2007

today is the last day of 2007. i could write up a list of (new year's) resolutions, from loosing weight to healthy lifestyle to going for real holidays at last and having life that is not mostly-work. i could, but i will not. it would certainly sound like Bridget Jones Diary 3rd volume, or worse even, Ally McBeal. instead, i'm gonna make a list of things i want to learn in 2008.
- knit a top-down raglan pullover (or top, whatever is top-down)
- knit a yoke pullover
- learn this great, renowned, fantastic tubular cast on
- and bind off
- knit lace, anything (small)
that would do. i mean, two pullovers, THIS itself will take half a year, seriously. i did not promise to work less ;-) plus, i do have some projects planned long time ago and want to knit them at last.
Happy New Year!

socks, socks!

Christmas present #2. socks for my cousin. in trekking, my idea (or design, whatever). simple toe-up socks, with purled spirals, just not to get bored while knitting them.



i wanted to knit another pair of socks with spiral patterning. i came up with the elongated (dropped) stitches running diagonally in the background of the purled stitches. quite pretty (imo) but somehow does not speak to me in this yarn. too dark, perhaps.



in the end, i am knitting another pair of bff socks. for myself.



...and one more sock, the winding cable knee sock-to be. somehow it seems too dark to knit this sock full of cables in such a dark grey yarn... so, started and temporarily put off (not for long).

the post-Christmas post

Enormous amounts of food eaten (what, Xmas Polish way ;-P), presents given and received, in other words, Christmas is over.

Christmas present #1, a neck warmer for my mother:




pattern: just knitted top-down in the round with increases (too many) every other round
yarn: Silke-Alpaca by Garnstudio
needles: 5mm circs

Mum says she likes it! :-))))

seriously pissed off - update

i was going to fly to Poland. this afternoon. but the flight was cancelled. FUCK FUCK FUCK. the information was given when i passed the security check (and seriously, i hate it, all this undressing-this-is-my-laptop-and-this-is-umbrella stuff).
i was the lucky (?) one who got the rebooking for Sunday, other destination (far from home, of course, but at least in Poland)... but all the other people there... i don't know. so i went home, and here i am, sitting in my kitchen and sipping red wine. 8 fucking hours of traveling and still in the departure spot.
still better than what happened to a friend of mine couple of winters back. the long-distance coach was trapped in a gigantic traffic jam on a German highway... for 1,5 days. that is a serious bad luck.
no picture, for the only one i could offer now, is the insides of my suitcase, and i will spare you that.
no plans for tomorrow, how strange is this?

happy happy

i am very happy today! i am traveling to Poland to spend Christmas with my family. this is what awaits me there:

pierniki, something that could be called gingerbread-cookies. but not quite the same. (picture courtesy of my father) yes, this IS a bed covered by cookies :-).

in the meantime, xmazz knitting was (is) going on. the yarns i am using are quite diverse in weight, colour and texture, as you can see (as are gift receipients of these goodies)

the turquoise yarn is leftovers from another pair of the fetching mitts, already on receipient's hands ;-)). in a haste of gift wrapping, i forgot to take a picture, but hey, EVERYbody knows the fetching mitts by now! the trekking skein is still rather largish, what means i must hurry up! and indeed, i must, for i have to clean the appartment, pack my suitcase, buy this glittery top i saw yesterday and be on time for the plane!

sunrise

just before:

(stats for today: sunrise 8.45, sunset 14.45)

dude, it does not happen often that i have an opportunity to take a picture of the SUNRISE.

new scarf!

Pattern: Twisted, from Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr
Yarn: Ull-Flame 100% wool 50g/50m of unevenly spun yarn (Garnstudio), unfortunately discontinued; i used 5 50g balls and the resulting scarf turned out pretty long (320cm)
Needles: 8mm



all i can say, the photos don't do justice to my scarf. the (day)light sucks lately. if i wanted to wait with taking the pictures of my lovely scarf for the decent amount of sunlight, i could as well wait till next year. and obviously, i did not want to wait that long! especially that this is the last FO i can share with the Blog before Christmas. secret knitting projects are going on...

another shot also offering a peek into my kitchen:

to my Friend

alas, Ester

pattern: inspired by Ester by Alice
yarn: Drops Alpaca
needles: 2mm circs (#%^%$#%&*)
modifications: more stitches to meet the dimensions of the shrug; different cable; crocheted edge to allow for wearability



well, let's face the truth. i am not happy with the final result. when knitting it, i anticipated a wearable garment of a soft and thin fabric. and it is soft and thin. wearable? dunno. i'll try, at the very least. it took me too long to knit this thing on the 2mm toothpicks (sigh!) not to even try to wear it.

the DROPS alpaca is a soft and pleasant yarn; however a bit too thin to my liking. perhaps for smaller projects... when it could be knitted double. good for crocheting, and i shall not forget this.