A Cardi for Kaede

Kaede is a Japanese girl - so tiny and so sweet. Actually, she is so tiny that the cardigan will remain too big for probably a year or two, but I'm sending it on its way soon anyway.

The pattern is based on a pattern from DROPS - you can see it here. I used Smart, 100% wool from Sandnes, which required me to recalculate the original pattern in both height and width. That process took time and stopped me from bringing the project to social events.

225 g Smart, needles 4.0 mm

Baby Blanket - done!

All stitched up and ready to go into the washing machine.

It went into the washing machine an entire three times; I wanted to control the felting process, so the first time it got 30 C, then 40 C twice. And it turned out just the way I had imagined.

It shrunk about 15% - I expected it to shrink 20% but love the fact that it didn't :)



Soft, fluffy and ready to serve its purpose.

Keeping it together

I've worked on this blanket on and off for about six months. It has been nice to bring to social events, since it doesn't require a lot of concentration; I can chat, eat, drink AND knit on this project at the same time without being afraid of making any mistakes. I'm not quite done yet, but I'm getting there....

I layed all the squares out - except one - to see if I could organize them in a random looking way.



Originally, I wanted to crochet the whole thing together, but I changed my mind - I wanted a thin seam. Right now I'm half way there.

Twins

A former colleague is having twins, and before she left us all, Tina and I made gifts for her - or her twins, to be exact; Tina did the cardigans and I did the hats.

Baby Surprise Jacket

Another brilliantly designed baby surprise jackets in 'Smart' from Sandnes. I used a chocolate brown, a dark purple and a multi coloured yarn. It took a while to find the right buttons for this one; it seems that if a shop carries fancy yarn, there are practically no buttons. And if the yarn is no big deal, there are plenty of buttons. I'm not sure I see the logic in this, but if this is the way it works, fine by me :)

This BSJ is quite small, only 9.5 inches long and 8 inches wide across the chest.

Claudia Evilla by Ruth Sørensen

I began knitting this skirt some 3-4 months ago. The designer, Ruth Sørensen, chose Evilla yarn, which is much like Kauni, which is what I chose. I followed the pattern to the letter using needles size 3.5 mm. And Kauni is such an interesting yarn; at first it seems stiff and itchy but once it's been turned into a garment it's smooth and soft. I used around 200 g for this skirt.

The Sailer's Cardigan

I've had quite a few balls of Vital from Hjertegarn (100% wool, superwashed) lying around for the better part of a year. During lunch one day I flipped through a magazine and found a nice pattern for a cardigan. Colour, gauge, etc. turned out to be just right for the yarn, and Tristan is getting bigger and bigger and he will soon be needing a warm jacket, or cardigan at least.

The cardigan is size 2 years - Tristan is only 14 months old, but he's a big boy. And growing :)

The slowest moving project in history

Though Moe doen't knit much (as in: at all) he still understands and appreciates yarn a lot. Whenever I hand him something handknit, he will - without a doubt - lift it up, feel it and then smell it :)

About 18 months ago I thought I would knit a pullover for him. He deserves it. And I wanted it to be very 'him'. I asked about colour, shape, look, feel, etc. I went back and forth in books, magazines, friends' books and magazines, and searched the Internet from one end to the other. Still I didn't find what I was looking for. But then Jared Flood made his version of the lovely and most brilliant Spiral Yoke Sweater by Meg Swansen. Moe and I agreed that this would be the perfect thing for him too. And he was crazy about the colour. Unfortunately, Jared Flood used yarn that would be impossible to get my hands on. I had to look for an alternative - not an easy task. I searched high and low; no yarn seemed to have that vibrant semi-solid, rich, red tone I was after.

I believe it was Trine who brought my attention to Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I had some of it in my stash already, but had forgotten all about it. I didn't have enough to make Moe's pullover with it but at least now I knew what to buy. The yarn arrived and everything was good. Except, I didn't have the pattern. The pattern was published in Handknitting with Meg Swansen - a book no one had in stock. I waited for quite some time (patience is a virtue, I know) and one day it arrived at my doorstep. With both yarn and book right there in front of me, one might think that I would be ready to actually begin knitting. No such luck. Because the yarn is 100% alpaca it's very soft and I was beginning to fear that the pullover would be hanging from Moe's shoulders like a sack of potatoes. I realised that I needed an additional yarn to support the alpaca.

This quest sent me directly to Isager. A semi pleasant experience, I must say. Nice shop, nice staff, nice yarn. However, while I was there a dog puked on the floor(!), the yarn - Spinni 33s - was sold out, and I had to wait in line for a long time while people talked about the dog's sick on the floor. Later it turned out that the colour was discontinued all together, which made my waiting both in the shop and the following two weeks seem meaningless.

Uldstedet came to my rescue - thank God :)

The wool, Spinni 33s, that was so hard to get. This picture represents it's true colour.

The two yarns together - irl, they both are a bit darker.

Ready, set, swatch! :)

On the needles

This is another I-knit-and-hope-it-turns-out-the-way-I-want-it-to-projects :) Stay tuned and watch and learn (either that it was a succes or that it can't be done (be my, anyway)).

Online Wool, a size 7mm needle and time on my hands.

Rib vest

I came across this lovely yarn from Gepard called cottonwool (half of each, hence the name). Our friends' baby, Tristan, deserved a little something to keep him warm during these very cold winter days (-19 C a few weeks ago... brrrrr!), so Merry Christmas, Tristan :)

Super soft and a perfect fit :)

Quick Poncho

I've been wanting a poncho for some time, and a couple of weeks ago I came across some very cheap Natur Uld in a limited range of colours, though. The poncho was done in no time and even though the result reflects I didn't have much yarn to chose from, I like it. And it's perfect when driving.



What can I say... it's a lot easier to take somebody else's picture!

A woolen treasure

From the Jamieson's yarn shop in Sandness I bought 10 balls of 2 ply yarn. Eight balls of the colour 'Burnt Umber' and two of the equally lovely colour 'Olive' - I love them together and apart :)


There were so many colours to choose from, but before I went out to the mill I did a bit of homework checking out colours on Jamieson's website, which you can find here.

destashing not so pretty yarn

In my quest to destash 5 kg of yarn I sometimes come across yarn that doesn't really belong in my stash. For example this self-striping Lana Grossa sock yarn. I never did like it; it's super nice wool - it just doesn't look nice :/ I shouldn't complain though. This particular yarn was given to me in order for me to make socks for poor kids (with cold feet) in Nepal. I did that (though almost too late and not nearly as many as I'd liked to, but that's another story).

This pair of socks is for my sister-in-law, Kirsten. She had borrowed a pair of her mother's homeknit (by an aunt) socks and now she wants a pair for herself. I care about my sister-in-law and only wishes her the best in life - the reason why she is about to receive this not so pretty pair of socks is that she asked me to make them striped. She even said that she didn't care about colours or tedious matters like that. And the Lana Grossa sock yarn was actually the best yarn in my stash. I showed her the first sock, she tried it on and loved it. That must be good enough :)

86 g

Moss Stitch Scarf

At work 'room temperature' means something entirely different than it does at home (and anywhere else for that matter). It's freezing cold, and thus I decided to make a woolen scarf for myself. I finished it a couple of weeks ago and it's been clinging to me ever since. It nice and soft and warm :) I know I said that I would make it two different kinds of grey. It didn't turn out that way. Here's why: first of all, I thought this project would eat up a lot more yarn than it actually did, which meant that I had enough of the darker grey I started out with. Second, I changed my mind with regard to the pattern. To begin with I wanted to do a garter stitch mid section, which would be a good place to change colours. I liked the moss stitch pattern too much to stray form that path. So there you go.





191 g

For unknown reasons...

I decided to make this pair of socks. They are size EU 26/27 and I don't even know any kids with feet that size. The socks are made with 'Sock Wool' from 'Hjertegarn. It's a 75% wool and 25% polyamide blend. Not the softest in the world, if you ask me. Soft enough, though. They weigh 34 g. I should probably go for 'more' and 'bigger' if I'm to reach 5,000 g before the end of the year.

Iceland by Stephanie White, vol. 2

It's been done for a while - I've worn it to work twice and I absolutely love it :)
It does leave quite a few fibers on the top underneath but I knew that on beforehand, so I won't complain about it. I just agree with whoever said it would do just that :) I should also mention that due to the 20% kid mohair the result is sooo soft, and the 3/4 sleeves makes it a great deal more practical than it would have been with long sleeves, since you can't roll them up; they are heavy and wide. All in all I'm very pleased :)

Here it is....

Specs!
Pattern: Iceland by Stephanie White - published in a Rowan magasine not long ago
Yarn: Rowan Cocoon, col. Tundra
Skeins: 9
Needles: 7 mm - they made my hands ache after a while
Start to finish: from September to October, 2008
For: me :)

Ta-daaah!

-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
I finished the cardigan - yay! :) I plan on using it as some sort of summer jacket on chilly days and nights. It was a joy to knit and even though it took quite some time to finish, I wouldn't mind making another one similar to it. The yarn is extremely soft.... and warm. I know it's supposed to be - it is woll, after all, but still. Since Moe wasn't here when I felt the urge to perpetuate it, I had to both wear the cardigan and take the pictures of it, so you'll have to excuse the poor artistic quality of the visual evidence.














Specs!

Pattern: Frost Flower, 'Feminin Strik' by Lene Holme Samsøe
Yarn: Cool Wool 2000, colour 413
Skeins: around 18 = 900 g
Needles: 3 + 3.5
Start to finish: February 5 to May 20.
For: moi
Overall judgement: it's my new best friend :)

Kim Hargreaves - Demi

¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨
Finally, my 7 balls of Rowan Scottish Tweed arrived. I've been waiting quite a while - but no matter, it's here now. I have to be honest, I won't be knitting this lovely aran sweater right away. I have another Rowan project up my sleeve (I'll tell you about it some other time, okay?). As a matter of fact, I have a lot of projects laid out before me. If only I had eight sets of hands.

Enjoy!

A sigh of relief!

+++++++
I don't think there's really any way that I can possibly explain to you just how relieved I am right now! But imagine yourself waiting for cannibals to eat you alive, you lie there with carrots between your toes, spices all over and there are chips on the side too - and then suddenly, you're rescued!

Fandango had another ball of yarn for me - the right colour and the right dye lot, sweeeeet! :)

I'm picking it up this afternoon (I mean, what if there's another "me" out there who walks in and claims MY ball of perfect wool?! - we don't want that to happen...).

My cardigan will love me, and I will love it right back Y

Out of yarn

-;-;-;-;-;-;-;-

Yesterday I went to another knitting get-together and I had brought my denim blue cardi along with me. As I was knitting away it soon became very clear that I would be out of yarn - at least for that particular project - before the cardigan was finished.
To be quite honest it has happened before. Actually, I stopped counting the times I've gone back to Fandango for more blue wool. I even feel a little embarrassed that it's a topic every time I speak to Fandango-Sys (the owner of the LYS). So being used to this situation should somehow make the whole thing less stressful, right? No such thing. The problem is that 1) the last time I went down to Fandango I believe I took the very last right colour and dye lot ball of the much wanted yarn, and 2) today it's Sunday, so I can't even defy the increasing level of embarrassment and phone Fandango-Sys.... again. Tomorrow, however, it will once again be Monday. Usually I don't care too much for Mondays - but I think I'll make an exception this one time :)

Just in case you were wondering how things are with the cardigan itself...


So, what do you think? I like it.