details:

yarn: rowan kidsilk haze. shade "jelly", 25g, used a bit less than 2 1/2 skeins.
needles: 4 mm (me knitting loose) circular bamboo
pattern source: rowan magazine 34
model: birch
modifications: only the smaller needles

Birch.Finished. Blocked. Ends weaved in. Couldn't wait to get out to her bigger cousin:

She is the softest, greenest thing I ever knit - I just love her! And plenty of ways to wear her:



Blowing so softly in the wind:



In her right element:



I'm off to Klaralund...

On my vacation last week I stopped at this little shop. They do not have a website and I have no pictures to show, but the adress might be useful if you happen to  be in that area. It's a lovely little shop and I can highly reccomend a visit. It's a gift/clothing/yarn shop. What knitter would not be interrested? He-he.
They sell clothes from taule and møller, wonderful designs. This time for me only to look at.

And they have yarn there. Only one kind of yarn. The Marianne Isager kind of yarn. I have said it before - I really love all the fantastic, multicolored, handpainted yarns available in the world of fiber. I  really do. I can dream about that kind of yarn both day and night. Go and take a look at this site and see what I mean. 

Anyhow - the Isager  yarns are one-colored- back-to-basics natural looking yarns. Sometimes that can be a soothing calm-downer to a knitter's ever color-searching soul. I just wanted it. For some reason my eyes catched this color:

This is a light blue/aqua shade with a hint of black/brown spun into it. It's a very lightweight wonderfully natural 100 % merino 2-ply yarn, 510 m pr. 100 g. It's the Tvinni Tweed and also I got a little of the Spinni which is similar but 1-ply. (unplyed?!) The spinni goes on the edges of this sweater which this yarn is destined for:



They had this sweater knitted up in the shop and I tryed it on and loved  it! It was knitted in a light natural shade which I also considered - but somehow mye eyes wanted this blue. Strange! I hardly have any blue clothes exept for jeans - usually I go all wild about different greens. But I liked it so much and still do - so I think this is more than a fling! The only thing I regret is that I didn't take a photo of the sweater in the shop. I thought for sure I would find pictures of it on the Internet when I got home - but no such luck,  and I have really been searching! If anyone out there has knitted or seen pictures of this - pleeease let me know and see!!

So, needless to say - this is my next project after finishing the ones mentioned in last post. Birch only has a few more pattern repeats missing, so soon..., and then the other projects... My fingers are aching to start this Ribbluse... Don't laugh,- here is even one more picture and then I stop. Am I in love or something?!

A great weekend to anyone and everyone!

details:

yarn: silke-tweed from garnstudio, 50 g, shade #21, just a bit more than 6 skeins, double stranded, size medium
needles: 4,5 mm, circular
pattern source: interweave knits, summer-05
model: Isis wrap
modifications: knitted one pattern repeat before starting the increases, for extra length

It's still summer - but my vacation is over and I start thinking of autumn and winter knits.... There are so many things I would like to make. I am reading knitting books and magazines and dreaming away... BUT. I have promised myself I HAVE to finish 4 projects before starting someting new now. Well, at least 3. (he-he - see where this is going..) In this order:

1.Birch. It should take 2-3 evenings of sitting on my b., intensely knitting. Do I love it? Yes.

2.Klaralund for my daughter. I would guess 4-5 evenings of same activity as mentioned above. Love it too.

3.The Jytte Slente lace-weight mohair wrap cardigan. Maybe a week? Yes, I will do it and love it.

4.What was number 4? Let's see.. Yes! Last fall I started and almost finished this crazy jacket. I am knitting it in the Venezia colorway and in fact it is nearly done. Only need to set in the last sleeve. Stupid that I haven't done it already because allthough funny-looking, I really like this jacket. Of course I will post pictures. Later.

What about the Isis Wrap mentioned in last post?? Yes. Found yarn. This one:

OK. One down, a lot more to go! That's what knitting is all about, isn't it?! My next post will, however  contain some pictures of yarn I bought on vacation last week, for one of my next projects.... But I have been a good girl, I haven't even wound it or swatched... I SHALL finish those 4 - or at least 3 projects mentioned above, FIRST... But I am allowed to post pictures of the yarn - am I not.... Soon.

No photos today - I have been very busy working this week and I'm going on another week's vacation now... so just a quick update... I started (yet!) another green lace project - the Isis Wrap from the Interweave summer issue... photos when I get back. I'll bring all my hopefully-soon-finished projects with me and my next entry should have a FO or two to show!

I have seen so many lovely Birches on different blogs lately. Take a look at this one and this one. And there are so many more. So of course I also want one! My LYS only carries a few colors of KSH, and I went there the day before leaving on vacation. Very luckily they had just 3 skeins left of the color I wished for, - Jelly! It's darker and richer live than shown on the Rowan page. So here we are:

The pattern, the yarn, everything about Birch is bewitching! The cast-on of all those stitches and the first pattern-repeat required some stitch-markers and a certain amount of concentration. But after that the pattern was easy to learn by heart - and made this knit a real joy! As much as I like the process of making this lovely bundle of fiberleaves - I also can't wait to finish it and be able to use it!
These are really little birch leaves!:

When not knitting Birch I have been working on this:

Those are front and back, done. And first sleeve in progress.

I might be the last one in Blogland working on Klaralund. It's my first one and it's for my oldest daughter. It might not, as indicated, be the last one, because I have more Silk Garden in my stash AND I have a jacket knitted last year, using Silk Garden that I plan to rip and reknit into Klaralund. Crazy? Yes - but even more crazy to let a wonderful amount of fiber rest in the closet because it turned out too big and not-to-my-satisfaction. More on that later, much later!

Looking at it now - this entry turned out quite Azur-blue/green! Guess my stay near the Mediterranean was quite an inspiration - also to my knitting!

I am back from vacation!  And was it good? Yes, indeed it was! A very long trip by car - and especially long with four kids in the back seat... A newly purchased DVD - player saved us - and we made it!  All the way down there and back again!

I even got to knit a bit in the car. Birch - birch - birch! - lovely green one - found the exact color I wanted right before we left. Pictures to come one of the next days...

Right outside the house where we rented the top floor apartment. My daughter walking down the street early in the morning - to the bakery - time for breakfast...




Croissants, fruits, honey, coffee, lazy mornings, summer, mmmmm.....

View at the Lac Ste Croix - 40 min. drive north of where we were staying. Wonderful scenery and wonderful lake for swimming.



Canoeing into Gorge du Verdon - from the lake.




Little fellows seen on the marked in Aix-en-Provence...

View from the roof terrace at the place we stayed.

What country - again??!

-eeehh...

they even had great food and wine there!

-and a place called Provence...

I will be back soon with more knitting... Promise!

A little knitting is still going on, but my mind is getting more and more set on this:



I have to get packed, we're leaving tomorow, going by car - and will be down there on saturday. I can't say how much I'm longing for sun and summer! That's what we're going to get there, I hope? Among other things.

So - leaving for a long trip means I also have to get my knitting right. Of course I have to bring some knitting - there's always time for a few stitches. (A few?! Birch has more than 30.000 stitches!!!)
I was planning to bring my new light-weight project - Birch which I got on the needles last friday, using the Suri Elegance:

Wonderful yarn. Really. And absolutely lovely, dangerously addictive pattern. I love both of them - the yarn and
the pattern. No doubt.
BUT.

But I had this nagging feeling all since cast-on that I kept supressing. A feeling of not-so-good-a-friendship. Between yarn and pattern. Now I see it clearly: This gorgeous yarn is not bringing out the best of an already great pattern, Birch. And Birch is not doing wonders for the Suri.
That's just how life is some times! I think most definitely that this Birch is rip-ready. I think however I will let her rest until I am back from vacation. But I am not getting over Birch - and if I can get my hands on some Kidsilk Haze before leaving - Birch will after all be a vacation project. We'll see.

I will for sure bring another light-weight project, the wrap-cardigan from Jytte Slente's "Design-strik":



The body is knitted sideways and I am now somewhere around right after the second armhole. The fabric turns out so soft and shiny - the camera didn't quite capture the sheen. Indeed very much, if not identical to the Kidsilk Haze. It seems like I will get at least two skeins leftover - and when I think about it now - I might very well make my mom a smaller version of Birch from these leftovers. When she spotted this knitting she jumped all over it because of the yarn and the color. I might very well.

The "Tie one on" is done. Also a great pattern - but the FO turned out a bit "green" - in a bit wrong way. Green is my favorite color. But this was my first hand-dyed yarn - see my posts in May - and something of an experiment. I'll keep it as a curiosity. For now, all I have to show is a close-up:

And take a look at this one!:



My oldest daughter, 10, made it at school! Isn't it just the cutest little Kitty! We had a few hours of summer today - and Kitty got all exited and wanted out - into the summer - just like the rest of us! Look at her:



I wish everyone a wonderful summer - I'll be back in 3 1/2 - 4 weeks!

My little wonder made of a little more than one skein is done! I didn't have quite enough of the Lion and Lamb leftover from Clapotis so I added a little lilac Muskat on the sleeve edgings and a little lilac Muskat and lilac alpaca ("du store alpakka") at the body edging. One arm, close up:



This is really a great pattern! The seed stitch at the sleeve edge adds such a nice effect and was ideal for blending in another yarn. I already want to make another one with long sleeves! So if summer shows up soon - I'm ready to go!:









In fact it's warmer today and not raining - hurrah!! And here is someting else that cheered me up, arriving in the mail yesterday:



I really like all of these books - especially the "Loop-d-loop" by Teva Durham, go take a look at her loop-d-loop site! I sure have some ideas now for my fall-winter knitting. But later. Did I mention I long for s u m m e r  ??!