My Tea Party made an Etsy Front Page

I made a treasury of some of my favourite sellers and presented it as a tea party. We had a great time! The menue was simple but tasty; tea and shortbread. Here is the recipe for the shortbread:

You need:

2 cups butter
1 cup packed brown sugar
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

This is what you do:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
2. Cream butter and brown sugar. Add 3 to 3 3/4 cups flour. Mix well.
3. Sprinkle board with the remaining flour. Knead for 5 minutes, adding enough flour to make a soft dough. Roll to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into 3x1 inch strips. Prick with fork and place on ungreased baking sheets.
4. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 20 to 25 minutes.

Enjoy with tea and friends!

Here are some of my favourite stores on Etsy (all in the treasury); L'araignee Design, Mid Century Modern Jewlery + Object, English Transferware, Fresh Vintage, Barbara Macleod Jewellery, sohomode, Drowning in cuteness, Poodlebreath, Dragon House of Yuen, TJB Designs,
NiftyKnits and Frensh Kissed.

...and if you feel like some sparkeing wine I just read that it combines well with shortbred!

I made my first ever knitting pattern!

For many years I have designed knitted accessories, skirts and tops, but never written down what I have done. When I have made a second one, I have just looked at the first I made, and that can hardly be called a pattern! Finally, I got around to write it all down and work it into a real pattern that I hope every one can use! My first ever knitting pattern is for a decorative collar/neck warmer.


I did write down what I did as I went along knitting. I modified a lace pattern form a chart and marked the modifications I made. When I finished the piece, I decided that this was so well documented that it had to be my first knitting pattern! I search the internet to see if I could learn form experienced people. And I could. I came across http://chezplum.com/blog/2009/06/11/tutorial-how-i-make-my-knitting-charts-for-lace/ who in a very detailed and understandable way explained how to make a lace chart based on a excel type program. Thank you so much Sylvie! She is an accomplished designer and her patterns are on sale at http://chezplum.com/

When the lace chart was made it was easy to write down the instruction for how to make the collar. When I had finished I realised the need for additional information. The obvious is yarn and needles, but size, skill level, amount of yarn needed, gauge and where to get the yarn I used in the model. I knit a lot in Icelandic wool and Gudrún in Iceland sell this wonderful yarn on Etsy; www.TheIcelandicWool.etsy.com

Late at night I had managed to make the word document into a PDF file, that can easily be send by email to customers, and posted it proudly in my Etsy store "The High North".

Happy knitting!

Another Etsy front page!

Etsy Front Page 2/18/09 elineof
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

The other day it was snowing all day in Oslo. After work I sat down by the computer and got a treasury on Etsy. After having fun finding great items, it was even more fun to see it on the front page this morning. Best of all; artist featured had sales form it!

This was my first Etsy Front Page!

Etsy Front Page 1/5/09 elineof
Originally uploaded by Etsy Front Pagers

There are so many talented people selling things on Etsy, and there is a tool where one can put together 12 of your favourites in on display. This is called a Treasury. The administration pick from these treasuries to make the Etsy front page. January 5 mine was the front page for a while! Fun for me, and great for the taleted artists I display!