Two sweaters so far

Finally! I've bit of a bit more than I could chew lately by trying to make family gifts, sweaters for me and planning an exhibition that is due this Sunday (report on that next week). On Monday I sewed up the final ends on two sweaters and now they are blocked, dried and photographed.

First up is Unwrapped from Knotions. This is a fitted modell that has many neat details, like the linen stitch edges and the diagonal line that imitates a wrap model. I enjoyed making it and was happy to get help from the designer on a few unclear parts of the pattern. The yarn is 100% linen from Garnstudio, and this is the first time I use this material for a top and it looks just as I wanted, rough and shiny at the same time. I made the belt to go with it, but I liked the look better without it in the end.





























The second finished sweater is a very cropped version of the February Lady Sweater. I used all the Silke Alpaca I had and this is as far as I got, and it is quite a wearable experiment. The yarn is extremly comfortable, but too much of the red colour spilled over on the off-white parts in the washing and gave it a slightly pink tone. Maybe that is a good thing, because when my 3-y-o son saw me when I first tried it on, he said that now I just had to make a hat as well. When I asked him why, he said that would make me look even more like Santa Claus...































Right now I'm working on an old UFO from five years ago that needs sleeves before Sunday, so I had better get back to that if I'm going to finish three sweaters this week.

February is late this year

Couldn't resist any longer. Last Christmas Mr P gave me a challenge when he bought me 12 balls of Garnstudio Silke Alpaca, 7 red and 5 white. I decided to use them all in one project, but it is not quite enough for a sweater. Have been searching for a vest or bolero pattern since then. Then the February Lady Sweater came along, and after seeing Marias sweater half done I realized that it would work just fine in two colours and could be made with short sleeves. Last week I finished knitting Unwrapped, but it needs a little finishing before I can show it. Three days ago I cast on for February Lady "Vest" and this is what it looked like yesterday morning when I divided the stitches for the sleeves and tried it on. It fit perfectly!
















Some technical notes: I'm making it in large, but at a slightly looser gauge. I cast on a couple of times before I got it right with a knitted cast on recommended in Alice Starmore's books. The one row button holes are neat but a bit tricky and I learned how to make them in a class with Britt-Marie Christoffersson. After the eyelet row I only knitted the compulsory three rows of garter stitch, after hearing about bulkiness at the armholes. Then I made one purl row across the white part only before starting the pattern, for a neat colour transition. Now I'm working a little bit more of the body, but I will make the (short) sleeves before continuing so I can use up the yarn as efficiantly as possible.

Red seduction

Finally my summer vacation has started. Has been working hard this week to get everything finished at work with a cold on its way. When I got home on Friday I slept for twelve hours, but woke up to find this behind a curtain, where it should have rested quietly until Christmas.















I'm not sure what I'm doing right, but I've had this amaryllis for four years and it usually gives me two stalks with 6-10 flowers each every winter. This year I've treated it worse than usual by forgetting to give it new soil, and this is the result.

However this is not why I named this post red seduction. In between extra naps yesterday I completed the Sockklubben sock for May, which was Seduction Socks by Ann Budd in red Opal Bambu. They are a bit small, but improved with blocking. The pattern is nice, but not that special. The best part is the yarn, which is really great; soft, durable and beautiful. I will be looking for more!















Finishing the socks I should have turned to Unwrapped, which is in its finishing stages, but my brain capacity wasn't good enough. Instead I made a few more rows on Cheshire Cat Stole, which was a better choice for this yarn than the Laminaria I tried earlier but decided to frog.















Now I'm just waiting for my brain to start working better again. Slept another nine hours tonight, but my sinus infection isn't gone yet and tomorrow MrP has to go to work so I'll be home alone with the kids. I hope it gets better by then, and that I can finally get my new top done.

Family holidays

It's really been a busy couple of weeks. First my mother had a big birthday party with the family and some of her old classmates from Iceland who where making a trip to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their graduation. I finally got a chance to deliver the top from Poetry in Stitches that I made for my sister-in-law a while ago. It's a little too big, but I think it will work.




















I also managed to get a picture of a shawl I made for her a couple of years ago, before I had a decent digital camera. It is the pattern "Langsjal ad vestan" from Thrihyrnur og langsjöl, a book on Icelandic lace that I bought in 1991. In the book the shawl is in solid white, but I had a selection of Icelandic kambgarn in diffrent shades and used up what I had in natural colours. By felting the ends together when changing colours I was left with minimal finishing and a neat result.




















When I got home from that great weekend it was time to prepare for the next party. I've spent countless hours this past week getting the Rainbow Blanket ready for the Christening of my husband's niece. When the week started I still had one section and the edge left, but I made it! The final meter of I-cord was done in the car on the road to Stockholm last Friday, but I had blocked the coloured parts the day before.















The blanket measures 110 x 110 cm and consists of five sections knitted in rainbow yarn from Kauni on needles 3.5 mm using the pattern for the Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf. I've knitted the pattern over 70 stitches. The second section starts with a stitch picked up at a courner of the first stripe and the pieces are knitted together by slipping the last stitch before the joining, picking up a stitch through the ridge on the previous stripe and then lifting the slipped stitch over the picked up stitch. The blanket is reversible, but with a slight difference along the joined edges. Finally the blanket was edged by a black line of I-cord over four stitches on 3 mm dpns in a similar quality to finish of the edges and hold the design together.

A happy knitter

I have never been this quick to start knitting a sweater! I just knew I had to make Unwrapped, and since my LYS owner went away on a long vacation the day I wrote my last post I rushed there to get yarn, and kept them 5 min passed closing… Anyway I’m using Garnstudio Lin in 100% linen and I got 10 balls at 120m to be on the safe side for a size 46. I've been busy working on a present that needs to be finished next week, but today my daughter was ill and I could stay home from work and finish the top down raglan yoke.
















The yarn is soft and easy to work with, considering it is linen. It will be great to wear. I don't make much clothes, but this is quick and fun as well as technical and timeless. Today I saw a preview of the next Knotions raglan pattern, and I think it will be next on my list.

The next picture is what I got in my two birthday presents this morning. The yarn is a bag my father picked up at a charity auction and it is mostly Garnstudio Paris. It was accompanied by an invitation to a boat trip to a nice restaurant on an island that I really like, Ulvön off the High Coast a couple of hours drive north of here. The yarn found a home in the bowl my husband got for me. It is Swedish Grace by Rörstrand and the pattern is supposed to be wheat, but I think you can all see why it is my favourite porcelain design.

Knitting news

Yesterday I found a great pattern for a top on Ravelry, then I found that the pattern belonged to a new online knitting magazine! It's called Knotions and it looks really good. They have posted a few patterns from Magknits (sadly missed), and so far there is one new pattern- the best top I've seen in a long time. The magazine has the motto "knit smarter", and an explanation of the name that makes a linguist like me feel just at home. They only have a few things up so far, but I feel that I will be a frequent visitor judging from the plans they present for the future. Here I can learn more about designing garments, not just picking details that look good but actually making something that fits as well.

Last night I also did some knitspotting. The artists from Boznia & Herzegovina in the Eurovision Song Contest semi final had a chorus of three girls dressed as brides and knitting! It made my day. If you missed it they made it through to the finals on Saturday.

Slippery and colourful

The April pattern in Sockklubben, Slippery Socks from Knitty, has been completed. The yarn is Opal Hundertwasser in colour 1434 Wartende Häuser. It is a fun pattern to knit and very easy to follow through all the braids and details. Since this was the most "manly" pattern so far I made them for my husband, who fortunately uses the same sock size as me, and all the patterns so far, a women's medium. I'm still waiting for patterns in other sizes for children and other family members, because my sock drawer is filling up quickly.















Next up are Seduction Socks from Interweave. I've started knitting them in Opal Bambu, but I'm not sure it will show off the braids very well since it is doesn't have the right volume. I'll make a few more rows before I decide if I carry on or start over.