Finished Last This Year

The last day of the year is here and we are preparing for the celebration of the new. I take a short break from the cooking to show the last finished item for 2011: a pin-cushion, made in a traditional style, on wool with wool.

I bought this as a kit more than a year ago, because I was quite keen to try this technique and actually needed a pin-cushion for my sewing-neeedles. I eagerly started, made half of it, was a bit displeased with my stitches, put it away and forgot about it.

I found it again yesterday and it only took a few hours to finish it, sew it together, fill it and: voilá - a new pin-cushion!

Earlier this year I bought the very inspiring book Yllebroderier (Adlibrislänk), a real must for anyone interested in traditional Swedish embroidery. It´s really fascination to see all the colours and fascination designs - and to send a thought to all those women who made all these stitches.

Now I have 30 minutes to cast on for a new project, before it´s time to make the dinner-table.

Socks

Two balls of Karisma, in a quite boring brown colour, suddenly found some pink leftover Svarta Fåret Raggsocksgarn and they decided that they should become something together. Some charts in a knitting book inspired a simple pattern and in only a few days time the union was completed: a pair of socks!

While knitting these I was constantly reminded of chocolate and strawberry ice-cream!

There was just enough brown yarn, I ended up with only two meters left and I´m very pleased that I managed to use up all of it. I think Karisma (from Drops) is a very nice sock-yarn: it´s pleasant to knit with and comes in a lot of nice colours. I have more of it in the stash and maby it´s time to cast on a new pair of socks...

Me = Great Fashion Designer!

During my blogging I have been wavering between writing in English or in Swedish - writing in English IS much harder, but it´s a good excercise. Yesterday, I decided first of all to go on blogging and then to write in Swedish. Almost as soon as I had posted, I got a request to write in English... So I will.

During the autumn I have been my own fashion designer. My mother came to me with a picture from a magazine and said she wanted a sweater like the one in the picture. It was designed by Stella McCartney (I doubt she knitted it herself). After having studied the picture, mum and I decided it was a piece of cake to knit something similar and I started looking for the right yarn.

And I found Rowan "Big Wool", that turned out to be expensive, yes, but absolutely wonderful to knit with. After some swatching and measuring, I cast on.


And this is how it turned out.

It´s knitted in the round up to the armpits. Mum wanted a short ribbing round the hems -I would have omitted that if I had knit the sweater for myself. I divided the work after the armpits and knitted the front and back separately back and forth. After a little shaping for the neck I knitted the sholders shut and picked up stitches for the sleeves. I knitted the sleeves in the round, shaped them a little and ended them with a short ribbing. Then I knitted the neck-ribbing and the whole sweater was wet-blocked. Yes, it took ages to dry!

Mum was very pleased with her sweater and maybe I have a great future ahead of me as a great fashion designer. But most likely not!

Länge sedan!

Det var ju länge sedan det skrevs något här: hösten har varit alldeles för full av arbete och sjukdom! Och när tiden och krafterna tryter gäller det ju att använda bådadera till det mest viktiga och alltså har jag hellre stickat än bloggat om stickning! Så det finns gott om nystickade saker att visa upp.

I år ville julstämningen inte riktigt infinna sig, jag som annars är en riktig julnörd. Inte ens julblommorna lockade och till julafton struntade jag i julstjärnor och amaryllisar och köpte mig en bukett snittblommor istället.

Dottern modifierade sitt halsduksönskemål till att vilja ha " en sådan där rund", en som fungerar som halsduk och som kan dras upp över huvudet när det blåser kallt. Jag har för mig att modellen kallades väpnarluva i min gröna ungdom.

Tre härvor Colinette gick det åt och mottagaren blev nöjd med resultatet. Själv tycker jag nog att färgerna inte var någon höjdare, men nu var det ju inte jag som skulle ståta i skapelsen.

Jag prövade en ny uppläggning av maskor denna gång, en slags stickad uppläggning som gav ett fast och bra resultat till kanten. Det första försöket med vanligt skoluppläggning blev för sladdrigt. Jag stickade två räta och två aviga som en tub och formade det hela litet för huvudet med litet kortvarv. En bit ner ökade jag så att den skulle passa om axlarna. Så maskade jag av och gjorde små uddar med jämna mellanrum med hjälp av en slags picot-avmaskning.

Sommarminnen

Ett av sommarens projekt. Jag har återigen fått önskemål om mönstret, så nu får jag väl ta och plita ner min version av denna klassiska tröja.

Så var det roliga slut

Oket till min "Stora Spetskragen" är färdigt och har suttit på min trogna provdocka Miss Lizzy ett tag. Den roliga delen av stickningen är slut och nu följer en väldigt massa varv i slätstickning. I svart. Kanske det är därför inget händer; en massa slätstickning i svart är ju inte så mycket att se fram emot. Särskilt inte nu på höstkanten, när mörkret kommer tillbaka och det blir litet svårt att se på kvällarna. Särskilt om man stickar med svart.

Jag fick förslaget att maska av det hela och använda oket som en magnifik halskrage. Och jo, det är ju en idé, men nu ville jag ju ha en tröja! Så det blir till att återföra alla maskorna till en rundsticka igen och börja knoga på. Min plan, att tröjan skulle vara klar ungefär nu, väljer jag att glömma. Sådana planer hör jobbvardagen på kontoret till, där dead-lines står som spön i backarna. Men där får man ju aldrig göra som man vill, till skillnad från den gyllene fritiden, där det är bara jag som bestämmer. Så Miss Lizzy kan ju , för all del, fortsätta stoltsera i denna ullsymfoni ett tag till.

Tankarna sysslar med halsduksidéer, jag vill göra något jag inte gjort förut och vrider och vänder på kombinationerna av ull och värmande halsplagg.

Höstens halsduk

Om man vill ha en ny halsduk när hösten kommer, tappar man lämpligen bort förra höstens halsduk och påpekar sedan för sin mamma att det är tomt i halsduksförrådet. Och då tar ens mamma genast chansen att köpa nytt garn och påbörja ett nytt projekt! Varför göra det enkelt för sig och köpa en färdig halsduk, när man kan ta den krångliga, nej fel - kreativa - vägen och köpa garn och sticka halsduken själv?

Tre härvor Colinette ska bli säsongens halsduk till dottern. Jag tänker mig något väldigt enkelt ribbstickat, kanske 2r,2a... eller 4r,4a. Och så måste ändarna på halsduken bli litet roliga.

Fler små mockasockor

De små mockasockorna gav mersmak och jag har stickat tre par hittills. Antagligen kommer det att bli fler; det är få stickprojekt som ger så stor effekt av så pass lite arbete.

Växande Bohus

Under sommaren har Bohus-tröjan "Stora Spetskragen" växt, från ett litet halsband, till en halskrage och till en rejäl axelvärmare. Här är en bild när jag kommit litet mer än halvvägs. Mönstret var egentligen inte alls svårt att sticka, beskrivningen är mycket bra! Men färgerna ligger ofta väldigt nära varandra i färgton och ibland var det svårt att se skillnad på dem. Flera kvällar fick jag lägga stickningen åt sidan för att invänta nästa dag med dagsljus.

Ibland tänkte jag: är det verkligen någon idé att sitta och hålla isär dessa nästan lika färger, ingen kommer ju att se någon skillnad! Och det gjorde man ju inte heller - förrän man kommit en bit i mönster och höll upp det. Då framträdde plötsligt de olika färgerna och gav en magnifik uppvisning i hur vackert det är med subtila färgskiftningar.

Och ibland stönade jag över dessa avigmaskor som skulle in här och där, och som jag missade gång på gång. Det kan väl ändå inte spela någon roll?! tänkte jag. Men det gjorde det och det är bara att ödmjukt konstatera att detta mönster är konstruerat av en mästare: Karin Ivarsson! Jag är verkligen imponerad över hennes insikt om samspelat mellan färger samt aviga och räta maskor.

For Small Feet

When I found this pattern "Moc-a-sock" by Bekah Knits, I of course had to try it. I used some left-over Rowan Pure Wool Dk and these where finished in no time. A very well constructed pattern - but I knitted them in the round. Why seam if you don´t have to??

Exciting Beginning

On holiday last summer I visited Bohusläns Museum and bought a kit containing "Stora Spetskragen" (Large Lace Collar). Since then the project has been maturing on a shelf - and in my mind! I´m going to knit the yoke as written, of course, and slowly a picture has been forming itself of how I want the rest of the sweater to look.

Some days ago I cast on. The first thing I did was omitting the ribbing round the neck, instead I started with a tubular cast-on and then dived straight into the yoke and the tempting pattern. And knitting this fantastic pattern is pure joy! Beeing used to handel two strands of yarn at the same time, it at first felt a bit akward with three. By making one colour the dominant one, antoher the "middle" one and the last the one always knit from the bottom, it´s quite easy to keep the strands in order.

If Rome Wasn´t Built In One Day...

The idea to this cardigan, in a feather-and-fan pattern, was born over a year ago and I started it somewhere in the end of last summer. Then it fell into the backwaters of my knitting-basket and there it lay. Some weeks ago I decided to finish it and here it is!

The yarn is recycled Rowan Summer Tweed, from two frogged rather freakish projects. The frogging and recycling process is rather tiresome, but I feel very economical now that the yarn is finally turned into something wearable. The buttons I found at "Mattsons Band" on Kungsgatan in Stockholm - THE place for buttons!

Denmark Delight

One week of this summer-holiday was spent in Denmark, on the west-coast, where we rented this charming little house in Bjerghuse, wedged between the sea and Nissum Fjord.

Lovelly sunny days were spent on the beach, bathing, building sand-castles and exploring the concrete "boxes" that the Germans built during the Second WordWar.
"Our" house lies just behind this wall of sand, called "klitter" that protects the houses from the wind and sand. I believe thy are part natural and part man-made.

Of course we visited Legoland - my son (5) had waited impatiently the whole winter for this! And Legoland really lived up to his expectations and he declares that he wants to return every summer. When there is so much to see in the world!!

I made another little sweater during the trip, this time in size 12-18 m. The photo doesn´t really show how good the shade of pink usually called "Old Rose" and the brown matched each other. On the road it´s good to have an uncomplicated knitting and this pattern I can knit in my sleep. I still brought the wrong knitting-needle on a day-trip to Skagen, and had to spend the time in the car doing absolutely nothing, when not driving.

On a visit to Ringköbing I treated myself to a Hanne Falkenberg-kit. I have long wanted to try one of her designs and the wrap-skirt "Swing" seemed very exciting. But before I can try this new toy, I have to finish some of my on-going projects, since all my nr 2 circular needels are engaged. Or I could buy more needles...

Long Time No Write

In many ways May and June are the most stressfull months of the year. The work load gets quite big with everything that needs to be finished before the holiday starts and people tend to become very sociable just before everyone is scattered out in the summer world. Of course this is very nice - and hectic, and when time is scarse, one of the first things to get struck of my list, is blogging. After all: knitting is more important, than blogging about knitting!


In the end of May I finished a very simple triangular scarf with a small lace edging. The yarn is Rowan Colourscape Chunky - actually TOO expensive, but I allowed myself one skein as a reward for good behavour. It turned out I would have liked a bit more yarn, I think this triangular scarf became a bit too small. I liked the yarn very much, nice to knit with.

The lace-border I found in "Traditional Knitted Lace Shawls" by Martha Waterman, it´s the "Smallest Points" at page 77.

My daughter got very fond of the result and if I want to use this scarf myself, i think I will have to hide it.

I got an order for two more baby-sweaters from a friend at work, and this is the first one of them: a multi-coloured version of Gotländsk fiskartröja. Actually, now I have knitted so many of these small baby-sweaters and once a big one for my brother, that I´m considering knitting one for myself. Mabye I need a multi-coloured one?

Developments

There have been developments, both in the garden and in the knitting-basket. My Icarus is finished and there was enough yarn - just! I finished with about 3 meters left... Very good use of that yarn! Then it was blocking time.

I wet-block all things I knit and use my yoga-mats as blocking boards. A lace-shawl usually looks like a dish-rag before it is bocked and is a really disappointing result from all that knitting-work. Then some water and pins and the magic unfolds - like a magnolia opening up:

My Icarus, after the blocking.

Magnolia Time

Last year my mognolia didn´t bloom. It had buds, and the leaves came, but no flowers. I put this down to the very hard winter it had just lived through and was happy just that actually all of my plants in the garden hade survived. This winter was also very hard, and two of my roses definitely throwed in the towel. But the magnolia had big buds and some days ago they started to open. How can I spend so much time inside an office, when there are so much beauty to enjoy in my garden?

The shawl is growing. The pattern is actually quite boring, but the yarn is lovely. I´m still unsure wether there will be enough yarn, and have the stupid feeling that if I just knit fast enough the yarn will last. I´ll be starting the lace border tonight and I hope that will be more interesting than the long main part of stockinette (rätstickning).

For Someone as Newborn as the Spring

A sweater knitted for someone unborn, who decided it was time to enter the world last Saturday. A new little life, born when the spring is newborn.

Snowdrops are my favourite flowers. They are such a miracle every spring when they resist the frost in the ground, the snow and the ice and suddenly stand there, just when I though the winter was going to last forever. This year spring was very late. Now the snowdrops have almost finished their blooming-time, the first part of spring is already over.