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February 28, 2006
Light
I'm so happy the light is coming back again! When I come home from work at around 6 o'clock, it there is still enough daylight to take a decent picture of my knitting. I have to be quick though, it lasted about 5 minutes today.
This is the result:
It's the scarf I'm making from the Noro Kureyon # 153 I bought at the needelecraft fair last Friday. It's coming along nicely, although I have some reservations about its width. I've made a Kureyon scarf before, casting on 34 stitches, which I was happy with. Just to make this one a bit different, I cast on 40 stitches. Somehow, I find it's turning out a little on the wide side, maybe about 6 stitches too wide.... I guess I'll let it rest a couple of days, see how I feel about it then. If I still don't like it: to the frog pond it goes!
Posted by saartje at 6:27 PM | Comments (11)
February 26, 2006
Needlecraft Fair in Zwolle
On Friday, I went to the Handwerkbeurs in Zwolle, together with my mother, my sister, my cousin and a friend. The Handwerkbeurs is a needlecraft fair which is held every year. This was my first time at the fair. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it turned out quite interesting. Because it wasn't a knitting fair, but a needlecraft fair, there where lots of quilting, embroidery and sewing booths. Some of them had some nice things, but they didn't interest me much. I came for the yarn!
And yarn there was. Not a lot of great quality yarn, but enough to make the visit worthwhile. This is what I bought.
A ball of Opal in a nice green color, bought from Wolhalla. I'm not a big fan of self-striping yarn, but every once in a while, one of them strikes my fancy, and this one did. On the way home in the train, I had to start the first sock, of course (even though I had some other unfinished things in my knitting bag...).
Next: 3 balls of Noro Kureyon no. 153, also from Wolhalla. Fantastic colors! This will turn into a scarf, as you can see. So uhmmm.... yes, I started this one too.
There was a small booth with Drops yarn! This yarn only available in one real shop in the Netherlands yet (De Breibrink in Annen), but the girls in the booth said they are working on it. In the meanwhile, we can of course order through the internet, but it was so nice to meet the yarns in person. Somehow, I couldn't put down these three balls of 100% alpaca. The colors are just so attractive to me, and the yarn is soooo soft... The balls don't know what they want to be yet, so I'll give them so time. Just looking at them makes me happy!
And last but not least: the Vintage Style book from Rowan. There are some really nice things in this book, like Salina on the right. And I happened to find the perfect yarn for her! In the booth of Klaziens Kreatie I spotted some really lovely tweedy Shetland yarn in this light purple color. And the price was right: € 7.50 ($8.90) for 100 g/400 m. As it turned out, Klazien is having this yarn specifically made for her! She has her own line of colors and when she orders more yarn, it takes about 3 weeks before they can send it out, because it has to be made first. Of course, the color I wanted was almost sold out, so I couldn't get the 5 skeins I wanted. I ordered it, so now I'll have to wait about a month for the yarn to get to me. Oh well, it's not like I don't have anything else to knit in the meantime. By the way, this yarn doesn't seem to be on their website?
All in all, I had a great day. I met some of the girls from the Utrecht Stitch 'n Bitch group, very nice! They sat in the restaurant knitting (in between shopping of course) and drawing lots of attention. They helped me decide on the color for Salina. The Shetland yarn was very popular with them as well. I will try to drop in on their SnB-night sometime!
Besides adding to the stash, I did finish something as well this weekend:
It's the wristwarmers for my aunt, right before being mailed off to her. I do hope they fit and that she likes them. And do you see that lovely envelope? It's made from recycled German maps! I bought it at Bureau Bewust in Utrecht. It's made by a German company called Direkt Recycling, and their products are sold worldwide. Go check them out!
Posted by saartje at 11:54 AM | Comments (7)
February 22, 2006
More wristwarmers
Thanks for your opinions on the Mermaid sleeve. I will try to put it in, to see if it works, and if it does, knit the second sleeve. If it doesn't......well.... I'll probably say some ugly words, throw the thing in a corner in disgust, cry on T.'s shoulder, take a hot bath, drink a glass of wine, knit some other things, take a deep breath, then take it apart and start over.
In the meantime, I'm working up some courage for the Sleeve Project by knitting on the wristwarmers for my aunt.
The first one is finished, the second is coming along nicely. I really like making these, they're a quick knit. Of course, you have to string on the beads first (96 in this case). And the invisible cast-on is a bit of a pain, but once that is over, the knitting is a breeze. When that is done, I graft the seam closed. Not my favorite part, but it leaves the seam nice and tidy!
Posted by saartje at 9:56 PM | Comments (6)
February 19, 2006
Friday
I tried to post this entry on Friday, but somehow, Movable Type or the server or something unknown wouldn't let me. With the help of my fine hosting service knitblog, I finally managed to put it up today. I don't feel like changing the text, so please pretend it's Friday when reading this!
Finally, weekend is here. This week was pretty busy, so I'm glad it's over. Lots of people are taking next week off, because it's a school holiday. I will be one of the few people working, so I hope it will be nice and quiet, so I'll get some things done.
The weather has been awful, and still is today, as you can see in the background of this picture:
But on the bright side: take a look at the foreground. Can you identify it? Yes, you're right, it's a finished Mermaid sleeve!
I'm glad it's finished, because I did not really enjoy knitting it... The lack of stripes makes it feel endless. So I'm not looking forward to the second one, also because I'm a little bit worried about the shape of the sleeve cap.
It looks very pointy to me. I'm making the smallest size, and this is the way it turns out, unless something went horribly wrong, a possibility I'm not ruling out. What do you all think? Maybe I'll try to set this one in before starting the second, so I can see if it works or not.
Yesterday, I recieved the last of the belated Christmas gifts. Look:
It's Favorite Mittens by Robin Hansen! I've always wanted her books Fox & Geese & Fences and Flying Geese & Partridge Feet, but they have been out of print for a long time. I was very glad to hear about this new book. The book has patterns for traditional mittens from rural Maine and Canada, a choice of the best patterns in the first two books. And you know I'm a sucker for traditional patterns, so I'm so happy to own this book!
Take a look inside:
I always wonder what the inside of a book looks like. It's not difficult to find pictures of the front cover of a book on the internet, but the inside usuallty remains a mystery until you order it. I always look it up on the website of the Needle Arts Bookshop, because they show some pictures of the projects in the book. But what I really want is to see the way the book is layed out, the way the patterns are presented. So that's what I'm trying to do here, without breaking copy right rules. When I've had the chance to read the book thoroughly, I might do some kind of review. So far, I like it a lot. Thank you, Santa!
Since I'm not starting the second Mermaid sleeve rightaway, I decided to knit another pair of wristwarmers. I'm using Regia Silk, in dark blue (color #050). I had some leftover from a pair I made for my mother, so I weight it to find out exactly how much.
25 grams, half a ball. Alas, this won't be enough for the pair I planned, because they will be a little bit bigger than my mother's. I'll have to hunt for another ball, but it's not available where I live.... The wristwarmers are supposed to be a gift for one of my aunts. I'm seeing her next friday, so I want them to be finished then.
At least I have enough beads.
Posted by saartje at 7:12 PM | Comments (7)
February 14, 2006
Mini mitten
Brrr, it's still cold over here. Okay, it's not freezing, but my Herringbone Gloves get a lot of use. And I'm wearing my wristwarmers every day. They really do help to keep warm!
In the category 'just for fun' I made a Latvian mini mitten:
I used a pattern from the fantastic book Latvian Mittens by Lizbeth Upitis. I really love this book. There's a lot of eye candy in it, picture after picture of the most beautiful patterned mittens, like this one for example.
It also has a pattern for mini mittens, with serveral charts. You can't really use them for anything, not even for dolls (because the thumb has no opening), but they're so much fun!
Here is a picture of the mini mitten together with a tea light for size reference:
I'm not sure if I'll make a pair or just start a different one. I want to make them all!
Posted by saartje at 7:22 AM | Comments (7)
February 10, 2006
Mermaid's sleeve
I passed the half way mark on the first sleeve. I was very happy to reach the two blue ridges. 
As Yuki commented the other day: You must possess a deep well of patience and endurance to get through all those rows of garter stitch! Though Mermaid is certainly a beautiful design-- is that how you forgive her repetitiveness? Or perhaps it is the shaping that maintains the interest?
The shaping is indeed interesting, but now that I'm working on the sleeves which are mostly done in only one color, I realised the striping on the body made it go faster as well. The sleeves have shaping in almost every row, but in all white it seems to going very slowly.... [By the way, do check out Yuki's blog, Cosmopolitan Purls. She makes lovely things and shows them in the most beautiful pictures.]
Panter checks out Mermaid's sleeve. I think she approves.
Posted by saartje at 11:04 PM | Comments (1)
February 9, 2006
Some things
I took a little break from the first Mermaid sleeve to knit this pair of baby booties for a collegue who's expecting:
The pattern is from a German book about sock knitting: Socken stricken by Lena Fuchs. I like this book, it's a great addition to my sock library. I guess it's sponsored by Schachenmayer, the company that makes Regia yarn. All the socks are made from Regia. It starts with the basics, with clear pictures of the different parts of the sock. The biggest part of the book is filled with 60 patterns for socks, some knee highs and some baby booties. Of course, it's in German, but not too difficult to understand, I would say.
Questions
Lizzie asked: I'd like to know about that long limbed creature lying next to your project. it's cute!
click
You can find the explanation at Schmeebot's site. Fun to make, and my cats love to play with them!
And now for some Dutch:
Caren vraagt: saartje, hoe brei jij je noorse sokken, doe je dat met de mosaiektechniek of gewoon intarsia?
Geen van beide! Die techniek heet Fair Isle of stranded knitting. In het Nederlands geloof ik dat het jacquard heet. Je neemt hierbij de draad die je even niet gebruikt mee aan de achterkant van het werk. Is je vraag zo beantwoord?
Posted by saartje at 7:15 AM | Comments (4)
February 4, 2006
The secret of the snow lantern
So how did I light the snow lantern? It's so simple! I just used this:
A humble tea light! It works very will and shines stronger than you would expect.
So this is the recipe for a snow lantern:
Just make a lot of snow balls, place them in a circle on the ground, add more layers, making the circle a little smaller after a couple of layers. Don't close it yet, light the candle and put it in first. If you don't have solid ground or a table or something at the bottom, it's best to place the candle on a saucer, or it will melt the snow around and under it and eventually fill itself with water. Close the lantern with a couple more snowballs. I always leave a small opening directly above the candle, but I'm not sure if that's necessary.
Easy, but very effective!
If you make one and you take picture, I would be happy to see it! By the way, it's best to take these pictures without a flash, I used a tripod [statief] instead.
Mermaid
I finished the body. Very happy about reaching that milestone.
Of course, it depends on your definition of 'finished'.
Sigh.....
Elisabeth wondered: I'm amazed, that the pattern is so poorly written, since I've heard a lot of good things about how Hanne Falkenberg writes her patterns. I've never tried one myself, but many from my knitting group have... and HF is usually pointed out as "the one with the well written patterns" *hehe* maybe this is one of the few which have missed out? :)
Well, this is my first experience with a Hanne Falkenberg pattern, so I can't compare. Maybe the way the pattern is written just doesn't go well with me, while others may like it. I what bugs me most is the layout. In my opinion, it would be easier to read if the different parts of the pattern where more clearly marked. Mmmm, come to think of it, I'm using the English version, but I also have the Dutch translation. I'll check it to see if it's any better.
Tonight I'm starting the first sleeve!
Posted by saartje at 6:08 PM | Comments (11)
February 2, 2006
Real winter
We had a great time in the Vosges. The snow was good and the weather was nice and sunny most of the time. In fact, it was quite warm at times. This is what the view from the ski slopes was like:
The mountains aren't very high (the highest peek is about 1500 m / 1640 yards) but they make a great skiing place when you're not too demanding.
I made a snow lantern:
I love to make snow lanterns. I first learned about them in Norway. In the Netherlands, there rarely is enough snow, so whenever I get the chance, I make some. Looks fairytale-like, doesn't it?
I finished the second fingerless glove in the car on the way. Because of the warm weather, I got to wear them all the time, even when skiing.
I did some knitting on Mermaid, especially in the car on the way home.
The end of the body piece is in sight! I'm hoping to start the first sleeve this weekend. I have to say, this pattern is written not written very well, and the layout doesn't help either. You have look back and forth a lot, and it takes me more time than I would like to find my place again. It could have been a lot easier, in my opion.
Oh well, I'll get there!
Posted by saartje at 7:20 AM | Comments (10)
