Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

The year 2008 has been the most productive year ever concerning knitting - for me at least. Here are some of my FO's - not including the most recent Christmas presents, which I will come back to in the beginning of 2009. More photos here.





May the needles be as active in 2009 as they have been in 2008. I hope to spend lots of hours together with them, some yarn, and other knitters who enjoy knitting as much as I do.

My favorite fibers happen to be natural fibers, so when I became aware that the UN has declared 2009 to be the International Year of Natural Fibers I couldn't be more thrilled. You can read more about it here and don't forget to watch the video.

See you in 2009 with an update on the Christmas knitting.

Happy New Year!

Knitting prevents stress, depression, pain and dementia

As knitters we tend to believe this but until now it has only been a claim. At the moment it is being further investigated and scientists are about to show us that it is not just the actual occupation that causes the positive effect.

Yesterday I read a small paragraph in the local university newspaper. It shortly introduced a research project about the therapeutic benefits of knitting and other needlework, which is currently up and running. A bit of googling lead me to other articles about this exciting project. Anecdotal evidence has been collected since 2005 by ex senior physiotherapist Betsan Corkhill, who launched the project together with scientists from various universities. One of the claims is that knitting activates the same areas in the brain as meditation because of the rhythmic repetitive movements. These kinds of movements has shown to prevent pain and depression.

Apparently, knitting also leads to improved communication. Personally I reckon that as a fact due to my experiences from the different knitting groups I participate in now and then. Another interesting view on the benefits of knitting is the effect of color and texture, which Corkhill counts as important influences on our lives. People who suffer from depression is said to live in a world of gray. So bring on the colors and stave off depression!

For further reading check out these articles. Betsan Corkhill also created the site stitchlinks and she has a blog too.

Happy knitting!

A little bit of sewing

I have been sewing a little. A dress for a 5 year old.



It was fun to sew and so much faster than a knitting project, which still is my favorite, though. But I'd like to practice sewing some more. Next time: A skirt - for me.

The colorful Kaffe Fassett

Recently, I watched a program on TV about Kaffe Fassett. I've always disliked most of his designs simply because of the, in my opinion, exagerated use of color. Watching the program, though, gave me a better understanding of what he is up to in his work. It is actually really fascinating the way that you can always recognize his designs. He obviously has a special and individual form of expression, a special way of using colors. It is somehow a relief to see a designer use all these colors both in his knitting designs and in the interior arrangement of his home. There are so many minimalist and colorless designs in fashion - so much gray, white and black. The thing is that people sometimes get fascinated by his attitude to color and sometimes they think he is out of fashion. As he says himself: "I come and go", and he is perfectly OK with that. Personally, I'm still not comfortable with the complete contrast to the minimalist trend, which I think Kaffe Fassett stands for, the mixture and combination of colors in his designs, but watching the program did inspire me and made me take up and reconsider my opinion about the use of color in general.

Still knitting

Silence on the blog doesn't mean there's no knitting going on here at my place. On the contrary I have several wips on the needles, I just can't show all of them here - presents, you know! One wip I can show you, though, is the scarf knitted in Rowan Tapestry.



I want it to be a big and cozy scarf for winter. As I'm knitting it on needles 6 cm (US 10), it shouldn't take very long. Nevertheless, with many projects in the making, it does.

A couple of weeks ago I bought the Fall issue of Vogue Knitting. I really like that magazine. I don't know how to subscribe to it in Europe but I know that a lot of peolpe on Ravelry have been discussing their subscribtion and are somewhat dissatisfied with the delivery. So, as long as I can buy it in a shop, I'll stick to that.



Another magazine is this German one called Verena, never heard of it before. There's lots of great designs in that too - much to my surprise!

New skills learned

Many of my anxious thoughts about this sweater have shown to be totally needless. It came out just the way I hoped.



One of the reasons for my anxiety about the sweater was the construction, which isn't similar to any other sweater I've knitted. During the process it was very hard to tell whether this would fit or not. It wasn't until the steek was cut that I was able to see if it would be a succes or a total failure. I did some measuring before I cut and felt fairly safe, but not until I could try it on, which was also beyond the point of no return, I knew I was going to be happy with it.



The construction also entails that there is absolutely no seaming, except from the underarms. It is knitted all in one piece, even though it has set-in sleeves. And this was new to me. All in all I learned quite a few new skills but to me the overriding new technique was doubtlessly the steeking. Much of the fear has disappeared now, though, and I'll definately do it again some time. I might use the same yarn (shetland wool) next time I knit something which includes steeking. I liked it and there is a wide range of colors.



I had some trouble about finding the right buttons but these were the ones I ended up with. I think they suit the sweater well.



The only moderation I made was making the sleeves a bit longer by adding one pattern repeat. I see now that it wasn't necessary, however, I dont' mind them being on the long side.

Pattern: Little Birds
Designer: Ysolda Teague
Source: Twist Collective
Yarn: Shetlandsuld from BC Garn

I cut the Birds!

The steek is cut. It all went fine, so I won't need to worry about steeking again. I'm glad that I made the reinforcement, though.



Also, edging is done, ends are weaved in and it's now blocking. Once it's dry I'll sew on the buttons.






Yesterday I bought three skeins of Rowan Tapestry. Have you tried it? What do you think? It contains 30% of soybean protein fiber. Now, that's interesting! Another fiber I haven't tried. The rest of the content is wool. It's very soft so I want to knit a scarf using the ogee pattern from Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns, which I also used for my cardigan.