Birds and colorwork

The weather is changing. It’s getting colder, which means there is a need for more woolly knitwear. The cotton yarns are already hibernating and I can surrender myself completely to my favorite fiber, wool. Are you looking forward to this as much as I am?

I’ve started a project in Shetland wool which contains colorwork and steeking, haven’t tried the latter yet but I’m plucking up the courage, day by day, and hopefully one day I’ll be brave enough to CUT my knitting! I haven’t decided which method it’s going to be yet but I’m tending towards applying a crocheted steek. I know that when knitting with Shetland wool it shouldn’t be necessary to make any reinforcement at all – you just cut. I don’t know if I’ll ever be that courageous, though. Eunny Jang’s tutorial on steeking is such a great reference and I’m so going to use it.

If you haven’t guessed it by now, my new project is Little Birds by Ysolda. It’s from the new online magazine Twist Collective. This magazine is just so great and full of beautiful designs, and Ysolda’s Little Birds is just one of them.

Last call for summer knits

My summer cardigan is finished just in time to actually be included as a summer knit. It seems as if the summer here is turning into autumn but before I dive completely into the more woolly affairs I just want to show you Cherry.

I might be able to wear it only a couple of times this season but then again – to look at the positive side - it’s ready for next spring. It’s a great pattern and the cardigan turned out pretty much as I anticipated. The yarn was lovely too. It’s not spun very tightly, though, which means that it splits. However, it wasn’t a problem, just something to be aware of. And a good thing is that it results in a very soft garment when knit up.

I found some buttons I like. I wanted them to be red because that way the attention is pointed more towards the lovely pattern, I guess. They do have noticeable details, though.

Pattern: Cherry

Designer: Anna Bell in My Fashionable Life

Yarn: Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton in the color Carmen

Monkeys

On the occasion of WWKIP Day, I started these socks, Monkey by Cookie A. I continued knitting on the bus to and from Berlin (great city) but haven’t finished them until now. They’re ready to wear and delightfully warm: I’m waiting for colder days.

The yarn is absolutely great and very soft, maybe because of the very small amount of cashmere (6 % isn’t much). Great pattern too. I’d like to try more of Cookie A’s sock patterns. This one was easy to memorize and a quick knit (if you’re steady and unlike me knit other projects in between), so it could be fun to try out a somewhat more challenging pattern of hers. These socks, though, I love.

Pattern: Monkey from Knitty (Winter 2006)

Designer: Cookie A.

Yarn: Gepard Garn Cash-Soft

The Color Blue

Maybe you’ve heard about Project Spectrum. It’s meant as a way of celebrating the colors around us by expressing yourself creatively, doing some kind of art or craft. As this includes photography and I wanted to play with my new camera I found that the project was perfect for that purpose. There is a group on Flickr but also one on Ravelry, if you're interested. In August and September the colors to celebrate are blue, black and purple – colors of the water element. I felt like posting some of the photos I took while practising - inspired by the color blue.

Vacation and birthday

The silence on the blog has been due to some really nice things that have taken my time lately. Vacation in Croatia is one of them. I brought my knitting but even though we spent 10 days there in total relaxation I didn’t knit a single row. We had the most terrific view and I really enjoyed swimming in the sea.

Back home I’ve been busy planning my birthday (30 years of age now!) and graduation party. It turned out to be a great day and I even got several knitting related gifts. My boyfriend gave me a knitting bag, The Knitter’s Satchel from Jordana Paige in deep red. I’m sure I’ll bring my knitting with me a lot more now and I’m looking forward to the next knit café. I was also fortunate to get a yarn swift, a gift voucher for Isager yarn and 6 skeins of Rowan Summer Tweed in red.

For a long time I’ve been dreaming about having a digital reflex camera. I’d like to take more pictures and learn more about photography, not only because I’d like to take better pictures of my knitting but because I’d like to take better photos in general. And guess what, now I have one! An Olympus E-510. It was another gift from my boyfriend and his family. I feel very lucky. Now I just have to practice, practice and practice some more. It’s great.

My knitting at the moment is restricted to the Cherry cardigan. I’d like to finish it before the summer is completely over, even though the weather here is NOT summer right now. Maybe I’ll be able to wear it just once this year, though, I hope so. The back is finished and the left front is in quick progress.

The yarn is Jo Sharp Soho Summer DK Cotton which is lovely, except from the knots where broken yarn is tied together (I hate that). It’s nice and soft, though, and 100 % cotton.

Midnight Blue Swallowtail

The Swallowtail Shawl is done and I really enjoyed this knit. Well, maybe except from the nupps. Or rather the first couple of rows with nupps. I had to make the loops extremely loose in order to make them, and once I even managed to tug the yarn so hard that it broke. I was actually about to give up and just leave out the nupps but after a while I got the hang of it. Fortunately, it wasn’t that difficult after all.

The yarn is half wool and half silk and not stretchy at all. This is a very good explanation why the nupps were so hard to make. If I knit this shawl again, which I’m really positive about, I think I’ll go for a more supple yarn even though I really love how this shawl turned out. The silk makes it smell sooo good! And the dark blue color with the lighter blue specks is gorgeous. A shawl perfect for a chilly summer night or day.

The color in the last photo is closest to the real one!


Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl (pdf) from Interweave Knits, Fall 2006

Designer: Evelyn A. Clark

Yarn: Silkwool (unfortunately no further details!)

Days in Berlin

Once again, Berlin has been the destination for a small vacation. My boyfriend and I have spent 5 days in one of the best cities I know. Only one museum visit this time; an interesting exhibition of photographs by Alexander Rodchenko, and only one concert; a dub label night in Friedrichshain. The rest of the time was spent wandering around the city, relaxing in cafés, finding good places to eat (a lot of sushi, mmm), having drinks in cozy cafés and bars, simply enjoying. I was a bit sad, though, that the Berlin Philharmonic wasn’t giving any concerts during the summer; however, we knew it before we got there, so it was no surprise. We heard the orchestra last time we visited Berlin and it was just overwhelming. I have to go to the Philharmonie again some time.

Last time we were in Berlin I forgot to visit what I’d heard should be one of the best yarn shops in the city, namely Loops in Prenzlauerberg. Compared to Fadeninsel in Kreuzberg, which was my favorite so far, it was much alike. Loops carries Noro and ghh yarn, which is used in the patterns in Rebecca knitting magazine plus other yarn brands I didn’t recognize. I bought 4 skeins of sock yarn, Jawoll from Lang Yarns; two skeins in red and two in brown. I’ve noticed that especially the German sock yarn brands often have some extra reinforcement yarn in the skein, which is a good thing to use for the heel and the toe of the sock.

If you go to Berlin don’t forget to visit Fadeninsel and Loops!

I knitted on my Monkey socks in the bus to and from Berlin and thanks to my knitting it was actually a really nice trip. 8 and a half hour with knitting and listening to music while watching the landscape roll by. What great occupation knitting is!