Monday, September 26, 2005

WIP album

Holy cow! I haven't blogged for 10 days! But I have also not done a lot of knitting/stitching/crocheting in the last days. Not even on the weekend. I go to bed early and wake up early.

I added an album on the pbase.com photo service of WIP projects. My means of downsizing the photos are limited so I just put them on there full size for the moment. Not only that (I will have to put smaller images later) but these aren't even current pictures. I've done more work on each of these projects!

I also added photos of my huge, big, soft washcloth and Ása Sóley's hat. The hat is unblocked on this photo. It looks much better block - IMHO.

Friday, September 16, 2005

Lazy or just tired?

I opt for the second reason. I've been tired lately. Kids been sick and waking up early (6 AM). So I've been going to sleep at 9 - 10 PM.

I found that I need a neck warmer (strokkur). I walk around with Ása Sóley in a Maya Wrap. It means that my neck is bare since I can't zip up my jacket. I went to a knitting store close to my house (Storkurinn) and asked for something super soft. That's exactly what I got. Alpaca Silk. It's the softest yarn I've ever touched. Ok, ok, so I'm used to the all-so-scratchy Icelandic Lopi but this yarn is very very soft. It is made out of baby alpaca wool and silk (hence the name). I can't wait to get it around my neck. I didn't get needles because I thought I had some. I did, just in the wrong length. I need to get shorter needles for knitting in the round. My Weekend Knitting book has a pattern of a neck warmer so I can get the dimensions from that, and I already swatched (prjónaði prufu) since there was nothing else I could do at this point. And as always I was right on the target! The color is a beautiful navy blue (shade nr. 3) and I plan to knit stockinette stitch in the round (slétt prjón).

P.s. Linda had a beautiful baby girl. Congratulations again (and again) and I hope you can enjoy your babymoon :)

Saturday, September 10, 2005

Going backwards

Guess what! I made a mistake on my doily. I had to go back several rows :( It wasn't until then that the count mattered. It meant one whole days work I had to redo!

This is not the only project that is goin backwards. My UFO project is also going backwards. The first UFO Tuesday I worked on it a lot and got much done. Next Tuesday I did little bit. Made a mistake, had to go back to correct it but then my friend dropped by (a little Icelandic characteristic - people just drop by unannounced!) and I didn't work on it more that evening. Next Tuesday I passed out sleeping at 9 PM so nothing got done then. Hopefully this Tuesday will be better.

Finally I want to send birth vibes to Linda so she doesn't have to have her little tenant evicted! She was due Sept. 30. Go Linda go. Go baby go.

UPDATE: Linda was due August 30th and don't pay attention to the first comment - looks like spam to me.

Thursday, September 08, 2005

I did it!

I did it! I crochet (hekla) last night. I made the first 10 rounds of this doily. I had a light yellow thread (apparently it's not called a yarn but rather a thread - heklugarn) from when I meant to do filet chrochet (man ekki hvað heitir á íslensku). I tried but my tension was off. I also had a steel crochet needle. I actually had few of them which I got from my mom, who got them from her mom! The one I am using is 1.6 mm in diameter.

The pattern I chose is a pattern I bookmarked earlier in the day. I also bookmarked this doily - simple doily. It wasn't until I was quitting for the night that I realized that I could have made much smaller doily and be done much sooner!!! But actually I also liked the pattern I started because the beginning looks like a knitted doily and I think that's kinda cool :Þ

I really love doing this because each round is different from the previous round. I hate repetitions. When I was learning to read we had to read for our moms and the moms had to write their name and how often the child read the text on a paper. I never read the text more than once because I thought it was useless. So this disslike of repetition started early. So lace, whether it is knitted or crochet, hits home with me. Each round is different from the one before.

I took a photo but since my computer situation is not 100% yet I will have to show it later. I am really sorry because I love showing of my craft. Don't think for a second I am only doing this for myself!

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Follow that blog

When it comes to interest in crafts I'm very impressionable (is that how you say it?). I follow the people around me regarding which craft I do and my taste can even be changed by the people around me. When my online craft life started (July 2003, when I joined my first online craft group (Handavinnugleði). I was inspired by the fine women of that group to be a cross stitcher. I had done a little bit of stitching before but under their influence I got all of the DMC colors on ebay. It so happens that the yarn in USA is only 1/5 the price it is here. Now the doller is weaker so it is even cheaper now.

I got the yarn in April 2004, when we took Kamilla to see her family in California.
From that point I only did cross stitch until November 2004, when I knit some christmas presents. After that I started to read knitting blogs and only knitted for a while. Then, somehow I started cross stitching again.

When I read cross stitch blogs and hang out with my cross stitch crazy friends (which now have move to the group Allt í kross) I am crazy about XS (cross stitch). This is the situation lately. I haven't read knitting blogs in a while. Today, however, I've been reading crochet blogs and at the moment I am dying to pick up a crochet needle. I have a granny square blanket UFO that I could do and I have long since wanted to knit or crochet a doily (dúlla).

Regarding changes in my taste then the first time I saw Mirabilia or Lavender and Lace pictures I didn't really care for them. Now I love Mirabilia and I like LandL as well (when other people do them). At first I also didn't care much for Lizzie Kate designs but got influenced by people at my online group and now I love them :) Not all of them. I still don't like designs with the alphabet in them or a lot of writing.

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

My computer is still messed up. It's just getting worse :( The worst part is that I have specialized programs there that I use for my dissertation. Also I am having problems with photo uploading - management.

I haven't been active in the evenings lately. Kids been sick, which means little sleep for me so I'm in bed early. This weekend I managed to do a lot in the french village and am about 20% done. That's about 3300 stitches! This picture is very fun to stitch. I can't really explain why but it has to do with the lack of details since the design is work from a watercolor painting. It is also impressionistic and I really like the impressionist style. I have seen some Monet adaptations that I would love to stitch someday. This one from the Golden Kite is tempting (but big 220 x 280 stitches) and I've seen a (much smaller) adaptaion of this painting in Cross Stitch Collection.

Last night, while watching a movie, I knitted a minature sweater. Well I didn't complete it but finished most of it. It is from the book Weekend knitting, same as the flower shaped washcloth I did last week. Actually the washcloth was the first design in the book and the minature sweaters the second. It seems that I am makeing the partterns in order!!! In the book it is presented as a unusual egg cozie but I intend on having it hang from my car's rearview mirror. I'm making it in Kambgarn with 3.5 mm needle.