Hip Hip Hooray for the seventeenth of May!

The newest member of our households greets everyone on Norway's independence day.

Eddie stands at attention, saluting the Norwegian flag.

Eddie fresh from his bath, relaxes for a little while in his bed.

Posing in front of one of Norway's longest waterfalls. 

Done!

Believe it or not, but I - the queen of unfinished knitting projects - have actually managed to finish knitting a small rug!

Hah! I have to say I'm a little impressed with myself. Typically, I knit like crazy for two or three days, before I run out of steam and the whole thing ends up in a bag, which I eventually hide at the back of a closet. I've probably got almost twenty unfinished sweaters lying around. Some of them were started at the time when mohair was in vogue, and that says a lot.

Strange really, because when I was in high school I used to knit up a storm. In every class, I sat there clicking away with my knitting needles. I must have produced at least two sweaters a month in those days but the knitting spark seems to have gone out of me since then.

However, this time I was actually able to make it to the finishing line. It was the combination of an ultra-simple pattern and thick needles, I think. It was quick and easy, and my inspiration grew with the rug. It was nice to have on my lap while I was knitting too, and now it has become my favourite among the rugs in the living room.

I am so envious of people who can knit big, complicated things, like this tablecloth for example. A friend of mine made that one. She knits like lightning, and is intimidated neither by thin knitting needles nor fine yarn. The tablecloth is strictly for decoration, and is quickly hidden away if we have people in for coffee, because I am terrified of washing it. What if it goes all wonky and I can’t get it back in its shape again. There is probably a trick for that sort of thing, but I don’t know of any. Basically, me and knitting yarn are not the best of friends.

Wood, however, is more my cup of tea. The mahogany candlestick holder you can see in the foreground is my work, and I'm quite happy with it. In the basement, I have lots of equipment for woodturning, but my lathe has not been set up yet. When I finally get that done, I'm sure I’ll spend many pleasant hours there. Working with wood is great fun, perhaps because it takes so little time before you see a result.

I wonder if I should try to knit a cushion to go with the rug. Here, I have tried to match it with a fur cushion, but that doesn’t look quite right. However the furry cushion is just so nice to rest one’s head on. When we have visitors, it happens quite often that people just sit with it on their lap and cuddle it, like a cat.

It seems the rug matches the usual sofa cushion better, but I have plans to replace that soon, as I have got hold of a few pieces of beautiful summery fabric, from which I intend to make new cushion covers. If I manage to get the sewing machine to work, that is….