mini vest for winter

this one deserves a separate post, and a special comment.


(again, my sister in law did not model it for a lack of time)

this was meant to be this vest (117-17). i bought the recommended yarn and happily started to knit the super-fast chunky piece. after completing the "collar" and making decreases for the sides, i realized that the collar is too high. ripping #1. another attempt to make the decreases earlier and divide the stitches into three decreases instead of one. on almost completing the sides, i realized that they were too narrow. ripping #2. deciding not to take any more chances (the time was short), i knitted on and decided the shaping based on my gut feeling. i never knitted anything for my sister in law, so i wasn't completely sure about the size, yet i turned out very well! drops polaris (5 balls 100g each) on 12mm needles.

hats

1.


cousteau hat knitted with Malabrigo worsted (olive) on 4.5mm needles;

2.



subtle twist hat knitted with Colourscape Chunky by Rowan (Candy Pink) on 6.5mm needles (i think?); i used only 60% of the skein.

in both cases, i tweaked the number of stitches to match hats with heads of the recipients. sadly, there was not enough time and light to convince them to model the hats for me, hence my head is used as a hat model.

presents given

i did not manage to finish only one in time (not shown here, but i *test wear it as i type it). honestly, sometime in mid-december, i thought the whole idea of gift knitting is a naive self-deception. despite all modifications, lousily written patterns and distractions, i manage to gift these little things.

slow knitting

i purchased some yarn, recently. yeah. i should have written: i started few projects and i'm close to finishing some of them, but i cannot show them here, because they're christmas presents. but the truth is: i started way too many projects, some of them christmas presents indeed. but i haven't finished any of them. so i bought more yarn, as a motivation to finish the started ones. because i really REALLY want to dig my fingers into these yummy Felted Tweed... there's also a bilberry colourway in my stash. a beautiful match. the dark raspberry merino Katia, which doesn't look raspberry at all on this photo, is for a pair of gloves for me. rowan colourscape chunky for a christmas-present-hat for somebody who doesn't wear hats. i believe she needs one ;-).



in the meantine, i'm slowly knitting a sideways-knit hat. it's a slow knit, because i use noro sock yarn, knitted on 2mm needles (!!!!). takes ages, but it seems it's worth the effort.



...all this photographs were taken during what seems to have been the only 5 hours of sunshine we had in November. when i moved in here, i thought Stockholm is in Sweden, not in Mordor. what a dark autumn...

finally!!

pattern: Hero Pullover from IK Fall 2007
yarn: 12 (?) balls of Alaska (Garnstudio); 50g/75m of 100% wool
needles: 4.5mm

finished in September, photographed sometime in October (towards the end of it there were few sunny days!), blogged...now...

Jaeniño likes it and wears it to work, what makes me feel soooo proud!

i like the sweater, what does not mean it's flawless. unfortunately. i trusted in the f***ing swatch too much, instead of trusting my gut feeling. so, the sweater it's few cm too short. damn. i'm going to lengthen it somehow (picking ut the stitches and knitting a few rows? cutting the cast-on edge, picking up the live stitches and proceeding from there?). but for now, it's used as it is.

i've knitted ripples...

i've knitted more than that, in fact. it's much less visually interesting, though. sort of straight. straight ribbing.
:-)

inventory, part 2

getting rid of things can be refreshing. especially if the replacement is around the corner. here they are, my acquisitions this summer:
...the viscose lacewight yarn and the buttons for my cable hooded pullover (Spain, end of May)

...and the yarns for winter knits (local online stores, one week ago)

the dark olive wool is for the pullover for Jaeniño, the grey alpaca for a cardigan for me, and both noro yarns for hats. the (knitting) plans for the autumn are made! ¡Olé!

Baltic Sea

All pics taken during summer 2008 and 2009.

vacation 2009, part 3: Gotland and Fårö

vacation 2009, part 2: southern Poland

Kraków.












Opole:




Wrocław:

simple stockinette top

yarn: zeta 100% silk 95m / 50g, BC garn
needles: 4.5 mm

this is my first garment knitted from top down. no pattern, i just tried it on as i went and adjusted the number of stitches accordingly. i added slight shaping for the bust and the waist.
the colour does not show right on this photo. the grey summer this year, yeah... it's a dark red, burgundy even.
it was an easy knit, of the kind bordering on boring - so much stockinette can feel tedious. i think the simplicity of the stitch and the pattern shows the yarn nicely, and it's not too overhelming. i know i'm going to wear it a lot!

vacation 2009, part 1: Andalucía

Córdoba.












Alhambra, Granada.

summer in the city

the city and the sea, what a great match!