Countdown

My boyfriend and I celebrate 5 years together in March.

Yesterday I called a spa and made reservations for a night. We're going to spend a ridiculous amount of money for 24 hours in heaven. Or at least on the west coast of Sweden.

We're booked in their spa suite which means that we'll have a comfy bed in a room with a view over the sea. We'll have a luxurious bath tub for two. We'll be greeted with sparkling wine and strawberries in our room as well as a basket of spa treatment "stuff" to use in the bath or take home. We'll spend 1½ hour in treatment together (herbal bath, pedicure and massage). We'll eat a 3-course dinner at night and wake up to a breakfast buffet. We'll be able to eat from the lunchbuffet before we go home. We'll have unlimited access to different pools (of varoius temperature) and saunas and excercise facilities. We can sign up for classes like yoga, qi gong, box, spinning or whatever.

Something tells me we'll be taking it slow though. And spend a lot of time in the water.

The countdown has started!

Highlights (5)

Highlights from this past weekend (December 11th - December 13th, 2009)


* The feeling of satisfaction as I got coming out of the grocery store (with everything I needed!) at 8.20am on Saturday.

* The blue sky and bright day we had as we biked into town.

* Hearing my sister's choir sing some Christmas songs.

* Having a friend/colleague and her daughter over for dinner on Saturday night. I made parmesan cheese pie with parma ham salad on the side. Delicious! We had Ben&Jerry's for dessert. Delicious as well!

* Being able to show pictures from our vacation in Tuscany on our flat screen TV. We laugh at ourselves everytime we connect our MacBook to the TV as we can't help feeling excited over being so modern...

* The two hours of watching a movie after the guests had gone home and boyfriend had gone to bed. I had Skorpan on my lap and JumJum right next to me the whole time. (Not wanting to move Skorpan when he was sleeping made me sit through the sappy and awful ending of Stepmom. The ending makes me want to puke...)

* Sleeping in on Sunday and not dragging myself out of bed until 11am.

* Being able to stay from fainting when cleaning out greenish-grey puss and skin from a scratch-wound on my right knee-cap. (I stumbled and fell at work on Friday. Tore my jeans open...)

* Knitting three rounds on my sister's Anemoi Mittens!

Disappointed. But not surprised.

Christmas is approaching. Last year I made gifts for most of my family; my mother received a Laminaria, my sister got a sewn Birdie Sling, my niece got a baby cardigan, and my father received a Cobblestone Sweater (apparently not blogged...).

I had asked my brother and his girlfriend what they would like me to make for them. I sent an email with a couple of suggestions and attached links and pictures so they had a choice. I suggested different bags (handbags, sports bags, nappy bags and grocery bags), laundry sacks, pillow cases, potholders, placemats and something else I can't remember. I asked them to give me hints on what kind of colours and patterns they'd like. Three weeks later I got a response telling me that "I didn't have to make them anything as they didn't need it".

I was disappointed. But not surprised. (My sister and I ended up giving them a Soda Streamer. One that boyfriend and I had lying in the garage in its unopened original box...)

This year, I didn't even get to ask my brother what he, his girlfriend and daughter wanted for Christmas. Yesterday I was emailed a wish list. A very detailed such. For my niece, it told me the kind of clothing. The colour. The size. And the shop in which I'd find it. For my sister-in-law, it told me the brand of lotion and hair conditioner that she wanted. And the name of the skin therapist she wanted a gift certificate to go and see. (Who, by the way, is a friend of hers.) My brother told me what XBox-game and cooking knives he wanted.

I'm disappointed. But not surprised.

This Christmas-gift-giving-thing is becoming more and more ridiculous every year. We are, at least most of us, grown up people. Most of us have salaries. My brother makes more money than I do. Why should I get him expensive XBox-games? And why would I go to a store and pick up a top for his daughter when they've already seen it in the store and knows everything about it? Why didn't they get it when they were there? And buying face creams and hair conditioner for his girlfriend? Forget it. What's next; cereal and milk?

And what's the point of exchanging gift cards with one another?

I'm frustrated about it. And I can't decide if I should just keep quiet, pick something from their lists and hand it over or if I should suggest us not exchanging gifts anymore... And thereby stir things up.

Simpler knit project

The two knitting projects I've been working on this last week (my first Anemoi Mitten for my sister and my second German Stocking for myself) both require me to be very focused and follow charts. Sometimes I just want to work on something that doesn't make me think too much. I've tried to come up with something for myself but today my boyfriend asked me if I could knit him some fingerless mittens as he gets cold in his office.

Two hours later we were in my favourite yarn store (Fröken Garn) buying him some yarn. We came home with two skeins of the same kind of alpaca yarn I'm using for my sister's Anemoi Mittens. They're even the same grey colour. I'm mixing it with a merino lace weight yarn I got ages ago in a yarn swap. It's hand dyed in an olive green. (Hi Katie!)

Four fingers have just been joined...

Keeping sickness and illness from one's family

I met my mother yesterday for a fika before my knitting group met up. She told me about seeing one of her friends/former colleagues, who were diagnosed with chronic cancer a couple of years ago. (To my understanding it means that her cancer is always present, but that it sometimes goes from taking a nap to being wide awake.) She's in treatment at the moment as her cancer decided to move into her liver and kick around in there.

At her latest doctor's appointment she was given good news about the treatment. The tumour had shrunk by one third. Hearing this my mother had asked how her friend's husband had reacted to the good news. She was told that the husband only heared it after the appointment was over "as he was waiting outside". This surprised my mother and she asked why he wasn't in there with her seeing the doctor. The response she got was "well, he prefers not seeing the doctors with me as he's not good with handling bad news and is really struggling with me being sick again".

They've been married for 30 years. And he's not in there to see the doctors. 'Cause "he's struggling".

This got me and my mother wondering how my mother's friend behaves when she's given bad news from her doctors. Is she sparing him the details? Does she deal with the pain, the anxiety and the worrying on her own?

I had a colleague who lost her father a couple of years ago. He had found out that he had some kind of kidney problem but he chose not to tell a soul. He got sicker and sicker but pretended everything was fine. And then he ended up in hospital and died two days later. Leaving his whole family in shock as they didn't have much or any time at all to prepare for what would come.

A woman I met while studying in Canada kept her disease a secret from her family while she was fighting it. Her family was on a different continent, several time zones away. She didn't want to worry them and she didn't want them to persuade her to come home. She wasn't done with Canada. And she knew she'd probably get better treatment there as well. But without her family close by.

I know of several people who've kept depressions from their families and friends. Who've struggled on their own. Sometimes letting it go so far that they end up in hospital before saying something.

What makes people do this? Why do they think they're sparing others when they keep sickness and illness to themselves? When they decide to go in battle on their own? Or when they decide to give up without support?

Do family, relatives and friends deserve to know when one gets sick? Do they have a right?

I don't know.

But I know I'd get mad as hell if any of my family members kept a serious disease or condition from me and I found out. I might thank them for wanting to keep me from woryring but then I'd smack them. 'Cause I'd be angry. And probably feel a bit offended. I wouldn't be comfortable knowing that I was considered "too weak" to be counted on as support.

'Cause that would be my role. I'd be the support. And I'd feel robbed if I wasn't given the chance.

And wouldn't most? Or is that just me being naïve and blue-eyed?

When I struggled with my depression some years ago (almost 7 years now; time flies) friends found out before my parents got the whole picture. But I did tell my parents about it. Several weeks before I hit bottom and had to call them to come and get me from my office floor. And knowing that I had already told them about my tears, my doubts, my anxiety and my fears, made it so much easier calling them for help. And they did help. I got picked up from work and driven straight to the psychiatric emergency. I moved back into my old room and lived with my parents and sister for two months. And during those months, they all took turns babysitting me. I wasn't left alone more than an hour at a time, and never in the evenings or at night. Not because we feared I might do something terrible (I wasn't ever suicidal) but becuase I was too scared to be on my own as I couldn't handle my anxieties and my tears when I was on my own. I was terrified of ending up hyperventilating on the floor again.

These months were tough on all of us. It wrecked my mother to see me sit hollow-eyed or teary. But mostly, it was hard for her that I doubted the person I was. That I didn't particularly like the person she had been a part of creating and loved. I don't think I've ever seen my father with such a deep wrinkle in his forehead. And my sister, taking on such a responsibility while still a teen... But... There's also something very real about crying in someone's arms. It creates bonds. Strong ones.

If I hadn't let my family help me through that year, I don't know if I'd feel as close to them as I do now. I don't know if I'd trust them as I do now. I sure hope I would, but I don't know.

I'm sure glad I let them be my support. And I know they appreciate it as well.

But did they have a right to know? Was I obliged to let them in? You tell me!

Sleepy me

I'm one of those who needs a lot of sleep. To function properly I should get at least 7-8 hours. During the work week, I go to bed at around 22/10pm and get up at 6am. On weekends I often sleep in 'til 9 or 9.30 even if I go to bed before midnight... If I get less than 6 hours of good sleep two nights in a row I become a wreck; I get physically sick.

(Me needing all that sleep is one (of many) reasons to why I'm not interested in having kids of my own...)

I've never been a true evening or night person, but when I was a teenager I could spend hours reading in bed. And when I was in Canada as an exchange student I stayed up longer as well. I had classes later than I had back home in Sweden, and I also had room mates who were more evening/night people than I was.

Not being an evening or night person doesn't automatically make me a morning person though. I get up when I have to and I don't have terrible manners before 7am, but if I have a choice; I stay in bed.

My boyfriend has been a bad influence on me in the mornings as he's a snoozer. I never owned an alarm with a snooze button on it before meeting him, and therefor I hadn't learnt how to snooze. I'd just get up when the alarm went off. Or I'd set the alarm half an hour earlier than I'd actually have to get up and when it went off, I'd reset it for 30 minutes at once.

Now, I often get tempted to stay in bed for another 10 minutes. And maybe another 10. On a rare occasion, I'll stay for three snoozes. And when I do, I get angry with myself as I don't seem to ever wake up those days.

The other day was one of those days. And to prove my point I can tell you that I, in the park on my way home from work, mistook a bench for a cow...

Highlights (4)

Today's Highlights (November 2nd, 2009)

* One of the phone calls I made at work today. I was a bit nervous making the call but ended up feeling good about the conversation. Instead of a lot of why?s, I got a thank you.

* The left over pasta I had for lunch. We made it yesterday when my cousin with family came over for lunch. The sauce was creamy and filled with small pieces of asparagus, onions, carrot, zucchini, tomatoes, smoked ham and salami.

* Sticking to my decision this afternoon to bike home in rain instead of taking a bus or asking my boyfriend to give me a ride. (I was 13kilometers/8miles away from home...)

* Entering the house after just-mentioned-bike-ride...

* Sitting all relaxed at the dinner table, playing with our new MacBook while at the same time being able to look at the pretty flowers my cousin's 4-year-old daughter picked out for us yesterday.

* Having made plans to see my mother for a sandwich and some coffee/tea on Thursday before knitting group gathers.

Wandering mind on a Saturday

My work consists of spending a lot of time in front of the computer. Or sit in on different meetings. (This week I did, however, leave the office to go "sightseeing" with one of my colleagues. We took a car and drove for twenty minutes to check out a library and take pictures of trees in a forrest. A most exciting afternoon for me...)

I do spend time on the computer in the evenings and on weekends but I limit myself. Partly because I need to do other things, partly because of my boyfriend and the attention I want to give him and our life together, and partly because I know I can get way too involved in the "fake world" of Internet communities.

I email friends. I spend time writing in my blogs. I read others' as well. I have an account on Ravelry and I spend on average fifteen minutes there every day. I'm a member of a forum with some of my knitting friends (I'm one of the least active on it). I post pictures on Flickr and check out my friends' contributions.

I don't do Twitter. I don't have an account on Facebook. I don't join discussions on Ravelry or participate in the forums. I don't get involved with people or in groups on Flickr.

My two main reasons to stay away from Facebook and Twitter are my need of privacy and my fear of getting too involved. I had a couple of years, while being a student, in which I spent way too much time in the computer lab socializing on chats and forums. I knew the names of the security guards that came on nightly rounds to check the university premises. They knew mine.

I had a lot of fun during these years, and I met people I'd never meet without the Internet; the short twin from Stockholm, the British girl who lived in Gothenburg, the guy who looked like Kalle on the kaviartubes and the swimmer who had a sick dad. But... It was tough on my life in general. I made my Internet friends a priority over my other friends. And my family. And my studies. And I knew I wasn't doing anything good when I started to lie to people around me so they wouldn't know exactly how much time I spent in the computer lab or where I was spending the weekend.

Things changed about 6 years ago, and I dramatically cut down on my Internet time. I still keep in touch with some of my Internet friends from "back then" (crrly and monaihallen to mention two) but most of the relationships I had with people faded and vanished.

Now I'm more picky with the people I chose to communicate with over the Internet. And I don't give them the time I used to give my Internet-relationships. And I don't feel (too) guilty for chosing to let emails wait for replies or comments to go unanswered. 'Cause I'm not willing to get too wrapped up in the Internet world again. Therefor, I'm doing things more on my own terms.

.....

I've been wandering. I started this post talking about my job and the amount of time I spend in front of the computer during the day. I was supposed to go from there to the fact that I'm not glued to the computer in the evenings and on weekends. And the point of the post would be to tell you all that I've spent approximately 5 hours playing with our new MacBook Pro today. What a Saturday!

WIP - Anemoi Mittens

I started this mitten last night:

Start of an Anemoi Mitten

The plan is to make these for my sister for Christmas. It's my first serious attempt at stranded knitting with two colours. I'm planning on holding one colour in each hand, but I can't master purl stitches when knitting English, so I'm dropping and picking up while working the ribbing...

The yarn is Sierra Andina from Italian Adriafil. It's 100% extra fine alpaca and it's sooooo lovely.

Highlights (3)

Today's Highlights (October 22nd, 2009)

* The meeting we had in my office building about different routines and tasks that need to be done. (I can't put the outcome from the meeting on the list here but the fact that we had a meeting where everyone attended definitely belongs here!)
* The WOWs I've gotten today from a colleague who saw my Sylvi for the first time (I feel like a parrot here!)
* The wind I had from behind when biking to a meeting
* Using boyfriend's bike today. It's lighter than mine and the gears shift easier making for a smoother ride.
* My cat JumJum behaving as if he didn't want me to leave for work this morning
* Finding out that one of my American knitting friends got some good news at an ultrasound yesterday
* Knowing that I'll be surrounded by knitters in about an hour as I'm about to head off to see me knitting group

Anniversary flowers

Flowers I got on our anniversary earlier this week

There are many positive words I can use to describe my boyfriend. I won't embarrass him by showing you the list... He is, however, not the most spontaneous boyfriend on the planet when it comes to buying gifts and he doesn't really care about "special dates" in the calender.

He's been good at remembering our yearly anniversary as a couple (but he did forget this year's and as a defense he claims he didn't think it'd be important as I wasn't even in the country) but rarely - very very rarely - remembers our monthly anniversary. Which is understandable. Most people don't care about their monthly anniversaries. But... Knowing how difficult it is for him to remember (more or less) important dates, I've made it my mission to bug him every 12th of the month . I often bring home chocolates or candy that he likes, or I buy him dinner. Or wear my hair in a pony tail. Or get him a beer he's never tried before.

Imagine my surprise when I came home this Monday to find flowers on the dinner table!

But then again, it was our 55-month-anniversary as a couple. And 5 is my lucky number...

Another close up

Highlights (1)

While I was a student at the university, I was a member of an online community in which I had a diary open for the other members to read. The diary was used for all sorts of writing; reports on what I did, felt or saw.

During my student years, I spent my summers between semesters working outdoors. I loved my summer job and kept returning to it year after year. Nevertheless, some days were boring. Or cold. Or made my body hurt. One summer, on such a day, I heard kid's laughter coming from behind me. I turned around and saw two small boys playing with a ball on a lawn. It wasn't football/soccer. They weren't tossing the ball around. There was no running involved. They took turns holding the ball and while hugging it close, jumped. And jumped. And laughed.

I watched them for a while and then found myself standing there with a stupid grin on my face. I wasn't bored. I didn't feel cold. My body didn't hurt. I was just enjoying myself.

Later that day I published a post in my online diary called "Dagens höjdpunkter" (="Today's Highlights"). I did the same the next day. And the next. And it went on for a long time. I realized I spent more time smiling and feeling good about myself and the life I was in when I focused on noticing all the good stuff around me.

I've been collecting highlights on and off since that first day of publishing them in my online diary. I thought they would make an appearance in this blog from time to time.

~~~~~

Today's Highlights (October 14th, 2009)

* The sky is absolutely clear blue and the air feels clean to breathe in
* The meeting I was in before lunch today in which we prepared for an important meeting we're having next week
* Making my sister laugh on the phone
* The warmth I get from the purple (and fake?) Pashmina shawl I bought in Florence
* The leftover pie and salad I had for lunch today. (It was my turn to house the bookclub meeting yesterday and I had made a pie with feta cheese and olives in it. I had also made a turkey salad to go with it.)

I would like to...

I would like to:

• get back to writing on a regular basis
• sew myself a dress
• sign up for a race and start jogging
• bake bread every weekend
• design my own shawl pattern
• learn how to take great shots with my boyfriend's camera
• get my Swahili books out from the shelf and get back into studying on a regular basis
• work through 4 old tasks and projects at work that weigh on my conscience
• be better at keeping in touch with my friends
• feel completely comfortable with saying "no"
• own more exciting clothes and know what fits me and what doesn't
• kick some of my colleagues on the shins
• knit my boyfriend the sweater he wants
• read as much as I used to
• make myself Amy Butler's Weekender Travel Bag and Sophia Carry-all
• enjoy vacuuming the house
• make myself a shirt or two
• be able to speak Swahili fluently
• stop worrying about the new work situation I'm in
• get structured and brave enough to deal with the idea I have for a novel
• get back into shape after way too many months of back ache and no regular exercise
• finish some of the knitting projects I have lying around
• go to the cinema more often
• invite friends to a super duper dinner
• be more interested in the practicalities of our house and garden
• travel to Africa again
• start a crafting business
• bring my lunch to work every day
• have great looking nails and cuticles
• moisturize every day
• sew quilt after quilt after quilt

So, why don't I?

The most expensive cake I've ever bought

Just as last year, my boyfriend and I spent Sweden's National Day (June 6th) in Copenhagen, Denmark, with some of our friends. Last year there were five of us going. This year 11... Wonder how many we'll be next year.

We had a great day even though the weather was very unpredictable. We visited a market/fair/whatever focused on the home environment. There are many plants for sale and a ton of knickknacks for your home and yourself; homemade salt scrubs, jewelry, bags made out of willow, outdoor furniture, pottery, kitchenware, homemade kid's clothing, and so on.

My boyfriend and I made some very gender-bound purchases. He bought two Cuban cigars and four bottles of locally brewed Danish beer. I bought a jar of salt scrub with citrus scent, two packages of fun paper bake cups for muffins or cupcakes and 16 small tins for "mandelmusslor". And...

I saw these lovely pastries and cakes and decided to get one with pears, dark chocolate, ginger and lemon in it. It was beautifully wrapped in paper with a string around it. There were no price tags to be seen and I realized why, when the girl behind the counter asked for 65DKK = 100SEK = US$13... Had I known, I wouldn't have bought it.

Looks tasty, doesn't it?

I've had two thirds of the cake and it's good. But not that good.

Had a fun afternoon and evening?

Monday I went to see someone about my back and my hips. He adjusted and aligned me to the degree where I could actually sit on both of my sitbones when he was done! That was a first in four weeks time...

He massaged. He used acupuncture. He "shot" my spine with a metal thingie that moved the vertebraes ever so slightly. He put six small metal spheres in the cartilage of my left ear.

And before I left he told me to keep away from doing dishes, taking care of laundry or vacuuming for at least five days so I wouldn't put unnecessary strain on my spine and make it shift again. I liked that...

Yesterday I spent a great afternoon with an American blogger visiting Scandinavia. I saw her straight after work and didn't get back home until 20.55/8.55pm (five minutes before Grey's Anatomy). The whole house smellt of cleaning liquids. The floors where spotless and shiny. And the dinner table was completely cleared of stuff (mostly 'cause my pile was moved to the desk in our office). The dishes were done and put away. I could see my reflection in the sink. The laundry was folded and carried into the bedroom.

Boyfriend just laughed at me and rolled his eyes when I asked if he'd had a pleasant afternoon and evening on his own... I wonder why...



(My body felt good on Monday. And so did my mind and spirit. Tuesday morning I woke up shifted again. And my body has been achy since.

Apparently the muscles in my back, my stomach and hips are too weak and can't carry my tall body properly. I need to build muscles... Which doesn't surprise me to be honest...)

EFIT - May 1st, 2009

Yesterday was an EFIT-day (Ett Foto i Timmen/A Photo Every Hour) and I participated. The idea is to take one picture every hour of what you're doing or where you are. It's kind of a diary entry on what you did that particular day.

This is part of my 101 things in 1001 days-challenge.

9.14/9.14am - Our bathroom floor

10.10/10.10am - Parts of our garden with the new willow fence we've put up this spring

11.05/11.05am - Reading Nando Parrado's Miracle in the Andes (in Swedish)

12.07/12.07pm - JumJum sitting among forget-me-nots in one of our flower beds

13.07/1.07/pm - Preparing for grocery shopping

14.07/2.07pm - Boyfriend with our groceries

15.07/3.07pm - Brownies with feta cheese and raspberries in the oven

16.14/4.14pm - Winding yarn for a pair of Spread Spectrum Socks from Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarns. The yarn is Lorna Lace's in Black Purple.

17.07/5.07pm - Swatching to check gauge

18.43/6.43pm - Ovenbaked corn chicken with polenta and artichokes - soooo good!

19.22/7.22pm - Measuring yarn to make butterflies for my Spread Spectrum Socks that are knit sideways and in intarsia

20.22/8.22pm - Skorpan checking out a brownie on a plate...

22.13/10.13pm - Watching tv. A comedy performance by an Australian duo called The Umbilical Brothers.

23.14/11.14pm - Before brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed

Out of place and different

(This post has been kept hostage in my will-I-publish-this?-folder for a couple of days before I made the final decision to post it today. My intent is not to make anyone feel bad about themselves. If my words make you think, I'm glad. That's all I want.)

These last few weeks have had me thinking about the things we say to people we're around but don't really know very well. The things that are considered "socially accepted" but nevertheless not always really appropriate...

I've felt awkward among colleagues, knitting friends, my bookclub members and with some aquaintances. Not that anyone has tried to make me feel uncomfortable, but just the fact that normal small talk and joking around about "bonding subjects" shows me how "different" or "abnormal" I am, makes me feel even more out of place. Even when I'm among people I truly like.

There's the obvious baby/kids talk In which people assume that everyone wants children. And that wanting and having children is the right way to live. That there's something weird about being a woman and not wanting kids in your family.

There's the innocent invitation to "go for a drink" or to "celebrate with some wine". The notion of alcohol to be a natural part of everyone's life. The expectation that everyone will laugh when you tell a silly story about something that happened to you when you were drunk. Or when someone else was drunk.

There's the comment about the older man and the younger woman. The almost-always-there remark of disapproval or disgust when someone tells the group about the older man who hit on her. Or how the father of a friend moved out to start a new relationship with a woman being 25 years younger. The usage of words such as sick, weird, strange, disgusting, middleage crisis and wrong. The questioning of what she sees in him, how she can be attracted to such an old man and how she can live with someone who could technically be her father...

The comments get to me. Even though I see that they (usually) are just comments of the bonding kind. People getting together, trying to find some common ground in conversation. With no harm intended.

But.

I'm child free by choice. I don't drink alcohol as I have too many alcoholics on my biological father's side of the family to feel attracted to a drink or to trust my own body and mind to not become addicted to it. I love and live with a man almost 20 years older than I am.

I wonder how often I make others feel uncomfortable when I'm just trying to bond with those around me. How often I'm opinionated in subjects that aren't as "safe" to talk about as I might think. How often my words become hurtful or make someone feel different or abnormal. Or just out of place.

Friday at last

This week has been hectic. I've been on my toes way too much...

Five meetings that I needed to prepare for, attend and follow up. Don't know how many phone calls I've made to people I don't know. Seven letters to write in which I delivered bad news to the recipients. Trying to book three other meetings with poeple who are tough to get a hold of. Starting to preparing for a presentation I'll make in a week's time. Order "fika" to two meetings.

And I've had my hair cut. And I've been to my first get-together with a group of women intrested in starting a book-reading-group. Handball games on TV at nights (yesterday Sweden got beat by Croatia...). Finished the third Harry Potter book. Finished knitting Sylvi's sleeves and had them blocked. Have knitted petals for three flowers. Biked a looooong way yesterday. Picked up my new passport. Met my parents for a "fika" at our house as my mum had some things to give me. Reinstalled all our channels on the DVD-recorder as they had all moved to wrong positions. Went to the gym once (and will go for the second time this afternoon after work).

I'm tired. And happy it's Friday.

Rewriting my knitting history

I thought I learnt how to knit when in school.

I was wrong.

Friends to the family visited my parents for dinner last Saturday and my mother was wearing her Laminaria. The woman-friend asked my mother about it and was told that I had made it. The woman-friend said that she felt proud as she was the one who taught me how to knit. And as she said it, my mother remembered the details.

Our family spent a week on an island in the archipelago with their family. We had rented a house there for all 10 of us. I was the only girl (except for the two mothers) and apparently I got sick and tired of the boys and their "stupid games" after a couple of days, and asked the mother of the other family if she could teach me how to knit. She was knitting a sweater at the time.

As my mother told me about it, I started remembering. I remember me or my brother loosing a suncap on the boatride there as the wind swept it off. I remembered us kids being outside a lot, running around. I remember walking across the island to meet the mailman and his boat. I remember us doing sommersaults on the lawn. I remember the grown ups complaining about a mouse in the house as they all heard strange noices at night (and then finding out it was me grinding my teeth). And I sort of remember sitting down knitting with white yarn.

I saw my mother yesterday. She came over to give me a picture of me knitting at the age of 6. In a chair outside the house we rented. With my Swedish blond hair. (I was that blond up until about 10 years old. Then it turned mousy...)

The needles are longer than my forearms!!!

FO - Cardigan for my niece

Coconut buttons and sewn button loops

Pattern: A baby cardigan pattern from Gepard

Made for: My niece for Christmas 2008

Yarn: Gepard's Cotton Wool or Gepard's Cotton Baby

Needles: 3,5mm/US4 or 3,75mm/US5 (Can't remember...)

Project time: I knitted during October and November, 2008. Added the buttons and button loops on December 22nd, 2008.

Front of the cardigan

Project modifications: I had to fudge the pattern to get the cardigan to turn out the way I wanted. I wonder if anyone proof read this pattern beofre printing... It said to keep with garter stitch at the edges but didn't specify if that was true for the sleeves as well or just for the body. If I followed the instructions on how to divide for the fronts and the back when putting in the sleeves, I'd ended up with an asymmetrical cardigan...

Thoughts: I tried my hands at knitting the button loops but they didn't turn out looking neat. I sewed them with yarn and needle instead, using instructions from The Knitter's Book of Finishing Techniques by Nancie M. Wiseman.

Back of the yoke

The lower part of the cardigan