Happy New Year

The girls are sick so this is what I'm doing on New Years - bloging. I decided not to make a list of what I want to do. I will leave it open. Only thing is I want to finish my WIPs, especially the French Village. I also want to start a big project. I want to make more ornaments too. I'm getting hooked on those.

Another year coming around the corner

I've been working on my stitching projects finally. I've been doing things for other people lately and missed doing things for myself. I've been working on my UFO project, French Village (25% done) and the band sampler (working on the 3rd band) this week. I wish I could show you the upgraded pictures but they are trapped on my camera for now.

I think ÁS woke up. She had a stomac flue yesterday. Poor thing. I have to blog about next year some other time.

Post Xmas

We had a wonderful Christmas. Kamilla is discovering Christmas for the first time and just loved opening packages, and she didn't really care who the belonged to as long as they where opened. I was reading the tags and handing out the presents and she would sometimes go behind me and grab a gift. We were me, Clint and the girls and my mother. Here in Iceland Christmas starts on 6 PM on Christmas Eve. We ate light-smoked lamb and it was delicious. And after dinner we opened our presents. Normally we clean up after dinner first and eat desert but since the girls are so young we wanted to open the presents before they fell asleep.

Now I have uploaded some pictures. This is the birthday present for my friend, who turned 30 in December. It is a Lizzie Kate design worked on the recommended fabric, Cafe Mocha linen.



Here is the only Christmas present I made by hand. It is a scarf I made for my Grandmother Laufey. It is crochet in Merino (Jaeger yarn) and has Biggy Print yarn (Rowen) woven in, also merino. I've never wanted to do a scarf before. This one is different because it is crochet not knitted and maybe I'm just getting more mature.



Now I want to clear out as many WIP's as possible. I got the silk thread I needed for the TW piece and did the little bit that was left. Now I have to add the beads and I have them ready. In the new year I want to concentrate more on big patterns and delicate patterns. I got some patterns from Golden Kite. I've been lurking on their webpage for over a year and now they had an offer I couldn't refuse. I spent twice the amount of money I had planned but got four patterns instead, 1,2,3,4. The first two I bought and the next two I got for free. I don't plan to do them all. At least not in the nearest future. I joined an internet group for people who like to do big projects and it is very inspirational.

Christmas around the corner

In the 10 days or so Ása Sóley has started waking up in the evenings. I had the luxury of having a little baby that went to sleep at 20 PM but then all of a sudden she decided just to take a nap early in the evenings and stay awake most or all af the evening. This has reduced my knitting time considerably. I did manage to finish the birthday present in time but barely and I ended up framing it myself. I haven't uploaded the picture of it on my computer yet. It'll come.

Now Christmas knitting. I will be able to finish a scarve that I'm making for my grandmother Laufey. It is a very simple and elegant scarf. It's the first scarf I've made since my scarf fiasco in school. Actually it is not knitted but chrochet in a net and a nice yarn is woven in the net. Here is the pattern (in Icelandic but you can see the picture). The Canto yarn is not sold any more, not in Hagkaup at least. I went to another store who is a speciality knitting store, Storkurinn (the stork). They carry Rowan, Debbie Bliss, Jaeger, Noro and such. So I got Biggy Print to weave in the net of Jaeger yarn. Both Merino. I am going to have to make one for myself!

I also have couple of mittens on the needles. I finally learned to make mittens ;) and now I think it's so easy.

Couple of finishes over the weekend

I finished couple of WIPs over the weekend. I don't know if it's called a WIP (Work In Process) if you actually finished making the thing but have the finishing left (frágangur).

I blocked the doily (dúlla) I made way back:



and gave it to my grandmother, who turned 88 years old yesterday. She is in a hospital and it looks nice in her room with decorations sitting on top. It gives the room a little more personal touch (don't get me wrong, she has a nice private room to begin with).

I enjoyed making this doily. Every row was different, so a lot of variation which I enjoy. Then after the blocking the piece transformes itself into a very beautiful (IMHO) doily. It's been a while since I finished it, maybe 3-4 months but I didn't want to block because I didn't know how to store it. It wouldn't be safe from the hands of the 2 year old if it was out and how do you store a thing like that in closets or boxes?

I also finished a hat:



Funny how I look like an old women on the photo. This is my comment on it on the pbase site:

"This is a lopi hat I knitted once with leftover yarn for my uncle (I had made him a sweater). I never got around to giving it to him. Well, yes once but then he was off to a warmer climate so the hat remained with me. As it was too large for me I ended up washing it and it felted. If it sortof in a charleston fasion as it curls up on the ends. I sewed in these little flowers to give it a little more fancy look and I really like the way it turnes out. I, however don't particulary like the way I look like I was 100 years old on the picture nor that the hat stings somewhat, unless it is really cold."

My craft time has somewhat been cut back as little miss Ása Sóley has decided to be a party queen and stay up late. Gone are the tranquil evenings starting at 8 PM. She is actually very quite and plays and has fun so I get some time for knitting and stitching, I'm thankful for that. I'm hoping that this is just a phase!

Stitching blogger's question of the week

I finally signed up for the sbq. So every Wednesday a new question is posted an a bunch of stitching bloggers answere it.

Today's "Stitching Blogger's Question" was suggested by Zohrah (http://xstitch.free.fr/zohrah13/) and is:

Have you done any charity stitching, been in one, or would like to organize one?

The permalink to this post is:
http://blondelibrarian.net/stitching/archives/2005/12/stitching-for-charity/

I have not done it and actually never been aware of such a thing with the except in a magazine. There has not been orginized charity stitching here in Iceland that I know of. I don't know if I would participate. I really depends on my schedule. I don't think I would be organizing one in the nearest future but I can see myself organizing one later on for a cause that would hit home with me.

Knitty is out!

Can you believe what they have - blue jeans for babies! I've been wanting to try the Rowan Denim yarn. I even found a cute denim dress pattern (skokkur). But this beats everything.

After blogging yesterday the christmas-gift-making spirit came over me. Finally. Usually it is a lot sooner. I have it all planned out. Well maybe not all but if all else fails I'll always have the 1 hour scarf!

No title

Right now I'm working on 4 WIPs. One is a knitted item and is the hat I showed you a picture of in last blog (which Linda correctly guessed). It is an on-line pattern (in Icelandic) in Regia sock yarn, 6 ply (as it is the only one sold in Iceland that I know of - at least in Hagkaup) in passion colorway. I'm making this hat for Kamilla, although I don't know why. This child has more hats than she can use! I might give it to someone. I'm using up left-over yarn from when I made my first (and only sofar) socks.

For cross stitching I have 3 projects current. One is a present and you will get pictures in about 2 weeks. One is my band sampler - it's such a joy to stitch. Both the silk yarn and the variety of stitches make it very interesting. I just wish I had more stitching time. Finally, I've picked up the Crescent Moon by Mirabilia and started the bead work. I'm making this pattern for Kamilla and I also want to make one for Ása Sóley. I've been looking at the other Little Stitches patterns and have started to lean towards this one. Although it is called newborn joy I doubt that it will be in the working for a while.

HD blog

I made a project that I didn't share here on the blog since it was a gift. It was a frog bib! Who would appreciate that kind of design for there baby??? We were babysitting (or frogsitting) two frogs for friends of mine and they just had a baby. An adorable baby girl Áslaug Edda. Here's the bib:



I also made these Lopi mittens awhile ago and I believe I mentioned them here. They are the once I only had 10 cm (4") left of the yarn when I finished. Here they are:



I've been working on my Just Nan band sampler from Hanging by a Thread. Their photo is terrible but here is the first band:



Finally, I started a new project - can you guess what it is?

Rooster ???

I made a cross stitch kit with a rooster! I never thought I would do that because I don't like rooster designs. Some people are crazy about them!



I did however enjoy the process, it was fun to stitch, but I have no clue what to do with it! The reason I did it in the first place was because when I moved I had packed my craft stuff except for a small project. I got a late birthday present from one of the women in my birthday gift exchange and I was desperate enough to do it!

A new trix

I just learned a new trix in x-stitching. Sometimes one cross starts in the same hole where the previous one ended. This happens e.g. when you stitch upwards (instead of downwards) and the rows are aligned. What you can do is to loop the thread around another thread at the back of the piece and then you can go back through the same hole again!

Why didn't anyone tell me about this? It's so simple. And if there is something I've learned in Engineering it is that beauty is in the simplicity ;) Fegurðin er í einfaldleikanum.

Too busy for crafts? Nah, not me.

I'm hacking away at my dissertation. This weekend I'm sending a revised copy to my instructor. Then I'm taking a little break and will be unpacking (at last) and stealing some time for stitching and knitting.

I'm focusing on smaller projects right now. I'm doing a smal design I got for my birthday and it is almost done, perhaps hour, hour and a half left. But in the meantime I knit up a pair of mittens, about time! I finally found a pattern for Lopi mittens and it had the most clever thum formation. You knit the stitches meant for the thum on an extra yarn (best to use a different color), then you put the stitches back on the left needle and knit them as they nothing happened. Then, when you're done knitting to the top you take out that extra yarn and pick up the stitches! It's brilliant.

You know what else is brilliant? I knit the mittens with the leftover yarn from my red sweater (yes I save leftover yarn :o ... ). It was very exciting to knit with it because I wasn't sure I had enough. Turned out there was just 10 cm (4") left of the yarn when I finished the second mitten, just enough to weave in!

Out of order

I've been away for awhile. Away from the internet that is. I moved and it's taking some time to get the internet hooked up again.

Birthday gifts

I got a lot of gifts this time around. Some from my friends and relatives but most from my stitching friends at Allt í kross. We have a Birthday game, where 15 of us send each other gifts for our birthdays. I go a lot of stitching related gifts, including 3 Mill Hill kits. Those kits are so much fun, they have different beads and decorations and some of them are made with perforated paper, which I love. I've made one kit already - the Angel. Funny enough, all the three other kits I got were angel kits :o One, two, three. little kits ;)

For part of the money I got from my grandmother Laufey I bought Þríhyrnur og langsjöl. Then I will buy herb colored single ply icelandic yarn in Ullarselið, next time I'm in the neighbourhood (they are about 1 hour drive from here). The yarn is on the front page - isn't it beautiful? Can you believe these colors?

30 years!

I'm thirty! My birthday was October 14th. It's wierd but I'm getting used to it. I mean it's not like I'm old?

Since it's been so long since my last blog I'll have to show you a picture.



This is Ása Sóley in her crochet Lopi jacket - pattern from Crochetme.com. I do have to put on the buttons though, so it's not all the way finished yet.

Then I have the whitework ornament:


Can you believe it? I ran out of floss just before I finished :( I wonder if you even see the missing part, that's how small it is. So if any of you reader have leftover white silk floss from Madeira, can you please, please send me some. Or I could just buy another one :o

Dilemma

I have a little dilemma. I wanted a quick, easy project and chose this pattern from the online magazine Crochetme.com. I'm making it with Lopi, which has the same gauge as the recommended yarn. The problem is that it is designed with crochet hook K with is 6.5 mm and that yields to 10 hdc (hálfstuðlar) per 4" (10 cm). It is not possible to get 6.5 mm crochet hooks in Iceland (please correct me if I'm wrong) and a 6 mm hook gave 12 hdc and a 7 mm hook gave 8 hdc. I continued with the 7 mm hook although the sweater will be too large for Ása Sóley, maybe it will fit Kamilla instead. My other alternative was to frog (rekja upp) and start with the smaller size with 7 mm. That might give results close to the original bigger size I intended to do.

So I guess I solved my dilemma of whether to frog or not already!

I really like the color of the Lopi I chose. It really is a quick project. Perhaps I'll make two! I really like the texture that the hdc stitch creates. I normally don't like the texture of crochet cloths, especially children cloths, but I really like this one. Picture soon. I will be getting a new computer soon, which should help solve my photo sharing problem :o

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.

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 :)

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.

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!