and Anna has had a baby boy, Henrik on November 2nd. So, I'm back to knitting booties, the booties I was knitting for Anna's baby turned out too small so I'm starting again with those ones, and now that I know she's had a boy, maybe they won't be pale yellow.

bits & bobs

I thought I'd better show some pictures of the outcome of the miracle freezer emptying desert from last night...They baked up fine...

They were an oozy mixture of apple and chocolate with a very subtle texture of dried apricots... And they disappered just fine! Yum yum. Not bad for a cobbled together use-up desert. And the condensed milk was the pièce de résistance.

I spent most of the morning putting back up the horrible pink shiney curtains that were in the living room when we moved in. They're still just as pink and just as shiney, I think they can be seen in a previous post at about the time we were moving in. The other thing that is pretty hideous about this house is the wallpaper in the toilet - so I thought I'd take a photo and show it to the world...

The toilet's only about 1m squared - so it's pretty overpowering.

Oh well, we'll soon be in our all white house in Helsinki and miss all the colours.

bootie turnovers

The booties I've been knitting from the Saartje's bootees pattern are finished apart from buttons - the buttons will have to wait till we're reunited with our furniture and stuff next week once we get to Helsinki... I enjoyed knitting these, they're quick and easy and quite cute. I think they're probably a bit small - a scant 3" in length. I have no idea if Anna's baby's going to be big or small, so once I'm reunited with my needles I'll probably knit another pair on bigger needles.

As part of the move one of the things we've had to do is empty out the freezer and fridge - David and I like to keep a pretty well stocked freezer, mostly with home made stocks, leftovers, extra portions of things we've made etc (we don't tend to do frozen pizza or ready meals). As the move is now T minus 3 evening meals and one of those is going to be spent in a curry house here in Trondheim with friends, we're pretty much scraping the last edibles out of the freezer - one ingredient that did have us a bit stumped was a couple of sheets of frozen puff pastry. But genius that I am (and modest) for desert tonight we're going to have turnovers. They're stuffed with an apple (bought), apricots (so few of them left we decided they weren't going to join us on our travels) and some chocolate flaky bits that we got with some ice cream and have been sitting in the fridge ever since. I had to use a beer bottle instead of a rolling pin, and didn't have any flour, so it was a potential sticky mess.
So fingers crossed they bake up alright. We have a half finished can of condensed milk sitting in the fridge that needs finishing as well, so I'm sure that will help! Although we may not be able to sleep this evening for all the sugar.

The calm week before the storm....

...at least for me, anway.

Now that all the furniture has gone and is on its way to Helsinki, apart from making sure our current house is in a respectably clean condition when we leave, there's not a lot more for me to do concerning the move until we start driving next Saturday morning. I think I'm going to have to go and see the tax man at some point, but apart from that my life continues pretty normally. David's on the otherhand is very busy at the moment as he has one last big commercial review thing to do at work this week.

In this calm, I've managed to take a few photos of my current projects that are on the ikke ferdig list, and that have managed to not get packed.

I've kept back the socks I'm knitting for my Mum - it's coming on well now after its failed first attempt as a toe-up sock (that's why the wool coming from the ball is all crinkly).
I'm also thinking about making some knitted purses - I bought this wool on Saturday in town: I'm thinking about knitting a simple tube about 10-15cm in diameter, which I'll then do a 3 needle cast off in order to seam it up at the bottom. I've got in my head a fairly dense knitted fabric so will probably use smaller needles that the wool band calls for - I'll probably just do stocking stitch for the first go. The plan is then to make a lining out of some cotton fabric with a zip in the top, which I can then insert and attach. That's the plan anyway!

I've also sewn in the 1st sleeve into the Konfekt 18703 top - I'm pleased with how it's shaping up. So 2nd sleeve is on its way and then I think I pick up stitches around the neck area and knit around for a bit. Lets hope the Norwegian on that bit isn't too difficult as the Norwegian-English dictionary is on the lorry.

Other things that I'm thinking about:

Should I change the name of my blog to reflect that I'll no longer be in the land of brown cheese?

How can I knit more quickly and efficiently - I don't sit and knit for hours at a time, but it would be nice to know that I was being as efficient as I can be when I do. I have a feeling that I'm not holding the wool in my right hand quite right - I'm sure I was taught the correct way to hold everything when I learnt when I was 4 or so, but there was quite a long hiatus until where I am now.

I've set up my ravelry account and added some things to my stash and current projects etc etc. I've also joined some groups - I joined a Helsinki group, so will make contact rather than lurking once we've actually got there - I'm hoping some of the members of this group will know about knitting groups, and maybe classes so I can start meeting some people.

sporadic blogging

In this time of moving and general change it's not really so surprising that my blogging is getting a little sporadic.

So, we got back to Norway after being in the UK last Friday. It was a successful trip - our main aim was to get ourselves sorted legally with the registrar and book her for us getting married next year, and also to find a venue for getting married and the reception afterwards. We were successful on all counts. Our meeting with the registrar went fine and we managed to remember our names and the other details she needed. We also found a venue - we ended up not going for the combination I last blogged about as it was starting to feel to complicated to organise from afar, so instead have gone for here for both the wedding and reception. It's not too far from Penrith and we think will suit having a relaxed type wedding, and having it all in one place takes out the whole logistical worry of how to get between different parts of the day. Also, the lady that runs it is very very enthusiastic about weddings and I'm sure will end up being invaluable with us arranging the wedding from Finland.

Since we got back we've been organising ourselves for our furniture etc being packed and starting on its journey ahead of us. It all went yesterday, so now we're left in an empty house with an inflatable mattress, sleeping bags and a cork screw for a week before we set off.

I did keep out a few crafty things to do, as we won't have much entertainment from the TV etc over the next week. And I also intend to take some pictures and get my ravelry account started (username deballan).

Getting there.....

Things seem to be fitting into place in preparation for our move at the end of next month: rental house has been secured, ferry from Stockholm to Helsinki is being booked, medicals have been carried out, dentist has given us the thumbs up - although I'm having two of my wisdom teeth out :-( , removal people have carried out a survey of how much stuff we have (lots), customs and insurance forms filled in. I think we're just left with being given a date that the movers will come and get our stuff (w/c 22nd October), and then physically setting off on our adventure east once David has finished up work here. Very exciting, I can't wait to be there now - not that I'm wishing my life away, or haven't enjoyed my time in Norway, but there's only so long you can think about something happening before it's nice to have it happen and be able to get on with your life.

I have been doing some knitting - I thought I'd get more done this week (as well as some sewing) as work is slow at the moment, but I haven't really felt like it since my 1st wisdom tooth came out, and I doubt I'll feel much like it next week when the 2nd one comes out - yuck.

So, here's the slow progress:

I restarted the sock for my Mum, I got almost finished with the 1st one, but wasn't happy with it, so unravelled it and started again. I had been doing a toe-up sock using a pattern from sensational knitted socks, but I wasn't happy with its sizing (my Mum has normal sized feet, bigger than mine, but smaller than David's - and the sock I was ending up with fit David easily), I also didn't like the heel - there were gaps where it started back up the leg, and I'd spotted a minor mistake I'd made with the pattern quite a way back. So, I started again, this time from the top down, I am still using the pattern from sensational knitted socks.

I've also been working on the first sleeve of the konfekt 18703:



On a couple of my previous posts I received a couple of anonymous comments, which I'm presuming are from someone in Helsinki, with a hint about a wool shop to check out (Menita's) and also a mention of a Marimekko sale (as if my appetite needed whetting!) - it's nice to receive these comments. I'm hoping that there is some sort of craft/sewing/knitting community going on in Helsinki that I can get involved with, I've read that there's a knitting group that meets in the centre somewhere, and I'm sure there must be more going on. (maybe the anonymous commenter can tell me I've added a contact email address to the side bar).

Edinburgh

We were away again last weekend - this time to a wedding in Edinburgh - David's cousin. I meant to take a photo of them both standing next to each other, as they definitely have a resemblence to each other - but didn't manage. Maybe there'll be one of the official photos with them both on. The wedding was good - quite traditional, the bride looked beautiful, of course; and there were quite a few kilts. It gave us some ideas about what we do and don't want at our wedding next year.

We stayed with a friend of mine that I was at university with - we did use her place as a bit of a hotel as we were coming and going to the wedding etc while she was at work, but managed to hang out on Saturday night and have some dinner with her, her boyfriend and another couple of friends that were visiting Edinburgh that weekend, and catch some of the Edinburgh fringe. We saw some late night comedy (Maxwells fullmooners), which was very funny - and very late (especially for David and I who are usually tucked up in bed pretty early).

This weekend we're not going anywhere - hoorah - but on Monday we're going to Helsinki for the week - yes, Jamie and Dylan have been evesdropping correctly - it looks like we're going to be shifting again (at this rate we'll get our professional nomad certificates in no time). So, we need to learn all about saunas, wife throwing and nokia. And figure out if we're even going to attempt to learn the language.

And now for some knitting progress:

The konfekt 18703 top is still making progress - I misread the pattern the last time I blogged about it, so 18cm (rather than 9cm) on from my last blog entry about it, I am now ready to get the dictionary out and figure out what to do next - I think I basically put the front part aside and continue on the back and shape the armholes, and do something similar with the front and then join them back up again.

I've also started some socks for my Mum - they're more purple than they appear in the photo - I'm using the beaded rib pattern from Sensational Knitted socks, and am using some Sadnesgarn Sisu - I didn't mean to use magic loop again, but after I knitted a swatch or two, these needles were the best size. I'll take these to Helsinki with me and hopefully make some progress while we figure out where we want to live.

Is it time to move yet?

Tomorrow is our moving day - we'll be pleased to be moved and no longer have to live in the perpetual state of half packed, half moved:

Of course we will continue to have a pile of boxes until we get from Spain, but at least we'll be able to unpack them again.

I've been asked a few times how late it's staying light at the moment. It is pretty light, late. According to the BBC sunrise today was at 03:27 and sunset will be 22:59 - and between those times it's not really fully dark. I took these pictures at 22:10 on Tuesday night:

I couldn't manage two posts without mentioning socks and knitting - so here's the ferdig version of the ice on the pond socks:

(They're having a chat) - I'm really pleased with them. My experiment of having lots of projects cast on at one time isn't really working - I think I could manage two, but no more. I'm hoping to get a bit of knitting done while we're in Spain - start knitting baby boots etc, so hopefully I'll be at a manageable level by the time we get back and get the internet connection working again.

Pre moving in work

I think I may be a little different than most, inasmuch as moving house involves starting the vegetable garden before we move in. We move in next Friday, but have been given the keys a little early just to help things along (the owners haven't moved all of their stuff out yet, so we can't actually move in). So, this Saturday David mowed the grass (it was about 40cm high) and we started a little patch of digging. It's a little rough and ready, but it gets a few things in the ground.

From front to back we have: peas, potatoes and butternut squash. It's a little early for the butternut squash, so I put them under a bit of protection to hopefully keep them alive.

I also planted a bit of rhubarb I have liberated from our current garden.

This is a picture of the back of the house. The veg patch is behind me on the lower level.

Yesterday was taken up with packing more boxes and starting to clean a bit, and also thinking about packing for Spain - we leave the day after we move, so we're going to have to be a bit organised. Oh, and we went to see Pirates of the Caribbean - bit of mindless fun, which I think is what we needed after the drudgery of packing and cleaning.

freshly baked bread smell

Another not so financially productive day of work today, I hope this isn't a trend that will go on for too long.... I may get used to it.

So instead I baked banana bread from one of Sue Lawrences books I have. I really like her book, it has lots of different things to try, nothing too pretentious and I like her little tongue in cheek quips she makes in her instructions. Here's a piccy of the finished product before we started chomping into it:

It also smelt great - we had the visning for the house we're living in being sold yesterday evening, so I'm sure the houses owner would have thanked me for making his house have that freshly baked bread smell.

I also kept going with the ice on the pond sock - I got round the heel, so now have to pick up the gusset and join it all back together again - (not the most flattering of photos).

Again, sorry for not taking more photos of the new house - I would have liked to have taken some downstairs to show the full extent of the 60s decor (not 60s inspired as it's definitely from the 60s). Well done Andrew for spotting the pink nylon curtains - these will be going in the guest bedroom so that you can enjoy them next time you and Jo visit!

moose poo

I'm steaming ahead with the sock production. Here's a picture of my first ever pair, on my feet - they're made from Sirdar Town & Country in what I believe is known as Volcano. I'm really pleased with them, and we thought their stripes looked particularly good against the bedding planes of the rock. I also think that I was right to match them.

To keep the momento going I cast on a second pair. Here's how they look so far, these are with some wool I got here in Norway - not quite as bright as pair number one. I'm using a pattern in a magazine I bought in the UK - I think the pattern is called Ice on the Pond.

I did try to figure out what to do with the red wool I posted about before, but of my two options I had - one was using a wool of a completely different guage, so I decided against that, and the other I didn't have enough wool for - so I'll keep looking.

As David has said in his blog, we had visitors this last weekend, David's sister and her husband, Joe. We had a pretty relaxed time and took them around Trondheim and a little bit in the vicinity. We took them to see the house that we're moving to. I took a few photos, I would have taken more but my batteries ran out after three:

View from the living room window.

Dining room end of 1st floor.

Living room end of 1st floor.

We also took Suzi and Joe on a hunt to find the site of a crashed Lancaster bomber from WW2, and moose.

We managed to find the site of the former:

But only the poo of the latter:

Maybe we'll have better luck next time?

ferdig

All sorts of things have suddenly been finished (well maybe not suddenly):

I had time on Friday to make David another set of PJ bottoms.

And this morning I finished off my jumper:

(and wore it into town) I'm pleased with both, although I'm amazed at how much easier I find sewing fabric than I do sewing together knitting.

And most importantly the surgeon general had time to go into theatre with the Tiger Ears. They're now recuperating after their operation:

So, a very productive few days. We also bought cross country skis in the Easter sales - I'm scared of down hill skiing after being persuaded to go a couple of times with David (who loves it) and having icy, no snow conditions, so this is quite a big step - but at the sale prices it seemed silly not to at least give it a go - now we just need to wait for the snow (there is a reason why they're on sale!).

And if that isn't enough for the week - we found a place to move to - it's a house further into town - 2 bedrooms and a garden, and with lots of other bits of rooms and space for us to live in. It's currently furnished with 60s era furniture, but once that's out and we've moved in we'll just have to live with the wallpaper.

A sad day

We've found out that we're going to have to find somewhere else to live as our landlord is moving back to Norway and needs to sell where we're living so that he can buy a house where he's being moved to. Good for him, but sad for us as we really like the house and the garden and the view etc. Oh well, we'll cope. We've had some thoughts about buying, rather than renting, but I think we'd then lose one of our financial perks of the work transfer out here in the first place. So, discussions all round and thinking caps on.