Finally spring!

By: purepurly April 29, 2018May 1, 2018 Structure pattern, Sweaterfeatured, Kids, knitting, Pattern, Structure, TechniqueLeave a Comment

I think most Norwegians really have longed for spring this year – it has been a looooong winter, and we have had more snow than we usually have. But finally, the temperature is steadily above zero and the last weeks have actually had pretty warm&sunny days causing the first spring flower to blossom! So here…

Latvian twist

By: purepurly April 2, 2018 Techniquefeatured, Kids, Latvian twist, Technique1 Comment

I really like the effect of a latvian twist as a trimming – especially on childrens garments. My newest design was in a circus theme edition of “Bladet garn” and I used it for all edges on a sweater (you can get it as an ebook in english in Ravelry!). It is much simpler…

My first published pattern – a sneak peak!

By: purepurly March 18, 2018March 18, 2018 Structure pattern, Sweater, Uncategorizedfeatured, Kids, knitting, Latvian twist, Lifted stitches, New designs, Sweater4 Comments

Sorry for being absent for more than a year! The reason is not only a busy life…but a major reason is that I decided to write down more of my designs to see if anyone was interested in publishing it. And then it is important not to show of anything in advance! And now the…

…just a pair of socks!

By: purepurly November 6, 2016March 11, 2018 Lace pattern, October 2016, Socksfeatured, Lace pattern, socks, winter9 Comments

This fall has been busier than ever, signified with very, very little knitting! And no blogging… and no reading of other blogs as well… But in such times even a pair of socks feels like a great achievement! So this fall, finishing a pair of socks made me happy! I think for most knitters the feeling you get…

Snow in summer

By: purepurly August 4, 2016March 18, 2018 July 2016, Sweaterfeatured, My designs, Sweater, Wool6 Comments

The second skiing sweater was finished just in time for the anticipated mountain trip; the twins were very convinced that both of them needed their new woollen sweater for the mountain hikes! And they were right; the weather was of the (typically!) highly variable kind; sunny – cloudy – rainy – and even snowy! And…

Rustling Leaves in London

By: purepurly March 6, 2016March 11, 2018 Hat, March 2016featured, Hat6 Comments

So little time for knitting these days, but a weekend trip to London with my mother and my daughters made room for a few small projects! London is less than two hours away from Oslo (by plane!) but when you include train/bus to get to and from airports, it is plenty of time for knitting!…

About

This was a blog started a few years ago when I realised I had probably as many unfinished projects as I had finished ones… The blog was an attempt on finishing a project per month, thus an “almanac” (inspired by Elizabeth Zimmerman!). The motivation was to share with others and to get to know other knitters and people interested…

My designs

Several of the items I show here is my own design, but I have written patterns for only some of them. Use the “My design” tag to find them!

New designs

Some of my newest patterns can be found by checking the tag “New designs”!

When on an island…

By: purepurly July 14, 2016

July 2016, SweaterSweater, Wool7 Comments

…and you have brought a big- sweater-knitting-project but find out that the needles for the sleeves are left behind…, then what do you do?!?! Well, as I knit this sweater top-down with a raglan-like increase (the same way as the previous; Skiing in June), I decided to try something I have not done before. I…

Mosaic knitting

By: purepurly July 3, 2016

July 2016, Sideprojects, Structure patternCloth, stash11 Comments

I have been very fascinated by mosaic knitting – the technique where you knit with one color at the time but you lift stitches so it almost looks like it is a stranded type of knitting. If you at the same time purl (or knit back-and-forth), a three-dimensional effect is created. There are so many…

Pillows with lifted stitches

By: purepurly June 25, 2016

June 2016, Sideprojects, Structure patternPillow, stash2 Comments

At a local flea market I got some old Norwegian yarn; it is 100% wool but of the itchy/stiff type. It is pretty hard to make garments out of it but very suitable for things that needs to robust and warm. So I made two flat pillows, intended for outdoor use to sit on when…

Skiing in June

By: purepurly June 18, 2016March 18, 2018

June 2016, SweaterMy designs, Sweater, vintage pattern, winter11 Comments

So, finally finished; the much wanted skiing sweater one of my daughters have been wanting! It was to be finished this winter, but was put away due to a bad shoulder and too little time for knitting. But now it is done, and my daughter found it perfect for a walk in the woods on…

Hipp Hipp Hurra!

By: purepurly May 22, 2016June 19, 2016

Crochet, May 2016, Scarf & shawlAlpaca, shawl, Silk, stash2 Comments

…or “hip hip hooray” in English! We just celebrated our Independence day here in Oslo! It is a very “social” day, we walk in the streets, all bands and schoolchildren are parading and we dress up in fine clothes. Many have a national costume (bunad); handmade in wool decorated with embroideries and ribbons and representing…

The Four Seasons shawl

By: purepurly February 15, 2016

February 2016, Knit-a-longJanuary, Knit-a-long, shawl14 Comments

This is the result of taking part in a “mystery knit-a-long”; the shawl “Four Seasons” by Alana Dakos. I have to admit I got a bit obsessed; it was so exciting to get a new part of the pattern every Friday that I was finished with the previous part just in time to be able to…

Alana Dakos’s Mystery Shawl Knit-a-long

By: purepurly January 16, 2016

January 2016, Knit-a-longKnit-a-long, shawl4 Comments

As I still have not manage to motivate myself to knit a big shawl and Alana Dakos (Never Not Knitting) launched a Mystery Shawl knit-a-long, I thought this was the perfect time to just take the challenge! I have been following Alanas work for some time; I am very fond of her “Botanical knits” but…

A “spinning” gift for Christmas

By: purepurly January 9, 2016January 9, 2016

January 2016, SpinningSpinning4 Comments

This was “the gift of the year” 2015 in our family; my husband gave me a turkish spindle! And lots of wool… The spindle is from Jenkins woodworks of the type “Aegen spindle” made of Hawthorne. It is so beautiful and delicate! And I like the decoration with the two small Ladybirds, makes it very personal.I was…

Twelve months of Knitting (2015)

By: purepurly January 2, 2016

December12 Comments

I started the blog a year ago aiming at finishing more projects by having a monthly focus; my “Almanac”. I never expected blogging to be such an inspiration! My biggest reward has been the comments and interest from all of you who has stumbled over the blog and spent time visiting my posts. Thank you all so much!!! Here…

The last project of 2015

By: purepurly December 31, 2015December 31, 2015

December, JacketJacket, Kofte13 Comments

I am always surprised how fast December passes by. This, combined with neglecting the last years promises of starting preparations for Christmas in due time, resulted in a stressful month… But now the Christmas cakes are eaten, the presents opened and the family gatherings done. And in-between there have been some time for knitting and…

More Mittens…

By: purepurly November 29, 2015

Mittens, November, Structure patternMittens, winter6 Comments

This month I have been quite true to my “theme”, and this is the result: four pairs of mittens. Well…I only show three of them as I have experimented with a nice structure pattern and different types of yarn… and Mohair yarn does NOT work at all! My wrists hurt after having knitted one, so it…

Mittens in November

By: purepurly November 8, 2015November 8, 2015

Mittens, November, Structure patternMittens, Trellis10 Comments

Winter is still not here, but it is time for preparations! I wanted to dedicate November for knitting mittens, and this is my first pair; almost done! I wanted to use a lifted stitches technique (trellis type) but ran into some difficulties… Increasing for the thumb is not easy to do when you want to…

My first pattern for sale!

By: purepurly November 5, 2015November 5, 2015

Hat, October, PatternsHat, October, Pattern8 Comments

As mentioned I had finished my first pattern that I wanted to prepare for publishing on Ravelry; now the hat called “Norwegian Summer” has been through test knitting and revised and is for sale! First I had one version in bulky yarn (showed here), this pattern is written for a thinner yarn of sports type…

An update on my Kofte!

By: purepurly October 27, 2015October 27, 2015

Jacket, OctoberJacket, Kofte, October15 Comments

One of my daughters have commented that I really do not dress very colourful… And I have to admit that she is right. But when I knit I really prefer to knit colourful garments. Then it is really great to have kids to knit for, as they (so far…) have wanted lots of colours (such as…

A pre-winter Saturday

By: purepurly October 17, 2015

Hat, OctoberHat, October4 Comments

The last few mornings here in Oslo has shown temperatures below zero. After a much too busy week it was easy to convince most members of the family to spend the first part of the day walking in the woods. The reward was crisp cold air, sheets of thin ice on all puddles (to jump on and break!)…

My first test knit!

By: purepurly October 11, 2015

Hat, October, PatternsHat, Pattern6 Comments

I have written down a pattern of the hat I made this summer: Norwegian Summer. I chose to make it in a thinner yarn, the soft 100% wool Chickadee from Quince & Co which is of the sport type. It does not itch and has some wonderful colours. I had some skeins in white/green/blue/yellow which was…

A Norwegian Kofte

By: purepurly October 10, 2015

Jacket, OctoberJacket, Kofte, Wool15 Comments

Kofte is the name for a knitted jacket with stranded work. Originally it meant just a garment made from thick wool, both woven and knitted sweaters and jackets, but now it is mainly used for jackets. I found a wikipedia page about it (in Norwegian…), but I add here some photos of the kofte my mother made…

Funny Feet!

By: purepurly October 4, 2015October 4, 2015

September, SocksKids, socks8 Comments

I have actually never fancied gradient yarn where the shifting colours are too different. Partly I think it is annoying to knit when I do not know what “patterns” the colour changes make, and partly as I think it is too noisy. But when I earlier this summer convinced my twin daughters to walk for 30 minutes…

Knitted eggs for Claire’s friend!

By: purepurly September 13, 2015

September, Sideprojects4 Comments

In July I could not resist a post Claire wrote on her blog where she asked if anyone would help a friend of hers by knitting a few easter eggs. So now…two months later…I finished two for her! I wanted to make a “Norwegian” touch and with small needles, thin yarn and too few rows…

Thick and thin yarn

By: purepurly September 12, 2015September 12, 2015

Hat, SeptemberAlpaca, Hat, Mohair, September7 Comments

This is a hat I made a year ago; it was a very trendy hat that you could buy for a small fortune or you could make one much cheaper yourself. I went for the last alternative and my local yarn store provided me with a free, pattern (a photocopy of a handwritten instruction) and yarn.…

August sweater; Ocean Waves

By: purepurly September 6, 2015

August, SweaterAugust, Sweater12 Comments

August is probably the most busy month in the year for me; realising that vacation is over and getting everyday life back in order is always more demanding than I can remember from the previous year… And knitting was unfortunately not on the top-ten-things-to-be-done on my priority list. Only one project finished; a sweater with…

Kaffe Fassett exhibition – in Norway

By: purepurly August 7, 2015August 7, 2015

AugustExhibition, knitting12 Comments

Yesterday I finally convinced the family to go to Hadeland Glassverk, an old glass work funded in 1762 and still operative. It is run as a combined glasswork and a visitor center which this summer also housed an exhibition of works by Kaffee Fassett;” Kaffe Fassett 50 Years in Colour Exhibition”. I have knitted long enough (and…

Norwegian Summer…

By: purepurly July 31, 2015July 31, 2015

Hat, JulyHat6 Comments

Norwegian summer can be everything; warm, cold, windy, sunny, rainy, cloudy… Our vacation on an island off the coast has had everything, even within some days the variation have been amazing! I feel this to be fresh and amusing, although we would wish for some more sun & warm weather to be able to swimming…

Summerhat – on demand…

By: purepurly July 10, 2015

Hat, July, Sideprojects, StashCotton, Crochet, Hat, Kids2 Comments

One of my girls was in want of a summer hat, and it is always good to have a stash project. A summer hat in cotton yarn is always fun; it is easy to improvise and adjust size and patterns as you go. The green yarn is PT Petunia from Rauma yarn, the white one…

The Tussilago Hat

By: purepurly July 9, 2015July 9, 2015

Hat, JulyHat, knitting, Madelinetosh6 Comments

The yellow yarn I bought in Paris from Madelinetosh has a remarkable colour and when I started to knit a beret with cables/lace pattern, it reminded me of one of my favourite flowers; the Tussilago (although the colour is called Daffodil!). Tussilago farfara (commonly know as Hestehov in Norwegian, coltsfoot in English) is one of the first flowers…