Friday 27 January 2012

I Did It Again

OK. There might be men in white coats coming to my woolly corner of yarn. I actually knitted shawl number four from the german pattern. This time in the soft and yummy yarn Tynn Alpakka. A gorgeous alpaca yarn I´ve used several times.

I have no excuses - I just love that pattern. And the shawl are wonderful to wear.

I´ve added some glass beads with the tassels. A fish and two hearts actually.

And since we are having loads of snow it is perfect with another shawl. So I tell my self. Not that I am having trouble finding something woolly to wear. Not at all.

Check out the project on Ravelry and see more photos. I had 337 stitches on my needles before BO. I used 3.5mm and 9mm needles on the cable.

Did I mention I´ve started a new shawl - oh no. Oh no....

Have a blessed day and weekend!


Monday 23 January 2012

Never Too Sheepish


One can never get too sheepish or woolly. In fact, if it is out of the ordinary it is even more interesting. I always look out for things that you do not find thousands of in a department store.

Life is simply too short to not come up with all sorts of excuses to buy sheeps in any handsome outcome.

The things in the photo are not impossible to get hold of.

The needle felted pendant is made of Nancy, and you can find her shop on Etsy here.

She makes tiny critters to wear - and they are so cute that you just need to take them with you.

The cookie cutter was actually available before christmas where I live - I just could not resist...

And then there is the sheepish needle gauge from Karens Etsy shop.

Sent her an email through her shop - she is very popular. She also has cats, hearts and a lot of other goodies for knitters. She even make the gauge in the norwegian metric system. How about that?


And then the cup. I found this guy in a shop in Ireland - they only had one left. I fill him up with coffee and just enjoy every sip.

Things should not matter too much, I think. But I am willing to make an exception. Or two. Or three.

What things makes you happy? And what kind of excuse do you use to buy it?

Wednesday 18 January 2012

I Won A Prince

Can you believe this? I won such a wonderful gift over at Joyce´s blog. It came all the way from New Zealand - on the other side of the earth.

It was her first giveaway and I won it. It is two cards with envelopes and a dairy. Joyce has painted it all, and I can´t imagine how she does it. I really really love her art - it is so professional and tender.

Not only did I get those wonderful things, the decorated packet also included a personal note, a color chart, a napkin with a frog, another card and shoe images. I am so lucky - and I will treasure this forever. You can really see that Joyce put her heart and mind into her work.

Don´t miss the opportunity to visit her blog and dive into the images, colors and even enjoy her online classes. She also has an Etsy shop where she sells her beautiful art.

And for me - I just go on kissing those frogs... Thank you so much Joyce!!

Sunday 15 January 2012

Knitting Cats And Dots

So, I found out that it is about time I knit a new jacket. The last jacket was such a fun project - and I get so many comments on it. But, the main thing is that a knitted jacket is more versatile than a sweater. I have knitted from this cat pattern before with a very strange outcome. You can read about that here.

I used the size and the number of stitches from my previous jacket, and counted my way to add these strange cats to my new garment. And it works just perfect. 

The dots will be on the inside of the jacket.
11 cats created stitch by stitch with purple and turquoise. The edges are red and orange. 

On the inside of the edges there are dots and on the outside there are stripes. I am really happy about the colors - they are just what I wanted.

I have 264 stitches (and 6 to use for cutting in the front) on my needles. I knit loose when I am knitting stranded pattern, so I use 2.5mm needles for this project. 

The yarn is the norwegian brand Pt2 from Rauma. I had all the colors in my stash. I just added some more skeins to it. You can see the project on Ravelry as well.

I actually do not know how much yarn I will use. Maybe about 700 grams. Who knows...

The cat pattern is from the 90s and is called Strange cats (Snodige katter). 

I´m knitting the whole jacket in the round and cut in the front.

I do the same for the neckline to avoid purling pattern. That is just no fun at all - and tend to look bad....

I just love knitting this so much. The colors are exactly what I had in mind diving into my stash.

The jacket is going to be so much fun wearing. My motivation for my knitting is very often based on the colors I choose and how they work together. 

And of course combined with the pattern. It sort of has to play the strings on the inside that gives smile, comfort and joy to life.

That same feeling inside sitting in front of a fire with hot chocolate and marshmallows in a big cup. Do you know what I mean?

Last cat sweater got way too big - I felted it and is fun wearing.

Saturday 7 January 2012

Felt Almost Like Winter

So, I decided some months ago that I should get myself some new mittens. They should be hand knitted by me. So far so god. I found this wonderful pattern Winterland from an excellent designer, Wenche Roald. It was love at first sight and the best pattern ever written.

I started knitting and it went fine. First mitten was ready - I decided to wait with knitting the thumb. Then some months passed by and I knitted the next mitten. Without checking gauge, size or that my brain was on.

When finished the last mitten was huge. My knitting was too loose - so the thumbs was also too big.

The designer was a really good help - I should felt my mittens. The left mitten was felted once in the washer.

The right mitten was felted four times. Gosh, but now they fit. And they are so warm and wonderful to wear.

Theres is of course some difference between them, but that would even out after wear and some new rounds in the washer....

There is a first time for everything. And isn´t it wonderful that there´s always new things to learn. Or not? Hm.

Read about the project and the yarn on my Ravelry.

Monday 2 January 2012

A Bridge Of Colors

It´s really no secret: I love rainbows and all the colors in it. As I´m also totally knitting to much shawls I combined those two into this shawl. Using variegated yarn didn´t give a rainbow effect since it ended up in stripes due to long rows in the end of the shawl.

So I decided to use yarn from my stash - and there were a lot of bright colors. Oh, I had to buy some skeins too.... I actually used my polymer clay necklace as a guide for the colors. And it worked.

In this shawl there are nine colors. It´s the same pattern I used for my three other shawls knitted lately - do I need treatment??? Oh no, I actually started a new one...

I just love this shawl. I can wrap myself in a rainbow and think of the wonder that creates colors. As before, it´s knitted with 3mm and 9mm needles on the same cable. That´s what gives the stitch pattern. I used KnitPro - they are the only ones I can get where I live.

If you need to know more about the yarn and all those color numbers you´ll find it in my project page on Ravelry. There are no ends to weave in as I used spit splicing. Yes, it sounds very delicate... Check it out here - it´s a great technique.

Rainbows to me are mysterious, a fascinating bridge of colors over the sky with a promise of a treasure if you dare hunt for it. Maybe the treasure is to find our hearts, to find who is truly us and show all those colors to the world. I believe that would brighten up everything if we were not afraid of showing who we really are. Or what do you think?

My polymer clay necklace made some years ago were a great model for
finding the best colors to create a rainbow stitch by stitch for the shawl.