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!

Miniatures

This week everything has turned out small. Baby Born is wearing her new Koolhaas Hat by Jared Flood from Interweave Holiday 2007. It is a very clever and good looking pattern inspired by arcitecture. The yarn is (as always...) Visjö by Östergötlands ullspinneri. I had planned to make this for a 2-y-o since the needles and number of stitches matched another pattern that I had knitted in this yarn, but I hadn't expected this pattern to be so tight. Maybe I will make a bigger one later. It is really brilliant and it only takes one evening to complete, provided you make the braids without the extra needle because there are many crossings.

The cardigan is one of my first proper knits. I think I was about 11 when I made this at school. My children could only wear it for about a week before it was too small, but they were quite big. It looks much better on a doll than it did on them. It is a great short row design from the 60's book Sticka med Hemslöjden. Last weekend I made another 60's baby cardigan in garter, Baby Surprize by Elizabeth Zimmerman, but it still needs some finishing.

Finally Barbie's friend Derek is wearing a sample for a crochet class I attended last Tuesday. It looked like an egg-warmer but will probably be of more use to the dolls. Around here we call this technique påtning or smygmaskvirkning, but I don't know the English term, if there is one. It is made in the round using slip stitches through either the front or back loop. Great for warm mittens in medium weight wool on a 5-7 mm hook. This picture shows the details better:















Next Saturday I will be going to Syfestivalen in Sollentuna, an event with a lot do for textile fanatics. I hope I will get some amazing yarn, meet some interesting people and have a great time. I'm thinking about posting some mark of identification if any of you readers would like to recognize me, but I haven't decided yet...

Book review

A couple of weeks ago I got an offer I couldn't resist. Taunton press asked me if I would like a preview copy of their new book on felted knitting. All I had to do was review it on my blog, which I do anyway when I get hold of an interesting book. Of course I will tell you my honest opinion. Unfortunately the company that handled the last step of the delivery tried to deliver it to my door when I was at work and it took a few days extra to finally get hold of the parcel. Last night, the day the book was published, it finally reached my hands. Since then it has accompanied me to work and two knitting cafés, but tonight I finally have the time to write down what I, and some of my friends and colleagues, thought about it.















The book is I love felt by Kathleen Taylor. The title is just right, because all through the book, in designs, layout and the text there is a feeling of joy. You believe in the writer when she tells you that this is easy, inspiring and fun. My colleague the teacher of textile handicraft, who is usually not a fan of knitting, looked like she was going to steal the book and use it with the kids. My second reaction, and that of my friends at the knitting cafés, is that this isn't so much about the knitting, which is fairly basic, but a good course on felting knits and a source of ideas. If you know more about what you are doing and have a wider range of techniques available, felting becomes more fun.

Like the writer, I have knitted huge, plain objects and tossed them in the washing machine just to watch the miracle of felting. It gives you a nice fabric, but the knitting isn't that inspiring. I have two Norwegian books on the topic which are about making garments in stockinette and felting them, and that is about it. On the other hand I had a look at Nicky Epstein's book on felted knitting last summer, and it was totally amazing but looked so advanced it could be intimidating even for the experienced knitter. I love felt is somewhere inbetween these extremes. It is not as amazing as the promotional texts imply, but it gets you started on new ways of thinking about felting. It is very easy to understand, detailed and thorough in its instructions but still friendly and fun.

The patterns are nice but not all that special. For me they could serve as a basis for understanding the technique and a source of easy-to-make gifts. My favourite is the intarsia bag with grazing sheep, but I would add a knitted strap and probably change the proportions (and feel confident doing it). There is another design that might soon end up on my needles and that is the beaded crown and wands (the stars in the picture below). My little girl was very excited when she saw them. It might be a way to make her try knitting herself...















In conclusion I'm glad I read this book and it as taught me a few things I didn't know about eg. felting multicoloured knits. It is not a book that would have caught my eye under other circumstances, since I'm usually a more traditional knitter. I'm not sure I will make any of the projects, but it I might have gotten confident enough about felting to try making that bag I saw in a magazine last year. The only problem is that Kathleen Taylor says I have to get a top-loading washing machine, well I probably need a new one anyway...

Girlie stuff

This is a picture of my sister-in-laws top before frogging. As I wrote the other day I had to start over on larger needles, which I have, but it will take a few days work to get it this big again. It is from the wonderful book Poetry in Stitches by Solveig Hisdal and it is a modern copy of an old piece of underwear. It is knit sideways and the buttonholes are at the bottom of the picture. The yarn is the original from the book, 100% cotton from Hifa. It looks like natural linen and has a great shine. I asked my 6-y-o what colour it was and she said it was grey and brown with both gold and silver, but try getting that into the picture...















Waiting for the Mystic Light shawl KAL, starting 26 mars, I had to get some lace under my fingers right away. This is another super yarn that has been waiting around for the perfect pattern, Östergötlands Pälsull in red. I used the blue skein last year, but I never wear blue and saved this one for myself. Last night I finally settled on a pattern: North Roë shawl . It is in French, with most of it translated into English, but I find the French easier to read even though I have never used a French pattern before. It has fewer abbreviations and is rather logical. The pattern is very lacy and will make the yarn last well. My biggest problem now is that all three knittings by my chair are on 3.5mm needles and I would like to use my 80cm circular from Garnstudio for all of them. (The third one is the Rainbow Blanket.) Time to get some more. Realized that 90% of my knitting is on 2.5-3.5mm needles so an investment might be necessary.