What a wonderwool World

Knitting yardage update

2010-09-27T14:47:00.002+02:00

Summer has slowed me down again. As has the spinning bug, which kept me at the wheel and - exciting and new - the spindle and away from the needles. I assume my yardage will rise again as the temperatures are dropping. And Christmas is already looming in the shadows ... time to turn all that brandnew handspun into something more useful and less decorative.

corrected February: 2711 yards/2479 meters

May: 2747 yards / 2512 meters
June: 419 yards / 383 meters
July: 576 yards / 527 meters
August: 2241 yards / 2049 meters
September: 347 yards / 317 meters and running

Knitting yardage

2010-05-09T13:18:00.003+02:00

January: 2232 yards/2041 meters
February: 2900 yards/2652 meters
March: 3333 yards/3048 meters
April: 1547 yards / 1415 meters

Knitting yardage

2010-04-09T20:13:00.001+02:00

January: 2232 yards/2041 meters
February: 2900 yards/2652 meters
March: 3333 yards/3048 meters

Knitting yardage

2010-03-01T12:26:00.001+01:00

January: 2232 yards/2041 meters
February: 2900 yards/2652 meters

Here's where the story ends

2010-02-15T14:29:00.002+01:00

It took me two days to finally get this frogged, but in the end I assume that's just appropriate for the time I put into knitting this. This pile of blue spaghetti is now soaking in a large tub to get the kinks out. I found that the yarn was also rather dusty and bleeds a little, so I added some wool detergent to the water. Reskeining will probably also take a while. Upside: the yarn seems to bloom a little, maybe I can knit the new sweater 1-2 needlesizes larger.

365g down, 700g to go

2010-02-13T15:04:00.003+01:00

This is proving to be a physical challenge just as much as a mental one.

Prior to the event I had thought that my largest difficulty was overcoming the grief and frustration that all this work should be lost. But indeed this freakin' tangling mess of a helluva yarn keeps me so occupied that I have no thoughts to squander on the more philosophical/emotional aspects of this experience. Instead it makes me want to tear my hair out and scream out loud.

I was getting so desperate I even started tearing difficult bits apart and I cut the second grafted shoulder, after having carefully pulled out the first one to no end. And don't anyone ever tell me again to 'weave ends in as you go'. Forget it honey!

I'm so upset now, I have to go knit something peaceful. How about socks? ...

Bye bye bad man

2010-02-12T20:17:00.004+01:00

I'm finally coming out of the closet to blog again. And this is why:

Tomorrow morning 3am German time the Olympic Games as well as the Ravelympics will start. And when the Olympic flame is lit my personal Un-ravelympics will begin.

This project has suffered a slow decline. First, progress was slowing down as I was getting 'a little bored' with this 4XL project on 2.25mm needles.

Then my DH was slowly but steadily gaining weight and it was time for us to realize that the sweater didn't fit very well anymore.

That was about the time when he tentatively started to comment on the 'wild' patterning of the Guernsey (yes, this is a navy blue knit/purl pattern that's barely visible, but men! you know how they are). And I had to admit the horizontal patterning actually was not very flattering to his fuller figure.

And all of these tiny little bits of discomfort led to neglect, neclect led to storage out of sight, out-of-sight led to out-of-mind ... we've all been there.

All of this is 2 years ago now and life has certainly moved on. Especially for my husband who has now lost 26 kilograms of weight and is on his way to losing considerably more. Enough to not fit into the sweater anymore. Enough to consider knitting a smaller sweater (with even less patterning).

Time to harvest the yarn.

2009 stash knitdown - January totals

2009-02-02T15:07:00.003+01:00

My projects in January:

Peaked Cap No. 3, 176 yards
Peaked Cap No. 4, 176 yards
Meret hat, 178 yards
Cabled socks, 654 yards

All these were unfortunately not knit from stash - at least not the way I define stash, so they only count as praiseworthy knitting effort.

From stash in January:

Half the Lopi sweater, 872 yards
Rest of the Hemlock Ring Blanket, 261 yards (bonus points for picking up a UFO)
Grape Loops socks, 459 yards
Half a pair of Leyburn socks, 175 yards
Legwarmers, yardage tbd

Totalling up to 2951 yards, 1767 of these from stash - plus a few extra yards for the legwarmers.

Not too bad.

Crazy Week

2009-01-17T14:19:00.004+01:00

Last week at work was Crazy with a capital C. I added up my total working hours and it was 67 hours of work instead of my regular 38. I worked such long hours that not only did I miss both of my knitting groups, I was so tired in my brain (and at the end of the week in my body as well) that I couldn't knit anything complicated or come up with a new project to start after finishing my froot loop socks. There were times when I couldn't even knit at all. And that says a lot!

For lack of inspiration I returned to an old UFO that is mainly knitting in the round - and long rounds that is. Now I am in the final round of the Hemlock Ring Blanket. This is the longest round of all, not only because I have reached a horrifying stitch total of 568, but also because for the border you turn and work back and forth again over every 5 stitches. I am doing this with two dpns so I can work and turn on a small piece of the work rather than turning the entire monster piece back and forth every 5 stitches. Still it will probably take me all day today and maybe the entire weekend to finish this piece.

I had to frog a few of the last rounds since I had not noticed that the ball I'm working with is my last one and I had not enough yarn left for the final repeat I was knitting. That was the first time I took the piece off the needles so I could finally stretch it out and see what it actually looked like. To be honest: I was rather shocked. Not only was it smaller than I would expect a blanket to be - which I had anticipated - first and foremost it was not a blanket at all, since it was lacking the flat and two-dimensional shape I would expect of a blanket. It appears to be too tight around the outer part with not enough increases, so the outer part pulls in very much and gives the overall (unblocked) piece a bell shape.

For now I trust the instruction and the lace part of the feater-and-fan pattern so I will finish it anyway and see what blocking will do for it. But I am not of the kind who trusts blocking to fix any shaping issues, so I remain sceptical.

We'll just have to wait and see, I fear.

Even advertising columns dress up in cozy knitwear this year

2008-12-16T14:13:00.005+01:00

This is a for a campaign of the ministry for housebuilding, encouraging house owners to renovate and invest into climate friendly technologies.

This is how they were deconstructed - which shows that these hats were really really heavy.

I was able to take a closer look at them when they were deconstructed and could see that they are truly knit - from a very heavy cotton rope. I was impressed

An heirloom piece

2008-06-15T14:17:00.001+02:00

A quick knit

2008-03-30T21:07:00.003+02:00

The dearest husband of all has started playing golf.

My first FOs for 2008 (cont'd)

2008-03-30T20:39:00.003+02:00

And for the first time in decades I have knit a sweater for myself. I usually avoid that since sweaters are the most difficult projects for me. This is more of a psychological problem than a lack of skills. I am over-critical when it comes to sweaters - fit and size and shaping and colours, everything has to be perfect, and I am devastated when things don't turn out the way I want them to. So I rarely ever start such an endeavour.

But for once Rowan has seduced me into knitting a sweater. It is usually their brilliant photography that makes you think this project will look so gorgeous on you. I knit this sweater from 'The Tapestry Collection' and even used the original yarn in original colours which is quite unusual for me these days. But the colours at least were worth it. I love them! and I think they suit me.

The shape is a rather generic A-line and it's a very easy knit so I might knit it with some other yarn again some day. It's also a good project to work on when you have a terrible cold or are slightly drunk. Tried it all on this one.

The yarn is a wool/soy mixture, funny thing it feels like acrylic to the touch. It took me quite a while to get used to it. It is very soft though, so I hope it will be agreeable to wear. It dhas a wonderful drape, also because the sweater is knit at (what I'd consider) a rather loose gauge. This did give me a headache during blocking though - it stretched endlessly and I was afraid it would turn out to be potato bag. It is slightly larger than it should've been. I wonder if I could've foreseen this had I blocked the swatch as well? Ah, maybe I'll do that some other time ... ;-)

My first FOs for 2008

2008-03-30T13:03:00.007+02:00

I have been struggeling with my too many unfinished projects for a while now, but finally I am becoming more focused and am able to stick with a project (or two). Persistence is not a character trait of mine, so I am not expecting things to stay like this for long. Therefore I try to make the most of it while it lasts and have finished some projects over the last week.

My first Knitalong - Dem Fischer Sin Fru - has gone from there:

to here:

This was my first mystery knitalong. I have been fascinated with these for a while now, but never managed to join in. Usually I like to know what the end result will look like, that's an important part of my motivation. But for once I wanted to jump into a project and then see what it would turn into. It has been a mixed experience. The good things: 1) pure process knitting to the extreme, with hundreds and hundreds of stitches on the needle towards the end. I loved that (most of the time). 2) A very tough exercise in project monogamy and persistence. I enjoyed that a bit less, but am still happy to have gone through it, since I feel like I learned a lot. And it felt like the right antidote against my previous project confusion. 3) I love knitting lace. 4) The final shape is fantastic to wear. I was a bit in doubt about it and could not imagine how this shape would look when worn, but I think it's just great. Wonderful to wrap yourself in.
The bad things: 1) I do not like the layout very much. I prefer small sized lace with more patterning in it. This design is mostly constructed by the distriution of holes over a stockinette background, the way of a filet crochet design. I do not like this too much, neither in crochet nor in knitting. I had not knitted something like this before, and it was nice to give it a try, but I'll probably not do it again. At least not in something as large as this. 2) The number of stitches used as well as combinations of them was overseeable. This makes this a fairly easy project for beginners, except for its size which may be a bit overwhelming. But I was feeling a bit bored every now and then. It took me quite some perseverence to not put it aside for something new. Congrats to me for that!

I like the end result a lot, but I think I won't keep it. My mom has had an eye on it, so I might give it to her. I've found a design of similar shape with a pattern that looks interesting to me and might knit that for myself. Another advantage: I can knit that in a colour I like better than these shades of blue that are a bit too light for my taste.

Pilates socks

2008-01-20T20:37:00.000+01:00

A quick weekend project - record time for a pair of socks.

And I found a very cool and easily made alternative to sock blocking or displaying boards here.

The instruction for these socks comes from a German book on sock knitting - "Der geniale Socken Workshop". The book is really good, a large collection of many sock knitting techniques, a very good reference book. This was the first time I knit one of the patterns, also featured in the book, and I must admit it did not make me too happy. The instructions are not well written, and would be largely confusing for a beginner. Stitches are put on a holder and never mentioned again later, and every now and then it would be really helpful to have the number of sts currently on the needles to be able to check if you're still in pattern. I'm glad there are no heels and toes in this patten, judging from how confusing even the leg and foot part are. And I am an experienced sock knitter. I don't know what a beginner would make of this.

Slow progress

2008-01-20T20:18:00.000+01:00

I had one week of tremendous progress on the Giant Guernsey, leading me as far as this last Sunday:

but have since slowed down again, as I just had to work on something else for a while. I hope I'll do a bit better this week.

It's a sock!

2008-01-02T21:58:00.000+01:00

Thanks to the Knitting Muse! It is a sock after all. And proudly worn by its happy recipient, my mom.

Trust

2008-01-01T12:18:00.000+01:00

Trust the pattern they say on my 'New Pathways' KAL. "If it looks strange, don't lose faith, just go ahead and trust the pattern." I so much want to believe them. But - honestly? This is starting to look like a sock for a clubfoot with a sprained ankle.

Happy New Year!!

2008-01-01T01:10:00.000+01:00

Truly tantalizing socks

2007-12-30T11:50:00.001+01:00

Bartholomew's Tantalizing Socks were the first pattern I chose from my new sock book by Cat Bordhi. And tantalizing they are indeed.

This may be the worst case of gauge gone wrong I have ever encountered. I knit the cuffs and legs (both socks at once) within two days. I had to start the cuffs over after a few inches, because I could easily see that they would be too tight. I started them over in a larger size (9.5'' foot circumference instead of the 8.25'' I actually have).

Now that I have knit a sufficient piece of stockinette and ribbing for the leg and ankle, I find that the cuffs are still far too tight around my leg and that the leg/ankles are a bit looser than I prefer my socks to be. And considering that according to the pattern I still have to increase another 16 stitches before I have reached the heel turn I really don’t know where this will get me sizewise.

I’ve marked the project as frogged in my Ravelry notebook and that’s what I will do with it eventually, since nothing can be done about the cuffs. I’m not frogging it now though (although I did feel a lot like that when I went to bed last night), but will try to be disciplined and do a proper autopsy on this corpse to avoid making the same mistakes again. I will have to explore the architecture of this kind of socks better though, before I can understand how a correct gauge at a larger size can end up in a too tight cuff and how a too tight gauge at a larger size can end up in a too wide leg.

I’m not ready to tackle this task now though. I'm still too disappointed with this project and too confused about what's gone wrong. That's the disadvantage in working with a completely new kind of sock architecture. In the meantime I’ll try to find a yarn and needle that match the gauges given in the book and knit this kind of sock without the linen stitch in the original pattern to understand these socks better, before I’ll have another go.

What is comforting though is how fantastic the yarn (a gift from my wonderful Secret Pal 11) looks with the pattern. I will certainly have a go at them again.

Talking Christmas gifts

2007-12-27T13:08:00.000+01:00

I couldn't post this picture before Christmas - you never know if the recipient surfs the web - but now that I have given them away I can proudly present two more Bainbridge scarves. What a delightful little pattern and what a quick Christmas knit!

Merry Christmas everybody!

2007-12-25T22:15:00.000+01:00

What I pay attention to

2007-12-24T15:45:00.000+01:00

The most important part of the Nativity Play?

Last minute Christmas knitting

2007-12-24T09:51:00.000+01:00

I feel like I have never been so relaxed about my knitting before Christmas. Do I finally become not only older but wiser? Last week I had a magical moment of true insight when I realised I would not get the 10 small gifts I had only just started finished by the end of the day when they needed to be delivered. And so I went to this beautiful store downstairs from where I work and I bought (!) 10 cute small gifts.

What a liberating moment! Learning about one's limitations (knitting 10 gifts in 12 hours of which I have to work 8 certainly is a limitation) and adjusting expectations and behaviour accordingly certainly is a piece of wisdom.

This being said I am indeed knitting last minute today - Christmas Eve - on a pair of fingerless mittens for the best husband of all.

When we went photo-hunting yesterday I was wearing my fingerless mittens I knit at some point this year. And he was wearing ... no mittens at all. That was when I remembered, a bit embarrassed, that I had promised him to knit the same for him. Knitted fingerless mittens are so very useful when fiddling with a camera all the time. So here we go, about 8 hours left ...

Winter Wonderland

2007-12-24T09:02:00.000+01:00

The area where we live is - in my opinion - beautiful, with lots of small lakes and rivers, woods and fields, flat and therefore very convenient for walking and cycling, but it is certainly not famous for any glorious winters. It usually snows only once or twice a year, only a few centimeters, just enough to cause a chaos amongst all those unprepared car drivers. Last winter it didn't even snow once.

But last week we had a strange phenomenon happening. The temperatures were below zero for a few days while we had mist and a general humidity in the air. In our little village (and only in our village, this stopped right at the ~~city~~ village limits) it even snowed one evening. We couldn't exactly determine whether that was real snow or if the damp air just crystallized, but the overall effect was just amazing: everything was frozen over and white with icesnow crystals, an incredible winter wonderland. This was Friday morning and I so much wished I didn't have to go to work and could instead grab the camera and take a walk around the countryside. It would all be gone the next day!

Well, this time I was lucky - the weather stayed like this for another day and when I woke up early on Saturday the winter wonderland was still there! So jump out of bed, dress warmly and grab the camera!

Secret Pal package arrived!

2007-12-20T23:05:00.000+01:00

My final Secret Pal package has arrived. And just like the other ones it is such a treat! It contains the most wonderful yarn and I will have to think of very special projects to honor these yarns well.

The first yarn is a skein of Arauncania Ranco Multi. I already fell in love with this yarn when I first saw it at Get Knitted in Bristol during our holiday. I bought two skeins of Ranco Solid then. Now I have a skein of this variegated type and the colour is just beautiful. I have an idea or two for this skein.

The other yarn is Celtic Tweed in two colourways. Mary (that's her name, the secret is revealed) bought this yarn on a short trip to Cornwall. And believe it or not: I have three skeins of the same yarn, bought at the same shop in Penzance! It certainly is a yarn that every wool aficionado has to fall in love with. I'm so happy I have more of this yarn now (when we were at Penzance I didn't dare to buy more of it, since at that time I had already spent quite an amount on wool), so I can plan with it more generously now. I had intended to knit a fair isle hat with the three different natural shades I had, but am now wondering if I will enhance this to a full set of hat mittens and small scarf/neckband.

... and after

2007-12-08T21:32:00.000+01:00

This is what the Giant Guernsey looked like on day 144.

It is my first attempt to fix a knitting mistake this size (pun intended) without ripping out and starting over, so wish me luck!

The Giant Guernsey Knitting Project, Day 125 - Desaster struck

2007-11-18T20:47:00.000+01:00

It's been quite a while now that I realised there was something going wrong with the sweater. I'm used to it being large - and I mean large with a capital L - but somehow the sleeves seemed even larger than they ought to be. I had my hubby try it on and found out it was indeed too large around the chest and sleeves. I assessed the problem and tried to figure out what had gone wrong. It seems I started the sleeve opening too early - or rather: I decided during knitting the upper part that I wanted it longer, and that seems to have gone wrong. Also the gusset is too large and bulks out. Quite misshapen the entire piece.

This was too much of a shock for me, I had to put it aside and think things over for a while. I didn't touch it for few weeks.

I'm now slowly feeling like picking the sweater up again, so I dug it out the other day and measured how much I have to reduce.

It looks a bit complicated, I'm still trying to figure out how to go about it. My current favourite solution is taking out the part where the gussets are and reknitting that piece. I'll let you know when I pick up the sweater again.

Thank you very much indeed

2007-10-04T22:20:00.000+02:00

'Thank you very much indeed' is what they say in England when their gratefulness borders on speechlessness. And that's definitely the case with me.

My Secret Pal sent me my second parcel and I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the most wonderful things she sent me:

There were 3(!) skeins of yarn in the package: two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the colourways of 'Mother Lode' and 'Camouflage', both so absolutely my kind of colour, and a Skein of Shunklies Yarn, which is a yarn I haven't heard of before, it's pure wool and wonderful to touch. It's handpainted as well in somber earthen colurs that contain some grey, some green, some blue and a light shade of greyish red. I love these colours and have now to find a pattern for the amazing 600 yards the skein has. What a treat!

I have already found a pattern for the Lorna's Laces Camouflage and have knitted some 8 rounds or so on our trip to Longleat today. I hope I'll get to blog about this trip and the best husband of all will certainly have a story to tell about some Rhesus monkeys and the antenna of our car.

Together with the yarn came two wonderfully useful tools: a Niddy-Noddy that can be disassembled and is therefore easy to transport (the one I had is completely stuck together at one end and glued together at the other so there is no comfortable way to transport that one) and that is also infinitely elegant in design.

The other tool is a flexible ruler that has centimeters and inches, which is very useful for a knitter like me who constantly changes between the two systems of measuerments.

So thank you very much my Secret Pal for so carefully choosing the gifts for me and for finding just the right ones that please me to no end!

A very useful item

2007-10-02T19:58:00.000+02:00

In an older episode of Cast On Brenda Dayne pointed out Lakeland to her listeners as a fabulous source of useful items for knitting. Now Lakelend is not a yarn store but a store for kitchen and general household equipment. I took a note of this advice, but hadn't managed to visit the UK since . So I seized the opportunity when we were in Exeter and I saw a Lakeland store there. I sent the most wonderful husband of all to M&S and spent a happy afternoon detecting loads of goodies I had never seen before. I bought a few items, among them the perfect tool for my continued wool-washing: the - tadaa!! - Salad Bag, a plastic bag that is a salad spinner. It is mainly a plastic bag with little holes in it, but the ingenious part is the reservoir at the bottom that will collect the water while you hurl this bag around. Now we already have a salad spinner at home and we don't even use it, but of course I don't need this item for salad. Just imagine some wet fleece in the bag, some spinning it around and: voilà! here goes your fleece speed-drying appliance. This sped up my washing and drying a lot and now I have approximately 500g of wonderful fleece to spin into hopefully wonderful yarn.

PS. My Secret Pal asked what the breed of the sheep was: It is Castlemilk Moorit - one of Britain's rarest breed of sheep.

The Giant Guernsey Knitting Project, Day 74

2007-09-28T22:55:00.000+02:00

I am back from two wonderful days in Cornwall and actually also two wonderful days of not knitting on the Giant Guernsey. Instead I cast on for a swatch with the Wollmeise laceweight yarn (in a pattern that I found I didn't like with this yarn and therefore put aside again), and after that for a brain-soothing all-stockinette knit-in-the-round hat with Regia sock yarn. I knit on that on our way back tonight and am now some 1.5 inches into it. I will keep it as a side project, it is a particularly useful knitwork when we're driving on the curvy Exmoor roads - they tend to make me travelsick, especially when I have to concentrate too much on my knitting. Also the Giant Guernsey has become far too heavy to easily carry it around, so a small side project should be ok.

As I've said, I've finished the collar of the Giant Guernsey, which I still find pretty cool:

It will be closed with a zipper, once the whole thing is finished. I picked up stitches for both sleeves and have knitted 4 inches (that's the gusset decrease) into one of it. I have given up hope to finish it while we're here, I don't think I'll make it. But at least it'll be finished for the cold season (or considering this year's summer should I call it the 'colder' season?) and it'll have a lot of memories of England knitted into it.

Talking Guernseys: when we were in Cornwall we visited Jan of Frangipani knitwear and I bought some more Guernsey wool from her, this time for my very own Gansey. But that might be a project for some other year ...

Wool heaven

2007-09-26T14:54:00.001+02:00

This comes close to what I consider heaven (from a fiber perspective):

Washday

2007-09-24T20:34:00.000+02:00

When we decided to book an accomodation on a farm I naturally wondered if they had sheep. I didn't find any evidence on the website, but was pleased to find out that of course the do. (How could they not, over 30.000 sheep are living in the area.) Pretty, friendly animals, that run up to you joyfully when you enter the grounds where they stand. And they have a lot of wool. :-) So much wool in fact, that Maggie, their owner and our charming and very helpful landlady here at Burrow Farm, doesn't know what to do with it anymore. She had some spun into yarn -more yarn than she could and would like to knit with- she even threw some away, so now she's given me some. Or rather: invited me to help myself to how much I'd like. Now how much could that be? :-)

This much? No, not that much. I wouldn't want to be too greedy and moreover, the best of all husbands - though gentle, good-humoured, and unbelievably tolerant regarding my fiber-related addictions - draws a line when it comes to transporting large amounts of dirty raw fleece in our car. And I wouldn't want to take it home in this state anyway. So I contented myself with a small amount and now am having my first go at washing raw fleece. What an exciting adventure in my holidays!

The extremely helpful Maggie even provided me with a large kettle that I could use to wash the fleece in. It can be heated, which was very useful. I followed no specific instructions in washing the fleece, just browsed the web for some general
guidelines, recalled all I've learned in my wet-felting experiments, tried to remind myself continually to not do all the things you do when felting on purpose and went for it ...

How I went about it exactly? Don't ask, I really cannot tell. I didn't stick to a strict routine, used some soap, used some heat, used some gentle movement (though usually none of these three simultaneously) and did my best to keep the wool from felting. It went not bad and now we have wool all over the house in various states of dry and wet. The last batch is in the kettle now. I don't know how much it adds up to in the end, and I haven't sorted any of the wool out so far. I'll do that more properly when we are at home.

I love the light brown colour of the wool and I will do my best at spinning it into a nice fine thread - as good as I can with my little spinning experience so far - and when I knit the yarn into some beautiful object I will always think of the friendly and cheerful sheep and their friendly and generous owner.

Rainbow Country

2007-09-24T18:47:00.000+02:00

So far we've had: fantastic warm and sunny weather, occasional showers, some strong winds rushing down the hills, one day with exceptionally bad rainy weather, that seemed to have jumped straight out of the box of England clichés - today is Rainbow Day. The sun has been shining all day long, with light and strong showers every 15 minutes or so. That didn't keep the sun away though, so we've enjoyed quite a lot of wonderful rainbows today. Large ones arching in the sky, flat ones lying in the hill (take a close look at the top picture and you'll discover it right between the two buildings, cuddling in the hills). And we saw a rainbow that ended (or started) right on the farm 'next door' (i. e. the one a few miles away on the next hill). When we have sun and rain together at home I always rush to see where the rainbow is - I love rainbows. Today I discovered my limits, when there was a point where I just couldn't be bothered anymore to rush for the camera. So I have only the two photos above to share. I'm not good at photographing rainbows anyway.

So with all this rain it was good that we had planned to spend the day at home anyway. We've been hanging around at home, doing some laundry, lighting a fire in the fireplace and I managed to knit a little on the Giant Guernsey and play with my new fibre.

A trip to the yarnstore

2007-09-22T21:22:00.000+02:00

My personal Shangri-La in this holiday is in Bristol and operates under the name of Get Knitted. My Secret Pal directed me towards this shop and I am so grateful for that. This is certainly the best place to go on a shopping trip, especially if one has never before held any of the highly acclaimed yarns in their hands.

Rowan, Lorna's Laces, Debbie Bliss, Louisa Harding, Colinette, Brown Sheep, Cascade, Blue Sky, Noro, Koigu, Regia, Opal, Jaeger - you name it, they've got it!

And it's not just the yarn, it's also needles and accessories: Clover, Brittany, Knitpicks, Addi (belive it or not, although I come from Germany this was the first time ever that I saw Addi needles in a real store) - it was all there.

This had to end in a shopping extravaganza - and it did.

I spent quite some time there and came home with a very exquisite selection of patterns and yarns, some accessories, a nice new book ... . And with all these first impressions I gathered from holding (and sometimes fondling) all these yarns - the yarns I liked, the ones I loved and believe it or not: the yarns I didn't like. Yes, there were some of these as well.

Oh, and one purchase may not be neglected, since it was the one I had come for: two more 2mm circular needles to use for the sleeves of the Giant Guernsey. Yes, I have finally finished the body (and am excessively proud of the to-be-zippered turtleneck collar I designed which includes some fabulous designed-as-you-go short-row shaping, photographs to follow soon!) and have now finally started the sleeves. The 100cm circular I used for the body is too long to comfortably handle the sleeves so I bought two new ones, 60 and 80 centimetres long. I will try to be persistent with the Giant Guernsey, in spite of all this wonderful yarn luring me away from it. And I have new motivation, since the most-wonderful-husband-of-all delivered yet another proof of the fact that he is just the right man for me, when he strolled around the outskirts of Bristol (Get Knitted is unfortunately quite far away from the city centre) for hours (and was probably bored beyond belief) without much complaining.

That would be my only advice for the store: they do have lovely sofas and free tea and coffee and a children's play corner, but they do not cater for bored husbands very well. I'm not complaining, since that is not something I would expect a yarn store to do, but a playstation or some other gadget of that kind by one of the sofas would certainly make this place cloud 9 for both of us! ;-)

Package arrived!

2007-09-20T11:37:00.000+02:00

My first Secret Pal 11 package arrived yesterday! How cool is that: getting a gift package during your holiday! We had been on a day trip to the south and came home rather late and rather tired, so seeing the package really brightened up my mood.

And the contents improved it even more:

The contents, from the cup of tea (not included) clockwise: an envelope with seeds from my Secret Pal's own garden, mixed climbing beans. We have a small garden and we love to plant useful plants like berries and vegetables, so I like these a lot.

Next is a fantastic book: 'Schott's original miscellany'. I browsed through it last night (following Artur Balfour's advice that: 'He has only half learned the art of reading who has not added to it the even more refined accomplishments of skipping and skimming) and was already addicted. It contains the most interesting and unusual trivia I've ever seen collected anywhere. It is especially useful for visitors to England like us, explaining for example Cricket fielding positions or listing proverbs, but also of general use with a list of all James Bond films, including year of release, main actor, villain, Bond girl, and car used. And the list of chat room acronyms is very helpful as well. The most common ones I have encountered already, but there are a lot more, so now I can look them up here instead of asking foolishly. :-)

The yarn is hand-dyed and absolutely fantastic. I tried not to distort the colours too much in the photograph, it is several shades of green and brown, and I love it! The colours perfectly fit my new outdoor jacket (bought to protect me from the English rain), so I'll probably knit it into a small scarf or small triangular shawl to tuck into the collar. I'll browse the web and the knitting books I brought with me in search for an inspirational pattern.

The pen and pencil case protected the yarn in the package and is the right size to keep my dpns. Perfect for transporting them, a lot better than the wooden pencil case I'm using at the moment.

Thank you veryvery much, dear Secret Pal. These are the loveliest gifts, I am truly happy with them, and they came just at the right moment, when I needed a little spoiling!

Welcome to Exmoor!

2007-09-16T21:44:00.000+02:00

This is my first holiday with Online access, so I'll be able not only to continue reporting about my knitting projects and the progress on the Giant Guernsey, but also blog a little about our holiday destination and how wonderful it is here.

We arrived yesterday in beautiful sunshine. The landscape is a dream come true, wonderful green hills spread with heather in full bloom. The sea is nearby and the air is fresh and clear. The weather was a lot better than at home, warm and sunny, and all the flowers are still in bloom, it feels a lot more like late summer here not the full autumn chill and withered flowers that we have had at home.

Today we took a guided walk around the farm, our host showed us everything. The grounds are fantastic, beautiful views everywhere, and lots of space. The have horses, goats, donkeys, and sheep!

Around Exmoor there are sheep everywhere! I assume many are kept for meat or milk, but I think 'wool' whenever I see them. It makes my fingers itch to see so many sheep and I wish I had not only brought tons of yarn and needles but the spinning wheel as well. But thinking of my husband - the dearest and most tolerable one in fiber issues there could ever be - I know there's a thin line between tolerance for fiber addiction and whatever lies on the other side, which I don't want to find out. And bringing a spinning wheel to a holiday could make me find out I guess.

I did not take photographs of the sheep so far, but I hope I'll get to it within the next few days. Meanwhile I can offer a picture of one of the very cute goats that live here:

The Giant Guernsey Knitting Project, Day 60

2007-09-14T11:20:00.000+02:00

This is the status of the Giant Guernsey before our departure to England. So I didn't finish it in time for our holiday. *sigh* For a moment I was tempted not to take it with me at all. I am pretty tired of it and the mere thought of two XXXXL sleeves to knit gives me the creeps. On the other hand: would I want a UFO this size lying around at home? And I am still ambitious to finish it. So I've packed it and am hoping for a lot of long car rides. But I did pack some more yarn apart from the Giant Guernsey. I am longing to knit other things, and since I couldn't decide which project should be the next one I took yarn for 4-6 project with me. I'll just see where my whimsy takes me.

Bad Moon Rising

2007-09-04T21:30:00.000+02:00

What good can there be in a week that starts with ripping out 4 inches of a 4XL sweater?

I guess I should've taken that awkward gut feeling I had all through these 4 inches more seriously. It started with my decision to depart from the traditional knit/purl patterns and work the last pattern part with a slip stitch pattern. It knit up very differently, with a far thicker fabric and a different row gauge, which left me with an uneasy feeling. But I like the patten a lot and it fit into the overall sweater design very neatly. But still these doubts ...

When the backside of the sweater was finished I had to decide: should I be bold and continue the pattern and risk ripping out back and front in the end? Or give in to my uneasiness and be done with it? When I studied my neckline design it dawned on me ...

I shall post a picture of the neckline later this week, it is another feature where I deviated from the traditional patterns: I am knitting in a V-shaped rib pattern and have split the front into two parts. I will sew in a zipper at the end and will have the neckline of a Troyer, the traditional German fishermen sweater. My husband asked for this detail, it is rather complicated to knit in and design (especially if you're not used to designing garments, let alone necklines), but it suits him a lot better than the turtle neck or shaped neckline that Guernsey tradition would suggest.

... this V-shaped rib, its shape and progress and final width were all measured and calculated based on my regular knit-purl row gage of 14 rows per inch. With the slip-stitch pattern my row gauge was 19 rows per inch. 20 rows too many on a pattern stripe of 4 inches would mess up my entire neck shape design. *shriek*

I assume I could have muddled my way through, redesign the pattern for this particular part and make it appear seamless, blahblahblah, but I decided to accept this as a sign and ripped the whole thing out. Clean cut, get over it, honey!

I finally found my copy of the Guernsey book, which had disappeared for a few weeks, picked a nice little knit/purl pattern and have managed to knit up 2.5 inches of the new pattern. I am starting to get worried about my progress and the deadline though ...

Secret Pal 11 - Extra Questions

2007-08-22T21:48:00.000+02:00

1. What is the one knitting accessory you could not live without?

Apart from needles and yarns I don't need much. I like to knit cables so a cable needle would perhaps be my item of choice, but I could live without it.

2. If you're heading on vacation, do you take knitting with you? If so, how much and what type of project?

I just have to take a knitting project with me. We usually travel very long distances by car (2-3 days) and my husband drives, so I need something to keep my busy. I like to take large projects and since we usually travel in September/October, I also like to work on Christmas presents. This year I will probably take one large and 2-3 small projects with me. If everything goes well, I'll have the Giant Guernsey finished by then so I just want to enjoy the experience of knitting something else. And catch up a little on all the great ideas for projects I have right now, but cannot work on them.

3. Where have you travelled to that you'd consider your favorite spot?

I have been in love with Finland ever since I started to be interested in other countries. And when some years ago I finally managed to go there it fulfilled all the dreams I have had. So Helsinki for me is the place to be.

4. What is your favorite knitting book at the moment? Do you own it?

Despite all my complaining about the Giant Guernsey, 'Knitting Ganseys' is still my favourite. Yes, I own it and it's already battered and shabby from all the browsing and carrying around.

5. Do you listen to podcasts? Which is your favorite(s)?

I listen to a handful of podcasts, all of them knitting related. All in all, Brenda Dayne's Cast On is still my favourite. It's got the best combination of content, quality, topic and off-topic contributions as well as good audio quality.

Random updates and a little whining

2007-08-19T21:34:00.000+02:00

This weekend was rather mixed - which is better than the week before it. The week was a nightmare at work and full of long overworked days and short nights when I slept badly. I was not too surprised when I felt a cold coming on Friday. It sort of lingered with me on Saturday, which we spent at the zoo (the amazing Burgers' Zoo in Arnhem in Holland).

Today it hit me with full force, so I spent the larger part of the day on the sofa, watching TV (football, Monchengladbach scored yet another draw *sigh*) and knitting a little on the Giant Guernsey. I have reached the top part and am now working back and front separately. Soon I will have to decide
on how to work the collar section since my husband has requested a zippered turtle neck collar and I have so far only a rough idea how to do this.

The evening I spent on the spinning wheel spinning another 50g or so of yarn for practicing. I was not too happy with my progress, but the fleece is of lower quality so I don't mind. I also did some plying (my first attempt) and wasn't too happy with that either, but my head bursts, my back aches and I have to pack for tomorrow and have to get up at 5.30 am, so who cares about mediochre plying?

I'll be away on a business trip and I will go by train so at least I have a few hours of uninterrupted knitting, hooray. And some time to muse over a good turtle neck solution for the Giant Guernsey.

Secret Pal 11 Questionnaire

2007-08-15T23:12:00.000+02:00

I have registered for the SP11 exchange and was accepted. I am very excited about this, it is my first swap outside a closed group like YahooGroups, so I'll be sending to and receiving from a total stranger for the first time. A thrilling idea and I hope all will go well.

This is the questionnaire that shall help the Secret Pal to get to know me a bit.

1. What is/are your favorite yarn/s to knit with? What fibers do you absolutely *not* like?

I love wool. Full Stop. Plain regular 100% sheep wool. Wool is my best friend, my buddy, the one I always turn to when I don't know where to go and the first one to ask for a big night out. Alpaka is a fibre I like as well, we might hang out after work at a coffee bar together. Silk I am sort of getting aquainted with, but it's all a bit formal and uncomfortable so far. I'd probably have a nice conversation with silk at an office party.

A fibre I don't like? That would be cotton I assume. I have absolutely nothing against cotton - I am a strong believer in the credo that all yarn is here for a reason, and I may even crochet with cotton every once in a while, but cotton and I are not on the same wavelength. I am Leo and cotton is probably Virgo, different mentalities that have nothing to say to each other. I'd greet cotton whenever I'd meet it in the elevator at work, but I'd probably not want to meet it for lunch.

And acrylic? I don't have the kind of issues with acrylics that others seem to have. There are some nice acrylic blends or microfibres that are very soft and cuddly and wonderful to use for baby projects. It depends on the yarn. I might not buy pure acrylic yarn in the store, but if you give me acrylic I'm sure I'll find a project that fits. The shy little wallflower nobody cares for, I'd sit down and talk to her.

2. What do you use to store your needles/hooks in?

I have _tons_ of needles and am still looking for the optimal solution. Although a generous shopper (did someone say 'shopaholic' or am I hearing voices?) I still couldn't persuade myself to buy one of these cute and nifty little needle bags that you find online in abundance. I used to sew when I was younger, and these bags leave me too much with the impression of 'I could make one of these myself' to be willing to spend ~~an obscene~~ a fair amount of money on them.

I store my dpns in a cute wooden box with a sliding lid, my regular knitting needles (of which I don't have many, because I use circulars only) and crochet hooks I store in a not-so-cute wooden box with a sliding lid as well, and my circulars had to move out of their matching also-not-so-cute box, because they got tangled up and didn't fit into the box anymore anyway. I am storing them in a sort of cardboard folder box that allows to at least sort them a little bit by size (all 2+mm needles in one pocket, all 3+mm needles in another one etc.), but the folder is too small as well. I have never counted my needles, but I have loads of sizes, and of the sizes I use most often (between 2mm and 4mm) I have several, probably up to 6 needles of the same size. Different styles, different materials, different lengths, and of course always that one extra needle I had to buy, because the last one I had of that size was stuck in a project I just couldn't find anymore ...

3. How long have you been knitting & how did you learn? Would you consider your skill level to be beginner, intermediate or advanced?

I have been knitting for 30 years now. I learned the basics from my mum at the age of 8 and then continued on my own, self-taught or with occasional help from a friend or relative. I would consider my skill level as advanced intermediate in the sense that I have knitted successfully all basic types of pattern like lace, cable, fair isle, socks, gloves, and sweaters. But of course that doesn't mean there's nothing left to discovered. Ever since I discovered knitting subjects on the web I have learned a bazillion new things and I seriously intend learning how to design my own knitwear.

4. Do you have an Amazon or other online wish list?

I have an Amazon wishlist, but it is not public. I can send it out on request.

5. What's your favorite scent?

Lavender.

6. Do you have a sweet tooth? Favorite candy?

Yes! I am a chocaholic, for sure. I like milk chocolate and white chocolate, not dark chocolate. And I like to try unusual flavours like chocolate with pepper or caramelised cocoa beans. My favourite flavour is Chili. What I don't like: marzipan (almond paste).

7. What other crafts or Do-It-Yourself things do you like to do? Do you spin?

I have pursued lots of crafts (and still do), the ones I am most persistent in are: crochet, card-making, and making boxes. Occasionally I sew, work with beads or do digital scrapbooking. I have just started spinning and am already addicted.

8. What kind of music do you like? Can your computer/stereo play MP3s? (if your buddy wants to make you a CD)

I like all kinds of music, from classic pop music to Hard'n Heavy, Rock to Reggae. There's a list of my favourite bands in my profile, but I have hundreds of CDs, so any list can only give a faint idea of the breadth of my musical taste. I can play MP3s.

9. What's your favorite color(s)? Any colors you just can't stand?

My favourite colour depends on what I use it form I card-making I like to work with orange and green. In clothing I like to wear dusky shades of green like olive and sage. For knitting I often choose earthly colours: brown, olive, dark shades and all natural colours a sheep's fleece can have. I am not that much into crisp bright colours and I loathe neon colours.

10. What is your family situation? Do you have any pets?

I am married without kids. We have two birds and two bunnies.

11. Do you wear scarves, hats, mittens or ponchos?

Yes, all of them, ponchos are my favourites, mittens I wear least often.

12. What is/are your favorite item/s to knit?

That clearly depends on my mood - I certainly like small items that are fast to finish, but I also enjoy large and complicated projects like lace shawls. I love tops and sweaters as well, but find these most difficult, because they are the ones I am most critical about. I care a lot for perfect fit, so sweaters often give me quite a headache.

13. What are you knitting right now?

As you can see in the blog, the Giant Guernsey for my husband. If you feel like giving me an encouraging hug, you're welcome!

14. Do you like to receive handmade gifts?

Of course!

15. Do you prefer straight or circular needles? Bamboo, aluminum, plastic?

Circulars. Straight needles I use only as decorative objects. Metal needles are my favourites, I'm in the Addi fan club. I also own a few wooden circulars, ebony, rosewood, and another wood I cannot translate. I one set of Bamboo dpns and don't like them. They are light, that can be an advantage, but bothers me at other times, and they bend too easily.

16. Do you own a yarn winder and/or swift?

I own a yarn winder (birthday gift, yay!), an umbrella swift, and a Niddy-Noddy.

17. How old is your oldest UFO?

If darning in ends counts as part of the project, then my oldest UFO is over 20 years old. A crochet afghan and I _hate_ weaving in ends in crochet pieces, so I prograss very slowly on this one. I have draped it on a chair in a way that hides all the loose ends and it looks pretty, so I just can't be bothered.

18. What is your favorite holiday?

Christmas.

19. Is there anything that you collect?

Does labeling your stash a 'collection' make things better? Let's put it this way: there is nothing I collect on purpose. ;-)

20. Any books, yarns, needles or patterns out there you are dying to get your hands on? What knitting magazine subscriptions do you have?

With my book collection I am quite content at the moment. Patternwise I'd like to stock up a little on Debbie Bliss and Rowan patterns of which I don't have many.

As for yarns: I'd love to put my hands on some of the much talked about US yarns. Many of them are not available in Germany - Lorna's Laces seems to be the most difficult to get here. I ordered
from BlueMoon once and ended up with an obscene amount of money I had to pay for customs and now I'm a bit afraid to just order a yarn. And of course if you've never held it in your hands and haven't seen the colour except for a picture on your computer monitor then spending all this money on shipping and customs is a risky business.

There are loads of yarns I have never knitted with: Noro, Uru, Colinette, Lion Brand, Brown Sheep, Rowan, Debbie Bliss, probably your everyday yarn ...

No special wishes for needles and i have a subscription for Interweave Knits.

21. Are there any new techniques you'd like to learn?

Not at the moment. Designing knitwear that fits.

22. Are you a sock knitter? What are your foot measurements?

Yes, I love to knit socks. My foot circumference is 8.5in/21.5cm and my foot length is 9.5in/24cm.

23. When is your birthday?

July.

24. Are you on Ravelry? If so, what's your ID?

There are 3078 people ahead of me in line. *sigh*

The Giant Summer Guernsey Knitting Project - Day 29

2007-08-14T22:12:00.000+02:00

I have reached the point where it becomes hard to find a way to properly display the Guernsey for photographing. But then again all my photos of it have been of rather poor quality so far, so nevermind. I was very busy at knitting and am rather proud of myself, for my effort as well as my persistence. The Yarn Harlot muses over the benefits of knitting monogamy in a recent post and I fully agree with her - it's fascinating to see what you can achieve if you stick to a single project. On the other hand it does feel as though this may be my last mono-project-period for ... a long time.

I am happy that I decided to knit a horizontal pattern design - it may not be flattering to the fuller figure, but it sure keeps me from going mad, since all I seem to be looking forward these days is the new pattern I can knit every 4 inches.

I have reached the underarm gussets, those alone are 4.5 - 5 inches long! What dimensions - this whole thing can only be an expression of true love. I'm glad I'm married already, so I can't be a victim of the sweater curse.

We did have a first provisional fitting, and he looked ... worried ... I was worried about his looking worried and did a critical assessment of the design, the fit and his figure ... but I wouldn't be a true knitter, if I hadn't decided to continue as planned, right?

Time flies

2007-08-14T21:36:00.000+02:00

Ugh, it's been two weeks since I last posted. Does work, work, and work count as an excuse?

My first Yarn

2007-07-31T21:05:00.000+02:00

I know I'm only following in the footsteps of many others before me, but nonetheless I am very proud:

A brand new toy

2007-07-29T18:24:00.000+02:00

[Sunday's post]

And now I've caught the spinning bug.

I've been playing with the idea of spinning for a while. I felt thrilled by the thought of creating my own yarn and to see the fibre through the entire process from raw fibre through carding, spinning (not yet dyeing), plying and knitting to the finished product.

I was hesitant at first though. I wasn't sure if I would like it, if I would be patient enough to the apparantly painstaking process of practise that is inevitable on the road to perfection and control over the process. Being the perfectionist I am I feared I would get little satisfaction from fumbling through a new craft producing low quality results and not seeing significant progress.

I had a few trials on the drop spindle and the results didn't seem to be promising. With results I don't mean the yarn itself - I am fully aware that I cannot expect even a glimpse of perfection in my first efforts. But I also didn't like the process itself very much, there were very rare moments when I felt any gratification from this ongoing process. The yarn is still wound on the spindle as I was not interested in the yarn itself. I'm a process spinner as much as I am a process knitter: if I don't love the process itself I will not need the end product.

The rare moments of gratification were those when the twist grabbed the fibre in exactly the way I wanted it to, forming a thread almost effortlessly. And this rare and brief moment of joy kept me going and made me consider having a go on the spinning wheel.

What made me very fortunate in this situation is that in my new knitting group there are spinners as well and one very generous lady from this group offered me to try her old spinning wheel that she had used for 30 years before getting herself a luxurious new one. And not only did she let me try the wheel AND take it home with me to practise some more, she ALSO gave me a first lesson, showing me how to treadle, how to spin, how to wind on the yarn and everything else that belongs to the process. I feel deeply grateful and am VERY happy! I'm sending a heartfelt 'Thank You' out to her.

So now we have this new companion at home - it even goes beautifully with the armchair in the library which is a very good place for spinning.

And to make things perfect: today is just the right day for sitting at home and learning to spin!

The Giant Summer Guernsey Knitting Project - Day 10

2007-07-26T21:57:00.000+02:00

One week, two knitting group meetings and a few train rides later the Giant Guernsey looks less like an exercise in garter stitch and more like a sweater in progress. I even cherished a faint hope that I might actually finish this garment one day ... in the seemingly endless stockinette part there were times when I doubted this.

Whenever I feel too sisyphus-esque I repeat my knitting mantra: 'I am a process knitter, I am a process knitter, I am a process knitter', trying to gain pleasure from the endless repetition of the same movement. At times I also try to regard this as a chance to improve my knitting technique - but not too often, otherwise one would see too many differences between my usual sloppy and my occasional meticulous knitting.

These motivational devices notwithstanding I am delighted that the stockinette section is over now and I am finally entering the pattern phase. I am knitting the definition ridge right now, 5 rows left, which I am hoping to finish on the train to town tomorrow morning. And then I have to decide which pattern to knit. Vertical? Horizontal? I tend towards the latter option, I just like these kinds of patterns more. I used them on the baby Guernsey and loved the result. I'll keep you updated ...

I wanted to buy three buttons

2007-07-24T21:11:00.000+02:00

... and came home with this:

I know there's no point in asking other knitters this question, but why can't I walk past a yarn bargain unaffected? Karstadt, the big department store, are not famous for their selection of quality yarn, but they are the only source in Dusseldorf that is within a lunch break's walk and has at least a selection of yarn. Many times a good source for Regia sock yarn I usually walk out with a ball or two at a bargain price.

Today they had an offer of their store brand yarn, a blend of 40% wool, 40% polyacryl and 20% polyamid. It is rather soft to the touch, I like the feel of it, although these days I do not use acrylic blends very often. The needle recommendation is 2,5-3mm, but it looks as though I should rather knit it with a 2mm size or smaller, if I ever find knitting needles that thin.

I bought 5 balls in a blue-reddish sort of colourway, hoping that this could be knit into a baby surprise jacket (suffering from a slight Yarn Harlot infection), and 12 balls in an autumn colourway with no idea at all what to do with it except that it should be my size. I'll swatch a little and decide then. The yarn is light enough that it might make a nice cardigan to wear indoors, e. g. at the office. When the time comes it'll let me know what it wants to be.

And talking of time, what kind of idea is it to buy a heap of yarn when my entire knitting time until mid-September will be spent in the company of the Giant Guernsey? I've completed 7 inches of the front and 6 inches of the back. I'm using short rows to make the front 1-2 inches longer than the back to better accomodate my beloved's dimensions. He often complains that his sweaters end too high over the waistline and that gives him a cold belly, so I thought this might be a good idea. I'll post a photo update of it within the next days.

Oh ... and the buttons? I bought those as well.

An inventory of my WIP (Part 3)

2007-07-21T21:27:00.000+02:00

The Patchwork Afghan Ring

About 15 months ago I joined a patchwork afghan swap ring. We knit one or two patches per month and send them to someone else on the list. We are all using the same yarn and supposed to knit a mono-coloured (i. e. just one colourway although that may be variegated) 8x8 inch patch in whichever pattern we like.

The ring has been a lot of fun at times with lively discussions about yarns and techniques and inspirational with new patterns and techniques. I like the patches a lot, they are an easy way to try out a new pattern or design one myself without too much hassle.

The ring has also been a bit tiring at other times with people dropping off unexpectedly, not having sent the patches they were supposed to or disappointment about the quality of work delivered.

We started out with around 15 people, to date there are 5 of us left. I don't know if the swap ring will continue for a very long time, but all in all I'm happy with the patches I received and with their variety of patterns, colour and even skill. When grabbing out all the patches for the photograph tonight I was surprised that the patches I received don't differ in colour as widely as they could have (none of the yellow, pink, and red colours included so far). If I add a few more patches made by myself this could turn out a very nice afghan that even met the colour scheme in my little 'library' where I like to sit and knit quite often.

The largest part of course has to be done: weaving in all the ends of the patches I've knitted in this heap and sewing all the patches together. My favourite part ... *sigh*

The Giant Summer Guernsey Knitting Project - Day 3

2007-07-19T22:17:00.001+02:00

The ribbing is finished!

I had a day off yesterday and spent a large part of it knitting: outside in the sunshine, in front of the TV, in the evening at my knitting group meeting. And I am currently in the fortunate situation to have two knitting groups I'm meeting, so I spent another evening knitting for two hours tonight. Although tonight was not that much of a meeting, noone else showed up. *sigh*

I'm wondering if 18 rows of ribbing (it's actually not ribbing but welts, but I still call it ribbing, because to me that's the name I know best for this particular part of a sweater) can be called a progress. And I find myself extrapolating ... if I knit 18 rows in 3 days, that's 6 rows per day ... how many rows will the sweater have, how many days does that add up to? I'll find out the number of rows as soon as I have charted the sweater, which I haven't done so far. *yetanothersigh*

Oh, I haven't explained so far - my dearest wants to wear this sweater on our holidays in Exmoor, which will start mid-September ... 57 days left.

The Giant Summer Guernsey Knitting Project - Day 1

2007-07-17T22:42:00.001+02:00

This is how far I got today, it doesn't look like a 1-hour train ride to work and a 1-hour car drive home (in the passenger seat of course!), does it? I'm telling myself it's too early to despair of the little progress. But this is actually only half of the sweater ribbing. I cast on 175 stitches for the bottom front. Am I mad to start this sweater? 4XL at a gauge of 6.75 stitches/inch? The diagnosis tends in that direction, but the effect is not significant yet. I'll keep you updated ...

Kickoff for my giant summer knitting project

2007-07-16T20:47:00.000+02:00

Beth Brown-Reinsel's 'Knitting Ganseys' is my current most favourite knitting book. I like this classic type of sweater and it is just the kind of project I feel confident enough to knit. It is also the kind of sweater my husband would like, so I wanted to knit one for him. He said he'd love to have one and he'd love to wear in on our holidays. We'll be going to southwest England, so a Guernsey sweater will be the perfect accessory.

I ordered a few yarn samples so I could knit up a swatch or two, and we opted for this yarn in navy blue. The yarn arrived today and as soon as I have wound one of the cones into balls (more practical when you knit on the train a lot as I do) I'm ready to go.

The downside of the project? My husband is a 4XL type of guy. So wish me luck!

It's summer at last

2007-07-15T00:48:00.001+02:00

We all knew it when April had these record-breaking amazing hot temperatures, didn't we? We'd pay for it. Dearly. And we did. All of May was a freezing cold mess. All of June was buckets over buckets pouring from the sky. Even a few days ago the temperatures were still below 20°C. It's July, man!

So when someone told me this week at the office that the forecast for the weekend predicted 35°C at first I didn't believe it. Giving it a second and third thought I still didn't believe it. I didn't until I had my lunch break on Friday and actually started to sweat when I went outside.

And when I woke up this morning and stepped outside, the weather was like this:

And like this:

That's what gets your energy level back up, your creative juices flowing, and your motivation back.

It did stop my knitting progress though. I spent my time in the garden, planting and taking care of the flowers and the 'tomato jungle', or in the back yard, watching the bunnies race around like madbunnies in their outdoor cage/race track.

My most recent knitting projects are another baby gansey (that's to knit up the two balls of gansey yarn I had ordered for swatching and then decided not to use for the large sweater) and little knitted wristbands.

This is the first time I am knitting for a charity cause. The Venlo stitch-n-bitch group I've gotten into contact with will be holding a Pic-Knit at Venlo's Juliana Park on August 4th. I'm planning to attend and hope I can make it. They will be collecting money for a child cancer fund and are planning to give out little knitted wristbands as a token for a donation. I have finished 4 so far, which won't get them very far I'm afraid. But I have some three weeks left, with a lot of commuting time and I'll sure have a need for easy, fast-to-finish projects very soon. So I hope to add to the collection ...

Back in the Saddle again

2007-07-14T23:52:00.000+02:00

6 weeks offline!

I still don't know how I survived this, but it feels fantastic to be online again!

I have such a backlog of reading, downloading, and uploading I may have to take a day off at work next week to get back into my normal online swing.

An inventory of my WIP (Part 2)

2007-07-14T23:21:00.000+02:00

The double knitting Fair Isle scarf

This may well turn out to be my longest WIP. Another 'Typical-Me' project. I was fascinated when I first read about double knitting and the opportunities it offered. I had been struggling with rolled up scarfs for a while and finally I had found the perfect way to knit the most beautiful both-sides-pretty-non-rolled-up scarfs.

For my first project I used this as an inspiration, except that I didn't want to use the simple chequered pattern and chose a fair isle pattern instead. I already have a matching hat and wanted a scarf to go with it. The fair isle bit turned out to be a lot easier than expected.

What makes this project kind of slow, is the yarn I used. It's sock/fingering weight yarn, and I'm using 2mm needles. I love the design though and the way one side of the scarf is the mirror image of the other. And the final thickness of the two layers is just right for a not-too-warm scarf, since we don't seem to get any decent winters here anymore. If it just didn't take so long to finish an inch or two ...

I started the project last autumn and dropped it around December. I'm not very likely to pick it up again before October.

Introduction: An inventory of my UFOs WIP

2007-07-08T16:02:00.000+02:00

What's the best way to start your blog? Probably by introducing yourself.What's the best way to introduce yourself? As a knitter you often define yourself through the projects you knit. So I thought a good way to introduce myself is an inventory of what I'm currently (and not so currently) working on.

The Wedding Sampler Shawl

Just like everybody else I was just struck with awe when I held my copy of Victorian Lace Today in my hands and I felt the immediate urge to start all - or at least most of - the projects at once. And it is just so typical me to pick as my first project not one of the smaller ones, easier, faster to finish. If I go for something like this, I go all the way. So the large cream sampler shawl was just the right project for me.

I have knitted lace projects before, but not that large ones, but I never understood the fuss some people make about knitting lace. It's basically decreases, yarnovers, and patience, so where's the problem? I bought tons of yarn and settled for a comfy, nice, new 10-year-project. I started it on my honeymoon this year (hence the name) and am actually quite surprised how far I already got - nearly halfway. It's been in a 2-3 month hiatus recently though.

The Single Sock Parade

SSS has accompanied me from my first days of sock knitting. I started sock knitting rather early in my knitting career (probably around the age of 16) and they have been my only type of project for a very long time, when I was convinced that I would never manage to knit a decent sweater. I used to knit during autumn and winter only and a standard routine for me was: knit one sock during late autumn, have it finished around Christmas, start the second one around New Year and then drop the project when spring arrived. This pattern and my slow knitting progress got me as far as the heel of the second sock. And then next autumn I was interested in a different sock yarn and different patterns.

How I ever finished a pair? Just as I like to pick up a good book again after 2 or 3 years I also like to pick up again a nice little knitting project and finish it a few years later.

I have overcome this routine lately insofar as I knit (a) faster and (b) more (c) all year round, so I make more progress on a project within the small time window my short span of attention leaves me. Unfortunately I have also discovered new and more interesting books on knitting socks and patterns, so I also start more socks than I used to.

My Application for the Slog-Along

Knitting many socks (sometimes even pairs) has left me with many leftover pieces of sock yarn. Although I knit a lot and enjoyed it very much, I wasn't a true aficionade until a year or two ago.

Lacking inspiration and effort in yarn ~~hunting~~ buying I used Regia yarn and nothing else. When you buy sock yarn in Germany, Regia may not be a very inspirational choice, but fortunately variety and choice have increaseded so much over the years that I built quite a stash of Regia over the years.

A few years ago I discovered a pattern for a nice little square patch knit in the round and started knitting all those Regia leftovers into patches for an afghan. As I use only yarn that's leftover from socks and no fresh balls of yarn, I have no finishing date for this. So far I have 17 finished patches and yarn for about 8-10 in my stash.

These are by far not my only UFOs - I hope I will get to completing this inventory over the next 2 or so weeks.