Kerneknop

An extra proof

2011-04-29T21:41:00.005+02:00

I forgot I had another proof of how awesome Dad really is.

Mum and Dad went to Morocco and Spain in March. Mum says Dad went into an old medina in Fez while she was resting and a few hours later he came back with these three 'skeins' of cactus silk for me.

I rest my case!

Oh, and just to be fair - Mum is really good at buying gifts from afar too, but she is a knitter and that gives her certain advantages. That said she has gotten me some really interesting sock yarn from around the globe and also brought me home great crochet cotton from Spain this time, so Mum is quite awesome too!

My Dad is the coolest guy

2011-04-29T10:41:00.000+02:00

My Dad has done it again. Do you remember that he brought me home yarn from Iceland? Or that he got me great fabric from Ghana? Both times I had told him it was things I would love should he happen to fall over them.

Since then he has really developed an eye for presents. From his last few election observation trips he has brought home yarn. Nothing fancy, but usually some cotton he happened to recognize in baskets on his endless walks. I even have a few acrylics in my stash now, but I don't mind - they are soft and they were given with a lot of love.

This Easter my Dad returned from the elections in Nigeria and I didn't expect him to bring anything. Safety precautions meant he couldn't go anywhere on his own and had to bring his security guards along with his interpreter and chauffeur. And yet my Dad brought me home the most perfect gift.

He had actually asked them all to go along to the local marked and he says it was one of the best days they had. All these men had helped him choose the right seller and the best fabric and get a good price. He says he gets the best travel moments out of these 'buying-presents-for-my-daughter'-sessions where ever he goes. I say he is a pretty awesome guy and the best dad ever.

One a side note - Easter was great, but very, very busy. We spend time in Bigfoot's family's summerhouse, took a busy trip visiting many good friends in Copenhagen and finally some relaxing at my parents place welcoming home Dad. I didn't take any photos, nor did much knitting happen, but I did finish a little something else and just need a photo to make it blog ready.

Back!!!

2011-04-18T12:54:00.000+02:00

I am back. Like in for real - I hope... I've finished my university degree and is now a real life master of science. I haven't got a job yet, though. But I'm pretty confident I will find something soon. For now I'm enjoying that my tabletop can look like this - on a weekday at lunchtime.

Right now everything feels really crafty and full of opportunities and I really want to get back to blogging. Often. With projects to show and ideas in the pipeline. For now I'll get back to some brainstorming and my tea.

Quite winter

2010-12-30T04:33:00.000+01:00

Soooo.... I never really returned after being knocked to the ground by sickness. But so much happened. I've handed in my thesis and after working on it forever that's a pretty huge thing. Then I packed my bags, got on a plane (and another and another and...) and flew to Pennsylvania to spend Christmas with Mr Bigfoot, and I've been here for a week now doing absolutely nothing - not even knitting.

Tomorrow we are heading for New York for New Years and I've been promised yarn shops and endless afternoons drinking tea and hot chocolate while knitting. I'll manage...

I did knit on the planes, though - a simple, garter scarf in black sock yarn. It was almost 3 meters long when I fell asleep in Detroit. I'll bring it tomorrow on the bus and hopefully soon have more to keep me warm in New York's winter wonder land.

Knocked out

2010-12-09T22:25:00.000+01:00

I'm knocked out and in bed with the flu. Christmas calender post will return when I'm able to get out of bed again. Soon, hopefully...

Unfinished business

2010-12-08T21:32:00.003+01:00

As promised today will start my week of WIPs. I am a bit ashamed of how many things I've got going right now, but I blame it on the thesis and living in a suitcase. My dear friend, who worries to much about things, has made a deal with herself - you can only have one real big worry at any time. You have to chose and leave the rest behind, otherwise it will weigh you down. So, I won't worry about all these projects - I'll be happy when they are done and I have an almost new wardrobe.

I like knitting socks, but I like some socks more than others. Right now I have three pairs on the needles.

The purples are my SKA November Mystery - the pattern is Twisted Mockery by Lisa Stichweh. This is another pair of mystery socks that I really like and will definitely finish, but they had to give way for Christmas knitting. I hope to bring them on the plane going to the states later this month.

The middle sock is a lonely single of a pair of Kai-Meis by Cookie A. They are for my worrying friend and I had hoped to finish them for Christmas, but that's just not going to happen. I love the pattern as much as any Cookie A pattern, but I hate the yarn. It too bad I have chosen crap yarn every time I make this pattern. I have another pair for my friend and these will become a Spring surprise for her instead.

The grey sock was meant to be a pair of Chains for my Grandad. They are also not going to be ready for Christmas - I liked the look of the leg, but the heel/foot part is just not right. I have knitted on after this photo was taken, ripped, knit again and now I'm unsure if these will end up being frogged all together.

I do actually have another pair on the needles. But these have been in a bag on the bottom of my huge knitting basket for way over a year now, so I had completely forgotten about them.

The Snicket Socks by Sabine Riefler were in my queue way before I was knitting socks with patterns. And the yarn was bought with the pattern in mind. But my own pair of Snickets are sadly still not finished. I don't know what happened, I just kept making mistakes all the time and fighting my way through. And then I lost interest in knitting them, but not enough to frog completely, 'cause I still really want a pair for me. This will have to become a goal for 2011 to be sure I can wear Snickets someday.

Socktober mysteries

2010-12-07T23:02:00.006+01:00

October is Socktober month even if I didn't do much sock wise this year. I did finish a few Christmas presents, though, and then I participated in Kirsten Kapur's Mystery Sock KAL just like last year.

I had an idea of these becoming a Christmas present for a girl who would love just this green and since the socks were knit top down, I gave it a few weeks before deciding which size I would make. I didn't care much for the pattern after having completed the first two clues and was close to ripping, but at the same time I really wanted a pair at least as a present.

When I had reached the point of decision about size and when to start the toe, I tried them on and found that I really liked the socks. Really really liked them. Though they were already a bit big for me I hastily knit the toe and the same night I had a new pair of socks. They almost felt like a present since I only used an hour knitting them for myself - the rest of the time was present knitting time, so it doesn't count.

Luck would that after a trip to the washer, they shrunk a bit and now they are perfect for me. Yay, for small feet. And don't feel sorry for the intended recipient either - I have already made her something else for Christmas.

This completes my week of FOs for myself - tomorrow I'll start a week of WIPs and then we're all set for them presents.

Pretty stockings

2010-12-06T22:28:00.002+01:00

A Friday afternoon I accidently found myself inside one of my favourite yarn shops on the way to the train and a long weekend at my parents place. I swear I didn't even know they had a great sale on. At least, I swear I only bought 4 skeins of sock yarn - I couldn't help it, it's some of my favourite sock yarn and it was such a good offer.

I wanted something pretty and dressy, but yet wearable, so I found my Nancy Bush books and began drooling. (That's something which seems to happen more or less every time I find these books - I really want to make every pair she has made.) I especially like my Knitting Vintage Socks and chose the pattern for the Evening Stockings for a Young Lady.

The first stocking was easily completed during the weekend, the second was left in a bag for a while because I had made mistake at the heel and couldn't be bothered to unpick it. I brought it with me for a day sailing and not having anything else to knit on made me finish it in record time. The finished pair are soft and pretty and just what I wanted.

By the way - a way to really start drooling over the stockings from Knitting Vintage Patterns is to have a look at mustaavillaa's Ravelry page. She's knitting a pair of every pattern in the book and they are all gorgeous. She has a sense of colour and photography which I find stunning.

Eco friendly shopping

2010-12-05T11:39:00.006+01:00

I have made a lot of shopper bags in my crafting years. I have knit some, crocheted some, sewn some, recycled other things into some, embellished many and I just like the idea of not buying more plastic the I absolutely have to. And what crafter doesn't love the idea of making their own?

My shopper bags do have a tendency to disappear, though. Many because I give them away to my dear ones when they compliment them. And more because they move into permanent use for something in my home. Most of these end up holding some crafty project and today's finished bag has suffered the same destiny.

The yellow/white (See, yellow again) knitted shopper went to the farmers market with me a few times, but then I started a crocheted blanket and my market shopper was just perfect to hold the yarn. And that has been its fate ever since, at least until the blanket is done - which will be no time soon, but more on that in WIP Week next week.

Having lost my farmers market bag I had to start a new one and since my stash is extreme it was no problem grabbing some yarn and getting started. I opted for a bigger bag, this time with a red, crocheted oval as the bottom (the yellow bag has a round yellow crocheted bottom too). I envisioned red bottom, grey bag and red top and straps.

Then I ran out of grey yarn, found out the colour was discontinued and that threw my new market bag into the bottom of my basket of projects. Getting it out for this post I still really want a bag, so I'll have to rethink my approach. Perhaps this bag is destined to be scrappy and full of colours in stead? I think 2011 is the year for this.

Seeing that my startitis was getting the best of me I spend an afternoon sewing up some project bags for the increasing amount of WIPs.

These make it easy for me to grab a project when I'm running out the door and are made exactly big enough to hold a magazine or pattern book, yarn, needles and the WIP. The only other thing I then need is to remember is my knitting purse with all my essentials, but since I go nowhere without it that's not really a problem.

More greenery

2010-12-04T17:50:00.005+01:00

It just occurred to me that my week of FOs is more or less all yellow and green. And there is more to come. Today it's in the form of my green Romney Kerchief.

As so many others in am almost in awe over Jared Flood's blog. Whenever he makes something I want to make it too. And his photography... Well, his pictures are just as good as chocolate, and that's like the greatest praise you can have from me ever.

When I saw the Romney Kerchief I knew I had to make myself one. I had three skeins of a Sports weight silk/lambswool blend in brown, red and green. They were bought on sale in January and all meant for scarfs so I just needed to choose. Now I can see that I really could have chosen nothing but the green.

The kerchief was a quick little thing - Ravelry tells me it only took me 4 days to complete it, and I only used ¾ skein since it was getting to big to be a kerchief.

The yarn is very airy and pretty (the colour is most accurate in the second photo) and rustic. In the beginning I wasn't convinced this was going to be a winner. I loved the look, but felt it was just to rough next to my skin. Once again a few months of laying on a shelf where I would see it everyday made the difference - it has become one of my absolute favourites and this last week with show and frost it is the first thing it put on in the morning and the last thing to get of when I jump into bed at night. Now I'm wondering if I should find the brown yarn and make a bigger shawl with green stripes from my leftovers.

When finding photos for todays post I fell over this one too.

This is a crocheted pendant I made back in April too. It's crocheted over a bottle top. Totally an other favourite.

Christmas tree

2010-12-03T09:27:00.009+01:00

While on blogging hideout I have knit a lot - and I've had serious case of startitis this past half..... Well, whole year. I one of my very bad face phases I didn't only start new things and left them neglected around my flat, I kept finding just the right yarn online for a dream project and I just had to get it, or my world would collapse... My Pine is a result of one of these phases. I kept thinking of the pattern and how perfect it would be, a wonderful knitting friend of mine made her own pine and made my urge grow and then I (almost) fell over a sale at Holst Garn and the right colour was right there daring me to find my credit card and get some. I blame the Thesis. I was weak. It was raining. I was cold. I couldn't find anything to wear. Well, not anything green, that is... At least not that green...

I already had the pattern booklet by Helga Isager, with every intention of knitting each and every project in it - as for all my Amimono booklets, and when the postman knocked at my door early Saturday morning I was ready. I was home alone for the whole weekend, I had been for my run and shopping really early, I had gone back to my PJ's and had three movies ready. This was comfort knitting all the way through - even though it is some long rows.

The pattern is Pine and I made the smallest size. The result is still quite big, but I love it. All summer and autumn it has been my favourite go-to sweater. And the colour is perfect for what I had in mind. All in all this is one of my few startitis projects which actually became something fast - it never went into hiding.

And just to show you that I do wear my hand knits I have included this last photo. With Mr Bigfoot being in the States for half a year I don't have a photographer at hand. The photo above is taken by my younger brother at a service station in Germany this summer going on holiday. We went to Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic hiking and I think this was the only long sleeved item ever to make it's way out of my backpack. I slept in it in the car the night we got lost outside Wrocław and spent the night at a construction site. I had it in my bag with me every night going out for dinner. It was my pillow in the tent in Krkonošský národní park when it was freezing.

I am definitely making another. Next time I'll downsize it a bit, though, to get a more flattering cardigan. But first I have 2 Amimono WIPs to finish. And then there are all the others my startitis haven made me start yet. But Pine Version II will come too.

More yellow

2010-12-02T11:54:00.002+01:00

Today's finished garment is a Buttercup by Heidi Kirrmaier. This was one of those projects I had been wanting to make, yet didn't have in my immediate queue. Then I found a lot of discontinued alpaca on sale at my local farmers market, went home, made tea and cast on the same afternoon.
6 days later I had myself a Buttercup.

The yarn was just really not a good match for the pattern and somehow it didn't dawn on me until I was almost ready to bind off. It ended up being a really wonderful fabric, but just to dense for this. So I ended up with a more of a tee than a tunic, and more of a winter garment than the summer top I had originally planned. Well, I didn't plan and that's where I went wrong.

I still really really like the pattern and though I haven't used my Buttercup a lot, it is growing on me too. It is perfect in the winter weather with a long sleeved tee under. It's soft as a lamb. And I quite like the colour. So even though I was a bit dissapointed by it all after finishing, the only this I dislike now is the bottom edge that rolls not matter how much I block it.

All in all this is a winner - it has grown on me and hopefully I'll soon find time to make another. I envision one in some of all my Supersoft wool from Holst with longer sleeves and another with quite some positive ease like a tunic in linnen or hemp.

The folds down the front is just from laying tucked in in the closet. I couldn't be bothered to do anything about it when the sun finally peeked out and I had a chance to snap a few photos a few days ago.

1st day of Christmas

2010-12-01T21:50:00.001+01:00

I can't believe I've been gone for almost half a year. Well, actually I can because I have thought multiple post for the blog almost through, but the I never really got to the 'writing-it-down' part.

Life has been full of things and blogging had to be one of the things I put on hold. My plan was that the day I handed in my Master Thesis I would blog again - as a tiny little treat to myself. And I'm really close now, but I'm going to start blogging a bit early and blog a bit every day with projects I have been working on. This will be my own little Christmas calender and then I'll start 2011 with a clean slate. The first week will be of finished projects, the next week full of my WIPs (oh, so many of them...) and then it's all about Christmas presents. I'll try to keep it short and link to my Rav account - all details will be there.

Todays project is my Striped Spring Cardigan. Last year my Dad worked a bit on Island and brought me home some yarn. Well, nearly 2 kg of wool actually. The first 270 g went into this cardigan.

It's made up with a few notes on measurements from the bottom up, and it's only striped because I didn't really have enough yarn in a single colour. Since I got the yarn from my dad I wanted to make something that reminds me even more of him and that I would wear when I'm spending time with him. So a garden cardigan was born. The sleeves are quite narrow so it's good to wear helping out around the garden, where I'm usually either cold or get my clothes stuck in thorns and branches.

With winter and snow hitting Denmark I have found out the sweater is also perfect now. The narrow sleeves makes it perfect under my not-thick-enough jacket, and the Striped Spring Cardigan and I have trot all the paths in the area with my parents dog in sun, rain, fog, storm and huge piles of snow these past months.

One of my favourite things about it is the buttons. They are from either my Grandmother or aunt and I love the bright red colour - much brighter than the photos show.

All details are on my Rav page. That's it for today - back tomorrow with an alpaca tee.

Red and green hexagons

2010-06-04T13:32:00.005+02:00

I've been gone for a while, but I'm still here. I'm just trying to finish my master thesis. Oh, and then I'm sort of homeless once again, so everything is packed up and in storage. But I have bags and boxes filled with yarn, fabric already cut for projects and other crafty projects ready all at my parents place, so I'll get back to business soon.

I haven't touched my knitting needles for 2 weeks (I know, my friend wrote me an e-mail to ask if I was alright...), but this hexagon blanket is growing, so something is happening. I've done more than half of the 120 hexagons needed to cover a little stool I have near my knitting armchair - that's another one of the projects waiting for me this summer at my parents.

When I finish this - and get all my stuff out of storage - I want to make a cushion with black and yellow hexagons to go with this.

March became sock month

2010-04-08T16:51:00.002+02:00

One of my plans for 2010 was to knit a pair of socks every month. January and February went by and I looked at my dpns and all my sock yarn and yet I kept casting on for projects with no sock relation. Then came March and outside snow was still covering the ground, so sock knitting seemed to be just the thing so I cast on for. And when I began I couldn't stop - so 6 finished pairs and one still on the needles. That's more or less all the way to July in my plans.

More information about all the socks can be found on Ravelry.

Elephants for Ida

2010-04-06T15:29:00.004+02:00

The holiday time is over and a lot of yellow flew away on my needles. I did find time for a bit of baby knitting too, since a good friend of mine just had a baby daughter before Easter. The girl is born a bit prematurely, so the vest is quite tiny. And it's full of elephants, since the mother is a big fan of elephants - the color charts are found here on Jessica's home page. There are a lot of great, free charts to look through here.

Baby Elephants for Ida

Pattern : Made up as I went along.
Yarn : Arwetta Classic in mint green and purple
Needles : 3 mm circ
Size : New born
Weight : 35 g
Started : Friday April 2nd 2010
Finished : Sunday April 4th 2010
For : Baby Ida

The elephants are more defined in real life and the colors are brighter than on the photos - that's what comes from takin g photos during this rainy Easter. But I'm not complaining because that gives me so much more reason for staying under my blanket with a cup of tea inside.

Easter knitting

2010-04-04T11:24:00.000+02:00

I'm spending the Easter holiday at my parents. I love coming home for a few days - here I don't feel bad about not working on my thesis or cleaning or something else. I'm just knitting, listening to sound books, reading, talking, walking and cooking a lot. I seldom knit in yellow though I love the color - 2010 seems to be the year that changes that.

I better get back to my chocolate cake in the oven and the finding of some Easter eggs in the garden. Happy Easter everyone.

Out of time

2010-02-24T15:21:00.006+01:00

I'm beginning to wonder why I ever participate in events with a deadline, since I actually much prefer to knit on multiple project at the same time. I know now that I won't finish my Olympic sweater on time. Too bad, but I'll finish it soon anyway. I'm almost ready to join sleeves and body now - just need to knit some sleeves first.

The best kind of birthday presents

2010-02-23T12:03:00.004+01:00

As promised yesterday I want to share a very special birthday present with you. I can tell at once that it is yarn, but that's not what made it so special. It's that fact that the guys (all guys, no girls to help out here - I'm a math student for Gods sake) from university got me this for my birthday. Can't believe they went out yarn shopping, but I love them for it.

I brought my copy of Wrap Style with me to our office and asked whether the Shetland Triangle would be acceptable as a patter. They encourage me to get going and kept wanting to see my progress. They might have been more proud than me when I finally wore the finished project. Is that what it feels like when you have kids? I guess so...

Birthday Shetland Triangle

Pattern : Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark
Yarn : Silkeuld from Askeladen (silk and merino) in red
Needles : 3.5 mm
Size : It grew - a lot - and ended up being 175*80 cm
Weight : 89 g
Started : Saturday January 16th 2010
Finished : Wednesday February 3rd 2010
Mods : Made 14 pattern repeats before doing the edge since I wanted a bigger shawl
For : Me me me me

It was lovely to knit with the silk/merino yarn and as always I love blocking lace. It's still a wonder for me when that sorry blob of yarn suddenly becomes huge and light so pretty.

The only bad thing was that the day I blocked the triangle on my bed ended up being the longest and hardest day in months. And when I returned back home at 9pm to tired to keep my eyes open I had to carefully remove all 200

I've got more

2010-02-22T13:52:00.004+01:00

On of the other finished objects that I have worn a lot during January and February is my brown cardigan. The photos are actually some of those I didn't want to share, being to dark and missing light, but I love the cardigan so here they come after all.

The idea for the cardigan came with the yarn which was bought very, very cheaply on sale. It's Geilsk Tynd Uld and I had already tried using it for my tunic/dress last Easter and loved it. At a fair last year Bente Geils was selling out discontinued colors and I grapped 4 brown skeins for a cardigan and 3 light green for some light summer blouse. As before I am amazed with the yardage of this yarn. The whole cardigan only took 2.7 skeins.

Brown wollen cardigan

Pattern : My own - I wanted a very simple, fitting cardigan
Yarn : Geilsk Tynd Uld in dark brown (#7) - 2.7 skeins from stash
Needles : 3 mm
Size : Small
Weight : 135 g - that's less than 3 skeins!!!
Buttons : 3 dark mother of pearls buttons from my grandmothers old cardigan
Started : December 28th 2009
Finished : January 27th 2010
For : Me

I love knitting on small needles and I love light garments. This only weighs 235 grams and is still warm and very wearable in our forever-winter-weather-land. I originally wanted a v-neck, but after finishing I am a bit sad I didn't just go with my first idea and made it even simpler with a round neck. And then made the neck opening higher in the process, because it tends to fall down a bit. I like the final outcome, though, and think this will be a winner both now and during spring/summer/autumn when I'll throw it in my bag when running out to enjoy those nights I'm dreaming of in the parks with wine and grills and games.

The gorgeous brooch is a birthday present from one of my best friends. She was a non-crafter when I met her, but is slowly being converted. And I got to teach her to knit!!! She gives the best presents - this owl is definitely a winner with me.

Tomorrow I'll share another birthday present that also made me extremely happy...

I could start sharing

2010-02-21T19:19:00.000+01:00

For some reason during the last months of 2009 I stopped sharing many of my finished projects here. It might be due to the fact that I use Ravelry more extensively now than I did before. And then all those finished items just began irritating me 'cause I wore them but didn't have any photos and the wearing showed so photos I might take wouldn't be that good anyway. And it was winter and there was no light so I couldn't even really take photos... And then I just didn't post. And that's just plain stupid.

So I'm letting 2009 go and with it most of the items you haven't seen here. If you were in any way interested you would be able to find them on Ravelry anyway. And then I'll focus on 2010 and things I have made that make me happy here and now.

I'm still working on my Olympic Sweater, but haven't been taking photos so that one will wait a bit. I'm almost halfway with the body and working on one sleeve at the same time. Won't finish it on time, but I will finish it and hopefully use it a lot in springtime.

Instead I'll show you the first thing I finished in 2010. A tiny little knit I worked on here and have worn so much that it has never actually been blocked. Perhaps I should get around to getting that done some day...

Kerchief for a little elf

Pattern : Textured shawl by Orleane
Yarn : Araucania Pomaire Multy (cotton) - #04 in grey, violet and green. Found very much on sale in my LYS the day I cast on.
Needles : 5 mm
Size : Small kerchief
Weight : 97 g
Started : Tuesday January 5th 2010
Finished : Friday January 8th 2010
Mods : Made smaller since I only had one skein of the gorgeous, soft yarn. Made 16 rows each time before changing texture.
For : Me

This is so soft and I love the colors. They remind me of woods and elfs and hidden things. I already have some brown silk and lambswool waiting to make myself another textured shawl, just have to figure out how to make the increases around the center look good as they often become quite wonky for me.

This is what the kerchief looks like when you are me and I am wearing it...

A slow beginning

2010-02-16T10:01:00.002+01:00

I don't know if it is due to my very slow start on this project, but I keep thinking of other things I could cast on in stead. I'm quite sure I won't be able to finish it on time but slowly I'm getting to enjoy it. Finally...

Epic fail!

2010-02-14T14:24:00.001+01:00

Sometimes I'm such an arse. And when I can't blame anyone else, it just feels worse.

So the story is that one of my goals for 2010 has been to do more color work knitting and therefore I had planned to do something about this for the Ravelympics. Another goal I have made for myself is to finish more wearable garments for myself, so a sweater project seemed right. Looking through my books I found Summer in Tokyo in my Japan book by Marianne Isager which I have been dreaming about.

I had planned to do this exact project in inherited yarn - I have been given so much yarn from people I love and there was enough to do this project in light grey from a frogged cardigan my Mum had started, dark grey and black from a frogged poncho Mr Bigfoots Mum had left undone perhaps 10 years ago and before she died 3 years ago she gave it to me to unravel and a bit of moss green from Mr Bigfoots sister given to me for Christmas 4 or 5 years ago. I love the story of all these yarns and that three of my favorite women in that way could be part of my sweater.

So i swatched and decided that an extra goal would be to learn to knit with one yarn in each hand. I'm a continental knitter so I have never thrown my yarn, but this is the perfect opportunity to learn.

Now I wasn't going to spend the weekend at home, but I was promised that the whole weekend could be spend knitting. We would sit at home and watch the Olympics, go to cafés and knit, food would be prepared while I could knit if I just promised to sit in the kitchen and knit. Everything was set and in good time I had made my preparations - my knitting bag was packed, all yarn was put in different bags and needles, markers, tools and even a bit of chocolate for difficult times was packed so nothing could go wrong. I left home and could not wait to start and to have a wonderful weekend...

Then I found out I forgot the pattern at home!!! How stupid can one be? Arh, I have been angry, but no one's to blame besides me, so here I am back home and all ready to cast on when I thought I would have so much to show you. Well, you'll have to wait. Bahhh....

It's addictive

2010-01-08T13:41:00.002+01:00

I don't really know what it is about starting up new projects that feels so great. I'm not like some of the bloggers I follow, where there are 20 UFOs in the basket - I just like to have more projects going on always. I think it has something to do whit the fact that I love to have knitting for every situation I can possibly run into - a smaller project that can fit in my bag, so I can bring it out anywhere I am, mindless knitting I can bring to the cinema, bigger projects to take out when I'm spending time in friends sofas, projects that are nearly done so I can get quick gratification on "down days", projects I have to think about for nights home alone with the telly... And I don't like periods where all my projects finish up at the same time - it's just not my kind of knitting...

After Christmas I've been too low on projects. I'm working on a thin cardigan which is light and good to bring along (st st on 3 mm circs, it can't be wrong!!!), but I need more variety. I found this single skein of Araucanía cotton in a sale bin a few days ago for next to nothing. It is love and I'm getting my mojo back, together with my urge to cast on for new projects. Finally 2010 is really starting. The pattern is Orlane's Textured Shawl, details about the yarns is found on my Ravelry page.

Christmas presents

2010-01-05T09:26:00.003+01:00

As everyone else I had this long list of homemade Christmas presents planned - and then I just never got around to finishing them all... Well, I blame the flu... And the hole in my head... Or just other projects that were more fun to play with.

Mitts for mushroom picking

Pattern : None
Yarn : Mayflower Elegance in grey - from stash
Needles : 3 mm (my mitt dpns - only 9 cm long)
Size : Snug on a mans hand, loose on my hands
Weight : 30 g
Started : November 29th 2009
Finished : December 2nd 2009
For : My Dad

These mitt were accompanied with a book about local eating mushrooms in Denmark and recipes for cooking with your finds. My Dad is a big gatherer and drags home 25 - 45 kilos every year. My Mum on the other hand is not always to thrilled because he only makes soup or grilled mushroom with bread of it all. He loved his present - and wore the mitts every day I was home on holiday. Walking the dog, biking, doing wood work, playing in the snow. I'd call them a hit and I know I'll have to make him another pair soon.

Grandads nightcap

Pattern : None
Yarn : Lucca Fino (# ux 17) in light blue - bought for this, since a nightcap has to be light blue
Needles : 3 mm circ
Size : BIG head - we have huge heads in my family
Weight : 34 g
Started : December 3rd 2009
Finished : December 21st 2009
For : My favorite Grandad (I only have one left, so it's ok to say that)

This was my favorite present to give away. Last Easter my Grandad mentioned that he get so cold when he is in his bed during the coldest winter months. He asked me if i could make him a nightcap and when one of my favorite guys in the whole world asks me for hand knit items, he's sure to receive them. The extra spin on this was that my Grandmother swore that if he got a nightcap she wouldn't sleep next to him. They have been married for 58 years and when he put the cap on, she told him he looked good and that she would still be proud to sleep next to him every night. Those two are so amazing - I don't think any of them will be able to live without the other, but luckily for me they are still strong, bike 20 km every day and text message me at least once a week. I'm so lucky to have them in my life, I know.

Pattern : None - cuff down with garter stitch heel and toe
Yarn : Marathon Sock Yarn in light blue - from forever old stash
Needles : 3 mm dpns
Size : Womans medium
Weight : 46 g
Started : December 6th 2009
Finished : December 23rd 2009
For : My Grandmother

The last hand knit item under the tree was a pair of night socks for my Grandmother. I wanted to make her something to match Grandads nightcap and socks just seemed right for a lady with cold feet.

I'll try to get photos of the last few things from 2009 soon, so everything can be up to date before things from 2010 begin to be completed.

A brand new year

2010-01-04T22:22:00.002+01:00

2009 was a strange year. So many things happened - both brightening life up but certainly also bringing me down at times. But through it all I had my knitting and I have been knitting just about everywhere I have gone. It's been great.

I have knit 40 projects at a total of 3718 grams of yarn. It's less than I had hoped for, but I have become quite hooked on knitting on smaller needles and lighter garments so I'm still happy about the progress.

It all sums up to

4 sweater
14 pairs of socks
1 dress
1 vest
5 scarfs
2 hats
4 pairs of fingerless mitts
8 baby items
1 crochet ball

- about half of it from stash, half bought for the projects. And I haven't been good at getting my stash diminished, there has just been too many good opportunities for yarn buying.

And now I have 6 lingering projects I want to finish in 2010 - it should be manageable...

And just remembering it - I kept my new years resolution for 2009. I'm quite proud, I haven't bought a single piece of clothing in the last 12 months and it has been really good not spending time clothes shopping ever. So hooray for me...

Now I am not really into the whole resolution thing, but I've made some plans for knitting goals I hope to achieve during 2010

Knit at last 12 pairs of socks - one pair for each month
Knit at least 6 garments for myself
Try a steeking project
Learn to do a sewn bind off
Knit my first mens sweater
Participate in the Ravelympics for the first time
Knit more multicolored projects
Keep enjoying my knitting as much as possible

That's 8 things I want to keep in my mind. The first pair of socks and first cardigan is already on the needles, I'm sure it is doable...

Have a great and joyful 2010 all around the globe - full of creativity and lots of knitting.

Long time no see

2009-12-30T20:21:00.003+01:00

Fall came, winter came, snow even came, Christmas came (and went away...) and
all along there was knitting done - well, if we count out the time I was in bed with flu and a 6 cm hole in my head...! But my Ravelry page tells me there are a lot of things I still need to share here.

I'll begin with something completely non-Christmassy. The undershirt and cardigan was made for a friend of mine who had her first baby a month ago. The cardigan is more purple and brown in real life - and the buttons are bright orange.

Short row cardigan

Pattern : Drops Jacket - found here
Yarn : Knit Picks Shadow in Sunset and Heather from stash
Needles : Size 3 mm circs - knit back and forth
Size : About 6 months
Weight : 50-60 grams
Buttons : 3 orange buttons from stash
Started : July 2009
Finished : December 1st 2009
Mods : Used thinner yarn so I modified the amount of stitches
For : Tiny baby Tobias

I absolutely adore this pattern, but oh how I hated to knit it. I got so bored with it very, very soon after starting. The mother of the baby was happy, though, and it is true that the cardigan can be worn for a long time.

Baby undershirt

Pattern : Just cast on and knit
Yarn : Madame Tricote Almina in white (#5306) - from stash
Needles : 3 mm circ
Size : 3-6 months
Weight : 32 grams
Buttons : 2 light brown from stash
Started : September 20 2009
Finished : September 27 2009
For : Tiny baby Tobias

This was another 'going-to-the-cinema-without-anything-on-the-needles'-project. I ended up really loving it, though, and could end up knitting many more with all those babies popping up around me.

Well, I'll get back to the sofa now - more FO should be here in a few days...

Mitts made for shopping

2009-11-10T13:12:00.003+01:00

Fall has really begun to show itself here in Denmark. For weeks it has been grey and wet outside, the wind is blowing howling outside my windows all through the evening and there I've finally had to give in and turn on the heat inside.

But don't get me wrong. I absolutely love fall. It might not be my favorite thing to go to uni in rain, but besides that I really love this season. There is more reason than ever to drink tea under a blanket, while knitting things I can put right on and enjoy. So this is how I chose to spend as much time as I possibly can.

These mitts aren't actually the first I made this year, but since the light is not yet there when I leave home in the morning and gone when I arrive home in the afternoon, these photos are all I have. My green pair will be shown here soon, though, since they are also greatly loved.

Shopping Mitts

Pattern : By Wilferts in BoligLiv #9, 2009
Yarn : A single skein of grey sock yarn I found in one of my baskets.
Needles : 2.5 mm dpns
Size : Womans small, 41 st
Weight : 30 g
Started : October 30th 2009
Finished : November 1st 2009
Mods : Had a smaller gauge and wanted a long, slim fitting mitt, so I made extra repeats (25 all together) and did an i-chord bind off.
For : Me - ment to be for grocery shopping during fall, but I already use them for biking and knitting at places where it is cold.

And then on a completely different note: I won this gorgeous yarn in giveaway at bitter purl celebrating the launch of the Pure Knits book. This is the first time I'll have a chance to try out some malabrigo and I can't wait. This will become a hat. Or a cowl. Or or or... At least something I can wear close to my skin during winter.
If you haven't had a look at the patterns in the book do yourself a favour and have a look at the bitter purl blog where all garments are shown and described. They are lovely.
Thank you so much for picking a surprice winner, Yahaira, I love the yarn.

A whole month of socks

2009-10-31T18:42:00.004+01:00

Since October is ending today so is the Soctoberfest. This year has been the first for me and I have enjoyed to have my focus on socks and not just treat them as easy-to-bring-knits or procrastinations between other projects.
I have finished four pairs of socks during the month and still managed to do a bit of knitting on other items.

Before the month began, I had three pairs of socks on the needles. I had planned to finish them and not cast on anything else before they were done. But then Kirsten Kapur from Through the Loops revealed that she would host a Mystery Sock KAL and I really wanted to be a part of that. And a few weeks into the month I needed something mindless to bring to the cinema, so another pair was begun. This ended up taking my time from a pair I really should finish now, namely my Snickets - they are still waiting, but someday I'll finish them.

Rocky Socks

Pattern : Plain stockinette stitch sock
Yarn : Basic Sock Yarn (#7799, brown, black, grey) - just under 2 skeins from stash
Needles : 3 mm dpns
Size : Large mens - about size 46
Weight : 86 g
Started : Late July 2009
Finished : October 3th 2009
For : Mr bigfoot

These were cast on just before the lights went out at the cinema seeing the newest Harry Potter movie. They have been to at least two other movies since then and are knitted on my supershort dpns - like 7-8 cm, which for me is perfect for soundless knitting without looking. I don't know why they were 2½ months on the go before I could hand them over - perhaps because they are a really boring knit outside the cinema?

Red triangular ribs

Pattern : None - the ribs go into a peak on front and on the back.
Yarn : Marathon Sock Yarn (#224, bordeaux) - from stash
Needles : 2 mm dpns
Size : Size 35
Weight : 60 g
Started : September 13th 2009
Finished : October 28th 2009
For : Me

I startet these socks getting bored with baby knits and wanting to do ribbed socks on thin needles. The fabric that came out of it is surprisingly soft and dense. There is a heart knitted in purl stitches on the back of each heel, but it is impossible for me to get a photo of them.

Afterthought Socks

Pattern : One long long tube - cut cut cut - knit 4 heels/toes and two ribbings and; "voilà, you have a pair of socks!"
Yarn : Schachenmayr nomotta Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett, 1 ball (#4261, blue, green and brown stripes) and a bit of Arwetta Classic from my mystery socks (#200, yellow)
Needles : 3 mm dpns
Size : Size 35
Weight : 58 g
Started : October 18th 2009
Finished : October 26th 2009
For : Me

There were a few reasons for knitting these socks. I have had a single ball of the Kaffe Fassett yarn lying around for a while, not really wanting to buy another ball, but wanting a pair of socks for myself from it. I love the colors (which are a deeper green irl, but the weather is grey and it will not show on photos), but I liked the idea of some contrast for heels and toes. And since I have tiny feet a single ball of yarn is almost enough for normal socks, so this was a perfect way for me to try out the afterthought heel and toe for the first time.
I don't think the heel will ever be my favorite method, but these socks were so perfect as cinema knit, since you just knit the tube after casting on on waste yarn and keep knitting till there is no more yarn. After that it is easy to complete a pair of socks while at home with contrasting yarn and a scissor.

Mystery Socks '09

Pattern : Mystery Socks '09 by Kirsten Kapur
Yarn : Arwetta Classic - 2 skeins selected by my younger brother (#200, bright yellow)
Needles : 2.5 mm dpns - 2 sets so I could knit both socks as the clues came along
Size : Small, 56 st - size 35
Weight : 48 g
Started : October 1st 2009
Finished : October 31 2009
Mods : None, I've followed the patter and had so much fun with it
For : Me - again again

This was my first ever KAL and I can't even describe how much fun I had. The best part was actually that the pattern was secret - it was fun waiting to get the next instructions and start knitting without a picture or knowing what would come out of it. I have already signed up for a sock KAL i November to, hope it will be fun too, though I already know what the finished product should look like this time.

So I ended up knitting most for myself - but that is usually what I do, so it's business as usual. I had though I would also find some time to do at least a pair of baby socks too, but I'm really bored by all the baby things now, so I never really felt like casting on. I have worked on a baby jacket, though, and two pairs of fingerless mitts - one pair done, used a lot and loved, another with only one mitt done. I'll be working on these tonight with a peanut butter sandwich, a cup of coffee and mandarins on a tray next to me.
Have a wonderful Halloween y'all and goodbye dear Socktoberfest.

Mystery knitting

2009-10-26T14:37:00.004+01:00

I'm really enjoying the Mystery Sock knitting. This is my first time with mystery knitting, but not the last - it is so much fun watching a pattern grow out of the instructions, not really knowing what will happen next. But Thursdays are just too far apart - I really want these done so I can put them on. And then I need to start searching for a new mystery KAL...

But I'm cold

2009-10-14T15:13:00.004+02:00

The weather has been showing from the windy, cold side these last few days. So last night I brought my mitts for my knitting night with a group of friends to finish them. This is what I ended up with - I'm right where I start the fingers, but there is only one meter yarn left. This morning has been spent trying to find a shop nearby not only selling this brand, but also carrying this exact color. This has been more than difficult, but now I might have a place. I'll jump right on my bike and cross my cold, cold fingers all the way there. Wish me luck...

My Dad went to Iceland...

2009-10-09T14:05:00.003+02:00

- and all the brought home for me was nearly 2 kg wool... He said he had the best time visiting 4 (yes, four! Not one or two or three, but FOUR) yarn shops and talking to the ladies there. He wasn't sure if I would even like any of this, but from my yell of happiness when he handed the bag over I have an idea it wont be the last yarn he ever gives me.

Last time he brought me home a crafty present was from Ghana earlier this year. Yes, I know - my Dad is the best...

Knitting is coming along here too - it has to, to make room for knitting with my new treasures. But no photos to prove progress on either my mitts or the mystery socks (clue no 2 came yesterday and is looking great!!!), so the weekend is dedicated to these.

A quiet weekend of knitting

2009-10-04T14:30:00.004+02:00

I love weekends of knitting. Especially when the pauses are filled with family and friends, tea and coffee, books and games, mushroom hunting in the wood, berry picking in the garden and things like these. And most of the time, the rain has been pouring and the wind has threatened to blow us far away, so there has been fires build in the fireplace and lots of blankets and cozy time. I'm not complaining for a second!

The weather and good time allowed me to finish my first Mermaid Glove and cast on for the next. It is so soft from the alpaca and I'm in love with the color- green and yellow are on top of my list at the moment.

I'm knitting the pair on size 2 mm needles, so I does take a while to get done, but it's a lovely little knit and I'm cute sure I'll be very satisfied with them. And I've already tried to knit a bit with this one on, just to make sure they will work as winter knitting mitts too - they work perfectly, so now the cold weather can set in for real very soon.

The beginning of the Mystery Socks

2009-10-03T15:04:00.003+02:00

As I read about this years Mystery Socks KAL on Through the Loops! blog, I knew I wanted to be a part of the Socktober Fest. I've read about the event on Lolly's blog before, but the prospect of knitting up socks I hadn't choosen meself and didn't know how would come out, made it for me.

I downloaded the first clue Thursday just before getting on a bus to have a long weekend at my parents place, made my younger brother go with me to the yarn shop (he's 17 and must really love me since he put up with things like this...) and he chose the yellow sock yarn (Arwetta Classic #200). Remembering to bring a lot of dnps I cast on in the evening and knit both cuffs while watching television with my mum. Now I'm only sad there is so long to the next clue next Thursday.

In the background is my progress so far on a pair of Mermaide Gloves. It has been freezing here and though I wanted to dedicate October to sock knitting I need something to keep my hands and arm somewhat warm while on the coldest office in the whole university. I'm knitting them in Drops Alpaca in an autumn green with specks of yellow and orange in it. Absolutely lovely.

Happy Socktober everyone - whether participating in the Socktober Fest and Mystery Socks KAL or not...

Happy weekend colors

2009-09-25T12:24:00.005+02:00

After getting pretty bored with all the baby knitting a while ago and taking a break from it, my mojo is coming back now. A friend is having her first baby - a boy - in November and I want to make a bag of goodies for her.

I have a few things on the needles, but finding this colorful yarn in a sale bin made me put everything else on hold for a while to see lovely colors and stripes coming together. The blue yarn is the same brand and was already living in my stash, so I don't really feel I'm abandoning my ideas about knitting baby garment out of stash yarn.

Colorful Stripy Devils Cap

Pattern : Sweet Baby Cap from Gros Lille Krok (Well, I'm from a home where it's called a devils cap and I like that name better)
Yarn : Madame Tricote Almina (#5353light blue, #6219 blue, green, yellow and orange)
Needles : Size 2.5 mm - first a circ and then dpns
Size : Very newborn
Weight : Just 14 g - half of it from stash
Started : September 22th 2009
Finished : September 24th 2009
Mods : Cast on fewer stitches (102) to make a smaller cap since they have come out bigger than anticipated when I had knit it before. So I just made up the number of increases and decreases as I went along.
For : Little Mr November

I like the way the colorful yarn stripes along in the first five stripes along the edge, but after beginning the decreases they don't look as good. Maybe I should have ripped out and just finished it in blue, but there is lots of yarn left so I'll do that next time.

By the way - the yellow background is from a little table I have painted a few weeks ago. It needs another coating, but that'll have to wait until a sunny day. It's going to be my new knitting table beside my cozy knitting chair. So happy about it.

Bubbly Socks

2009-09-24T15:14:00.004+02:00

Actually I should show you another pair of socks instead of these bubbly ones. I started a pair of Snicket Socks more than a month ago and had the wonderful experience of seeing the hexagons grow out on top of my knit and I fell in love with the method. And yes, I became a knitter I never knew, who tried on the socks again and again after a few rows, I admired them and made people around me admire them too. There were only a few (but rather large) downsides; the pattern is really difficult for me to do without mistakes and it acquires a lot of attention to get through. So what to do - well, cast on for an extra pair of socks using the same method with knitting through the back loop on a back ground of purls. This is how the Minty Bubbles came to life.

Minty Bubbles

Pattern : My own.
Yarn : Qualitas Sock (#1350 variated in blue and mint) (75% superwash wool, 25% polyamid)
Needles : Size 2.5 mm
Size : Womans 35
Weight : A mere 38 g
Started : August 4th 2009
Finished : August 19th 2009
For : Me

I really like these socks. They are very suitable for spring since they are rather thin - and only weigh 38 grams! The yarn was left over from socks my mum had made and she couldn't be bothered buying an extra ball to make a whole new pair. When this happens (and it does quite often) she gives me the yarn. I took it as a challenge and just made with just a few meters to spare in the end.

And the Snickets are coming along too. The first one has been done for a while and I have begun the second one. Perhaps they'll be ready for Christmas...

Silky silky smooth

2009-09-03T15:26:00.002+02:00

Often ideas of what I want to knit come to me either right before I go to sleep or while I am knitting the very last stitches of another project late in the evening. That is true for this scarf too.

I have wanted to knit the Springtime Bandit since I saw the pattern, but didn't wear big scarfs that often and somehow it was just there in my mind. It seems that in the last year or so everyone in the blog world has made these big, thicker, triangular scarfs and I have grown more and more into the idea. One night just before falling asleep I remembered that I had some silk from a sale way, way back in time. (January sale in 2006 or maybe even in 2005!!!) I got out of bed, found it, the color reminded me of the Springtime Bandit and a plan was made.

The next evening the 7 skeins were wound into balls. They are 20 g each and I had 5 gray, almost silvery, skeins and two red. I used just over 3.5 skeins for this project, so there is still some left for another project.

Silky Bandit

Pattern : Springtime Bandit by zeitgeistyarns
Yarn : 100% silk in gray from Fandango
Needles : 3.5 mm 60 cm circ
Size :
Weight : 72 g - from stash
Started : August 24th 2009
Finished : August 30th 2009
Mods : Added two extra pattern repeats since the gauge was much smaller than called for
For : Me - I love when knit is for me!

The bandit is so quick and easy and really great. Until the edge chart it just flew from my needles, then I got a bit bored - and forgot the pattern when I went out for movie night and just kept knitting from memory and made mistakes, but that one is on me! I really liked knitting thins and would like to make myself another bandit in thick wool for winter.

Both the photo of me wearing th bandit and the last one here where it is thrown on the floor, is proof of how much I like this knit; I have worn it every day to university in this week. Yes, that is four days in a row - but with different outfits every day, mind you. I just love looking down and seeing the silver and feeling the softness around my neck. So that is why it's looking a bit curled up...

And by the way, I'm a math student, you know - so not a single person has yet noticed that I'm wearing the same scarf every day...!

Now with a fitting sweater

2009-09-03T12:02:00.005+02:00

My Ravelry page shows me that I haven't been a good blogger and showed my new finished items off. But today it is raining and I am working from home at my kitchen table with large cups of coffee and fresh baked bread, so this seems like the perfect way to take myself a little break.

I made myself another February Lady Sweater. The first one was completed just when I came home from Hong Kong (and could have been finished on the plane going home, I hadn't put in the bottom of my really tightly packed hand luggage and couldn't be bothered to try to get it out...!) and I really like it - but I never wear it. And I perfectly well know why that is: It's simply way to big and doesn't I'm not comfortable in it.

While on my babyknitting streak I had an urge to knit something on larger needles for myself, something that could make my warm in the chilly autumn evenings crawling up on us and something I could quickly be done without putting too much thought into it. And then I recalled that I had one large skein of black wool from Beijing that I would like to use. I swatced, and recalculated and took out pattern repeats (like, a lot of pattern repeats disapered) and I started this as my comfort knit.

Besides from my new number of stitches I did everything according to the great pattern. I only had this one skein - a total of 262 g, so I knitted until the body was just so i could wear it, but still really short, finished the sleeves til desired length and used the rest of the yarn to make the body as long as possible. I spend every single bit of the yarn and after weaving in ends and sewing up armpit holes I had a total of 8-9 cm of yarn left - divided into 5 tiny pieces... I really made use of what I had there.

And as everyone knowing me could tell - I really like when I'm able to knit up every single cm of yarn 'cause I can't throw away anything. Which means my basket of tiny ends is huge. But but but...I am using up bits and pieces when I can and I promise to knit a large scarf someday when the basket gets to full. It will be ugly but full of history and that's a big plus in my book.

February Lady Sweater No II - The Fitting

Pattern : February Lady Sweater by Pam at Flint Knit
Yarn : Black wool bought on a street in Beijing
Needles : Size 5.5 mm circs (60cm) and dnps for the sleeves
Size : xs - and this time a perfect fit
Weight : 262 g from stash - every single gram I had of it
Buttons : 3 white vintage buttons from my aunt
Started : August 11th 2009
Finished : August 23th 2009
Mods : Made fewer pattern repeats to make up for a larger gauge and since I wantet a fitted model
For : Me - and I have worn it a lot

So, for me to finally get a sweater that actually fits me - not just almost, but spot on - is quite an accomplishment and I am so happy with this knit. Especially after a good blocking which didn't only make the sweater grow to a great length but also made it thick and great. But what makes me over-the-roof-happy about this one is the buttons. A few months ago I was visiting my aunts for a weekend and after laughing long (and loud!!!) of my collecting habits, they brought out their big boxes of buttons collected from their mums, sisters, friends and clothes in years. Because they can't throw anything away either! And then they just sat me on a chair at the kitchen table and let me look through it all and take what I wanted. Oh bliss, it was such a great day. I brough home a big box of buttons and these are the first I have used in a project. They are lovely cream white and sewed on with red wool yarn I really think they make the sweater. I'm so wearing this next time I'm visiting the aunts - they will be thrilled...

Weekendknitting

2009-08-17T12:43:00.003+02:00

The weekend has been full of knitting and reading. Lucky bastard as I am someone mostly read out loud for me so I was able to combine the two things - not a bad deal at all.
The black cardi is a modification of the February Lady Sweater for grown ups, the stripy socks are the cinema socks for now, since plain old stockinette stitch is all in can be sure to succeed on while in complete blackness and the blue socks are my own pattern. More to come on everything when 1½ socks more are completed and the cardi is blocked.

Now I better get back to those martingales - they don't seem to work themselves.

The Baby Pack

2009-08-14T13:25:00.006+02:00

My first baby pack is now done and delivered. I friend from my office is becoming a dad one of these days (should have been Tuesday, but the little guy seems to be quite comfortable in there...) and I wanted to make a few things for him. And since the dad is pretty into cleaning and handling things right, I added little cards with the name of each item on the front and fiber and washing instructions on the back - the dad was pleased to be able to collect them in his box of washing instructions for everything he own. I knew that would be a winner with him!

I have already written about most of these things so I'll spare you - if anyone's interested details can be found here and here. I did also finish a few more items to put in the pack. This is my first attempt on Saartje's Bootees but I totally get why they are so popular. One evenings television watching and there they are.

Saartje's Bootees

Pattern : Saartje's Bootees from Saartje Knits (Ravelry link)
Yarn : Babyuld in dark blue
Needles : Dpns size 2.5 mm
Size : Very Newborn
Weight : 10 g from stash
Buttons : 4 flowers from Fandango - which happens to be my new neighbor. Yay!!!
Started : Last week
Finished : New day
For : Little Mr Jeppe

I also finished what I was working on here. The father plans for Mr Jeppe to become a professional football player, so I better get him started.

Crochet Pentagon Ball

Pattern : 12 crochet pentagons joined with chain crocheting
Yarn : 100 % cotton - 4 main colors for the pentagons and joined with green.
Hook : Size 3 mm
Size : 40 cm around the waist - or circumference to be propper
Weight : 42 g before filling - all together 102 g - and all from stash
Started : Friday 24th of July
Finished : Wednesday 12th of August
For : Little Mr Jeppe

This ball came out of playing with yarn and having forgot my knitting needles at home - but finding a crochet hook in the bottom of my bag. I made one pentagon a day and made sure they are all different - 12 combinations when I used 4 colors and need two colors in each. So they are pairwise alike. (I even thought about showing it to my combinatorics professor - I think he would appreciate it!)

I joined the pentagons by chain stitches and made sure no adjoining edges where the same color. Yes, that is something to make a little mathematician happy. I sew up an almost round 'thing' to fill with doll filling and a bell so that small fingers can't get to it. And put this almost round thing inside the ball. Another one of the guys from my office has already asked if he can have a ball like this for his birthday.

For a long time I have been reading about freezer paper and stenciling with it. Here in Denmark we don't usually use this waxed paper but last week I found it in a supermarket and had to give it a go. The bag is sewn out of some of my mums old tablecloths she has been kind enough to give me to play with. It is thick cotton and really sturdy. It's lined with thinner blue cotton - the same as for the straps. I stenciled a J for Jeppe and some stars on the front, filled it with the knitted goodies and gave it to the parents-to-be yesterday. Now he can come out to play!

Another friends baby will come around in November. The mother was here yesterday - and told me that she really would like a bag too. But this little guy is not named yet so I'll have to come up with something else that a letter. I'm thinking animals and numbers - since the mum-to-be is a biologist/mathematician...

And just as an exstra plus - I used 157 g making this. I might not sound like much but at least it was all from stash and more baby knitting is already on it's way.

Tiny vacation

2009-08-10T12:54:00.003+02:00

This year there is no summer holiday for me. I'm working on my thesis and really don't mind spending summer at home. University has been rather empty and I enjoy being there with only a few guys from the office and allow myself to work a bit less than other times and treat us to home baked bread and the odd ice cream once in a while.

I have enough time on my hands to play it a bit by the weather, so I chose to take a few days of and went for my parents place 50 km inlands. Besides soaking up sun, eating a lot, reading and knitting I really went for the gardens. Lot's was done - below is some of what I brought home with me.

I made salt and sugars with herbs and let it dry in the sun. It's fantastic and I'm already looking for new options for next year.

Below are two kinds of sugar. At left it's pineapple sugar, at right mint sugar with vanilla. I used heaps of eatable flowers though they haven't really got much taste just for the pretty colors.

If you want to try this - and do it if you have a garden full of herbs, they are both really good in a cup of tea, on cakes or over a salad - what you need is:

1 kg good, organic sugar
A lot of herbs - I probably used 4-5 full cups. They must be rinsed and dried in a tea towel
Maybe a vanilla pod
A little cup of eatable flowers.

Two thirds of the sugar and the herbs (and vanilla if you want it) goes into the food processor. Keep working it until all the herbs are completely taken apart. Put the mixture in a baking tray and mix in the rest of the sugar along with the flowers (and other pretty things if you want to - lemon zest would also be good.) Leave in the sun for a few hours turning it around once in a while. When dried lumps can be evened out by hand and the mixture goes into clean glasses. If the sun isn't out and shining the sugar mixture can be dried in an oven on the lowest possible temperature.

For the mint sugar I used 5 kinds of mint including apple mint, indian mint, peppermint and ordinary garden mint. I also threw in a vanilla pod and about 12 calendula flowers. It's really good in tea. In the pineapple sugar I used a lot of pineapple salvia, thyme flowers and cornflowers in blue, purple, white and pink. The best use for this yet has been sprinkled on muffins. Mmm...

Above is this years spicy salt. Usualy this is something we do every year with different herbs of spices. This year I went very Mediterranean with 6 types of thyme and 2 types of rosemary, thyme flowers and lemon zest. Just for colour I added a good handful of blue cornflowers. I had this on my tomato and mozarella sandwiches for breakfast this morning and it was so good.

The salt is made very much as the sugar. A few cups of good, rough salt - not flakey and not to fine in texture, again 4-5 cups of herbs cleaned and dried and it all goes into the food processor. Afterwards the flowers and zest are added and it dries in the sun. I use this a lot - last year the flavours were lots of asian spices, the year before ginger and lemon, the year before indian spices...

And then just to recall how good it is to be home with a great garden - this was what I put on my yoghurt every day. Needless to say I brought home two big bags full of leeks, different types of onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, fresh herbs, squash, carrots in 4 different colors and lots of berries. I need a garden when I grow up...

There is just a thing about socks

2009-07-31T13:41:00.005+02:00

I don't know what it is about sock knitting I find so relaxing and recreative. I clearly understand why socks are good knits to bring along and carry around for everywhere knitting. And I also understand why hand knitting socks are so popular, 'cause there is nothing better for your feet.

What I don't understand is why I keep feeling comforted by sock knitting when my "life outside knitting" is playing tricks with me. Or when I'm just really tired. And I don't understand it, because come to think of it I get pretty annoyed while knitting socks. just to state the obvious; there are two of those bastards. And often I'm on some kind of a deadline because I promised someone socks as a birthday present or graduation present or some other present and therefore have to finish them - and yes, I ALWAYS begin to knit these guilty socks to late. There is also the fact that really pretty sock yarn is difficult to get for real money near me. Either it is self striping or solid - the semi solid variated colours I see everywhere in blog world is hard to come by.

So I don't know what it is, but I just love to knit socks. I have so many patterns queued up online. And to let you in on a secret - I have plans of only wearing hand knit sock some day in the future. Well, not for jogging, but for everything else that is... But though I have all these patterns waiting for me I still tend to end up knitting something easy, some quickly memorized pattern. I have to get a grip and start knitting sock for myself that I really want.

I'm quite pleased with these, though. But next time I would just like a bit more...pattern? Or style? I'll find out what it is I need.

My Spiralling Blue Socks

Pattern : Very much inspired by 9 to 5 Socks by Nicole Hindes
Yarn : Arwetta Sock Yarn (80% merino wool, 20% nylon, #132, 50g = 210m)
Needles : Size 2.5 mm dpns
Size : Small - but once again turned out a bit to wide
Weight : 64 grams from stash
Started : Middle of May
Finished : Middle of June
Mods : I didn't follow the pattern at all, I just wrote down the spiral pattern and calculated how many stitches I needed and knit them much simpler than Nicole Hindes does. But I did add a crochet scallop edge which I really like. I would like to make real 9 to 5 Socks some day. They look really good for everyday use.
For : Me. Oh how I love when things are for me...

The photo below shows the colour most accurately - sort of a dusty blue. And I mean that in the best possible way.

More baby fun

2009-07-28T15:57:00.003+02:00

I'm not done with the baby things. This is what I am having fun with right now.

A thing I never thought I would finish

2009-07-26T18:26:00.006+02:00

I started my Juno Regina Stole in the very beginning of March and after reknitting the first few pattern repeats 3 times (I was not paying attention and not using a lifeline - silly me...!), I really got into it. It didn't take long time to finish the diamonds in the end and then the long part came. The long and boring part. Which just kept on forever. I must have laid the crumbled up thing on the floor and measured it 700 times and it was never long enough.

Finally I couldn't be bored any longer. If I didn't just start the diamond in the end I knew I would never finish it. So I decided it was long enough and wrapped it up. It didn't take an evening, then I had a stole. Or at least 78 grams of yarn laying in a pile on my table. I soaked and blocked and spend a whole evening shaping this monster and finally got what I had hoped for. A beautiful stole just shy of 2 meters long.

Hello, I'm the boring part.

Juno Regina Scarf

Pattern : Juno Regina from Knittys Fall 2007 Edition
Yarn : Knit Picks Shadow Lace Yarn in Vineyard Heather (100% Merino Wool)
Needles : Size 3.5 mm 40 cm circ - I think
Size : Just under 2 m long from tip to tip, 42 cm wide
Weight : 78 g - from stash
Started : Very early March
Finished : Middle of June
Mods : A bit shorter than intended because I got so bored
For : Me - intended to be a stole or summer scarf

So everything ought to be fine, but it's not. On the top picture it is possible to see that the edges curl up - a lot. And even after blocking again and trying everything, they keep rolling up and it annoys me badly. So this will not be used as a stole, there is just no point in trying anymore, but on the bright side are the facts that it is extremely soft and wonderful around my neck and after bringing it out from a drawer (that's where things misbehaving goes, you know...). I have now worn it all day for two days in a row and it looks beautiful. So my stole became a scarf. I will of course need a new stole then, but it will not be this pattern - the middle is simply to boring to knit again. But the rest of the pattern is wonderful, so maybe I can make something up.

I still have quite a few skeins of the yarn in this colour and a whole sack in the Sunset Heather colourway too, so I better get looking for patterns.

A bit for a baby

2009-07-24T15:59:00.005+02:00

A while ago I wrote about a friend of mine who's becoming a dad for the first time. This time is now coming up very soon. And he's stressed out of limits trying to finish his master thesis before the little wonder demands full attention. From the minute I heard about this baby - and even more when I was told the gender - I have been planning to make this little guy a few home made items, cause we all know babies need hand knit.

Since he is due in the middle of August - which is usually the warmest time around here, I have knit mostly in cotton. And as tradition is in Denmark - a baby needs tons of undershirts. I don't see them as often in other countries, but growing up I had these in every colour imaginable, knit by my mum and aunts and grandmothers and in cotton and wool. They are both used as real undershirts and as vests and are really stretchy so they last for quite a while. This one is sized for a new born, took so short time to knit that I might have to make one in wool too, and if I ever get kids there will be 10.000 ready for them I already know.

Baby undershirt

Pattern : Knit without pattern - but supervised but my mum
Yarn : 100% cotton in light green from stash
Needles : Size 3 mm circ
Size : Newborn
Weight : 40 g
Buttons : 2 orange buttons from a clearout sale last year
Started : A few weekends ago
Finished : Same weekend
For : Little Baby Jeppe

While knitting the undershirt I came upon the pattern for little devils hat. I had these too as a baby and while knitting them I have been commented on by aunts and grandmothers who recall knitting these in lunchbreaks - on aunt even knit on it while beeing taken to the hospital to deliever her second child. She had a feeling it might take a while before he popped out, so she wanted to get a last item for him done. She didn't manage to weave in ends, though...

Baby Devil Caps

Pattern : Sweet Baby Cap by Gro at Gros Blog
Yarn : Light blue Indiecita (100% alpaca fleece, #1560) and some multicoloured cotton from a local supermarked in green/white/gray bought a while ago and intended for a purse.
Needles : For the light blus one size 2.5 mm, for the green/white/gray one size 3 mm.
Size : The blue one is for a newborn, the other one a bit bigger.
Weight : 18 g blue yarn, 22 g multicoloured - both from stash
Started : A few weeks ago
Finished : Finished very shortly thereafter.
For : Little Baby Jeppe

This is not the very last we'll see for this little one, but for now I'll be off for tea and a cookie.

I'm back from...nowhere...

2009-07-23T14:27:00.004+02:00

Wow, I don't really know what happened there. It's been almost two months since I've written a single word here and I don't know how that happened. But to be true much has been around my ears and I have had a hard time keeping up even the blog reading thing. At a time there were 1734 unread posts on my blogroll - that's when you know something else is taking up time.

And heaps have been happening around me. I finished my very last exam ever in June. And have since been working on my master thesis and being not the least bit stressed over it yet, I am actually having fun and loving it. I moved into my new apartment with my friend Rese three weeks ago. The apartment is named Rita and I am in love. I have a kitchen again now. I can cook and bake and make stuff whenever I want and it's a bliss. And I have spend a lot of time getting unpacked and making a home and setteling down - and it's working.

The weather has allowed me to take short holidays at my parents place to enjoy the sun and sailing and relaxing, and though it has been pretty rainy the last weeks I shall not complain. I have read more books than in a long time and also been quite productive on the knitting front. The next few days I'll try to get everything blogged and come back in business.

Today I'll just show you a little present that actually has been done for a very long time. But it was for Reses birthday and I know she might take a peak in here, so I didn't want her to guess anything.

I began knitting this Harry Potter Scarf on the plane from Hong Kong to Kuala Lumpur just before New Years. The yarn were a few skeins of Egyptian cotton I found on sale in a shop in Hong Kong sometime in the fall. I took it because of the colours that are perfect for a Harry Potter fan as Rese, and because I knew a new movei would be up right after her birthday. And then it just layed there forever untill I finally got grip and finished it a few months after returning home to Denmark again.

Harry Potter Scarf

Pattern : 3 needles knit, 1 purl and changing colour every second row.
Yarn : Unknown cotton - really soft and shining and in Gryffindors colours.
Needles : I think I used a 4mm circ, 40 cm.
Size : 220 cm long, to be thrown round the neck at least two times.
Weight : 90 g from stash.
Started : December 30th
Finished : Middle of June
For : Rese - so she can be properly dressed for Harry Potter watching.

I'll be back later with more FO's. There is not only the extremely boring Juno Regina to be proud of, but also socks and various baby knits.

Getting green...

2009-06-05T00:01:00.004+02:00

I haven't been here much lately. Life is pretty busy and the internet seems to be where I cut down. Hopefully it will all be better after exams. I have actually been doing some knitting but this is the only thing I have photos of - I promiss I will get my act together soon... Or at least soon'ish...

A good friend of mine graduated a few weeks ago and he had asked me for a pair of socks as a graduation present. He even chose the colours - he wanted green and very colourful. I was happy to do that...

Asparagus Socks

Pattern : Plain toe-up socks knit in shifted 2 by 2 rib over 10 rounds.
Yarn : Strømpegarn Jacquards from Hjertegarn in 8199.
Needles : I think they were knit on size 2.5 mm dpns.
Size : A guys medium - pretty stretchy.
Weight : 70 g bought for this project - as I didn't really have bright green in my stash. I hope the rest can become short summer sock for me.
Started : Sunday May 17th.
Finished : Wednesday May 20th - exactly 18 min before he graduated!!!
For : Curly musician-math friend.

Not much to say. As always I love to knit socks, but this time it almost killed me to do it on time. I've known the date and colour and everything for ages and still I couldn't get myself started and ended up knitting at uni hiding from him. But I made it and he looked pleased.
And by the way; he graduated with and A+ and has been offered a Ph.D. so he's staying around for the rest of my time at uni. Yay!!!

Bubbly bubbly bubble tea

2009-05-13T14:08:00.007+02:00

The last few month have been pretty tough. I am homeless and might feel very alone in the world, but I am begging to see that I definitely am not. It's difficult for me to describe, but in many ways I'm just the luckiest girl on board. Today I'm just enjoying that I have friends and that little things can still make my smile and have days in heaven.

A thing to make me happy is that I have found a way to make bubble tea. This was what I had in Hong Kong when I was down. Or up. Or homesick. Or angry with life. I had a close friend there and if something was putting us down we could just call each other and say nothing but "Bubble tea!". It was a demand and a human right and then we went out for a drink and talked.

I have searched the internet to find out more about this wonder since I came back home. And then suddenly a bag of tapioca pearls were laying there in front of me in my Organic Shop. My favorite bubble tea is the one with the bigger bubbles, but for now this gets me into a really good mood until the real bubbles find me.

Does anyone know where I can get bubble size bubbles instead of pearls? And if you want to try this out, check out this homepage with heaps of information. Well, that made me smile for yet another day - not bad for a bag of tiny pearls...

Mindless break

2009-05-04T22:15:00.004+02:00

Sometimes there is just a need for a break where I don't think at all. I had a few of those today while working on things in my thesis that just didn't make sense.

This was how I kept from hurting something or someone. This and then of course the obligatory cup of tea. Tea is almost always included when I'm calming down from something.

A vest - and a vest

2009-05-03T21:35:00.006+02:00

A few years ago I bought four skeins of Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino at the January sale in one of my favorite yarn shops. Yes, a few years ago - like in January 2007 I think. They just felt so good and I had every intention of knitting myself a vest. And then they have just been laying there looking at me. I have fondled them once in a while and the vest was still i my head - but no vest on the needles.

Then while packing for my Easter holiday I suddenly felt the urge to bring the yarn once more. And while getting a little bit bored with all the mindless stockinette stitch I started this - and after the rib I just left it. When picking it up again it didn't take long to finish at all and here it finally is.

My Blue and Green Striped Vest

Pattern : Just a vague idea in my head - and the limit of four skeins.
Yarn : Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in soft blue and moss green - 2 skeins of each #203 and #503 (55% merino wool, 33% microfibre, 12% cashmere).
Needles : Size 4.5 and 5mm circs, 40 cm.
Size : It fits me, so approximately a size 34. But it is getting a bit loose after wearing it.
Weight : 152 g - from the very old stash.
Started : Wednesday April 15th
Finished : Sunday April 26th
For : Me - it had to be after plans so old.

I'm really pleased with this one. It's so soft - I definitely need a sweater in this yarn some day. The stitches looked so beautiful even before it was washed and bloked. And since I bought it on sale it was a really cheap garment too. That's something I'm also allowed to be happy about since I am a student and on a knitting budget.

It might not really be the weather for vests any more, but I am always a bit cold. And I have worn it with pleasure already - and will do it again tomorrow, so I don't care whether it's vest weather... (Well, my humor is sick, I know it...)

It was my plan to use up every single gram of the Cashmerino, but it is quite difficult as you go along so I ended up with a bit left. I didn't think there would be enough for anything, but gave it a go anyway.

One of the guys I'm sharing my office with at uni is going to be a dad for the first time in August. He's such a great guy and I'm sure his son will be the same. And since I don't know many people having kids this little fellow has to be spoiled with handknit things for his first months. And then I really loved the idea of having matching vests... Well, sort of matching...

Little Mr. No-Name's Blue and Green Striped Vest

Pattern : 2*2 rib - and made up as I went along again.
Yarn : Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino in soft blue and moss green.
Needles : Size 4.5mm, 40 cm.
Size : Tiny, but it has a lot of give. I guess from infant to a few months.
Weight : 25 g - almost all the rest from above. I only have a few meters left now.
Buttons : 2 ladybird buttons from Ønskegarn in Silkeborg.
Started : Sunday April 26th
Finished : Monday April 27th
For : The new little no-name-guy - this will NOT be the last knittet item for him.

May Day

2009-05-02T11:09:00.005+02:00

Hope you all had a great International Workers' Day...

I spend mine in the company of friends, an ukulele, lot's of songs and even more beer. Had a great day...

A bit of everything

2009-04-29T23:37:00.004+02:00

This is what's on my mind right now...

I'm in love with tulips in every possibly state and colours. The shapes are so alike and yet different - and they are all places in my parents garden. It's lovely to have such a place to take a evening stroll...

I completely forgot to show what the postman brought along a few days ago. A while ago I won a giveaway at Dog-Lover's Yarn - and Susan send me this gorgeous sock yarn. It's Fleece Artist Sea Wool which is a merino/seacell blend. It's lovely and I'm really looking forward to knitting up socks for myself. Uhhh, I love presents - and I love yarn. Thanks so much for combining it Susan.

I didn't mean to, but there was a great sale and actually shoes that fit me... And then I ended up with 3 new pairs. The photo of me wearing a pair is from right now - they have become my favorites immediately. They are just a teeny bit too big for me - but I'll cope because I just like to look at them soo much.

And yes, I'm still crafty - there is a pair of vests to show and soon there will be a ladybird drawer too. How great to have time to do what I like.

A tunic turns into a dress

2009-04-22T14:47:00.010+02:00

I have taken on a new product of knitting here - I'd like to present my first ever knitted dress. The fact that it was meant to be more of a tunic is lost on me - I really like it as a dress so that's what we've got now...

It might not be clear to a non-knitters eyes, but this is actually an Easter egg. While on holiday my grandmother wanted to get us each an Easter egg - but we had to deside the form and kind ourself. I chose a kit for Topstykke by Geilsk in the local yarn shop and started knitting that very afternoon.

Pattern : Topstykke by Bente Geil.
Yarn : Geilsk Tynd Uld in light blue (#2) - 100% wool, 575 m/100 g - 4 skeins.
Needles : 3 mm circs (60 cm).
Size : Small on slightly smaller needles than called for.
Weight : Approximately 180 g - bought with the kit.
Started : Saturday April 11th 2009.
Finished : Saturday April 18th 2009.
Mods : Follwed the pattern exactly as written.
For : Another one done just for me.

I am one of those who really like this pattern. I don't mind mindless stockinette stitch at all - I find it comforting and rather fulfilling to get somewhere. And I could easily imagine knitting this again, but next time I'll allow myself to get on with other projects at the same time, since it was getting a bit tedious in the end.

The tunic is knit from the top down which makes it really easy to try it on. I didn't do that. I know, I know - a knitter should always try on the knitted garment on while still knitting. But I just really liked the thought of it done and me trying it on for the first time there. And I had a feeling that the thin wool could easily be shaped if something didn't fit me. Luckily I was right.

I have knitted one other thing from Geilsk and thought my gauge was spot on it came out rather too big for me, so I switched to smaller needles this time. When I put on the tunic it was still too big for me and not flattering at all. But my instinct about shaping the thin wool was right and though I now have more of a dress than a tunic, I am really happy with the result. And with a weight way under 200 g it feels light as a feather to wear. I love it!

The colour is really difficult to capture. On the homepage it is called light blue but in my eyes it is more of at light seagrass. It shifts from blue to green to grey and I really like it.

Now I just need to knit myself a well fitted cardigan to match the dress and then I'm ready to sip cold white wine and strawberries on the rooftop - if I had one...

There is no cardigan on the needles right now, but the Juno Regina is coming along (I am getting so bored by that one!!!), there is a vest I'm longing to put on and then there is some sock yarn looking at me everyday when I leave for uni. This weekend will hopefully show more on that front. Happy weekend everyone.

Socks and socks

2009-04-20T22:17:00.008+02:00

I always have some socks on the needles. You know what it's like - it's just comfortable to have something on the dpns to take along when on the go. Or as comforting television knit. Yes, I like to knit socks and I love to wear hand knitted socks. But I still only have a few pairs that I have actually knit for myself. The rest of the socks I have knit have been given away to people I like, who know how to appreciate that I have spend hours knitting something especially for them. I am not allowed to be sorry for myself, though. I have so many pairs of hand knitted socks since I get a few pairs every year from my mum. She knits the most colourful socks and dosen't like to wear them herself. Well, my brothers and I love them so we've grown up with warm feet and lots of love.

I have finished two pairs of socks lately. A Disco pair for myself and Hobbit socks for a very dear friend. The Disco socks have been done for a few weeks and have been used a lot since then. They were a way to spend a few grams of very colourful sock yarn.

Disco Socks

Pattern : Plain toe-up socks
Yarn : Marathon sock yarn in black and a tiny bit of rainbow coloured unknown sock yarn for stripes.
Needles : I think they were knit on size 2.5 mm dpns.
Size : They are just on the big size for me (European size 35) - comfortably big.
Weight : 64 g all together. And it's all from stash.
Started : Late February
Finished : Early April
Mods : Well, you can't modify anything when there isn't a pattern, can you???
For : Me - stashbusting of the best kind.

And then I knit socks for a friend. He read the Hobbit out loud for me. There is not much I like as much as getting books red for me. I also like to listen to audio books so I can use my eyes and hands for crafting instead, but to get books red out loud for me is such a luxory I can't describe it. I didn't even knit this time, just enjoyed the landscapes forming in my head while listening. And then I promissed that I would knit a pair of hobbit socks as a thank you.

The Hobbits Winter Socks

Pattern : Toe-ups again with a cobblestone pattern of shifting rib (2k, 2p).
Yarn : Strømpegarn from Lane Cervinia, colourcode 585785.
Needles : 3 mm dpns.
Size : Made to fit a size 45-46 mans foot.
Weight : 78 g from stash.
Started : Friday April 10th
Finished : Monday April 20th
Mods : Knit from the top of my head.
For : The reading friend.

The only thing I had to make sure of with this project was that the yarn and pattern had something hobbity about them. I pretty quickly desided that the shifting rib was it - I know that the reader likes socks to be tight around the foot and I just think this looks like something a hobbit lady would knit.

As for the colours I had many, many ideas. I would say that this pair of socks is for the hobbit in winter - or the once Bilbo would be wearing while lost in the dungeons with Gollum. It's impossible for me to reproduce the colours. At night they look completely grey, but they are actually a mix of grey blue and a brownish grey. Sounds weird? Well, there are also flecks of bright blue and orange in there. I loved this colour and I'm hoping I have enough to knit myself a matching pair. And since they took only a day each to knit, there should be time also...

And yes, I know it. Any descent hobbit should also have colourful, cheery socks, but these are just the winter socks. Hopefully someday I'll get in the mood for knitting light, bright and happy summer socks too - when the yarn jumps at me I'll do it. And that's a promis, Mr. Reader...

The first photo in this post shows how I did bring my socks out this weekend. I went sailing with friends and cake and white wine and it was lovely. The sun was out all day and when I got home my cheeks looked healthy and I felt good. It was as nice as it looks.

The postman came around

2009-04-17T20:34:00.004+02:00

Today the postman made a stop here - and brought me two presents. The first was a dvd I won - which will be nice for a little, knitting night for one... But what made my day was something I won at a give away at Chez Plum a few weeks ago. In the package I found these...

Each envelope contained a bit of fiber for hand spinning. I can't even begin to tell you how soft and lovely these fibers feel. I don't spin - yet. But I really want to learn how to. And after a whole afternoon of fondeling with all this I know I have to get myself a drop spindle pretty soon and get started. Thank you soo much Sylvie, I'm absolutely overwhelmed and will take out these cuties to fondle them a bit more in front of the tv right after finishing this post.

I actually made my younger brothers fondle each sample too. Don't ask me how, but they both did it and they said it felt good. I definitely see potential in those guys... The oldest of them has his birthday coming up this Monday and he asked me if I could spin up some hand spun bamboo and knit him something as a birthday present - I promissed him to try to get it done for his birthday next year!

The curiosity of today was this egg - someone has forgot to make the shell on it... Mum tells me it's called a wind egg and that it happens once in a while. Well, I haven't seen it ever - and we've had chicken here the last 25 years. For me it was a new thing - and I still find it funny...

Home sweet home

2009-04-16T21:56:00.003+02:00

The holiday is over for this time and I'm back home - sitting in my bed with a blanket around me in my jammies and enjoying all the hominess. I love going away but I love coming back just as much.

We had a lovely week as the photos should show. But I know that in this closed forum there is something we would much rather see photos of and I don't want to disappoint anyone - least myself - and therfore here is the real way of knowing if it has been a good holiday...

I ended up bringing home almost a kilo of new yarn - 970 g to be exact. I know, I know - and if I didn't know I was told at least 50 times by my family during this week - I buy way to much yarn. My stash is crawling out of the boxes, drawers, shelves and baskets where it is supposed to live. But you know what - I don't care. I love my stash and I love everything I have brought home and put in it.

There has been a lot of knitting time for me. I finished a couple of socks (just forgot to photograph them, but I'll do it tomorrow. Promise....), did knit the first sock in a couple for a friend, began a wonderful, light dress/shirt, started a vest from stash yarn that I might have to restart and I remembered to crochet a few more hexagons for the family blanket and even got a few more friends and family members into it. All in all I think it has been a pretty productive week and details will follow about everything. But now I need to get some knitting done - I am beginning to feel my body shaking from beeing away from my needles for so long...

By the way - there seems to been a new colour palet for me. Not that I dislike it the least, I just didn't notice it until I saw the photos. Maybe the colours are inspired by all my holiday photos?

I'm out of here

2009-04-10T09:56:00.003+02:00

Everything is packed, the car is full of bags and baskets and bikes and the sun is shining above as to tell us we will have a parfect week in the summer house. I packed so many books and so much yarn that I can't get through it all in any way - not even if I stop sleeping. But I had permission - I wa allowed to bring anything that would make me happy, and you never know just what project you'll be craving for in a few days time.

This guy is comming with me. Well, he is always with me everywhere actually. A freaky guy named him Fish of Destruction, and though it might be a really strange name I rather like it. Mr. Fish of Destruction is a bag/purse and in his tummy my Juno Regina is saft and comfortable. He will have to come into the car with me so I can knit all the way in the sun.

Happy Easter. And hope the sun is shining where you are right now...

Thrifting

2009-04-09T15:01:00.002+02:00

There is a huge thriftshop nearby. It's out in a tiny town, most of their things are brown and from homes where the people already looked old when my mum was young - but that certainly dosen't mean there aren't any great finds. I have found somthing in there almost every time I go - mostly just a few ribbons and some buttons or a table cloth that can make a marvelous skirt.

All these things aren't from the same visit to the shop. But today I got everything out, washed and cleaned and got it packed up. I love the piece above - it's hand embroidered in two of my sbsolute favorite colours, red and green, and I love the texture. I have some ideas of making it into little purses, but I'm not really sure I can cut it after all.

Tomorrow I'm leaving for my long awaited Easter holiday. The whole family are heading of to a summer house in a beautiful part of Denmark. The best about holidays like that - besides beeing with loved ones all the time - is that there is nothing else to do but relax and craft. I'll bring my Family Blanket, the Juno Regina Shawl (which is, by the way, beginning to get really boring, but I still want to wear it during those chilly summer nights.) and some sock yarn. It will be lovely and the weather forecast is going our way. Blue sky is my favorite.

The first fourth is done

2009-04-08T18:47:00.005+02:00

This is what approximately a fourth of my Family Blanket looks like.

I have now completed the first 100 hexagons and yesterday I wove in the 100 ends. It took forever but was really comforting and I think it looks good. Today I have been sitting with the blanket over my shoulders while knitting - it is perfect and I love it already.

Saying that I have done the first fourth of the blanket might be exaggerated. I have finished the first fourth of the centre - then there is the half hexagons by the edge and the whole edging itself. But while I'm still enjoying it I'll keep on going, it's a really fulfilling project.

Until now 9 of my closest relatives have made their own hexagon. Or to be truthful they have just chosen the colours, but that means they are par of my blanket. It makes me happy to look at their choice and to have them as part of my blanket. A whole bunch of people are waiting in line to be part of it too. During Easter I'll get a chance to get almost the rest of my family into it. Afterwards the time has come for friends. They will all be part of this - Rese has even asked if she can crochet her own hexagon and she doesn't even crochet. We will do it together - nothing would make me happier than for her to do one herself.

Can't find myself

2009-04-03T09:57:00.004+02:00

I've spend the morning missing Hong Kong. Perhaps not really Hong Kong for the city itself, but I'm missing how I was able to heal myself and get through all the hard times while I was there.

I'm trying hard to recreate things. I just don't know how to do it here and it feels like I'm loosing myself a bit while trying to find myself. I'll get started searching - maybe I'm right there by the next corner...

More about the blanket

2009-03-28T11:59:00.007+01:00

I have a had a few questions about my crochet blanket. I'm not a experienced crocheter at all and therefore I am mostly just winging it as I go, so I wouldn't be the right one to teach anyone 'how-to'... But besides looking at Liselottes blankets she linked to Lucy at Attic24, who is really into crocheting blankets and other things. She has a great post about this particular hexagon blanket that was really helpful. I have somehow mixed the two patterns they give and made the version that looks best when I'm playing with my hook - trial and error has works great.

I wanted a slightly thin blanket, so my yarns are almost all approximately 150-170 m pr 50 g, but a few of the half skeins from the stash are thicker, some even 100 m pr 50 g. I hasn't been a problem with the different gauge yet - I'm just trying not to put too many colours of thick yarn together in the same hexagon. I'm using a size 3 mm hook - an old one than my mum has used to make things since before I was born. Even a baby blanket for me was made with this exact hook.

I'm not using one particular brand, mostly it's 100% cotten but I have a few blends with as much as 50% acrylic. It is all soft and feels good and that's enough for me. There are most skeins from Hjerte Garn (both Blend/Tendens and Bom-Mix) and from Grønhøj Garn (8/4 Soft Cotton), but any colourful, soft cotton blends would have done the job just as well.

The photo above shows what I have cut of ends until now. I crochet it together as I go and crochet over the ends to minimize the weaving in ends. There is only one single end to weave in pr hexagon now - that I can manage. I'm saving all the ends - I don't really know what to use them for, but I really like to see how they multiply.

If you are thinking about making your own blanket, just get started. It is so rewarding to see the colours work together.

Waking up slowly

2009-03-28T10:16:00.006+01:00

It's raining outside today. And it's grey. And I'm just enjoying beeing able to stay inside with a cup of tea, the radio and knit. And yes, I am still in my jammies and I don't care.

I'm working on my Juno Regina stole and I'm almost halfway through. The beginning took me forever. I don't know how many times I reknit the triangular start - in the end I had to use a lifeline and move it up after every 10 rows. And the moment I began using the lifeline I made no more mistakes, but I kept it there - just for luck...

Yesterday I went home by train. Not that there is anything special in that, but something happened that has kept me thinking. I got there early and got a double seat by myself, but before the train left the station it was filling up. I was sitting with all my things over the seats and my laptop on my knees when a middle aged man came and wanted to sit beside me. Already at this point in time I was getting annoyed - there were many seats besides people with no extra luggage, but I packed everything up and led him sit down. Then I packed away my laptop and began to knit.

And then it all begang. "What do you think the percentage of women owning a laptop and also knit is?" I don't know. I just wanted to knit and get a bit of time to myself after a long day. But the guy was started and he talked and asked questions for an hour until I got of the train. He wanted to know what statement I wanted to give by knitting, if it was a way of showing men that I would be a good wife and mother, or whether it was my way of showing my independence and that I didn't need a man to keep me safe... He kept asking and I kept trying to knit, to look out the window and - because I am such a neat girl - I never asked him to be quiet.

I'm not annoyed that I didn't just tell him to shut up. He wasn't really to problem. I'm just really irritated by the fact that people seem to think I have some hidden agenda when I bring out my knitting in public. And that they think I want to talk about it. I don't. I just wanted to get home on a Friday afternoon and since I had an hour to myself, I wanted to spend it on on myself. Just like the 50 other people on the train that were reading a book or a paper.

Well, just needed a bit of air. Yesterday was also a really fun day. We played with bubbles out of the window of my office at uni - no one would know that my great friend Rese and I am not still in kindergarden and that fact makes me so happy every single day of my life. Maybe it's mostly just that she makes me really happy...

Have a happy, bubbly weekend all over...

Remembering the good things

2009-03-24T12:17:00.007+01:00

Finally Spring is beginning to take over. It's much needed taking into consideration how everything else around me feels, so I try to soak in every ray of sun I can find.

I have thought about crocheting a blanket for ages. My great grandmother made blankets for everybody when I was a kid. She sat in her rocking chair with her hook and formed granny squares into blankets that laid on every couch in the family. I never really appreciated her blankets - perhaps mostly because she used scaps she got from what seems like the whole town, and somehow those were often brown and orange...

But then I begang to think about a bright version of Grannys blankets. I still wasn't too much into the squares - but then the right thing jumped into my face: I need hexagons.

I'm using leftovers and yarn bought on sale - all cotton, all approximately the same gauge and most in bright colours. The plan is to make it into a large blanket I can cover under in Fall - or at least to crochet until it's not fun anymore. For now I'm just enjoying the colours and seeing it grow.

I'm often inspired by Liselotte. She started two blankets - a very colourful version like mine and one with white as the outer colour on all hexagons. It's gorgeous. If this keeps on making me happy I'll have to make one in green and violet - next year perhaps, or the year after that.

My plan is to make this into a family blanket with everyone woven into a hexagon. Up until now my parents, grandparents, brothers and their girlfriends have designed each their colourful hexagon. I'll try to get all my family into it - for me this is a perfect way to build feelings and memories into a project.

Hanging on...barely...

2009-03-16T23:39:00.002+01:00

I'm still here. I'm still knitting. And making myself a crochet blanket that might be done sometime next year if I'm lucky. But I'm also just hanging on - blaming the world for not being good to me right now. I really need some goodness for me happening to make up for all thing going against me. And I'll be back tomorrow to show a few peaks of what at least makes me smile in the midst of it all...

Ohh so pretty...

2009-03-04T11:11:00.003+01:00

I'm deeply in love with the beautiful things Kathleen at Grosgrain makes. And then she even them away really often. Right now she's this so called Laundry Shirt Dress is up - I'd use it for Sunday brunch in Spring time instead... Crossing my fingers - wanna be lucky this time...

The best kind of weekend trip

2009-03-03T15:24:00.015+01:00

I have spent the weekend in Copenhagen enjoying time with one of my best friends. Marie and I started studying mathematics together almost 5 years ago and though she moved to the other end of (tiny) Denmark we have keept contact ever since. With me living in Hong Kong, it's been over half a year since I saw her, and it was absolutely lovely to have a long weekend with no plans at all.

We found a couple of old lamps and spent Saturday morning cleaning them up and making them ready for the handyman (aka. my dad) so he can make to shine a light...

They are old street door numbers and were laying in a box to be thrown out when we passed by. Marie lives in no. 18, so that one will soon be hanging in their living room. My lucky number is 16, so I shouted out loud when there was a no. 16 at the very bottom of the box. It's more yellow than on the photos and I'll post pictures when it's working and hanging on my wall.

We also went to a garage sale and had fun walking through heaps of old, funny stuff. I ended up buying a pile of old, Danish crafting books - and a big, old atlas I want to use to make notebook covers out of.

I have a thing about embroidery this Spring - and dream of being able to do something like on the pages below. I better start practising my skills.

At the market we also bought a jigsaw puzzle...

...and then 3½ hours of our afternoon just flew away. We actually found the missing piece - but not until the puzzle was back in the box. The puzzle has now been sent off to my mother - I know she'll enjoy it just as much as we did.

I brought back some tea from one of my favorite tea shops - as I always do. My mum is a huge fan of their Bournonville Blend so I get her some every time I go. I had to stash up on some Green Japanese Bamboo. And then the beautiful red cannister - it's my 5th or 6th...

Batic presents...

2009-02-21T20:08:00.015+01:00

My dad and oldest brother has spent the last two weeks in Africa right where we lived 18 years ago. Today they came back home - suntanned, happy and with their bags full of things to make one remember everything. I had asked for a bit of batic print to use in patchwork pieces and to make funny details as colourful pockets in my sewing projects. This is what they brought back...

It was way more than I had hoped for, but how lucky am I? There are 7 different prints - and from one yard to 3 yards of each kind. There will definitely come some great projects out of this - I cannot wait to get my crafting room unpacked.

The beginning of a fairy tale

2009-02-18T16:15:00.010+01:00

Inspiration by a certain little fairy - I hope she will be willing to have her photo posted on a later date - and some green-greyish yarn that has been living in my stash for too long... Now I think I know what to make out of it...

A perfect, red overcoat

2009-02-16T11:01:00.006+01:00

Look what I just found... Look look look... I looove this - I want to win it.

Photo by Kathleen at Grosgrain

For years I have wanted a red overcoat. But not just any overcoat; it has to be stylish and girly and pretty, but not make me look like I'm 7 - which by the way often is a problem when you are 156 cm. And then by chance I fell over this blog with give aways of beautiful, homemade stuff - it makes me want to hit the sewing mashine again...

Baby Cable Socks

2009-02-16T09:44:00.010+01:00

Since it has actually been snowing this weekend, it's just about time I get the first pair of sock done in 2009.

Pattern : None - 2-2 rib with baby cables on every 4th row.
Yarn : Sock Wool from Hjerte Garn - 75% sw wool, 25% polyamid.
Needles : 2mm/US 0 dpn's.
Size : Fits my European size 35 (US 5/UK 2½) - but they are pretty stretchy.
Weight : 96 g - bought for the project.
Started : Thursday January 22th
Finished : Thursday February 12th
For : My cold, cold feet.

There is nothing fancy about these socks besides the fact that they are my first toe-ups - but definitely not the last ones... I love that I could cast on and just keep knitting until there was no more yarn at all. My only problem with this technic is that I find it difficult to bind off loosely enough when finishing the cuffs. This time I tried with a double bind off (reknit the slipped over stitch once more) - but it's almost too loose now.

The patter - if it can even be called a pattern - is absolutely lovely and in the very thin yarn it looks beautiful. I love the colour and have plan of knitting tiny versions for all the little girls I know (I don't really know that many...) as princess stockings.

Fly like the owls

2009-02-13T10:52:00.016+01:00

Besides the Beijing Curry I also finished the owls and they are definitely going to be a basis in my wardrobe this Winter/Spring. I love clothes that makes me happy, and this sweather falls into that category. Once again it was a musthave as soon as I saw the pattern, and after a long a pretty stupid day at university I left early, went by a few yarn shops on my way home and finally found some yarn on sale that would fit the recomendations.

Pattern : OWLS by Kate at needl ed - and they are free and all.
Yarn : Greenland from Løve Garn in light grey (#04) - exactly 10 skeins.
Needles : Size 6 and 7mm dpn's and circs, 60 cm.
Size : XS but knit on larger needles and with yarn a bit thicker than the pattern said for.
Weight : 490 g - bought for the project.
Buttons : 32 shiny, black buttons for eyes from a second hand shop near my parent place.
Started : Tuesday January 28th
Finished : Tuesday February 3rd - only one week and 16 little owls had eyes.
Mods : Not really. A single mistake right under an owl - but not intentionally...
For : Me again - I'm wondering if I am becoming selfish?!?

I knew from the very beginning that my owls would be light grey, just like the originals, but I also knew I wanted big black eyes and had the perfect buttons from a trip to the thrift shop at my parents place. (By the way - this shop is one of my favorite places to spend an hour when I am at their place for the weekend... But there are so many finds and goodies from there that they will fill a whole new post one of these days.)

The pattern is very, very easy to follow and the sweater really fitting. I made the smallest size, but knit it on larger needles since the yarn was a little bit thicker than the yarn recommended. It ended up being a bit big and the sleeves really long after blocking, but I always have cold hands and I really love how it turned out, so I don't care.

Sorry, I just tried to fly a bit...

Actually the only thing I really don't like about the owls is the yarn. You might think that the yarn is a pretty large part of a finished, handknit garment, but after a good wash it is okay and not something I will think too much about.

A break

2009-02-12T13:19:00.010+01:00

I'm all alone at my office at uni today so there is noone to take a break with me. Then the thing to do is to take one by myself...

Finally the Beijing Curry is here

2009-02-07T14:12:00.014+01:00

So the camera is rediscovered, the cabel is found again and the sweater is in use.

Pattern : What's to say, it's the fabulouse Febr uary Lad y Sweater by Pam at Flint Knits.
Yarn : Curry coloured Chinese mix. There is wool in it and some acryllic stuff.
Needles : 4.5 mm/US 7 - 60 cm circs for the body and dpn's for the sleeves.
Size : Knit in XS but on larger needles.
Weight : 386 g - from stash.
Buttons : 5 - 3 large and 2 smaller for the cuffs but all in same design.
Started : November 2008
Finished : January 2009 - February if sewing on buttons count...
Mods : I made the sleeves a bit different - they have cuffs with buttons now.
For : Me me me - to keep me warm in the freezing cold of Winter.

I found the patter the very day it was uplaoded and I immediately knew that I wanted to knit this cardigan. From then it's just been a matter of falling over some yarn. This happened in Beijing walking with a friend in a Hutong in October, where a lady was selling huge hanks of yarn for nothing. I grabbed 5 large 250 g skeins - two curry, two beige and one black. (Each skein was 10 yuan - 1.5 US$ or 1 £.) And I knew that the curry was meant for this.

It took me a while to get started, but when I got the curry on the needles only one thing stopped me finishing it - a very tangled second skein. After getting over myself and untangeling the mess, it took only a night to finish the slevees. Aaaand then another 3 weeks to find some buttons that I like and sew them on. But here it is, and I think it is a hit.

Even though I knit the smallest pattern and was pretty close to gauge, the Curry is quite big. But it's comfortable and warm and I really like it. And next time (for there will be a next time) I'll do it in thinner and softer yarn - possibly variated in colour, I think. There are a few things I would do different, if I did it all over: I would make the sleeves narrower and most likely cast on fewer stitches to begin with, to get a higher neckline. But I am satisfied with my Curry and my knitting mojo is still on a roll...

Another one...

2009-02-04T15:58:00.005+01:00

Uhh, this French quilt would just be perfect for the park when summer sets in - I'm crossing my fingers...

Camera found...

2009-02-03T14:50:00.006+01:00

...but not the cable to load picture onto my laptop. I am getting quite irritated about it now - also because all my Malaysia photos are still stuck on a memory card. It's just not good enough...

Knitting is still fun. The owls are nearly done and new knits are started in my head. One of the next things I knit needs to be a Möbius Strip, because every mathematician need one in my opinion.

Since there are still no photos to show of stuff I actually have made, I can show something I want to make.

The image is from Solig and one of the elephants will be given away tomorrow, and I am feeling quite sure that the yellow one would love to live in my window. But if I'm not that lucky I'll just have to make one myself, since some of my friend has a baby coming in August. Which by the way is one of the most appropriate news I have got in 2009 - it means I can start making baby stuff for real now. Me likes it, yes!

Where is my camera...

2009-01-29T12:45:00.004+01:00

I have finished my first knitted garment in 2009 - only blocking and sewing on buttons needs to been done on my Beijing Curry aka. the absolutely lovely February Lady Sweater. And I love it and can't wait to start using it and to photograph it... But then I realize that my camera is at my parents place - what a luck I'll be there for the weekend and my brothers birthday.

Now on the needles are a flock of owls and a pair of sock for yours truely - oh how knitting makes me happy. I'll be back shortly with photos and stuff.

This is what happened with time

2009-01-22T09:50:00.010+01:00

I had planned to be very productive on the blog over Christmas and New Years - showing of stuff I bought while in Hong Kong, the knitting getting done and everything else. But then real world stuff just happened. Mr. Bigfoot flew in, we spend Christmas in Hong Kong, some days in Macau, New Years in Kuala Lumpur, a few weeks in Malaysia and Singapore, then packed up my flat in boxes and send them home to Denmark - and both followed them.
So this is where I am now - back home freezing, but as happy as I could be. And in between it was my birthday so there are things to show, but not right now.

I am not a big fan of new years resolutions, but none the less I have made myself one...

In each month of 2009 I am at most allowed to buy one piece of clothing.

And why then not go all the way, beeing a happy crafter and all that? Well, I must just realize that there are limitations to my abilities and things like underware, leggins, jeans and winter coats are some of mine. And since all (ALL) my jeans have died during the last 12 months, there has to be room for a little bit of shopping. But I will keep it to a minimum and hopefully I can get away with many months without buying anything at all...

Making a resolution like this of course I have started multiple projects. I have a sweater, socks and a scarf on the needles and two skirts planned with fabric and pattern idea, and it's all for me. And then there are other things for presents, so I'm am back in all senses and it feel bloody good...

A few things done

2008-12-17T18:00:00.021+01:00

There is something particularly beautiful about sunshine when you have a day off. Today was such a day and I have done nothing but make some food, listen to audio books, sit in the sun at the water front and knit. It has been so peaceful and quiet and I have enjoyed it all day long - exactly what I needed.

So here are three of the Christmas presents that I have knit in the past few weeks. The green and brownish scarfs are Woodland Scarfs - the yellow one a simple garner stitch neck varmer.

Woodland Scarfs

Pattern : Woodland Scarf - here in English, here in the translated Danish version.
Yarn : Green - Merino Matchmaker, Brownish - som wool blend found in a shop in HK.
For : Two good friends I have both met while studying here in Hong Kong.

I loved knitting both of these. The pattern is so easy to remember and knits up fast, yet it is pretty, light and looks like a dream.

The green scarf is so soft and wonderful around my neck that I almost don't want it to leave. The yarn feels wonderful - even more after soaking and blocking, and I'm sad it's discontinued. But I have been so lucky to find a shop here that sells it, and I have two balls in a petrol blue colour and a whole bag of gray for a cardigan for me. Uhmmmm.... The scarf is not on the biggish side, but the friend receiving it is here for another semester, so as a little thing around her neck it should be fine. When she flies back to Norway I'll make her something warmer - a whole blanket to be wrapped in perhaps!

The brown scarf is impossible to photograph so that the colours show. The smaller photo above shows it the best, but it is still not really the way it looks. It's more brown then orange, with little hints of all other colours - like a bit of petrol on a road changing colour with the sun. It's thicker and longer then the green scarf, and not nearly as light or soft, but still very comfortable to wear next to you skin. The friend receiving this one is working in Beijing the next half year, so I guess she will need something to keep her warm in the cold winter mornings.

The yellow scarf is just plain stocinette stitching in pure wool. The photos look awful, so none right now. Maybe I can get some when I get back to Denmark, because I actually really like the scarf. It is already send of as a gift for one of my very best friend back home - she just happens to love yellow even more than I do. It is closed with a big, red, button brooch found in the Argyle Mall in Mong Kok. I had to buy one for my selv too...

Actually there was a hat too - but I forgot to take photos before it was wrapped and send off. But my brother is begging for one for his birthday, so it will come back in January - perhaps even with a pattern...

A little bit of yarn

2008-12-15T12:32:00.007+01:00

The Christmas scarf is almost done and is now drying on the floor. At the same time evening has arrived, so even though it is almost ready to try on, tonight will not be the big photo opportunity. It will be cozy and warm and very much the girl I've been knitting it to - very, very yellow and with a huge, bright red button to hold it all together.
Hopefully I'll find some time tomorrow before my last exam this year, to take a photo in the sun...

In the meantime here is a little thing to remind me of my stash at home...

It is a photo from a yarn shop in Yangshou, China, where I spend a weekend a month ago. Every other lady in the town knitted on streets or behind their counter or waiting for something - which certainly made it easy for me to bring my Beijing Curry Cardigan out all the time. And of course I had to buy some memories...

The lavender coloured is for a round shawl, the brown for a sweater of some kind with some colour work in lavender, light green and grey. The black and army green is for a scarf for either my dad or my brother, I have the pattern in my head just havent had the time yet, and the grey and light green fluffy cones will become a scarf for me me me... So soft I had to leave it next to me on the pillow while sleeping the first night...

I love bringing home yarn from places I go, but this time I have bought to much when considering that I have to go home with it all somehow. Maybe a photo of it all before I leave would be a good idea. That is if there is room enough for it on the floor anywhere...

Actually getting some knitting done...

2008-12-12T16:24:00.017+01:00

I haven't really gotten started with all this blog business even though I have thought a great deal about it. This last year have been so far away from my normal life and now it is ending too fast - and still I can't wait for it to end sooner at the same time... I am currently living in Hong Kong, studying at the University of Hong Kong as an exchange student and at the moment spending massive amounts of time at the library getting ready for finals.

Hong Kong has been so big a difference for me. Not only is Asia far away from my home in Denmark, but living on my own, knowing absolutely noone to start out with and just turning life around is always an enormous challenge - and gives the greatest satisfactions in due time. I love it here. I don't want to leave. And at the same time I am looking forward to the comforts of home and friends and family. All in all, life is pretty good I'd say...

Now for a bit of crafting which is, I should say, the main aim of this blog. I love crafting and one of the things most missed while beeing here is my stuff, my babies as the content of too many boxes, baskets, cupboards, drawers and the the likes are called. I haven't been as active as I would have liked, but more than expected which must count for something. And at least my stash of yarn has been growing as always - a clear indication of me beeing happy about life...

This is a Christmas present - which might not really be able to reach home before the actually date, but she dosen't expect it coming, so I think she will be happy any way... It takes no time to knit with the funny sale yarn, and I hate it - more about that later, when there is also some sun so I can get a few shots of the finished product... That is, if it ever gets done... But the thing that makes it all worth while is the name and wrapping of the yarn - oh, so much to look forward to later...

Now, bed time! I have not only one but two final exams tomorrow, so no knitting before bed tonight. Only four more days and then I am officially on Christmas holiday - I almost can't wait.

Everything needs a beginning...

2008-10-30T11:05:00.001+01:00

...so here I go...