Favourite Shop in Sogndal

My heart skipped a beat when I walked through Sogndal, and found a yarn and fabric shop! I had not expected to find anything in this small village of roughly 7000 inhabitants. I was afraid I'd have to go to Bergen to find yarn and fabric.

	A bigger button stash than the store at home!

Although the fabric is mainly quilting cotton, they have lots of yarn for reasonable prices. According to Norwegian standards, anyway. I still can't believe how expensive the food is though. And don't even think about any kind of alcohol (which we buy anyway, albeit with our eyes closed). Anyway, I bought two of each colour, at a discount for 25 NOK (€3,-) each. The first one I just had to try. I mean, ecological camel hair, how funky is that? Just 15%, but still. The blue one is the same merino wool I also used for my hat, and  the grey one is a super soft wool/soya blend. Never tried soya before, either. These are just for small projects, like scarves and legwarmers. I also got myself two pattern magazines, one from PT Design, and one from the Ecologico wool. I'd like to knit something with a hood. Those slippers look really warm and comfortable, perfect for the coming Norwegian winter!


I'd like to start a big knitting project again. It has to be an interesting pattern though, or else I'll get bored, and won't finish it until spring. I'm thinking of a combination of the striped dress and the pattern on the purple dress. Small problem though: the descriptions are in Norwegian. A pattern in French, à la, but I'd better learn some Norwegian before I start complicated undertakings like this! Have you already started knitting again now that autumn is around the corner?

Giveaway winner!

I'm sorry for the delay, I know the giveaway ended two days ago! I do have a good excuse though: I was on a glacier excursion! It was awesome and beautiful, but let's see who won first:

The winner is Crystal! Congratulations! I'm especially pleased with this, as she was one of my first followers. I'll be sending you an email very shortly!

Now, some photo's of truly astonishing nature! I'm posting these here because I wore something self made: a hat. I knitted it on wednesday evening. I did not bring a hat to Norway, and I needed one for this excursion. I had very little time, but I still did not want to spend money on something I could so easily make myself.

I had no pattern, and if I had had more time I'd have made it a bit bigger. It needed needles nr. 8, but I had only nr. 6. It worked out fine though, the tightness of the stitches makes it even warmer. I like the colours and it was nice and warm on top of that glacier! It's merino wool, and I'll tell you more about where I found it later. 

Matching Shrugs

To follow my new rules - tie my wardrobe together - I made matching shrugs to go with the Summer Dress. I choose a matching green and a blue one. They are the same fabric, a medium weight knit. They are based on Ichigogirls pattern. I didn't have the pattern at the moment I made them, so I made my own using the same (very clever) construction. Now that I do have the pattern, I might alter them a bit. Next year, because I left them at home, as well as the summer dress.


When taking photo's. I have to keep going back and forth to the camera to set the timer. The dog kept wriggling herself in the photo's, wanting to see what all the fuss was about. Most photo's just show the back of her head in front of the camera, or a wagging tail. Every time I put up the camera she takes up the spot where I usually stand and sits there waiting for me :)

I don't know which one I like best, green or blue. I do like the pattern, I have four shrugs already. Three made by me, the third one made from the floral fabric of my harem pants. The fourth one is special, and will be shown here later on!

P.S. Don't forget to enter the mustard fabric giveaway!

P.S. Giveaway!

I know I should stop blogging and start packing, but I wanted to announce the Giveaway first! I managed to lay my hands on the materials I was looking for this morning, so here we go!

The winner of this giveaway will recieve:

One meter of striped mustard jersey! I got so much reactions to my mustard mini, I thought I'd give you the opportunity to make your own version. It's 1.4 meter wide, which is more than enough for the mini skirt. I will try to work on the tutorial, but I'm not sure when it will be ready (related to the challenge of sewing while camping). I hope you can wait 'till then, otherwise I'd be curious to see what you make with it!

Here's the rules:

1. To enter, you must be a follower. Either by RSS, email subscription, google follower. Doesn't really matter which way.

2. Leave a comment saying what way you follow me, and what way to contact you.

3. I'll send it anywhere in the world. Anyone can participate!

4. You'll have until next wednesday (16th of august), 00:00 CET. I'll let the random generator choose a winner.

That's it! I hope you like it!

P.S. Next Giveaway will be something handmade by me, so non-sewists can participate too! 

The End - No Way Back

Technically, my challenge is over. I went shopping today, but all I came home with was a simple top. I look at the clothes, and think: I could have easily made this myself. Or, this is a nice fabric, but I would have made something else with it. Weird, isn't it? I had been looking forward to it, but it was very different from what I expected. I felt nothing of the joy I used to feel. The boost it used to give me is completely gone! I think I'd really have to force myself into buying something. But I see no point in doing so! Sewing has become such an integrated part of my life, I think I'd get serious withdrawal symptoms. So here's what I'll do:

1.  Keep sewing
Obviously! I want to get better, learn more techniques, try more complicated garments such as jeans, a winter coat and a jacket. What I also need to do is tie my wardrobe together. I've chosen the colours in these garments to work with:


Which would be, roughly stated: dark brown, blue (varying from teal to cobalt), mustard (surprise), grey and pink. Notice how the two out-of-my-comfort-zone garments will form the base of my wardrobe? I used to think in primary colours, whereas now its the softer colours that attract me.

2. Buy the basics
I will allow myself to buy the occasional basic garment, such as singlets. They're just not much fun to sew, and I'd rather spend my time on more creative designs. Especially now that I'll be a full time student the next couple of months.

3. Refashion thrift store finds
One thing I love is to take something ugly and turn it into something wearable. The only stores I will be buying clothes will therefore be thrift stores! I have been eyeing the clothes rack full of 'pretty fabric/ugly design' at the local thrift store for months, haha. I'm just hoping they'll have a thrift store where I'm going...

Final words
I think I have said enough about inspiration, life changes and stuff like that, so all I'd like to do is say thanks to some wonderful ladies: Wendy for lighting the spark that started all this. I have never met a woman so persistent and brave despite all that happens to her. Her daughter Heather for being my first hero although I've never met her. And thanks to Rensz, my first sewing related inspirator.

And ofcourse you, readers! I'm very happy with every life sign I get from you, whether it be a comment or just your trace in the statistics. I hope I'll be able to keep you interested. Is there anything you'd like to see? What do you like and what is missing? I always love to hear what you think!

For now, I'm off to Norway for 4,5 months! My plane leaves on thursday. I'll be taking my sewing machine with me ofcourse! I'll be camping the first three weeks though, so I don't know whether I'll be able to make something. I know I promised a giveaway, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find the right materials. I promise you a rain check on that one! To keep you entertained the coming weeks, I have some posts scheduled with items you haven't seen yet.

Adjø og snakkes senere!