Weekend Creativities

Isabel and I rolled out with the heavy artillery this weekend - sewing machine, needles and what not.

In random disorder - here's a sneak peak at the needle projects:

The sewing kit for the hearts is from Malika & Rosa - they have the cutest fabrics and this sewing kit is so easy that even Isabel who's 8 years old could do them with a little direction from Mommy :-)

Come Christmas - we are ready and in the right spirit :-)

And I also had to earn som yardage for the Stash Buster Challenge

I finished another Squishy Love for a cute 4-year old in Sweden, Alma. It knits up in a jiffy. I used about   70 grams of cotton blend for this one - all left overs.

Almost a year ago my daughter got a chameleon - a tiny cute one. She called it Cola. A few months ago it passed away - the first pet we ever lost - OMG!! What to do, what to do.... Easy peasy - knit a new one.....

It's not real, but it is big, soft, warm and homemade - and it was certainly NOT easy piesy.... The design is from Hansi Singh - and it is genius! I knitted it in Jasper from Berrocco - and the greens are just perfect for the project.

So here is to you - Cola - RIP

I actually finished one more project, but that is in the mail on its way to someone who just had birthday - so stay tuned....

That brings the yardage for the first week of November to 196 (chameleon) + 101,2 (Squishy Love) + 327 (Secret Birthday Project)...

Kindle knitting

I have a Kindle - I love my Kindle - no this is not an Amazon advert.... I truly love my Kindle. My husband bought it for me last year for my Birthday - and it made it so easy to take books along for a trip, a bus ride, a trip to the park anything.

Another thing I like to do in public, on trips, bus rides and all the like is to knit. I always choose simple projects for my knit-in-public projects - because no one wants to drag loose papers and big books around - wait a minute dragging books around... I already found a solution to that problem: Kindle. Is it possible that the Kindle could also solve my pattern drag?????

To Amazon I went searching for knitting books and several were available in Kindle format. Still... I suddenly got doubts, could patterns really be satisfying in black and white (I do not have Kindle Fire) and on that little screen - most of the fun with purchasing a pattern book is the beautiful photos and having the pages in front of you....... but I felt that way about books in general when i first heard of Kindle and once I had seen one live I was sold.

So I took the plunge...... I bought a Kindle Knitting Pattern book today......

.... and here I go plunging in to my next challenge - knitting two socks at a time on circular needles trying to medicate my second-sock syndrome :-) It works like a charm. With the excellent "Go To" and "Bookmark" features on Kindle, you can easily jump to the pattern you need - and since you decide the size of the letters yourself it wont be a problem reading the pattern. I don't know if it will work for large diagrams though.

But one success a day just is not enough for this success junkie, so I had to try and store one of my many PDF knitting patterns on the kindle as well. Works like a charm. However, with the PDF files you will not be able to change the size of the letters, but you can zoom in. Have heard rumors of a technique of e-mailing the pattern to your Kindle e-mail address and Amazon will convert the file format to Kindle format for you - but that awaits testing.

So now I take two of my greatest passions (not counting my family ;-)) with me on the road in one solution - knitting and reading - isn't this world great?

Baby knits in greens

Several of closets girl friends have expanded their families with baby boys this automn - congrats all over - that have made me a very busy small projects knitter - joy :-) Love projects that knits up in an evening or two ;-) In no particular order, here we go:

Flere af mine nære veninder har udvidet familien her i sensommeren med baby-drenge - tillykke over hele linjen - jeg har derfor haft travlt med små strikke projekter - jubiii - jeg elsker projekter der kan strikkes på en aften eller to :-) I tilfældig rækkefølge:

Devlin with mittens / Djævlehue med vanter
Ravelry Project Site
Yarn / Garn: Drops Alpaca + Indiecita Alpaca
Neeedles / Pinde: 2,5 mm + 3,0 mm
Pattern / Opskrift: Stribet Djævlehue - Lene Holm Samsøe and Newborn Norwegian Sweet Mitts

Bib / Hagesmæk
Ravelry Project Site
Yarn / Garn: Havana - Ingelise Garn
Needles / Pinde: 3,5 mm
Pattern / Opskrift: Modern Cabled Baby Bib
And a cow button for that extra Muuuh / og en lille ko-knap for det ekstra muuh!

Cafe Vert Baby Sweater
Ravelry Project Site

Yarn / Garn: Leftover cotton 4/8 / Bomuldsrester i 4/8
Needles / Pinde: 3,5 mm
Pattern / Opskrift: Latte baby Sweater by Slagt en Hellig Ko

Socks rock and a vests are best....

So I actually managed to finish a project that requires stitching.....

This vest has a really tight and snug fit - I love it - it's perfect to wear to work with a fitted shirt - brings a bit of umpf to a black shirt. The patterns is Vestpa from Samantha Roshak  who also has a gorgeous web site worth visisting: Knit Quest.

I liked the Tapestry yarn for this project.

I also FINALLY finished a pair of Drops socks that I cast on on my trip to Vegas i September 2009!

I think I got stuck in this project, because I didn't really like how the heel turned out on the first sock. As you can see from the picture below - the heel edges turned out really bulky and rugget. All in all I had my challenges with this type of pattern where you knit with two strands of yarn at a time - it didn't come out very flat.... but rather constrained... I am deterined to get better at this and to LOVE knitting socks. So if anyone out there has any hints, as to how these projects turn out nice and flat - please don't hold back - let me in on the secret!!!

I furthermore discovered, that getting the Little Knits newsletter - ain't excactly making my stash any smaller!! But hey - who ever dies with the most yarn wins - Right?

As I mentioned - I am determined to LOVE knitting socks - so I started off ordering great sock yarns and signed up for The Great Sock off 2011 - maybe that'll teach me.....

Saved by the yarn pusher...........

Just as I had almost given up on finishing the cute baby cardi for rmy colleagues 3 weeks old baby girl - a phone call to Garnstuen, on Østerbro in Copenhagen, revealed that the missing ball of Muskat was just around the corner from my workplace - I know, I kniw it was my own fault. I started a project even though I knew I might be short on yarn, I was too stubborn to pay double the price of the yarn to have it sent to my door step from an on-line store. But - I got the one skein I was short - finished the project in 15 minutes - just in time to hand it over to the new owner.

And before the needles got cold, I cast on a new project...... no pictures yet - but it starts with Cascade 220 :-)

February ChallengeS......

Before throwing my self at the newly purchased yarn - I finished up some 22,5 degrees. Blocking the project over the weekend left me with an absolutely gorgeous shawl - I am delighted it's still cold outside so I get to wear it for a month or more :-)

The pattern is another Ravelry stroke of genious and the pattern is available here.

I used just under 2 skeins of Aslan Trends Bariloche. The border is actually knitte scallops - I never did scallops knitted before - only chrochet - so this became my February challenge to my self. I used the designers own video tutorial on the You Tube to get the border right - it was surprisingly easy and I love the look of it :-)

Then for another challenge - I'm knitting a birthday gift for a colleague who had a baby 3 weeks ago. I fell in love with the Little Coffe Bean Dream and decided to knit it in leftover Drops Muskat on dusty rose and brown - and then.... I ran out of Brown (22) when the only thin left to knit is the buttonhole ribbing - arghhh. So I went on line and looked for it - found it on several on-line stores - so whats the big problem? you might want to ask - let me tell you: the problem is that I am cheap! The one skein of yarn i need costs DKK 26 (app. USD 4,25) but the postage is going to cost me DKK 56 (app. USD 10) - more than the doubls the price of the yarn to have it brought to my doorstep! No way - Jose! So now I have to roam the streets of Copenhagen looking for just that one skein that will make my little Coffe Bean Dream perfect - before Baby grows out of it - Now that's a challenge!

Here's a sneak peak at the Muskat missing cardi.

January Challenges

Have decided to challenge my self each month in a knitting project.

In January it was "Judy's Magic Cast on"

The projects is Vestpa by Samantha Roshak. I use Tapestry in grey tones that I stashed 4-5 years ago......

Magic cast on is truly magical, so magical that I couldn't believe how easy it was - I looked up 3-4 instructional videos to make sure I did it right - it just seemed so simple! and it is! Really looking forward to try and knit socks toe - up - maybe a later challenge to my self??? :-)

Here is the instruction that was actually the one I started with and explained so simple. Go for it - try :-)

And it looks like this:

Another great thing in January - I discovered Handknitting by Slavi. A Danish on-line yarn store that has ALL my favorite yarns - without me having to fly to the States or pay 3 times the price in customs - I can get it right here..... Cascade 220, Malabrigo, Heaven's Hand, Misti Alpaca Handpaint sock yarn....... Have already ordered first batch - just waiting for the post man!

Better make them needles burn - have so many projects lined up - so many delightful challenges :-)

2011 - A year with new activities and challenges

My New Year's resolutions (I have many) include: Knit more, Finish more UFO's, Blog more, try more new techniques, complete a marathon under 4 hours........

In 2010 I finished 19 projects - 2 of them being old UFO's - I'd really like to beat those statistics this year.
In 2010 I also completed my first Marathon i 4 hours and 17 minutes in Berlin - It was the greatest experience ever - eventhough it was raining cats and dogs the entire time and it was cold as winter - It was just amazing! And I fear I have become a repeat marathoner ;-) In 2011 I have already signed up for 2 more marathons - Copenhagen and Berlin and one of those must be completed under 4 hours.....

So all the goals for 2011 are set - but before I start attacking those goals, lets have a look at december 2010 - I did finish several projects before Christmas.

For my Niece and Nephew a knitted a little something something for Christmas.

Nieces Boheme:
A cute little woll vest from Ravelry for Liv - I purchased the yarn from LittleKnits - the yarn is Aslan Trends Bariloche - great colours and fabulous quality. I added small yellow heart-shaped buttons.

Dead Fish hat for Nephew:
Also from Ravelry, made from different scrap yarns - here modelled by my daughter - I chose yarns that were a little smaller in gauge than recommended sincee my Nephew is only 3 years old. It was a really fun project to knit and he loves it. Hope more little children will come to the family so I get to do more of these :-)

Eskimo Mittens for Mommy:
Even though this pattern is from Drops - I found it on Ravelry..... I have made several of these earlier, but was alwaysbothered by the thick seam - since I realy suck at sewing seams together - so this time I chose to knit the project in the round on 4 needles - It knits up really fast and made these for my mom while she was here for Christmas - Finished them in 2 evenings while watching the news.... They turned out perfect and with the perfect fit without seams! Now I have to make a new pair for myself! The yarn is Easy from Sandnes

Fingerless Mittens for myself:
Knitted in Jasper from Berocco - that I bought in Las Vegas last fall - fantastic yarn - bummer that I only bought 4 skeins of 50 g - used 2 for this project - 2 left. I love these - have used them every day since I finished them - only thing wrong with this picture is that the nail polish from Chanel is NOT Khaki Vert - which I never got hold of - grrrrrrrr! I have great yarn pushers - how does one get hold of a great nail polish pusher????????????????

And last but not least - My Poppy!
I rarely finish any sweaters for my self that I actually end up using - but this is one of those that make it through the loop - I wear it all the time - Thank God for Scandinavian winters :-)
The pattern is from the book "Yarnplay" by Lisa Shobhana Mason. I had this project in mind ever since I bought the book almost 2 years ago, but I knew that I had to find just the right yarn. In Las Vegas I purchased a bag of Tonalita from Trendsetter yarns in these great earth tones, and then I went looking for yarn for the bottom panel and ended up with Noro. Knitting the bottom panel made me doubt that I was ever going to wear it - it came out very barrell-like and I wasn't sure that I was a big fan of the stripes I made with scrap yarn - but once the project was finished and I put it on - all my doubts were washed away - this is definitely one of my favourite projects from 2010. Will try and get a picture where I'm actually wearing it.