And Now: Project Bonanza

This is the beginning of my alpaca vest from Lene Holme Samsøe's book Feminin strikk. I am not a fast knitter (as mentioned), but I am immensely proud to have knitted all of five centimetres :) Hopefully, it will go faster by the time I'm finished with the back...



This is a half-finished hat in single crochet, made in fat cotton yarn. This is for a friend who had his birthday tomorrow - I hope he'll like it!

I have a lot of projects at the moment - I am crocheting a bag in mustard yellow cotton yarn, knitting scarves and sewing a dress. Luckily, the easter holidays are not too far ahead! I will have to study a bit over easter - exam in just over a month! Eeeeek!

Scarf in Progress

On the left is the way I transport my crocheting. Make it into a roll, and stick the needle through. Otherwise, long items, like this one, will tie itself to my headset in the bag, coil around my keys and eat my cellphone. This is a scarf I'm making for a friend's birthday today. I will add fringes in turqouise, and hopefully manage to take a picture of the finished product. The scarf is crocheted in half double crochet and a few rows of treble crochet (mainly to keep me from fainting from boredom).

This weekend, I'm suddenly going to Kristiansand to do some pre-production work for this summer's festival. It will be a four hour train ride each way, but that's the only time for knitting/crochet all weekend. I'm not sure if I dare to bring any knitting - I live in fear of the whole thing unravelling by itself while I'm not looking. Crochet is more trustworthy that way :)

I am not able to finish my jacket (mentioned below) because I have apparently done something strange while cutting the pieces for the hood: it does not fit propely. I'm not sure what to do about it, except put it in the closet and forget about it until I get a bright idea.

Instead, I will start on a dress (paying close attention to the pattern this time...), but I expect it will have to wait for about a week.

WIP

This is what I'm doing at the moment. On the left is my scarf in Noro Kureyon. I decided to knit it in ribs(knit two, purl tw0), and I imagine it says a LOT about my marvellous knitting skills that I am actually very proud to have achieved as much. To think of the knitting projects that I have decided to try makes me shiver in fright... I have decided on a vest, and traditional Selbu mittens, and a little jacket. I am not sure how this will turn out, but stay tuned :D

I have come to love the Noro yarn - just look at the amazing colours! My crappy photo does not do them justice. One skein will not do for the scarf, however. And I'm horribly broke, so the scarf will have to be a temporary UFO until payday.

On the right is one mitten, minus thumb, pre-felting. Crocheting mittens is excellent for the train ride every day, as they are comparatively small, does not require a pattern, and won't unravel in my bag if not watched carefully throughout the day (have I tried knitting on the train? yes.)

My 2do-list is getting longer by the minute, but I am at least very inspired at the moment. Everything is taken note of for a later occasion - now I'm looking forward to starting on the fantasy-along (and hopefully finish before April 1st), the Granny Ripple baby blanket, and the knitted mittens. But first: hood and hem on my woolen jacket (tonight). And fixing the hem of my silk dress.

Finished: Beige Shawl

Thougt I'd post the finished shawl. Here, you see the difference between my digital camera (on the left) and my cellphone camera (right). I tried to lighten the picture taken with the cell phone, because it was surprisingly dark, but it did not turn out too well... At least, you can see the size of the shawl. It is rather long, so it reaches down my entire back, even if it is not very wide. The heavy alpaca yarn makes the shaw lay nicely over my shoulders, and it is AMAZINGLY soft and lovely. And warm.

I ordered a skein of Noro Kureyon lately, a multi-coloured yarn that is highly praised by many in the blogging world. Unfortunately, I got a different colour than I ordered, but I decided to take the unfamiliar colours as a challenge rather than return it. I am not converted to this yarn yet, however. I have real trouble deciding what to make, and it does not really appeal to me in the same way that alpaca does. Maybe I'm just not used to it yet?

I will be working on finishing the shawl for my grandmother this weekend, as well as sewing the hood and hem of a wool felt jacket that has been lying around for weeks. I also have an idea for one of the alongs I'm in - finally! I have been struggling with this for a while...

I am very much looking forward to try my hand at knitting again: I will try to make a vest as well as traditional knitted mittens! And then there's the Granny Ripple baby blanket... A lot on my plate at the moment, but that's just fun :)

I Can't Seem to Stop the Sillyness...

You scored as Tyr.

You are Tyr!
You are the God of bravery, honor, justice and battle!
You lost your hand to a wolf so that you could keep the world safe.
You are a great fighter and are very strong.

Which Norse God Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Another shawl...

...but this is for my grandmother. Her birthday is on sunday, so I hope she will like this:

I took the photo on the train, but you get the idea even if it is a little blurry, right?

I frogged the black one a few posts down, because I wanted to try and make one with beads! It is really lovely, but it takes a lot more time. The beads make the knots fiddly to do, so I get impatient. Better to do a little at a time, I think :)

The colour for March...

...is burgundy.

I had problems deciding what to make with my burgundy alpaca yarn, and also with finding something I actually wanted to make. My rescue was the fabulous Garnstudio/DROPS design webpage, filled to the brim with downloadable, free patterns. I found a lot more things I want to make, so my inspiration is back in full bloom...

I decided to make this scarf:
I am quite pleased with it - it is very decorative, and a lot more practical than my last "fancy scarf". I made a spiral scarf in green mohair, and I have not used it more than once. It is just not very practical. This, however, I think I'll use a lot. I really love the colour, which is not very good in the photo, unfortunately.

I learned an important lesson over the weekend. I recieved a yarn, which was in coils instead of a ball of yarn. I had not used that before, being rather new at this, but I figured I'd have to make them into regular skeins. I had not been at it for long, however, when the pretty coil turned into a pile, a mess, a bundle of yarn:


Afterwards, I remembered holding yarn like this for my mother while she "skeined" them, when I was little. Did not remember in time, though....

A hundred metres of yarn all knotted together in the middle of the floor is not all fun and games. I managed to un-knot it, but I have definitely learned my lesson...

Drunken Crochet was a huge success (again), and my pie was loved by all. I'm already looking forward to the next time!

Favourite Friday

Another favourite: Home-made müsli! It tastes soooo much better than store bought, and is hardly any effort.

With this weekend comes another Drunken Crochet - wine- and crochet-night with some friends. This time, I am the hostess, and I am very much looking forward to making pie for the occasion. I LOVE pie, just like I love a million other dishes, but this is one of my favourites because it takes a bit of effort to make. It is quite complex, but sometimes, that is part of the joy of cooking :)

I am a bit uninspired at the moment, hopefully this will untangle very soon... Hope you all have a lovely weekend!

New Shawl

I've started a new shawl in Vivaldi Mohair. I had planned to use the whole skein, but the yarn is so thin! I have not gotten very far yet, but I suspect the finished shawl will be a triangular blanket by the time I'm finished...

Another little test

I never tire of these things:

Your Birthdate: May 11

Spiritual and thoughtful, you tend to take a step back from the world. You're very sensitive to what's going on around you, yet you remain calm. Although you are brilliant, it may take you a while to find your niche. Your creativity is supreme, but it sometimes makes it hard for you to get things done. --- Your strength: Your inner peace Your weakness: You get stuck in the clouds Your power color: Emerald Your power symbol: Leaf Your power month: November

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

WIP

This is what I am working on at the moment:


It's a shawl with a small fold-down collar in a lovely alpaca yarn, which I bought on sale from garn.dk, and I am really pleased with it. It's so soft!

Speaking of alpaca, I have of course bought yarn in Russia, along with a few buttons. The lady in the shop got awfully impatient with me, though, so I only got a few:
And I got some new necklaces and a little painted brooch as well :) Love them!

I have also finished a little hat, in black silk alpaca with a picot edge:


More on my trip later, with pictures!

Heklede votter

I've written this post in Norwegian as response to a request for pattern to my felted mittens. If asked, I will try to translate it into English at a later point.

Jeg har blitt spurt om oppskrift på vottene mine, og ble selvsagt veldig smigret :)
Så her kommer den:

Legg opp 45 luftmasker
Hekle staver i 13 runder
Der du vil ha tommelen, hekle 10 luftmasker og hopp over ti masker før du fortsetter med staver. Jeg liker å ha "skjøten" inni håndflaten, og har derfor plassert tomlene på hver sin side.
Hekle i tre runder til før du begynner å ta inn.
Jeg har heklet sammen to masker for hver tredje maske i en runde, heklet vanlig rundt i en runde for så å ta inn i neste igjen.
Fortsett med dette i til sammen ni runder.
Nå har du så få masker at du bare tar inn fortløpende.
Hekle rundt tommelåpningen i ti runder, ta deretter raskt inn.

Mine votter er heklet i PT2, og tovet på 60 grader. De må formes litt når de er våte, men de passer perfekt!

Jeg har en veldig liten hånd, så du må nok gjøre den litt større. Jeg synes det blir bra når man beregner ca 1/3 større enn det du ønsker å oppnå etter toving.
Vær også oppmerksom på at hvitt garn tover mindre enn annet garn. Jeg har blitt fortalt at dette er på grunn av blekingen av garnet.