Much of the yarn I buy comes in hanks, so I’m often winding it into balls. Everybody on the internet says to buy a yarn winder and a yarn swift, but I really enjoy doing this by hand. It’s meditative. And the yarn feels nice. And it reminds me of my grandmother.

I remember holding up hanks of yarn for her to wind. I remember seeing her use a yarn swift in her home in town, but she probably didn’t bring it with her to her summer cottage, so I had to do its job when she was there. And she taught me how to hand-wind yarn into a soft, squishy ball, so it keeps its elasticity, by winding it over my fingers.

I loop my hank over an IKEA step stool instead of children’s hands.

No photo.

A full day of travelling, from Lillehammer via Oslo and Karlstad to Stockholm. The bus from Oslo to Karlstad was delayed but this time my buffer was enough to allow me to make the connection. The delay was due to the bus being pulled in for a customs control on the border. Everybody off the bus, take your luggage, march past the sniffer dog. Almost kind of exciting, but also very dull.

The last day. 23 km. We heard rumours of there being no snow beyond Nordseter so we might have to take the bus from there. That would have been a sad end to our trip. But the wonderful Skisporet.no app showed a live view of track groomers passing along those trails as we were having breakfast, so our worries were relieved.

The hotel at Hornsjø was a strange one. Large, nearly empty, mostly unrenovated since the late 1970s by the looks of it, only reachable by a gravel/dirt road – like straight out of the Shining. Bathroom walls covered with nubbly greenish beige wallpaper, broken window latches, frayed carpet edges. We were the only group staying here tonight, and while there were three or four other guests here as well, I think the staff outnumbered us. But the beds were decent and the food was good, and there were no actual murderers in sight.

Due to the freshly groomed tracks (most of the way) we actually had really good snow today. But also a lot of other people, now that we’re so much closer to civilization, of all kinds. There were some on backcountry skis like ours, but many were out with no packs and on their skinny little skis, racing along like the wind. Also several bunches of serious skiers in matching lycra outfits and with matching brightly coloured poles, racing along even faster.

The last section of trail today went through the woods near Lillehammer. Narrowish paths with natural rather than machine-made trails, and quite a lot of winding downhill slopes, made for fun skiing.

We didn’t ski all the way to town – a local bus took us down the last kilometres. And then we were in town and suddenly skiing and snowy mountains felt far away. I’m already looking forward to next year’s trip.

(Central Lillehammer, by the way, mostly consists of shops for outdoor equipment and clothing, but also boasts three shops selling wool and yarn.)

19 km, 277 m of ascent, 4 hours. I had a late start because I had to wait for the luggage transport to Hornsjø, and only went out skiing at 11:30.

The wind today was ferocious. It was blowing from the north mostly, which was lucky for the group skiing south and south-east to Hornsjø from Vetåbua – had they had the wind in their faces for 40 km, their day would have been quite horrible. Now they were pushed along and barely had to do any work at times, as they told me afterwards. Had I known in advance that the conditions would be like this, I would have gone with them to Vetåbua, but you can never be sure about the weather in the mountains.

For me there was only the option of out and back, which meant going out against the wind and coming back with it at my back. And what a difference the wind (and the hills) made! The same 10 km took me 2:30 going out, against the wind and generally uphill, and exactly half the time coming back, with the wind and mostly downhill.

The outward half of the day was actually not particularly enjoyable. I would probably have given up and turned back earlier, if I had been able to find any kind of shelter at all. Now I kept going all the way to the little hamlet of Lienden where there was a café according to the map. Not that I actually expected any café to be open at this time of the year, but where there’s a café, there are at least buildings of some sort, with walls that I can shelter behind.

I had my lunch sitting in the sun in the lee of the hut. And then I came out and took three steps to the left and was almost blown over by the wind again. But when I started skiing, I was almost flying along.

Friisvegen day trip. 27 km, 437 m of ascent.
Today and tomorrow the Troll Trail leaves civilization for an unmanned DNT hut. From Friisvegen to Vetåbua is a short day of about 20 km, but tomorrow from Vetåbua to Hornsjø is 40 km, which would be the longest I’ve ever skied with a pack. Plus the packs will be heavier because there will be no luggage transport – Vetåbua is not in reach of any roads. And on top of all that, tomorrow is going to have really strong winds.

Both John and I feel hesitant about my ability to do all that tomorrow. Or rather, he’s not sure I can do it, and I’m not sure I would enjoy it. So, plan B: I will stay at Friisvegen for one more night, and have a day of skiing on my own. Transport tomorrow morning to Hornsjø, along with the luggage, followed by more skiing on my own.

I followed the group for the first 7 km. When they turned left towards Vetåbua, I turned right towards the village of Skotten. I did a circuit there (prepared tracks through undulating woodlands all the way) before I headed back for the hotel, and ended up skiing a fair bit more than the rest of the group. On the other hand, I didn’t have to carry water and firewood or cook dinner, unlike them.

Today I had the best snow I’ve seen all week. All the previous days have been quite icy, but the tracks today were relatively freshly groomed so there was actual snow that I could get an actual grip on. And it was quite nice to not have to think about keeping up with the group. I could stop for photos whenever I wanted, and faff with my clothes as often as I wanted.

25 km, 4:45, 260 m of ascent. Up the hill to a plateau and then flattish to slightly uphill. Icy conditions, which I found really hard to cope with, especially when going uphill, because I couldn’t get a good enough grip. In the end I just took off my skis and walked a good chunk of the almost-flat-but-still-uphill bit: it was just about as fast as skiing but with less effort and frustration.

We had brilliant sunshine all day. It was so hot that I took off everything I could – jacket, hat, even gloves – and found myself wishing that there were more layers I could shed. We had a luxurious sit-down lunch in the sun.

The sunshine led to some absolutely stunning views today.

The very last bit of the trail to the hotel at Friisvegen went downhill through the forest. Twisty little paths, slightly icy, with barely enough room to brake and turn. Just skimming the edge of losing control, which was an inordinate amount of fun.

(That’s me about to catch up with the rest of the group.)

The hotel at Friisvegen was yet another nice one, with a friendly Dutch couple as our hosts. I had trout for dinner (as the meat-free option) for the third day in a row and I am getting just a little bit tired of it.

33.5 km, 6.5 hours, 790 m of ascent (and about the same of descent). Up onto a plateau, then flat, and down again at the end. Some fields, some undulating forest, some open hillsides. Prepared tracks at the start and end of the day but “natural” trails during the middle section.

It was very windy today. The weather forecast said we’d have the wind in our faces, but that luckily turned out to be completely wrong and we had the wind at our backs or sides nearly all day. The temperatures were around zero and the sun was mostly shining, but the wind made stopping unpleasant. We took our first, very hurried lunch standing up in the wind, in a slight dip in the ground that barely made any difference for our comfort. Later we ran across a small hill that was situated just in the right direction to block the wind, so we could actually sit down in its lee for a second lunch break. Very pleasant.

I managed my clothing and thus body temperature much better today, because I decided to adjust whatever I needed whenever I needed to, without worrying about falling behind. I re-learned how to switch hats without stopping, and how to take off and stow my jacket in thirty seconds.

In the evening I felt quite stiff and sore, and walking up and down stairs was somewhat painful. Skiing uses not just the obvious muscles (thighs, hip flexors, arms and shoulders and back) but also some that I don’t even realize I have except when I’m skiing. Note to self: next time, get on location a few days earlier if possible and use these days to re-find my technique and my skiing muscles.

Høvringen to Rondablick. 28.5 km, 6 hours, 380 m of ascent. Prepared tracks all day. Uphill to begin with, then mostly flat. Open hills, some forest.

Today was a warm day, with temperatures well above zero, even though it was mostly cloudy. It looked colder than it was so I was wearing too much for the first half of the day – a windproof layer seemed like a necessity – and I was too busy focusing on my skiing technique to realize that I was overheating. When we stopped for our lunch break, I was sweaty and steaming and thirsty. After lunch I skipped the windproof jacket and went on in my wool top only and felt much better.

I was the slowest one in the group but not by much. I’m clearly out of shape compared to our last trip, though. That’s what I get for not having skied for three years.

We’re mostly staying at hotels during this trip. Both Høvringen and Rondablikk were nice hotels with good food. Rondablikk had a bizarre and slightly unpleasant collection of stuffed animals, though. I can come up with scenarios where you’d end up with a dead bear and the best thing you could do with it might then be to stuff it and display it. But killing and stuffing a mama duck with six downy ducklings? Eew.

After two missed years due to covid restrictions, I finally have the chance to go on a ski trip! This year my one and only favourite tour guide John Howie is taking us down the Troll Trail in Norway, from Høvringen to Lillehammer. Six days of skiing and about 160 km to go.

I spent the entire day today on trains. Got on the first one in Spånga at 06:05 and got off the last one in Otta, Norway, at 19:38. It wasn’t supposed to take quite this long but the train in the middle (Stockholm to Oslo) was delayed by over an hour so I missed my connection and had to spend almost two hours sitting in Oslo Sentral. But now I’m here, and tomorrow I will start skiing!

I’m still coughing a bit but mostly only when I try to talk or happen to laugh, so I think and hope that it shouldn’t interfere with the skiing. Fingers crossed.

Here’s the beginning of my next knitted cardigan. I browsed a lot of patterns and had an idea of what I wanted, but couldn’t find any pattern that delivered on all my requirements, so it’s going to be a mash-up of Nala but with a different gauge and probably without the cables, and probably some ribbing along the sides like Fade-It Brioche and this faded cardigan. And as for the colour fade, I guess I’ll just wing it.