ADVENT

Today we light the first candle on this years Advent wreath, we had "risgrøt" (the Norwegian rice porridge) for lunch and got in Christmas mood, but the temperature outside was 21 degrees C (69 degrees F) !

I also found time to make another table cloth, this one is for my new Norwegian internet store

This is a great way to show all my new blue and white dishes.

Ready for my flight tomorrow, hopefully the weather will be nice so I can use these boots intstead of the rain boots all week....

I will be back in a week, getting ready for the twins 1. birthday, time is flying.....

A NEW TABLECLOTH AND MITTENS

While my little ones were sleeping today I made a new tablecloth. I only need to put the border and the lace on. It looks great together with my new dishes. It is a very simple one, but sometimes the simplest is the best....

Also found time to bake. Homebaked bread is good and best warm with butter and Norwegian brown cheese. I need to buy some more cheese next week on my trip home.

 

Yesterday I knitted these miniature mittens. A friend makes these beautiful mitten patterns. They  will look nice on the Christmas tree. Started a new pair today, a little bit bigger... .

Shopping for warm clothes tomorrow, flying home to Norway on Monday.

I will need my new rain boots!

TURKEY WEEK

It is Thanksgiving this Thursday and it is turkeys everywhere, here is two cute ones, the biggest one is in the freezer!

I finished my baby daughter's dress today, it is a pattern called "Little sister's dress" and it is a good name for a dress for our little girl. It is a bit big, but she will grow into it soon

CLOTHES PIN BAG

It is nice to hang the laundry out to dry. This hanger is from Norway and it has been very useful

I made this clothes pin bag some years ago, when I made all my red work pillows 

Have a nice week!

FALLMARKET

Last t week I opened my house for our Fallmarket. It is the second year I am doing this. Started last year when I was too pregnant to drag all my things around where they had markets. This year I invited a few more friends to bring their crafts for sale.  They also wrote about us here in a Norwegian expat newsletter.

Here is Randi's table, filled with her beautiful knitted mittens and Christmas decorations A lot of my quilts for sale My rosepainted baby cradle filled with babystuff
Homebaked bread in pretty white bags with laces!
Pretty giftbags in Christmas fabrics Old fashioned ginger hearts with red ribbons and brass bells..

Today I have made baby food. Filling the freezer with home made babyfood.


We are waiting for our dinner!!

OLD LACE

Again I need to tell about the beautiful weather we have these days. I brought my knitting basket outside this morning after I had ironed these old handcrocheted laces that I found at an antique store last week. They will be a nice edge on a redwork pillow that I already got figured out in my head..... one day...
Look at my georgeous teapot, another finding, together with much more..



This is a nice way to bring your old lace out of your closet. This old lace was on an old bedsheet, I cut it of and made it into this tablerunner... I used some linen bought at Ikea, but you can use whatever fabric you have.



This is in the woods just a few minutes drive from where we live, nice for an afternoon walk

but after all the rain we had last week, we had to stop here if we don't have a boat to take us any further

This is the little witch from the Halloween party

PUMPKINS

I love pumpkins and fall colors, and again, fall is the best time of year here where we are living now. This is some pumpkins outside my door
My pumpkin quilt is on my wall, also this cute little stitchery, the saying on it is "Friends like pumpkins, come in many shapes" so true....

Pumpkin decorations on my table
I have a pumpkin tree, the cats love it!

I got these fabric pumpkins from a dear friend years ago....

Here is one of my own little pumpkins!!

My little pumpkins and I are making cookies today, as you can see, easy American way.

Their costumes are ready for Saturday. You will soon see a little dragoon and a witch!

Have a good one!

QUILTFESTIVAL in Houston

is now over and my guests are back home in rain and cold...... We are not spoiled anymore with waking up to the smell of coffee and breakfast ready for the little ones, can get used to that so I think we need to hire an au pair.

The quilt festival here in Houston is the biggest convention the town is hosting and it is huge, here is overview from second floor

I was not going to buy anything at this year, but as usual I always end up with a few things. Here are some fabrics and a few new patterns

I also found a few Japanese fabrics.

I have no big plans with any of them, but some I will use to make a bag, just waiting for the pattern.

Twins have patiently been around to all fabric and quilt stores in the area

We are enjoying beautiful weather, this is for sure the best time of year in Houston.

MAH JONG

I bought a Mah Jong game last year when I was visiting Singapore. Now I have joined a group and have tried the game and it is alot of fun. I realized that I should have bought some Mah Jong racks as well. Luckily, a friends husband was visiting Singapore and he brought back some for me. My friend gave them to me and said that knowing you, you will probably make a nice bag to keep them in. So I got the idea, and this Sunday while the twins had their afternoon nap I made us bags to keep the racks in. I used china silk and inside I made four pockets and used quilt batting for the lining. Now I just have to find some time to play....

Little sister's dress is done. Crochet the top from a pattern I found in a Norwegian weekly magazine this summer. I used fabric for the skirt and then I finished it with some embroidered silk flowers Fall flowers are welcoming my guests this week end!

GOT YARN!

This summer a friend visited from Aberdeen, she had found a local yarnshop and got me a lot of goodies, have a look....

I do not know what to knit yet, but so far it is so nice just to look at this yarn.

A little jacket for baby brother is finished, made in a sock yarn called "Online", it took a big skein and I finished it with some brown yarn. The pattern is a free "Drops design".

Twins are now 9 months and little brother is nearly walking. Both baby chairs are packed away and replaced with these, my plan is to paint them, just finished the pillows.More toys are now taking over the house

RABBITS

I made a rabbit couple this week, they are bigger than these little rabbits that we bought back home this summer, here Stella is borrowing them.

They are a Danish design called Maileg. I mailed the company and asked for their catalog and they sent me a beautiful catalog together with a cute little fellow

The twins love their little rabbits and they come along everywhere,

Here at museum, visiting the exhibition "Terracotta warriors" . The twins still get a lot of attention, we were joking that they should have had t-shirts saying "we are not a part of the exhibition".

Finally done handsewing the binding on to the big quilt, it took a while since it is huge.. now it is in my Etsy store..

SUNDAY MORNING

Beautiful morning, little ones had a swim and the garden work is done.

>

Every year in November I open my home for everyone and have a "Fall market", I have quilts and knitted items for sale. This year I have invited creative friends to bring their things because I have not had time to make so much this year, been too busy... but still have time to make some more of my small santas I will sit outside this afternoon and sew the binding on my big quilt

Another week end

I finally finished my sweater, Elizabeth I, this week end. Unfortunately, it is too big for me, so it is for sale on my Etsy store. Well, that was another UFO done and I started the new week with a little pink dress. It will probably be a quicker project than the sweater that took me nearly two year to finish....

Nice sushi dinner again this week end, our favorite!

HAVE A NICE WEEK!!

CAT HAT

I knitted this cat hat for my oldest daughter this week end, it was fun and quick to knit and I used some leftover wool yarn that I had in my basket. The pattern I bought on Ravelry. I will like to knit more cat hats, do you want one too?

Another week end has past and we got some rain and storm and we pretended that it was cold outside!

BABIES AND KNITTING

Twins are 8 months now and they are keeping everyone busy! First thing we got when we came back to Houston was a playbin.

Little brother is jumping quickly around the floor, not much crawling, but more jumping like a frog.


Not much time for knitting this summer, but I managed to finish little sister's babyjacket, thanks to Jorunn, she gave me the yarn I lacked to finish it.
I have worked a bit on my squares too, got some leftover "Baby ull" from friends, like with my quilts, I like the scrappy look!
Had time to crochet a little top that I will make into a dress when I finally get to the sewing machine!
Finally, how happy can we be for 10 minutes of rain, I had to go outside and take some pictures!


Have a nice weekend, we are hoping for cooler weather and rain here!