Light and breezy

My very first Mystery knitting has been completed. Here are the pictures to prove it. The first one shows the colours well and the second shows the pattern better. The pattern is the Mystic Light Shawl by Anna Dalvi that was issued in five parts during five weeks this spring. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Merino and the colourway is from a sample line called "pot luck". The second skein had slightly stronger colours, which gave the "flames" more definition. The needles used where Addi Lace 4 mm.






























I'm happy about the pattern and the yarn and the size is perfect (84 cm down the middle). It feels really lacy, but would probably look even better with more definition and body; my yarn was a little bit too thin. The pattern had the theme "fire" but mine is more about spring and flowers, which makes it just right for a couple of family parties coming up in June...

Back on track

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last entry. I could blame it on springtime gardening, sick kids, Mr P. away on business, spending time with my parents, too many evenings bocked up, a lot of new stuff going on at work and four people queing for one computer. Or I could just get on with knit-blogging.

Despite it all I have been knitting most days as usual. This is what's in the basket at the moment:
(the basket is in felt and was bought at Village in Sundsvall, perfect by the sofa)
















The Slippery socks and Rainbow blanket are moving along nicely, and will be finished on schedule (I hope). My only new project since the last entry is the Laminaria shawl from Knitty.
I'm making a medium size in Färgkraft 1-ply Sommarnatt. So far it doesn't look like much, but I think it will turn out well in the end.















Last weekend was a bit longer than usual, so I took the time to shop at Garnkorgen to lift my spirits and find inspiration. I found it.















I prepared a list at home by the computer, and I actually managed to stick to it and only buy half of the things I wanted to check out, which was quite enough. This includes Fyberspates Bluefaced Lace Yarn in greens, Fleece Artist Suri Blue in sangria and Manos Silk Blend in green/4635. They are all delicious and I don't think I will be able to keep my hands off them for very long. Not in the picture is a japanese book of 250 surface patterns that I have read about five times so far. I also got a Perl grey pin in pewter, a must with all the shawls in progress.

There is also something that has been completed this past month. My Mystic Light shawl was finished in four days after I got the last clue and has been waiting a couple of weeks for blocking. The light isn't too good in my blocking area, so pictures will have to wait until it has dried and can be taken out of there.

Spring clearing part two

I've behaved this week and only started one new sock, but finished a few things. It feels good, but my thoughts keep wandering off to new things all the time. I will try to resist them a bit longer, because the state of my room is really improving.

First thing off the needles this week is a top by designer Solveig Hisdal from the book Poetry in Stitches (Sv. Dikt i maskor). I've used the original yarn, for once, which is Hifa Luxor in 100% cotton. It required just over 300g. The rest of my 400g will probably be combined with some leftovers from Regnbågen and become a matching top for a 2yo. This is for you H. , hope you like it and that I got the size right this time!















Next is a really sad UFO that finally became a cardigan. I started this over two years ago, but it wasn't my cup of tea. The yarn is Tilda by Svarta Fåret in 50/50 cotton and acrylic, and it is nice and soft for kids. The size is 4-6 years, not too demanding. The pattern is also OK. It is based on the old fishermen´s sweaters from Gotland and I love traditional patterns most of the time. The most common version of this pattern is in natural white with red and blue stripes and knitted in 2/2 rib. It became famous in the sixties when Pippi Longstocking wore it in the films that were shot in Gotland, hence the name "Pippitröja". I think this colourway is more practical though. The problem I had with this design was this: it is knit in five parts using ten balls of blue with added borders and numerous stripes=an infinite number it ends to fasten. I hated that part and put it off for over a year after the knitting was done. Fortunately my daughter is really small and her comment when she tried it on was:"I like it, but the sleeves are a bit too long". She was four when I cast on and now she is six.















By the way I'm quite happy with the buttons. The top looks classy with mother-of-pearl and the cardigan has little folded newspaper boats on each button.

Next, my only new project this week (so far, there are a few hours left...). I've cast on for the April socks in Sockklubben, Slippery Socks from Knitty. The pictures showed a very bright yarn, so I decided to use Opal Hundertwasser. I like the look, a bit like Argyle diamonds.















Finally, a look at clue 2 of Mystic Light. There were no new elements this week, so it was rather quick even if you have to look at the chart all the time.

Life after clue one

This is part one of my Mystic Light. I really love the way the colours turned out and the pattern was really creative, hope it keeps surprising me.

Now it is time to get on with my Spring clearing project, that will hopefully allow me to see the floor of my study better in a few weeks. Right now it is a clutter of bags and baskets, half of which should actually be in the closet, which is also full... Today I'm home with a sick daughter and plan so sew on about 20 buttons on a few different items.

Finally I've posted my portrait! It is a picture taken at my wedding when I wore my Icelandic national costume. To see it, and read a bit more about me, go to knitmore.com (stickamera.se in English). I'm Interview of the month for April. I love this page, it makes sure I keep up with the knitting world, like signing up for KAL:s on time. On the Swedish version of the page is the Sockklubben KAL, where I'm a little bit behind at the moment, but the pattern for April is just what I like.

Take off

Finally the Mystic Light Shawl KAL is starting. I'm all set for the first section which was released today. The yarn is Cherry Tree Hill Supersock in merino.

Spring clearing

I've spent Easter digging my way through almost-finished-knittings (is there an abbreviation for that?). Often there is an edge, buttons or a seam left and it can lie about for years in that state. So far two projects are finished and approved, and I hope there will be at least three more by the end of the week.















This is the sweater in Icelandic lambs wool that I started in November. It's not that old, but has been waiting for finishing since Christmas. If you read my previous post you might recall that I promised to knit it for the grand-daughter of a friend of an acquaintance of my mothers. I haven't made any modifications, but ran out of brown yarn with half the neckline and all the seams left. It's a good thing I have a little stash of similar yarn and could find exactly the right colour in a thinner quality for the sewing. The inside of the neck became white and that doesn't show when it is worn. The only thing I don't like about the finished sweater is the bulkiness of the seams when the openings for the sleeves are cut open.

The design and yarn aren't the usual for Icelandic sweaters, but more like Faroese knitting or bulky Norwegian. The horses are popular in Icelandic designs from recent years, because these warm garments can only be worn outside, eg. by people who work with horses. This sweater will be going back to Iceland this spring on one of those horse lovers.

The next item on my list this week is a Baby Surprise Jacket designed by E. Zimmerman. The yarn is two shades of Fabel by Garnstudio. I know it isn't finished in the picture, but the whole point of this one piece design shows better in this half finished state. At the moment it only awaits the buttons I got this weekend. The baby it is intended for was born last Monday, but I only got word of it last Thursday and didn't have time to wrap it up before the holiday. Hopefully it will be in the mail tomorrow. The only problem is that all the newborns in my family weigh over 4kg, so it might be too small, but it will look good on a doll as well. I'll make something nicer for her later on, when she stays the same size longer.

Mostly shopping

Finally back in business! I went to Syfestivalen in Sollentuna almost two weeks ago, and came home with a bad back. I couldn't sit properly for a week and avoided computers. Then Blogger didn't work, then Mr P. decided to get a new screen, which didn't work too well at first...

I had planned to report from Sollentuna, but that is old news by now so I'll mostly just show off my newest yarn. I got what I had planned to buy, and not much else. Since there was a storm coming and we had a long drive home my time for shopping was a bit short, but it helped me to stick to the budget. The others in our group from Sundsvall did a bit of shopping too. Check what one of them got at Cina's.















Clockwise from top left:

• Opal sock yarn in beige. A calm colour for lace socks in Sockklubben. Attached to the ball is a wooden shawl pin from Ullomera.

• Opal bamboo in red. Shinier and softer for even more socks.

• Färgkraft handdyed wool in Sommarnatt (Summer night). Will become a shawl, maybe Icarus from Interweave knits.

• Färgkraft again in Veronagrönt (Verona green). Enough for a sweater.

• Kalinka from Karin Öberg, 100% flax in olive green for a summer top.

Then there are a few things I really liked but didn't buy this time. Huskroken had a lovely, thick 1-ply in wonderful wool, and a book coming later this spring about knitting from Gotland. Ullcentrum sold a really nice flaxen yarn with one strand of cotton mixed in. I forgot to go back to Stäket and get som Yak wool. And off course I should have gotten some dye from Färgkraft and painted a few skeins of natural wool from Naturgarn, just for fun. Apparently there where people there who sold fabrics, paints and other items, but somehow I was totally blind to that. Some kind of system overload...

I had also planned to show you what I was going to wear, but I never did. If you attended the meeting with Sticka! you might have layed your eyes on me, and this is what I wore:

















I discovered that my Christmas shawl in Sea silk yarn looked just as good with spring green as with the black top I wore during the holiday. Lucky me!