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).