...with a high fever, fatigue and couphing... This blogger is ill! So there is not much going on - the last two days I managed to reach the coach and my knitting, and I actually did some stitches... I will be back posting regularly when this furious virus has left me alone... For the time being - take a look at the link below. Fever-fantasy? - or maybe a future project? ;)

Christmas gift for your man this year? (scroll up!)

When you don't like the rules - change them!! Hihi. I am not totally sticking to my plan of finishing 4 projects before casting on to something new... I slightly modified my plan... so now the rule is at least to finish one before starting one... Good rule, or??! So - after finishing Birch I casted on and made some rounds of the Marianne Isager Ribbluse:

It's ribbing. It's thin, fingering weight wool. Dull knitting? No! absolutely, I think not - in fact I think this is quite close to what I would consider "the ultimate knitting experience". It's so real, it's so basic and this yarn and bamboo needles together make the knitting feel so wonderfully firm and natural in my hands. I love it! So I keep returning to it - inbetween the other projects - It will for sure be my "inbetween-project" this fall - while indulging in some other, not so time-consuming knits.

Therefore -after finishing Klaralund i allowed myself to return to the green KSH from which I made my Birch. I had a little more than 1/2 a skein left over. So what do I do? I find a project for which I need this left-over + another two skeins of it... So - I take a big chance ordering this wonderful green yarn, hoping that it would go well together with the green KSH in order to make Rachels Bolero. The lovely danish blogger Nanna offers it as a kit in her online store. I wanted a green one, which is not available as a kit so I went ahead and ordered the silk-tweed, hoping it would become good friends with my kidsilk haze. Well the silk-tweed arrived on saturday - and they are not only good friends - they were made for each other!! Look at this:

and together now:

My green and green-loving eyes went bananas and I jumped to the needles and got started:



This last picture is not fair to the colors - they are indeed more like in the picture above.
So here I am, greening away...

Finished! Mini-Klaralund is done! My 10 yo is very happy about it, the colors and the shape - but complains about the SCRATCHING!!
She's sort of sensitive to that - but having a longsleeved top underneath will solve that problem, I'm sure. And I know Silk Garden gets abit better scratch-wise after a couple of gentle washings.
So here they are - my two babys:



details:

yarn: Noro silk garden shade #8, 50 g 7 1/2 skeins
needls: 5 mm circular, bamboo
pattern source: C.T. Hamilton book 2
model: Klaralund
modifications: made an xs-size by substracting from size s; the amount of stitches between size s and m
+ seamed the back edges together 4 cm to avoid the sleeves of sliding down over the shoulders.

a couple of more pictures:

Now I also want one ;)

I went a little shopping - or at least looking - the other day. Well... bought a little bit.. not much...really. Anyhow  - when window-and/or-seriously shopping I always look at the knitted garments hanging around. They often look great, some of them are wonderful designs, nice colors. But.  I would say I get disappointed maybe 90 % of the time when I reach out and touch them. Almost everything is made of at least 50 % acrylic or other synthetic fibers. I admit that I in this sence am what many would consider a yarn snob; I can't stand the feel of acrylic - It just gives me the shivers. This is maybe one of the big reasons for me getting absorbed whith knitting, - it gives me the oportunity to get great designs AND wonderfully natural fibers.

One of my favorite knit-designers is Kim Hargreaves - formerly with Rowan, but it appears she's gone solo now. Take a look at her site - but WARNING - it's very tempting.... I would know because today I was tempted to purchase....well, yes - "Temptation":

The Yarn is Rowan Big Wool, I've wanted to knit something of that for a long time. And I really like the well-fitted shape of this jacket - and best of all - it looks like a real quick knit! So please hurry, lovely fibers from the UK!  And yes - almost forgot - pictures of Klaralund are coming up soon!

Fall will soon be here - but we're still having some sunny days inbetween. It seems like the summerflowers are giving all that they've got - they are blooming and colourbeaming like crazy. As if they know they are soon to die...That's the way of seasons, that's the way of life...



So this had me jumping into my stash-cupboard searching for some bright colours. It's of course "du store alpakka" again - I can't believe how rich and vibrant they make their colors:



I thought these are looking good together. It'll be a mystery project - a present if it turns out the way I want..
I promise to post pictures in due course....

I am more or less sticking to my plan of finishing some things before getting too involved in something new. I'm almost done with Klaralund's knitting and then there is the seaming...soon. While fumbling around in my stash and UFOs, I pulled out this particular UFO soon to be done, also very vibrant colors:



It's the mother of bulky yarns, Colinette's Point five. It's really the kind of yarn that can get me carried away - giving me a feeling of living a dream or a fantasy. It's almost unbelievable, it still gives me a feeling of magic. I've knit it up into the Flounce trimmed jacket. I don't think the Colinette picture shows this jacket well at all, so please take a look at this one (scroll down to the oct. 9th-entry)  and this one, knit by two wonderful bloggers.

All I have to do now is to seam the left side and then to set in the left sleeve and weave in the ends...



So off I go...

I have to confess. I hold the Marianne Isager yarn partly responsible. It flat out TOLD me to wind and to swatch. Of course I could have refused, but what's the use. Anyway, here is the first little wound-up ball (yes, I'm a hand-winder- and proud of it! -but boy would I love too have one of those fancy winding-things - (norw. "hespetre"!)):

and the little swatch:



Here frustration hits me full forced. What's this? I am being very good. I am swatching to get the right gauge. 32 stitches to make 10 cm, and 36 rows to make 10 cm. OK. In 3 by 3 rib, that is. Says pattern. 3 by 3 rib. Duh?! Hello?? How am I supposed to measure that? Like in the picture above? No stretching, no manipulation? No, I guess not. I casted on 36 st. and clearly this is FAR away from gauge. Ok, I tend to be a bit on the loose side, but this would be the opposite, way to tight knitted. I don't do that. And I am using the 3 mm needles as recommended. So, then I try a little stretching:



?
So it's up to me to stretch as much or as little as I want to get the right gauge? Then I sort of don't see the whole point of swatching? OK. I'll try to behave. Here, below, we have one perfect gauge, stretched slightly, of course without keeping any eyes on the centimeters below....:



Nearly perfect.
And the horizontal measurement shows nearly 5 cm at 17 rows - seems to be right on target, captain!!:



I have decided to trust this. I always swatch, I don't dare to start a project without. But this was a tricky one!
Nevermind, now I am ready to cast on! Say what? What about Klaralund? Klaralund is a wonderful fast and mindless knit, no shaping, only garter, stockinette and extended garter st. I'm done with back and front, as shown before. And one sleeve + 15 cm of second sleeve. Here is the first sleeve in all her blue-green beauty:

So, yes! It will absolutely be done very soon. In fact so soon that I think it's time to throw in a little light blue 3 by 3 ribbing as I go.....

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