SNY2014

I decided it was time for another round of Secret Knitting Friend last autumn. Well, it turned out I was one day too late to join. But now the Finnish SNY Spring2014 is about to start. I'm so excited! (Have charged up for this half a year now...) Soon, very soon, I'll get to know to whom I get to put together packages this spring, and can start planning! Will blog the SNY parts in Finnish, with an English summary like last time, I guess.

Socks and Moomins

Project Knit Socks for all Teachers at DD's playschool progress! Now 3/4 ready! This time a pair of Kalajoki Socks (link in Finnish, can be found in English on Ravelry), size female, approx. 82 grams of Novita Nalle Taika yarn. Simple pattern due to the variegated yarn (which I chose because it had the perfect colors for the teacher who will get them). Still not a pattern that I managed to learn by heart, though, due to some assymmetry of which I do not completely understand the necessity. Anyway, good pattern, nice socks, and perfect color so I'm happy!

Also adding a sneek peek of some Moomins... Found the book Mukavat Muumiamigurumit (in Finnish) at our local library and decided to make some for my kids. So far three figures ready, but Little My was MIA during the photo session. And I have not yet got to buy eyes and some wire for dad's stick, so they're not complete yet.

 

Quite good patterns, I think. Detailed, not too simple. Could have made these up myself but they would not have been this good. Dad's made of Novita Kotiväki, the others from scrap crochet yarn from my crochet period (1983-1995). The thin yarn made the project a bit more challenging at times, I do recommend at least Kotiväki-thickness. Now moving on to the next character, taking a small break in the sock project (deadline end of May - I think I'll make it!)

Closing up 2013

Oh, well, time to show some stuff again. At last.

First a pair of Business Casual Socks, which was an excellent pattern for my needs. Not too complicated as I need to look after my kids while knitting, and am bound to be interrupted all the time, which also suited the variegated yarn very well, but still enough going on to keep me alert and interested.

These socks are part of my project to make socks for all teachers at my girls playschool. Deadline late May, I started in September and am now half way... will be some time for panic in April-May I suppose...
I had some panic with these too, and must say that I need no other excitement in life when sock-knitting can be this nerve-wrecking... After finishing the first sock, I had 50 grams of yarn left, and hence 50 grams in the finished sock... As my scales are not that precise, I had no idea if I'd have enough yarn to finish sock #2. Sock #2 was therefore knit with extra speed so that I wouldn't run out of yarn... I know that does not work, of course, but then again it really did help, right, as I had about 1gram left at the end... ;-) . The yarn was Lana Grossa Mielenweit, grey, by the way.

 

When I was at it, I finished a pair of mittens for my DD. Novita Isoveli yarn in AngryBirdsPig-green (no, that is not the official name...). Too thick yarn I think, but then again I am a friend of skinny yarn. Pattern can be found in Novita Fall 2011 magazine.



Project #3 this time is neither knitted nor crocheted, oddly enough. I still think it qualifies here as it is pretty close to yarn graffiti.

Since my 4-year-old drags home sticks and branches almost every day, we have a nice pile of them in our back yard - I used a pair of them.
And since I myself tend to drag home yarn all the time, we have a nice pile of that in the cupboard upstairs, so I took some of that too, and combined in something I thought we could do together. It turned out to be just a little bit too difficult for her, so in the end she chose yarns and colors, and I did all the twisting.
Also, do not do as I did - lace and fingering weight should not be usen except maybe double or triple. And do use simple branches, trust me, it is not much fun when a part you've already finished breaks off. (Could be fixed with more yarn and a tapestry needle, fortunately!)

Both me and DD were quite happy with the result, good decoration for our big vase!

Fall 2013

It feels as though I never get to knit anything. Still, evidently, I blog even less than I knit, as I have three finished items to show off!

First the big thing, i.e. the Green Pig Hoodie for DD.

Pattern from Novita Ipana - magazine, small moderations (e.g. knit in round).

Then a pair of Deflect-socks. Rellana-yarn from a ravelry swap (scandinavian RAK group, I think) years ago.

 

Yes, you're right, I wrote finished projects, but I still have to weave in those loose ends, I know! :-).

 

And last, a hat for DD's bunny. This bunny goes with her everywhere, and yesterday she realised that bunny has no hat. First order was a hat with holes for the ears, but the project grew as I was crocheting, and we ended up with a really nice helmet with ears. Can't have bunny's ears get cold, right! Fortunately stash consists not only of lace yarn, I found one bulky Novita Karuselli (acrylic) which was perfect for this project, start to finish while DS was napping.

 

 

Cowl

DD chose a very blue overall for this fall, so I think she needs some very pink accessories to help people understand that she's not a boy. Calls for a pink cowl, that is.

I actually got this yarn from my secret friend in the SSNY 2010 if I remember correctly. She had knit a pair of socks for my DD, back then a baby/toddler, and sent me the rest of the yarn for mittens and such. Well, I never got that far. Fortunately, because I'm very glad that I have this yarn now! (I love the old Sandnes Lanett by the way. So soft, thin, comfortable!)

Pattern Unikko from Ullaneule.net (in Finnish, I think you can find an English translation via Ravelry). Some modifications, since I have a thinner yarn, a younger and thinner daughter, and a will of my own (also to be known as accustomed habits).

Cast on 108 sts. Did the M1's left- and right-slanting one stitch inside the stockinette border. And bound off a couple of rows before the last increase row, since we (DD and I) thought it was ready. Bound off using my favorite stretchy bind-off that I use for my shawls.

Inlaid Lace Mitts once more!

I mentioned a project last spring that I still have no pics for on this computer, so I won't blog about that. Instead, I'll just let you know that they, too, were a pair of Inlaid Lace Mitts from InterweaveKnits spring issue 2013. (Actually, the last issue of my subscription, I'm glad I still got that one!)

Anyway, I used those pink mitts the other week when I was outdoors with the kids, anda neighbor asked me how much I'd charge her if I were to make her a similar pair. I did tell her what the price would be for a stranger/not good friend, so that she'd know the value of them, and then I went to dig through my stash for some nice leftover lace yarn.

Ended up with a small ball of Knit Picks Alpacka Cloud that I got some years ago in a lace swap on Ravelry. Most of the yarn ended up a shawl, of course, but the leftovers just might be enough for a pair of these mitts. Once again, I cast on, and started to be anxious about whether I had enough yarn or not.

Well, I did. I even knit two more repeats of the cuff pattern and still have 5 grams left.

 

Beautiful they are, and so I think I'll keep these for my self and give my neighbor the pink ones instead...

Flower Hats

I made three of these in white a couple of years ago. This year's color turned out to be red, and as I had a deadline, they're finished! It really just takes a couple of days to make a hat like this if one has the time. With toddler and little child in the house, it apparently takes a couple of months...

DD asked for one for herself too. I do have yarn, but not necessarily time, let's see what happens.

A Green Pig Hat

Am not blogging finished objects in order now, since pics of my second last project are only on my iPad and blogspot won't let me add photos from iPad's camera roll - apparently iPhone camera roll uploads work, but not iPad? Will have to go back and give it another try when I get the iPad back from DD (which probably will be next time she has a high fever, so hopefully not too soon...)

Last project was a quickie. Or, well, it took more than three days, but I almost made two of these since my first try ended up too big - this calls for very tight crochet, and first I tried a bit looser to get a softer hat, but that did not work out too well. This hat can be made in two or three days. With children around, that is!

Pattern from Novita Ipana-lehti, wouldn't be too difficult to make it up self, but I'm lazy. On the bad side this way I have to put up with the things that always annoy me when working with Finnish pattern descriptions - my second last project was from Interweave Knits and I so much prefer the exactness of patterns in English!

Novita Isoveli yarn, crochet hook 4,0mm.

This was meant for little brother, but big sister owned it. Will have to see what to do about that. Perhaps she'd like a black angry bird hat enough to trade?

Adventure, Warmth and a Mystery!

Oh dear, I'm actually here! And I have some knitting to report!!!!

But first some crochet, including one of my two reasons for not knitting so much the past year or two.

This young pirate friend of mine spent a couple of days as a fairy princess (a friend's birthday party + just for fun), after which she decided she was a pirate. Immediate need for Mom to crochet an eye patch, that is. Note the necklace, booty from mentioned birthday party.

Anyway, I've been knitting on these trousers for ages, but today I finally finished them! These are meant for next winter, fortunately, and they're huge, but knowing how fast this pirate grows, I think they won't be too bad in half a year or so.

Used Drops Nepal yarn, and adapted a pattern from the same source.

And to finish for today, a book thought from this morning. I really don't have much time for myself, and haven't slept properly for 1½ year, and when I finally have two minutes, THIS is what pops up in my mind:
In Pride and Prejudice it's Lady Catherine who tells Mr Collins that he should get a wife (nearly misspelled that as wifi - oops!).  Why? What made her want him to marry? What had he done? Had he been too friendly with servant girls in the village (unwelcomed of course, but still annoying). Or perhaps Mr Collins never really was interested in women ;-). My own guess is that he had showed some hopes to marry Lady Catherine's daughter, that stupid man... Or even more freaky; that poor girl was about to do something sílly and had to be stopped?

Small standing project

Little brother needs mittens of his own, mom needs small knitting project, has recently learned fair isle knitting, and has some leftover yarn (Drops Fabel white and variegated). Resulting in these:

I borrowed the idea for cuffs from Lilia and the pattern's from Eeva Haavisto's book Sata kansanomaista kuviokudinmallia (phew, Finnish words can be very long and interesting...).

Also a picture taken by my three-year-old showing what's more important than mom's knitting:

Standing up for myself!

Whenever sitting down to knit, my dear children immediately need my attention. Since yesterday I stand and knit. Seems to help, sometimes I even managed to knit 24 sts between mommy-chores. Need to knit small items, though, big things are too heavy when standing up. Fortunately little one needs mittens.

Peppi Longstocking sweater #1

Still too much to do is affecting my knitting opportunities. This project is easy-knit, thick yarn and no seams, and still took me all summer.
Finished a couple of days ago, it's still a little too big for big sister as planned, but useable already. Was so excited that I decided to knit a pair of pants to go with the sweater (anticipating the time when little brother will be needing the overall I knitted last year which should still be ok for big sister this winter, or at least most of it).
Liked knitting with this yarn, soft, nice, easy. Hope it will stand up for some heavy use too.

It looks a bit short in the picture, but it's actually quite long, as are the sleeves. What can I say, I have fast growing kids (sometimes they grow faster than I knit).

PS And I really appreciated that the pattern had no seams. Enough ends to fasten thanks to the stripes anyway!

Liten blå solstråle

The Good Day Sunshine shawl on Knitty's first page was just a little bit too tempting, had to knit! And since it's quite small and does not need much yarn, I found a nice blue left-over ball of Wetterhoff's Silvia in my stash.

Knitting with baby and toddler in the house had some effect, as usual, and I forgot to make the repeat of rows 13-16 (or something like that) on the Ray chart, but did not feel like tinking four rows when I found out. Would have had enough yarn - now I'm left with 15 grams (had approx. 45 when I started) which feels a bit unnecessary, but that's the only problem.

Since my toddler girl has a lace shawl addict mom, I thought it was about time she got a lace shawl of her own, this one's for her (Still haven't figured out how to keep pictures upright when posting here :-( )!

Proud Socks

I'm extremely proud of these socks! My very first successful project in two colors! There have been other projects. Several attempts. Never useful, always too tight or too loose. But now I think I'm on to something - these actually fit my feet!

I got the blue Drops Delight yarn in the first package from my secret friend in the Finnish fall 2010 SNY, and queued this pattern a month or two later. Got the white Fabel yarn almost a year ago, and finally started knitting a couple of months ago. And since I have virtually no time at all to knit at the moment, it took me a while.

In whole, I'm quite satisfied with the pattern, but were I to make another pair, I'd make a different toe - this one is too pointy for me - I have broad toes, like a duck ;-).

I have one skein left of both colors and am determined to make myself a pair of mittens with the same technique. Maybe already for next winter - wishful thinking?

Avslutat och påbörjat

Har den här veckan avslutat ett gammalt evighetsprojekt - stickade färdigt den sista Sirja-pulsvärmaren häromdagen. Blev tvungen att göra om avmaskningen för det var för mörkt och jag gjorde det för slarvigt första gången (man stickar fast den invikta kanten samtidigt så det kan gå galet. Tydligen.) Gjorde en snabbkoll och insåg att det här projektet ursprungligen var mitt julklappsprojekt 2010. Nu har jag i alla fall bara restgarn kvar så nu får det vara klart!

Så påbörjade jag äntligen ett nytt projekt som jag planerat ungefär lika länge som jag stickat pulsvärmarna dvs sen hösten 2010... Jag deltog i SSNY den hösten, tyvärr har jag inte haft möjlighet att delta fler gånger, men ska nog gå med igen bara tiden går med på att böja sig för min vilja! Min hemliga stickvän visade sig vara Katjuska, och jag tror det var i det första paketet, från tiden före blogg, som hon bland annat skickade mig ett par nystan härligt blå Drops Delight.

Jag kompletterar med litet vitt Fabel-garn och stickar nu mönstrade sockor. Det riktigt roliga här är att jag aldrig behärskat konsten att sticka med fler färger. Få se hur det går, ser bra ut än så länge...

Finally put an end to the fingerless mitts-project from 2010. And finally started a project planned since 2010 - trying to conquer fair isle-knitting, let's see what happens.

Benvärmare

En liten snabbis mellan alla komplicerade flätstickningsprojekt - ett par benvärmare i Teetees garn Pallas (80 g, stickor 3,5mm).

Jag fick två nystan då jag tecknade en prenumeration på Moda på en mässa i höstas, och hade inga särskilda planer för garnet så jag snokade runt litet på Ravelry efter mönster och hittade Let Me Entertain You-benvärmarna på Ullaneule.

Gjorde storlek barn, de är nog för litet större barn än en lång tvååring, men hon lär väl snarare bli större än mindre med åren :-). Dessutom är de inte så dumma just nu - byxor är tydligen i tvååringsvärlden av ondo, men benvärmare är rätt spännande, och just nu räcker de till för att värma nästan hela benen, inte fel med -24 ute.

A pair of child sized legwarmers between the more complicated projects felt fun. And of course I still managed to make mistakes, and knit a whole row when I was supposed to make ribbing. Naturally I realized this only after fastening all the loose ends, but it was fixable and I only had to rip about five or six rows, so quite manageable though totally unnecessary of course. Now I should move on to a UFO, let's see which one it'll be...