Pentecost

Ever since I can remember, my parents (and, by extention, my sisters and I) meet with their friends from waaaaaaaaaay back (like when they had been with the Scouts) on the Pentecost weekend in a house they rent somewhere in Switzerland.

Over the years the houses got more luxerious, but other than that the meet up has not much changed over the year. There are trips to places nearby, hikes depending on the willingness and stamina of the hikers and on Sunday we have a picknick. There's also always a cheese fondue one evening *yummy*

I couldn't go for several years, either because I was away some place else on vacation, or I had to work. But, as my vacation plans this year fell through, and I didn't fly to the US after all, I asked if there was a spare bed.

Our house this year was at the North-East corner of the Lake Constance, just where Germany, Austria and Switzerland meet up. The place is called 'Sonneblick' and we had one fantastic view over the lake and the surrounding land.

We had seriously perfect weather. Not a drop of rain all weekend and so much sun, I didn't get just one sunburn, but at least three (front, neck and left ankle)




On Monday we made a round trip first taking the post bus, then the train, then a ship and back up home by rack railway (I hope this translation is correct)
The train we took had open sides, which was brilliant and loads of fun.

I just couldn't resist taking pictures of the sheep grazing close to the house. Little yarn balls (okay, not much yarn on them right now, but it will grow back)

On my way back on Tuesday, I made a stop in Ulm, taking pictures in the Münster. I was playing with the settings of my camera and am quite happy with the outcome.

Needle and Thread

For a change I saw (sewed?) a little bit last week. My sewing machine is not the best in the world (okay, it was a super cheap one, so I shouldn't be too surprised), but I managed to beat it into submission to make that:


It's about 30cm long and perfect for one smallish knitting project.
The one above was actually the test run for the pattern. I've made another one, but forgot to take a picture before giving it away as a birthday present for a friend. It was the cutest cat pattern fabric and I've been looking forever for a pattern to make something from it.

I tested the usability of the bag for knitting projects on a lace scarf I knitted last week (test was very successful)

The shawl is made for a Japanese yarn called Ito Kinu and is 100% silk. I've bought it in a lovely little yarn shop here in Frankfurt called Maschen.Werke. I spent a delightful hour there last week talking with the owner and, naturally, leaving some of my money there in exchange for yarn.
The scarf pattern is from the book 'Victorian Lace Today' and I really enjoyed making it. The finished product is also very lovely.

Some finished socks


It's a pair and I'm wearing them right now. The yarn is some I've bought in Sweden in February.

I've also working on another pair of socks right now, which is the pattern 'Sam' from the CookieA book 'Sock Innovations'


I was already halfway down the foot, then I noticed that I crossed one cable the wrong way. This is one of those things nobody else would ever see, but I knew I couldn't live with it. So I ripped out quite a bit and am now back on the leg. I don't really mind - more knitting fun for the buck - but those cables are not really relaxed knitting, I tell you.

Finally, I've started with my next cardigan project, which is the Featherweight Cardigan from Hannah Fetting in Knit Picks Shadow.


Mostly nice, relaxing, mindless knitting.
A lot of it!

Flowers (for Mother's Day)

Last month I've had the 15th anniversary in my company and besides three extra days for this year vacation time, I've got a nice voucher, which I've used to upgrade my camera equipment. I've bought myself a Nikon D5000 DSLR camera.

As I'm on vacation the next three weeks (*bounce, bounce, bounce*) I'm sure to have plenty of chances to play around with my new toy.

As a start I focused (*haha*) on the two orchid flowers I have. I don't know exactly why, but even though I don't tread them any special (like orchids are supposed to be treaded), they are both already on their second flower cycle and have been for several weeks now.


(I particularly like the one on top)

I'm still working on figuring out all those buttons and I'm sure it will be a while until I'm really proficient, but it's a start.

Catching Up

I didn't update much on my projects lately, so today one big getting-up-to-date post.

My finished Mondo pullover. At one points it was finished, but I found the hip part was too wide, so I did rip everything up to just underneath the arms and knitted it again with some decreases instead of increases. I'm rather happy with it and did wear it twice already.

(I know, I'm looking crumpy in that picture, but it is not that easy to take a picture of yourself in a mirror without blocking up most of what you wanna show)

The required update on Queen Nefertiti:

I just hit the midway point (except, I haven't stitched any of the metallics yet, as I'm going to keep that for last), so I'm sort of halfway done, but not really.

Entralac mini-bags:
Those where the other stuff in the bucket when I've felted last week. Very, very happy with them and possibly will do more. They've been fun to knit and fun to felt.
Originally, I've made three, but one (in browns and white) has been given to a friend together with the last shawlett I've made (Traveling Woman)


And, finally, what I'm working on now - the Ditto cardigan:
Done on the body and one (short) arm.

Splish-Splash

Over the last year or so, I've felted several bags in my washing machine. In most cases it worked out quite well, even though my washing machine is a front-loader, while most people recommend to use a top-loader for felting (a top-loader gives one the chance to stop the whole process anytime you want to check on the felting progress, so you can stop whenever you deem the whole thing is just right. With a front-loader this is not exactly possible, but given that my washing machine is in the basement of my house and checking on it would mean I would need to run down 64 steps every single time, it's not very likely I would do it anyway)

Last time I used my washing machine for felting was a bit of a disaster due to lint blocking my drainage and me finding new and creative ways to get the water out of the machine that involved NOT flooding the room, so I decided I would like to try another way to felt my stuff. Originally I heard about hand-felting on the Yarn Harlot's blog, but she in turn reverences a Knitty article from 2007, so I'm going the same.

For my objects to felt, I choose a) three little entralac bags I've knitted a while ago with left over Noro Kureyon yarn and b) a pot holder I've knitted with a sock yarn I've heard rumor of that it might felt, even though it is supposed to be super wash (Sockenwolle 'Treviso' bought at a sale at Lidl). Either way - if it felts, or if it not felts - would be fine with me. I just need to know. So I knitted a smallish object that would work both ways, and threw it in with the bags.

When you hand-felt, you need a bucket, a plunger (a new one preferably), something place your bucket on so you don't damage your bath tub and some muscles.

I threw in the stuff I wanted to felt, some detergent and hot water, as hot as it comes from the tap.
Then I started to agitate it.


I timed myself with my kitchen timer, taking a break every 10 minutes or so. After some time, I moved the whole caboodle out to the balcony (we have perfect weather today and it would be a shame to waste it)

I'm not quite sure, but I would guess it took a good 30 min before the bags actually started to felt, but I kept going another 20 to 30 min after that before I decided I had enough.

I've learned two things from this:
Yes, the sock yarn I've bought does felt.
Here's a before and after picture:


(I freaking love that holder and will certainly knit a partner to it)

And hand-felting can be fun, though it is nothing for the impatient.

Spring Time

Since Friday the air traffic in Germany and most of Europe has been grounded thanks to the eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull.

Some people still get their planes up into the air, even though, sadly, no passengers in those (unless they are really, really small)


In order to get off the ground, some people just climb up into the trees

(here in my home town a tree climbing garden has opened a couple of weeks back - it does look like fun)

And, Spring has clearly - finally - arrived.

Decision Time

As I had six of the sixteen balls of yarn left after finishing the Mondo Sweater (well, let's say I thought I was done with it, but more about that later) I returned those back to where I bought them.
I came back home with thirteen balls of 'Borkum', a cotton / linen mix by Wolle Rödel (a chain of yarn stores that has a couple of house brands)

The question is, what to do with this yarn.

I've been thinking about a short sleeved cardigan for the summer and had a list of about eight patterns I liked. I've now narrowed it down to three options.
1) Tappan Zee, a free pattern from the last edition of Knitty
2) Ditto from the Berroco webside
3) Drops 118-17 from - obviously - Drops Garnstudio

At the moment Ditto is the most likely candidate. I do also like the Tappan Zee a lot, but I'm not so sure the yarn would work so well with it (the example in the pattern is knitted with a wool/silk mix) .
I did knit up a gauge swatch and it came out with 20.5 stitches to 10 cm which is fairly close to the gauge asked for in the pattern.

The Mondo Caple pullover was finished last week and I did actually wear it on Friday, but then decided that I don't like the basic shape (a slight A-line) so I ripped everything up to the height of the chest and restarted with a bit more waist shaping. I hope this works out.

To keep my mood up I did knit a small shawl as a gift for a friend of mine. The pattern is called 'Traveling Woman' by Liz Abinante. It is a hugely popular (and free) pattern on Raverly and I knitted it in Heritage Paints yarn by Cascade Yarn in a green colorway.

Love the yarn, love the pattern and love the finished object (it's still blocking right now)

Finally, the obligatory update on Nefertiti
It's moving along rather well, I think.

More Progress

I know it looks as if all I'm doing is stitching on Nefertiti, but that's not true. I did finish the Mondo pullover on Saturday and it's blocking right now. Before washing it, it was a bit on the short side, but I do have the feeling it's long enough now. If not, I've got plenty of the yarn left.

Progress on the queen:
I've had a stretch of rather boring stitching - for two days I've used basically only three colors and one of those was for back stitching those hieroglyphs and the two bird people.

Tomorrow - Easter Monday - my family will decent on me expecting to be fed. I'll be busy.

Progress

This week I've worked mostly on Nefertiti and also on knitting the pullover. On the knitting front I've finished the body and am now on the right arm (not very far on this one yet, but I'm getting there)

Stitching-wise I've did this:


A lot of this was accomplished while listening to 'A Short History Of Nearly Everything' by Bill Bryson. I've read the book already twice, but recently got an unabridged audiobook copy and I love it. Audiobooks lend themselves to stitching like nothing else and I've a hard time stopping once I've started (the typical: 'just one more chapter' syndrom)
Over all I think I've got maybe 20% done, though I might be wrong on that account. It's difficult to judge.

Change of Plans

After knitting the back and one and a half of the fronts of the Central Park Hoodie, ripping everything up again, as it was simply too big and re-knitting half of the back, I've decided that this pattern will not be what I want it to be. I'm not even sure what the problem is, but for now I decided the give up on it and start with another project using the old yarn.

The new project is called Mondo Cable Pullover by chicknits. It is a fairly simple top-down, raglan pullover with a large 5 by 5 cable down the front. I've had a wrong start, but now, on the second start I'm rather happy.



In the meantime, I've also knitted a new scarf. The zipper on my old winter jacket broke while I was in Sweden, and I bought a new jacket there. Only problem: I've got not a single scarf that matches the new jacket (a sports jacket in red, white and black). I didn't want anything lacy with this so I settled on a simple 4 knit 4 purl pattern, switched over after every six rows. And I used black alpaca yarn for it.

Definitely a success.
Except that finally, FINALLY winter had given up (or at least retreated for a bit) and it's been downright spring outside for the last couple of days.
Well, I'm sure I'm going to get some more use out of it, as I'm sure we're not really done with winter. And if not, if it really should stay a bit warmer for a change, I won't be too depressed either.

Last, first update on my new stitching project. I've put in some hours already and it's progressing quite nicely.

Stitches

It's been a while since I've did any amount of x-stitch. Last week I've finished two long term projects and started another one.

First project was my Sampler Game Board.


I've got a plan for this, eventually, to incorperate this into a small couch table. Just need to find the right table now.

Second project is called Bethlehem by Diane Arthurs

I know Christmas has been over for a while now, but at least I've started this *before* Christmas (on my flight to Florida to be precise). Nice, almost mindless, stitching that and I do like the effect.

As I couldn't have no stitching project, I've started with Nefertiti by Lanarte, the companion piece to my King Tut.

Almost There

Once upon a time - or, rather, last March - I posted the last update of my Sampler Game Board, a stitching project I've started a long time ago. I know I did stitch a bit more on this one after that post, but pretty much, for most of last year, this project had been put aside (some might say, ignored) for other things to do - like knitting a gazillion socks.

Not that I stopped knitting socks, no sir!

I finished my Skew Socks and I do love, love, Love them

This is one neat pattern, I tell ya. Not that complicated and the result is jaw dropping cool. Since posting the above picture on Ravelry I've got a lot of hits and many, many positive reviews.

And, of course, I've got another pair on the needles already.



Toe up with what pretty much is a reversed heel flap heel. Pretty funky that, and pretty cool too.

But, to come to the point of this post: I've picked up the Sampler Game Board again and thanks to the cold my dear nephew gifted me with I've got to stay at home the whole of last week and treaded myself with a Due South marathon and some long stitching hours.

There's a small sneak peek here...


... but I think I actually might be able to finish this by tonight. Only three more squares to go.

Sweden 2010 - Part 2 - The Snow

The Day I arrived in Sweden about half a meter of snow was dumped on the country (well, at least where I went). As the sun was out, it made for nice photos.

It had been below freezing for more than two months and the sea close the coast and the smaller harbors are all frozen over.

Some people didn't get their boats out of the water in time:

Some just enjoy that they can ski over the water:

The birds may have some trouble finding their feeding stations:

I mentioned it was cold, right?

Cycling was possible in principle, but first one had to find his bike:

Picnicing may also be somewhat difficult:

And finding out where you buried uncle Sven also was a challenge:

Sweden 2010 - Part 1 -The Crafts

Olympic Games means for me usually (or at least for three times now), a visit to my sister in Sweden. We watched the Games (of course) but I also spent time with my nephew (making big progress on MySims Agents) and doing crafts. Last time I did some quilting projects as well as some socks and some beading. This time I did sew a bag, finished a pair for socks, started a new pair of socks, stitched a bit and got a cold - I could have done without the last one though.

As a little present for my sister I made her the second Daybreak shawl in a smaller size.



She seemed to like it, so I'm happy.
The yarns are again Zauberball, though this time in the color 'Frische Fische', and the Istex Einband.

On our trip to Boras (spelled with that little circle over the 'a', but somehow I can't get my keyboard to make that symbol) I did pick up a small DMC kit for a bracelet with metallic thread which I stitched up on the same day.

Nice and glittery and very easy.

I also sewed a Grab Bag, which is a small and fairly easy to make bag for smallish projects (i.e. socks)

Actually, I did make two, but the second one is a present, so I can't show it here ...

And finally, I knitted the first of two Skew Socks. The pattern is quite unusual and borders on genius. For a while there you don't know what you're doing until that one magical 'origami' moment when you finish the heel and everything comes together.

From the front:
And from the back:
I really, really like how this sock turned out.