I've always been more of a scarf than a shawl person, but this summer the Crochet Powers That Be aligned to teach me a thing or two about the latter. First there was the big jar of salvaged Rowan merino-cotton blend, waiting to be made into something soft and warm.

Then I came across the Nordic Shawl pattern on Pinterest. It intrigued me, with its hints of Nordic folklore and promises of cosyness. It did bunny-hops across my brain until I saw purple colour schemes everywhere (I blame too much packing in 40-degree heat). 

Finally I bought it (from the very talented Anette, who blogs at My Rose Valley) and set to it. With boxes at my feet and Merino-mix on my lap in the middle of the scorching Italian summer because I was damned if I was a) going to stop crocheting, and b) feel cold once we'd arrived in the UK and then Sweden. 

It took me a good few attempts to get the colour scheme right and I ran out of purple before I could put a proper border on it, but shortly after we got to England I tucked in the last few ends and straightened out the sides. So here it is, and I love it.

The pattern itself is well-written with pictures of each of the coloured rows that make up the folksy stripes. It's great fun and works up quickly, although you do have to pay attention to the stitch count around the tip. I messed it up more than once and would have like some close-up photos of it, but in the end all was well. 

So far I've worn it a lot in the early mornings over my PJs - these pictures were taken in the Norfolk countryside in early August. It's very warm, probably much warmer and also heavier than if I'd used all cotton as the pattern suggests, but I don't mind. I'm not going to mind as I curl up under it all autumn, all winter, and probably all spring too. 

I did use cotton for the coloured stripes, because I wanted to use up some of the yarn I already had. That wasn't enough though and as it was all about getting the colour right for me, I trawled Deramores for hours (what hardship) to find the right shades in the right weights. I've ended up with quite a mishmash of brands:

Along the way I discovered I really like Cotton 8 by Scheepjeswol. It's the lightest of the  cottons I use, but I love the extensive colour range and, above all, the fact that it does not split. I love it so much that I'm using it in an upcoming jumper pattern, so look out for that if you're into Scheepjes too! 

In any case, I'm now sold on shawls. I love how they allow you to play around with colours as well as different stitches, without being so large that they linger in the WIP basket for too long (I'm looking at you, Crochet meets Patchwork blanket). Anyone got any recommendations for fun crochet shawl patterns for me to try next?

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It's been a week since we landed in Sweden. It feels very surreal to finally, really be here, after months of preparation and anticipation. Also because in so many ways it feels like the highly manicured, serene and very quiet antithesis of Italy. And finally, because the three of us are still in that just-landed, don't-know-anything bubble. A mostly happy bubble though, I'm pleased to report. Here's what we've been up to so far.

HOME
To our intense relief, the flat we'd not even seen pictures of (and which is rented to us by the university) is pretty nice. Outdated and in need of a good scrub and a big stack of crochet blankets, but I think it'll work well for us. 
Even though it's the same size as the flat we had in Milan (60m2), the layout is better and so it feels bigger. We've even managed to fashion a bedroom for the Bean in a corner of the L-shaped living room. This is a first for him (and us!) so it's very exciting! It's had to be quite makeshift and make-do, but I'll post up some photos when it's all done. 
My favourite bit of the flat is the dining area, as it's so wonderfully light. Especially on a sunny summer's morning when the toddler wants to paint at 7AM!

My not-so-favourite bit is the electric cooker. Like all electric cookers, it is an abomination that makes me burn everything and then inflict Failed Food Rage upon my family.

WORK
Mr P&P was supposed to start work yesterday, but the first day was taken up with admin and the second with battling man-flu! First impressions of the new office are good though, and the nice thing is that he's only a 15-minute walk away from home. No long commutes, thankfully.
For me, it's all change. We don't yet have a nursery for the Bean, so I guess that officially makes me a Stay-at-Home-Mum for a while! As with everything else in parenting, this is both hard and exhilarating: he makes me laugh and I love going on our daily ad-ven-cha with him, but I do worry about the financial implications of taking so much time off. And, of course, I'm not getting much time to work on all the new patterns that are swirling around in my head! 

LIFESTYLE
Oh, this is a biggie. This is so very, very different to what it was in Milan. Our flat looks out onto nothing but green and just a short walk away there's a small forest. There is a playground every 100 metres. We can walk everywhere, on foot/cycle paths that are often completely separate from the road. The air is clean and smells of the sea. 
I know it's early days, the early days of the shiny new honeymoon period. Before long we will find out what bothers us, what we just can't agree with, and what a Swedish winter is really like. But given that the lack of green and the ever-present smog contributed significantly to our desire to leave Milan, we are just a little in love with our new lifestyle and all its the pretty colours right now.

SOCIAL LIFE
Not surprisingly, it's non-existent. As I said, we're in our own little bubble. Which is kind of okay - every day so far has been taken up with admin and unpacking and shopping and walking and discovering. At the same time, however, it is strange not to be able to share it with anyone. We miss our friends, we want to Skype with family as often as possible to fill them in on all the new, all the excitement. And then there's the Bean - he's mostly only had adults to play with for three weeks. Every time he mentions his best pals in Milan, my heart breaks a little. I think that will become our most pressing challenges soon:  we need to put ourselves out there. 

CULTURE SHOCK
Gi-bloody-normous, but we're still at the stage where we can laugh about it. There is sugar in unexpected places (how can smoked fish be sweet?!), everything smells of Christmas spices although it's August. I've got no idea what goes on behind those composed and silent faces. It's bizarre but wonderful to see so many dads on paternity leave, and women wielding gigantic hedge trimmers. I'm desperate for some decent mozzarella, though I am rather pleased with the delicious cakes and smoothies available in the cafes.  I'm thrilled with the cutesy houses, though unsure about the obsession with tumble dryers (as I said, I have yet to encounter a Swedish winter).

HIS BEANNESS
Ah, my little boy. In the past two months he's had to watch us box up his toys, then said goodbye to everyone and everything that was familiar to him, and now after two blissful weeks with his beloved Grandma and Grandma we've plonked him in this perpetually windy country. Unsurprisingly, his behaviour has been erratic and at times downright insufferable. 
But I am still so very proud of him. After only a week here he is already beginning to calm down and take everything in his stride. He talks all day long about the things he sees, loves the playgrounds, and is pleased as punch with his new room. That, in particular, is amazing to me. He has shared a room and often a bed with us since he was born, and yet he is so ready, much more so than I realized, to stand on his own two feet. I have no doubt that before long he will have more friends and speak better Swedish than we do, worldly little man that he his.

(Apologies for all the grainy phone snaps - I'm still feeling a little too overwhelmed by everything to take the big camera out)

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Or rather, mid-move ramblings. We've done the hellish bit - the boxing and the cleaning and the goodbyes - and now we're staying with family in the UK for a bit of a breather before we head to Sweden on the 11th. I feel like I've arrived from another dimension, and that's not just because it's about 20° C cooler here. My mind is foggy, and while I'd love to be able to write something eloquent and coherent about what it feels like to have wrapped up 4.5 years of our lives, ramblings is all I can come up with. So here goes. 

1. I feel like I'm floating in between two lives. Habit dictates that we should be heading back over the Alps to our little flat in Milan, but my mind is trying to brace itself for I-don't-even-know-what. A glimpse, we had, but what will our day-to-day lives look like? I have no idea.

2. Twenty-two boxes, two big suitcases, two small suitcases, two rucksacks, a big bag and a handbag. That's what we left with, after having arrived in 2011 with only one suitcase and two rucksacks. Oh, and a Bean. When we arrived it was just the two of us, and we've left with an extra something rather wonderful, if very loud. 

3. I miss our friends in Milan already. Considering we were once convinced we would never make any, this is quite something. It feels strange to have lost the solidarity that comes with having (barely) survived a month of 40° C heat together. My heart aches to see the Bean and his little friends' faces light up with glee and mischief just one more time. I can't quite believe we won't be there to share the grand "rientro" in late August, nor post-summer battle scars and new-school tears at the gates. 

4. Sleep, crochet, and think of nothing. That is all I want to do. Occasionally to empty my brain of ramblings. But really, that's it. I especially don't want to think about boxes.

5. I love finally having time to watch my Bean be beanish, without work or packing or endless to-do lists cluttering up my mind. To listen to him enthuse about the big diggers building new houses in his grandparents' village, and hear him serenade Happy Birthday tooo youuuuu to everyone, every day. To read ten books with him back to back, and not watch the clock while I'm doing it. 

6. I'm astonished at how un-British we've become. We're predictably snooty about the coffee (although the flat white I had at The Coffee Cellar in Exeter was really, really good - oh the comfort!) and we can't fathom the shorts because it's clearly FREEZING. I don't know what to do with the silent shopping in the supermarkets. I think every dark-ish cloud heralds the coming of the apocalypse, while my mother-in-law just laughs and hangs out the washing. And when did everyone start serving drinks in jars?!

7. There are delights too though, like burgers at Byron, ALL the crumpets for breakfast, and crawling under a pile of cosiness instead of the air-conditioning at the end of the day.

8. I can't tell you how much I'm loving the wind. To not be breathing in hot, stale air. To feel the cobwebs be blown out of my clogged-up brain, to smell the sea rather than my neighbour's cigarette smoke. And to rejoice that soon the sea will be a permanent fixture in our lives. Very, very soon.  

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