Easter Activities

This is the world's largest Calorimetry.
I learned a few things from this:

• My head is small.
  
• I knit very losely.
  
• Checking the gauge is a good idea.

I can use it, but I have to make a knot from the ends...

I am learning to knit, and lace patterns are fun! It demands concentration, and I think it would have been easier with a thicker yarn - it is really difficult to make out the pattern as I go. Fortunately, the mistakes are nearly impossible to spot as well :)

I finally finished the red mittens. Apparently, I crochet tighter now than I used to, and they became smaller than the last pair. So, I only felted them at 40 degrees, and I am rather happy with the result.

I have started making jewellery again: these are some of the latest examples.

I have also tried making stitch markers for my knitting. The cutest beads! Flat and circular, like little buttons :)

New Scarf (in one night)

Supernøtt made a lovely scarf, and I had to make one myself:

Mine is in off-white silk alpaca, and is wonderfully long: It wraps three times around my neck and still has long, floppy ends. And it was so fast to crochet! I made it in front of the TV last night...

I have hestitated to post about my fantasy-along, because it is not quite finished yet. However, the only thing that remains is the sholder strap, so you can imagine the rest:

On the left is the front of my bag, in the centre is a close-up of the embroidery, and on the right is the inside. It is made in black corduroy, and the lining is an old skirt that I cut up. It has a large pocket on both the front and the back. I will add a long shoulder strap and a snap closing on each of the pockets. The theme for this along was the number three. Therefore, this bag has three separate pockets, I have used three fabrics, and I have embroidered a tree (ahahahaha). This bag will probably end up as my knitting bag. It is large enough for big projects, and has in fact got room for my laptop as well.

New Shoes! And New Beginnings.

I have bought new shoes! They are absolutely lovely, and I am sooo happy with them :) The colour is, as usual, not that good in the picture, but they are a lovely light green-turqouise, and they are extremely comfortable. Yay!

I have started on my Granny Ripple baby blanket, which will be all green and white. It is a small beginning, but I hope to get a lot done over easter.

I have also startet a crocheted bag in mustard yellow cotton yarn. This will probably be the front, but I plan on making a little front pocket as well...

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 :)

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...

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.

Off to Russia!

I'm going on holiday to St.Petersburg on monday! I am really excited about it, I have not been to Russia for five years. My Russian is more than a bit rusty, but I think I will manage. I have not planned anything beyond hotel and the flight, and I think it will be awesome. I have recieved a tip that yarn is very cheap, so I will probably stack up. I hope I will be able to not fill my suitcase entirely, so that I will have room for more yarn!

I will also try to find some fabric, trimmings and buttons. There is bound to be something different from the stuff at home.

I have finished a hat and mittens for a friend, all in double crochet in Drops Ice yarn (thick cotton). I think she must be mad - who wants cotton mittens? But she picked the yarn herself, she must take the blame:

I am trying to reconstruct the pattern for the crocheted felted mittens (on request), and will hopefully manage it before I leave.

Oooooo! Mittens!

I haven't shown you the finished mittens yet! I am really, really happy with them, I have been wearing them every day since they were finished:

Before felting on the left, after felting on the right. Aren't they CUTE? I really feel the need to brag about this. Aside from the slippers, this is the best thing I've ever made. And I even made them entirely myself, without a pattern!

I've got the blues

...but I'm not feeling sad.
I am on a roll with the blue colour for february! I have finished the lavender bag for my mother:

And I made a little bowl as well! It was really cute :) Eskimo yarn felts so nicely, and is a treat to work with.

I could not resist this petrol silk alpaca yarn, so I actually knitted (!) a little neckwarmer, and crocheted the edges with black mohair:
I made one edge in picots and one in mussels. I think it turned out well, and the yarn is so amazingly soft and lovely!


And I even started a vest, with Sys Fredens' pattern from "Hæklerier":




Also in turquoise mohair, a yarn that's been hanging around my apartment forever.

I didn't even think I liked blue! Petrol is another matter entirely, though...

Blue and green

I finished the green bag last night:


I still have to felt it (tomorrow) and embellish it, but that's the fun part! I am really happy with the result so far - I even started a blue one for the february colour-along. I realised that I wouldn't be able to finish a vest in shell stitch in time for the challenge, so I went for another bag instead. I hope my mother will like it!


There will be a vest, however - just not yet. Upon reflection, I'd much rather try something else in shell stitch first. Something smaller, like a scarf perhaps.

Drunken crochet

Crochet and wine turned out to be a great success - the stripy mittens are finished, and will be felted over the weekend.

I have joined three alongs in my enthusiasm - the bag-along, the colour-along and the fantasy along. The last one hasn't started yet, but I was a month late for the colour-along and missed january. That was black and grey, but I figure I made the black mittens in january... There in spirit, at least :) February's coluor is blue, which is a bit of a challenge for me. I am not very fond of blue, but I think I will make a vest or something for my mother. I want to try the shell stitch( inspired by Bella Dia), and I think that will make a nice vest, at least if the yarn is not too chunky.

After felting the slippers, I was left with a skein of the grey-green Eskimo yarn. I thought I might as well use it to make a little bag for the bag-along, and in my naïveté didn't stop to consider that one skein would be on the skimpy side for a bag... So today, it's off to the yarn store again! The theme for the along is spring. That makes green the obvious choice, but I still don't know what I'll do with embellishment... Perhaps buttons? I hope I will be able to felt it along with the mittens in the weekend.

I just realised - then I will have matching bag and slippers! How many people can brag about that?

Multitasking

I have finished one mitten and started the next, but it is not very interesting yet. More on the mittens when they are done! In the meantime, I have started on a hat/scarf thingy. This first one is very much a prototype, but I saw something like it at Anthropologie before cristmas, and have been thinking about it ever since.

Unfortunately, the image quality is VERY poor, but you get the idea - a hat with extended ear flaps to make a scarf. I have made it in brown kitten mohair, and in double crochet as I'm lazy. I will improve the next one I make. It needs to be more pointy for one thing, and the flaps must be made to narrow gradually. It will perhaps be better in a thicker yarn as well. But trial and error is a good thing :) It actually looks better on my head. No, really.

The muffins are possibly not sweet enough for the average taste. I rather like them, as I'm not too fond of sweets. I will frost them as well, perhaps that will help. I ran out of regular flour and had to replace with oats, but that went really well I think. We'll see what the girls think. Frosting is necessary, though.

Felted Mittens Part I

So, project felted/crocheted mittens is underway. I am a bit worried that I am making them too large, but then I'll just have to felt them over again, I think. I am using a fairly thin yarn, PT2, and working them in double crochet. Not only is it faster, but I think the felt will be thinner as well. The samples in double crochet seemed all right, but I am using a smaller hook than in the samples.

Tomorrow I'm meeting a couple of friends for crafts and wine. This seems like a good idea, but I have a sneaking feeling that the wine may not be very smart... We'll find out. Drunken crochet, anyone? I plan on trying a new batch of muffins for the occation, this time with all milk and no oil, and chocolate chips. Perhaps I'll try a little cardamom or vanilla as well - or maybe both?

I came back from Trondheim on sunday, and I was exhausted. This year was more than usually tiresome for this festival, and I will not do it again next year. It has progressively gotten worse regarding management and preparations, and this year was almost hopeless. No thank you, I'd rather be at work... After that joyful experience, I came back to work in time for the launch of a big campaign, and spent hours punching code yesterday.

On the bright side, I won 500 kr off a lottery ticket (something I normally donot buy). I decided to use these money on a new headset, something I would not normally afford on the spur of a moment. I researched a bit, and bought a Sennheiser HD 465 headset. It is HUGE, compared to my old Koss PortaPro, but the sound is AMAZING. The downside is that my old speakers at home sounds like crap in comparison... So this will be expensive over time! I am not like most girls in this respect - good sound is very important to me, like shoes are for other girls. I am, sadly, hooked now. Ah well. Kitchen improvements will have to wait...