Knitters have balls...

...and so do I :) Remember that cross stitched card with a teddy and a pink blanket I stitched for a little baby daughter of my colleague? I blogged about it HERE. Well, I decided to knit some julekuler in a baby version to complete the hand-made gift :) Last year I spent long months knitting all those 55 Scandinavian balls by Arne & Carlos. Then I had a knitting break until now (except knitting the Easter eggs). I missed my knitted balls on double pointed needles. I thought knitting a girly pink-n-white version could be as much exciting as knitting in red-n-white. I chose motifs that could easily go as kiddy ones too - a butterfly, a heart and a rocking horse. 

I thoroughly enjoyed myself knitting these. The gift was well received and I was pleased to be able to make one :) Would love to knit some more, perhaps in blue, yellow and beige/coffee shades :)

Thank you for your visits and the lovely comments you leave behind x x x

Nordic Julekuler: 54, 55/55. Grande finale with the Christmas tree

Yes, I've finally reached the end of my knitted balls marathon. Here are my last two knitted balls closing off the project of all 55 knitted balls designed by Arne and Carlos from Scandinavia.

The first ball shows a reindeer pulling the sleigh. The pattern spreads over two walls.

("Christmas Run" 54/55)

 ("Christmas Run" 54/55)

The second ball features a witch/troll . 

 

(The Thirteenth Day Kari)

In the Scandinavian culture 13th Day Kari is a creature - a witch or a troll - who can't join the Christian society and comes out only once a year on the 13th day after Christmas. They are let to make a run through the snowy town. It is unusual to have this motif on a Christmas ball but looks like witches, fairies and trolls are a big part of Nordic culture. In old vintage Scandinavian Easter cards you can sometimes see a witch giving presents to children.

And the both balls together.

Now, time to show what my Christmas tree looked like decorated with all those balls :) Watch out - lotsa pictures! :) My aim was to achieve a Nordic look in my Christmas decorations. There are mostly red n white balls, with some black and white and a few coloured ones.

I'm telling you - those balls need a proper solid Christmas tree with branches pointing upwards as the balls weigh them down. They are cosy, soft and spongy to the touch and the knitted texture of wool reminds me of Norwegian sweaters. 

                   

Well, I've made so many that some of my knitted balls ended up on a platter as a decoration :)

I thoroughly enjoyed knitting those balls, every single one. That's why I've eventually made more than 55. How many exactly - I don't remember right now. I'll be able to tell you when my decs will come down and I'll put them side by side and count :) I want to take a group picture of them all. 

Is it the end of knitting balls? No! ;) Arne and Carlos supplied us with a book with  Easter versions of  balls so now I've moved on to colourwork knitting. I will also be knitting comissioned balls as quite a few people asked me for gift swaps.

Tonight, I'm joining Hand-made Monday 98 (what a great number now!) and I'm looking forward to blog hopping to see some lovely creations from around the Christmas time.

St Lucia Day. Nordic Julekuler 51, 52, 53/55.

Hi all! 

So, the day has finally come - St Lucia Day. I'm a great lover of Nordic art and culture and basically all things Scandinavian so I just couldn't miss an opportunity to celebrate St Lucia Day (first time this year!) when Heather came up with this lovely idea of organizing St Lucia Blog Procession. Such fun to prepare for and a great opportunity to share your Scandi-interests with others. Thanks Heather! 

On this special occasion I decided to bake something Scandinavian and it was well obvious it would "Lussekatter" buns. My first try at Scandinavian baking and first baking experience with saffron and cardamon. I used a recipe from the "Scandilicious" book. With the proportions suggested in the recipe, the buns came out very spicy but spicy in a different way than gingerbread normally is as no ginger or cinnamon here. The freshly ground cardamon mixed with saffron gives a powerful bursting flavour to the buns and at first I found it a bit overpowering. 

Then I tried the buns with a bit of butter and some spiced orange jam on top, accompanied by a cup of milky coffee - nice! 

My another make for St Lucia Day are the next 3 knitted balls (by the book of Arne & Carlos - Scandinavian knitwear designers) I rushed to knit those quickly as their motifs fit perfectly into today's theme - "light". Each ball has been given its name by the authors. There is an angel with a candle, a girl with a lamp  (perhaps St Lucia herself ;P) and "the light of the three holy kings" - referring to Epiphany. (Sorry for the quality of the photos - taken when dark outside and so hard to make a good photo in an artificial light. Hoping to change these pics over the weekend for some better ones)

 ("Angel with Candle 51/55)

 ("Christmas Light" 52/55)

("Light of the Three Holy Kings" 53/55)

I even started making St Lucia Christmas cards for today but unfortunately in this pre-Christmas rush I didn't manage to embrace all of it. Perhaps I'll finish them over the weekend and add the photos later on :)

I've been fascinated with the Scandinavian culture for well over 2 years now and I love to celebrate it in various forms of craft - I (cross) stitch, I knit, I paint glass and make cards in Nordic style. It just give me immense pleasure to translate the Nordic theme into many pretty things :)

Now looking back, time to sum things up and here is an overview of the Scandinavian-themed things I created in the past:

 (Some of) My cards:

My cross stitch projects:

(currently being stitched)

My knitting: Julekuler 

(in Norwegian: Christmas balls)

My glass painting:

Pretty much, huh? ;) Hope you enjoyed looking :)

Now, since it's well past midnight in the UK and it's a long day ahead I'm off to bed. I shall be visiting your lovely blogs and leaving comments tomorrow, or I should rather say... tonight. Stay "Scandi-tuned" and thanks for visiting my blog.

God Jul everyone!