lazy sunday - a long update

Due to a baby with the cold, the Sunday is spent at home. I usually find Sundays quite boring, I spend to much time cleaning and cooking. Today the house is pretty tidy for a change, and I can use all the boring hours to do exciting things!

Late yesterday night I started knitting this sweater. I've got a letter which confirmed our application for kindergarden/day care, and we're in the system to get Elina in. A perfect excuse to start a new project! Through Ravelry I came across this pattern, called Five Fruits. I fell in love with it as soon as I saw it! I like the edgings, or perhaps the lack of edging, it's just stockinette all the way. It's a raglan knitted top down, which is new to me. And best of all; no seams.

I had some trouble with the increases, but I got a tip about a great site, KnittingHelp. It might come in handy later too. It's great to watch videoes if there's something I'm not sure how to do, and can't figure it out by reading the pattern in English. I often find English patterns easier than Norwegian as they're often more exact, but sometimes I just get stuck. Maybe KnittingHelp will prevent me from giving up a great pattern because there's a increase I just don't understand.

The yarn is Noro Silk Garden, color 224. A pretty nice colorway I originally bought to make a jacket inspired by the Noro scarf with stripes "everyone" is knitting.
I've used this yarn quite a few times before, and it doesn't stop to fascinate me. Knitting with Noro is extreme sports, it's amazing until you suddenly discover a break or 5. It's not that fun to suddenly discover a knot, which is tied together with a completely different color.

I used the Silk Garden yarn to knit a Domino Baby Bonnet, and it turned out huge. I didn't complete it, but started another one, using Rauma Finull. It's still to big, but might fit Elina during autumn. I don't think I'll dare to felt it just a bit to make it fit now, since it's garter stitch. Does garter stitch felt more than stockinette, or is only something I believe?
I would have taken a photo of it on the model, if her hair wasn't all greased up with vaseline (yes, vaseline) to get rid of that yellow stuff covering her scalp. Vaseline and hair isn't a good idea, by the way. Actually it's a very, very bad idea. And it's not even mine!
I've also been spinning today. These beauties I dyed a couple of weeks ago have been made into a thread, which will be made into a 2-ply later

It's made out of Bluefaced Leicester, a great fiber. I don't have a certain project in mind while spinning this. I want to see how it turns out first, and how much it is. I think the color would be perfect for a little jacket for a newborn, but then I have to make another baby (or beg friends to start copulating)
I will be very disappointed if the yarn doesn't turn out fantastic!

...and then I've spent some time in my studio. I've had the amazing purple Kokka fabric for ages, and I was niggardly while purchasing it, so I only got 1/2 yard.(as mostly japanese fabrics, it's quite expensive)
The original plan was to make a bag, and I got the fabric first. A few weeks later when I had gotten the pattern, I found out it required almost a whole yard of fabric. The natural thing to do would be to buy more, but I forgot all about it. After making the blouse mentioned in my last blog post, I found another pattern in the same Ottobre magazine I wanted to make, and cut the pieces today. I think I made a mistake while cutting some of the smaller pieces, and might have to redo them. Luckily not the Kokka fabric which I only have 1/2 a yard of!

And finally, my blocks for the friendship quilt is ready to be sent. Hope they'll arrive safely, and that the recievers will be happy!

Yesterday I even got a block for my own friendship quilt. It's from Hillevi and it's so cute! Thanks!

the product of a mistake

The blouse I mentioned yesterday is up on the wall to dry. I usually don't dry clothes hanging on fancy ribbons on my livingroom walls, but when they're beeing photographed I do make exceptions.
I was cutting fabric for a dress, but suddenly found out that I've copied the wrong pattern! So the fabric became the back of this instead. The rest of it is mainly scraps.

It's made of an Ottobre pattern from 1/2008 and it's called "Maya blus"
I've never made anything like this before, and is happy with the result. The patterns isn't that complicated. Even I, a beginner, completed the blouse without any problems. I only had to redo one buttonhole.

The fabrics are by Amy Butler and Heather Bailey. The edging is a purple batik. I thought about using a dark brown or a hot pink fabric for the edging, but as for most projects; I ended up with the first one I thought about.

A Question

Yesterday I started making a blouse for my little girl, and I kind of liked the way it turned out.. (it's in the washer now, will blog it tomorrow)
My mother also sew some clothing for me while growing up, mostly to costume parties. It was natural for all of the kids in the neighbourhood to dress up in homemade garments for costumeparties and schoolplay,but it didn't mean we liked it!
I remember once I played a munk, wearing a brown stretch sheet for a rope.. Not my proudest moment. And the play was taped!

I was also lucky enough to be dressed up as one og the Beagle Boys from Donald Duck with a flower patterned hat made from a kitchen curtain or tablecloth. I think I was about seven, and one of the older boys made fun of me!
Now that I'm grown up, it's just cute ;)

Then the question; did you wear homemade clothes while growing up, and how did you feel about it? And do you still sew clothes for your own children, or would like to?

Small knits for small people

I've made another sweet baby cap/djevellue for a friend's baby. It's made of Inca alpaca by Rauma, a yummy yarn!

Quick to knit, and I'm satisfied with the flower as well. Hope it fits the new owner!

I've also started a little scarf for my girl, using yarn I've dyed and spun myself. Like how it turns out, but some parts of it is a little hard. That might dissapear after washing it, hopefully. If it turns out ok, I'll make a cap too.

Tomorrow we're off to Lofoten on holiday, and I need some easy projects to bring with me. This scarf, and the matching hat is perfect. I think I'll even bring a stitchery and some fabric and beads to make a cute little brooch-thing for the scarf.
Happy Easter!

Addicted

About a month ago I made a pair of purple and white mittens for Elina, but they turned out to big, but at the same time they turned out to good to throw away.
So I had to make her another pair, also purple and white. A combination I adore.

I used 3 different pattern to make them;
The cuff is the pattern from Mermaid Socks by Lucy Neatby
At the back of the hand I've used a part of graph 39 from the book Latvian Mittens
Inside the hand I've used the Manly Mitts pattern from Knitty.com
I really do enjoy putting together different patterns to make something unique!

The mittens are 14 cm long (everything included), 7 cm wide and are made of Dale and Gjestal Babyull on needles 2.5 mm. The purple yarn is a handdyed, blogged about here

What is all this white stuff?!

Books, books, books!

Finally, they have arrived! I put in my order February 6th, and I've got them "already",from Amazon.co.uk. That's not on the other side of the world! But it doesn't matter. I love them!!

1: Intertwined by Lexi Boeger. Came across this book at Bloggspinner, another Norwegian spinner who's yarn is featured in the book!
And what a book! 300 pages of pure inspiration for the novelty and artyarn spinner. She spins everything. And by that I mean EVERYTHING. One of my favourites is an old AC/DC tape spun together with a commercial yarn. This felted sushi isn't too bad either. This will lay on my nightstand for a very, very long time. I even think I have to bring it with me on vacation next week!

2:Doodle-Stitching by Aimee Ray.
The cutest and most naive stitcheries, just my cup of tea! The author's got a great blog as well

3:Creative Spinning by Alison Daykin and Jane Deane
They're inspired by nature, and have taken the colors of it, and put it into handspun yarn in various qualities. Great pictures!

4: AlternaCrafts by Jessica Vitkus. Many projects, using many different materials. I fell completely in love with the button mosaic flowerpots. A great book for the not so experienced knitter wanting to learn too.

5: The Crafter's Companion, editor Anna Torborg
Subtitle: "tips, tales and patterns from a community of creative minds"
Lots of great stuff in this. It's my Eastern reading, I love to read about designers and how they get inspired. The projects are a big bonus too.

Purple Perfect

The perfect yarn, color and thickness. Why didn't I get yarn from Rowan before? It's fabulous! Sigh... yes, it's called sigh. The color.

A Dyslectic Moment.

Haha, the stupidest little quilt! My first attempt to make a new heading for the blog. I made it yesterday, put on the buttons, and mixed together the "blood" (it's Jaquard acid dye).. Then I took pictures of it, and put it into my blog. And I had it as a heading for over 3 hours before I saw the missing letter!

Pink.

Another yarn is completed, and it took a while to get it done. I span for ages, and thought I had a huge lot of yarn, and put it on the weight.. It's about 110 grams! I thought it would be at least twice the weight, but spinning so thin can really trick you.

It's about the same thickness as Rauma Finull. If I keep it, I'll make a shawl or a stola, and put some beads, sequins or something on. Maybe a lace and velvet ribbon would look good as an edging?

This is a mixed yarn, made out of Blue-faced Leicester (my favourite kind of fiber to spin), alpaca and shetland.

It's also handdyed, by me.

15 minutes every day

Is what I'm planning on spending cleaning up this mess! It should be fun and inspiring to go in to my studio, not a struggle to climb over boxes, mess and fuzzy balls of I don't know what.

So! E-V-E-R-Y day should be used to organize and clean a little bit of it, and maybe someday...Maybe I know where all my buttons are, maybe all the thread is where it's supposed to be, and maybe the yarn is organized by type?

This is one of the things that has been laying on the shelf for ages, and I've finally realized that it will never be completed. Never! Luckily someone else wanted to adopt them.

Pretty Petite..

Have you ever seen knitting needles smaller than this? I can't imagine how they're possible to knit with, but I'm pretty curious to find out.. They're 0,7 mm or US 6-0.And only 4" long!

Got some various sizes from Knittingzone, 0,7 mm, 1 mm, 1,2 mm, 1,5 mm, 1,75 mm and 2,75 mm. And every pair of DP's comes with a needle for weaving in ends, and they're all HUGE compared to the knitting needles. Funny! ;)

Åååå-ååå-ååoah! I just dyed in your arms tonight!

Dyeing rovings is fun, but dying yarn is even more fun! It smells like roasting rats while it's wet, but now that they're dried the smell is gone. Puh! This blue/green skein is my second attempt, and it turned out even better than I dared to hope for. It's really that easy to use acid dyes!!

This is the first batch. Two balls of Dale/Gjestal babyull (The blue/green-ish is Gjestal) in different shades of purple. I split the balls to get smaller skeins for experimenting.
One other fun thing about acid dyes. I use a spongebrush-thing to paint the yarn, and once it has sucked in all the moist, you can squeeze out clear water! All the pigment is stuck, right a away! That's pretty weird...
I've already started knitting something. A tiny mitten using one of the purple skeins, plus white. Latvian style, of course!
And since you're wondering; no I'm not drunk. I just like weird titles and lots of exclamation marks.

Eyelet Yoke Cardigan

My very first jacket, finished without handing it to my mother for her to complete what I've started. It's a size 3/4 years, and Elina is only 10 months. That's probably why it's a little too big for her ;)


I've used Drops Garnstudio Silke-Alpaca, a pretty heavy yarn. I love the sheen and look of it, but it's not the best yarn for small childrens garments. I made a shorter and wider cardigan since the yarn is so heavy, I'll get I have to wait until it fits her to see how it turned out.

The pattern is from Berroco, and it's free. You have to sign up to get it, but it's worth it, as there's more patterns, and some of them are pretty good as well! I don't know what to think about this one. I had to skip a decrease row at the end, as I ended up having 66 stitches when I was supposed to have 80. So there's probably "something fishy" about row 29 ;)
The jacket is also knitted in 5 pieces before the arms, back and fronts are beeing placed on a circular needle. It would be SO much simpler to knit it in one piece. But after all, I'm quite satisfied with it. But mostly because of the yarn.

A Little Bit of Everything

Why is yarn so hard to photograph?! It's almost impossible to get the right color, and I always end up a little disappointed with the pictures.. After taking about 50 I give up, and start to look for the best.. which sometimes is difficult. Anyway, here is what I've spun. A pure merino, where I've mixed a solid hot pink/purple with a multicolor purple/orange.

The latest from the wheel. A BFL/shetland/alpaca mix I've dyed myself using acid dyes. This will be my first yarn using only handdyed, so it's pretty exciting!

I've also got my second block for the frendship quilt, this time from Madir. Thanks for the pretty block!