Oh joy, new yarn!

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

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

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!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!