I am Miss KnitsAlot and apparently not Miss BlogsAlot!

It's been over a half year since my last post - what have I been up to???

Actually I discovered the true potential of Ravelry - which gave me an incredible urge to Ravel and the blogging was put aside for a while.

I have been knitting though - which my Ravelry profile will prove!

But of course I will let you have a sneak peak here as well.

I finished a dress for my niece in a Tora Frøseth design. I used some cotton yarn I already had in stash in light purple and some scrap Alpaca and cute little purple heart buttons.

As you can maybe see on the first picture the dye of the 2 skeins used is very different even though it's from the same dye lot - really annoying - and I didn't notice until the project was finished :-( Well - I just pretended that it came out just the way it was intended....... and the parents loved it :-)
But ..... grrrrrr - still.

I stumbled over the most gorgeous yarn at the local yarn pusher: Japonica Rainbow from Karen Noe Design. It's a woll, silk blend - and fabulous :-) I bought several different colorways and just searched Ravelry like crazy for patterns that would go with the yarn. So far I finished 2 project:

Ponytail Cap for Isabel - she loves wearing her hair in a ponytail to School, but since it's winter she has to wear a cap - what's a Mom to do - knit something that goes :-)

I did however blend the Japonica with Drops Alpaca to obtain the right gauge for this project.

The other project is Traveling Woman which I made for my mom for her birthday. I did make additional repetitions of the pattern to get a larger shawl. I used just under 2 skeins for the project.

That's It for updates today :-)

Been looking for patterns in all the wrong places

Why is it, that there are soooo many cute patterns for girls knit and not that many for boys?

Might be that I'm looking for patterns in all the wrong places.... but in my Ravelry favorites and queue patterns for little girls' knit just pile up in a long line, looking at me with begging eyes - just wanting to be cast on and hardly any boys' pattern get in line. I seem to only find vests and caps!

Any suggestions out there? My nephew is jealous of his sister - getting all the good home knitting.....

Kimikarza's Give Away

I love creative peoples's creative ideas on how to show case their creative ideas. That's why I absolutely must promote Kimikarza's give away of the most gorgeous ear rings I have seen in a long time. Just perfect. She also has the cutest needle holders and make-up pouch.

Visit her here.


Job well doneKimikarza.

Spring Bags and nags......

What on earth is going on with this weather? It's May - it's spring - it should be warm and the sun should be shining.... but no, no - I had to wear mittens when I rode my bike to work today!!!!!

Too cold to do much other, I stayed in and brought out the monster rom the closet, my Toyota....... sewing machine and did a couple of the No Name bags that I'm so fond of.

The trick to this very simple bag is to find cool fabric.

It was love at first sight with the cartoon fabric - the little black metal tag - gives a final touch.

These 2 bags are up for sale - et me know if you're interested in owning one.....

Nieces Pieces and such

I'm an Aunt - agian :-)....... My brother (and his girlfriend :-) ) just had a daughter a week ago. Congratulations - this happy event also explains the silence on this site.... I've been working on pieces for my niece.

I didn't have a lot of time in March to knit - but I did make her my absolute favorite bonnet by Erika Knight. I think the pattern is just fantastic with the flower pattern in the back. Love it - hope the new parents and little Liv will as well.

I also managed to finish the cutest little dress / spencer / tunic - depending on the length of the new baby. I fell for "Fionas Top" by Susanne Bjerregaard. I used Alpaca from Isager and some scrap yarn in green. I thought a lot about the combination of purple and green, but I actually loved the way it turned out.

And with a couple of heartshaped purple buttons ......... just right!

The Alpaca from Isager was absolutely gorgeous, so soft - and it falls just perfect for a dress like this.

But I did actually have time to do other things as well. I finally finished the Multnomah. The pattern was great, but sometimes it felt like the skein of yarn would just never end..... but it did and here is the result

And last but not least (in the knitting department) I made another pair of yoga/pilates socks. This time for a colleague. The pattern is perfect, because since I got addicted to Mille Colori from Lang I found that i just wanted to try all the shades - and this pattern requires just one skein - if you are careful when you cast on and not end up with too long ends. The patterns is also Ravelry and can be found here.

I've been spending more and more time on Ravelry and less here on the blog, you can see my profile and projects here. I will still be updating my blog, and I will try to do it more frequently - I actually also miss spending time browsing all the great knitting blogs that are out there......

February Lady Sweater

Tadaaa - I actually managed to finished a sweater for myself :-) Doesn't happen that often, but since I set up a New Years resolution for my self - that I have to make one larger each month for the entire 2010 - no more hats to the pile.... for now!

The pattern from Ravelry was fantastic. It's knitted top down without any seams at all! purrfect pattern for me - I hate sewing the seams, mainly because I'm really bad at it and they always turn out bulky!

The yarn - Heavens Hand Wool Classic from Cornelia Hamilton - is absolutely faboulus - knits up great and the best part...... It's not all black, it has shades of grey and black which really gives the sweater that extra wawooom!  Only downside - the yarn contains so much exess colour that my hands and fingers were black every time I put down the project, it washes right off though.

I still need to block it and then there will probably be a phot of me strutting my stuff :-)

Next project ready for the needles..... I'm going to be an aunt for the second time this April - it's a girl! Oh joy, oh joy - so many great projects in queue.

Sideways and february knitting

I finally finished the the Sideways for my daugther Isabel, Even though I knitted a size 8 the circumference is a little small and the shoulder straps are too long - so I had to shorten them - ie. I moved the buttons.

Like I mentioned in a previous post I had problems with turns, but I found a tutorial on Drops that helped me through :-) It can be found here.

I made a goal for 2010 - to make one bigger project each month - that is.... NOT a cap, socks, scarf or other smaller bussiness. I have so many caps and scarves filling up the drawers in the house and I really wanted to make something for myself and my daugther... show off some skill :-)

January was Sidelæns by Geilsk.

And February is dedicated to a sweater for myself. Found the pattern on Ravelry. It's quite seasonal and perfect - the February Lady Sweater.

Mystery Valentine Wristwarmer KAL - 2. Heat

Round 2 of the MVW KAL - and still standing........ Love the pattern - Can't wait to get the third and last part of the pattern.

But a dilemma has also presented it self in my life. I started reading the Twilight Saga - now, there are books that you simply can't put away - and here comes the problem: No matter how many methods I try, I am simply unable to read and knit at the same sime..... So what's a girl to do?? Decisions, decisions. Should I knit or should I spend my valuable free time reading??

If only I had 4 arms.......

Sideways had me upside down.....

The project is coming around nicely. I had a lot of problems understanding the instructions for the gussets, and the project almost got frogged. But then I found this service group on Ravelry for design by Geilsk and it really made the difference.

I uploaded a few pictures of Sideways - but it's really hard to see what is to become of it. A project that really can't do without blocking.... Tried to stretch out the project with my feet while taking the picture, without my socks being in the frame - challenging!

Mystery Valentine Wristwarmers KAL - 1st heat.

I started on the MVW KAL on Ravelry the other day - and 1st heat is completed.

In the beginning I was a bit confused about the picot lace edging - it didn't look quite right to me, and I wondered if I had gotten the pattern right, but it turned out really neat, so I guess I'm on the right course.
Now I am just waiting for the calender to sho January 10 where the next part of the pattern will be released :-)

The progress of the wrist warmers can also be followed here.

Casting on like a maniac.

Since I started using Ravelry more, I keep digging up projects that I just HAVE to make - right away..... Therefore I have been casting on like a maniac the past ccouple of days (I also finished a couple of projects along the way so I guess it's ok).

First a secret project - all I will give you here is photo....

Then I found Geilsk and fell instantly for "Sidelæns" (sideways) which is a seamless project, knitted sideways.

The kit comes with the most wonderful yarn in a cotton/woll blend that is supersoft and doesn't scratch at all!

Enough about the yarn - lets talk about the packing - faultless beauty....... everything carries the Geilsk trade mark - a gorgeous childrens drawing. Both on the paper bag the yarn came in, on the banderole and just to make everything perfect, the kit also came with a label for sewing in the finished project.

Not bad to start off 2010 with gorgeous yarn.......

Pilates socks and Odessa

First of all a Happy New Year to all the readers. Hope you all had the greatest Holidays ever.
I spent my 2 week long vacation on Dan Brown and Knitting. I finished Odessa, but think i turned out a little too small for my big head, so it may have to find a new owner. Isabel agreed to let me take some pictures of her with it. I really love the way the beads fit the colorway of the yarn. Odessa is available both on Ravelry here.

A girlfriend's birthday came up and since I am a really poor planner, but always likes to give home knitted gifts, I had to cook something up really fast. She is a Pilates instructor and addicted to Chanel nail polish (on her toes) So I dug up a Pilates / Winter Nail Polisher sock on Ravelry (aka Yoga sock) and grabbed some orange/red Mille Colori left over yarn in my stash. An evening on the couch and voila - present ready.

..... I really think I might be addicted to Mille Colori from Lang.