Update of sorts

The last eight months or so has been stressful. First my mother's cancer got worse very very fast. She died late March, 61 years (not) old. My sister got home from Australia just hours before Mum slid into unconsiousness and she passed away two days later. Then there were grief and funeral planning and funeral and all the administration needed. Plus all the usual work and kids and activities.

Then we stumbled upon a new house. A very nice new house, larger that our old one, with rooms for everyone (including a third floor studio space for me!) and a rather smaller garden. We had originally planned to extend our old house with an extra bedroom and office but after much agonising we decided to move instead. So the summer was filled with putting our old house on the market (which includes a lot of cleaning and removing of clutter and stuff), showing it to prospective buyers and finally selling it. Hiring a contractor to finish the two rooms plus storage that wasn't finished in teh new house. And planning for the move. The actual move took place mid-September, about five weeks ago. We finalised the sale of the old house two weeks ago. It feels So Good to be done with it! Now we can concentrate our efforts on the new house.

My father has been a tremendous help through all this. I think it has been a help for him to have things to do, he's mostly retired, and suddenly a widower with too much free time. Picking up the kids at daycare and school and activities when DH and I didn't have time. Fixing and mending stuff in the old house. Transporting loads of crap to recycling. Housing a room full of boxes that we suddenly didn't have room for. Being handyman in the new house, fixing this and that, installing things and building things. He's still at it, because of course we are not done. I don't know what we'll do when he takes of for almost three months in Australia on 1 December! He won't get much of a vacation though, my sister has a long list of what she'd like him to help with down there...

Stress has taken its toll though. I have been ill twice this autumn already, and I'm never ill usually. Now I've had tonsillitis requiring anitbiotics a few weeks ago, and now DH and E and me have all been down with some sort of flu. I'm at home today too with a sore throat and general tiredness. Bleh. The younger kids have been ok though.

There has been knitting through it all! My sanity saver, really. Mostly smaller things, socks, fingerless mittens, a few simple shawls. I have finished my Must-Have cardigan and I love it. It was a bit on the tight side when done, but it has grown slightly with wearing and I'm so happy with it. The only negative thing with it is that I have a tendency to be cold at the upper chest, so a v-neck isn't the best option for me. But I can always put on a backwards shawl! I haven't had time for much picture taking either, so I have no nice pics of anything lately. Must make DH work a bit for his socks (that I also finished :-)

Right now I'm working on Through The Loop's Socktober mystery sock. The last clue (the toe) is due on Thursday, I may be on track then. right now the foot is done on sock number one and the gusset decreases are just started on sock number two. It has been a very enjoyable mystery pattern, varied and nice looking too.
There is also a Baby Surprise Jacket for SIL who is expecting her first baby in March. I'm using one strand of Drops Fabel sock yarn in green, blue, orange, yellow and one strand of Drops Alpaca in a light green. That will be gender neutral enough I think. I will probably make matching Djevellue if I have enough yarn, I think I do.
I had to start the learning sock from Cat Bordhi's new book Personal Footprints. I must say that I'm a bit dubiuos about this method, It looks very complicated to me, and a new learning sock is needed for each gauge. Hmm. I absolutely love her previous sock book though so I'm giving it a try.
There are also a few simple bus projects, a sock and a sock yarn hat.

I have missed blogging, sometimes I write posts in my head but there has been simply no time. I have very few knitting friends (and I have managed to be ill for the last two kntting groups as well) so blogging is a way to "talk" about knitting. I try to keep my projects up to date on Ravelry though, so take a look there if you like.

Because blog posts are more fun with pictures, here are our tiny bare garden with our newly planted fruit trees (apple in the front, pear at back left, cherry at back right):

And my (very messy and only halfway unpacked) studio:

Domino Sunset Shawl

I've finally managed to write up the pattern for my domino knit shawl. Enjoy! I'm very fond of my shawl, it's big and cosy to wrap up in on a chilly evening. (ED: I forgot to credit Sabine for the idea. I saw her shawl on Ravelry and was inspired to make my own version. She also gave some hints on how to get started. Thanks Sabine!)
Please contact me if you find any errors or oddities! Or if you need help. I've done my best to write this up as clearly as I can, but you never know.


The shawl is started at the tip and worked row by row from right to left. You can make it with any size squares. Just cast on an odd number of stitches. Swatch and play with different sized squares to see what suits your yarn. Do you want solid squares or striped? Big or small?

The nice thing about working from the tip is that you can check the size as you go and stop when the shawl is just the right size. I blocked my shawl very lightly so it hardly grew at all. If you don't like my special neck, just fill in the space with another triangle.

Try to weave in the ends as you go, either when knitting one of the first rows of a new square or with a needle after knitting a few squares.

Yarn: Kauni Effekt EU (yellow-orange-red) or another yarn with loooong colour shifts. I used 1570 m (1720 yards), you'll need more if you want a wider and/or rufflier edge than mine.
Needles: 3 mm (or size to get a fabric you like) circular needle
Gauge: 24 stitches/10 cm (4”) The sides of my squares are about 18 cm (7”) long.
Size: about 188 cm (74”) across the top edge and 94 cm (37”) down the back, including the 5 cm (2”) wide ruffle.

Square 1 (tip)
KCO 81 sts.
Row 1: Knit until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Row 2: Sl 1 kwise, k 38 (until 1 stitch from middle stitch), sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso, k38, p1.
Row 3 (and all odd rows): Sl 1 kwise, k until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Row 4 (and all even rows): Sl 1 kwise, k until 1 stitch from middle stitch, sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso,k until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Work until you are about to start a right side row and you have only three stitches on the needle: sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso. Pull the stitch a little larger, cut yarn and pass the end through the stitch. Do not pull tight. This is the ”waiting stitch”, you will use it later.

Square 2 (right edge)
Right edge square: KCO 40 sts, PU 41 sts from the left edge of square 1, leave the waiting stitch from square 1 alone. 81 sts.
Row 1: Sl 1 kwise, knit until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Proceed from row 2 on square 1.


Square 3 (left edge)
PU the waiting stitch from square 1, plus 40 along the right edge of square 1, KCO 40 stitches. 81 sts. Row 1: Knit until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Proceed from row 2 on square 1.

Square 4 (right edge)
As square 2

Square 5 (inside)
PU the waiting stitch from square 2, plus 39 stitches along the left edge of square 2, 1 stitch in the middle of the V between squares 2 and 3 and 40 sts along the right edge of square 3, leave the waiting stitch from square 3 alone. 81 sts.
Row 1: Sl 1 kwise, knit until 1 stitch remains, p1.
Proceed from row 2 on square 1.


Square 6 (left edge)
As square 3


Keep working like this, adding rows of squares until you have 6 rows of squares or the shawl is the size you want it to be.


Top edge Triangles
Knit the triangles just like the squares but add a decrease at the beginning of every row by working an ssk instead of the sl 1. When 4 sts remain: ssk, k2tog, slip first st over the second, cut the yarn and pull out the end.
Leave out the middle triangle for slimmer fit around the neck.


Top border
PU stitches all along the top edge, one stitch in each ssk, from the right side. The exact amount is not important, I didn't count mine, but don't pick up too many, the finished edge should be nice and flat.
Round 1: Sl 1 kwise, knit to end, p 1.
Round 2: Sl 1 kwise, kfb, k to neck edge, kfb, kfb, k to neck center, sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso, k to neck edge, kfb, kfb, k to end, p1.
Repeat round 1 and 2 for a total of 3 garter ridges. BO loosely. Do not break yarn but go directly to the side border (2 ends less to weave in!)


Side borders
PU stitches along both side edges, including the top border, one stitch for each CO stitch, from the right side. Use a very long circ if available. I used two shorter circs, one for each side. The exact amount of stitches is not important, I didn't count mine (I didn't want to know)
Row 1: Sl 1 kwise, knit to end, p1.
Row 2: Sl 1 kwise, *kfb, k1* to end, p1. I did an extra kfb at the center stitch, but it doesn't really matter. This makes a moderately ruffly edge. If you want a very ruffly edge kfb in ever stitch instead, but you will need lots more yarn.
Row 3: Sl 1 kwise, knit to end, p 1.
Row 4: Sl 1 kwise, kfb, knit to center, kfb, kfb, knit to end, p1.
Repeat row 3 and 4 until it looks right. I did 11 ridges (because I didn't have more yarn) but I think 20 ridges (half the width of a square) would look nice. BO loosely.


Finishing
Weave in all ends and block lightly. I gave my shawl a bath, squeezed out the water and smoothed it out on towels to dry with just a few pins at the top edge.


Abbreviations
KCO: Knitted cast-on. Use it! It makes a good edge for picking up stitches.
sl 1 kwise: Slip 1 stitch knitwise
sl 1 kwise, k2tog, psso: Slip 1 stitch knitwise, knit 2 stitches together, pass the slipped stitch over the new stitch. 2 stitches decreased.


Copyright Malin Nilsson 2009. You may not sell this pattern or any products made from it.

Marching on

I keep writing blog posts in my head but, somehow, they don't get posted... The family is back in the real world now, with two working parents and three kids in daycare/school. Add evening activities for two of the kids and a very sick grandparent and you have busy, busy weeks. I tend to spend my spare time knitting (and Raveling!) instead of blogging.

I've been knitting a lot but not finishing much. I seem to be starting new things instead of finishing the old ones. Hmm. Though I have finished the Noro sock shawl (one skein made a largish scarf)

and a pair of socks, Chevvy from Knitting Socks With Handpainted Yarn (interesting pattern, the fit is amazing, and a great book).

Oh, and a pair of fingerless mittens from leftover sock yarn.

And a small Clapotis.

Wait, I did a pair of worsted weight bedsocks for Mum (Dream In Color Classy from my Twist cardigan).

And a vest.

Ok, so it seems like I finish some stuff after all...

I'm very happy with the vest! Of course it's inspired by Brooklyntweed's vest but I worked it top down without steeks. I have steeked things in the past, no biggie, but I didn't feel like it this time, and I was unsure about the proper fit of a vest so I wanted something I could try on as I went along. I managed to make the striping work rather well without the steeks.


The striping yarn is Noro Silk Garden (yum!) and the solid is Dream In Color Classy. I used the design-you-own-sweater-with-inset-sleeves (but without the sleeves) from the back of Custom Knits. This is a *very* good book. Highly recommended. Lots of good information on fitting sweaters, lots of great patterns and lots of info on designing your own. Most patterns are worked top-down which makes it so easy to try as you go and make adjustments if needed.

The Cobblestone is still OTN. I have to force myself to work on it, don't know why really. I mean, the yarn is nice, the fabric is nice and I want DH to have it *now*. Though it is rather fiddly to work with at this stage. I'm knitting both sleeves at the same time, magic loop, on my longest Harmony cable. But it is only 120 cm/47" long so the sleeves are a bit crowded. Anyway, all the increases are done and I only need to work another 3 inches or so. Then I get to lengthen the body by an inch and put it all together! I expect it will be more fun after that. Short-rows and decreases and everything.

I have finished the main part of the Domino Sunset shawl and the top edging. I guess I'm about halfway through the side edging. I picked up about a million stitches all along the side edges, then I increased in every other stitch to make a sort of gentle ruffle. Now it is a race to see what I will run out of first, patience or yarn!

For more info on my projects, please see my Ravelry project page!

Happy 2009

Aaaaahhhh. Yaaaawn.
I have been off work since the weekend before Christmas and it feels So Good. I'm reasonably rested (because I have a one-year-old that wakes a bit earlier than I would like) and have done mostly nothing for two weeks. Heaven.

Reality is creeping closer though, I'm starting work on Wednesday, and M starts working in two weeks time. Then it's back to dropping children off at daycare and school before work and picking them up after work. M and me are both going to work 90% of full time so that will help a bit. And my parents will pick up the kids some days too.

I have been knitting a lot since my last post, I hardly know where to start... Let's play catch-up, shall we! For details see my Ravelry project page.

My Domino Sunset shawl has five rows of squares now, and the last row is under way.


Then there will be triangles to straighten the top, and some sort of edging I have to swatch. I need to get another ball of yarn too. It is an enjoyable knit, and it is easy to feel the progress as I finish each square.

I got a little crazy and very rapidly knit three pairs of felted clogs for the kids from that Fiber Trends pattern over Christmas. Here they are before felting.


Fun pattern, I will make a pair for myself too (I have ordered yarn) The felting was no fun though. First some manual abuse, then three or four trips through the quick 30 minute cycle of my front loader then some more manual abuse in the sink. I think they are ok now but they are drying very slowly. I have absorbent paper in them but it still takes time.

I finally got enough tired of the ziploc baggie with Harmony needle parts in it so I made a nice case instead.


Everything fits nicely with room to grow. I like that the fabric coordinates with the needles too :-) It's two batik fat quarters from the fabric stash.

Let's see... yes, socks! M asked for more socks. He wanted something red and chose Cherry Tree Hill Sockittome in Sugar Maple, red and orange and yellow. I picked out some suitable patterns for that yarn and he finally chose Dolomite, by Knitspot. It looks great so far!

I modfied the pattern to work from the toe up. Easy peasy, just turn the chart upside down! I think I will do some sort of mini gusset and short row heel. I used that kind of heel on my Loopy socks, see:

It could have been longer but I didn't want to disrupt the nice stripes.

The yarn is Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in the Loopy Ewe colour. Great fun to knit!

Mid-November M and I went to northern Sweden and Norway with the company we both work with. I made myself new mittens before we went.

I made up the pattern, will post soon. They are knit top down from sock yarn held double. Nice and warm though not warm enough for -15 °C.

On the way North I made a hat from some of my handspun.

It turned out really well. I started it the night before we left and knit on the way to the airport, on the plane and finished it on the first short bus trip up north. It shocked some of my workmates that it was so quick to make :-)

The other travel projects were the Loopy socks above and my first Moebius scarf.

Fun to make and the perfect travelling project.

I don't think I have showed off my finished February Lady Sweater. Here it is:


Colour is most accurate in the first picture I think. I am very happy with it. The Malabrigo is so soft and the simple lace pattern becomes the slightly fuzzy yarn. I also made a matching hat!


Here are some pics of the blocked Adamas:


Adamas blocked out to be very large, but it has a nice drape and the Dream In Color Baby yarn is very nice.

This shawl/scarf is also very nice.

Unfortunately it is not mine anymore...


It was Moms birthday present and I really want one of my own. When I can justify buying the yarn for it. This was made from two balls of Noro Silk Garden Sock and I would like it larger... It is an absolutely gorgeous yarn for shawls but not very suitable for socks I think.

Socks... I made new socks for the big kids. Here are the ones for E:

... and the ones for H:

Oh, and I have started a simple shawl in Noro Kureyon sock.


I have one ball, we'll see how large the shawl gets, maybe it's just a scarf. I tried to make Ziggy's, working from both ends of the ball but the colours turned the same whatever I did so shawl it is!

Now I'm going to knit a bit before A wakes up! M's Cobble stone is still OTN, and I want to finish it (or at least up to the armpits) before I start a sweater (or three) for myself!

Lottery

For any fellow Swedes: Tummelisa has a lottery on the blog. You can win one of two 250 SEK gift cards. Not bad! Go there and enter (or not, so I get a bigger chance at the prizes ;-)

I went to my first ever spinning class this past weekend. Two and a half wool filled days. We learned about different kinds of Swedish sheep and tried their wool. We learned about the whole process from dirty fleece to finished yarn. Washing, carding, combing wool. Spinning on drop spindle and wheel. I can't say that I learned anything new about spinning, but I practised, and I learned a lot about Swedish wool and I tried combing and using a drum carder. I think I need to order some wool... Åddebo Ull and Ull i Sverige were mentioned as good sources. I'm on a yarn diet until Christmas, does that include fiber...?

Short commercial break...

There's a new store opening soon and they have an opening giveaway. Go here and register which handbag you'd like to win... (And yes, you get more tickets if you blog about it. How did you guess?)

I'll soon be back with some actual knitting content. I have Finished Objects!

Knitting dreams

I go to work and I dream of knitting. The things I want to make, yarn I want to try. Then I come home and get to knit maybe one hour total after having dinner and putting kids to bed and before yawning too much. Yesterday was Saturday so I knit a lot. Started and finished a project in the same day even. OK, so it was a hat, but still...

Pattern: Turn A Square by Jared Flood
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy in Cocoa Kiss (28 grams) and Noro Silk Garden in colour 226, a mix of purple, aqua and grey, (20 grams)
Needles: 4 mm dpn's for ribbing, 4.5 mm Harmony circ and dpn's for the rest.
Size: A little too big... It looks great on M (but he thinks it is too small somehow) but I made it for my dad and he doesn't have M's thick hair. We'll see. Maybe I have to make Dad another one, I've got plenty of leftovers.
Great pattern. I have seen so many awesome incarnations of this hat over at Ravelry. I will surely make this hat again, but maybe a little shorter before I start the decreases.

Quickie project of last weekend was a Dumpling bag.

I knit and felted it and it slowly dried with a balloon in its belly. I removed the balloon when the bag was dry on the outside so it could dry on the inside too. Today I managed to sew on the magnetic snap.


It is Loopy sized!

The Houdini socks got finished too! Yes, I have had way too many projects on the needles lately. Yes, it feels good to finish stuff for a change and not just start them.

I didn't do the fancy leg in the pattern, it didn't work very well with this yarn. These are for my sister in Australia, so I didn't make them as long as I usually do.
This was a fun way of making socks, an afterthought leg. Good thing: you get to choose the nicest side of the foot for the instep and toe. Bad thing: six ends per sock to weave in, instead of the usual two. This is a Cat Bordhi pattern, and I think that her next book will be all about this way of making socks. Maybe other new ways too. I loved her New Pathways book and I'm looking forward to the next one.

Now I really want to finish my February Lady sweater. The body is done and the first sleeve is about elbow length. I keep trying it on to decide how long I want it, about halfway between elbow and wrist. I have to find nice buttons too. Large dark wooden ones I think.

I got the first Wollmeise sock club package on Friday! I don't think I will blog it just yet. Anyway, both colours are awesome! One of them is so me, the other one not so much but still lovely. And the pattern is stunning. I won't start it right away though. It demands some concentration and I don't want to knit that kind of pattern right now.

Coming soon: Adamas is blocking!!!

Package and Projects

The final Hemlis 4 package arrived on Friday. Look at the stuff!

A big skein of Grignasco merino-silk lace yarn, 1400 meters/1500 yards, enough for a sizeable shawl, in a beautiful deep blue. A ball of pure silk yarn from Louisa Harding, DK weight. Luxurious wrist warmers maybe? Six pretty stitch markers that my pal made herself, and a big bag of licorice. Yum! Thank you so much Ulrika!

Knitting news: I am chugging along on my February Lady Sweater. It is coming along nicely and grows visibly whenever I work on it, the yarn is so thick. I'm not quite sure how long I want it to be, about hip length I think. That means 19-20 inches (maybe 50 cm) I am a bad knitter, I didn't wash my swatch so I have no idea how much the fabric will grow or shrink with washing and blocking. It feels like it will grow a bit though so I don't want to make it too long. I love to be able to try the sweater on as I go.

Because I have sooo much time on my hands now that I have gone back to work (note: severe irony) I started another sweater.


Cobblestone in the purple Bendigo Rustic I recently got from Australia. This time I swatched properly, so I know that if I follow the stitch count for the 47.5" size I will end up with a 43.5" sweater, which is what I want. I will of course follow the length numbers of the smaller size.

With all the large project going on I felt (ha ha) the need for a quick project that Got Finished. Enter the Dumpling from Interweave Knits Fall 2008. Here it is pre-felted (OK, pre-fulled, but everyone else is using the word felting for this process anyway)

A really quick knit that took less than two balls (100 meters) of the pretty Sarek yarn I got in another Hemlis 4-package. Here it is felted and drying with a balloon inside to get a nice shape.

I have never felted anything before (intentionally) so I wasn't quite sure how to do. I sewed it into a pillowcase, put it in the washing machine with a pair of jeans and ran a short cycle, and then another one, because not much had happened. It was a bit more felted after the second cycle but I finished the job with hot water, detergent and abuse in the sink. Maybe I should have just tossed it in a proper 60 °C long cycle. Might try that next time. Anyway, now it just needs to dry and then it will get a magnetic closure.

Finishing things

I have finished the Sea Socks (Ravelry). So called because the colourway is called Deep Blue Sea... Anyway, just a simple k3, p1 ribbed sock with contrasting toe, heel and cuff. And stripe. Toe-up of course!


The yarn is Duet Sock Yarn from A Swell Yarn Shop (via The Loopy Ewe)

They where made for M but they fit me just fine. I think I have to block them a bit. He has longer feet than me but not wider.

I have also finished knitting Adamas. It needs a good blocking but I am very happy with it.

Unblocked measurements are about 26" (65 cm) deep and 53" (133 cm) widem I think it will be a good size when it's done. This is my project for The Loopy Ewe Dream In Color Baby KAL. A great pattern, easy but not boring. I think it would be a good first lace project.

I almost forgot: I made it into the Wollmeise sock club! I really didn't think I would make it as it was a lottery but I did. First shipment is first or second week of September, can't wait! Each shipment will be 2 (!) skeins of Wollmeise yarn in exclusive colourways, sock pattern and goodies. Mmmm!

I forgot to mention...

... that Garnhärvan has 20% off lot of things in August. I fell down hard when I saw that they have Harmony needles. Soooo soon I will have my own set :-) They have a starter set and a luxury set but I put together my own for about the same cost but with exactly the stuff I wanted. I have no use for 8 mm needles or 120 cm cords or plastic carrying cases. And when I asked they even had 3.75 mm needles. I will sew my own case when my set arrives, I got some ideas off etsy.

Too many WIPs

I had a case of startitis recently and now I feel all scizofrenic (if that's a proper word) and like I make no progress at all. I knit knit knit but it is a few rows on one project and a few rows on another and nothing gets finished! Which makes me a bit apathetic. At the same time I want to start a million *new* projects. Must. Stop. Myself.

Whispering Pines has about one fifth of its edging done. This half of the edging is all purls and p2tog tbl. Can you say snail pace? I hope the other half is quicker! It looks nice though.


The yarn (Malabrigo Lace) wants to felt where I keep holding and turning the work. I can't work on this with sweaty hands.

I'm about halfway done with Adamas.


10 repeats are done but the rows are definitely getting longer! I love this shawl though. The Dream In Color Baby is lovely, soft and springy (I hope it blocks well and doesn't spring back though) and the pattern easy but not boring. I am aiming for 16 repeats right now. I want a big shawl, and I think that 2 more repeats plus a heavier yarn than the pattern suggests will do it.

I'm not working much on the Big Grey Shawl but I really like it too.


I got this kit at the annual Båstad Craft Fair this July. It is a lovely one-ply fingering weight from Solkustens Spinnverkstad that goes from medium grey to dark grey and back again. I am a sucker for natural grey wool.

They had many lovely sweaters knit up too. The shawl is very simple, cast on 400 stitches, garter stitch and decrease 4 stitches on every other row. They had a sample knit up, which I foolishly tried on, and I had to get the kit... So Cosy.

The Crazy Pi shawl is resting, I need more leftover sock yarn to continue.

So, socks... I finished the first Sea Sock yesterday. Me like! M says it's too small for him but I think it will block out perfectly. I had just enough of the blue yarn for the cuff I wanted to make but I have leftovers of the main yarn. DK weight, so not for the Pi.

Then there's the Houdini socks.

These are fun! A free Cat Bordhi pattern from the premier issue of the Twist Collective (if you haven't checked out Twist Collective: Go There Now!) First you knit feet, with toes at both ends and no leg opening. Idiot knitting, no though involved, almost. Then you decide where you want the leg, pick up stitches, snip a thread and knit an afterthought leg!

Daughter H wants socks too. She picked out a yarn, a solid green, and I think she'd like something lacy. I was thinking Scroll Lace from More Sensational Knitted Socks.

Pretty, but the pattern repeat is large and with my gauge it fits *me* and that's way too large for a four-year old. So they will be frogged. I have another pattern in mind but maybe I should finish some other socks first. Because I suddenly found that I had started a pair of Spring Forward socks too... The reasoning was (I think) that I had a skein of Socks That Rock, in green, and that's the yarn called for in the pattern, and I haven't tried STR before. I'm just one repeat into the sock but I can already see why poeple get so obsessed with STR... It feels So Nice and it is great to work with. The pooling however... not so great.

I'm trying to ignore it and just let it happen...

but I'm not sure that I can. I may have to adjust my tension a bit to make it spiral instead.

We won't mention the other two or three socks that lurk in my project basket.

I also feel bad for the February Lady Sweater that I started before the summer. I haven't worked on it in ages and soon enough it will be sweater weather here. And I want to knit a Cobblestone for M and one for A, and a Gathered Pullover for me, and then there is Bonnie and Wisteria from Twist Collective and the Feather and Fan Triangle shawl I just bought yarn for (Plötulopi/unspun Icelandic wool) and another couple of shawls, and hats and mittens and I ordered Silk Garden for a striped vest and a striped hat or two and... Not Enough Time. Did I mention that I go back to work in two weeks?

Oh, and here's a picture from our wedding.


And last but not least... BREADCRUMBS :-) ***waves to my Hemlis 4 pal***

Better go knit now don't you think?

Hot and Bothered

It is very hot here, and has been for a week or so. 30 degrees C, blazing sun, little or no wind. I am melting.

Lots of things have happened since my last post.
My sister and her family arrived from Australia bearing gifts and some stuff I ordered and had delivered to their house to save on shipping. 5 balls of this:


Bendigo Mills Rustic 8-ply in Damson. M picked this for a sweater. I want to make Cobblestone. It is a bit thinner than the original yarn so I'll have to rework the pattern a bit, or simply make a larger size. We'll see. There was also 5 balls of Bendigo Mills Colonial 8-ply in Oatmeal for me.


Not sure what kind of sweater I want yet. Maybe a cabled cardigan.
I am starting to run out of stash space. I used to have mainly sock and lace yarn, now I also have four sweater worths of yarn that takes up much more space. I have to reorganise my space a bit. Clear up the mess.

The day after sister arrived M and I got married. Just a small ceremony at the court house with four witnesses and the two older kids. No pics because they are still on dad's camera. We had a party a few days after at the Cottage. Lots of cooking and baking in advance, a hired tent on the lawn, and a great time was had by all. And nice presents :-)
After that we relaxed as hard as we could with six kids in the house and so-so weather. I managed to knit quite a lot though. Whispering Pines has grown quite a lot.


I am halfway through the last small chart before the knitted on edging begins. I'm eager to see it finished. And to see how big it turns out.

There has also been sock knitting. Two finished pairs, no less. Pillars of Fire in Wollmeise from The Loopy Ewe sock club.



Nice yarn (but a little splitty), great colourway and a great pattern that was easy to memorise. A good toe-up heel-flap-and-gusset pattern too.

I also finished a pair of plain socks in a fun selfstriping yarn from sKNITches, Syncopation in Dragontooth.


Maybe not really my colours but they are fun, and I love the base yarn and the dye job. More details on both pairs on Ravelry (apologies to those of you not on Ravelry yet, but I don't have time for great details on both places and Ravelry is a great place and you really should check it out anyway)

I have started two new pairs, but no pics of those yet. I have decided to try to always have a plain pair on the needles and keep it downstairs at the TV, and a more complicated pair upstairs. So now I have started a plain pair for M in Duet sock yarn and a lacy pair for H.

I got a package in the mail! From my Hemlis 4-pal, look!


Great smelling tea (that I will try when the weather cools off!), yummy chocolate, a fun card, and look at the yarn! Three balls of Sarek from Marks & Kattens. A bulky wool yarn I haven't seen before. Maybe mittens? And 500 meters wool/silk lace weight, Elegant from Teetee in a beautiful plum colour. I have to find a pretty lace pattern for this!
Thank you so much for the great package, Ulrica! It made my day.

I finally managed to block the Brambles scarf I made from my own handspun.


I am very happy with it. It is heavy and soft with a great drape. It is also rather short but I can fasten it with one of my new shawl pins.


I found these through the Knitspot fan group on Ravelry, they are from Knitcellaneous.

Process or Product?

Am I a process knitter or a product knitter? I think about it sometimes, but I honestly don't know. I have seen discussions here and there and those people seem to Know that they are one or the other, never in between. No questions or doubts.

I, on the other hand, feel very in between. I *love* the process. Dreaming about things to knit. Choosing pattern and yarn. Knitting, knitting. Admiring the fabric flowing off my needles. The fact that I am creating something from nothing. The colour, the texture of the fabric. Process knitter.

But I would never knit something that I didn't like, didn't want to wear. I *want* that shawl, that sweater, those socks, that's why I knit them. If I didn't want the finished item, why would I finish it? Product knitter.

So I am in between. Both. And for me there is nothing else to be.

I am knit, knit, knitting on Whispering Pines. I finished chart H yesterday and I *love* it. Have I said that before? Well, I do. I don't have any new pictures of it though. As I said, it is getting hard to photograph.

Sheri started a new KAL with a yarn discount, and I fell for it. I mean, Dream In Color Baby, how could I not? I got two lovely skeins of Petal Shower


and two equally lovely skeins of Night Watch.


Night Watch is becoming Adamas.


Here it is after one repeat of the main chart. I have knit two more repeats since then. They are nice and quick compared to the 400+ stitches per row of Whispering Pines...

I feel that I have to ration my Adamas knitting so I don't abandon Whispering Pines. "Knit so and so much on Whispering Pines, then you can knit one repeat on Adamas" I'm not sure how many repeats I will do. I want it to be BIG. The original is 72" (180 cm) across and 36" (90 cm) down with "real" lace weight yarn and 14 pattern repeats. DIC Baby is thicker, halfway to fingering, so mine will definitely be bigger at 14 repeats. I have twice the yardage that the pattern calls for too, so we'll see where I end up. I love how the fabric is coming out, drapey and squishy at the same time. And the colour is to die for! Blues and purples, mmm.

Dream In Color is a bit tricky to buy on the 'net. You never know what colour you will get. They have no dye lots, but I think they should have, because they differ very much from batch to batch. For instance, I got one skein of Gothic Rose for accent on my EPS sweater. A lovely colour, blackish plum. After that KAL you got 20% off Classy so I got four more skeins thinking that I would make a sweater with the first one. No go, they aren't remotely the same colour.

These are brown, with just a hint of plum. In fact, the colour is almost the same as the single skein of Cocoa Kiss I got ages ago.

I think it will work if I stripe it in, or use it for ribbing. I am a bit miffed anyway, because brown is not really my thing and the first Gothic Rose I have is so yummy, I would very much have wanted a sweater in it.

Hemlis 4 package

My moaning yesterday paid off. First I got a reassuring comment from my pal that the package was in the mail, and today it turned up!

Two balls of Sirdar Baby Bamboo, a DK weight 80% bamboo 20% wool yarn. So soft and a pretty lilac colour. A scarf maybe? A set of Knit Picks harmony dpn's. They are beautiful, and match the yarn very well :-) Maybe I should make a hat instead so I can use the needles with the yarn? There is also a pack of knitter's marking pins which will come in handy for sewing up sweaters, and a flowery card.

Thank you so much, my secret friend!

Shawl obsession

I have been totally obsessed with shawls lately. Lace shawls. Working on shawls, planning shawls, dreaming about shawls. I'm working on Whispering Pines mostly.

It is getting too large to photograph, I have just started the pine tree section. I love it! Love the yarn too, Malabrigo Lace in a lovely brownish red. The first ball of yarn is running out, I have two more to go.

Then there is my crazy Pi shawl out of socks yarn leftovers. This one is even more hopeless to photograph, so I didn't bother :-) I worked a fair bit on it over the last weekend (Midsummer), mostly in the car going to and from the Cottage. I'm on my last ball of suitable leftover now, so I guess I have to finish some socks soon! Luckily I have two pairs on the go, Pillars of Fire (latest Loopy Sock Club offering)


in Wollmeise in reds and browns, and a plain pair of self-striping sKNITches. sKnitches will end up in the shawl, the Wollmeise might be too thin. I'm not using my thinnest yarns for this one, so no Regia or Opal or Trekking. Very soothing a nd nearly brainless knitting, this shawl. I am doing k2tog, yo circles every six rounds but that's about it. My only concern is how big I should make it. How much will it grow in blocking? I want a large cosy usable shawl, so 180 cm (70") across maybe? I also don't want to make another increase round... I am already up to 578 stitches per round. The edging will add som to the size of course. I plan a plain garter stitch knit-on edging, maybe 10 stitches wide.

I started the Anniversary Mystery Shawl from Goddess Knits too. Here it is after the first clue (chart B)

This is also a Pi shawl, and each clue have four charts to choose from (at least the two first ones do), so all the shawls turn out differently. I have started the second clue (also chart B), but I am getting second thoughts about it. The concept is great and all that but I think I would rather choose my very own patterns for the Pi. The yarn is Baruffa Cashwool in Lt Lime, BTW. Lovely but maybe better on a slightly smaller needle, I'm using 3.25 mm now.

I am trying very hard to resist buying Icelandic unspun yarn for another Pi. I have found it for sale in a Swedish store for a good price (30 SEK/100 g)

Then Sheri did it again. A KAL I can't resist. You know I knit two sweaters for the Dream In Color sweater KAL? Now Sheri started a Dream In Color Baby KAL. Baby is the DIC lace weight... Yes I have ordered yarn. For two shawls. Two skeins of Night Watch for a big Adamas shawl, and two skeins of Petal Shower, possibly for Queen Anne's Lace. The yarn is in transit... I will knit as much as I can on Whispering Pines before it arrives, because I will want to cast on Adamas as soon as.

I haven't quite abandoned the sweaters though. I started the lovely February Lady Sweater.


The yarn is Malabrigo Worsted (The Loopy Ewe carries it now!). If the colour looks familiar it's because it is. It's the same as in my Whipsering Pines shawl! Except that it seems to be a little lighter.

I finished something too! The Butterfly Jacket from the latest Wool Gathering.

I saw it on the cover and I *had* to start subscribing just to get the pattern. Yes I seem to have some sort of EZ obsession too.

Pattern: Butterfly Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann (Wool Gathering #78)
Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers 2448 Petrol Blue, about two skeins I think
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: Small
Verdict: A fun and easy knit. This was my TV knitting while it lasted, the pattern for the short-row turns is easily memorized. I was a bit concerned about the vest being a bit old-ladyish, but I think it is great. Nice to slip on when it is just a little chilly. I did the seamless version, picking up stitches at the neck for the second half and joining at the back. The only seam was the inch or so I seamed at the center back.

And yes, I got a haircut :-)

My Hemlis 4-pal has got her package (and likes it!) I am still waiting for min. Two more post-days in June...

WWKIP and Hemlis 4

I participated in WWKIP day on Saturday. 6 knitters (4 adults and 2 kids) on the lawn outside the main library in town. We had a great time knitting and chatting for two and a half hours before the rain came and chased us away.

And for any Hemlis 4 people out there: I posted my first package today, maybe it is for you! I've had so much fun reading my recipients blog and planning the packages. I had some fitting yarn in my stash, and I have ordered some especially for her. Plus some other fun things! I hope I get *my* package soon, I'm so excited!

Flamingo EPS sweater

I have neglected to blog my finished sweater because I didn't have any nice pictures of it. My plan was to persuade M to take the photos but here has been so hot that I forgot all about woolly sweaters for a while. Today however the weather is cool (and windy and rainy) so I came to think about the sweater again. I had to take the pics myself of course, because M is at work.


Pattern: A concoction of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Percentage System, the Waist Shape Calculator at Knitting Daily, and the yoke sweater pattern in Ann Budd's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns.
Size: A very customized 42" hip, 33.5" waist and 39" bust, total length is about 23". Overall ease is about 1.5".
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy in Flamingo Pie (about 4.5 skeins) and Gothic Rose (a tiny bit)
Needles: 3.5 mm for inside of the hems and 4 mm for the rest Addi Turbo's of various lengths

I started the body with a picot hem and after about 2" I worked 4 sets of short rows to make the back about 1” longer than the front, with a rounded shape. I had 101 sts across the back at this point.

1st set: Knit until 25 sts remain to the side marker, w&t. Purl back until 25 sts remain to the other side marker, w&t.
2nd set: Knit until 15 sts remain to the side marker, w&t. Purl back until 15 sts remain to the other side marker, w&t.
3rd set: Knit until 5 sts remain to the side marker, w&t. Purl back until 5 sts remain to the other side marker, w&t.
4th set: Knit until 5 sts after the side marker, w&t. Purl back until 5 sts after the other side marker, w&t.
Pick up the wraps and knit them together with the wrapped stitch as you get to them.

Here you can see that the back is longer than the front.


The sleeves have picot hems and decreases every 5 rounds up to the elbow, then they are straight.

After I joined the body and sleeves I knit a couple of rounds and then worked three sets of short rows to give a bit more room for the shoulders, like so:
Place markers at sleeve centers.
1st set: Work to shoulder + 12 sts, w&t
2nd set: Work to shoulder + 10 sts, w&t
3rd set: Work to shoulder + 16 sts, w&t

I got the idea for these short rows over at Mim's blog where she explained how she made her beautiful EPS cardigan. I reworked the numbers for my gauge. Mim also helped me (on Ravelry) to understand how to make the short rows at the hem. Thank you so much!

The yoke shaping took some trial and error. At first I followed EZ and Meg Swansen and knit 5" straight before the first decrease round of 25% of the stitches. Second decrease (33%) round was done after 7.5" and after a few more inches I tried the sweater on. Horror! The yoke didn't fit at all, it was loose and baggy and horrible. Apparently I needed to make 4 decrease rounds instead of three, and start them sooner too. I ripped back and did the decreases at 2.25", 4.5", 6.75" and 7.75" instead. This is more like the decreases in The Handy Book Of Sweater Patterns, and Meg Swansen's mods for larger sizes. The important thing here is trying the sweater on and see what works for you.

After the last decrease round I worked short rows again to raise the neck.
1st set: Work to shoulder, w&t
2nd set: Work to shoulder - 5 sts, w&t
3rd set: Work to shoulder - 10 sts, w&t

Then I knit a picot hem at the neck. Oh, and I knit a little zigzag pattern after the second yoke decrease. I just couldn't resist!

Here is the sweater blocking.

I am very happy with this sweater (and that I managed to finish *two* sweaters in the Loopy DIC KAL!) I have always considered adult sweaters to be slow in the making, but these two were really fast. But my previous sweaters have been mostly colour work things in rather small gauges...

My next sweater will be the February Lady Sweater in red Malabrigo worsted that I snagged at the latest Loopy Ewe sneakup! Actually the same red (Sealing Wax) as in my new shawl project, Whispering Pines in Malabrigo Lace. Pattern by Knitspot. She is by far my favourite lace designer.

Here it is after charts A and B. the pattern is rather dense here but it gets more lacy soon. And blocking will help.

I actually ordered blocking wires! I'm so excited! I have a finished scarf to try them on the minute they arrive. Or soon after they arrive anyway. It is aroll of wire to be cut in the lengths I want. Suggestions for good lengths would be much appreciated! Ready-made wires seem to be between 12" and 36" inches. I will check more when my wire gets here.

Oh, and here is the machine that has made me into a die-hard coffee drinker!

It is a Nespresso machine that uses little pre-packed capsules of coffee, one for each cup of espresso (yes, I know, not very environmentally friendly, but great coffee!) There are loads of different varieties of coffee blends to try and it is easy peasy to make just one cup. I always drink mine with lots of milk! Low-lactose milk nowadays, as I have realised that I am lactose intolerant.

Hemlis 4

Here are my answers to the secret pal exchange Hemlis 4. It's a Nordic exchange arranged by StickaMera, so I'm doing this in Swedish only.

1. Vilken sorts garn tycker du mest om? (Ull, akryl, bomull osv.) Är det något material du absolut inte tycker om?

Jag tycker mest om ull som inte sticks :-) och silke. Gillar inte akryl (plast!), och bomull är stumt och bråkigt att sticka med tycker jag. Animaliska fibrer helst alltså, fast lite nylon i strumpgarner är ju bra.

2. Vilka är dina favoritfärger?

Blått, rött, lila. Klara, glada färger, är inte så mycket för pasteller.

3. Är det någon färg du absolut inte tycker om?

Beige, grönt på egen hand (men tillsammans med blått är det jättefint), brunt på egen hand (men också snyggt ihop med blått)

4. Vilken sorts stickor tycker du bäst om/använder du helst? (Trä, metall, plast? Rundstickor, raka, strumpstickor?)

Jag använder rundstickor i metall till det mesta, även strumpor och tröjärmar (magic loop) Älskar mina Addi Turbo och Knit Picks rundstickor och drömmer om ett Options-set. Jag använder strumpstickor nån gång ibland, men aldrig nånsin långa raka.

5. Hur länge har du stickat? Anser du dig vara nybörjare, avancerad eller mittemellan?

Minns inte riktigt när jag lärde mig sticka men det måste vara närmare 30 år sen, jag var rätt liten i alla fall. Är väl tämligen avancerad, hur man nu ska definiera det... klarar av att sticka det mesta, justerar mönster när det behövs och designar lite själv.

6. Dricker du kaffe? Te?

Kaffe med mjölk. Jag och sambon fick en väldigt trevlig Nespresso-maskin i gemensam födelsedagspresent i år. Den används flitigt! Annars dricker jag helst te, svart eller grönt.

7. Är du allergisk mot något?

Laktos har jag just fått reda på :-/ Och nötter, mandel, jordnötter etc. Och starka dofter har jag svårt att klara. Och råa äpplen (fast äppelpaj går bra. Med vaniljsås, tack)

8. Vilken slags musik tycker du om?

Hmm, favoriterna är väl Depeche Mode, Pet Shop Boys och U2. Lite modernare: Eskobar och Rammstein.

9. Favoritgodis?

Mörk choklad. Fast det är väl ett livsmedel? Saltlakrits är inte dumt det heller.

10. Håller du på med någon annan "skapande hobby", förutom stickning? (Spinna, scrapbooking, virkning osv.)

Jag spinner, nybörjare sen december i fjol. Har en begagnad Louet S10 och en liten slända. Jag har också sytt rätt mycket lapptäcken, fast det har legat nere några år. Sen jag upptäckte strumpstickning ungefär...

11. Vad tycker du är roligast att sticka? Mössor? Sjalar? Tröjor? osv...

Strumpor och spetssjalar

12. Prenumererar du på någon sticktidning?

Interweave Knits

13. Har du något drömprojekt på önskelistan?

Jag har ungefär 100 projekt i min Ravelry-kö... Högt upp ligger en damaskmönstrad tröja i regnbågsfärgad Kauni och nån mysig spetssjal designad av Knitspot

14. Använder du pulsvärmare/handledsvärmare? I så fall, vad är ditt handledsmått?

Jag har inga men jag skulle väl kunna göra det. Mina handleder är 16 cm i omkrets, men händerna är drygt 20 cm runtom tummen så de ska ju gå att dra på också...

15. Tycker du om att sticka pulsvärmare?

Har faktiskt aldrig provat, men det är säkert ett kanonbra sätt använda strumpgarnsrester :-)

16. Stickar du sockor?

Japp

17. Vad har du för fotstorlek? (T.ex. längd, omkrets på tjockaste stället.)

Skostorlek 39-40. Mina fötter är 22,5 cm runtom som mest och 25 cm långa. Jag har höga fotvalv och jag gillar tajta strumpor. Jag brukar göra skaften ca 15 cm långa.

18. När fyller du år?

30 maj. Alldeles nyss, alltså :-)

19. Stickar du med pärlor?

Jag har stickat en sjal med pärlor (Mystery Stole 3) och gillade resultatet, där kunde gott varit ännu fler pärlor! Kan absolut tänka mig fler projekt med pärlor.

20. Vilken slags böcker (ej stickning) läser du helst? (Deckare? Fakta? Romaner?)

Fantasy och science fiction (på engelska om det är orginalspråket) Lord of the Ring och Harry Potter är favoriter. Stephen Brust och Neil Gaiman är andra favoritförfattare. Tyvärr har jag inte så mycket tid att läsa nu för tiden, har jag möjlighet är jag en bokmal!

Finally Francie socks

My first pair of finished socks for, I don't know, quite a while. For a while there I didn't feel like knitting socks at all. No inspiration. I have a number of started socks but none of them really appealed to me.

Besides, I have been knitting two sweaters lately. (Yes, the EPS is done, I just need to force M to take some nice pictures for me)

Then I found Francie. Finally a pattern I really, really liked. And which seemed perfect for the poor beautiful red yarn that had been wound in a cake forever and ever and that I had started (and frogged) three or four patterns with already.

Pattern: Francie by Rebekkah Kerner at Bowerbird Knits
Yarn: All Things Heather kettle dyed superwash merino, colour Maraschino, 1 skein, not too much left overs.
Needles: 2.25 mm KnitPicks circ, magic loop of course :-)
Mods: None, really, except that I did only 2 pattern repeats on the legs. They are 7" long anyway. Good thing too, because I would have run out of yarn otherwise.

I'm not all that excited over the leg pattern, it's just a bit strange.

If I knit these socks again I will probably just do a 2x2 ribbed leg.
The foot, however, I adore.

I have high arches and the fabric hugs them wonderfully. And the sole is so beautiful! I'm toying with the idea of making them upside down. I.e. have this tree structure on the instep. Should be possible. Somehow. Hmm.

Both socks. They are a tiny bit big, even though I just have one single row between the arch shaping and the toe. Maybe my row gauge is very different from the designer's. At first I thought I would have to give them to M, but right now it seems like they fit me fine.


They look very silly off the foot or blocker...

All better now

Fits like a glove, just as I wanted. The sweater will probably grow a little in its first bath, and the puckering from the short rows and the decreases will even out.

I have a good chance of finishing this in May after all. It would be fun to finish *two* sweaters for the DIC KAL :-)

Slap!

Shouldn't have said that the EPS sweater was almost done. Slap! on the head from the knitting godess. I tried it on yesterday evening, almost done with the yoke, and the fit was... strange... to say the least. Bodice nice and fitted just as before. But the yoke hung like a sack, much too large. Sigh. I put the monster away and worked on a sock.

It was obvious that I had too many stitches in the yoke but how should I decrease for a better fit? Suddenly I remembered that there is a 4-decrease variation in The Opinionated Knitter (incidentally, this is the same decreases as for the seamless yoke sweater in The Knitter's Handy Book of Sweater Patterns) So this morning I ripped, ripped and started doing the decreases this way instead. The first decrease is done at 2.25" instead of after 4.5-5" and this seems to work much better for me.

Knock on wood, and all that.

EZ

I am on some sort of Elizabeth Zimmermann binge. Reading her books (I got The Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Around in the post this week), watching her on DVD (I got the Knitting Workshop DVD too) and knitting her pattern (I'm almost done with an EPS sweater), feeling very inspired and wanting to knit many more of her patterns. To think that I never knew she existed until a few years ago... Amazing how her patterns don't look very dated either, after all these years.

As I was finishing up Twist I felt the urge for another DIC sweater, and I have been wanting to knit an EPS sweater for some time, soooo I got me some DIC Classy in Flamingo Pie, plus a lone skein of Gothic Rose to use as contrasting hems (from The Loopy Ewe of course) These colourways go together really well! I was a bit uncertain of the combination but the Loopy Elves very kindly checked it for me. Gothic Rose is a dark eggplanty colour, and Flamingo Pie is a mild orange with yellow and light eggplant accents. I would love me a sweater of Gothic Rose someday, lovely colour!


You may see that the 'non-pooling' Dream In Color has pooled into a yellow zigzag on the chest (of course not on the back...) I don't think that it is very visible IRL though.

The hems of my sweater have the dark yarn on the inside and picot edge


and the rest of the sweater is plain except for a small zigzag on the yoke, right after the first decrease round.

First I wasn't going to put in any yoke patterns, but the sweater asked for it! I haven't decided what to do about the neck yet, maybe a picot hem just like the other edges, maybe just a plain roll neck. We'll see.

I have read many discussions about how to hold the yarn when knitting with two colours, but I have never seen my way described. So here it is. I hold both yarns parallell in my left hand (I knit left-handed/Continental/picking)


If I am careful to keep them some distance apart it is easy to pick the one I want for my next stitch.


You have to be careful not to pull the yarns to tight though. The floats must not pull the fabric in.
My zigzag has two rounds with 5 stitches of one colour and then one of the other. On those rounds I tried to carry the single stitch yarn in my right hand and throw those stitches. That worked rather well, and the floats came out nice and loose without any fussing.

I also have a new sock! My sock mojo has been missing lately, but when I saw Yarn Harlot's Francie socks I had to get the pattern and cast on. The pattern has been in my Ravelry queue for some time but now I realised that this, at last, was the perfect pattern for the red All Things Heather sock yarn that I wound up ages ago and had started at least three patterns with already. Hedgerow socks, Brother Amos' Brimstone socks and a few others got frogged. Nice patterns, but not for this yarn. Francie on the other hand is perfect!


One sock is done and the other is started.

And this is how happy you are when you get to climb the stairs!

Twist & Mystery Stole 3

We have finished objects!
This is Twist, my project for the Dream In Color Sweater KAL at The Loopy Ewe.

Pattern: Twist by Bonne Marie Burns, collar version.
Size: 40"
Yarn: Dream In Color Classy in Some Summer Sky, purchased at The Loopy Ewe, 5 skeins.
Needles: 4 mm and 4,5 mm
Verdict: Great pattern, most things are clearly described and the fit is great. I did miss the total length and width of the sleeves when blocking. The yarn is yummy but wanted to stretch like crazy when I blocked it (wet blocking) As a result I think that the sleeves came out slightly longer than intended, but they are quite wearable.



And then, only eight months after I finished the knitting, we have Mystery Stole 3, aka Swan Lake!

Pattern: Mystery Stole 3 by Melanie Gibbons.
Yarn: Jaggerspun Zephyr wool/silk, about 1,5 2 oz balls.
Needles: 3,5 mm Addi Lace
Verdict: It was so much fun to knit this! I followed the KAL almost in time for most of the clues and it was great to see the pattern evolve. And the result is beautiful. The stole may not be very useable for me right now, with little kids and all, but someday. At least I'll wear it on my wedding this summer (I don't mind about the sad story of the theme)


I finished knitting this the day before my son was born, and the blocking has been on hold because I was unsure about how to do it well. I really would like some blocking wires, now I have to make do with cotton string and pins.


The Addi Lace needles are so-so. They are nice and pointy but I don't like their unslippery-ness (that *must* be a proper word, right?) The brass coating matted right away so they are not so nice to work with as my KnitPicks circs. I did have some extra problem with the short-row part, August temperatures made the yarn felt slightly but it is not very noticeable now after blocking.


Maybe I should block on a more neutral towel?

Party Sweater

My first handspun knitted project is all done! Behold the Party Sweater:


Pattern: Incredible Custom-Fit Raglan
Size: Current H-size, smallish 4-year-old
Yarn: 18 ounces/500 g of my own handspun superwash Corriedale (Party Dress from Spunky Eclectic Fiber Club December 2007) plied with superwash merino from Wingham Wool Work I was aiming for worsted weight but it turned into bulky. My handspun fluffs up a lot in the wash.
Needles: 5.5 mm Addis
Verdict: Good pattern, except that it would have you make a very snug neck. I didn't. Other than that: no problem. H tried it on several times and once I had to rip because the sweater was too big. Bit at 3 sts/in this thing grew so fast that a little ripping didn't matter much.
See my Ravelry project for more info.

Fiber:


Yarn:


Sweater:


Baby A likes it too :-)

Hi again!

I am still here, believe it or not! So much has happened since I last blogged that I hardly know where to start... Brace yourself for a huge post!

I have almost knit a sweater. Sheri at The Loopy Ewe started a Dream In Color sweater KAL with a 20% discount on the yarn, DIC Classy. After much agonising over what colour to get (and they colours were selling out fast!) I ordered six lovely skeins of Some Summer Sky. I figured that six skeins would be enough for any sweater.

Then I had to decide on a pattern... Twist by Bonne Marie Burns won at last. I have knit all the pieces and blocked them this weekend.


Blocking was a bit scary. I decided to wet-block and the even though I tried to be really careful with the wet pieces they wanted to streeeeetch like mad! I had to leave them for a while and then tried to push them together again to the right size. I think I managed to get them about right. Button bands and collar (I'm not doing the hood) will be begun Real Soon. Spring has started for real this time (I sincerely hope!) and Twist will be perfect as outerwear for a while.

H's Party Sweater has grown a bit but Twist has been more fun so it's not done yet. Though when I work on it it grows really fast, 3 sts and 5 rows to the inch, say no more.


Thi is an old pic, I have almost finished the body and 1/3 of a sleeve. It is great to be able to try it on as I go! There has been some ripping and adjusting. First I made it too big before splitting for sleeves, then the sleeve got too narrow. I hope I don't have to rip back any more now, I want this thing finished!

I have blocked other things as well. The Zenzi scarf has been patiently waiting since October...


Pattern: Woodland shawl, scarf version
Size: 41 sts, about 150 cm long
Yarn: Wollmeise sockenwolle, colour Zenzi
Needles: 3,5 mm
Verdict: Nice pattern, easy to learn by heart. I prefer to knit from a chart and made my own. Now there is one linked from the pattern page. There were one or two small errors in the pattern but they have been corrected. The stitch pattern is of course somewhat lost in this busy yarn but I like it anyway. The brown black and white reminds me of birch bark.
The yarn is a bit odd, it feels almost like cotton even though it is 100% wool. It is also a bit splitty. It blocked just fine, and softened too. I have to make socks from this yarn (I have a few more skeins) and see how it behaves then.


Obstacles is also done.


Pattern: Obstacles by Anne Hanson
Yarn: Dream In Color Smooshy, 2 skeins Ruby River
Needles: 4,5 and 5 mm
Verdict: Mmmm. Lovely pattern, great texture to the stitch pattern, easy to learn by heart. I love Anne's designs!
The yarn is really nice too and it got a lovely drape after blocking. The second skein was more varegiated than the first one but I don't mind.


The shawl fits little girls too!



What else? Lets see... Oh yes, socks! I finished the Tall Tibetan socks over Easter (at the cottage. This fireplace is the main heat source. Very cosy)


Pattern: Tall Tibetan socks from New Pathways for Sock Knitters by Cat Bordhi.
Size: 50 sts
Yarn: Schaefer Lola in Raspberry Mocha
Needles: 2.75 mm
Verdict: I like knitting this pattern but the fit isn't so good for feet with high insteps like mine. The sock is a bit inelastic just there.
The yarn is nice to work with (and sportweight yarn make quick socks :-) but I'm not really happy with the pooling. The light brown is my least favourite colour in the yarn and of course it wanted to show itself off in big streaks...

I started a new pair of socks too (even though I have two other OTN) I saw someones striped Noro socks and just *had* to...

I'm using colours S40 and S102 of the Kureyon sock yarn, two rounds of each, and Wendy's toe-up slip-stitch heel pattern. I am almost at the start of the gusset. The yarn isn't very nice to work with, tight and a bit rough and splitty with my 2 mm needles, slow going. But it softens as you work with it and it is fun to watch the colors change :-)

And when Spring Knitty came I just had to cast on this:


The Lace Ribbon scarf. I am making it a little narrower than the pattern suggests, 44 sts instead of 53. The yarn is from Gypsy Girl Creations, fingering weight in Blueberries and Cream.

Spinning: I spun some lovely top from Squoosh, merino called Kiss. Here is the fiber


the singles

and the yarn

185 meters of two-ply, about sport weight or DK I think.

Then there was the Spunky club fiber for February, Think Spring. Fiber


singles


yarn




4 oz/110 g South African Fine, Navajo plied (my first. That took some concentration!) 100 m/110 yds of worsted weight. I have 12 more ounces of this (I got 8 ounces from Spunky, then someone on my mailing list wanted to sell her 8 ounces and I jumped) I haven't decided if I want to treat the rest of the fiber the same or if I should experiment.

Last but certainly not least, some superwash merino handpainted by Aija of Zero. I won't show the fiber because I couldn't get a colour correct photo of it. Here are the singles:

and the yarn:



I really liked spinning this. The fiber was pretty, and the yarn is oh so much prettier. The colourway is called Glass Nyctimene and it really looks like glass. The colours are translucent somehow and they go together so well. I am happy! This is 115 m/125 yds of DK weight 2-ply.

And today my four year old H learned to ride a bike without training wheels! On the first go! She is amazing. She wanted to try her friend's bike without training wheels and I said sure, I'll hold on to you. But I didn't have to. She figured out how to start all by herself too. Turning corners is still a litte difficult, but I bet she'll have that down pat when we get to daycare tomorrow.
Here she comes with her big brother E (who was a year older when we coaxed him to shed the training wheels)

Wrooooom
She was smiling so wide I thought her head would burst :-)