Kamilla's socks

Kamilla's socks
Originally uploaded by rajnos.

I finally just took a photo on my cellphone. I sent it to flickr and I can blog through them.

These are Kamilla's socks and she loves them. I'm so happy about that because kids usually don't like what you make for them and you have to love them in spite of it. he he But it does give you a lesson in not expecting the recipient to love your knitting as much as you do. But that's not the case now.

Moving on

I'm over the felting failure. The reason (beside the time that has passed) is that I rediscovered sock knitting. I've knit couple of pairs of socks, actually two for me and two pairs of toddler size socks. It's never really fascinated me.

I was intrigued by knitting socks on two circulars. I came across this idea some time ago, but it seemed so complicated. This summer I acquired Cat Bordhi's book on the subject, which has been sitting and waiting for me to be ready to try it. I've been giving this some thought and I decided I wanted to make plain socks but in interesting pattern. I needed wool socks for my kids, so it was the perfect opportunity. I got some discountinued sock yarn on knitpicks.com (~$2.50) and got started. At first I thought, why just knit one sock. Why not do both? Let alone that the only experience I had with two circulars was knitting the top of my Odessa hat.



Well I started it that way, but it was very complicated. Not so much the knitting part but I had a big problem with the yarn tangling up, since I only had one skein and I had to knit from both ends, plus that would mean that the socks wouldn't match. Eventually I took one of them of the needles. Oh, boy. Oh, boy. It was amazing. I just love it. I've fallen in love with sock knitting, head over heel. It is so much fun.



It's so much faster because you have fewer junctions and only 2 needles instead of 5. The knitting is more even because I used to have a big problem with ladders. I just couldn't stop the gap that formed where the needles joined. I don't yank needles of the stitches and I don't have to worry about loosing the working needle when I lay my project down.

I remember the toddler size socks I did before. The top part of them (the ribbing) seemed endless and to take forever. This time, it was over before I knew. I already finished the pair and all that is left is the crafting of the toe on the second one. I can't do that with out the instructions in the computer. So I couldn't do that last night. Even that part seems easier now for some reason. I've never been able to master it before but now it seems so much simpler.

The socks were knit on 2.5 mm needles. These are old metal needles from my mom. The knitting would have been even smoother and easier with newer needles, either Addi Turbo or KnitPicks. The pattern is kind of a mix and match. I looked at my original toddler sock pattern from a Sandnes Christmas collection, but the stitch count seemed a little high and Kamilla's old socks were always too loose on top (they were just put over the trousers instead of under). I looked at Knitting Rules!, online patterns as well as Cat Bordhi's book. The stitch count varied from 44 to 50 sitches. I ended up casting on 48 stitches. I did k2 p2 ribbing. The heel flap and the rest of the sock is knit in stockinette and follows Cat Bordhi's basic sock pattern (except I didn't continue the ripping on the instep like her pattern does).

While I was knitting the first one I kept trying it on Kamilla. She loved it and even asked to try them on. The second one was easier since I just followed the color pattern on the first one. The color changes are perfect. I wish I could show you pictures of the finished product but I'm having an uploading problem with my camera.

Felting gone wrong

It's been a while since I meant to write this post but lots of things are going on. I have a cold that just wouldn't go away and I have to prepare a presentation for a job interview.

So, the story goes like this:

When I was in Iceland last June, I meant to buy yarn for another pair of slippers for my husband. He wore the other ones down and he really likes them and asked me to make another pair. When I was in Europris I found a yarn that looked perfect for felting so I got that instead of the recommended yarn. It was cheaper and it saved me an extra trip to Hagkaup to buy Fritidsgarn. I bought a bunch of the yarn so I could make more pairs. It turned out the yarn was a little thicker then Fritidsgarn but I proceeded making the slippers just using bigger needles on a smaller size. I also made a bowl from the book 'One Skein' and when the slippers were done I make a box from Mason-Dixon knitting out of some more of the yarn. I loved the box. I liked the colors and it basically stood up by itself. (It was knit double stranded (tvöfalt garn) ).



Things just went downhill from there. I washed the stuff and realized that this yarn doesn't felt well. Earlier I had washed the bowl, it didn't felt well but I thought that might be because it is a toploader (the washer) and because I just put it in a normal full load. It turned out that wasn't the case at all. The slippers didn't shrink at all and the box grew if anything :( and it became softer and doesn't hold up as well.



Buh hu hu ;(

Kinda Lost

I'm kind of lost right now, knitting wise. I've finished the bulk of the little projects I have and the others are not calling me. I have a crochet project, but I lost the hook. I have a washrag, but that's more of a travelling project and in-between project (I have actually been using it a bit lately). I have the log-cabin blanket, but the yarn is now in my bedroom and everytime I need it the bedroom contains a sleeping baby. Finally I have a shawl, Swallowtail shawl from Interweave Knits Fall 06, but I was knitting it while listening to the Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman and now, when I pick it up and start knitting I feel that I miss the book and I can't stop thinking about it. It's not often that books have this effect on me. So I become a little sad. Plus, the pattern is not easy (or least not for me for some reason) so I tend to make mistakes and then spending a long time to try to fix them.

I ordered yarn on Ebay for couple of christmas presents. It never showed up. The seller is going to send me more in different color. It's weird how the yarn just disappeared.

Well. I have to go now. Being harassed by Kamilla :) he he. Next post will continue in the same depressing manner, when I talk about my recent adventures in felting.

Odessa in pictures

Isn't she georgeous?

And my Log Cabin blanket. It's growing, slowly but getting there. Just started round 7.



I couldn't help but put one of Ása in an alert state. She's wearing the Magknits sweater I made for her and what's more - she loves it! It's so great when your kids want to wear what you make them.

Knitting HD - Odessa

In the online cross stitching world, finishing a piece is called Happy Dance (HD). Usually pieces take so long to make that you are really happy when they are finally finished. Or least that's the understanding I have of that term.

Tonight I finished the Odessa hat. Happy Happy.

There is a knitting group that meets at my library first Sunday of the month. Last Sunday the theme was beaded knitting and the month's project was a beaded scarf. I wasn't terribly interested in the scarf but I was interested in beaded knitting so I was inspired to make Odessa instead. I started last Saturday (one week since now) and I just finished it. It should have been a much faster project. Partly I was working on other things (finally finished the knitting part of my husband's slippers) and partly the needle I had slowed me down. For the most part of the knitting you use 16" (40cm) 4 mm (US6) needle and my needle that fits that size is cheap and horrible. The joint is as un-smooth as can be, there is actually a little ball of plastic where a smooth joint should be. I also have a longer 4 mm needle from the same company and that has a bad joint as well. I got these two needles because I was going to knit a sweater with them and I got them at the same place where I got the yarn (and it was the only kind they had). I was happy that the needles were cheap but now I can't knit the sweater :(

When it came to decreasing and I had to switch to dpn (sokkprjónar) I realized that I had no dpn in 4mm. I didn't feel it was worth it getting these needles just to knit few rounds at a top of a hat, plus it meant I had to go out to get them. Lately I've been wanting to knit socks with 2 circular needles instead of 5 sock needles (dpn) and I thought perhaps I can knit the top of the hat with 2 circulars. I got out my KnitPicks Options (which didn't come with 16" cable so I couldn't use it in the first place) and got a 4mm needle together. It was great using this method. Much easier then I thought it would be. I already have Cat Bordhi's book and it came in handy too. I can't wait using this method to make socks. It seems a lot faster that with dpns.

I have found couple of new problems with the Options. It doesn't come with 16" cables :( The other problem is perhaps my fault. It's called 'forskrúfa' in Icelandic and it means that I can't tighted the needle on the cable because it will just turn and turn. This has happened with one (out of 2) 24" and one (out of 2) 32" cable that came with the set. I do however still love to knit with these needles. And they where much much better than the other crappy 4 mm needle I had been using. Much faster.

Back to Odessa. I did make one kind of big mistake. I read the pattern wrong and put beads every 6th row instead of every 4th. I didn't realize this until I was starting the decreases. I briefly considered starting over but I liked the beading and didn't think it would be any better if it was denser. So I stuck with it.

I knit it in the suggested yarn, Rowan Cashsoft DK, which is buttery soft. It only takes one skein and there is a bundle left over. This hat is kind of short. You can see it in the model hat (the top most one) and I find this a little uncomfortable. If I would knit this hat again I would make it a little longer, perhaps a centimeter or half an inch. There seems to be enough yarn for it. I got the beads at a local bead store 'Just Bead It'. I love the name.

It's too late for photos now. Hopefully tomorrow.

Future Knitters

I just found these pictures I took about a month ago (yeah, that's how much I orginize my photos - don't ask about developing).



At least they are showing interest.

Instead of blogging about yesterday's knitting

Very fitting, don't you think?

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The new needle set

Ok, I figured it out. There is a little hole that goes through the cable part on both sides. I remember there being a little metal object in the set (along with some stuff I wasn't going to use anyways, some stoppers. That little object fits perfectly in the little hole and the needles tighten up nicely and I have no more problems with the needles loosening up. I wish they had a directions to go with the set. I was having problems also with figuring out the pouches. What goes into what. They had cables and needles but then 3 different sizes of pouches. I guess you can have it any way you want but it would be nice to know what the pouches were intented for.

What's going on?

I have startitis. I just can't stop starting new projects. I started two more on Monday and I haven't even finished the other two I started the other day.

I've been trying the new needles. I love how they are fast and pointy. The only problem I've been having is that the needles tend to un-screw. Does anyone know how to avoid that?

Needles!

I got my birthday present from my mom in the mail today. It was KnitPicks Options. I'm so excited about this and glad. I had to cancel at least one project because the needles I got were bad quality (the yarn snagged too much) and now I have fast, sharp-pointed needles for about everything I need and if I do need different needle sizes it is cheap to get them.

Log-ing on

My 60" Addi Turbo came in the mail yesterday so I revisited the Log Cabin blanket. I hadn't worked on it for about a week or ever since it became as long as my needle. It's nice working on the Log Cabin.

I haven't been doing much this week actually. The other day I even went to sleep before Kamilla (age 3 - she was not alone, just if anyone is wondering). The day before that I had actually been working on photos and not knitting/stitching. I've also been revisiting cross stitchin/embroidery projects at bit but I've been lacy with the camera.

I did put a lot of cross stitch photos on my flickr. My dad got me a pro flickr account for my birthday, he he. What a great idea. I mean, I'm all the way on the other side of the world. It's not as if he could have wrapped something in and sent it. My mom also got me something that is still on it's way - knitting related. It's sooooooo cooooool. I can't wait to share it with you guys. I just don't want to jinx it and talk about it before it comes.

Projects multiplying

Yesterday (Monday) I started two projects. They are both small. That's all I have to say for myself. He he. One is the petal bib from One Skein. I got some Rowan Handknit Cotton in San Francisco on Sunday and it knits up beautifully for this pattern.

As I was knitting it I decided to make a market bag for my mother-in-law. She goes to the farmer's market any change she gets so I hope she can use it. I'm planning to make this a christmas present. The bag is crocheted and comes on a Sugar'n'cream ballband. The pattern is also available on their website, all you have to do is to register (it's free).

That's not all because on Sunday I started a project as well. I also finished one so I don't know if it counts, he he. I had only a little bit left on the 10th Mason Dixon ballband washrag and I finished it on the train to San Francisco (I went to celebrate my birthay - without kids, I wrote about it on my weblog/diary but in Icelandic, I went to couple of museums (Exploratorium and de Young) and the Greenwich yarn store, met up with a friend, had the best burrito in town and went back home, almost got kicked out of the train - but otherwise an quiet day) and started a new one.

The log cabin blanket is on a unscheduled leave. I order 60" (150 cm) circular needle in order to continue and it is on it's way.

Logging on

I'm finishing the 5th round of the log cabin. I love to knit this. Now I know why people become so obsessed with log-cabin knitting. It's instant gratifications since you finish each patch relatively quickly (although it takes longer each round) and then you get to choose a new color so it is creative all the way (not just in the beginning).

I'm comming up against one problem. I'm running out of space on my needles. I figure I have perhaps one round left until I have to get longer needles. I'm using 32" circular (80cm) and I have to find longer ones. I saw 40" (100 cm) needles online. Maybe they will do. I don't know how big the blanket is going to end up. I think they have bigger ones. I'll have to find out.

Log cabin, part II

.. in which I hope to be able to show you my progress photo.

I better start with the photo.



This photo was taken couple of days ago and I've already done bunch more. I've knit 4 rounds but in the photo I had only knit 3.

I have been stitching a little. I actually finished Woodland Grace. See:



I can't believe I actually finished a stitching project! This little piece took a loooonnnng time to finish.

Last Sunday (it's already Saturday - this is how slow of a blogger I am) I went to a knitting meeting at the library. I forgot all about it but fortunately I saved it in my phone so it reminded me. It was a lot of fun. I haven't seen other knitters at all since I came here. We were making doilies/dish rags but I didn't bring the correct yarn. For some reasons I brought wool! I was in a hurry going there so I just grabed anything. I have a drawer full of kitchen cotton and I grab the wool! Crikey! (yes I am a Steve Irwin fan)

Log cabin

At last I started the log cabin. The weather is getting colder so now I can start knitting with wool again. In the summer it was just too hot. I remember when Brenda started doing her series of sense of place. I didn't really know what she meant. I thought she meant designing influenced from the landscape around you. But now I'm slowly going through these episodes and I can see that she meant how what we knit is influenced by where we are.

This became obvious for me this summer. I'm used to knitting with wool and nothing but wool but in 40°C+ it is not possible, not even at night. So I started knitting small pieces in cotton. Now I can knit with wool again and I started a log cabin blanket. I can see why people love it so much and become obsessed. I reckon it will be more tiresome as the blanket gets bigger but at the moment I'm just enjoying it tremendously. It is a project that you can work on without having to think too much. You just knit. This makes it a perfect project to grab when you get some time to knit but can't really sit down and concentrate on it. I take it outside while I'm watching the kids in the backyard or if they are quiet for a while.

I knew I couldn't finish. I'll post this now and post the picture later.

... 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!