Sunday 31 January 2016

Bright Birds Begins

Nothing is like a new start on this shawl.
When your wings are broken you need to learn to fly again. This could easily be a very long post about people being awful to each other. 

But this is not a "turn the inside out" blog. This post is about turning frustration into a bird shawl. The shawl that almost made me consider never learing to fly - what damage a bad pattern can do... LOL!!!

Bird in the point of the shawl is actually nice. 
Now, with help from Anne and experince I HAVE DONE IT. I unraveled my first attempt and now we are talking. I mean, knitting.

I broke the code and this is actually going to be a shawl one day. A shawl to be proud of.

Although the yarn stinks I manage to knit some every day.

At least for now. My goal is to be finished in August. If not - it will be another month.

It is important that what I create is a joyfull experience. If not - I do not manage to finish it. That is why I had to unravel and start fresh.

This code I am talking about consist of a proper chart made in excel, magic balls of yarn, experince, help from Anne and getting rid of all previous frustrations.

Thank you all for your comments and encouragements on my previous post about this shawl. That means so much to me.

Starting today, I need to forget whats gone, appreciate what still 
remains and look forward to what comes next
Unknown
Magic balls of yarn was an important thing to get this shawl going. 

Monday 25 January 2016

A Knitters Nightmare

Unraveling hours of work is no fun...
Unraveling hours and hours of work. Thread by tread just pulls work from the garment until there is nothing left but a bunch of treads. Totally nightmare. Totally frustrating. Totally totally totally....

This bird shawl has been nothing but annoying and time consuming frustration. Bad pattern, overpriced kit and smelly yarn.


Some of the reason for unraveling..
Having to make the chart myself, using hours to find a way to knit this. Gosh, I have been so angry with this project.

I must admit that knitting such a project demands some experience that I did not have.

I mean, I knit a lot, but had never knitted a shawl like this.

And without a proper pattern - I could only go wrong.

This is how far I got before unraveling.
Anyway, I have finally made a chart, gotten myself some experience from this project and have unraveled all of the bird shawl.

All errors and frustration is gone. Starting for the last time on it - and hope to be finished by autumn...

So much easier now. So much more hope now. But were I got the patience from is a mystery. Usually I do not work so much on a project that seems to go nowhere. But it is the birds.
Planing, counting and ready to unravel the last bit of it.
This large shawl with birds in a lot of colors. I can see myself in it. I can picture how it would be. Hope is always a good thing when waiting and working in patience.

And this time there is hope in every stitch. I will not surrender. I will not give up. Not yet, anyway... And the credit for making this: I am taking it all!!! And I hope I can cope with the stinky spinning oil smell - it is intense..

Starting all over again seems much better and now I have the tools and the experience..

Sunday 17 January 2016

Whole Lotta Knitting Going On

The stash party on Instagram is really fun. See #restefest2016 for the photos.
Gimme thin yarn and tiny needles - and I knit a tunic and another three meter long scarf. 

That is what my knitting is about right now. I started on the Still Light tunic and it takes a lot of knitting. I am very excited about it - and hope it will fit.

Still Light Tunic on my needles. 
I knit in Holst Supersoft yarn - very thin yarn.

The yarn was meant for a cardigan, but I unravled it and started on the tunic instead.

I like the knit, the design and the genius pockets that figure shape the whole thing.

As I still have a lot of hand painted yarn I am knitting another Lifelines scarf from some of it.

I have so much fun knitting these colored yarns together.

I have joined the stash party on Instagram. It is in norwegian but if you see for #restefest2016 you will have a look at the photos.

Knitters are making a party of knitting stash into so much nice garments.

I have to many scarves - I know. I have started to give some of them away - those I do not use and never have used.

That is really so lovely - to see someone else shine in my scarves. Everybody needs colors - everyone.
Half of my new Lifelines scarf is done - knitted in hand painted stash yarn.

Friday 8 January 2016

The Shiny Stash

Can stashed yarn shine? After even years hidden in a box? The answer must be yes. That is at least a comfort when we buy yarn that is expensive and may not be usable to that many projects.

Shining, right?
Well, that is the case with 436 grams of my stash.

Great colors in handpainted merino yarn that pills, bleads and not giving the warmth I need for a winters day.

I picked out all of it and started combining colors in a scarf. Knitting stripes is the most giving I can think of.

I used variegated yarn for one stripe and solid color for the other. That gives a great effect. When one skein was out I added a new one.

I love how this came out. And it was great fun to knit and see the colors work together.

This scarf is useable for spring and even a norwegian summer. Not bad, I must say.

I am quite surprised how the yarn plays the color symphony in great harmony.

Name and year of knitting
I used ends and small skeins I had lying around and put the colors together and just went for it.

The only problem is that I have a lot left. The yarn goes a long way. 436 grams actually gave me a three meter long scarf. I have started a new one....

Stash is underrated for scarves, mittens and all other small garments. It can really shine if we just give it a chance.

Like in life itself: We often think of each other that some are more valuable than others. But given the right environment - everyone will shine and grow.

Your life is far too valuable to be wasted on the life that everyone else is choosing
Joshua Becker 

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Various handprinted merino yarn
Needles: 2mm
Pattern: Lifelines
My Ravelry Page: Painted With Stash


Friday 1 January 2016

Happy Knit Year

I Wish You All A Happy New Year
It really is strange that we look back just because we have a new date. But we do. I do. It seems that I have used over 28 kilometers of yarn in 2015. No, I am not showing a video of that. LOL! But here are some highlights :-) Apart from three gifts (two baby hats and scarf) all of my projects are knitted in colors. No black, white, gray, beige, brown and so on :-)

Scarf Of The Year
I really enjoy knitting the Red Katana scarf. Garter stitch with a little extra that just makes it more fun. I love the effect the two colors make in it. I ended up with five of them - one for a gift...
Here are all five of them :-)

Rainbow Of The Year
No year without a rainbow. I knitted a garter stitch shawl with Kauni and mohair and it came out just what I wanted. Large, soft and warm.

Yet Again And Again
The Viajante has become something I reapeat over and over again. There were three off my needles - one knitted as a gift. It has become my Tour de France knit...
All three of them together...
Sweater Of The Year
For the first time I have managed to knit a sweater that actually fits, is lovely to wear and that I use a lot. How to measure for a garment is the key, and so is the design. Take a look at my last one here and see how it looks.

Mittens And Price Of The Year
I always want to knit more mittens. I almost never do. They are quick and lovely knits, but the fact that I have to knit two makes it less attractive... But, I managed to keep it going in an easter competition where my mittens actaullay won the Color Delight Price.

Polymer Clay Of The Year
Polymer clay makes my soul sing. I wish I could do a lot more. But knitting is really a great thing to lean on instead. Stitch markers has been great for gifts, for my own use and just for the making of them.

For the statistics, here are the number for 2015: 8 scarves, 4 shawls, 3 Viajantes, 4 sweaters, 2 cowl, 2 baby hats and 1 pair of mittens.

Thank you for being with my blog through 2015. For all your comments, advice, encouragements and for your love. You bring color to my world by just being in blog land. Take care of yourself in 2016. Spent time with people that makes you fell well - and let the rest take care of themselves. Find your color - and never let go :-)