My first ever granny-square

I just couldn't wait - I had to try to make one of the squares for the DROPS Alpaca granny-square baby blanket... and I finished the first square last night. The first one took some time, as I had to use all the colors, and it always takes some time to start on a new ball - especially when you only have one ball, but you're supposed to use double yarn... My square turned out 13cm x 13cm with crochet hook 6mm (pattern called for hook 5) - I think it looks good and it's loose enough, and I won't go looking for an even thicker hook to match the gauge of the pattern: 15cm x 15 cm.

I'll probably just keep the blanket a bit smaller, make an extra border or something  around it, or make an extra row of squares - I still have to decide on that, but for the moment I got 19 more squares to make until I can see what the size of the blanket would really be... I really hope I get some time to do all of this at Easter - and I can't wait to get home tonight to make another square or two! 

Knitter's paradise

This morning I've been to a yarnshop I've never been to before, To Damer at Askøy, outside Bergen... and all I can say is Wow - what a paradise for any knitter!
They have such a wide selection of yarn - all different kinds and colors - and a complete wall with knitting needles and crochet hooks of different sizes and materials.

I had a long shopping list for yarn, all projects I'm planning for the spring (or maybe even rest of the year), and I was really impressed that I found all the yarn I needed - in the colours I wanted. There was only one single colour I looked for and didn't find, but the substitute colour just screamed at me, and I'm sure the finished product will look just as beautiful, and maybe even slightly more "fresh" than the original in the pattern...

I won't reveal what all the yarn is intended for at this point - but there's definately nice soft products and many hours of knitting ahead - I really can't wait to get started on all of this!!

Perfect gift from one knitter to another

On Thursday I received the ultimate knitter-to-knitter gift:
KnitPicks Harmony Wood knitting needles and a ball of the softest and most exclusive yarn I've ever seen... 
Needles to say I was thrilled when I unwrapped the present!

The yarn is 70% cashmere and  30% silk - in a soft offwhite/nature-colour. Still haven't decided on what I'll use this yarn for - it has to be something very beautiful to match the quality of the yarn!

The Harmony Wood knitting needles have been on my wishlist for quite a while now, and my plan was to start my collection by buying some today... Well - my friend started my collection for me - with double point needles and circular needles size 3 - perfect for a few of the projects on my "to do" - list!

...music I could listen to for hours... and hours again...

Quite a while ago I went to a concert with the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra.

I really enjoyed the programme, especially one piece:

Symphony no.3 - the organ symphony, by C. Saint-Saëns.

I still can't forget this piece, and I keep going back to listening to it, over and over again... There's something about this music that I just love, it feels so alive, and touches me in a way I'm not used to... I like classical music, but I'm not necessarily the one who'd sit down to listen to it, just to listen... but this symphony is different somehow - and one of the pieces that I just don't forget.

I'm still looking for the ultimate recording of it.. I've listened to quite a few different ones, with different pros and cons for one and each of them... but I haven't found one single recording where the strings and the winds seems to be completely together throughout the whole piece... in some places the rhytms even sound different from one recording to another, so when I thought I knew what it was supposed to be like, I realised that I really don't have a clue...

It would be interesting to read the score - and compare what is written with what I hear - but in the end it just doesn't matter. No matter what it's "supposed to be like" - this is just such a beautiful piece of music, and the "ultimate recording" that I'm looking for is not necessarily the most correct, but the one that just makes me disappear completely into the music - without making silent notes to self about glitches here and there.

If you don't know this piece yet - give it a go on Spotify or your preferred music provider - it's definately worth the time spent!

Knitted and felted cat basket

About a year ago I knitted and felted a bed or basket for my cat. She's been using it a lot in periods, but only if I place it in a place that suits her highness... Placed on the floor she's not interested at all, but now that I've placed it on the top platform of her scratching/climbing post she spends hour after hour sleeping, resting or enjoying the view out the window.

Recently I was asked to make two similar catbeds for a friend of mine, and this is the first one:

The new bed was well received by its new owner(s)
- just look at this beautiful little missis enjoying her "sister"'s new bed:

This little miss here is supposed to share the second, slightly larger, bed with her "sister" -

as you can see - they already try to fit two into one tiny basket:

These beautiful cats are of the breed Egyptian Mau, and belong the NO*Gooseberry Egyptian Mau cattery.