Strikkebloggen

secret pal 11 package!

2008-02-14T22:57:00.002+02:00

It came, it came! From my angel in germany :D THANKYOU!

My MAC has crashed thoroughly - pictures will have to come later.

A little bit of progress

2007-12-25T20:08:00.000+02:00

Christmas socks and a scarfs are all done and away, luckily.
Well, I still have one Monkey-sock to go to someone who´s gone until after christmas anyhow, so I´m working my way slowly on that. It´s in Claudia\s Handpainted yarn, the colorway is Twilight, and it´s turning out kind of weird and stripy. I´ll put in a picture once they´re done.

The picture shows the slight progress for my autumn rose - this has been resting since the beginning of december.

On the road...

2007-12-05T23:19:00.000+02:00

I´ve been in the US for vacation-work and what a superproductive trip it has been, knittingwise!
I bought some beautiful yarns - cherry tree hill superwash merino in gorgeous greens and pinks, and some wonderfully bright colinette jitterbug colourways summerberry and raspberry - I think. And some brown alpakka wool on super cheap sale, perfect for wintery gifts such as mittens and scarfs.
I´m even halfway into monkey sock#2 in the cherry tree hill yarn, 20cm into my autumn rose sweater and finished sock#2 for both the schaefer anne simple-socks and the bright green wavy patterned socks!
And although I´ve been through umpteen security controls at airports, no one ever attempted to take my knitting needles from me.

Pictures to come once I get them uploaded.

solved one problem, got myself another...

2007-11-11T21:14:00.000+02:00

I solved the problem with the bright green socks! Frogged back to the heel, changed to thinner needles, and knitted back down again with additional decreases. Now I only have to remember what I did on the second sock, which is coming along nicely.

But... the Autumn Rose sweater... Somehow I misread the instructions and used needles 3.5 to knit about the first 12cm or so. The sweater was HUGE! Then I discovered the mistake, it should have been needles 3. But the sweater was approximately 20cm too wide, and just downsizing the needles by .5 wont do.
So I ripped the whole thing, restarted on needles 2.5 which is .5 less than called for and perfect according to my swatching (which I didn´t do last time). And, changed to one size smaller.

Problem solved? Don´t know yet, but at least I´m on it again. Don´t like the 3stockinette - 1purl edge at the bottom, and I definitely don´t like to redo it. But hopefully, this time the sweater will fit me.

Autumn Rose has arrived!

2007-10-30T21:11:00.000+02:00

wheheee!!!
The yarn + pattern for Autumn Rose arrived in the mail today!
It even somehow escaped the import customs +vat radar and made it through unscathed.

It looks wonderful! And with 3.25mm needles, it´s a nice change for the 2mm needles I´ve been using for socks + some other stuff lately.
I´m starting it right away! Picture will come...

gaahh!!! How irritating is this?!

2007-10-24T19:57:00.000+02:00

It´s obviously the week of difficult socks! How else to explain this...reluctance to turn into something beautiful and nice?

First, the gorgeous Claudia Handpainted sockyarn I bought at loopy ewe. Wonderful stuff, even had a nice scent. I knitted it up into the japanese feather socks. The gauge was right on spot! My gut feeling was telling me to go for 2mm needles rather than 2.5mm as called for in the pattern for the main lace knitting, the socked seemed to turn out kind of big. But oh well, I settled on the "I don´t frog, besides, I will fix it when blocking"-approach. Duh!
Not enough yarn!!! Bummer, now I´m going to have to frog anyhow or find someone with really short yet stubby feet. (the picture shows the "finished" sock, and what´s left of the yarn, top right in the picture)

Secondly, I tried the Schaefer Anne yarn on a third sock pattern, with some small faux braids. I´ve tried this yarn on several socks before, but it always turns out too loose and stretchy, just like it did this time as well. Finally, I caved in! I´m knitting it into completely normal, simple and easy socks. This yarn will NOT be bothering me anymore!!
That being said, theyre turning into rather nice, normal, simple and easy socks :-)

Part of my irritation with this yarn is probalby what happened with it when I went to wind it from the skein- the picture says it all. My method ALWAYS works, so this really annoys me. I open up the skein and put it so that the yarn is wrapped around both my underarms. I then wind up the yarn into a ball, keeping my underarms apart, so that the yarn stays wrapped that way while I wind it. Much easier than using backs of chairs, knees, hubbies arms, and all other strange things I see people using.

Oh, I also sent a couple of packages to my Secret Pal 11. She liked the yarn and stuff I sent so much, it was really touching! Makes me want to send more :D

New yarn, finished projects

2007-10-11T19:49:00.000+02:00

Some new yarn arrived in the mail today! Yummy!
I got some K.Knits Superwash Me sockyarn, colourway Alaska, and Claudia Hand Painted Yarn fingering weight yarn colours limeade and twilight. Gorgeous stuff and so, so soft.

I also finished some mittens that I really like. They´re made from the Camel Wool yarn I received from my secret pal 10. The pattern is from My Life´s Work Free Patterns. I´ll definitely make more of these mittens for xmas presents or something, they´re so quick and easy yet look like quite complex.

Finally, a really bad picture of a sock for one of my nieces. It has a little pattern from Socks Socks Socks that I quite like with the stripey yarn. Spices it up a little bit.

My pomatomus are done!

2007-09-28T12:51:00.000+02:00

My lovely Pomatomus, from a Knitty pattern.
The yarn is Sock yarn from Silkwood, in a very rich ruby color called Garnet. They also have some striking green and blue colours and the yarn is easy to work with and makes a nice result, so I´m planning more Pomatomus socks in Silkwood yarn. The yarn is bought at Woolly Workshop.
The picture is a bad one from my mobile...

I tried ordering yarn for the autumn rose sweater, but unfortunately several shops seem to be out of the main gold color of the pattern. I´m waiting eagerly!

Finally back on the knitting track

2007-09-12T21:22:00.000+02:00

I started the day by ordering, or at least sending some questions regarding purchase, of the Eunny Yang Autmn Rose fair isle sweater! I also signed up for the KAL at iloveautumnrose.blogspot.com so I´m getting there.
The picture is of the shawl from the Maskerader magazine by norwegian "Du Store Alpakka" - an alpacca yarn factory. I knitted the shawl from some lovely mohair++ yarn from Fleece Artist and I love it to bits. It´s so soft and wonderful, the colors are much prettier in real lfe, more muted and burgundy-like! It´s rather big - 40cmx185cm, and I think I will wear it a lot this winter!

Back!

2007-09-09T16:56:00.000+02:00

I´m back from my travel :)
While away, I finished my pomatomous socks - lovely of course, and a shawl from Maskerader that I love. I´ll get a picture in tonight.

Now for looking at other peoples blogs and finding out how to put Hannes button on my page (her blog is http://vivikala.net/vakerrellen/ - don´t know what happened to my insert link-button here...?)

Away!

2007-08-13T22:09:00.000+02:00

I will be unable to post in my blog for three weeks!
I will be unable to pick up anything at the post-office too, so anything arriving for me will be returned.

I just received my last package from my Secret Pal 10 friend, though! Thankyou so much - my husband and I already tried some of the tea and it was really nice :) The cat now has a prominent place on the kitchen counter. I´ll post a picture as soon as I get home...

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

2007-08-10T22:31:00.000+02:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love the silk mix yarns I´ve been knitting with lately! They do have kind of a restricted range of usage though, and I don´t need that many shawls. Variegated yarns for socks is another favourite, preferably with a bit of nylon or similar in it. And I love NORO yarn!

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

Actually, that´s a main headache these days. I store them in a hand-sewn pouch, but it´s absolutely not right for my circulars or my DPNs.

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I guess I was about 3 years old the first time, my grandmother taught me. My first sweater was knitted around 11 I think. At least it was finished about age 11. Now, I still hunt down my mom to help me with steeking or other tricky business. Like finishing boring arms LOL! I guess I´m an advanced knitter, I have still to find a project I couldn´t do.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

No

5. What’s your favorite scent?

Fresh clean scents. I don´t really use a lot of perfumed creams, scented candles etc.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

I´m not really into sweet stuff or candy...

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

Gardening!! My blog has a link to my garden blog in Norwegian.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I´m not much of a music listener either :) Maybe some jazzy, folky type music? I have an IPOD.

9. What’s your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can’t stand?

I love colours, love love love.
I try to stay away from oranges, yellows, browns.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

No pet, but a husband and a 4-year old son

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes, no ponchos though. They make me look huge! And I have a rather big head...

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

Sock, sweaters, scarfs and mittens. Etc?

13. What are you knitting right now?

Two pairs of socks, a shawl, another shawl. And I´m getting my act together to knit Eunny Jangs latest creation, the Autumn Rose sweater

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Yup!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

I knit mostly on circulars lately. I have only tried bamboo and ordinary needles. No plastic please!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

No

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

A month, maybe?

18. What is your favorite holiday?

christmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Yarns maybe... I don´t really collect anything

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

2.75mm circular needles, beatiful stitch markers. Lovely, variegated, soft and lush yarns - possibly as part of an exiciting yarn kit. No subscriptions right now.

21. Are there any new techniques you’d like to learn?

Nah, I´m trying new ones out as I go.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

I´m a sock knitter! I´m a european size 40, I guess that´s a M/L

23. When is your birthday?

February 7th

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what’s your ID?

Not yet but waiting eagerly

almost there!

2007-08-02T19:19:00.000+02:00

I´ve just cast off one arm and started the second one on my Sahara sweater. This picture was taken a bit before that. Maybe I´ll be finished with it tonight!
It´s turning out great. Yarn, little rock-thingies, pattern, everything.
And it even fits...

The only irritating bit is that I will have a bit over one skein of the Exotica-yarn left. Seeing how a paid a fortune for it, and the kit came with three skeins, I think that the estimate being off by over 1/3 is a bit much. Oh well, I´m sure I will find a worthy cause for it some day.

It also irritates me that I feel I´m off on the diamond rib. It doesn´t look as diamond-y as I´ve seen on other Saharas. Detail in the picture.

Sahara coming along

2007-07-28T20:39:00.000+02:00

This is a really quick knit!
And I really like the way it´s turning out. I made some slight modifications to the pattern, the upper half of the top is a size Large, the lower part a Medium. And since I want it a slight bit longer than the pattern calls for, I´m increasing it back to a L again at the bottom to make sure it fits my hips.
I redid the decreases for the waist, because the first time around I just doubled the number of increases. This was perfect in the front, but the back got weird. So I doubled the front only, and did the increases every 6 rows down the back instead of every 8 rows that the pattern calls for, and that was perfect.

Once, way up there, I forgot a decrease, so now I´m a stitch off on the side-part. But I cannot be bothered to frog half the top for one stitch, and I´ll just fix it in the last row when I change over to the other yarn. No-one will ever know!

I can´t wait to wear this!

Tilli Tomas yarn arrived!

2007-07-23T19:20:00.000+02:00

It´s horrendously expensive of course, but oh so wonderful!
So I´m putting everything else on the shelf - and starting swatching for the Sahara short-sleeved shirt tonight!
The colour is gorgeous, the yarn oh-so soft. I think I´m in love :)

Earlier projects

2007-07-12T20:35:00.000+02:00

Since I don´t have any finished projects to show off, knitting on the Pomatous scarf, a mohair shawl out of Maskerader, and the Sarcelle shawl, I thought I could show off some earlier work :)
As in ages ago!
Unfortunately, I think I threw out my violently mohair-ey sweater in pink and purples from the late eighties (knitted at the tender age of 16, mind). But I did find some other stuff, not all but some.
All knitted after probably 1987 and definitely before 1996. The glove actually belongs to a thick sweater for hubby knitted in 1996...

But the orange-and-grey jacket was the absolute end of my knitting career. At that time - obviously I restarted it around xmas last year!
The orange-and-grey jacket in Dale Tiur yarn. First of all - Dale Tiur is a mohair-wool blend, a bit stiff and hopeless to rip. I started my jacket in 1994, knitted half way up the main part and put it aside. I cleverly (not, as it turned out) took the circular needle out as I needed it for another project, and replaced it for a thinner one, and promptly forgot. Picked up the project about a year later, and finished the main part. Finished the arms, and went to put it together. Only to realise that half way up the main body, the width became about 6 cm narrower!!
I gave up knitting for all time.

Some years later, I handed the thing to my grandmoter - we knit to just about the same gauge. She rescued the thing by ripping and redoing, all the while hating the yarn tremendously. And then my mother kindly cut down the front and for the arms and did all the sewing togeter.

I have the jacket now and could wear it, but I really, really do hate it!
I´m also weaned off fair-isle for a while. It´s "only" been about ten years so far, and I really don´t want to go there again any time soon.

Secret Pal 11

2007-07-09T21:11:00.000+02:00

I´ve signed up! It should be good fun :)
At least, I had good fun spoiling Hanne Maria from Finland. She has a really inspirational blog, a beautiful yarn stash, and she goes through shawl patterns about 5 times faster than normal lethals :)
AND she likes fantasy books - as do I!

Actually, I don´t know who sent gifts to me yet-she has not revealed herself and I couldn´t figure out how to find her on our secret pal hostesses webiste...

Pomatomus socks

2007-07-09T20:16:00.001+02:00

Lovely little things they are! I found the Pomatomus socks on the knitty web pages and decided to try them. I´m using sock yarn from Silkwood, a 75% wool and 25% polyester yarn in the colour Garnet, that I bought from The woolly workshop. The colors are wonderful and the yarn is nice if a slight bit "hard" to knit with.

Before I cast on for these, I actually had a second go at Eunny´s bayerische socks, seeing how my first attempt didn´t turn out right. Well, it turns out that the oh so beautiful Schaefer Anne yarn that I tried was not the right thing either. It is a beautiful slightly variegated purple yarn that contains 60% merino wool, 25% mohair and 15% nylon. Note to self: the NEXT time I try for Eunnys bayerische socks I will try with a nice, crisp, thight yarn in a SINGLE colour. No mohair, no color variations, and THIN yarn.

Nordisk hemmelig venn package in the mail!

2007-07-05T20:44:00.000+02:00

It arrived today - my 4th Nordic secret pal package!
Some really soft REGIA yarn that wll do well for motorcyclesocks for my husband - 100 grams should get me there :)
And adriafil BaBa - an effectyarn that I will have to think about a little bit, in lovely greens!

Thank you very much my secret pal. Unfortunately, the return adress had been wet and was illegible...

stripy socks and hateful scarf

2007-07-04T22:14:00.000+02:00

Yeay! My pink-loving niece will be so happy :) I´m finished with her simple little socks in REGIA 4-ply woollen yarn. The pattern is a simple sock pattern from SOCKS-SOCKS-SOCKS, it has a barely recognisable twisted thing going on. I like the colours :) Something with me and pink lately...

Also pink but not quite as loved - my Palette-scarf. This is a pattern from knitty.com which was a fairly easy knit, but there are two alternating patterns, in addition to the right- and wrong-side differences. And they´re just close enough to each other that it was difficult to remember which one I was doing, and easy to slip over into an almost similar line. Seeing how I was knitting in Evilla Plate Yarn - stupidly as it turned out - with double thread and with no spun woollen yarn with it, frogging was impossible without the yarn just falling apart. In fact, knitting turned out to be impossible too at times. This yarn had quite a life on it´s own and trying to force into a lace-type pattern was not something it wanted to do... Also - I obviously should have chosen thicker needles as my scarf turned out a bit more compact than I would have liked it to.
Oh well, I have learned. Next time: choose a pattern that´s easier to memorise or "read" of the already knitted work. AND use a solid spun wool next to one thread of this stuff, not two thread of fragile-fragile plate yarn.
In fact I don´t think I like the way the colours turned out either... Oh well, once I stuff it around my neck inside my big winter jacket, no-one will know :)

Handmaiden and Fleece Artist - have to have it!

2007-06-30T00:29:00.000+02:00

I´ve fallen totally in love with the Handmaiden and Fleece Artist yarns.
I mean, look at this picture and tell me how one could avoid loving it!
Handmaiden and Fleece Artist are basically the same thing, Handmaiden being the more luxury label of finer yarns from Fleece Artist.

I´m knitting a shawl in Handmaiden Minimaiden in the pale green peridot, a mix of wool and silk and softer than soft. Absolutely wonderful.
And since the yarn was screaming my name in the basket here, I also started a little project with the on-sale Fleeceartist Goldiehair, colour Renaissance (discontinued - therefore on sale). Goldiehair is a mohair, silk and nylon brush mix. Gorgeous colours and wonderful yarn.

I am sure this will be a very, very expensive love affair...

Finished a whole bunch of projects!

2007-06-20T12:52:00.000+02:00

I haven´t written in a while as I´ve been sick.
But being sick also has the advantage that one gets to finish some projects!
I´ve finished the Noro Rainbow Scarf, which I made twice as wide as the pattern calls for and with 2x the yarn. It could have been a little bit longer, but I love it to bits anyhow and will use it lots come winter! It will be perfect to brighten up my black winter coat. It was a very quick and easy knit.

Also finished are a pair of socks for my brother. They started life as bayerische socks from Eunny´s blog, but I found the yarn a bit to colourful and a little bit to fuzzy for the rather crisp pattern. Since I don´t frog, I restarted them from the cuff and made these simple socks. They´re knitted with 76 stitches on 2mm needles, magic loop. The yarn is Regia 4-ply wool and nylon sock yarn.

And I´ve finished this frilly scarf by Tove B. It´s for my grandmother because she loves this colour and wanted something to wear for spring and fall. The yarn is silk tweed from a secret pal. And the scarf is missing one frilly edge, which is coming up but right now I lost a little bit of motivation for it as the edge takes forever to knit...

And finally, I started the Sarcelle shawl in the beautiful Hand Maiden Mini Maiden 50/50 wool and silk blend that recently arrived in the mail at an extortionate (and now forgotten) price, from knitty-noddy. The colour is peridot. It is a bit thicker than the yarn call for in the pattern, but it´s so beautiful, so so soft, so wonderful that I think it will make a great result anyhow!

Knitty-noddy gave very good, personal and quick service and I will most definitely shop there again!

I´ve spoiled myself...

2007-06-08T20:25:00.000+02:00

Yesterday and today, two packages arrived in the mail.
I´ve gone ahead and spoiled myself, and bought some lovely almost-not-there greenish-gray Handmaiden Mini Maiden rom Knitty-Noddy. The colour is peridot and the yarn is 50% wool and 50% silk. It´s so lovely it almost makes me drool, and I have to think up a really lovely project for this yarn to showcase it!
From Get Knitted, I bought myself some Fleece Artist Goldiehair on sale (the burgundyish mohair-yarn), which is so lovely now I have to find a perfect project for it. There, I also bought some Noro Kureyon for a Rainbow Scarf, two each of #52 and #159. The pattern calls for mixing up the two colours, and now I almost regret it because they´re both so beautiful by themselves. But I´ll try! I have several more ideas for Noro-yarn anyhow, and this is a nice way of testing the colours.

Finished!

2007-06-02T19:55:00.000+02:00

Finally, finally I finished the LUDO jacket from Hanne Falkenberg.
This has been painstakingly slow, because it´s just boring enough to be well, boring. And at the same time it needs just enough concentration that I kept making mistakes.
I guess no one can tell one arm started off 4 stitches wider than the other, and I certainly won´t tell :)

I am very happy with the result though! I only need to get to my mom to help figure out a clever way for buttons. Since this is originally a sweater and sort of became a jacket on the way I was completely unable to figure out how to do buttonholes in a clever way.

Package from my secret pal

2007-05-27T14:41:00.001+02:00

Yesterday I got a nice package in the mail from my secret pal!
I had just started to worry that I was possibly forgotten when this wonderful surprise arrived. I got british knitting- and garden magazines, and I´ve already started one of the projects in one of the magazines as well as browsed many of the websites features within. I must admit I even bought some new yarn at one of these websites...

Thank you very much to my secret pal 10!

New inspiration!

2007-05-20T13:27:00.000+02:00

I´ve found some lovely new patterns! Norwegian Du Store Alpakka both produces the most lovely Alpacca wool, and patterns to go with. In their newest pattern magasine Maskerader, I found this lovely dress. I´ll buy the magasine and see if it can be made to fit me. It´s a gorgeous thing!
There were some other nice patterns too, worthy a good look.

It reminds me that I also want to knit the Victoria dress from Rowan, pictured here. But I think before I think this will be a christmas-next-year project. The rowan dress should look gorgeous in a dark, shiny gray, I think. And before I get there, I want to browse the summer patterns and make a nice summer top for myself!

I´ve seen some lovely tops in the Garnstudio Drops free patterns, and there are some really cute ones from Rowan. Also, there´s a vest from eunny that´s really nice (although wintery), and knitty.com should soon come out with new patterns.
Then there´s the Argosy scarf, the Butterfly Noro jacket, the Noro rainbow scarf, the cabled socks and bayerisches socks. Ah, so many projects and so little time :)

Nordic Secret Pal package

2007-05-19T15:30:00.001+02:00

I received a beautifully wrapped present in the mail today from my Nordic Secret Pal. My husband, in his helpfulness, threw away the envelope + card with her name. I think it was Toril or Torunn, so Secret Pal - please let me know who you are so I can thank you properly!!

The package contained yarn in gorgeous colours! Both silk tweed yarn and a soft mohair yarn. And a home-made pouch, which will be perfect for the several small containers of pearls I have lying around in the bottom of my knitting basket.
I will most definitely want to try this yarn for a shawl. Silk yarn is new to me and I´m looking forward to trying it.

Finishing up some projects

2007-05-13T22:12:00.000+02:00

The joy of finishing projects!
I´ve knitted another Flora scarf from knitty.com for a Secret Pal, same yarn as last time but this time bluey-green whereas last time it was pink. I use two threads of Idena Mohair Lux, which is a variegated yarn, and one thread single-colour kitten Mohair, on 5.5mm needles. The result is fantastic and I love the way the colours changes just a little bit along the scarf.

I also blocked the dress for my little niece in the states, so it´s ready to go in the mail tomorrow. I hope they´ll find some use for it, it´s a lovely little thing.

Sweet little dress

2007-05-06T21:59:00.000+02:00

I´ve made this sweet little thing for my niece in the US and I love it! It´s made in cotton, which I normally don´t like. It´s a free pattern from Drops Design. I just hope it will fit the sweet little thing, and that her mother will listen to me when I tell her handwash in luke warm water...

It´s still wet after the wash in the picture. I´ll post a nicer picture later...

Gauge-fright

2007-04-27T07:32:00.000+02:00

Gaah! How irritating is this?!
I´m knitting a summer dress in cotton for one of my nieces abroad, and it needs to be finished on Monday. And yes, I did start a bit late.
Even though I have a total fear of measuring gauge, I knitted a test-swap before I started. It was perfect! Now after 10cm of the dress, it is 4 cm to wide! Rip, smaller needles.
Cotton sucks.

Hanne Falkenberg Ludo jacket - getting there

2007-04-23T20:21:00.000+02:00

Well, I´ve been writing about it long enough, here it is. The first half finished, the second half is luckily well on it´s way.
Even though all the measurements are right, the arm is WIDE. Super-wide. So I will try to make a bitnarrower when I put the whole thing together. If I feel really brave, I´ll sew it and cut off the excess. Or maybe I´ll have my mother do it - she´s the expert at these things. It´s nice to have someone else to blame when things go horribly wrong too ;)

Anyhow, this whole thing is knitted back and forth, all straight forward, kind of in a U shape, ending up with the arm. Very easy! Except I kept forgetting to knit two together every other row, and forgetting to not do it in the patterned rows.
But all is well that ends well, and the colors are gorgeous!

Secret Pal competition

2007-04-15T21:37:00.000+02:00

With the beautiful weather we`ve been having, little has been done this weekend with knitting! But I will answer the secret pal competition questions:

1) How old were you when you learned to knit? I was three the first time I tried and around 4 or 5 when I actually understood what I was doing. I remember knitting a sweater which was probably my first when I was 9 - pink and purple!

2) Who taught you? My grandmother taught me. I have a cool picture somewhere of her teaching me cast-on, which I´ll try to find and scan in.

Back from vacation!

2007-04-10T09:04:00.001+02:00

Which we spent at the zoo.
I finished the project for mye secret pal. And I finished one half and got started on the second half of the Hanne Falkenberg Ludo sweater for my son. Since I´ve been to lazy to measure the gauge earlier, I finally found the time now because the arm is quite wide. But my knitting is right on gauge, to the millimeter! In all directions! Amazing... normally I knit a bit loose!

The Palette scarf from knitty.com is getting a little rest, it´s a project I have to do while at home and when my son is not around because the yarn is so fragile. So it´s taking a looong time. Also, I´messing up the PSP (SSK on the back) a little bit, so I´m a bit pissed of with it really! The picture is of the scarf which is now about 20cm longer.

On vacation

2007-04-05T13:23:00.000+02:00

Will post back shortly!
I started the knitty.com Palette scarf with Evilla Plate yarn - not sure yet how clever that was.
I finished a small project for a secret pal, and I got restarted on the Ludo which no longer fights me. At least not openly.

Some finished projects

2007-03-30T09:02:00.000+02:00

My son needed some socks for his rubber boots, which I found to be a good project for this Regia 4-ply wool and nylon yarn. I liked the Regia silk much better, as this blend actually knotted easily and had "hairy lumps" on it that I didn`t like one bit. My son has loooong feet, so they look a bit odd maybe, but they fit!

I also finished the crochet slippers from secret pal yarn I received a few weeks ago. This was a super quick project, but still a bit hard as I`m still very very new to this croceting thing. I like them a lot and wear them all the time! They`re made in Drops Eskimo yarn, a thick woollen yarn. Free pattern on the Drops Design Webpages .

I finally finished my wristwarmers for the Hobbyboden KAL, and I already finished the Mrs. Beetons for the same KAL, so now I`m ready for the new project there! These are knitted in Kitten Mohair, and there is a pearl pattern if you look closely.

The Hanne Falkenberg Ludo jacket still rests in the corner, but before getting back to that I want to make a felted bag I have a great idea for! I also need a train-project, possibly another pair of socks.

Camel Wool Yarn!

2007-03-25T14:01:00.000+02:00

It strikes me that my secret friend the snow leopard has this Secret Pal thing planned ahead...
Yesterday, I received a package from the Snow Leopard Trust, containing Camel Wool Yarn, an artist´s drawing of a Snow Leopard and a nice letter about how purchasing this yarn helps save the Snow Leopard, preserve their habitat and improve lives of families in Mongolia. And the card contained a personal message for me from my secret pal :)

Wow! I´m amazed, gobsmacked, stunned. What a wonderful concept!
The Camel Wool yarn is lovely and soft, a nice brown colour. It´s made from 100% camel wool, from camels in the South Gobi desert, and made by women from the region.

Thank you so much for this wonderful gift, my secret pal! I will be thinking long and hard to find a project for this yarn :)

Secret Pal

2007-03-24T15:03:00.000+02:00

I´ve received no less than 3 secret pal packages these last few days!!

First up, my Nordic Secret Pal 5 Monamor, who sent me a nice easter package. It contained some fragrant candles, napkins and a napkin holder, a few things for the house for easter and coffee - already brewed and tasted! There are also some seeds which to me looks like an Allium of some sort - we will see. Thank you very much Monamor :)

Then my Hobbyboden pal, who I don´t know yet who is, sent me a crochet pattern for slippers from Drops Design with some nice thick Eskimo yarn to go with it and a thick crochet needle. Good thing too, as I now own 3 thicknesses all together.My crochet "stash" is not too large.

There were actually 3 balls of yarn, I already started on a slipper, an I actually had to look up the very first and simple stitch to remember if it was just a pull-the-thread-through kind of stitch or a put-the-needle-in-and-out-a-couple-of-times kind of stitch.

But I´ll get there! I´m intent on learning more of this crocheting stuff! (especially after I was able to pulloff the cutest flowers earlier). I really like the color too.

Finally, my Secret Pal 10 - the mysterious Uncia Uncia (snow leopard) sent me a pattern for socks from See Eunny Knit which I´m so happy to be getting! Another sock pattern from this website is already my must-do list and these are just as beautiful! So I now have these to very nice socks waiting to become early summer projects :) Thank you very much!

Chevron Socks

2007-03-19T09:20:00.000+02:00

I struggled with the Jaywalker socks from Grumperina! I frogged the socks for my sister twice because I couldn´t get the gauge right and the way-too-teeny Jaywalkers for my son are still in the basket. So I gave up, even though the Jaywalkers are very cute and not very hard to knit.

I ended up making these socks for my sister instead!
They are chevron socks from the book Sensational Socks. It´s a wonderful pattern and wonderful yarn made this a very positive experience! It was my first time with a socalled forethought heel, probably an experience I don´t want to repeat as I found it fiddly - I´ll do an afterthought heel the next time.

The sock are knitted in Regia Silk, color Marocco. A lovely, light and silky yarn that I will definitely want to try again.

Email from my secret pal!

2007-03-19T08:44:00.000+02:00

I´ve signed up to Secret Pal 10, an international swap-ring with around 500 participants!
I just received my first email from the mysterious "Uncia Uncia" (snowleopard), with drawings of sheep in it.
Hm.. at first I thought this might be someone german now I´m not so sure...

Oh well, I´m curiously looking forward to what´s next!

Some more finished projects

2007-03-10T16:43:00.000+02:00

The yarn for these felted socks is Norwegian PT2, that was gifted me by a Secret Pal along with a pattern for slippers. I´ve never tried felting before, so this was fun, and the result good enough that I can say I´m happy with it. The only thing I´m not happy with is my sewing skills, the yellow line around the edge is supposed to be "pretty" and "decorative". Which it is not. Well well..., my son likes them!

Another Flora scarf and matching Mrs. Beeton wristwarmers, both from knitty.com.

The wristwarmers are gorgeus! A bit fiddly, but the result makes me completely forget that.

Secret Pal gift

2007-03-10T16:33:00.000+02:00

I´m sooo slow this month at getting pictures taken!
My secret pal in february at the Hobbyboden forum was Mokina, who sent me a lovely home made make-up pouch, some soft-soft alpacca wool, and bamboo sticks. The pouch is perfect for all the little stuff in my knitting basket, and is already put to good use. It´s beautifully crafted, and even the little seams are obviously well thought through - they´re made in variegated sewingthread completely matching the pattern on the material (!). What attention to detail!

The yarn goes into my alpacca-stash, I now have several gorgeous colors of alpacca, and just need to figure out the perfect project for it.

Flora scarf finished

2007-03-09T20:54:00.000+02:00

Well a while ago actually...
Bit I´ve been too busy to document the result. It´s gorgeous! I´ve already used it lots. The pattern is from knitty.com
I´ve also made a second black and blue one but need to weave in the threads before I show it off. And a pair of felted socks for my son that turned out so so.
On the needles now: socks for my sister from socks socks socks, still the Ludo-jacket fighting me and... Nothing!

I´m just waiting to get these projects finished because I have some big plans! And some smaller ones.
I want to knit two cotton dresses for my nieces abroad, luckily they´re not very big so it won´t be too big a project. And I want to knit a NORO butterfly-jacket for myself. And then I have big plans for christmaspresents for next year also in Noro. I still need to decide whether I´ll choose NORO Kureyon, Silk Garden or Blossom. Lovely yarns, all three of them.

Here´s another picture of the flower on the Flora scarf.

Secret Pal 10 questionaire

2007-03-03T12:27:00.000+02:00

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?
I like natural fibers, especially wool and alpacca. I´m absolutely in love with all NORO yarns! I don´t like synthetic yarns...

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?
Nothing! I need a knitting-needle storage-thingie, as a matter of fact

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?
I´ve knitted since I was 3 years old - 33 year in total. My grandmother taught me. I´m at an advanced level, or at least I like to think so myself.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?
No

5. What's your favorite scent?
-

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?
Not particularly partial to chocolate and candy

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?
Nothing much, really. I like gardening!

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)
-

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?
I like all beautiful colors :) I could easily stay away from oranges and browns (although tend to end up with orange somehow anyhow)

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?
I have a son who´s 4 (but he uses size 7)

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?
Yes! (I´m a rather big girl, btw)

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?
ANything really, as long as it turns out as something pretty to look at.

13. What are you knitting right now?
Ohhh, Hanne Falkenberg Ludo children´s jacket (that´s fighting me all the way), jaywalker socks, scarfs and wrist warmers

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?
yes

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?
circulars. Non plastic!

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?
nope

17. How old is your oldest UFO?
I hate UFOs and finish everything I start. My oldest unfinished project right now is a jacket (the LUDO) started in january.

18. What is your favorite holiday?
I´m torn between summer and xmas

19. Is there anything that you collect?
Nope :)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?
I have no knitting magazine subscriptions. I´d be happy to get good ideas, really :) Again I love the NORO-yarns, planning to make scarf in a pink variation yarn. And I´d love to try the Noro Blossom, although I have no good ideas what I´d use it for.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?
Nah, I think I´ve been through most?

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?
I have a grandmother who knits us enough socks to last a lifetime :) And I knit socks for everyone myself as well. My size is a european 40.

23. When is your birthday?
just passed :)

A lovely, flowerly scarf

2007-02-21T19:39:00.000+02:00

I love knitty.com!
I was making the Mrs Beeton wristwarmers with some leftover yarn (in progress) when I came across the Flora Scarf. I love it!
I even had some soft and cuddly Kitten Mohair lying around which was perfect for it. I bought some Idena Mohair Lux to vary the colour a bit, and knitted the whole thing in 1 thread Kitten Mohair and 2 threads Idena Mohair Lux, one of each was enought for the whole thing. Hopefully by tomorrow I´ll have finished the flower too, but I just love it so much I wanted to document the progress.

Noro Kureyon sweater

2007-02-13T19:16:00.000+02:00

I´m in love!
Absolutely, totally in love with this wonderful yarn, pretty beyond any descirption. I´m going to knit NOro Kureyon sweaters for xmas presents next year for my nieces, knit myself a jacket, my husband a sweater, and very possibly a beautiful scarf from knitty.com

The picture shows my son´s sweater, in Noro Kureyon #163 and alpacca double-yarn turtleneck.
The arms are folded up a bit, and quite possibly I´ll splice the little bit of yarn I have left on the bottom of the sweater, so it will last well through next winter.

Next time I buy this yarn, I think I´ll try eBay, as there seems to be money to save.
Or just chose the simplicity of my "local" yarnpusher, pinnsvindesign.no :D

Secret Pal!

2007-02-07T23:58:00.000+02:00

It took me some time, but I wanted to show off the gifts I got from the two secret pal exchanges I´m signed up for!

The first one is from my Nordic Secret Pal (Nordisk Hemmelig Venn) pal Fjellrosa, I got two green and one pink balls of Fritidsgarn, bamboo circulars and some very tasty and already gone packages of coffee. I have a nifty little handbag-plan for this yarn, it will be perfect for a February something-different project!

The second one is from my hobbyboden secret friend hannech, who sent me a pattern and yarn for slippers which will be perfect for my son, and some cute buttons. My son needs some new slippers, so this was perfec for the green and orange woolen yarn.The other yarn is really silky and should look good as edging on something, this something still needs to be figured out by me!

Yeees! Finishied!

2007-01-20T11:04:00.000+02:00

My love/hate project as of late is done! The Kiri shawl that I've been knitting since the end of November, gave a rest for a while, and recently picked up again is finally done!

It's knitted in Italian Mondial Prestigio Super Kid Mohair yarn on 2.5mm needles. At 245m/25g this yarn is slightly thinner than the pattern calls for.
Since I "cleverly" choose much thinner needles than the 4mm suggested in the pattern (yarn is thinner, I knit loosely, etc what on earth was I thinking!) I had to do way more repetions than the pattern called for to get to a reasonably sized shawl.
But it's lovely! Also, when blocking the shawl, I made the "tips" as described in the pattern, but they simply vanished when I took the yarn of the blocking needles. Strange...

Anyhow - the pattern is feather light and airy! So I'm very happy with it! Except for one major mistake I realised way after the fact, which is very obvious to me but hopefully not to all. But there is no doubt - I will use this a lot!
I think I will start another one soon, in the same yarn but with thicker needles. It should be a wonderful, and hopefully somewhat faster, result!

I love this yarn!

2007-01-11T09:56:00.000+02:00

I got my package with Japanese NORO Kureyon yarn, colour 163, for a sweater for my son. The garn is absolutely divine! It´s 100% wool, the thickness varies a little, to be knitted on 4.5mm needles.

I´m following a simple pattern by a Norwegian designer, bought along with the yarn at Pinnsvindesign. There are two smaller balls of alpacca wool from Bolivia, brand name Fotrama. These are an emerald green and a dark purple and will be knitted together for a warming turtle-neck for the sweater. I cannot wait to see how this turns out, I never knitted with this yarn before and the green/purple mix for the neck was suggested by the shop and I´m excited to see what purple and green makes together!

Only have to finish a "few" other things first!

Sweet things

2007-01-10T20:21:00.000+02:00

Yesterday I sent off the neckwarmers for my nieces, to go with the cute hats I found a pattern for here. I completely and totally forgot to take a picture of the cute hats, complete with little crocheted flowers before I sent them off for xmas. But the neckwarmers are the same colours and same style and adorable and cute. My youngest niece (6) said the hat was the bestest xmas present she ever had!

The pink one is knitted in an amazingly, wonderfully soft thin Alpacca wool from Du Store Alpakka, with two threads. The other one in a thin Alpacac wool called Inca from Rauma Ull, also with two threads.

Finished socks for Six Sox KAL

2007-01-06T13:07:00.000+02:00

I´ve finished the December sock for the Six Sox KAL, a good fun knit with a slip-stitch chainlink pattern, knitted in Opal yarn on 2.5mm needles.
I´m very new to knitting socks, especially to non-norwegian patterns and methods of doing things. My first sock was a toe-up, this was a top-down heel-flap sock that I knitted on magic loop. And it turned out to be really easy! The socks fits my husband perfectly, especially after I took it in a few stitches in the foot, and I´ve learned the slip-stitch method which was easy but I just haven´t done it before. The colours were chosen on a somewhat moody day, haha, but my husband said he´ll happily wear it. I actually kind of like it too...The observant will see (a bit hidden, on purpose, didn´t want the proof out in the open) that sock number two actually is finished with a different yarn! There was no more Opal Hundertwasser yarn in the right colour left at the store, so I replaced it with Opal Tucan which was close but not quite there...

I was certain I would get enough yarn out of one huge ball of Opal, but since I took out all the dark grey and white bits, the yarn just didn´t go as long as I hoped. The lack of yarn is also the reason there´s a few dark grey stripes on sock #2 (the hidden one). The heel on the second one is blue and white because I just forgot to cut it out and I DO NOT rip up my work unless there are very serious implications! Just to show what extra work I gave myself cutting out the darker bits from the variegated yarn, here´s what the backside of the sock looked like pre-getting to work on it!

Coming along!

2007-01-06T12:52:00.000+02:00

Ignoring my arguesome Kiri-shawl for a while, I´m happily knitting along on the Hanne Falkenberg Ludo-jacket for my son. It´s actually starting to look like something! Somewhat... Anyhow, the yarn has a much lovelier color in real life than on the picture on the website, it´s kind of meleed and beatuiful.
But thin and easy to snap, as I found out when DH accidentally stood (!) on it while I was merrily knitting along. Ok, maybe any yarn would snap then, but this certainly did.

I also found myself gasping a bit after doing the first pattern round, knitting some more and looking back at what I´d done. It didn´t look at all like it should according to the tiny picture that came along with the package of yarn.
Some intense reading of the yarn, counting, and wondering whether I could have somehow misunderstood the Danish instructions (seeing how I don´t actually speak Danish but Norwegian, which is somewhat close but not necessarily the same), and a slight panic later...

I found out that I was looking on the backside of the pattern, silly cow, and that the front side looked amazingly, surprisingly just like it should. And very nice at that.
A quick count of the stitches after all the SSL and K2tog on even rounds, and my shoulders were back where they belonged since it seems everything is perfect.

And I can´t say how pleased I am about that, I do not want to frog this again!

Why 96+2 is not 100

2007-01-02T00:12:00.000+02:00

This really, really irritates me!
I just started the Hanne Falkenberg Ludo jacket for my son, and idiot that I am, I can`t add and got off with a wrong stitch-count!
AGH!

The pattern says to knit two together, then 96 straight on, then two together. Makes 98 right? WRONG!

Stupid, stupid mistake and I had to frog the whole thing and start again. Oh well. The cast-on turned out prettier this time, so I`m happy :) Somewhat :)

Oh joy, new yarn!

2006-12-29T14:36:00.000+02:00

I have received a package in the mail from Pinnsvindesign with my long awaited winter project! A LUDO sweater from Hanne Falkenberg, which I will make into a jacket for my son. The colours are lovely, and the yarn soft. I can`t wait to get started!

First, I have to finish my husbands orange socks, I`m almost done with the first, but it`s been a bit slow at christmas. And secondly, I have to to finish off the neckwarmers for my nieces and send them off. Actually, I only have to crochet some flowers and sew them on, so it`s just a matter of doing it...

Pinnsvindesign has lots of nice yarn, and since the Regia sock yarn looked interesting, I bought some of that too. Now I just have to get the other UFOs off, and then we`ll see about some more fun socks!

Sweet frills

2006-12-10T13:55:00.000+02:00

Finally!
The christmas present for my sister is finished and I`m well pleased. I still need to fasten the buttons to the flowers and put on a safetypin on each flower to stick it to the hat/neckwarmer/gloves depending on the mood.
I`m still pretty worried this will be over the top too cute for my sister, but my consolation is that she can always frog the frilly bit on the mittens, the crocheted edge on the neckwarmer, or... give it to me to wear! I love it!

I`m also pretty proud of myself since I haven`t crocheted since I made a crocheted horse in 5th or 6th grade :) I had to do the crocheted bit with the computer next to me with step-by-step instructions on all the stitches. So it took some time.

But the conlusion is anyhow - want one for myself! And that makes it a good project :)

A good cause for Hundertwasser

2006-12-03T21:32:00.000+02:00

I found a use for the Opal Hundertwasser yarn!
I promised my husband a "knitting project" all devoted to him, and although I have a feeling he´s not too crazy about the orange, these socks will be his. I guess I could have chosen a different yarn, but they only had the Hundertwasser range at the yarn shop, and this colour was the least "splotchy. I don´t particularly care for splotchy.
The sock pattern is the december-january sock project for the Six Socks KAL (link in meny to the right), - chain link socks.

I´ve actually split up the ball into oranges and grays, to make sure the pattern stands out well. So there will be a bit of extra work weaving in the ends, but oh well. I guess he´s worth it :)

Pink and more pink. Alpacca!

2006-12-03T21:23:00.000+02:00

I came across some lovely thin Alpacca yarn from Du Store Alpakka on sale, and immediately bought some lovely pinks. Pink seems to be a theme these days... Anyhow, these will be perfect for my planned christmas presents for my nieces, now I just have to get knitting!

I´m also wondering if this yarn may be something for the Bayerische socks that I came across on the blog "See Eunny knit". Or maybe find a nice shade in Dale Babyull. I think I´ll wait a bit though, way too may unfinishined and planned projects at the moment and christmas coming up. Eunny´s blog is a great inspiration, though!

Shop til you drop!

2006-11-27T23:35:00.000+02:00

It`s done! I`ve ordered the Hanne Falkenberg Ludo childrens jacket yarn set from pinnsvindesign.no. They also had some lovely Japanese yarn called Noro, and I couldn`t resist that either. Bought enough yarn for a sweater for my son too, I will have to take pictures when all this yarn arrives. I can`t wait!

I`ve also bought some Opal yarn, called Opal Hundertwasser 1434. It appealed to me in the shopp, but it`s rather orange, so I`ll have to see if I can get used to it. Maybe mix it up with some black for some striking socks or something...
The colours in this colourway are rather bright, here is an overview of all the Opal Hundertwasser colours.b

Mittens with cuteness alert

2006-11-22T21:01:00.000+02:00

Almost done, and to add to the cuteness-angst in my last entry, I´m starting to worry this is way to cute... But I like it, it´s sweet, easy and a quick knit, and FUN! So I´ll risk it :)

Beautiful little flower

2006-11-22T20:58:00.000+02:00

I haven´t crocheted in almost 25 years, but here it is, my first attempt (second, actually, I frogged the first) and if I may say so myself, it bares somewhat of a resemblance to the picture in the pattern!
It belongs with the hat-neck warmer- mitts project, and I think it will look cute. Hopefully my sister likes cute... all of a sudden I´m getting second thoughts about this birthday present.

Socks Socks Sensational Socks

2006-11-18T01:15:00.000+02:00

I`ve bought some wonderful books about socks, so now I have inspiration for socks for the next ... years!
Socks Socks Socks contains 70 fun sock patterns, some strange, some interesting, and several that I will definitely do.
Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Church contains everything I ever needed to know about socks and then some. Sizes, wool types and how to change a pattern, heels and toe variations, pattern types over 3, 4,... 9 stitches. A great book, I`m extremly happy I bought this!

Between these two books I will be able to pick, create and knit a whole bunch of socks!

Pleasing status

2006-11-17T21:30:00.000+02:00

Well, it`s time for a status! I`m well pleased :)

My lovely iris garden socks from the Six Socks KAL are finished, blending colours, changed pattern and all. I had all of less than a meter of yard left after each of the socks were finished! They are nice and thick, made of 80g pure wool each, so these will keep me warm through winter. Now I`m all ready for the December pattern! My husband wants some new warm socks, so I think the next pair will be for him. If he behaves :)

I`ve also started a neck warmer, hat and mitts set from the Happy Knitting Webshop. Or that is, I bought the pattern at the web shop, and trawled the nearest yarn shop for the yarn. The green is actually the same as for the socks, Sandnes Garn Smart(100m/50g pure wool). The turquoiuse is Idena Juvel (106m/50g pure wool). I`m looking forward to seeing this finished, I just have to learn to crochet some flowers, as I have absolutely no clue how to do it. I have the pattern but it`s absolutely greek to me. My mother will have to help!

I`ve had to frog a winter suit in two threads of thin wool for my son (Nøstebarnull), as he grew out of it before I got it finished. I`ve already made a turtle-neck sweater out of the yarn, now I`m debating whether I should make a second sweater, socks - theres enough for a lot of socks - or just put the yarn away and wait for some inspiration...

Odessa is a hit

2006-11-11T23:03:00.000+02:00

My Odessa hat is finished! Wehey!
And as expected it`s a little bit too small for me with my 62cm head circumference. But I have a huuuuge head!
It will fit one of my nieces beautifully.
Having finished that, I wanted to start the neckwarmer I`m making for a christmaspresent, but decided to do sock 2 for the sixsock knitalong first. Bummer! First I apparently used pins 1/2 size too small (or mysteriously started knitting tighter), and had to frog the whole toe after I discovered this. Then I made it half way up the foot only to discover a minor mistake at the end of the toe had thwarted the whole pattern. Another rip-up! This time down to the toe.
I could have made the pattern mistake the underside of the foot since it was only on one side, but I like to have it correct...

UFOs

2006-11-07T15:15:00.000+02:00

Pictures of my current projects.

The six socks knitalong october sock: Iris Garden, Smart superwash 100% wool 100m/50g on 3mm magic loop.
I only had two skeins of the pinkish colour, and realised towards the end of the first sock that one skein wouldn`t do it. The shop was sold out and won`t be getting any more for a while, so I modified the pattern and ended the sock 10cm too soon. It fits me better like this anyway, so I`m happy! Also, I modified the afterthought heel a little bit, shortening it a little compared to the pattern. I`m not too happy that the colours don`t separate better, and even though I took care choosing the colours next time I have to be even more careful to get colours that separate better.

My beautiful Italian Mondial Prestigio Super Kid Mohair yarn on 2.5mm circulars
I love this pattern, but probably chose the pins too thin, since it seems the pattern is a bit more compact than it should be and I have to repeat the leaf pattern more times than I should have to. The yarn is extraordinarily thin too, but lovely, lovely. Regardless, it will make for a nice winter shawl for myself, matching my new Odessa hat! Next time, I will choose a thicker yarn - possibly a less fluffy Alpacca yarn, in a more neutral colour. There will most definitely be a next time!

My new Odessa hat, Kitten Mohair 165m/50g from SandnesGarn on 3.5mm circs.
It`s the first time I knit this, and I have a feeling it may be a bit on the small side, but I have big head! I`ve gone down from 4 to 3.5mm pins using this yarn because I knit fairly loose. If it`s seems small when I`m done, I`ll try using a thicker yarn next time, making hats for my sister and nieces. This is a fast knit and I love it!

From gardening to knitting

2006-11-06T23:00:00.000+02:00

Winter is here and my gardening put on hold for while. So now it`s time for a new knitting blog as well!
My projects at the moment:
* Kiri shawl from alltangledup.com
* The second sock of the october-pair from the Six Sox Knitalong
* Grumperinas Odessa hat, from magknits.com. I will make several of these as christmas presents for my nieses. Right now I`m knitting a test hat for myself, to check out the gauge, size, etc. I`m making it in a colour to match the Kiri Shawl.

Planned projects:
* Hanne Falkenberg Ludo jacket for my son
* A loose neck/scarf-thingie and gloves for my sister`s birthday, to match the Odessa hat. I got the pattern off happyknitting.com and will buy some yarn at the local shop. I`ll make them in turquoise and green.
* Probably another Kiri-shawl, on thicker pins. It`s growing way too slow now.
* Shawl and hat for my niece for summer, crocheted
* Woolen socks for my son
* December socks from the Six Socks knitalong

Pictures and details on each of my projects to come!