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.

While the cat's away, the mice will cast on

David's been away for a few days on a work trip (jolly) to Barcelona - how can going to Barcelona, looking around a couple of shops and then lookng at the architecture and other retail outlets in the city be called work? - and I didn't even mention the beer drinking or the tapas eating....

While he's been away I thought I'd have a casting on session - so far I've been consciously having only one knitting project started at a time, but thought it was worth seeing how it is the other way round - and I want to knit something a bit bigger, which something a little smaller (like socks) can fit around.

So here we have them:

Second sock of Ice on the Pond socks.

Cast on of the "bigger" project - this doesn't look like much - I think I'm maybe three rows in when I took the photo, but it is going to be this (konfekt 18703 from Dale of Norway). This is one of the patterns I contemplated for the red cotton that I still have. The pattern's in Norwegian, but so far it's going OK.

And third, but not least - David's not grey socks. I took two attempts to start these - I've decided to learn the "magic loop" method of knitting - ie knitting the sock on one circular needle. I started off thinking that maybe it was worth a shot at knitting both socks at the same time using this method as I've heard that it's possible...

So, yes it is possible, but my attempt was messy and I knew that I wouldn't be pleased with the results, so thought I'd stick to learning the magic loop method before I advanced to trying two at once. Here's the second attempt:

Much better. I'm hoping this method will be useful for when I knit the sleeves for the Konfekt 18703 jumper. I also would like to knit these socks, the pattern hasn't been published yet as they were entered (and won) a competition, but I understand they're knitted using the magic loop method. So there is method in my madness.

As you can see, this doesn't include any baby booties - I need the needles that the ice on the pond socks are being knitting on so that I can start.

So far my reaction to having a number of knitting projects on the go is that it's hectic and I don't really know where to start, or which to work on.

more socks

Had another enjoyable but more relaxed weekend. I managed to finish the first half of my ice on the pond socks:

This one's to prove that they fit!

We went into Trondheim to do a few jobs on Saturday, including dropping the engagement ring into a jewellers to be resized, and finding out where the Sponhuset is as a possible wedding location.

We also took a visit to the wool shop.

We got this wool for socks for David:

It's the same wool as I'm knitting the ice on the pond socks from, but in a different colourway. After telling me that he was a "grey sock person", I think this is a positive sign.

But the first thing I must do before I start the second ice on the pond sock, or the not grey socks for David is to fulfill a request I had from Rob at Easter for some socks that look like a bee. This is what we got:

Hmmm... interesting - they will, of course, be stripey. I intend to learn another couple of techniques in order to make these... the jogless jog and weaving in ends as I go along.

And this is our garden bench that needs resanding and varnishing - I thought if I put it on my ikke ferdig list it might actually get done.

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?