Lacing along

The red shawl I’m knitting for my Grandma, has grown quite significantly during the last week.

It is knit in two equal halves, which then are grafted together in the centre, and I have alternated knitting both halves, so it would be easier to finish. The first half is now finished, and I have started the second of two charts on the other half.

I had dreaded the second chart, because there is patterning on every row (as opposed to only RS rows on the first chart), but I actually think it went faster than the first. I can really see the end of this now, and I think it’s going to turn out great. Phew :)

A picture of the first chart is here.

Knitting mail

Today, my copy of Ysolda’s Whimsical Little Knits finally arrived! I pre-ordered it in January, and have gotten the individual patterns as pdf-files along the way.

It’s the cutest little book, with ten lovely patterns from one of my favourite knitting designers. Ysolda even signed every copy!

I’m so happy I chose to get the printed and digital versions, for just £2 extra it was totally worth it.

I will probably be knitting the Hap Blanket ravelry and the small Ishbel shawl ravelry first :)

I’m still waiting for my copy of the British Yarn Forward Magazine, where there is a huge interview with Sir Terry Pratchett about Ankh-Morpork Knitter’s Guild's Pratchgan! It will probably be here tomorrow.

Yarn dyeing 1.1

As promised, here are the finished skeins from my first yarn dyeing experience. I'm quite happy about the result, and looking forward to see how the yarn looks when I knit with it. I'm thinking baby cardigan or possibly a blanket. Or something entirely different...



The first colourway, the one with blue in it -


The two other skeins were kind of supposed to be the same colourway, but the red is a bit brighter in the last one -




And all three skeins -




What do you think?

The process pictures from the yarn dyeing are here.

Yarn dyeing 1.0

Today I finally got to try dyeing some yarn with Kool Aid, that I bought here a few months ago.
I have had a hard time deciding what yarn to dye and how to dye it -what kind of colourrepeats and so on. But I decided just to jump in today... :)

I started out with some light blue Gjestal Superwash Sport that I was bored with the colour of. I used Cherry (red), Grape (purple) and Berry Blue (blue), but I mixed them a bit with each other to get a more suitable colourway. I wound the yarn, one skein at the time, around two chairs placed 246 cm apart (I measured afterwards, it was just the lenght of the livingroom).

Here is the wound yarn, soaking -


Then I put one third of the looong skein in each colour -


In the microwave -


The first colourway (one skein) -


And the second one (two skeins) -


I like the second one the best, the colours blend more. I think the blue got a little too bright in the first one. It might look fine knit up, though.

The yarn will be drying overnight, and I will try and post pictures of the final yarn as soon as possible!

Baby giraffe

After work yesterday, I got the chance to go see the tiny new giraffe, who was born on February 24. He almost didn't survive at first, but is now happy and healthy, although not fully in control of his legs yet ;)

Here he is with his mom, for scale...

The baby with the kid from last year.

He doesn't really need the tall doors that the other giraffes use, but he's the only one who's short enough to get to try and open them...

Had to lay down for a while.

So glad I got to see him before he grew too much :) He's sooo cute!
And I'm always amazed at how tall giraffes are in real life.


On the knitting front, a pair of plain ribbed knee socks for me. The storebought pair I have, are slowly wearing through on both heels, so I needed a new pair.

Comfort socks

My grandma (dad's side) is unfortunately not feeling well atm, so I decided to knit her some comfort socks. And of course they had to be purple, as that's her favourite colour!
I bought yarn for two pairs, Viking garn Sportsragg (plied purple and blue) and Viking garn Frøya (really soft beautiful purple).

I decided on the Blueberry Waffle Socks for the Sportsragg, as the pattern is not to busy for the colours of the yarn. I started following the pattern cuff down, but it turned out a bit loose, and I didn't like the look and fit of the heel. So I frogged it, and used the Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula from Knitty, with the waffle rib.

Pattern: Universal Toe-Up Sock Formula / Blueberry Waffle Socks
Size: 44 sts / about shoe size 37 (tight fitting)
Needles: 2.5 mm for toe, heel and cuff rib, 3.0 mm for foot and leg.
Yarn: Viking garn Sportsragg, 100 grams of colour 589

I'm really happy with how they turned out. I liked working with the yarn. I have a skein leftover, as the LYS lady said I'd need 3 for a pair. I used almost exactly 1 skein for each sock, of course it's easier when they're toe up.
I also have 4 skeins of gray, that I'll eventually use for knitting tall/kneesocks for myself, also toe up, but probably plain rib.

I'm considering the Wyvern socks (ravelry) or maybe these DROPS socks (ravelry) for the Frøya yarn, but that'll have to wait for a while, as two fingers on my right hand have gone numb from the dpns...

Really hope she'll like them! They'll be in the mail tomorrow before I leave for the airport, going home.

meme

Stolen from Trine

Where is your mobile phone? jacket pocket
Where is your significant other? metro/airport
Your hair color? brown
Your mother? strong
Your father? respectful
Your favorite thing? blanket
Your dream last night? none
Your dream goal? travelling
The room you’re in? to small
Your hobby? knitting
Your fear? anxiety
Where do you want to be in 6 years? a mother
Where were you last night? at home
What you’re not? fit
One of your wish-list items? origins jump start
Where you grew up? in safety
The last thing you did? said goodbye
What are you wearing? comfy
Your TV? old
Your pets? far away
Your computer? tired
Your mood? stuffed
Missing someone? my family
Your car? none
Something you’re not wearing? pants
Favourite shop? a few
Your summer? Kragerø
Love someone? yes
Your favourite color? purple
When is the last time you laughed? yesterday
When is the last time you cried? this week

I'm off

...leaving my guilty conscience behind, and going here -

Finally FOs

I dragged the boyfriend out of the bed this morning to have a photoshoot of my two finished sweaters. Please click for bigger photos (and they work now, too!).


Pattern: Serafias Vinter, by Geilsk
Yarn: Geilsk 100% uld
Needles: 3.5 mm
Date started: June 22, 2008
Date finished: September, 2008
Mods: Knit the rib section a bit longer...



Comments: Bought as kit at Sommerfuglen in Copenhagen. I liked the pattern, the yarn is lovely (smells great and the texture and colour is lovely), and I got great service from Geilsk.
I doesn't really look that bad in these photos, but I think it is a bit large. When it has just been washed/blocked, it's okay, but it grows quickly with wear. I'm considering getting my mum to try it, she's a tad taller than me and it might fit her better. I thought I'd got gauge, but 2x2 rib is difficult to measure... :( A bit disappointing, as I'd really looked forward to wearing this thing a lot! And I was going to knit the Livstykke by Geilsk as well...

I am, however, going to knit a lace shawl for my Grandmother in the Geilsk 100% uld yarn, in the colour 10 - red. I haven't decided on a pattern yet (it's sooo hard!! - please help!), you can see the alternatives here in my queue. Please have a look.


Pattern: Wicked (worsted weight version), by Sarah & Rachel /Zephyr Style
Yarn: Madil Loden
Needles: 4.0 mm and 5.0 mm
Date started: October 3, 2008
Date finished: October 30, 2008
Mods: No pocket, seed st sleeve hems. A bit longer.

Comments: I frogged my Phildar vest for this sweater.
The pattern is really clear. I had to frog around 10-20 cm of the body, as it turned out to wide, especially the sleeves. Went back and did a couple less raglan increases than I started out with. I did much more waist shaping than suggested in the pattern.
It was meant to be 3/4 sleeves, but they are a bit short. I have some yarn leftover, and it would be great to use all of it, so I'll probably undo the bind off and continue the sleeves to I run out of yarn.
I think it fits me quite good, and with longer sleeves it will probably be a favourite sweater!


I also got some action shots with the boyfriend scarf, that I've been wearing a lot lately (it suddenly got COLD). I like it, its warm! And it goes quite well with my new sweater, don't you think?

Handmade Holidays 2008

Today is the start of Sew Mama Sew's 2nd annual Handmade Holidays - every day in November they post gift ideas and tutorials for sewing gifts.

This year each day is dedicated to a gift recipient - starting out with "Teens & Tweens".

I loved following the Handmade Holidays last year, tons of great ideas and photos - so you should definately check it out!