secret pal 11 package!

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

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...

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...

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!

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?!

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

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!

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

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!

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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

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

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!

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

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 :)