... and now, more photos.

I hope now I can blog. I've been trying for about a week. Not that there is a problem with blogger. I just haven't made the time to do it. I haven't been on the computer and when I've had time to blog I've actually rather just knit. My knitting time has been cut a little short due to the girls not going to sleep when they are supposed to.

Without further ado, I'll start the photo show. First up are couple of wash cloths, nr. 8 and nr. 9.



Nr. 10 is well on it's way. I've been wandering what I should do with all my wash cloths and I decided to give them away as presents. Not the first one though. That one's for me no matter what! (I'm not even using it). I gave some to few friends of mine that are expecting a baby this fall. Usually I don't know anyone that's pregnant but then all of a sudden 4 women I know are. I also sent them bibs, mostly knitted, for their babies.

I have a photo of my knitted baby dress I made but since it is going to be a gift I'm only giving it as a link. The mom can then decide for herself if she wants to see it beforehand or not. My niece is also getting a bib, but that will not be a part of the Christmas present. I want to knit another one of those bibs in denim. It's a fun and quick knit but not easy.

Another fun, quick (but not as quick) but hard knit was the Lacanau slippers (which I'm wearing as I write this).



I have to go now. I'll catch up with you later but in the meantime check out the video I posted below.

The Last knit

What not to knit to!

If you need to get some knitting done, like due to a dead-line. Do not, I repeat, NOT watch Arrested Development. I got the first season on DVD and it is just not possible to knit and watch that show at the same time. It's jus too funny and too addictive.

For the last couple of nights, I've sat in front of the computer and watched these shows, holding my knitting. Just holding it. Yesterday I figured I could work on these garter stitch scarf I'm doing for my 4 yo. niece (her birthday is comming up). It's knit with novelty yarn and is impossible to fix once you make a mistake. Of course I made a mistake and then screwed it up even more when I tried to fix it and eventually gave up and started over. That was almost a skein worth of knitting my friends, and I already started over once because I felt it was to wide.

So - be aware.

Put your title here.

I have to correct myself. In the last post I said that I had already started washcloth nr. 8. The fact is that I had already started nr. 9 and finished nr. 8. I just forgot about it. I finished nr. 9 yesterday but have to weave in the ends for those two before I take pictures.

I am also far gone with my slippers or sandals. If you put sole underneath you can use them as sandals. I think that's pretty neat. But I think I have to go with slippers for now. I'm done with one and have just a tiny little bit of knitting left on the other one. The make-up of the slipper is a little pain. Just because it is a lot different than I'm used to. Let me just say that the cross pattern on the top is not solely a decorative option.

Recently I got great news. One of my dearest and oldest friends is having a baby. I can't wait to knit for her baby all the little baby things I've wanted to knit but not had a reason. My youngest is already 1 1/4 and too big for these little baby things. I wish I had all these ideas and patterns handy when I was pregnant with her but I don't even think I was really knitting at that point. I think I was mainly cross stitching then. I already started the Mason-Dixon Kimono. The only thing that stops me is that I lost my tape measurer. I can't believe I haven't lost it few times before. My kids were playing with it and then I took it away from them so I wouldn't loose it. Now I can't figure out where I put it. I guess I should have let them play with it after all :o

Aren't you glad to see me again?

Finally I make time to blog. I uploaded pictures onto my Pbase.com account ages ago but I haven't got around to post them before. In my defence, my brothers are visiting and we are going all over the place and hanging out in the evenings so my knitting time has been limited. I can inform you, however, that I started a new project. It should be a fast knit and these slippers look luxurious to me. I couldn't get the yarn it calls for (elann.com had it but only in 2 color that didn't compliment each other) so I got another yarn from knitpicks.com. It's supposed to be made with 100% silk, which I think would be heavenly on your feet. This yarn I got is part silk, part alpaca and part merino and it's buttery soft. But maybe pure silk would be sturdier. I want to make them in the right yarn as well. I think the pattern concept is brilliant (with the i-cords determining fit) and we'll see how well I like the pattern afterwards. I'm pretty sure this is my first Knitty project! It's about time, eh! I started it on the recommended needles (4.5 mm) and it looked kind of small and I realized that the gauge was way off. So I tried 5 mm and it was still too small so now I'm using 5.5 mm and they are giving me 17 sts to 10 cm instead of 16 but I'm going to stick with them (plus I have kind of small feet). I swatch as I go along. You start with the sole from toe to heel and I started and then used the beginning of the actual knitting as my swatch.

So, where are those photos I took way back - I hope I have them all :) They can be found in my album as well.



The first is of the 7th washcloth (I don't think I haven't started nr. 8). The second is of a bib I made some time ago. I found this daisy patch that was perfect for the bib and matches the button. Then there is a collective picture of three more MD bibs.

The winds are shifting

or something like that.

I actually stitch today! I started on the border of Woodland Grace, while the girls were sleeping today and while watching Bridget Jones: Edge of Reason for the first time as well. So I didn't get as much done as I could have but nonetheless, this is a big step. I haven't stitch since on the Grace (or anything) since April. Since the beginning of the year I have only worked on the Grace and the French Village.

I've been feeling the stitching comming over me lately. I've been reading stitching blogs with a renewed interest and looking at Mirabilia and Teresa Wentzler pieces with envy. I don't own any Mirabilia designs, except for Crescent Dreams (very fitting because the street I live on it called Crescent Drive), but I have couple of TW's designs, Celestial Dragon and Egyptian Sampler.

The other day, while I was shopping at JoAnn's, I even saw a small design that I WANTED to buy. I didn't buy it but it was the first time in a long time I even wanted to by a stitching kit.

Perhaps, this time, I can actually do both stitching an knitting at the same time? That would be nice, since I have quite a lot of stitching projects to finish but I don't want to give up knitting.

Same ol' same ol' or what?

I've been going to bed early a lot lately so knitting has been scarce.

I did start to make swatches for my eingirni sweater. I plan to make a raglan sweater from 1 ply Icelandic wool. My step-mother and step-sister have made them before. I think I'll do it on 4mm needles and the yarn is steel gray. Very cool.

My Icelandic online knitting group adopted a feature from my stitching group, an UFO day. UFO stands for unfinished object and on an UFO day you take up an project that has been laying on the sidelines and work on it. It gives you motivation to finish projects that have been left behind, sitting at the bottom of the knitting basket.

Today is one of those days (every Thursday is) and I finished couple of bibs and a wash-cloth. This things had been sitting in my knitting canvas bag for couple of weeks now and I finally made time to finish them. I would have taken a picture but couldn't find my camera.

So stay tuned for pictures ;)

Contemplating

My knitting has slowed down a little this week because I've been contemplating (hugleiða, áforma). I've been contemplating on two projects or projects to be. One is the slippers I promised Clint long time ago. While I was on my shopping spree in Europris, I bought bulky wool that looked perfect for felting.

This week I was about to start the slippers when I notice that the wool I bought was a little thicker than the wool it was intended for.

So what to do?

I backed out of the project for the time being and let my brain munch on the problem.

Couple of days later I come down with the solution. I knit the slippers with the intended needles (7mm) instead of what the pattern calles for (5.5 mm) but go down two sizes.

Did someone say swatching?

No way! These are mere slippers we're talking about. If they don't fit Clint, they'll fit someone else, I'm sure.

The other problem comes with photos! It is my varigation on the Log Cabin knitted blanked.



The photo to the left shows the first half of the Tunisian Crochet row, made with afghan hooks (extra long with a stopper on the other end) and a selection of afghan hooks I own (thanks mom).

The photo to the right shows a completed Tunisian Crochet row.

It looks georgeous. At least I think so. So what's the problem?

It curles up a lot so it is not so easy to work with. I think I'll rather do a log cabin with garter stitch (garðarprjón). Furthermore, I have no idea about how to orginize the colors for the blanket. It's made out of leftover yarn from a discontinued granny square blanket and other leftover yarn plus some gray yarn (light to dark gray). The other yarn is reds, blues, greens and yellows (I guess little bit of everything.

I don't know how to organize it. One solution is to have every other row colors and every other gray?

I still like the idea of a tunisian crochet blanket. But maybe rather something like this: MoeZ afghans. Especially baby blankets with cute motives.

What to do? What to do?

I'm a libra. What that means is that I have greatest difficulty making up my mind. I have no idea what I am going to do with these washrags. I am gearing towards giving them as gifts, well most of them.

One thing I really love about them is to mix and match different colors. Especially the bold colors. I could never do that with a garment. I also have quite a few options to choose from. I counted the skeins I had in either Peaches'n creme and Sugar'n Cream, and I have more than 30! My mom bought me most of them when she was here and then I bought some more when Michaels was having a $1/skein sale.

I made yet another one. I present you with Number six:

I'm on fire!

While Ása Sóley slept this morning I knitted a felted bowl from 'One Skein'. That's two designs I've knit from that book and there are more that I wouldn't mind knitting.



My daughter (who is 3*365-4 days old) saw the bowl in it's pre-felted shape and immediately identified it as a hat for her little sister. She was more than willing to model it.

I haven't felted them yet because I am going to knit Clint another slippers and felt it in the same load (I'm soooo frugal). His old ones were worn through. Now we have carpet so it should be easier on the slippers.

The book includes instructions for felting in a top-loading washing machine. I would just have thrown it in with a normal load like I normally do but I'm thinking about trying this. Especially since I don't know top-loading machines at all.

But first, one more ball band dishcloth.

Dilemma

I am in no doubt that blogging has enriched my knitting, both by giving me access to what other knitters are doing and being inspired by them and also by inspiring me to actually finish knitted items so I can post it on my blog and not fall too far behind on my posts.

However, while I'm blogging I'm not knitting! That's a problem. I usually only knit in the evenings and that's also usually when I blog as well. Sometimes it takes me days to actually get around to blogging because I'm too skimpy on my knitting time. Sorry guys.

I made a subalbum in my 2006 knitting album for things knitted from Mason-Dixon knitting. In that album you will find e.g. this:

I like the multicolored dishrag but I will not make any more. You can see the reason why in the photo to the left. In the photo to the right you see the dishrag that inpired the multicolored one. Only problem was that the yellow color didn't match the yellow from the varigated yarn and of course the seemingly endless amount of ends to be crafted.



There are some other dishrags:




And some close-ups of the dishrags:




Can you tell yet that I'm fascinated by them? They are very fun to knit. Easy but entertaining. The last detail is my last attempt at trying to catch how loud those two colors acutally are in real life. That rag was inspired by the two colors that dominated every florist window in Iceland during my stay there in June.

I've also made some bibs but haven't finished the details yet. They got their picture taken despite their uncompletness (funny word I just made up).



The last one is the petal bib from 'One Skein' like I mentioned in my last post. It is made from 50% cotton and 50% polyester and is super-soft. I think it will be most useful as drooling bib (slefsmekkur) and not food bib.

Rags for various purposes

So do you want to know what I've been doing lately.



Couple of more washrags/facecloths.

I've also made some bibs (smekkir). I made couple from Mason Dixon and one from One Skein.

The bib from Mason Dixon is super easy and the bib from One Skein is super difficult. Super difficult but a lot of fun and a quick knit. And I think I can even make two from 1 50 g skein.

Cotton, cotton and cotton. The Mason-Dixon post

I guess I've been on a holiday. My mom's been visiting. I've been knitting but not a lot. I finished a cotton dress that is a gift so no photos yet and wouldn't be for a while I'm afraid.

I've been knitting dishrags from Mason Dixon, using Peaches and cream cotton. One is from the book and the other from the website.



I've also been knitting the bib (smekkur) from Mason Dixon, using Hjertegarn denim yarn. I love the yarn. It is dk weight (svipað og kambgarn) and so soft. It does color though and my needles are blue!

I have started an afghan, Mason-Dixon inspired (log cabin) but with a twist. I'm not ready to post anything about it right now but it's going to be soon.

Instead I present you with a picture of my stash. I actually didn't have any until I was in Iceland in June. I came back with a suitcase full of it. Mostly Icelandic wool but also Norwegian wool and some cotton. I also brought my leftover yarn, including yarn from a blanket I gave up on (couldn't deal with all the granny squares). All this yarn is going to be in my Log Cabin blanket.

Back to the USA

Well, I'm back. I'm over the jet-lag, which is much harder to do when you have a 3yo and a 1yo which are not concerned if they wake up at 5 AM. My mom came with us and has been visiting so not much knitting.

She did get me couple of knitting books. One of which was the Mason-Dixon knitting book. I love the design of the book and it's an inspiration. I was really happy when I found out you could get the yarn they use (Peaches n cream) in Walmart and I just found out where Walmart is around here. I was happy to see that it cost only $1.49/skein but a slightly less happy to find out that the dishcloth pattern I was making from the book was also on the ball-band. I guess I found out why the pattern was called ball-band dishcloth. Notice I said slightly because I was having so much fun making the dishcloth that it didn't really bother me. And they are right, the yarn is really made for this pattern. It fit the pattern like a glove.

More more more

Right after posting that last post I went out on errants. Somehow I ended up in Europris (I wonder how), which is a Norwegian store and they have yarn. I was hoping to get a few skeins of worsted weight yarn for my blanket I'm planning but what greated me was a HUGE selection of yarn in every weight possible (and when yarn and Norwegian are in context the yarn is wool of course) and even some cotton. No skein was over 200 kr. ($2.60) so naturally I walked out with a grocery bag full of yarn. (a quick note: the grocery bags in Iceland are far bigger and stronger than their fragile counterparts in the US).

The irony of bringing all those grocery bags full of wool to sunny California in July is not lost on me.

Finally Yarn! Finally stash!

I'm swamped. I thought that after the defence I'd be less stress but in fact I'm more stressed. I have to get rid of stuff, pack stuff and pack and somewhere in there are two young children. Think god for mothers. Without my mom I would have lost my sanity way back.

Yesterday I did get away from this and go yarn shopping with my stepmom, who is a knitter. We started out going to Álafoss factory shop, where they have anything you need and it's cheap. A skein of eingirni (Icelandic laceweight wool) costs $2.25 (170 kr) and I got a sweater's worth of a beautiful steel grey color (5 skeins) and some red natural colors (yes, we have redhead sheeps here too) - mórautt.

I discovered that they have cheap sockyarn and lot's of it. I got some green. They also have demin cotton yarn. Both these are danish yarn. Even if this is a factory outlet it also sells variety of yarn. I had wanted to knit a denim skokkur (sleeveless dress for kids) for Kamilla for a long time and this stuff was at least half the price of Rowan's denim.

I got some léttlopi (lopi light) in beautiful red colors for French Market Bag from Knitty. My MIL (tengdó) goes to farmer's markets a lot and I want to make it for her. I wanted to make it while I was here but I kept starting it over and over again. I was using a wrong color it turned out. This red one is much better, before I used black for the bottom.

I ended up buying about $70 worth of yarn. But that is a lot of yarn. One Icelandic shopping bag (which is much bigger and sturdier than the US equivalent) and two 4 mm needles as I didn't have one in 80 cm length (since 4 inches are 10 cm then 80 cm is 32 inches).

Later we went to Ullarselið. I had wanted to go there for a while since I went there last summer. I just love their herb colored eingirni. Now they have expanded the selection and have the yarn clearly marked from which plant it is (you don't have to check each hank). They have 50 gr. hanks and 10-15 gr. hanks. I got 4 of the later ones, which is perfect for a shawl with white being the main color. The colors varied from yellow to green. These colors are just so beautiful. As you would expect green and browns dominate the color palette. But there is a lot of variation just from one type of plant. What supprised me most was the onion and the black currant (? krækiber) colors.

This place also has some really cool buttons, made from animal bones and horns as well as stones and shells. I could have gone all out there but I didn't have a project in mind so I just looked.

So now I have stash, at last. Until now I've only bought yarn for one project at a time but the awailability of wool is so little in California (wonder why?) that I have to stack up.

In Iceland you can buy yarn at the grocery store (well, only in small villages where there is just one shop that sells everything). But in the US you can only buy yarn in yarn shops and craft stores. Why doesn't Target sell yarn, especially cotton and superwash yarn??????

Not much knitting being done at the moment. If I'm not preparing for the defence, I am visiting people. Up to 2 visits per day.

The defence is on Tuesday and after that - yarn shopping. (and perhaps a little packing)

The knitting type

There were come discussions in my knitting group (Garnaflækja) about following the patterns. It was clear that knitters come in all shapes and sizes.

1) Some of us don't follow a pattern at all but only knit from inspiration and what they've learnt from others.

2) Other knitters use patterns (more than one at a time) as guidelines to put together the exact garment they are looking for.

3) Others (and this applies to me most of the time) follow the pattern more or less but have to make certain changes (e.g. simplify or change the colors).

4) And then whe have the knitters that follow the pattern all the way.

There are pros and cons to every sort of knitting style. The style I choose helps me get an outlet for some creativity. I don't think I can actually follow a pattern without changing something. Sometimes I don't follow a pattern but make it up as I go. That applies to the Bulky Lopi jacket I made for Kamilla and the neck warmer I made for me.

So which type do you follow?

Quiet on the homefront

I'm not blogging much. It's not because I haven't been knitting, but on the contrary because I've been knitting. I'm knitting a gift so I haven't been terribly motivated to write about it here. It's a pattern that I've wanted to do for ages. It's supposed to be done in Rowan's cotton glacé but I'm doing it in Mandarin Classic. One of the thing I missed the most from Iceland is good quality cheap yarn. I just don't get it why I can't go to Joann's or other craft stores in California (I don't know how it is elsewhere in the US) and get decent yarn! How come I can't get normal superwash wool? I don't always fancy knitting with expensive yarn. Especially when knitting for someone else than me and when I'm broke. The craft stores in CA have a lot of yarn, a lot. But it is just crappy Acrylic or acrylic blends. I don't fancy yarn that's only 20% wool.

I wan't to save the expensive yarn for special occations. Here in Iceland I would predominately knit with Sandnes products. Sandnes is a Norwegian company and I think it distributes to the Nordic countries. These yarns are e.g. SISU for fingerweight wool/nylon blend (comparable to sock yarn) and Mandarin Petit for fingerweight egyptian cotton (both knit with 2.5 mm needles). Then we have Smart for 100% superwash wool and Mandarin Classic egyptian cotton for sportweight yarn (3.5 mm needles). The last one is the one I'm knitting with at the moment. Other wool yarn they have is Alfa, Fritidsgarn, Lanett and Peer Gynt (for their traditional Norwegian sweaters). Then there are some novelty yarn or yarn that's derived from their basic yarns (like adding glitter to various yarn types). These yarns all cost $3 - $4 per 50 gr. skeins.

Back to my project. I chose colors when I was at the store (a department store, Hagkaup) and as soon as I started I thought of a better color combination and now there are at least 3 other colors combinations I would rather be knitting it in. Not that the one I'm making is bad. I just think the other ones are better. It's really fustrating and I'm trying to make me content with the colors I'm working with. Has anyone else had this problem?

Back home

We are safe and sound back in Iceland inspite of flying on 06.06.06! Back to the land of the ice and snow, from the midnight sun where the hot springs flow. I'm not kidding about the midnight sun. It is really confusing for a certain little 1 year old (my little baby is one!), who thinks, when she wakes up late at night, that it's a new day. Well it isn't.

My friend Kristín was visiting me and came back with us. On our trip to Berkeley I made her go into Article Pract (since we were driving past it on our way to Berkeley). What a great store! It was beautiful, well arranged and had it all! Just name it, it was there (or so it seemed). It was so great that even Kristín, a non-knitter, bought yarn. That's amazing. The yarn she bought was habu, in silk and stainless steel! It was just too cool to pass up. I bought a skein of baby alpaca. I was really overwhelmed and since I didn't have a project in mind it is amazing I bought anything at all (I'm a one project at a time kind of girl).

There are two things I need to get when I'm here. Lace weight Icelandic yarn (eingirni) colored with herbs and Lopi light (léttlopi) for a zipped up sweater. These zipped up, tight-fit sweaters were very popular last year but then I had no interest in them. When we came to California it was freezing (literally) and suddenly I desired nothing more than that new lopapeysa (Lopi sweater).

Bath mittens

I started a project last night and finished it tonight. I love these quick knits. The project is a cotton bath mitten from a $1.59 skein of Sugar'n Cream in ivory. I got it at Joann's this weekend. Unfortunately I can't show you a picture of it since my camera is on a strike and demands better working conditions. Apparently I have to give her a spa treatment (cleaning) but I better leave that to the professional.

I think I can make another one from the skein it is a 4 oz. / 113 gr. skein and the pattern is on the label. How convenient is that!

I want to make this pattern in linen for some reason. To bad I don't have any. This is a great pattern for gifts. Just pack it with some Lush products and you're set.

35 projects

I counted 35 knitting/crocheting projects that I've made so far.

Felted slippers

I made couple of pairs of felted slippers for my grandmothers for christmas 2004. I never got a photo of them but they are the same as Clints, just in different colors.




What I never showed you were two children's slippers I made. I made them for my cousins Egill Örn and Laufey Lind, whose birthdays are in May and June. Egill Örn's birthday was first but it turned out his slippers (the blue ones) fitted his sister! I ended up using the red ones for Kamilla (fitted just fine). They felted a lot and more than the other pattern (the grown-up pattern) felted.

Skull mittens

Did I ever post this photo?



These are Lopi mittens I made for my brother Baldur. I sew in the skull pattern afterwards. I got the skull pattern from We Call Them Pirates.

I got it!

I just realized why I haven't published pictures of these projects. I did them when I was having problems with my computer. I couldn't upload pictures so I couldn't publish them. It wasn't until I got a new computer that I could start uploading photos again. Well I found another project. A cotton chenille washcloth from Weekend Knitting.

Another hole

I found another hole in my brain! Here is a picture of my Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk neck warmer from October 2005. I was very busy and stressed out in October last year as you can see from little blogging activity. The neck warmer is my own pattern. I can't remember how many stitches I cast on but the first rows (5) are pearl stitch followed by 5 rows stockinette. Then an eyelet pattern in every 10th stitch in every 3rd row couple of stitches earlier each time (so it is slanted).

The reason I'm finding all of these is because I am going through my knitting/crocheting for the last year or so and finally putting it in my orginizing program I have. All of a sudden I understood how it worked and actually was inspired to use it.

Cheese for a brain

You know how some cheese has holes in it? Well, so does my brain. First example, I went to Joann's on Sunday. They had a Memorial Weekend sale. I had a coupon for 40% of one item and got one item that cost $20 but it wasn't until I was home that I realized that I never used the coupon. That's $8 off! I went back today and got the discount. I had to go two times since the first time I went out I forgot the receipt. Well as I got the refund the clerk point out a 10% off the entire purchase coupon that I hadn't even noticed at all. I ended up using that for some scrapbooking stuff (they had albums 50% off, I couldn't resist). I guess I'll have to do some scrapbooking. One album I got (of 3) I plan to use for a craft journal. I've tried once before to do a craft journal but I didn't get a journal that I liked and the one that was closest to what I had in mind was too cheap and didn't last long.

Ok, now I'm getting side tracked.



Second example is the pink scarf I made for Kamilla in February. I never got around to taking a picture. I finally did the other day. The picture shows Ása Sóley modelling the scarf. It is made with some sort of funny fur called Funny Pelsgarn and SISU. I knit it with 4mm needles which proved to be a too small needle size. The scarf is a little too thick. But Kamilla likes it, theoretically since she never wears it.

Meet Rippit

I want you to meet my new friend, Rippit.



He is kind of an imaginary friend since I made him myself. He is made with Red Heart Super Saver 100% Acrylic yarn. I thought Acrylic would be good (and cheap) for something you don't wear. However, when I started making it I realized that I didn't think my daughter would cuddle this hard fiber. I got the yarn and a set of 6 plastic crochet hooks in assorted sizes for only $5.50 with tax! Right in my budget at the moment. I think I will be visiting Europris when I'm in Iceland for that cheap wool they have and remake it in wool.

I finally realized why people were so crazy about these amigurumis. Talk about instant gratification and creativity. I finished Rippit in 24 hours (except for few details). There is a basic pattern but it's all up to you what you want to make. You can learn more about Amigurumi on Crochet me (where I got the pattern). If you want to see different amigurumis out there try look it up on Flickr.

Now, I'm not 100% happy about Rippit. There are some things that I would do different the second time around. One thing would be to use a smaller hook. I already talked about the choice of yarn. But all in all I'm pretty happy about it.

A Fun Day

I had a great day last Monday. I meet up with Sigga Sif, who was visiting her brother in Berkeley. I had been looking forward to her comming here because it gave me an oppertunity to visit yarn shops. We (being us and Ása Sóley) met at MacArthur Bart station and walked 10 blocks up Telegraph Avenue (Oakland part) to Article Pract. To our surprise it was closed! Appearently it is closed on Mondays. We looked through the window and saw all that tempting looking yarn.

Hvað gera bændur þá?

There were some options. We could just go downtown Berkeley, which is always nice, sit in a café and enjoy life. But I had another idea. To go to Alameda and try to find a yarn shop there. I knew there were couple of yarn shops and a needleworkshop but I didn't know exactly where. We got there quite easily. Since we were on Telegraph, we only needed to take a bus to downtown Oakland and there we took a bus to Alameda (which is basically an Island by the bay). The bus stops had maps so we could see were to go and on the map we saw marked the City Hall of Alameda, which was approximately where I remembered a yarn shop to be (I saw it on google.cm/local). So we go there along with an Armanian American, which talked none-stop the whole time (only in America!).

The bus driver told us where to get out (the City Hall) and as we step out of the bus we see the yarn! shop across the street. What do you know, it's closed as well! So our yarn sprawl we've been looking forward to was a failure. We did have a good time talking. I got to speak Icelandic for a change and we got to talk badly about Icelander. We went to Long's drugs to get some water and to try to get more information about other yarn shops around there. That's one of the best things about Americans, it is so easy to talk to them. People are really open for discussion. The sales lady at Long's told us that Beverly's was at a mall not far from there. We had to walk down one street. Beverly's is not a place to get nice, fancy yarn but at least Sigga Sif could get some American size sock needles. It was a nice walk down there. We even stopped at Peet's (which incidentaly was across the street from a Starbucks) for coffee (the best coffee you can get here).

On the way back (in the bus) we tried to see the needleworks store. The bus drove up the street it was on but we didn't see it. It was probably closed as well.

Despite not being able to go into the stores, it was nice to see Sigga Sif, to see where the stores were and to see Alameda, which is a very nice town. I also had problems with Bart in the beginning. The ticket machine took my money but didn't give me a ticket and only part of the change. It all worked out in the end though.

Takk fyrir daginn Sigga Sif :)

Warm feet

My feet feel very warm and cosy right now. It's because I have my new socks on.



The antibiotics worked wonders and I am starting to be able to smell again :)

Back to the Woodland Grace I guess.

SBQ

Today's SBQ was suggested by Jenna (http://www.jennamagee.com/weblog/)
and is:

Lately, it seems that many stitching bloggers have experienced a loss
of their stitching mojo. Have you ever lost your stitching mojo? If
so, how did you get it back and how long did it take?

I periodically switch between stitching and knitting. Right now I'm on the knitting end of the spectrum so I guess I lost my stitching mojo for a while. But do not fear. It'll come back. It always does but I can not control it. It just happens.

Life takes over sometimes

Not much knitting being done lately. I've been sick, with a sinus cold and I went to the doctor today to get antibiotics. I probably have sinus infection. I haven't been terribly sick but there is a lot of pressure in my head, especially at night so I've been going to bed early. This has been going on since last week.

It didn't help either that I lost one of my needles. Thankfully it happened just as I had finished turning the second heel so I can continue with only 4 needles. It is slowing me down though. I got an advice from the Simply Lovely Lace knit-a-long to have the sole stitches on one needle and that helps (prior I had the instep needles (on top of the foot) on one needle and it was a bit crowdy.

Hopefully the antibiotics will work and I can do more knitting. I wouldn't mind being able to smell either!

Happy Mother's day!

Mother's day is a much bigger event in USA than it is in Iceland. In Iceland you might give your mother flowers, pay her a visit and generally be nice to her. Here the ads for jewelry, electronics and just about any commercial item are overwhelming.

I must admit I like this extra attention. My sister-in-law got me a mother's day gift and Clint is extra nice this morning, making me breakfast (which he actually does often on Sundays), bringing it to bed and tonight he is going to cook a very good dinner (I have no idea what it is). He and Kamilla got me a nice card and Kamilla decorated it. It's really nice.

I've been thinking about the boyfriend curse lately. The boyfriend curse states that if you knit your boyfriend a sweater you will break up. I suppose what happens is that the boyfriend doesn't appreciate the work and effort you put into it, which probably means that he doesn't appreciate you. I would call it the boyfriend blessing, since it helps you to see the relationship more clearly.

Thankfully, I had never heard about the boyfriend curse when I made my boyfriend (now husband) a sweater, and frankly I was very surprised to hear about it. We lived in two different countries and communicated by correspondance. I made him a sweater, an icelandic Lopi sweater. I had made one for me and then I made one for him. When I sent it out I realised I just sent a very warm sweater to someone who lived in California! But Clint, bless his soul, wore it nonetheless. He tells me that when he got it he thought 'yep, this is the woman I am going to marry'. It helped that he lived in San Francisco at the time, which is not as warm as many other parts of California (incl. Concord). He loves it when I make him something or when I make something for the girls. He's proud to have a wife that's domestic and can make things for the home. I am sure things would have turned out differentely if he didn't appreciate what I do.

SBQ at last

I haven't been answering these for a while, but now we have a new one:

When you stitch from a kit and use the supplied floss do you have
leftovers? If so, how much and what do you do with them? If not, do
you usually have just enough or do you have to dig into your stash to
finish?

I used to keep them but found that it just created a clutter so now I just throw them away and feel so much better. It's a feeling of liberation.

Never in my life!

I went to the Social Security Office to get my daughters Social Security Number. I went on Monday but they told me I could come back in 2 days to get the actual numbers. I need them immediately (well within next couple of workdays) so I went there this morning. Of course I brought my SLLS (the socks) to knit while I waited.

The security officer asks you if you have any weapons, pepper sprays, etc. and searches your bag. Now I don't mind him going through my purse or asking me, not at all. When he saw my knitting needles he paused and said he wasn't sure about these. I told him they are allowed on airplanes but he said no, I had to leave them outside!!!!!!!!!

WHAT!!!!!!!

What's wrong with him. You have to wait there for at least one or two hours. I don't get it. It's not like it's against the rules to have knitting needles. It was a decision he took right there and then.

Well. I came and went and each time he asks if you have weapons on you, even if he already asked. Next time he asked I said, yes, I have keys, I can do just as much harm with them as with knitting needles.

I ended up not waiting for my turn. Mostly because I called home and found out that Ása Sóley got sicker. It was not too late to get the numbers on Monday so I decided just to go home. ÁS had been feeling a little bad but while I was away she developped a fever.

And you know what, the mail just came and the SSC was there for the girls. It took 10 days for me to get mine but only 5 days (Mon-Fri) for them to get theirs. So it was all just a waste of time.

I'm square!

I clearly have problems thinking outside the box. Of course you just knit one more stitch from the next needle. That idea didn't really occur to me. I did it however as a desperate measure to continue the sock. I was enjoying the knitting too much to stop. It turned out there was a reason for it. It is in order to center the pattern on the instep. It made perfect sense after I turned the heel.

I did make a slight mistake. I slipped the stitches like I was knitting but not purling. I am going to switch to see what difference it will make, even at the change that the socks will not look identical.

Previously I've only made socks with a short-row heel. This it the first gusset (from thefreedictionary.com gusset is defined as: A triangular insert, as in the seam of a garment, for added strength or expansion.) I've made. I thought it would be difficult but it was just fun!

I'm really enjoying knitting these socks, but just like Janet, I am a little bothered by the knitting in the back of the loop half the time. It slower and harder on my finger (the finger that points, vísifingur).

p.s. there is a simply lovely lace sock knit-a-long, if you're interested.

Sock knitting

I have sock yarn!

I went to Fashion Knit on Monday and got it for the rest of my birthday money (my birthday was in October, I'm not a good shopper). It took me a long time to decide on which yarn to get. I really just wanted a solid color but they didn't have any but koigu (which is pretty good though) but the colors were not exactly what I wanted. They were too bright. I ended up getting koigu kpppm anyways but a varigated blue color, it's beautiful.



I had chosen to do a pattern from spring 2006 issue of Interweave Knits. The pattern is called Simply Lovely Lace Socks. It's not very complicated although it looks like it. It took some time getting used to knitting in the back of the hoop and it slows you down. The socks have been quick to knit because of the lace repeat, which is very motivating. You just have to reach the next lace row (1 out of 4) and then next, and next.

Now I'm down to the heel. This is the first time I'll be turning a heel. So-far I've only knit short-row heels. The beginning doesn't match up. I am supposed to knit the first stitch onto the last needle (from needle 1 onto needle 4) but still have all the 24 stitches left (out of 48). But since I already knit that one I only have 23 stitches. I am really enjoying knitting this and I hate to stop but I am not sure how to go on. Any suggestions?

Oh, yeah one more thing. The owner of the store (Jeanine Johnson) offered me a job there! I would have said yes without thinking but she was looking for a permanent employee and I can't commit to that. I will eventually have a professional job and then I can't work another job, even if it is just 1 day a week. Sure was tempting though!

The secret is out!

A lot's been going on this week. I had a job interview on Friday so spent a lot of time around that. The company is in Berkeley, so I got to go there. It is a very nice city to visit. There is so much diversity there, punks, rich people, hippies, university students, used cloths/music, good resturants, etc.

I got to take BART (I heart BART) and worked on my secret knitting project. No one tried to guess what it was :( I feel as I have no friends, buh hu hu. He he, I'm not really depressed about it. I guess it was a hard one. I always intended to post progress photos and give people a chance to guess again but I just couldn't do it.

Here you go:



It's a hat. It is in the same style as the sweater I knit for Ása Sóley. The pattern is in Magknits as well. I realized I never said what it was called, 'Made With Love' (because of the hearts I guess). I knit the hat in a child size but it turned out toooooo big. It's even wide for me. It caught me completely by supprise because judging from the jacket /cardigan (what's the difference between those two?) I was right on track. It was very wide around her, which I expected since I knit the 2 year old size and the sleeves were too small (take care when you knit up that pattern to notice if you think the sleeves might be too small, chances are that they really are). The hat is too short for me though so I'll have to do something else with it. I'm not sure what but perhaps I'll reknit it with smaller needles.



The pattern is not perfect, not the way I understood it at least. The part I had problems with was the position of the hearts. If I followd the pattern then it was only supposed to have hearts on one side (or 2/3) of the hat. They weren't supposed to go all around! I thought that didn't really work out for me so I figured out how to spread them out evenly. It wasn't that hard. All I had to do was to add one stitch between each heart (in the pattern, not to increase) and decrease one stitch (knit 2 together).

Oh yeah, the hat is knit top down (as the cardigan) and it starts of with a icord, which in the end is tied up in a knot. It looked really funny to begin with, as you can see on the picture in last post.

Can you guess the secret?

Another Woodland Grace update. But first a secret project. What is this?



Now to the WG update.

Here is how she was on April 21st. With all cross stitches completed in the trees and snow.



And here is how she was a day later with all beads done on the left tree. I just like to see the difference.



Like always all of the photos can be seen in this album.

On Saturday I got to go to a Baseball game, where Clint's niece and nephew were playing. It was fun. I know the game from my days as an exchange student in Canada, where we became Providence champions in Softball. It's a wierd game, but supprisingly fun. I sat on the benches (or bleachers?) and got to knit (after Ása Sóley fell asleep). It was nice, no chores to get in the way of knitting. I think the girls will definitely be doing baseball in the future ;)

Click, click and click.

You should have noticed the ads from Google on my site now. I am hopeing enough people will click on the links and use the search box to help me buy more yarn. I will get paid but only if I earn $100, that's a lot of clicking.

Your reward for clicking is a peak at my first sweater I made.

And the ball keeps rolling ...

Thank you for your input on yesterday's post. It was interesting to read.

I have now an overdue update on Woodland Grace. I am supposed to update on Mondays and right now is a monday (for about half an hour more) but I forgot to update last week. I even had a photo and all. So now there are two photos.



The first was taken on April 9th. I didn't finish all af the bead work but the majority is done and the face is left to do as well. Instead of finishing the angel I started working on the trees as you can se from yesterday's photo. On the right side I stitch both of the green colors but on the left side only the lighter shade of green. It makes a lot of difference. The pictures can be seen in this album.

The difference between knitting and cross stitching

I've thought about the difference between knitting and cross stitching a lot lately. I'm having a hard time putting words to my thoughts and I don't really have the luxury to sit down and write that much, as you can tell from my blog, I really wish is was more detailed, with more words, but hey! at least I have pictures most of the time. But now I have some extra time and so here we go. I don't know if y'all would agree. It'll be interesting to hear what you think.

Knitting and cross stitching are inherently different. There are a bunch of thing that they have in common.

• They are both crafts.
  
• They are both creative.
  
• They are both relaxing.
  
• They are both creative outlets.
  
• They both use needles (although totally different needles).
  
• They both use yarn.
  
• They both have active on-line communities.
  
• They both use one stitch as a foundation of the craft.
  

But here are things that are very different. Things that make it impossible for me to do both at the same time. Not at the same moment of course, but at the same period of time. I go through cross stitching periods, where I don't knit at all and knitting periods, where I don't cross stitch at all. I feel these limitations grow smaller and smaller. Right now I am at a place in my life where I don't have all my resources. I don't have all my stash and I'll have to make do with what I've got so that kind of forces a change. The biggest reason for the change is the internet. I find myself stitching a lot (for weeks and weeks) but then kind of stumbling across knitting websites and blogs and looking at what other people knit and then I'll have to do it too (not the same pattern but knitting in general). Then I cast on (often couple of small projects) but after awhile I get the yearn to cross stitch. Usually this happens after meeting my cross stitch buddies (Allt í kross) or after fun discussions on that group. So far cross stitch periods have been longer than knitting periods. This is quite normal considering that cross stitching is a lot slower process than knitting. If you are a knitter and read this then I can tell you that even the most complex knitting has nothing on a BAP XS. Big cross stitch projects take hundred of hours and with apprx. 15 hours at the most a week, this means months of work, only on one project. The upside is that there are numerous color changes so it is not monotonous and the downside is that there are nomerous color changes so you keep having to stop to rethread your needle, which slows you down considerably.

So the things that are different in cross stitch and knitting are:

• Cross stitch is slower, even small projects take long time.
  
• In cross stitch the main creative process usually occurs in the beginning. In knitting the creative process often occurs (and often unwillingly) after you begin.
  
• Knitting is more stylish at the moment and has more superstars (e.g. Yarn Harlot, Debbie Stoller). Although cross stitching has it's own superdesigners (e.g. Mirabilia, Teresa Wentlzer, Maria Diaz), they are nowhere as big as the knitters.
  
• Knitting has podcasts. You can talk about knitting.
  
• Knitting has books. Now both crafts have pattern books but knitting has knitting books as well. Books that don't even have patterns in them at all. Books about the experience of knitting and even pattern books normally have more than just patterns and techniques. They often have stories, history and knitting related activities (what to do while knitting or movies, books with knitting in them).
  
• Knitting is more versatile, while it has only one stitch (knit this purl as just knitting on the reverse), this one stitch can produse texture (e.g. pearl, cables, lace).
  
• You can make your own knitting patterns, but you can not make more than the very simplest cross stitching patterns unless you have a computer program and a college degree in arts (or least natural talent in drawing).
  

As I am writing this it occurs to me that knitting and cross stitch has more in common than I previously thought. It also occurs to me that the difference of knitting and cross stitching can be described mathematically. You see, knitting is three dimensional, while cross stitching is two dimensional. This is the inhereted difference I was looking for. The extra dimension of knitting, the creation of three dimensional objects makes it much more functional activity. You can make things that people use. You actually make clothes, while in cross stitching you only make decorative things.

Did everyone know this but me? Can you point out more things in common or which are different between the two crafts?

And what it was

The snowflake won. I made the first snowflake in my snowflake book I got at Michaels. I actually made it one and a half times since when I was done the first time I noticed an error halfway through. It was obvious and I had noticed it before but I didn't realize it was an error (half the spikes were inverted instead of outverted). I haven't sewn it up or stiffened it. I figure I'll knit some more before I'll do that. This will have to do for now since I just noticed that my youngest daughter spilled milk on the floor.

What now?

Here is a link to Ása Sóley wearing the sweater. I'm not posting the picture here since she was not in a good mood while I took the picture.

So now I don't have a knitting project. The only yarn I have is the leftover yarn from the sweater. There are hat, mittens and socks patterns that correspond to the sweater, which I might do if I have 5.5 mm sock needles (I haven't check yet). I also have some thread and I am tempted to do a thread project (like a snowflake or a doily). In the back of my head is also the notion of amigurumi, which sound both easy and fun. And I have a burning desire to go on ebay and order sock yarn, preferrably handdyed.

So now the question is: What will it be?

Stay tuned for the next exciting episode :)

WG and trying to catch up

Time to upgrade on Woodland Grace. Here is were she's at right now.



Not a lot has been done. I've been knitting more lately and one reason is that I really didn't have good enough light to cross stitch (let alone work with beads) in the evenings. Nothing gets done in the daytime, especially when Ása Sóley was sick. We did go to IKEA this weekend and I bought a good lamp. It doesn't have a daylight bulb but it should work just fine (I'm just used to the luxury of daylight). I have done more work than you can see on the picture above so I added another picture.



I got a break on Saturday, where both the girls were asleep at the same time. I used it to separate the beads and put them in a container I got at Joann's the other day. That was a time well spent if you ask me :) I had started a post long time ago about Joann's (they opened a new and bigger store in a walking distance (albeit a long walking distance) from my house. In the same post I talked about my visit to Fashion-knit in Walnut Creek. I hate the name but as it was the first time I was in a yarn shop outside Iceland and it was the first time I saw actual sock yarn (not just SISU or couple of colors of Regia), 100% cashmere and 100% silk yarn. I was in awe, especially at the price, $44 a skein. I want to go to more knitting stores, especiall to get comparison. I think Fashion-knit is a rather small store. They had few colors of each but I'll have to go to more stores to get some comparison. Just search for 'yarn san francisco' on Google Local and go through pages after pages of yarn shops in the Bay area. The search comes up with 745 insidents but as far as I can see there might be around 80 yarn shops within couple of hour drive from here. A little bird told me Sigga Sif is coming to the area in May. She'll have a lot of yarn shops to choose from. How can you optimize a yarn shopping experience? (I think I might be too tired and my inner engineer is coming through).

Knitting done

I finished the knitting on the raglan cardigan as our cat had her kittens. It was very exciting and the knitting helped to calm me down. The thing is that our cats (3) are outside cats. They basically live in the garage. The first kitten was born on the garage floor and thankfully Clint went to check on the cat because she wanted to go underneath the freezer. She actually had the second kitten behind the freezer. We put her in the bathtub and she calmed down and had the rest of the kittens (6 in total).

The cotton is definately less forgiven than the wool. My stitches are quite uneven compared to when I knit with wool. I went to Joann's yesterday to pick up darning needles and buttons (and sock needles and DIY fleece blanket and and and). So now I can actually finish the sweater.

Sweater

I really like the sweater pattern I'm knitting. First of all, it is a top-down raglan pattern. Which is something I've never done before and it is always fun to to new things. Secondly, it is all knit on the same pair of needles, there is no need to use dpns for the sleeves since they are also knit top-down. After each sleeve is completed it needs to be sewn up and then stitches for the underarm are picked up, so the sewing part is done while the sweater is being knit, which makes the finishing even easier (only to weave in ends). The band for the buttons/button holes is knit as the main body is knit (k4 at each end) so you dont have to pick up stitches and do it afterwards.

I also like the yarn a lot. It is Rowan All Seasons Cotton (60% Cotton, 40% acrylic), which feels remarkably like 'apaskinn' or faux-suede. I like to knit with it, it has a nice texture. I also like the color a lot. I don't even know what it is called and I think it is discontinued. This photo shows it a a purple but it is browner than that (yes, brown).

Not now

I can't really post now. Couple of days ago I had half a post but had to leave the computer and lost it. Now Ása Sóley has been really sick, a nasty ear infection accompanied by a lot of vomitting. I have so much to talk about. But it has to wait. Now I'm going to bed, even if it is early (9:30).

Woodland Grace update

I am supposed to update on Mondays but it is still a Sunday. It is Monday already in Iceland, does that count?

I made an album on this WIP here: http://www.pbase.com/rajons/wg and here are the highlights:

I missed one so here is a update from March 8th, when I was on the train (could explain why it is fussy, lol).



I didn't work on it much but managed to get this much done and here is today's update:



Ok, so as I said before, I lost all my marbles. He he. No, at least I don't think so but I lost all my beads and one of the red colors as well. So I didn't know what to do about it. First I was going to order the beads I needed. But then I discovered that it would cost me the same as the kit costs to begin with, plus I needed that one color, so I just ordered the kit online. There really is no loss for me (or at least that's what I convinced myself) since I got the kit for my birthday. At least I'm not paying for it twice.

Getting situated

I haven't gotten situated craft-wise here. I don't have my so-called stash. I'm not really a stash person, more one-project at a time kind o'gal. But I do have a stash. Not a lot of yarn but more of cross stitch stash, like the entire DMC color palette and some patterns. Also, the lighting in here is not very good. I need a floor lamp (and preferably a daylight bulb). I checked ikea.com and my old floor lamp is only $10. I checked other items and it seems that they are more or less half the price they are in Iceland (all the same product) and they are considered cheap in Iceland.

I'm here!

So I'm here after about a week long journey. I'm glad to be here and I see that my worries about being able to knit were needless. The temperature gets around freezing point at night and since the heating is not as good as in Iceland it gets really cold in the house. The heating is not on constantly either because it is expensive. I'm also starting to see the point of the wrist warmers, he he.

I've been here visiting before, in November, February and April/May and it has never been so cold as it is now.

I saw a yarn store in Boston (actually Cambridge). It's called Woolcott and co. It wasn't opened yet (we were there on a Sunday). I was drooling at the windows though. This is my biggest regret during the trip, to have missed the knitting store. I felt real bad about it actually. Finally a REAL yarn shop and I couldn't even enter it (let a lone buy anything). I did however buy Last minute gifts in Barnes and Noble. That helped ease the pain ;) It's a book I've wanted for quite some time but desided not to get it until I was in America to avoid customs.

I'm still getting into the swing of things here. We go to bed super early because of the time difference so there is not a lot of knittin/stitching time. I brought one knitting project and one stitching project. The knitting project is the one I mentioned earlier (baby jacked, neck down raglan) and the stitching project is the Mill Hill kit, of which I have managed to loose all of the beads :(

Sick or packing or both

I've been sick lately and we are flying out to Boston tomorrow! It has not been easy - packing, who needs packing ;)

I started a sweater last Sunday. I wanted to blog about it but I'll have to do it later. It was in MagKnit and I liked it because it is raglan knit from top down (and I've never tried that before) and it is knit with size 5.5 mm needles (quick knit).

Will you do ANYTHING for your child?

That's a good question. I think the answer, in my case, is YES! Why? Because I'm knitting her a scarf, a pink scarf AKA The Pink Monster. I thought I would never knit a scaf and I hate pink. Actually the process is made so much easier by the fact that my daughter absolutely loves it and can't wait to show it of to her friends at school. It also helps to listen to knitting podcasts, alternating between KnitCast and Cast-On, and that's just the beginning. There are a lot of new knitting podcasts out there.

p.s. I'm done 58 cm, little over one skein/ball of eyelash, so just over half way done.

Two in a row!

Blogging two days in a row! It is obvious that my computer time is not as much work related as before (at the moment).

At preschool (leikskóli) yesterday, Kamilla and I saw a beautiful, pink, furry scarf. She loved it. Kamilla turned pink overnight and wants to wear everything pink, it can be her rain suit, just as long as it is pink! So off we went to buy yarn. I didn't like the all-eyelash yarn version of the scarf we saw at school. Both it is not very warm but also it was too stretchy. I wanted a warmer, more consistent scarf so I am using one strand white SISU yarn and one strand eyelash yarn.



I'm knitting it with 4 mm needles and right from the start I got the feeling it was too tight. I experimented with 5 mm but was afraid the scarf wouldn't be as furry so I stuck with the 4 mm. I only got about 25 cm done the first night (and I was hoping it would be a 2 evening project). And those 25 cm are post stretching of the garter stitch (garðaprjón).

[útúrdúr] I wonder if garter means the same in English as garður means in Icelandic? Garður (of this I am about 90% sure) means the rows of hey that is raked when you are heying. [/útúrdúr]

I am including two more photos. One shows the real color better and the other shows the eyelash better.

Introducing Woodland Grace

I needed a portable project so I picked up Woodland Grace by Mill Hill.



Rósa has this kit as well and we decided to make it as a SAL (stitch-a-long) even if it is not a big project, but just for the fun of it. We decided to post pictures on Mondays. I had already sorted out the threads and put in few stitches. I went to my mom's house on Saturday and dad's on Sunday and put in another few stitches, only with one color thought. As luck would have it I ran out of thread when I had only one stitch left with it :( I've made one Buttoned and Beaded kit from Mill Hill before and then I did all the crosses first and then put in beads. Now I'm thinking to do one area at a time and finish both the crosses and the beading. Last time I started with the border but now I'm starting with the angel (the last one was also an angel). This kit I got for my birthday from a stitching friend of mine. I participated in a birthday gift exchange in Allt í kross. It was a lot of fun but I decided not to participate this year, I have enough on my plate right now.

For those who read this far, a little treat. Sunday update on my French village. Comming along, slowly but surely.

FO at last

Finally I finished the regia hat. I had no real incentive to finish it. The girls don't need it and I was having problem with the egde. The edge between the earflaps was cast on as I went, with only one thread. I basically just looped the yarn around the needle. I was too lazy to go and check my knitting book on how to do this properly. My faux-pas. I did the crochet edging that was required but it was still too loose. On my mother's suggestion I re-did the crochet and went higher up, took in extra row. It was still a little loose but got a lot better after I pressed it (ironed it).



It's made with Regia 6 ply sock yarn and the pattern can be found here (in Icelandic). Icelandic knitting terms can be translated with the word lists from Garnstudio.

The weather was actually quite nice so I went outside to take the picture. My older daughter was a very unwilling model at any rate. I have no idea what to do with it. I doubt I have any use for it in California and the girls already have good hats. Any ideas? I'm thinking about selling it. Is there anyone out there in the blogsphere who would be willing to pay 2000 kr. for it? Maybe $25 plus shipping? Ok, it's yours. If you think the price is outrageous, I'm sure we can work something out. It fits 2-6 year old (it stretches out well).

Here is the weekend update of the French Village:


I'm a little annoyed that I'm not at the 50% mark already. I only find time to work on it 2-3 times a week. It works up really quickly, I just need more time. When I'm at the 50% mark I will put it aside and start finishing projects I have laying around.

The knitting olympics

Right now, as I write, 4000 knitters are casting on for the Knitting olympics hosted by Yarn Harlot (who else!). There is even a team Icelandic, who Cassie and Sigga Sif are a proud memers of. I'm not a member of the team but I consider myself their nr. 1 supporter. Why am I not participating? At the moment I can add another thing to my agenda. I am turning in my dissertation and writing an article and then I will get ready to move. Its a big move. From Reykjavik, Iceland to Concord, California. The only thing I worry about (well, not the ONLY thing but a big thing) is - What do you knit in California? I don't see wool as being very practical, even if it warms in cold weather and cools in warm weather. Do I have to switch to cotton? There are always silks and hemp :o Could I knit socks, hats, mittens? I've checked and there are a few knitting stores in the Bay area so I guess I have to pay them a visit as soon as possible to find out what people do around there. The one that's closest is Fashion Knit in Walnut Creek, next city over.

The plan is as follows. On March 3rd, we'll fly to Boston, spend the weekend with my friend Berglind and her husband and son. Then we'll take Amtrak across the US! It's a big adventure (especially when you have 2 small kids) but it's something Clint has always wanted to do. From Chicago we'll take the California Zephyr, have a family room and first class service (I'm looking forward to that part).

Full Moon HD

Here is my version of Full Moon by Elizabeth's designs. It's pretty much the same as the original but stitched on a 28 ct. Summer Khaki Lugana (SK is the color, Lugana the fabric) and substituted two Weeks Dye Works for 3740 (purple) and 937 (dark green, trees).

Oh, yeah .. The camera was on the top of the fridge!

Silver Needle sale

Ok, so tomorrow is the big sale at the Silver Needle, everything is 20% off. I don't need anything but I've been looking at their store and you never know!

The sale starts at 8 AM CST. I figured out that would be 14:00 my time (2 PM). So anytime after that. Maybe I'll get supplies for things I already have and want to do. Maybe I'll get a chart or two, maybe some fabric. The list goes on and on :)

SBQ of the week

Stitching Blogger's Question

With the exception of your online stitching friends, do you have any
other stitching buddies?

Yes, I have a friend that stitches, but is not online. She inspired me to start stitching. Since about 90% of the population has the internet most 'real-life' stitching/knitting buddies are online as well.