Furniture socks

These may not be especially pretty - but they work brilliantly. The self - adhesive filt thingies I used to have never stayed in place for long and they collected dirt that scratched the floor instead of protecting it.

Ísafjörður

Ísafjörður, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Especially for Rani.

Dolphin

Dolfin, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Not knitting related - just beautiful.
This dolphin was swimming in the harbour in Ísafjörður ( in the west fjord of Iceland) when we were there in June. It was a joy to watch it, it was very graceful and beautiful.

WIP

This is a work in progress. I have a very long way to go as I want to hat completely covered in "rocks", and its a big hat, in men's L/XL.

RAK

RAK - (random acts of kindness) - all this lovely yarn came in the mail the other day. Thank you so much Scottishthistle.

Small progress

I was well on my way with the stockinette part of my cardigan when I realised I wanted the moss stitch part to be wider. Much wider in fact so there was nothing to it - some serious ripping was in order. Now as you may know, single plötulopi does not like to be ripped so although I took as much care as I could I did break it several times. But luckily it can be joined very easily.
So this is where I'm at now, still at the moss stitch part, which is looking very good, to me at least.

"Testing - testing"

The cardigan is holding up really nicely. I was a bit afraid the single plötulopi would be a too fragile for every day use, but it does not seem to be. It has been frequently used, thrown around, left on the floor, the lawn and on the patio (which is a bit rough) , had bit of velcro accidently stuck on it (and consequently ripped of) and it can stand it all. So I think I can say it passed the test.

I'm planning a similar cardigan for myself. Similar in material that is, single plötulopi, but not in pattern or colour. I'm not into quite so sweet patterns or all that pink. Mine is going to be in the natural sheep colours, different shades of gray with natural white and light shades of brown as accents.

Birthday

Precious, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

It's my birthday today.
I'm almost as old as time - but still young at heart, although perhaps not quite as young as this little beauty.

Finished

The competition entry is finished and off in the mail.
This is all I can show you for now - the results will be announced in September and so a "full figure" picture won't be posted until then.

By the rainbow

By the rainbow, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

In her new cardigan

In her new cardigan, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

The new cardigan

The new cardigan!



Folded so you can read the name.

Elefants!

Would you like one of these beauties? If you are lucky you might win one - Solveig is having a little competition on her blog Solig. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment, and if you link from your blog you double your chances of winning.

Ísafjörður

These are taken in June, when I went on a short trip to the west fjords, where I used to live.
Although I love my little village where I now live, I still miss the rugged west fjords a bit. They may be colder, and the summer is ever shorter that here in the southern part of Iceland, but there is something magical about the high north.
There is magic to in the south too - all the gletchers and the hot springs, the black lava and all that, but the north is something special. It's more that the majestic beauty of the nature. You really have to bee there to feel it.

The competition peace is coming along nicely. I had to rip back a bit last night , but that was all right.

Today I stumbled on this competition, which I really would have liked to participate in. It's a designing competition where you can either make clothing or accessories with Icelandic wool. Just the thing for me, right?

But the deadline was June 30!
I don't know how I missed this!

Húsið, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Hafnarstræti, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Silfurtorgið, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Gamla, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

Cake

Shannon asked me for the recipe for this cake so here it is :

250 gr sugar
4 egg whites

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then add the sugar, a little at a time.

With a teaspoon - put blobs of this mixture on a non stick baking sheet - and let dry in the oven at 100°C or so. This should take little over an hour.

When the blobs are nice and dry you round them up on a pretty serving plate, cramming them together so they resemble a cake. Then you put a whole lot of whipped cream on top . 3 dl should just about do it. The cream is delicious - and it makes to blobs stick together.

On top of the cream you can put any berries and fruit you like - I used blueberries, strawberries and kiwi.

The outcome of all this is a cheats Pavlova of sorts. I do know how to make the real thing - but the blobs dry faster if you are in a hurry.

Blue

Blue, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

My competition entry is blue.
Not one blue tone though, but four.
It's looking rather good, if I may say so myself (and you can't contradict me since there won't be any picture for a long while) and I think I won´t have any trouble meeting the July 15. deadline.

Today's rock picture

Today's rock picture, originally uploaded by Harpa J.

The cardigan is blocked and I must say I am rather pleased with it. The increases on the hood are a little - what shall we say, original perhaps? But on the whole, it is a success. At least as far as I know. The recipient is not at home so I can not try it on to see how it looks all blocked and pretty.

I'm starting a new project today - it is for a pattern competition so I won't be showing it or even telling you what it is. The deadline is 15. July so I only have a few days. I know what I want to do and I have drawn up the colour and lace patterns in Excel. The pattern it self is rather simple (but effective I hope), so we will see how it goes.

Almost

I almost made it. But not quite.

The thing is, my daughter went away for a little over a week today, and she really wanted to take her new cardigan with her. But I didn't finish it in time - I managed to steek it today and crochet all the edges and fasten two of nine buttons on all before she left.

Now all the buttons are on, and only the blocking remains.
She insisted that I mail it to her on Monday - and of course I'll do that. Too bad the camera went with her (and her father)so there will be no picture of it until they come back.