Six months in our new home, three months since my last update. We have slowed down, in many ways. Slowed down to continue finding our feet at our own, comfortable pace, but also because we've had to. Swedish winter will do that to you! The bureacratic palaver continues to grind its excrutiatingly slow path too, but I think we're nearly there. 

So. Swedish winter. 

LIFESTYLE
Wintry. Dark. Not as dark as in most of Sweden, of course (we are right in the south, on about the same latitude as Edinburgh). But still unbelievable dreary for much of it. Around the 21st of December, that most dismal of days, the light was creeping into view at around 9:30AM and disappearing again by 2:30PM. We started to feel like moles, fuzzy during the day but unable to sleep soundly at night.
January, then, was a godsend. As I've written about already, it was cold. Really, properly cold. With about 10 cm of snow (bucket loads more up north, apparently) and crisp blue skies.

We did the Swedish thing: wrap up, buy a sled, hurtle down the only hill in 20 square miles (Sweden is quite flat). Next year we will do even better, and bring a winter barbeque, thermosses full of coffee and winter picnic blankets. Seriously, they do that, and the sausages smell amazing. 
And February? Well. We've tried to head out whenever possible, through breaks in the drizzle and sick bugs. 

THE BEAN
Somebody turned three! He is doing so well, I'm pleased to say. Volatile, stubborn and cheeky, as freshly-minted three-year-olds are wont to be, but also carefree, happy and really funny.

He has finally started to settle into preschool properly and comes home talking about his new best friend (a different one every month!). According to the teachers he understands Swedish very well now, though he's still reluctant to speak it. Not at home though: he takes great delight in teaching me all the words he knows in the most patronising manner, because he knows I have no idea what he's talking about. Like I said, cheeky. 

HOME
My little sanctuary, which is just as well because as a work-from-home mum I spend 90% of my time in it! A slightly impersonal rental it will always be, but we all feel at home and I can work comfortably when I need to. Four boxes left to unpack, which is clear progress on the seven from the last update. A few more flowers and indoor plant friends, to help us while away the time until the outdoors wakes up again. 

WORK
As of 1st January I officially landed in Sweden, in that I kissed the Italian tax authorities goodbye with a flounce and a wave. Starting again here - getting residency, access to social services, registering as self-employed, opening a bank account - has taken WAY longer than we expected it would. I've lost count of the number of circles I've been sent in, and at one point I even started to miss the Italian's cavalier attitude to rules; when everyone knows they don't work, everyone tends to be a little more flexible of mind, a little more willing to apply "creativity". In Sweden, however, the rules DO work, which is great when you're in the system. It's getting there that has been the tricky part. I've tried to stay calm about it because as an EU citizen with a working partner and a roof over my head I can hardly complain, but I will still be glad when I am finally in a position to invoice my clients for all the work I have simply continued to do!
Mr P&P has been very busy, applying for funding and moving labs and generally being so helpful his colleagues give him chocolate cake (well one did, but it was the day before the Bean's birthday and he had requested... a chocolate cake! Win!)

SOCIAL LIFE
Not bad, not bad at all, especially considering the level of hibernation and insularity that Swedish winter seems to bring with it. There have been a few do's at Mr. P&P's work that we were all invited to and which have been a lot of fun. Like, curling! 
There was also one "drink whisky in the office kitchen until midnight" occassion. As you do (the Bean and I weren't invited to that, funnily enough). 
About a month ago I plucked up all the courage I could muster and attended an Instameet for crafters. 

It was small, casual and really very friendly, but as the only non-Swedish speaker I caught myself feeling disoriented and intimidated. I did go away feeling happy and inspired though. Not that I didn't already know this, but as a new arrival anywhere - abroad or not - you HAVE to step out of your comfort zone sometimes. And I need to learn Swedish. 

Six months in. I think we're doing alright, really. I'm looking forward to more sunlight though. 

Just over two years ago I decided I wanted to write. For me. Maybe it was the a need to reassess being me after upheaval a first baby brings in its wake. Perhaps I'd had enough of being mostly wordless, and very much without wit even when words could be found, in a country that wasn't my own. Quite likely there was both a element of navel-gazing as well as a dose of showing off: here are my words, my things, my ideas, my beautiful boy.

So I wrote. Adoring words, tales of sorrow, internal discussions I could no longer contain. Words on motherhood, other country-hood, just being.

Also the practical: recipes, tips, projects, tutorials, ideas. Anything that captured my attention and which I thought might do the same for you. I shared and wrote and wrote and shared.

And then, in the middle of all that writing, or maybe about three quarters of the way through because isn't it always the case that the most obvious things take the longest to spot, something essential emerged. I knew where I wanted to go, and wasn't at all where I first thought I'd end up.
​

• Although I've loved writing about being a mother, I don't want to be a mummy blogger.
• I'm nowhere near good enough at either cooking or food photography to be a food blogger.
• I love staying put too much to be a decent travel blogger.
• I'm too eratic in my approach to documenting DIY projects, so I shouldn't inflict those on you, either.
• I don't think I have enough eloquent words to capture the essence of life in Italy, and now Sweden, really.

I've dabbled in all of the above and adored every minute of it, but it's become clear I'm none of them. Instead, I "come up with things". These "things" keep me up at night and make me a perpetually distracted mother and wife: crochet patterns, new designs, things to photograph, colour combinations, fabrics, geometric constructions. 

I want to come up with lots more of them and other things too, and do it properly. So I think I need to say goodbye to Pasta & Patchwork and start again. Here it is, then, my new site:

It's live so you can go over and take a peek. Though note it is still very much under development and I am incredibly nervous about moving away from the safe little virtual corner P&P has become. I won't be removing P&P, but I will go off, start again and focus on the things that I really, truly love: yarn, yarn and more yarn!

Other things besides, of course. There will still be personal stories, because my darling Bean is still beaning, my husband still my long-suffering rock, my life in Sweden still full of hiccups and questions marks. 

I'm furiously fiddling around behind the scenes (because goodness me these things take time) and the very first post will go up on 1 March. I really hope you'll come with me, but in any case I am so grateful for all the comments, personal connections, opportunities and even friendships you've given me these last two years. I've still got a couple of posts I'd like to publish here on P&P before I round things off, so stop by to give me a wave and then in three weeks' time it'll be ALL CHANGE! 

Gulp. 

You can now find the full tutorial at my new online home: 
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http://www.emmyandlien.com/tutorial-how-to-make-a-neckwarmer-from-scrap-fabric-and-yarn

After a summer of upheaval and no breaks at all since then, we decided that, this year, we would stay put for Christmas. Our first Christmas in Sweden, in our new home, just the three of us. Visitors were welcome, but other than a brief stay by my mum at the beginning of Christmas week, it really was just the three of us. 

Our first Swedish Christmas probably wasn't very Swedish at all - no julmust, glazed ham, or herring salad. Just food plucked from the fridge when we felt like it. On Christmas eve I prepared a simple salmon dish. Leftovers of that for Christmas Day lunch. Spaghetti bolognese for dinner that day, because that's what we felt like. The Bean opened a few presents on Christmas Eve, got distracted with them, opened a couple more the next day. Two new toys, a pair of pyjamas covered in a panda print, a couple of books. I wasn't sure about how the PJs would go down, but in the end he wore them for three days straight and would only answer to "little panda" for a while. Never underestimate the power of the panda PJ.

The Days In Between were spent doing not very much at all. We had made plans to explore, take trains, go away - really we had. But in the end the lure of bed socks and knitting, e-books and toy trains, blankets and bullar, was just too strong. Occassionally we ventured out for a walk, but there's nothing like an uncooperative almost-three-year-old and 53 layers needing to be put on, to drain you of that smidgen of motivation. 

New Year's Eve was, on the other hand, quite Swedish. Go us. Or rather, go our hosts - we were invited for dinner at the home of some new friends, and I don't think I'll ever be able to explain to them properly how touched we were by their graciousness and hospitality. At the stroke of midnight I had a moment of giddyness - our Italian lives are well and truly in the past now - as well as of gratefullness: we got here, with so many people's support and patience. 

From New Year's Day onwards the Swedish Winter remembered what it was supposed to be doing, and it's been cold. Frozen sea cold, as we discovered one particularly motivated day. 

So that's it, really. Three weeks of Christmas holiday, on our own, in Sweden. We've played and made a lot. Slept properly for the first time in three years because the Bean has discovered lie-ins, although we have had to give up the idea of having the bed to ourselves entirely. For the first time in the History of Christmas, I'm sure, we haven't over-eaten because we couldn't really be bothered with either shopping or cooking much. It has been odd not to see my nephews jostling around the tree, or squeeze old friends at New Year's. I've thought about them, wanted to see them and remind them how much we hope to see them this year. Don't forget us, out here in Sweden. Wonderful Sweden, which has given us our first Christmas as a contented, sleepy, wrapped up little threesome. 

Maybe it's because it was Monday, and Mondays often bring me out in an organisational fit of list-making. Maybe it's because the Christmas holidays, all 3 weeks of them, are but days away. Meaning I might have snippets of (nap)time (please don't let the naps go just yet) to make things but none at all to really think anything through. Maybe it's because it's winter and this is Sweden and therefore it's DARK and an article in the latest issue of Mollie Makes about making stuff in order not to go doolally in all this DARKNESS struck a chord. Maybe, quite likely actually, it's because I know there is physically no more room in the cupboard for any more balls of yarn, or for any more baskets of half-finished things. 

Anyway, whatever the reason, yesterday I took out my camera, a pen, some paper, and photographed the things I am currently working on. And more to the point, would like to get finished. Ideally. I worked out the sizes and stitch counts where necessary and wrote them out, so that I can just blindly follow instruction in between playing trains and making puzzles.

So here they are. 8 projects: 6 crochet, 1 knitting (I know, I'm KNITTING) and 1 sewing. On top of that I still have 3 finished items that need the patterns writing up, some curtains to sew, and a big old pile of mending to do. But the latter especially don't photograph pretty. 

#1: Sirkku Mittens
Pattern by Vickie Brown for Inside Crochet Issue 58 (available for free if you sign up to Pocketmags here)
Drops Alpaca yarn in #2923 and #517

#3: Slouch Beanie
Pattern by Brindille & Twig (available for purchase here)
Organic fleece and organic cotton jersey by BirchFabrics

#4: The Chunky Sweater
Pattern (and a better name) under development
Rowan Thick 'n Thin in #968

#5: Crochet meets Patchwork Blanket
Find all the free patterns for this blanket on my Pattern Page. 
100% cotton yarn by DMC Natura Just Cotton in Gris Argent, Aswan, Ivory, Jade, Amaranto, Brique & Blue Jeans

#6: Blue Bell Hill Scarf
Pattern by Jocelyn J. Tunney for O-wool (available for free here)
Drops Alpaca in #2915 and #6309, Wool & Alpaca tweed mix by Emporio Lanar in Naturale

#7: Nordic Pixie Mittens
Pattern under development
​Drops Alpaca in #8120, #4050 and #3112

#8: Dally Dahlia Blanket
Blanket pattern under development. Dally Dahlia granny square pattern available for free here.
Mandarin Naturell by Sandnes Garn in #1001, #4627,  and #7024

It's been quite good, quite satisfying, making this pretty list! As I've mentioned before, I'm not a very good finisher. I'm definitely a Compulsive Obsessive Maker (Kat Goldin at Slugs on the Refrigerator completely got me with this phrase, and in fact her entire post, to describe what we do), and a prolific project-starter. Sometimes though, you do just need to knuckle down and finish things. If only to make room for more yarn. 

Please forgive me for this very indulgent, doting-mama post, but. Those little fingers. The concentration. The triumphant smile when he gets it right.

A few days ago we were talking about how he'll be turning three soon. 

Now? 
No, not yet. In January. 
Now? 
No, not now... Look, this is how you show you're three. 

Since then he's been practising lots, and then on Saturday he wanted to know how to do all the numbers up to ten. So I showed him that, and how to count on your fingers, though we got a bit stuck at ten. Because don't you know that to do ten is one and zero, mama? The rest, however, he had a good go at.

The cuteness of it just kills me. The way he has to mould his hand and pin down his fingers. It reassures me that, even though he is growing up, even though he is getting to the stage where counting comes as easy as ABC and he is really going to be a whole three years old in January, there's plenty of the baby about him yet. Well, just a little bit at least. 

Come say hello: 

This post has moved! 

You can now find this pattern at my new online home:

http://www.emmyandlien.com/pattern-tutorial-dally-dahlia-granny-square​

One of the things I enjoy most about designing yarny things (apart from buying LOTS of yarn), is playing with different colour combinations. It isn't easy - there are many theories on why certain palettes are particularly pleasing to the eye. Getting it right takes practice. I have to practice, for every project I do. Sometimes I get it right, and sometimes I have to go away only to realise I really didn't. Often I'm swayed by trends or too many pinterest-hours, and have to struggle to come back to what defines my own style. 

No matter what happens, however, the process is great fun. I look for interesting colour schemes everywhere; I may or may not have once tried to photograph a bit of a stranger's jacket, it was that good. Looking around me for inspiration teaches me to think beyond my own comfort zone colours (grey+blue and maybe a hint of something warmer, as the palette of this blog will tell you!). When a certain combination captures me, it turns into an obsession. Before long I'll try to look for it everywhere, photograph it, make stuff with it, bring it into my designs and even look for socks that match (okay maybe not quite, but almost!). 

To document these palettes I'm starting the Colour Obsessions series. Perhaps it will inspire you to try new combinations too, and if you're on Instagram feel free to use the #colourobsessions hashtag to show me your favourite colour schemes. 

This week I'm starting off with a combination I'd never given much thought to but which I now love love LOVE:

An impulse buy from Ness when I visited York last year (and couldn't cope with the bracing British weather after 4 years in Milan at all!) is entirely to blame for this obsession, I think.

In case anyone from Ness is reading this - if you ever decide to make a Swedish winter-appropriate version of this coat I will be the first to snap it up, I promise! 

Anyway, after the accidental coat+bag incident came my usual game of "spot that colour combo". Turns out shipyards are quite a good place for burnt orange and teal/turquoise.

I haven't gone as far as to incorporate this scheme into my own designs, but the burnt orange has been creeping in to some other makes. It love how it worked with purple in the Nordic Shawl

​I've recently gone over to the dark side and taken up knitting (I know!), and for my very first attempt at knitting something wearable I've chosen orange and indigo. I really like it, but how hilariously gappy is that casting-on row! I think I need a bit more practice at this too...

​So there you have it, my first in a series of Colour obsessions: Burnt Orange & Teal 

What do you think, does this colour scheme rock your boat, or is it not for you? 

Three months in our new home, two months since my last update. It’s been two months of some great highs, and some pretty terrible lows too. I don’t want to dwell on the latter too much - it’s a normal part of starting from scratch somewhere new. Suffice to say that bureaucrats and the boxes they attempt to fit you in are as stretched, beleaguered and cantankerous the world over. Harrumph.
In between the highs and lows things have just been ticking along. And that’s rather nice. I think when you move abroad people expect you to be off adventuring and discovering at every opportunity, but after the physical and emotional upheaval of shifting our entire lives across Europe, ticking along is good. Ordinary, safe, just nice.  
And in other news...

LIFESTYLE
In a word: outdoorsy! It’s one of the main reasons why we moved here and, my goodness, autumn has not disappointed. Brief, yes, but stunningly beautiful. And so our ordinary rhythm, when we’re not working or at school, is to head out and just walk.

On the (many) days it rains and we’re just not quite Swedish enough yet to brave it, we laze, code, bake cheese scones (Bean’s current obsession) and make hats and scarves and things for the months ahead.
Uneventful but, as I said, nice.

HOME
We’re down to just 7 unpacked boxes! Perhaps destined to stay that way forever unless I really need something at the bottom of one of them, because let me tell you: I am done with unpacking boxes.
But despite the box fort in the master bedroom it does feel like home. The layout feels right, as does Swedish insulation. Bar curtains and wall decorations, the Bean’s bedroom is finished and super-cosy. The kitchen table by the window is my favourite spot from which to crochet and cheer on the plants braving the autumn chill on the balcony. It feels right.

WORK
Lots of it! Bean started preschool in mid-September (more on that below) and as soon as the settling-in period was over, it was nose to the grindstone for me. A good thing too, as I haven´t earned a thing for 3 months. It’s been reassuring to get back into it, and now the next milestone will be to officially shift my accounts from Italy to Sweden in the New Year. Oh the excitement!

THE BEAN
Ups, downs and roundabouts with this one. The great big up that really needs celebrating is that HE LIKES HIS PRESCHOOL. Oh the relief… We like it too - it’s light and cheerful and safe, the staff are kind, the kids go traipsing round the woods nearby and eat like pint-sized kings. He is happy there, and comes home singing Swedish songs about purple lions (I think).

Being two (nearly three!) is complicated though. When we first announced we were moving many people said that he would “be fine, kids are adaptable”. And he IS fine, in general, but then there are days when he is really not. Daddy went away for work for a few days in October and that was absolutely not fine. He still remembers what came before, he still struggles with the idea that he can’t just go back. Perhaps he still worries that one of us might just go and not come back, one day. So he is fine, he is adapting and becoming less of a little Italian and more of a little Swede by the day, but he reserves the right to feel crap and anxious about it all sometimes. As we all do, I think.

CULTURE SHOCK
More like weather shock, predictably! We have become wimps after 5 winters in Milan, especially when it comes to wind. And then there’s the fact that cowering indoors is not an option - it’s neither healthy nor realistic (unless you want to become a fuzzy-haired, barely intelligible hermit for 6 months of the year). Becoming braver and understanding what is meant by “appropriate clothing”, as preschool so helpfully put it, has been quite the education. It’s an excellent excuse for making woollie things though, as I said, and for buying a lovely new coat that is warm, windproof, waterproof AND stylish. As soon as I find one, that is (suggestions??).

SOCIAL LIFE
Kind of okay. No real friendships yet because these things take time, and so there are definitely days when we feel lonely. A few visitors (and more coming every month for the next three months!) have helped lift the mood greatly though. As has Instagram for me. No, seriously - it turns out there are some truly lovely people on there, and every now and then you get to meet up in person and talk yarn or food, and always pretty pictures. It’s a godsend, I tell you!

Come say hello: