Look At Those Colors

That feeling inside that is pulsating in pure happiness. It is exactly how I felt wearing my new scarf for the first time. It is liberating to use the colors I love.

I have had so much fun knitting this that I just wanted to knit one more. Knitting stripes somehow brings out addictive behaviour. LOL!!!

One pattern repeat from beginning to my finger.

Remember the scarf I told about in my previous post? The one with what seemed like a random striped scarf but is not?

I am still astonished by how a pattern can come out like this. I simply took the ten colors I wanted and put them in the order I found best.

Then just varied how many rows I knitted from each color. and in different order. Then repeated the pattern a litte over four times.

The pattern is also listed in my blog post. As I like system this i perfect.

And it still get that random look but not with the frustration about not finding out how to do it.

I have spit spliced every color change - no way I was going to weave in a million ends.

When finished there are only two ends to weave in. Spit splicing is the best knitting technique I have ever learned. Since I knit in wool it works every time. For super wash as well.

I used about 300 grams from my stash. I am knitting mittens I can use with the scarf.

Knitting gives me so much joy - it is a red thread trough life. And this scarf is making me wonder why we are so afraid of being who we are. What would your scarf look like if you chose your favorite colors and just didn't care about what other people would think?

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull Pt2
Needles: 2.5mm
Pattern: Lifelines, Stripe pattern
My Ravelry page: This Is Fun

Think big and don't listen to people who tell you it can't be done 

Life is too short to think small

Tim Ferriss

Looks random but is not. I repeated a pattern a little over four times in the scarf.

Whatever, System Is A Good Thing

I have been called all kinds of things because I like systems. Amongst them nerd and freak. People have a charming way of telling other people they have some negative thing about them.

This is my protest to that.

This is my scarf of many colors in a system that makes it so fantastic that I almost started dancing.

At least I tried. But I stumbled in the yarn skeins... LOL!!!

Anyway, I love bright colors and putting them together so that each one looks good apart and together.

Knitting with stash yarn can be quite a challenge - I am not very good in just knitting with what comes to mind then and there.

I need a system. A pattern. So I finally found a way of doing just that.

Kaffe Fasset taught me this.

If you look at his way of knitting in different colors he almost always has a pattern - even though it does not look like it.

And that is the most fun of it: It looks like random knitting but it is not.

I found ten colors in Finull Pt2 placed them in order and made a pattern for the knitting.

I had my Lifelines scarf as the main pattern.

You can download it for free here.

When I knit like this it seems like there are no system. And it makes great harmony in the colors and the way they work together.

So people can call me what they want - I love this and it gives me great joy.

This is how I do it (feel free to do the same).
I knit the colors in this order with color code for each one of the ten:
10 rows dark turquoise (4605) 
10 rows light turquoise (4705) 
4 rows magenta (4886) 
4 rows light purple (4088) 
2 rows dark purple (4042) 
10 rows orange (4205) 
8 rows green (4018) 
8 rows red (424) 
4 rows light pink (4686) 
12 rows light blue (4406) 
10 rows light purple 
8 rows light pink 
4 rows light blue 
2 rows light purple 
12 rows dark turquoise 
4 rows green 
4 rows light pink 
12 rows orange 
8 rows light turquoise 
4 rows red 
2 rows dark purple 
2 rows light purple 
4 rows magenta 
10 rows light blue 
6 rows green 
12 rows light pink 
4 rows magenta 
8 rows orange 

That is the pattern for the colors. I think I end up with about four repeats for my scarf planned to be 2.5 meters long. So, here it is: A lot of fun. I could knit around the clock... 

Great, is it not?

I Have Knitted A Necklace

Can you knit a scarf necklace? Well, apparently you can. But this is a different kind of knitting a necklace. 

I had a beautiful necklace with me home from the Dead Sea and the colors are so striking. They are like the colors of the Dead Sea and of my eyes. 

The necklace is the pattern for the scarf. Each bead color is knitted into the scarf in the same order.

The necklace is made by Ofry Friedman and is called Bombona (means ocean). It is made from organic material found in the rain forrest in South America and hand dyed. You can read about that here.

I loved the color combination and I decided to knit a scarf in the same colors and in the same order as the beads are put together.

I planned the scarf to be 250cm long. The necklace has 16 beads. That made me knit 15cm for each bead in the according color.

The colors are not as bright as I normally would chose but I actually love the way they came out.

They are so lovely together and is great with my red coat. This is very special to me - and it holds a lot of memories from the Dead Sea. A place that is so magical that it is impossible to even describe.

I used my design Lifelines as a base for the knitting. Those scarves are great neck warmers and giving them a lot of colors makes these grey and cold winter days a lot brighter. And colors are after all my biggest inspiration.

I wish you all a happy and bright new year. May your days be colorful and may you be blessed whit good days in the new year to come.

Colors hydrate my mind and soul

Lone Arnsted

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull Pt2
Needles: 2.5mm
Free Pattern: Lifelines
My Ravelry Page: Ahava

Ambivalent Mittens Knitting

Winter: Dark, cold and rainy weather calls for hand knitted mittens. 

First of all: Hand knitted mittens are artwork for your hands. But, I have never been very successful and the skill. They always get too big and I have to felt them.

Mainly because my gauge always is off and most mittens have a lot of stitches. 

So, if I am to knit those really lovely mittens I have to use 1.25mm needles - and even knit two of each - I end up never getting started.

I got some help from a skilled mittens knitter and she told me to find mittens with a gauge that fit my kind of knitting. And so I did.

Now, I have actually knitted a pair of mittens that fit. They look great and they did not take forever to knit.

I am so happy to have come over that obstacle it always has been to knit mittens.

These are of course knitted in Rauma Finull.

The pattern is from the norwegian book Eventyrvotter - fairytale mittens. It is an amazing book from very skilled knitters. You should check it out. All mittens are inspired from Norwegian fairytales.

Anyway - I may have to knit more of these to get some more colors to match the huge amount of scarves and shawls I have... LOL! These are my two favorite colors. A great beginning.

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull Pt2
Needles: 2.5mm
Pattern: Eventyrlauv
My Ravelry Page: Heartfelt

If you find a path with no obstacles, 

it probably doesn't lead anywhere

Frank A. Clark

How Many Blessing Do You Have?

I think most people would be surprised by how many blessing they have in their life. 

I mean, even if everything is bad there are always something to bring a sun beam into it. If you meassure your life from what others have, their social media shining wonderful self and the constantly demand on being perfect you may think that you have nothing. 

Well, it is all about how we see things. And believe me - most of what we show online is facade.

It may seem perfect, but do you know anyone who is perfect? I have not found anyone yet...

Anyway, I have started counting my blessing every day. And there are a lot. They are not postable in social media.

No climing mountains, achiving large things in work life, being rich or being popular. But they are there with all the light, hope and love.

One of my blessing is that I am able to knit. To transform thread into colorful creations that gives me so much joy wearing.

And they even keep me and others warm from it.

This scarf is one of them. I have knitted another with the same text before.

But I wanted one in my favorite colors. The pattern for the scarf is genius. You simply cast on 36 stitches and knit whatever text or number you want.

I have knitted the Lords blessing yet again. I do not think I can get enough of them... A knitted blessing is 4.5 meters long. I knitted 1.198 rows and 116 letters. It is so much fun to see the scarf grow word for word. Blessing for blessing.

So, will you join me in counting your blessings every day? See life in another way? See what you really have in your daily life and be happy about it? Even the smallest thing matters - at least to me.

Better to lose count while naming your blessings 

than to lose your blessings to counting your troubles

Maltbie Davenport Babrock

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull Pt2
Needles: 2.75mm (magic loop)
My Ravelry Page: Counting Blessings
Pattern: Ticker Tape

Give Me Stripes

Give me knitting needles, yarn and stripes and the world comes in balance. Or something like that... What is it about stripe knitting that just draw me to it? It is fun to knit, makes a colorful statement and there is some childish joy in it.

And if life is hard stripes ease it up. Just one stripe at the time, one step at the time and just keep those stitches count as blessings in a storm.

This is some rare occasion when I have used white. I normally use it very little unless I need some kind of effect as in this really special scarf.

White is the color that will always dominate, take all the attention and remove balance.

But, I used it anyway this time and I am thrilled about the result.

This is a fun scarf. At least I think so. Really nice to wear and warm. Autumn is coming soon.

Of course, it is knitted in my favourite Rauma Finull Pt2. My design Colorize was just perfect for the color combination.

I got the photos taken on my trip to town to cast my vote in this autumns election. Really important to vote, to knit and stay warm....

Great is the human who has not lost his childlike heart

Mencius

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull Pt2
Needles: 3mm
Pattern: Colorize
My Ravelry Page: Red White Blue

Can Stash Make You Shine?

Stashed yarn is treasure of possibilities. I have had this mohair and sequins yarn laying around for years. I bought it on sale and it ended up in a box. Like so much yarn does...

I also had a lot of turquoise Finull lying around so I found out it was time to let these two get friends on some needles.

The shawl Århus is so much fun to knit, to wear and to let shine with sequins.

Two rows repeating all the way is simply perfect. I really love the shape on this design. It makes a great shawl if knitted large enough.

And I love it as a scarf since it does not get too big around my neck.

Also, never underestimate a pompom - they can make a huge difference.

I had different colors of turquoise and a green leftover I blended in.

I think it worked just fine. I knitted a lot on it on a retreat I attended.

It was fantastic. Quietness, bird song and the only sound was the needles clicking softly.

And I must admit - there are a lot of those scarves going on here. Different colors and a lot of sequins. More about that later...

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rowan Kid Silk Haze Glamour, Rauma Finull
Needles: 5mm
Pattern: Århus
My Ravelry Page: Stashy Glitter

Those who can´t handle your shine better invest in some shades

Unknown