Marius Fingerless Mittens - Pattern release!

Remember the Marius Fingerless Mittens from a month back? Well, the pattern has now been tested, tweaked to perfection, and... uploaded!

Yes! And just in time for the holidays! 

Either knit them up and place them under the tree for a loved one, or make a kit complete with pattern, yarn and all, and give it to the knitter in your life. In my experience, this almost certainly results in YOU getting a pair of mittens some weeks or months later.

To purchase the pattern, please follow this link to Ravelry or click on the button in the sidebar.

I hope you like the pattern and I very very much look forward to see your projects. The 36 colours of Holst Tides should leave enough room for you to find the perfect combination.

Enjoy and happy knitting!

Update: And if you are on Instagram, there is a discount code that gives you 25% off (until Monday night (CET)!

Follow me on @themidnightarchitect

Waning light

It's dark outside and getting darker every day. Officially the sun will go down (and stay there for about two months) only next weekend, but our house is located in a valley with a mountain to the south, which means that the last time I saw the sun from the kitchen window was already a few weeks ago.

To counteract the darkness outside we stocked up on candles and I am trying to wrap my head around vitamin D, lumen, and where to get a daylight lamp. And, after more than two years (WTF?!), I finally got my dyepot out again. Woohoo!

This blend of 70% BFL and 30% silk seems to be one of my staple bases, I have used it a lot in the past and still like it. The colours are also very "me", I thought that since I became a bit rusty, it would be nice to start out with an easy colour combo that I knew would work.

These two came out of the same pot, but the bases are different and so are the results. The Polwarth/Tencel/Seacell blend (50/25/25) in the top picture came out much darker than the BFL/Bamboo blend (50/50) below, but I like them both. Looks a bit like burnt candy.

And, because I could not help myself, a (slightly messy) gradient. The base is 50% Shetland with 20% Silk and 20% Tencel. The wool was not entirely white, but a mixture of white and grey, toning the colours down somewhat. The silk adds a bit of shiny-ness, and white streaks come from the Tencel (a cellulose fiber that is not touched by the acid dyes).

I added the braids to my Ravelry stash and they will go up for sale soon. I also got myself an Instagram Account and a Facebook page. And, to add to the good news, it finally started snowing. Yippieh!

The Season of Metal on Ice

It seems everybody is getting snow right now. They have snow in Finland. They have snow in the south of Germany. They even have snow in the north of Germany! So when I was getting onto the plane in Oslo the other day and there was snow on the airport runway, I expected to land in Tromsø in a heap of whiteness. 

Except I didn't.

One third of November gone and no snow yet. Ok, there is snow above 300m, which is about 20 minutes up the hill, but down here at sea level? Nothing. It is cold enough, but the weather is just too good. We only have ice, and more than enough of it. It is a bit gloomy with the sun standing so low, but that makes the pictures look even more hipsteresque.

And this is the dirt road where I go running. Normally. Last time, I was glad I did not slip and fall. The sun will not reach this trail for the next four months and by now, it has a solid layer of ice on top.

Which means that from now on there is no going outside without these:

(And a safety vest, as soon as I have one.)

Tough life. And remember, it hasn't even snowed yet.