Merry Christmas!

Playing For Change: Song Around the World | Stand By Me from Concord Music Group on Vimeo.

one more scarf, not yet ready

simple scarf, knitted 1k, 1p, and so much fun with the colour! same yarn as for this hat. i hoped to finish it before Christmas, but it seems it'll be my first 2009 finished object.

laminaria

i knitted my first lace, people!




pattern: laminaria from knitty
yarn: Mulibärs Silk 100% silk 600m/100g; Marias Garn
needles: 3.5mm

pretty, pretty! it already found its way to a friend it was destined for from the starters.

i got some 28g of leftover yarn, so i could have knitted one more repetition of the blossom pattern, for a larger shawl. if i knew... anyway, i discovered one thing while knitting laminaria: i like lace! ok, it requires a lot of attention, but in the end it's soooo rewarding to see the pattern uncovered while the shawl is blocked.

lace story in pictures

It started as a hank of a really beautiful shiny luscious silk yarn.600m of it, wow, all packed into 100g. Not my usual piece of cake. Sometime in September I decided it's finally time to pick a pattern for this yarn.Otherwise I might not be done with knitting LACE (something I've never done before) by Christmas.

I meant to take a picture after every step of the lace pattern is completed, to document my progress, as I believed this is the first and the last adventure with lace knitting. Just a diversion from my usual scarves and socks.



As time passed, days got shorter and I was not able to take pictures after work anymore. Then, I knitted other stuff, more wooly, more of an immediate use. The sudden burst of productivity is mainly due to me staying at home with flu. So, there it is, in all its beauty:


Laminaria. Details will follow.

wintery glimpse

opportunities for pictures such as this one do not happen everyday. a view from the window of the living room. and a huge zoom of my camera.

today was one of the very rare days with sunshine. so, we had some dayLIGHT in Sweden, finally. the last of such days was the day when i shot this photo. 22 of November. the fact that the daylight is so scarce here these last weeks of year kind of justifies lack of blogging. no photos = no blog posts. this, and the fact that i'm sick, and thus home during daylight time, allowed me to take some pictures! :-) so, stay tuned for the side product of the flu and a nasty throat infection with severe cough. here a little preview:

square is the new round

pattern: turn a square hat by brooklyntweed
yarn: Visjö and Visjö Karamell from Östergötlands Ullspineri 100% wool 300m/100g
needles 3.5mm
modifications: i casted on different number of stitches (128) to compensate for the different yarn weight; decreases as in the pattern


i like how the hat turned out! the gradient color changes from the orangish to pinkish look cute as these strips.



Jaéniño is the most lovely and grateful receipient of my knitted thingies! :-)) every time i see him wearing this one, i cannot help boasting a little. it's a really nice hat. and a VERY nice yarn in cute colors. i might knit one such as this one for myself ;-).

Madrid

...by night


...and yours truly in front of the Fallen Angel

tricorn and friends

pattern: Tricorn by Woolly Wormhead - Tri-peak, of course! sorry for that...
yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Jaén
needles: 4.5mm


that's a hat in the Jaén colorway for my Jaéniño! :-) the beautiful colours of olive trees just in time for grey winter.



...and friends, actually knitted before the hat:



pattern: dashing (from knitty)
yarn: Silke-Tweed 52%silk 48%lambswool 50g/200m in camelia/safran(Garnstudio)
needles: 3.5mm
modifications: i knitted 5 fingers (well, sort of) gloves instead of open mitt as in the pattern. it was easy and the gloves are much warmer this way.



the mitts have their own unique name, Nikifors, as inspired by... Nikifor, who was a Polish naïve art painter. check out the movie about him here.

autumn

autumn like this is gone and not to be seen until next September. days are short (sunset at 3 pm), air is (very) crisp and it's been snowing twice. despite having not so much time for blogging i do knit sometimes.


a vest for my friend's daughter:


pattern: my own creation; i imagined the baby garment should be seamless for comfort in wearing and minimizing bulkiness - the only "seams" are the three-needle bind offs that join fronts to back at the arms
yarn: Paris (100% cotton) 75m/50g in raspberry (Drops)
needles: 4.5mm


i was told the baby Ania wears her vest without any complaints and even likes the buttons :-)

one more good-bye-autumn pic, and also a living proof that i actually wear my knits! (one at a time)

october knits

Sneak peek only:

When tired of lace, as beaufitul as it is but requiring a lot of attention, I'm also knitting with these nice colors:


They are Visjö and Visjö Karamell from Östergötlands Ullspineri. Very nice stuff, soon to be transformed into toasty winter garments (oh, yeah!).

ART

Generally, I do not take pictures in museums. Usually the quality is far from good, and if I wanna have the photo, I buy an album. But this place, was not usual at all! The Centre Pompidou. A mecca for the modern art lovers, such as yours truly.

First, woolly stuff: (click on the link to see abject description)

Kounellis


Kusama


This might not be wool, but it's amazing anyway. Klimt lovers, see the post-modernist interpretation:



Annatsui

glimpses, Paris ed.

(More than) a month ago:


I was on a trip to the city of light, art, love and fashion. The art and architecture there is simply amazing! Everyone should go and see themselves. Light may be a little treacherous, promising too much, disappointing later (yes, most of my pictures of THE typical Parisian sights are not good... bad light, I blame you). As for love and fashion, I am not sure, did not look for neither.



...and at night:



Chaos can be very inspiring. Always had a weak spot for such compositions. Jardin des Tuileries and Jardin du Luxembourg.





I discovered that even using my simple point-and-shoot camera, photographing light is possible! Pics taken in the awesome Saint Germain, except the first one, a window in Notre Dame.

simply socks

another pair of ~boring socks. finished loooong time ago.

Yarn: Regia Northern Color
Needles: 2mm dpns
Pattern: -

100!

I just hit 100th post! Can't believe it, but it's happening! (let's drink to that) There was a little motivational crisis around post 96, but maybe i just needed a break. I never thought I'd keep up blogging in the first place. I started this little adventure 1.5 years ago when I was studying for my PhD exam as a sort of distraction. I also learned how to knit socks at that time and wanted to share it, for the lack of sharing anything else I guess. Knitting and crocheting have been my hobby since I was a kid, and I never really gave it up despite long periods of hiatus. (These little balls of yarn are the leftovers of ongoing and just completed projects, if you're asking)

Onto the ~real contents! What's a better way to celebrate a 100th post than a new, fresh, juicy, unblogged project? (the answer is: a beer, or maybe two)



pattern: that's a freestyle-knitted neckwarmer, so no pattern
yarn: SheepTwo, Sheep Shop Company (1 skein, 100g)
needles: 8mm

sorry for the obvious clash of the knitted piece and my top. i took these pics this morning before work, and had no time to change... but i'm gonna wear it in couple of months, when i'll need to keep my neck toasty, and i have plenty of black pullovers, trust me. i'm sure it'll do the job! :-)