Saturday, February 21, 2009

Bringing a Hibernating Project Into the Light


Are you the kind of knitter who has several unfinished projects lying around that you just can't seem to complete? Or - are you the kind who always makes sure to finish up what you've started - at least within a reasonable amount of time? I'd definitely say I'm the latter. Except from the fact that I have this one project which I started years ago - 4 years at least! It's almost embarrassing and not at all typical for me.





It's a pullover knitted in DUO Merino Wool from Design.club.dk that I decided to design myself. The problem is, though, that I'd make many thing different if I were to start the project now. I've learned so much about knitting the past couple of years and now I'm just not really into finishing this pullover. But it's knitted on 2,5 mm needles, 2 x 2 ribbing, sooo time consuming. Besides, as I've finished the front, almost the back, and the sleeves are nearly half-way, I just can't bring myself to frog it.





If I need to frog something it'll be the neck. I'm not satisfied with the way it is but I haven't decided how I want it to turn out either. I need to think about it and try and finish this project ASAP!

Saturday, February 14, 2009

New Scarf - Old Pattern Motif



Ever since my Ogee Cardigan was in the making I've been fascinated with that specific pattern motif. I first found it in Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns (an old but very useful book) and I've used it again in this Scarf - which I happened to name Ogee Scarf.



The border is knitted in moss stitch to give some kind of frame to the continuous pattern motif and I'm quite happy with this solution.



There are interesting details in this pattern and I particularly like that you can see the individual threads twisting around each other, surrounding the oval shape.



The yarn is Tapestry from Rowan in the color Highland, my first experience with yarn containing soybean protein. It says 30% on the label and the rest is wool, so it should be warm enough. I used 6 mm needles, which I usually don't prefer. I find them too big and a bit clumsy to handle. I do make exceptions, though.



The yarn is wonderfully soft and I really like the color. It's a little variegated which shows in some subtle stripes in the scarf. Knitting with this yarn was at times anoying, though, because the yarn tends to split very easily, and it pretty quickly felts a little bit, so you don't want to rip back an awful lot if you can avoid it - I mean, don't make any errors!

Despite this minor detail about the yarn, I really love how the scarf turned out. I know that it will follow me the rest of the winter, all the way to the beginning of spring.



Sunday, February 8, 2009

Shibui on a Sunday





Today was the sunniest day we've had for a long time and even though it's only early February, it reminds me of the spring, which can't be that far away.




The other day I received a fabulous and unexpected present from Karin. It was the most wonderful sock yarn one can imagine: Shibui Sock in a so, so beautiful color (it looks like caramel). Yesterday, when Karin had invited a few knitters over, she and I started a Shibui knit along. I casted on for a Cookie A. pattern, Marlene from the latest knit.1 magazine. I love it already!



I'm using my new Knit Picks dpn's - only 15 cm long - and the combination of these needles and my new Shibui yarn makes knitting such a pleasure. ... It's true!

Saturday, February 7, 2009

Alpaca Pullover in Progress



Thank you all for the nice and wonderful comments on my camisole. I'm considering writing up the pattern.



I've started a new project using the really delicious Berroco Ultra Alpaca. I have three colors, two skeins of each. I hope it's enough for a pullover. Maybe I'll make the sleeves shorter. Let's see how it turns out. I made a few calculations beforehand but I'm pretty much making it up as I go.




Sunday, January 25, 2009

My Very Own Camisole



First FO of the year: A Camisole for a very special purpose.


I'm a member of a knitting society where we meet once a month to knit, talk, and share ideas as well as and inspiration. The challenge is that we are suposed to knit things without patterns - it's so fun! Also, it's becomming a tradition to make a small exhibition every year with something knitted - designed by one self, of course. We discussed what the theme should be and decided it together. This time we ended up with a very broad one: "Something-with-clothes" which more or less means that everything will do! The idea is, though, that it should be some kind of wordplay where the word 'clothes' is included. As this is a Danish context the options are of course slightly different from English. However, a camisole will work with the theme just fine. Anyway, this is my contribution.



I knitted this with merino wool from a Danish spinning mill (Henrichsen), on needle size 2.5 mm so it wasn't such a quick project. The most challenging part was the lace at the top. I made a garter stitch edging and garter stitch shoulder straps, so I wanted the lace part to have garter stitch in it too. I ended up combining garter stitch with a leave motif, which I think came out pretty.



I really like the two colors together, especially on the edging. The rib on each side makes it very stretchy and close-fitting, which I prefer when using it this time of year. It fits perfectly under a shirt, keeping the body nice and warm.



I'm not exactly sure when the exhibition will take place but I hope that my contribution will look fine among a whole lot of other knitted garments and things. I'm quite excited about it!


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Knitted Christmas Presents #3



A little late, here comes the third and last post about my knitted Christmas presents: Three hats and two little sweaters. Here goes...





A hat for my brother made of Rowan Felted Tweed. I added some stripes with yarn from my stash. The pattern is made up as I went along.



My boyfriend saw me knitting it and asked for one too, so I made another one with thicker stripes and some other small mods.






A hat for my sister-in-law. The pattern is from a Danish book by Lena Blidell called 'Hotte huer'. (Ravelry link here) It is made with one strand of wool and one strand of some angora blend.





This sweater is for my little niece. I used the pattern from the Climbing Vines Pullover in Interweave Knits, Winter 2008. The Yarn is Lana Grossa Cool Wool 2000.


This looked really good on her, when she tried it on.



The last sweater is this cardigan made for my cousin's daughter. It was a small experiment with yarn from stash (DROPS Karisma) I'm not all satisfied but it looked fine when she tried it on. In my opinion there are some minor errors but on the other hand you have to make these in order to be an experienced knitter, right? It is knit in the round and steeked.


Saturday, January 10, 2009

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