Lace knitting

After a bunch of baby knits I wanted to cast on for a lace shawl for myself. I've had this shawl in my queue and the yarn in my stash for quite some time. The pattern is the Brooklyn Tweed pattern Rock Island and you can see it right here.

I bought the yarn for this shawl when I was in Berlin a year ago - it is bought in the wonderful shop and café Handmade Berlin in Mitte. I love the bright yellow color of the yarn which is a cobweb weight yarn, Extrageelong Single from Yarn Edition.

I haven't tried knitting a shawl with this construction before. First you knit the edging and then you pick up stitches and knit the rest. The edging is going a bit slow since I have to look at the chart all the time. I doubt I'll memorize this before I'm done, but let's see, the chart is repeated 71 times. 

Garter stitch vest

When our little baby boy arrives in July I'd like him to be well equipped with knitted garments. I'm not done yet but I'm working on it. Newest item is this little garter stitch vest with the cutest buttons - same buttons as I used for these pants.

Pattern: Frederik's Vest by Susie Haumann from the booklet All You Knit Is Love
Yarn: Isager Alpaca 2
Needles: 3 mm
Ravelry page here

Baby pants

A new item for our coming baby boy is finished.

Yarn: Isager Tvinni Tweed
Needles: 3 mm
Ravelry page here

A little hat for a little person

This little hat is for my little baby boy who will be born within the next few months.

It only took a couple of hours before it was done. I really like those small projects once in a while.

For this little hat I used 20 g of Pima Cotton DK from Rowan, some left overs I had from this project. I used 3.5 and 4 mm needles and the instructions from the book itty-bitty nursery by Susan B. Anderson. The hat is a part of a layette set but I only made the hat. Also I left out the embroidery. As I used a different yarn with a different gauge I did some small calculations before I started.

If it fits him it will be a part of his "take me home" outfit.

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Another FO

I can't believe that this took me nearly 3 1/2 years to finish!!! (I wrote another post about it here)

It has been 'almost done' for a very long time. All I needed to do was to sew the seams. So why? Probably because the feeling about this cardigan wasn't quite right. Now when it's finished though, it's not as bad as I feared. The sleeves are a bit too long and the body is a bit too short, but otherwise it's really nice and comfortable.

I really enjoyed knitting the pattern motif but I got a bit disturbed by the mistakes and (at times) unclear instructions in the pattern (I used the Danish version).

Despite that it's a beautiful and quite clever construction. I really like the expression of it.

Pattern: The Fan by Marianne Isager. From the book Japanese inspired knits.
Yarn: Isager Alpaca 1 and Isager Tvinni Tweed.

So basically I like the cardigan more and more and I think that in the end we'll be quite good friends ;)

A stashbusting project

Recently I started knitting a cardigan for my daughter. I wanted to use only yarn from my stash, and since I have lots of single balls I chose to go for a really colorful piece.

The pattern is from the Danish knit designer Susie Haumann's book Knit for your kid. The Danish title is Trøje med striber. The pattern actually calls for only two colors but I think that multiple colors will work fine as well. I'm not going to add more colors than shown in the picture and I plan to use the same color for all edgings all the way around.

Originally I bought the yarn for a crocheted blanket that never was realized. I think it is Supersoft from Knoll Yarns but I'm not sure. I bought it ages ago in one of the local yarn shops Fandango.

Hello there...

It's been a long time since my last post, but better late than never!

My last post was about Tinder, a cardigan designed by Jared Flood from his collection BT Fall 2011. Today I finished it. It took a while but I've also been knitting other things and I've had periods without knitting at all.

The yarn is Shelter from Brooklyn Tweed - same as the pattern calls for - and it's such a lovely yarn. Light and loosely spun.

As you can see I'm expecting a baby but the A-line of the cardigan means that I can still button it.

I love the waffle stitch pattern and am very satisfied with the buttons which I found after a search in several shops. Why is it always so hard to find the right buttons for finished knits...

I like the details such as the raglan yoke and the collar. This cardigan will be used a lot - for sure.

Tinder

A couple of weeks ago I started this new project, Tinder designed by Jared Flood. I'm knitting with Shelter, a Brooklyn Tweed yarn brand. My husband bought the yarn for me in Purl Soho, when he visited New York last year.

Simple but excelent

About a month ago I finished this cardigan for Ella.

The construction is oh so simple but never the less it's quite clever.

I love the I-cords on the inside which make sure that the fronts are kept in place.

I dived into my collection of buttons to find two suitable buttons and I think that these turned out really well.

Even though I love this little cardigan there are things that I, in hindsight, would have done differently. For example I should have picked up less stitches at the armholes. But... I was in a hurry and didn't want to unravel... Also, I should have continued to pick up stitches for the edging along the side of the fronts. Experience is a good thing ;-)

Some facts:

Pattern: Garter Stitch Baby Kimobo by Joji Locatelli

Yarn: Malabrigo lace in the color Dusty

Needles: 2 mm

I think I'll knit another one making these changes. And also, I'm not going to knit another one on 2 mm needles... I'm happy about the result but it takes ages and there's a slight possibility that it will be too small by the time I finish it.

Baby Blanket

Last year when I was expecting I made this blanket:

It is the Tweed Baby Blanket by the famous Jared Flood. I chose Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light because of its softness even though I knew it would pill. The softer the yarn, the more it tends to pill... But you know, for a newborn baby it has to be soft. You can see by the photos that it has been used a lot.

The pattern has now been updated with a version with three colors instead of two, and I'm very much tempted to knit this three colored version. Maybe not as a baby blanket but just as a cozy knitted piece for the sofa.

The Silver Neckwarmer

I have been looking for the perfect cowl pattern this winter, and I knew what yarn to use. Some lovely soft Malabrigo Silky Merino yarn in my stash just yearned to become some kind of neckwarmer. I found a pattern on Ravelry.

Twisted Rib Neckwarmer

I don't have much experience with Malabrigo other than the Malabrigo Lace that I use for the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono. But as you know it's soft soft soft, and no one can really claim that it itches. I'm curious about how it keeps shape over time, though...

Goodbye mitts

Soon there will be no need for these anymore.

They have been warming Ellas hands during the cold winter ever since she was born back in November. It was a quick and fun little project to knit. You can find the free pattern here.

Unfortunately I don't remember what yarn I used.

I'm back!

After a good long blog break I'm now longing for posting again. Many things have happened since my last post a year and a half ago - wow that's a long time! Among other things I've become a mother to a gorgeous little girl, Ella. Of course this means a lot on the knitting front, as she's an obvious reciever of my knits.

Also, we've moved to a bigger place, and now that we're facing spring, a lot of things will happen in the garden. So maybe once in a while I'll be doing a post about that.

Right now I'm knitting the Garter Stitch Baby Kimono for Ella.

She's growing so fast and I just hope to finish it in time. It would be a great little spring cardigan. I've chosen to knit it in Malabrigo Lace on 2 mm needles - don't know what I was thinking! But I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel...

See you soon :-)

Viften/The Fan

Not long after Marianne Isager's newest book (another one is on its way right now) was published in Denmark almost two years ago, I decided to buy it and knit some of the fabulous designs of hers. But it wasn't until now that I actually started one of them. I went for The Fan (Viften), which is a cardigan, and I'm referring to the book Japanese Inspired Knits (also published in English by Interweave). I'm going to make it with long sleeves, as it gives a slightly different look, I think, not as sweet and romantic as the one in the picture above.



I'm knitting with two strands together, one Isager Tvinni Tweed and one Isager Alpaca 1, and it looks like the perfect match so far. Isager's yarns are definitely top quality yarns in my opinion. My favorite!



Of course I made a swatch first :)



The idea in the book is to make a swatch from a written instruction and then sew it together and use it as a wrist warmer. I like that.



So I followed the instructions and now I have one wrist warmer. (I do plan to make another one, though.)






I've now started the first front of the cardigan, and I'm really enjoying knitting it.

Time to catch up

I've been neglecting the blog lately, but maybe now's the time to catch up. Lately, I've been knitting some baby stuff, as there are two new babies in the family, a girl and a boy.

For the girl:

Cardigan in Rowan Felted Tweed. There's no pattern. I wanted the cardigan to be simple but with details. So I decided on a small cable along the sleeves and on the right front. The i-cord edge was made to add a little contrast to the gray. I was lucky to find the perfect buttons for this.

The famous Saartje's Bootees made in left over yarn from the cardigan.

Socks, also in left over yarn. No particular pattern, just 2x2 ribbing, my preferred heel flap, and a grafted toe.

For the boy:

A vest in Drops Alpaca. This one gave a lot of bother. I had to give it several tries before I was satisfied enough to give it away. Unfortunately it also meant that this was the only thing he got. There simply wasn't time to knit another piece. It is knitted in the round, and the ribbings are 1x1 and twisted.

I've started something for myself now. Another post about this is comming up soon.