Nunoya

No words. Just photos of this incredible fabric shop. Hidden in between the small streets near the cathedral. Filled with fabric treasures that got my wallet down on its knees begging for mercy.

No mercy were given.

Fabrics were bought. A promice was uttered.

- I’ll be back.

Llanarium

Did you visit Alicia’s blog? Well today, I’ll share some pictures of Llanarium the yarn shop she took me to. If you are planning to visit Barcelona in the near future, I recommend a visit to this cosy little yarn shop in the middle of Barcelona’s huff and buzz’ - OK so I just invented those words, but you know what I mean, right?

Right next to Placa Catalunya in a narrow side street, you find Llanarium and its very sweet owner Laia (which is expecting her first baby). This is where Alicia took me after our initial “hellos”, and “how fun to finally meet you”! And I loved it.

There I also discovered that as much as this blog world is big, it is also small. It turns out that some of the other knitter aficionados in the shop had read the (then) most current post about my visit to Pickles (without knowing it was my blog). When they saw me walking in with the Pickles bag they were a bit surprised and began explaining how they had just read about that shop in a blog… When showing us which blog they had seen it in, it turned out…It was Life in Yonder. Life’s coincidences.

While they talked about the yarn, I took pictures and looked at all the yarn- wonder in Llanarium.

At Llanarium I also met Esther who was knitting herself a featherweight cardigan with Schachenmayr select yarn. I have read a lot about featherweight cardigan when it was a big hit on Ravelry, but never seen one in real life. Now I understand its popularity. I love the shape of it. It is a perfect summer cardigan. In fact, I loved Esther’s version of it so much that I bought the same yarn to knit one. You can see her finished cardigan on Ravelry.

The photos I took does not give this shop or the nice people in it justice, but if you have time, look at this short video presentation of the shop that captures the feeling you get inside. A warm welcoming knit place. When you do so, take a notice of the man with the spectacles. His name in Josep Mestres and he is a crochet master. He makes the most elegant and feminine crocheted designs I have ever seen. Oh, if only I had Audrey Hepburn’s body…

Have a nice week end! I'm going to use the week end to read about the knitters get together at the wool factory in Sjølingstad. One day I'll go there too. I hope.

New knitting bag and new friends

Did I show you my knew knitting bag? No, I didn’t did I. Well here it is. Besides being made with gorgeous fabrics bought at my favourite fabric store in Barcelona (I’ll tell you about the fabric store in a later blog post), what makes it special is that it was a gift from my new friend Alicia behind the blog Ganxetades. She’s a blog friend that I met this summer while visiting BCN. This is the second time I meet someone in real life that I have first known through Blogland. And I must say, I feel lucky to get to know so lovely people through this place.

Did you see the beautiful detail on the shoulder strap? I love details like that. Small quirky details on simple designs.

We spent an afternoon together in Barcelona where she showed me a beautiful yarn shop, introduced me to more nice Spanish knitters and took me to my dream fabric store.

Now go and take a look at all the beautiful things she makes. After that come back in a day or two to see the beautiful yarn shop she showed me.

Have a nice week!

Good bye summer, hello fall

Welcome back back after a long summer break and renewal of energy. Since last, I’ve knitted (of course), bathed, eaten ice cream, spent time with old friends, met new friends, had a few GT’s, enjoyed the sun and turned 40. Yes, I am finally 40! And so far it is working out fine.

My once a upon gospel choir- and high school friend Anja gave me this beautiful lithography for my birthday. She is a talented, beautiful, generous and inspiring soul. Not afraid to live life and not afraid to be who she is …or perhaps her true bravery, is to be who you are despite of being afraid. Well, that’s her.

If you live near the Oslo area, I recommend visiting the art gallery she founded in 2008 “Pikene ved broen”, to see some of the beautiful art she makes and the beautiful work by other talented artists.

Before I begin to share my knits and photos with you this fall I would just like to say welcome back and “Drink your tea with tenderness”.

Summer time

It´s summer time and vacation time. The blog is also taking a vacation while I will be busy doing as little as possible, enjoying time with my family and friends. Looking forward to see you again in September.

Until then, enjoy these photos from our visit to the west coast.

I wish each and every one of you a good summer!

Guess where I have been?

I finally made it. I finally made it to this candy shop for knitting folks, the Pickles shop. And with that, my “knitting only from my stash” attempt has had a little set back. However, the only one who knows this is me… and you.

I could have spent a lot more time and money than I did. Fortunately or misfortunately depending on how you see it, I had to be quick about my visit, since mr. Yonder and gang were waiting for me outside the shop.

After considering different projects and type of yarns and colours (there are so many beautiful colours), I ended up with several skeins of Pickle Angora. I think I will knit it into something for me. If I do, it will be my second ego knit in less than a year.

What’s on your needles? Do you drop knitting completely because of sunny days and warmer temperatures? Do you have other activities you prefer in summertime? Or have you begun preparing the wardrobe for fall and winter?

Happy Easter

We are enjoying the last day of this year’s Easter holiday. For once, after we had children, we were supposed to spend Easter in a cabin I can rent through my work place. But, yours truly managed to reserve the cabin for the wrong weekend! Can you imagine the joy and laughter when I told the other three family members that we were not going to a cabin after all (well it’s more like the other two, because Andreas didn’t understand much of it). Well try… Not fun.

Fortunately, city Easter has not been bad at all. The city is never as quiet and calm as during Easter and the sun has blessed us with its warm rays every day. We have gone for long walks, worked in the garden, read books, listened to Easter radio shows (“Påskelabyrinten” and “Radioteaterets Påskekrim”), played games and had Easter dinner with good neighbours. Oh, and of course, the Easter bunny came with Easter eggs filled with chocolate and candy (how could I forget to mention that).

If you would like to see more photos from our Easter, visit me on Instagram #lifeinyonder. I finally made the Insta leap. I don’t now how I didn’t do this sooner? I love photos. Of course I should have joined Insta sooner. Anyhow better late than never.

How was your Easter week? Were you in the city, in the mountain or by the coast? What makes it Easter for you?

Tea & Silence

Finally Friday again! Although I should not complain. I have worked from home today, which means I can enjoy one of my favourite teas while I read, and write and re-write until the documents I am working on are as I think they ought to be.

I am enjoying the silence and the sunlight. The ticking from the wall hanging kitchen clock. The birch outside my kitchen window, which is full of buds ready to burst into green leaves. I am longing for spring.

Happy Friday to you too!

And the winner is...

…drumroll please…




And while you drumroll in front of your screen I’ll tell you how I did the draw… I made a list where everyone’s comment were given a number, and then depending on how many tickets each of you opted for you received an additional number(s). I used the random number generator to make the draw.

The first number I drew was actually one that belonged to my own comment, so I had to push the “Generate” button again, and viola, number 48 turned up.

The lucky winner is Kirsti over at «Lykkeplagg», who sews and knits the most beautiful baby garments (in case you are still drum rolling; you can let your fingers rest now).

I also want to give an extra thank you to all of you who signed up for three Valentine-tickets, Thank you for the link love! Please send me your contact information (slow mail) so I can send you two leather tags in your chosen colour and font (and you can choose more than one colour if you like).

Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to participate in the giveaway!

Pst pst… don’t miss Spits bright, yellow and beautiful yarn giveaway

Lucky me

Look at the beautiful yarn I received in my mailbox a couple of days ago! In the end of January, Anne over at “Frøken Fargerik” (Mrs. Colourful) celebrated one year of blogging and had a secret surprise giveaway. I didn’t win the first price, but I won the consolation price.

I received three skeins of Iris Alpakka from Rauma and one skein of Abuelita Three Ply merino wool (*love*). Aren’t they beautiful! She must know me because I absolutely love the colours of the yarn she sent me. I also received lovely tea. Some I have already taken with me to work and a few tea bags I kept at home for knitting moments like now.

The Iris alpaca is different from other alpaca yarns I have knitted with before; it reminds me of mohair yarn in texture. I haven’t knitted with flurry yarn in a while, but I have seen other knitters combine flurry yarn with non-flurry wool. Perhaps I could combine it with grey merino wool. What do you think? If you have any experience with this or suggestions, I would be very grateful.

Talking about give away; If you liked the leather tag hat, don’t miss the giveaway I have that lasts until Sunday! :-)

Valentine Giveaway!

Happy Valentine’s Day dear blog friends! And thank you for being blog friends, readers and contributors to my creative space. Thank you for opening my creative mind by sharing your knitting, sewing, stitching, crocheting, drawing or photography projects. On this day of hearts, I want to give something back. That is why today is Valentine giveaway!

One winner will get six leather tags with their chosen initials. The winner can choose between four different leather colours - dusty pink, red, blue or yellow ochre. To enter the giveaway you need to get a Valentine ticket. You can boost your chances to win the leather tags by getting more than one ticket. Here is how:

Valentine ticket 1: Leave a comment and tell us what project you have in mind for one of the leather tags and which font you would like for your initials.

Valentine ticket 2: Follow this blog and come back to tell how you do so (Bloglovin, Google friends, e-mail etc.). If you already are a follower, tell us how and what you enjoy most about Life in Yonder.

Valentine ticket 3: Share the love and mention the giveaway on your blog with a link to this post. Come back and let me know you did.

Remember to tell me how many tickets you want. I will draw a winner on
Sunday the 23rd of February

Happy Valentine's day & good luck!

Here I Knit...

…and many other places as well of course. Knitting is what makes time fly while traveling. It is what keeps my blood pressure at healthy levels while I am waiting in lines at airports or when there is a delay. I am not a knit walker yet but definitely a knit stander. I can stand and knit just about anywhere. I knit on the metro (T-banen) on my way to work and I knit on the playground while the children are absorbed by their own play and of course in the car when mr. Yonder drives (but then I sit).

This however is my favourite knitting nook at home.

My knitting sofa spot has good light for those dark Norwegian afternoons during fall and winter. I have a table to rest my feet on and to put my -must have certain things close by - like the iphone, mini-ipad (in case I need to take a quick look in Ravelry), knitting tools and the essential cup of tea.

One of the things I miss from before having children is reading books (actual paper books). To mend the gap between what I love to do and the time I have available, I listen to audiobooks while knitting. Right now, I am listening to the Cukoo’s calling by Robert Calbrath.

At my left (while sitting in the sofa), I have a black bag with all the current knitting projects and yarns, and like any other respectable knitter I have several other yarn stashes placed strategically around the house. Some yarn stash is in our living room upstairs and the rest of the yarn is in baskets in our living room downstairs. In case you wonder, we have an ongoing forever-lasting argument in this house hold on how much space I am supposed to have dedicated to yarn.

If you would like to see more knitting nooks or would like to share your own, visit Monstermønster. She initiated a “I knit here” roundabout, after reading about Sigrid’s knitting place.