Happy Easter

This is how we decorate for Easter. The children have filled the plant with coloured feathers, crocheted ornaments from my grand-mother and and new things they have made in school. I put som twigs in a vase in the kitchen like you are supposed to, but they still have no leaves so this is more fun. We use the same plant as a Christmas tree with lights and everything...

We also have a basket of large paper eggs filled with candy, but one of the eggs was also a bit untraditional this year. Two relatives celebrated their birthdays recently so instead of donating money to the postal system we exchange gifts when we meet for the holidays. The egg contained a set with a small bag a top for a four-year-old and socks for her mother.





























The orange set is from a DMC crochet kit for beginners. A friend of mine sold the kits in her yarn store, but this one remained unsold. I thought about buying it for my daughter and ended up getting it for free. I didn't start making it until my daugther was too big, so it went to her cousin instead. There is some yarn left, so I will probably make another bag so they can match their outfits. The yarn is called Senso and is of great quality, as you would expect from DMC.

The socks are a beautiful design from the book Sock innovation by Cookie A. called Wanida. It is one of those great patterns that look simple but is quite intricate when you take a closer look. The stripes become more subtle when they are stretched out on the foot but they are also lined with borders of lacey holes. The yarn is Austerman Step, which is usually too stripey for patterned socks but this purple and blue (132) is calmer.

A vest with the bag

My very first post here was a felted bag. The yarn was actually the leftovers from a vest, that is finally finished.












I really wanted to try this great model, found at Barbros stickning. It starts at the back of the neck and continues down the front, round the back, up again and returns to the back of the neck. It really takes a yarn like this for the design to be visible. I cheated a bit and started to use the colours in reverse order at the middle of the back to get it symmetrical. The white that I saved from the back became I-cord bind off, which I made quite firm to tighten up the look. Maybe I should also add that the original design is for needles 5mm, but this version was made on 3,5mm and with 50% more stitches. I think I used about 400g of yarn for the vest and 200g for the bag. My only problem right now is if I should use this matching set together , or if that is a bit too much...

Starting with a ba(n)g

Grand opening!
This is a blog about knitting, focused on techniques and traditions. I am Swedish/Icelandic with a strong interest in history. At the same time I love problem solving and discovering new solutions (but they are often old, just new to me). I have been using internet for knitting adventures since 2001. Sometimes I have taken part in discussions, sometimes just looked for inspiration. Now I have a working camera, and it is about time I started blogging!

First item: my first knitted bag!
A favourite among my knitting friends is this bag called Mettes kaffetaske from bendixgarn.dk. I listened to their comments and made it 30% bigger, using almost 190g of Kauni from Garnkorgen and needles 5.5mm. I also felted it hard, first in 40, then in 60 degrees C. The measurements before were 35cm across the bottom and 47cm from bottom to under the handle, after felting it is 25x27cm. I also sewed the handle down well using the same yarn. I love it, and it´s coming with me to Wayne´s Coffee in Sundsvall for our knitting café tonight. It needs a lining too, but that will have to wait.