It's Christmas!

I must admit, there were times last week when I thought we were never going to be ready to leave for Norway on time. I could have done with another week to get everything done that I wanted to do before we left for our holiday. We were rushing around until bedtime on Thursday and ended up having a huge famly row as we were packing the last few things and loading the car. But we left bright and early (at 5.30am) on Friday morning. In contrast to 2 years ago our drive to Stansted went without any problems and we got there early (2 years ago it took us 10hrs to drive the 5 hr journey and our flight got cancelled). This time there was no sign of any snow or any other wather problems. Stansted wasn`t even that busy considering the fact that it was only a few days before Christmas. Our flight wasn`t even full.

We arrived in Norway to a light snow covering on the ground. Not enough to impress Norwegians but just enough for my English family to call it a white Christmas.

At one point before we left I didn`t even think I`d even have time to pack my knitting. I managed to sneak in the odd 5 mins here and there to choose yarn and wind it quickly with the last skein being wound at 4.45am on Friday morning and sneaked into my carry on case. All my knitting had to go in my carry on case which made me worried about whether or not I`d get my needles through security. I`ve never had any probems before but I`ve heard of a couple of people who`ve had their knitting confiscated lately. I did put a couple of needle tips in my suitcase, just in case. And yes, there are yarn shops in Norway so I could buy needles if I had to but I doubt any stock ChiaoGoo circulars which is all I want to knit with right now.

So let`s take a look at what I`ll be knitting this holiday. One skein I was determined to do something with was  a skein of Handmaiden SeaSilk (a sockweight silk and seacell blend) which is gorgeous. I`ve cast on for a new shawl design with an unusual construction. This is what I`ve got so far:

I had 2 different lots of Manos Silk Blend Fino lined up for shawls. In the end I only brought one lot and I`m doing something which I think will end up slightly unusual. Not sure it`ll work yet. It starts off as a crescent top down shawl with the same shaping as my Daisy shawl. I did most of this knitting on the plain and at the airport on Friday.

 I knitted a shawl earlier in the year in Wollmeisse but I wasn`t happy with it. So when it was done and blocked I ripped it all out. I changed a few things including the shape and cast on again but the yarn was all kinky and although it might have blocked out it didn`t look good. I had 2 more skeins of Wollmeisse I got in London in October so I would one of those and cast on again. I haven`t done too much yet but enough to get the pattern established. I may work on this tomorrow while we visit my sister for our Christmas celebrations. Its enough patterning to not be boring but not so much I need to refer to the pattern all the time.

 I also threw 2 little balls of Windy Walley Musk Ox Qiviuk. The colours aren`t all that accurate. The grey one is more lavender grey and the purple more purple. The blends are slightly different: the purple one is qiviut, merino and mulberry silk and the lavender grey is 50/50 qiviut and silk. Despite the different blends I`m thinking of using it for the same design. I did try to chart and plan something before we left home and frantically flicked through stitch dictionaries late on Thursday evening but didn`t come up with anything tha appealed. I do have some vague ideas so we`ll see what I come up with. I`m hoping I`ll finish one of the other designs first.

 I spun the yarn below this autumn and Emily liked it and fancied another knitted had (she has had 2 of my handspun/handknitted hats before) but its a laceweight (720m/100gr) so it's a bit fine for a hat. I may hold it double or I may do something else with it. I've not decided yet. This was the yarn I would before we left on Friday. Emily actually wants me to knit her a balaclava but I don't have any suitable yarn with me, it'll have to be very soft as she has sensitive skein. Shops now are closed till after Christmas and if I start then I'll barely have time to finish it before we leave again. Actually I probably could knock one up in a couple of days (I can knit a hat in an evening) but I don't really want to knit a balaclava. She'll have to toughen up instead.

So far we've had a very quiet holiday. Yesterday we went shopping to get one last present and a pair of jeans for Emily. Then we went for a walk in the woods near my parents home. I didn't go far as my back was really aching but Em and Simon went a bit further. Today we've mainly relaxed at home. My back is really, really bad. We all went out for a walk this morning but I didn't get far before I was in too much pain and had to turn back.

Tomorrow is Christmas Even which is when we celebrate Christmas in Norway. We're spending the evening at my sister's house. I'm looking forward to seeing my 2 young nephews again. I've not seen them for 2 years.

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and enjoy some relaxing time with family and friends.

Happy Christmas x