« June 2006 | Main | August 2006 »
July 30, 2006
Random
1.
I finished my mohair scarf.
I ended up using two balls of the mohair/silk blend I bought in France (77% mohair, 23% silk, in 25 g balls ~ 125 m). When knitting a scarf, I always find it difficult to determine when to stop. A scarf should be long enough to wear comfortably, but not too long because then it will be too heavy and stretch out. The right length also depends on the width of the scarf, and the material you're using. Anyway, I just knitted until the second ball ran out, and the scarf is now over 1.5 m long.
A detail of the stitch pattern:
I found the pattern here. I don't know if the scarf will get a lot of wear, because the mohair is a bit scratchy. I do love the color though.
2.
Follow this link to see what I would really like to knit. It is designed by Eunny Jang, the author of the wonderful knitting blog See Eunny Knit (do check it out if you haven't already, and be sure to take a look at the technical articles in the right side bar). She tells us the pattern will be published in the winter issue of Interweave Knits. Such a long time I will have to wait!
3.
My blog got mentioned in the July issue of the Dutch Marie Claire (right at the bottom):
Of course, it's not my favorite magazine Marie Claire Idées, but it's still nice to be included in a positive little piece on knitting. Thanks to Saskia for pointing it out to me!
Posted by saartje at 10:18 PM | Comments (17)
July 23, 2006
Melting
Last night, I felt an uncontrollable urge to do something with the mohair/silk blend I got in France. After some surfing on the internet for ideas for lacey scarfs, I finally came up with this:
It's from a free pattern called Knotted Openwork Scarf. It's an easy knit, although I wish my needles had sharper tips to make lifting the stitch over two other stitches easier.
And of course I wish the temperature would be at least 5 degrees lower, like about 24C/75F. This would make knitting in general, and knitting with mohair in particular, more enjoyable.
The grass in my neighborhood could do with some rain, but no sign of that, unfortunately. I can't believe I'm saying this but: I'm almost grateful I will be back at the office tomorrow, cooling off with the airconditioning.
Posted by saartje at 9:16 PM | Comments (6)
July 19, 2006
More french yarn
Thanks for all the welcome back comments! It is indeed good to be back, even though it is even warmer over here than it was in France. I haven't been back at work yet, I've been ill the last two days. But now I'm feeling a lot better so tomorrow it's back to the real world (with airconditioning!).
More yarn from France:
This is what's left over of the two balls of Phildar Préface (color 'Gentiane') I bought somewhere in the Jura. The rest of it has been turned into socks, which I can't show you yet because they're a gift. I can tell you I used a pattern from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush. After I give them away, I will show them to the world.
The yarn is nice to work with, unfortunately the color selection is very limited. France is not the country to visit when you're looking for sock yarn.
I did have an unexpected fiber encounter later on. We were staying on a campsite in the village of Mens, about 60 km south of Grenoble. In the window of the Office du Tourisme, there was a lovely felted hat and a bowl with some fleece samples (did I remember to take a picture? no). With it was a note about a felt studio called Lana Stratus in a village nearby. Of course, I dragged T. with me to go there (he's such a patient guy! Remember, this was after the visit to La Droguerie).
We had a lovely time at the studio (but did I remember to take any pictures? no). It is run by Christina, an Australian woman who has been living in Europe for many years. She makes the most beautiful felt clothing and other things. It is well worth a visit, when you're in the neighbourhood. She has a website with details about her studio, workshops etc.
Christina gave us some information on where to find yarn in this part of France. We managed to visit one of them:
Création du Bochaine
Saint-Julien-en-Beauchêne
This shop sells some very luxurious yarns, like alpaca, cashmere and angora. The yarn is produced in the area. I bought three balls of a mohair/silk blend.
It is similar to Rowan's Kid Silk Haze, only heavier (25g = 125m). I think I'm going to use it for a lacy scarf.
Work on Salina has been slow, but steady.
I finished the first sleeve. After I set it in, I discovered it was way to short. So I took out the cast on row, picked up the stitches and knit another 25 rows to lengthen it. In this picture you can also see the way the colar is layed out. So now it's onto the second sleeve!
Posted by saartje at 7:15 PM | Comments (8)
July 17, 2006
Long time no see
It's good to be back! We spent a lovely 2.5 weeks in France. The weather was good, maybe even too warm towards the end. For the most part, we were in the mideastern part of the country. We stayed at 6 different campsites. Camping in France is so easy, in almost every village there is at least one campsite. And I love to camp!
In Strasbourg, I paid a visit to the infamous La Droguerie. I have such a love-hate relationship with this shop. They sell wonderful stuff, things you can't get over here in the Netherlands. And there is so much of it. That is the good part, the part that keeps making me come back when I have chance. But on the other hand is the fact that you can't shop around by yourself, because the attendants are the only ones who can take the things you want from the shelves. And all the yarn is in large hanks or on cones, which they will wind into balls for you, but this takes quite a lot of time, especially when the shop is busy.
I would still recommend a visit to La Droguerie though! There are 9 shops in France and three in Japan. If you have been there, let me know what you think.
So what did I buy?
Buttons for Salina. A bit difficult to photograph, but they are exactly the right color. I'm very pleased with them.
A kit to make a little strawberry baby cardigan. The yarn is bamboo, it feels so soft. I've never knitted with bamboo. It feels a bit like cotton, only it's much more environmentally friendly.
Three more kits to make a matching strawberry baby overall, hat and booties. (NB: they had to wind the yarn for these kits from hanks into balls while I was waiting....)
100% wool yarn in a lovely grey color. I already did a little test swatch, using the cuff pattern for Elise from Rowan's Vintage Style. I'm not sure if I will use this yarn to knit Elise though. Any other ideas? It's 50 g = 175 m.
That's all I got from La Droguerie. I did quite a bit of knitting during the holiday, especially on Salina. Progress reports are to follow later.
Last but not least: the butterflies. We always go butterfly watching when we can, and this holiday was a great opportunity. As not to bore you with lots of butterfly pictures, I made this collage.
Mmmm, there might be some inspiration for knitting designs in there!
Posted by saartje at 4:54 PM | Comments (17)
