: knitting (Nøstebarnvest)

I love knitting, although I am a complete amateur at it. I taught myself to knit after I had just stopped smoking cigarettes many years ago, and I needed something to do with my hands. (Obviously this was way before my hands were constantly occupied by my the demands of BabyLove or endless chores around the house - or both.) Anyway, it worked out excellently in the capacity of keeping my hands busy. And I found a new hobby!

So I thought I would start sharing a few of my knits and links to some of my favourite knitting blogs.

A while ago I finished knitting a cute little vest for my girl using a pattern found in the book Strikk til Nøstebarn. I knitted it in one of my favourite yarns: Babysilk from Du Store Alpakka, which consists of 80% baby alpakka and 20% silk. It is wonderfully soft to the touch, it regulates your body temperature, and is not the least bit itchy! This is how it turned out:

Of course I forgot to take pictures of it before my little girl wore it (and stretched and pulled at it), so please ignore the uneven stitches...

This Nøstebarn pattern is only available in the book, as far as I know. However I have seen several similar patterns published for free, so I am thinking this is probably based on an old pattern which has been handed down through generations. One pattern which is quite similar to the one I knitted  can be found at Ravelry: ruth's babytop. I think I just made a wider border and chose seed stitches instead of garter. I love the look of seeds! Just like little beads in a row.

BTW: Ravelry is a great source to countless brilliant patterns of all designs, sizes and degrees of difficulty! I would recommend anyone into knitting to register (for free) and go browsing through the library. Another excellent source is Garnstudio. They even have many of their patterns translated into the Scandinavian languages - and English!


Happy knitting! And have a lovely Sunday!

♥ tonje

: window scenes

♥ tonje

★★★ Cool stuff for cool kids ★★★

There are so many wonderful shops, online and offline, full of all kinds of gorgeous items for kids (and for the kid in you!).  Now, just to wander slightly from the obvious (and, by all means: wonderful) children's shops such as Nøstebarn, Sprell and Riktige Leker, I wanted to feature a handful of my other favourites, stores that might be less well-known, at least to some of you.

★First off:

www.sweetlilly.com

Lovely retro fun for mum and baby ♥

PS: Sweet Lilly has a 50% sale these days!! 

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

 

★Then there's this cute little store in Ullevålsveien in Oslo called Kool Kidz. They have a much wider selection in their store than online, but here's an example of their Koolness factor:

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★Another favourite of mine if you happen to be in or visiting Oslo in this little gem of a store:

Bestemors lekestue

It is situated at the end of Hegdehaugsveien. It is pure vintage toy heaven for those kids and parents into old-fashioned, high quality toys! I have found so many treasures there. I encourage everyone to pay them a visit if you're ever in Oslo. 

The store also carries lots of craft supplies including DIY kits, sewing equipment and yarn.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

★And for those without Grandparents - or with Grandparents who can't or won't knit: http://mormor.nu/

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

I am always on the lookout for cute and practical lunch boxes for my daughter.  
TAMO, a Norwegian online store has one of the best selections if you ask me:

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★
 

★I simply must mention one of my absolute favourites: a quaint little antique/second-hand store called  
Et Dukkehjem, in Markveien, Grünerløkka. It is absolutely tiny and extremely crowded, and only open on Mondays and Thursdays, but it is well worth the visit. You can find real bargains there, both for mum and kiddo.

★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★★

Lastly I would like to recommend Antropos, not only a bookstore but also the place to go for really high quality art supplies for kids, such as these Stockmar stick crayons for example:

They are the best crayons ever! And best of all: they are completely organic, based on beeswax!

BTW: Antropos also carries many rare and very beautiful children's books. Kids love them!

♥ tonje

::Smack the Pony

This cracks me up! So brilliantly hilarious.

♥ tonje

:: Knight in shining words

I love Leonard Cohen.

His words:

His songs dressing his words:

"I loved you in the morning, our kisses deep and warm, your hair upon the pillow like a sleepy golden storm. Yes, many loved before us, I know that we are not new, in city and in forest they smiled like me and you, but now it's come to distances and both of us must try, your eyes are soft with sorrow,

Hey, that's no way to say goodbye.

I'm not looking for another as I wander in my time, walk me to the corner, our steps will always rhyme, Hey that's no way to say goodbye, to say goodbye."

♥ I love Leonard Cohen. 

★tonje★

:: a time for recreation

As a mother of an energetic and demanding two-year-old, I realize I have silently joined the masses of women formerly known as individuals. I no longer take the necessary time to myself required in order to preserve that sense of being a person of individual contents and value in the world. 

It's not to say I don't enjoy Motherhood - I deeply love it! I am completely in love with my little girl. Actually, even at the most troubling of times, when I might think I am about to implode from multilateral pressure combined with a permanent state of being sleep deprived, I can generate a genuine sense of inner happiness at the mere thought of my toddler and her sweetness. However, that aside, what I did yesterday I would wholeheartedly recommend any mother (or father) out there to indulge in every now and then: I treated myself to a day of self-pampering! 

It started in the morning when I allowed myself to sleep in. I stubbornly ignored the twitches of guilty consciousness I observed forming in my gut as my my daughter called my name, wanting me to join her in the living-room. When I eventually did get out of bed, I indulged in a long, slow brunch and warmly welcomed and reciprocated my girl's loving cuddles, simply reaping the benefits of motherhood.

When the time came for her to nap, I sent her and her daddy out for a walk in the park - while I went for a facial! OH SWEET JOY! Now, I am not even going to mention the state my skin is in. There is really no point. I will focus on the sensation of being groomed and cared for. Just lying back and relaxing while a pleasant dermatologist gets rid of your skin nasties, followed by a gentle stroking and cleansing ritual, and last but most importantly: heavenly rubbing of the neck and shoulders. 

Picture borrowed from winerose.com

Yup! I could definitely deal with this day repeating itself more often.

After the facial I went for a little stroll down the nearest shopping street; no hurry, no rush. I ended up going all by myself to this lovely restaurant called Kolonihagen. Just me, my iPhone and my mac. This place is quite unique in an Oslo perspective. It reminds me a little of the kind of cafes and restaurants you find in London. And it is not just a restaurant, but rather a concept. All the ingredients they use are seasonal and based on local, organic farming. They even have a service where you can subscribe to having a basket of select fruit and veggies of your choice delivered to your home.

But aside from the obvious awareness appeal of Kolonihagen, the restaurant is also absolutely charming and beautifully decorated, in my opinion. It is clearly inspired by the French country style, but with an edge. I really enjoyed the atmosphere. And check out how they serve their bread as you wait for your order:

 How adorable is that? They served me two kinds of bread, organic butter and finger-salt. The names of each item is etched into the wooden tray, as you see.

They have gotten their liquor license in order, and thus serve alcohol, but me still being in the serene mode after my facial experience, I ordered an organic fizzy drink instead.  

 CHEERS! And take care everyone ♥

Words I ♥

::Alt er så nær meg

Alt er så nær meg denne velsignede dag.

Svaberget ligger åpent med rolige drag.

Havbrisen vugger vennlig den duftende tang.

Alt er så nær meg ennå en lykkelig gang.

Barndommens vekster gror i hver fure og sprekk

med sine kjente blide og rørende trekk.

Går her en liten pike fremdeles hver kveld

og plukker blomster og snakker høyt med seg selv?

Lenge var jorden øde og himmelen tom.

Dypt i mitt hjerte åpner seg rom etter rom.

Alt som er nær meg gir meg et klarøyet svar.

Nå kan jeg rekke hånden til henne jeg var. 

--Inger Hagerup