THE SKAPPEL SWEATER

So this was mainly what I was working on while we were driving from Norway to France in August for my friend's wedding. If you follow me on Instagram, you might have seen me mention it in my stories? Well ladies and gentlemen, I DID finish it on the trip, and I've been wearing it a ton ever since.

The pattern is the Skappel sweater, which became really popular in Norway a few years ago. I totally see why, it's such an easy and quick pattern to knit, and the giant oversized design is so easy to wear. Instant favorite sweater for sure!

I used Drops Alpaca wool in colorway 506 and Drops Kid-Silk in 22 Dark Grey. The color is a bit darker than what it looks like in these photos (the bottom photo is more accurate, color wise). The pattern technically calls for 7 mm needles, but I couldn't find my 7 mm needles when I started it, so I just used some 6 mm needles and adjusted the pattern instead. It's a big, slouchy design, and it's already sagged a bit with use, but I understand that is to be expected and happens when you use the original yarn as well. I've already got a few grey sweaters in my wardrobe, but they're so versatile I always have use for another one!

Sidenote: maybe I should start photographing these sweaters with me actually wearing them?

GILDED TEALIGHT HOLDERS

Guys, I am so ready for fall and for cozy nights in with warm cups of tea, blankets and candle light! I don't usually get excited about autumn, but I think the fact that our summer has been so fantastic this year has really helped. I struggle to get excited about autumn when it sometimes feels like it starts in June haha.

I have a tendancy to turn into a bit of a candle addict though, and easily go through one of those 100-packs of tealights from IKEA during the autumn and winter months, so I decided to make a couple of tealight holders. I also had some gold leaf lying around in my craft supplies closet that I'd bought by mistake earlier (I thought it was just shiny paper, it just said "metal sheet" on it haha), so wanted to play around with that. They ended up being a little more rustic looking than I had in mind, but I love the golden glow they add, and how they reflect and kinda bounce around the light. Cozy autumn vibes—check!

To make them, I used some old candle holders from IKEA, some gold leaf from Søstrene Grene, and some glue I found in my stash (I don't really think I used the right glue, which probably contributed to the results haha). Gold leaf isn't the easiest to work with, but i'm still encouraged to try other projects with it. I've also been thinking about making something out of clay, and I reckon some gold leafing might look nice with that?

SIX CHILDREN'S BOOK FAVORITES

Oscar absolutely loves books and has from a very young age. We read several books every day, a couple at bedtime, a couple while he sits on the toilet (he often declares he needs to use the toilet by coming up and asking for a "book and poop" hahah), and whenever else he feels like it. Snuggling up in an armchair with Oscar on my lap and reading him a book is one of my favorite things (though seeing him read books for his toy fox or for the dog come pretty close too!). His interests and preferences are always changing, but here's a couple of books we've been enjoying lately:

Extra Yarn by Mac Barnett
Other than the beautiful illustrations, this book has such a beautiful story too. It's about a girl who knits (yeees!), and even though people keep telling her she can't do things she still does them.

Spot A Lot Vehicle Adventure by Steve Smallman
Oscar loves cars and animals, so this book was a hit from the get go. The first (100) times we read it, Oscar would exclaim "WOW!" every time we flipped the page.

The Wolf, The Duck, The Mouse by Mac Barnett
Great story, and Oscar loves dancing when the duck and the mouse have a dance party. And at the end of the book, we all like to howl along with the wolf.

The Grufallo by Julia Donaldson
A classic, but clearly for a reason! Oscar loves the Gruffalo, or as he says it, "Gullaloo", and it's been on repeat around our house for a while now. He's also got a Gruffalo hand puppet, which he loves giving big hugs to.

I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
I actually bought this book years ago, way before we even started thinking about having a kid, and it cracks me up. Oscar loves it too, and gets really into it when the bear realizes where his hat has gone.

The Storm Whale by Benji Davies
This book was gifted to us, and it's been a favorite from the start! Oscar loves counting the cats, and on every page he asks where the whale is. We've read this book to him a lot, and one of his early words was actually "whale" one night after we'd finished the book and he pointed to the stuffed whale I'd made him. Yeah, my crafting mamma heart just about burst!

THE NO FRILLS SWEATER

You guys, it's finally done! And I know what you're thinking, it's about damn time. Haha! To be fair, I started it a while ago, I just lost momentum somewhere in March, and then we basically traveled all of April. I finally picked it up again in May, but wouldn't you know? I ran out of yarn. Classic. I only had a sleeve and a half left, so undoing it and knitting something else didn't really seem like an option. Naturally, the specific colorway I used has been out of production for a while, but I finally managed to track some down from an online store in Denmark. I'm a little embarrassed at how much I had to pay for postage though (especially since it's from Denmark which is essentially just a hop and a skip away!). So yes, I've finally finished my cozy, woolly sweater, and it's the middle of summer. Good thing I live in Norway where you never really know when you'll need a cozy, woolly sweater.

Anyway, troubles aside, it's done! It's normally knit with two threads, but as I decided to use leftover yarn I decided to just knit with one thread and adjust the needle size accordingly. The yarn I used was Du Store Alpakka's Baby Silk in 318 Teal, which I bought years and years ago. If you're a long time reader, you might remember this? I originally bought the yarn for a cardigan pattern, which I ended up abandoning all together. When I finally picked it up this year to finish it off, I decided it wasn't really something I'd want to wear now, so I unraveled the whole thing and started this sweater instead. And here we are!

This is seriously such a lovely sweater though, and I'd love to knit another one in a light tweedy yarn. It's a fairly basic pattern, where the only slightly complicated part is the neckline, but once you get the hang of it it's fine. And it's a top-down pattern, which means it's really easy to try it on as you go so you get an idea of what it's gonna be like. I already know I'm going to get plenty of use out of this one!

CURRENTLY IN AUGUST

driving to France! Some friends of ours are getting married in a castle in the north of France, so Graeme and I saw this as a good excuse for another road trip. We're taking the ferry over to Denmark and then driving through Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium before arriving at our destination. It's gonna be a long drive but I'm excited!

making s'mores in the firepit in the garden!

celebrating 3 years of marriage this month. :)

sleeping with no covers and all our windows open in these warm summer nights.

watching Who is America?

planning on doing a little refresh in our upstairs bathroom, and eyeing up this bathmat.

appreciating this crazy summer weather we've had, but also starting to look forward to fall. I recently did a big online shop and stocked up on cardigans--I'm ready!

photo from our last road trip through Europe