warm toes :)

Hi my friends.

I'm sitting here by the fire, It is freezing cold in Oslo today, and we wear all the woolen clothes we can find in our houses. ;)

A really good day to knit or do something with warm soft wool and yarn.

I think this was the perfect day to share some really cute slippers I recently made, and they are SO comfy, soft and warm.

These are great gifts.

So easy and fun to make.

You tell me you are no knitter ...

Well, Don't worry! This pattern is for beginners and non knitters. ;)

It took me one evening to knit these slippers. ( and I'm a slow knitter!!)

So it is still time to make a few of these as gifts for christmas. :)

Mine are made with double tread of Mirasol from Du Store Alpakka, and knitted on needle eur #4.

You can use what ever yarn you like the best, just adjust the needle-number to fit the size of you slipper.

Size:

5/6½ - 7½/9 – 9½/10½ (US sizes)

35/37 - 38/40 – 41/43 (EU sizes)

Foot length: 22-24-27 cm / 8¾”-9½”-10 5/8”

Materials: DROPS ALPACA from Garnstudio

50 g for all sizes

For a more hard wearing slipper use DROPS Fabel or DROPS Delight.

DROPS POINTED NEEDLES size 3 mm / US 2or3 - or size needed to get 24 sts x 32 rows in stockinette st = 10 x 10 cm / 4'' x 4''.

SLIPPER:
Worked back and forth on needle. Beg with strap over foot. Cast on 8-8-9 sts on needle size 3 mm / US 2or3 with Alpaca. Work GARTER ST – see above – for 8-8-9 cm / 3 1/8"-3 1/8"-3½", cut the thread and slip sts on a stitch holder. Cast on 18-20-23 sts (= towards mid front), work in sts from stitch holder and cast on 15-16-18 sts (= towards mid back) = a total of 41-44-50 sts.
NOW MEASURE PIECE FROM HERE! K 5 rows on all sts (first row = WS). Work next row as follows from RS: 1 edge st in garter st, K1, * P2 in next st, K2 *, repeat from *-* until 3 sts remain, P2 in next st, K1 and finish with 1 edge st in garter st = 54-58-66 sts. Continue with K over K and P over P and 1 edge st each side in garter st. When piece measures 16-17-18 cm / 6 1/4"-6 3/4"-7" work next row from RS as follows: 1 edge st in garter st, K1, * P2 tog, K2 *, repeat from *-* until 4 sts remain, P2 tog, K1 and 1 edge st in garter st = 41-44-50 sts. K 5 rows on all sts, bind off loosely.

ASSEMBLY:
Fold slipper double and sew tog each side inside 1 edge st. Sew strap to the other side of slipper, edge to edge.
Knit 1 more slipper in the same way.

The pattern for these slippers are by DROPS design

You can find the pattern in Norwegian HERE.

:)

The slippers look like little knitted handbags when finished .... :p

But as soon as they are put on they fit so well to the feet. :)

Thanks for stopping by my blog today.

Have a great weekend - and keep you toes warm. ;)

HOME for christmas :) :)

WELCOME my friends!!

And again THANK YOU a million for all your sweet well wishes and comments.

I really feel better now. :)

And today I'm ready to invite you HOME for Christmas :)

I have started decorating my home a little bit. It is tradition for alot of people in Norway to decorate the tree and most of the house on the 23rd. We celebrate christmas eve on the 24th.

But because I LOVE all this decorating and creating and this season SO much I start a little earlier putting up little by little of my decorations.

I made these cute paper trees, and they are now standing in my livingroom.

They are so fun to make, and can be made in many different ways.

I'll show you how I made my circle-tree. :)

You'll need a foam "tree" a pot, a little bit of Oasis, hot glue / gluegun, a 1 1/2 inch circle punch and LOTS of punchout paper-circles. I've used scraps of patterned paper to punch out circles. bead-headed pins (if you want)

Glue the circles on to the foam tree, and secure with pins if you like.
I started on the bottom of the tree and glued circles round and round in a kind of random way.

When you have covered the tree with circles you can add a little wooden stick on the bottom of the tree. I found a little branch from a tree in my garden. I tucked the stick into the tree and glued it to secure.

I put the Oasis in the pot and put the tree into the Oasis, and glued to secure. Then I found some nature fiber to cover the Oasis.

Voila!

A fun little tree to brighten up your home :)

----

As you know I have this advent tradition with my kids, we do different kins of things every day in december as our calendar.

Recently we needle felted some woolen hearts.

They LOVE to needle felt, and we use to do this every year.

this is one of the things they are really looking foreward to.

Here is one of the hearts we felted.

I've put it up in my candelair over my dining table.

To needle felt is SO FUN and easy, and I tell you, even my husband loves it, and he have some skills! This year he felted an ice-bear. (I'll show you pictures another day)

Eirun is one of the master-felters in our family. Here is her heart that got wings :)

Here is a mini step-by-step how to do it.

You need real lambs-wool, a styrofoam block to have under your project and a special felting needle. And then you just felt away! :)

OK

This was it for this wednesday.

See you back on friday for more christmas inspo!

:)

sweets

Hi my friends.

It's snowing in Oslo today, and it's starting to look more and more like a white Christmas :) I like winter, and I like snow. I like how the snow cover the landscape and nature and make everything "go to sleep" until dear, warm, sweet spring arrives.

Snowy weather makes it good to stay indoor too. Light some candles and the fire to make it warm and cozy.

I decided to decorate a little bit today.

I got myself this cute "merry christmas" wire-hanging, and I decorated it with some "vintage cards" by 3ndypapir and some miniature ornaments.

And I have made some sweets :)

Honey-Ginger snaps
and Whalnut fudge. :)

Yummy, yummy!

Would you like some?

Honey-ginger snaps.

I LOVE these little spicy bites with some tea. :)

Ingredients
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup butter
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
3 Tbsp. finely chopped crystallized ginger (I've used ground ginger and a little bit fresh chopped ginger)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper (optional)
1 egg, lightly beaten
Powdered sugar

Directions
1. In a small saucepan, combine honey and butter. Cook and stir over low heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Pour mixture into a large bowl and cool to room temperature.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, granulated sugar, ginger, baking soda, and if desired, pepper. Set aside.
3. Stir egg into cooled honey mixture. Gradually stir in flour mixture until combined; knead in the last of the flour mixture by hand, if necessary. Cover and chill about 1 hour or until dough is easy to handle.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Divide dough into 12 portions.* On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion into a 10-inch-long rope. Cut ropes into 1/2-inch pieces. Place pieces 1/2 inch apart in an ungreased shallow baking pan.
5. Bake in the preheated oven for 6 to 8 minutes or until tops are very lightly browned. Transfer cookies to paper towels to cool. Roll in powdered sugar.

For my European friends:

You can easily convert the amounts to kg, litre etc and Farenheit to Celcius HERE:

http://www.worldwidemetric.com/Measurements.html

And here is the recepie for

Whalnut fudge.

I use Whalnuts instead of Pecan nuts. :)

Ingredients
2 cups packed dark brown sugar
1 cup buttermilk
2 tablespoons butter
2 cups broken or chopped pecans (I use whalnuts )

Directions
1. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine brown sugar and buttermilk. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar. This should take 6 to 8 minutes. Avoid splashing mixture on sides of pan. Carefully clip candy thermometer to pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until thermometer registers 234 degree F, soft-ball stage. Mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over entire surface. Reaching soft-ball stage should take 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Remove saucepan from heat. Add the 2 tablespoons butter, but do not stir. Cool, without stirring, to 150 degree F. This should take about 30 minutes. Remove candy thermometer from saucepan. Immediately stir in pecans. Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until candy is just beginning to thicken, but is still glossy. This should take 3 to 4 minutes.`
3. Quickly drop the candy from a teaspoon onto a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. (I just put the entire candy-mixture into one rectangular box covered with a baking sheet. I cut the fudge in squares when it has cooled. If you want to make pralines you have to work really fast. The candy will soon get stiff.

If it does you might stir in a few drops hot water, or put the saucepan on low heat to make it all melt a little bit. )

Enjoy with a cup of tea or coffee. :)

Have a great WEEKEND!!

Happy Halloween!!

I'm ready for a sooktacular night - halloween - with lots of creepy monsters asking for treats around each corner. I've stocked up with tons of treats and I'll put up the welcome sign on my front door, light my lanterns outside so all the kids in the neighborhood will know they are welcome :)
Later tonight I'll be off to a friends house for a great "dress up" party - and what'll be better than bringing a box of spooky pumpkin-chocolates ;) BOO!

Have a great night!

~gudrun~

3ndy summer challenge :)

RUN over to 3ndypapir-blog and join our summer challenge for your chance to win a pack of our summer-collection :)

The challenge is all about scrapping your favourite summer-pictures using 3ndypapir :)

See you there!

Have you sen these little cuties. I just fell in love with the world of amigurumi. I have made mini crocheted animals for years, but didn't know the japanese word for this little work of art until my friend Revlie told me. Go visit her blog for more inspo ;) And guess what: If you make a GOOGLEserarch on amigurumi you will find a world of beauty!! So this is my little summer (non-scrapbooking)-project. I make cute, little crocheted teddy bears :) The ones you see above are NOT mine, I found the pictures on flickr SO SO cute!! :)

xo