University life is already at full speed. At least we're doing something I really enjoy - investigative journalism. Currently, me and Anna are digging out all sorts of fact about a man with power. Me, Moa and Helen are trying to shed some light on a matter which I have personal experience with. It'll be interesting to see what comes out of it all.

I've finished this knitted top tonight. It was meant for summer but I'll wear it when the sun comes out - and next year.

Cina opened her yarn store today - congratulations! It looks really good & I'm sure I will pass lots of time in there trying to avoid spending too much on yarn.

I've started on a pair of mittens - they're knit in thick, wool yarn and the needles are 8 and 9 mm's in bamboo. I love the sound they make when they click together, it's very relaxing.


Anna, Sus, Ida and Jess came by for a fika at my place in the afternoon. We all concluded that the best thing with being back in Sundsvall is each other's company.

Everything is starting all over again. My friends are returning to Sundsvall & today I met Sus in the staircase of our building. On Thursday I have a date with Anna & we have a lot of catching up to do - despite our hour-long conversation on the phone this afternoon.

Late summer & early autumn is my favorite time of the year. It gives me a sense of freshness and the feeling that I have the chance to do it all right this time.

It also gives me inspiration to re-decorate my apartment, get a new hairstyle and buy new clothes - or, as of lately, buy the yarn to knit new clothes - all at once. Maybe getting nicer (as in, too expensive) food will get me started on cooking again?

At the grocery store, someone had taken a bite from probably half of the plums in the box and then put them back with the bite mark facing down, so that noone would notice. That's an idea on how to get free food.

I've started on a new sweater. Most of my knitting readers have already seen it, but I can at least proudly announce that I got past the hard part and as of tonight I've done 17 cms on the second sleeve.

I had a good time at Björn's barbecue last night. The sun even came out right at the time we started. I've found a fellow genealogic researcher - Jonas (in the red t-shirt) shares my hobby.


I also celebrated my cardigan being finished! (Although I need to do some adjustments as I crocheted too many stitches around the right front piece - that's why it's slightly longer - but that won't take long.)


After dinner we went to Godislandet for ice-cream - I had one After Eight and one cappuccino flavored - yum!

While watching the movie "Kiss kiss bang bang" at Anna's place, I was knitting on my new project - a white, cotton top. I'm thinking it will be great for summer days that are slightly chilly.


Trisse says hello to everyone - although right now he's out enjoying the summer weather, which I'll do in a few minutes, too.

My cardigan is almost done, yay! I only need to tie in the loose ends & sew in buttons.

I'm quite happy for my first attempt at a full size cardigan. Some mistakes of course but that was to be expected when still learning. (The big white stain is only in the picture.)

This day led me to a historical building outside of Valbo. Yesterday I did an interview with a guy in Sandviken. In order to check for misunderstandings, today I read the article to him over the phone while he was just about to go off the ferry to Visby. This afternoon I curled up in the sofa to read a children's book about the Gävle fire in 1869. (I won't tell more about the articles I'm writing before they've been published. Just in case anyone was wondering.)

My big excitement right now is that I'm soon finished with my sweater - likely this week, if the cat will let me. Although tonight I decided to go for a bikeride since we had sunshine and reasonably warm temperatures. Right now I'm looking for a new pattern to start working on. I find a million different sock patterns which I can't start since I want a project that's portable & doesn't make sounds. I also find about a thousand sweater patterns for 8 mm needles - lovely but way too big to bring along. Where's the neverending 2.5 mm projects when you need them?

Other good news for further in the future is that Björn invited me for a barbecue on Saturday night. Next weekend my friend Hedvig from Östersund will visit me - yay!

For the first time in years, tonight I've played the piano. Mostly children's songs like "När lillan kom till jorden" and "Sov du lilla videung" and with only one hand - since I never actually learned to play before. My main source of experience is my grandmother's piano which she patiently let me practice on when I was around 15 years old. Since there's a piano in the house I might just get back to teaching myself - luckily, my only audience for tonight was a cockroach (? it's icky and big anyway) in the window.

This is what I spotted on my way from work:

Sara, Susanna, Saartje, Sebastian (yeah, lots of names starting with S) and Christian and me went for a fika at Coffee House today. After eating & drinking I was teaching Saartje how to knit & I must say she learned quickly.


Then we had the usual discussion about Swedish drinking habits and alcohol laws. The two guys from Germany, Christian and Sebastian were surprised that it's illegal here to drink in the street. Christian said that it explained the weird looks he got when drinking a beer openly. Sebastian concluded that the two discussion topics he always comes back to here in Sweden is alcohol and dubbed movies.

Now I'm off to Gävle for at least one more week, probably five. I'm not sure if I'm coming back to Sundsvall before I've finished working - I have all I need there now.

Work was quite busy today as I did one interview and wrote two portraits. I'm having a very good time though and I'm feeling more confident now than on my first day. Tomorrow will be my last introduction day - on Friday they've asked me to work as a news reporter. Monday I'll be on my own - with a bit of help still available of course - and probably on my way to Tierp with a camera. I'm definitely up for taking pictures if needed.

My cardigan is going well and I'm 1/3 done already with the right front piece. I've realized that knitting where others can see you is quite an icebreaker. From my previous experience I've also learned that crocheting on the subway will always, with some exceptions, lead to that strangers will start a conversation with you - yes, even in Sweden.

Today I got my first comments on this blog, yay!

The Italian coffee place Delicerano got two visits from me today. In the afternoon I met up with Andres, who is helping me plan the Midsummer party for the exchange students who are still in town.

Later on I joined the girls of Mittmaskan for an evening of knitting. I've happily realized there is so much more left for me to learn about knitting than I had imagined. One of the girls even told me about a course that will take place in autumn (?), where you get to color yarn with the help of mushrooms. Somehow I think you can never know everything about handicraft. What I do know now, is that it's indeed much nicer to knit in the company of other knitters.


Now I'm going to watch the Sweden-Russia soccer game and keep knitting on my sleeve. Since I'm already on my 7th skein of yarn I'm beginning to believe my 3oo sek budget will break. On the other hand, if you knit a cardigan yourself, you will still keep the yarn even if you don't like the knit item any longer. (Sorry about the blurry image, but that's what you get when going to a coffee place twice in a row.)