My daughter needed a hat, something warm and cozy.   I finished it this morning and she was so excited and couldn’t wait to wear it, and so she did……….even though it were around 60 degrees here in New York.

Miss Sourpuss is  knit from the top down and the construction of this hat is very simple.  I made it extra roomie because she has a lot of hair and she likes to wear headbands that have big flowers and bows and fluffy things on them…..has to be room for all that…

I used létt lopi (lopi light) for the hat and for the face and ears I used Kambgarn that I happened to have.

This is the blue sky alpaca silk I started a while ago. It is so nice to knit with, soft and smooth. Every time I pick it up I want to rub it against my cheeks and pad it!:)

I love how the cables and lace turned out together, and the color……….edible!

Talking about eating, I got an idea the other day. My kids love Mexican food, and they enjoy a pizza every now and then. So, I figured, how about mixing those two and make a taco pizza, or as my kids now call it: a paco:

Pizza sauce, ground beef seasoned with taco seasoning, cilantro instead of basil, cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella and sour cream on the side. It was pretty darn good!

Last year Kristin and Rod invited me to join their Hyrna Herborgar knitalong.  I jumped on board and was very excited to begin.

It was quite a journey, filled with ripping and re-knitting.  My first attempt ended when I realized I wouldn’t have enough yarn.  So with brand new yarn I began once again, but the pattern can be quite confusing at times so again some ripping.

It wasn’t all fun and games (and turned into a knit alone rather than a knit-along since they finished theirs long before me!).  But I must say: all’s well that ends well!  I am very happy with the results and so glad I kept going and finished this piece!

The yarn I used is Unspsun Icelandic (plötulopi), held with a sequins string-along.  It turned out beautifully.  I finished knitting yesterday and blocked it right away, only took an hour or so to dry.  Today I put the ends away and snapped some photos.  And then, to celebrate, I made pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese pumpkin icing:

It was delicious!

Every year before my birthday I think to myself:  ”Really?  Can´t I live another year without actually getting older??  Can´t I just stay at this age for the rest of my life??!!”

Then I wake up on December 30th and….I feel great!  And I think to myself:  ” This wasn´t bad at all!  If only I could stay at this age for ever, that would be perfect!”

I wonder if every year is going to be like that, or if one day I will feel different and wish to be a year (or 1o) younger……

I had a wonderful day with my kids, they took me out for breakfast at a place that makes my favorite chai tea.  We stayed out most part of the day.

My husband brought home dinner and they surprised me with a cake and a gift bag full of presents (included was a gift card for my brand new nook………I cannot wait to buy my first book:) ).

As alway, my favorites are the cards my kids make me:

I have been knitting, I have 18 more rows left before  I´m done with this piece:

The plan is to finish before 2011 is over, and then block it on the first of the new year.  I have 24 hours and 20 minutes, I better get cracking…….Racing against time as so often before…..

We went to one of my favorite places:

There’s a secret garden with a maze:

A tree tunnel:

A magical place:

We were cold in the end

So we went home and had some hot chocolate:

with whipped cream, crushed peppermint candy canes and (just in case I burned too many calories during our walk) loads of marshmallows:)

The rules for the Versatile Blog Awards are:

• Nominate 15 fellow bloggers.
• Inform the bloggers of their nomination.
• Share 7 random things about yourself.
• Thank the blogger who nominated you.
• Add the Versatile Blog Award picture on your blog post.

I am having a hard time nominating 15, simply because I don’t read that many blogs, this makes me feel like a lousy blogger…..but the truth is, I don’t have time to do all the things I would like to, reading many blogs is one of those.

Here is a list of the 14 blogs I read and am nominating:

Kristin is a Icelandic knitter and crafter, she makes beautiful things and is venturing into offering her own knitting patterns……..exciting!

Rodprjonar Rod is from Chile, he lives in Iceland and knit gorgeous things and takes beautiful pictures…….looking at them often makes me want to go home!

100% rain  a knitwear designer from Finland, makes some interesting and fun knits.

Not without Salt a beautiful blog with gorgeous pictures and mouth-watering recipes.

Orangett another beautiful blog, about food and life.

BabyCocktails a knitwear designer who has a lot to say and posts often, FUN:)

Na vlne  a fellow knitter, she makes gorgeous things.

50 villapeikkoa some beautiful knits by this designer.

woolly wormhead knits up fun hats.

in my mother’s name here’s another knitwear designer with a lot of beautiful patterns.

Robin Ulrich Studio yet another knit designer with pretty pictures.

Helene Magnusson a french native and very busy and creative icelandic knitter.

Susan B. Anderson a designer who always has something on her needles.

Canaryknits a knitwear designer who profiles other indie designers.

7 random things about me:

- I love the cold weather.

- After almost 10 years in NYC, I have stopped wishing for snow on Christmas.

- Now I just hope the sun won’t be beaming through my windows during the holidays.

- I have occasional impulse desires to have a 4th child.

- I love to travel and want to take my kids around the world.

- I am starving to death but I don’t feel like eating anything right now.

- I love shoes (so typical, I know, but……..who cares, I don’t need to be different!);)

Now, off I go to let those bloggers know that I have nominated them………hoping they will appreciate it and not get annoyed….(”heard” someone say that not everybody likes these sort of things…….I cannot see why, I think it’s nice to be thought about)

I am totally into sparkling silver this Christmas.  I went for a walk with my kids last weekend and my daughter found some branches.  Then we headed to the store for some spray paint.

I first sprayed it with silver, let it dry for a few and then gave it a coat or two (or three) of sparkles (I love sparkles).  I found a flower vase buried in one of the cabinets, gave it a couple of coats of some sparkles as well and…….

…..wrapped a ribbon around it (I love Christmas ribbons).

My parents gave me this beautiful fabric for Holliday curtains:

The sewing job is very plain, nothing fancy or complicated going on there.  But to give a little more flair I glued pine cones and bells onto an old fashioned wooden clothing pin and attached it to the bottom of the curtains.   I like it.

I gave the pine cones the same treatment as the branches, some silver and sparkles (thought they don’t show well on this photo).

We put up the tree as planned last Monday.  My little guy loved doing his share, he did a great job:

I love how all little kids I have known always find a couple of branches and hang everything they can find on  just those (I always leave it just like that).

I have been knitting my days away, but have nothing to show right now………it’s getting there though!

The plan is to wait till after the weekend to put our christmas decorations up so we can all do it together.   But after putting this wreath together today………well it was just too tempting so I flung it on our bedroom door.  It’s just ONE thing, and it’s so adorable and perfect and…..adorable.

I love lights during the winter months, be it candle lights or soft electric lights that give a warm and cozy light.  I have this one in the stairway:

I keep it on every night now that it’s gotten darker out at night.  Though it is not a christmas light, it does put me in the mood…….christmas mood that is;)

And, here’s what I’ve been knitting lately:

Perfect fall colors!

And my beautiful ”baby” boy:

I’m gonna go give him a squeeze and then get some more knitting done….

I love the colors she picked!   (The red totally matches her hair;)  )

Thanks for the help, it looks great  on you!:)  Lovsja