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! :-))))

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:

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.

blue top

at last. 6 months out-of-phase, a short sleeve top completed just for the winter.

blue top. started in april

pattern: based on the Lana Grossa summertime 2006 pattern 1
yarn: Tweed Flamme by Unica. got it ~10 years ago (vintage! hehe) 89% cotton 11% acrylic, 95m/50g
needles: 3.5mm for the body and 4mm for the drapey collar (circulars)
comments: i like the cable:


unfortunately, the insufficient amount of the daylight today (Sweden!, no joke, days aren't long these days) made me to shoot these pics in the artificial light. no good.



PS. the leek pie was a success :-)

look! i've knitted fish!

It's more a mandarinfish than a pomatomus, though.


Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A for knitty
Yarn: Regia Bamboo Color (1066)
Needles: 2.5mm dpns, bamboo of course

no modifications, no fiddling around with the pattern. just did everyhing as was supposed to. the fish turned out to be nice socks. it's just that i am not so sure about all the colours in the yarn... too much action there.

hedera, at last

Pattern: hedera by Cookie A. for Knitty
Yarn: Strompe & Jumpergarn, Marks & Kattens, 75% wool 25% polyamid, 50g/210m
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Modifications: none, really. i only changed the bottom of the heel, for experimental fun, let's say

I like the pattern, the lace is easy and visually interesting, although a bit boring to knit. It might look good on a knee-high socks, too.
The heel flap detail:

(the gusset lookes somewhat huge... whatever)

...and: ready to go!

red and black mitts

my new cosy warm keepers!
the pattern is a modified fetching from knitty. i changed the cables and knit them from top down. or from fingers down, or whatever i should name it.




it's actually quite difficult to photograph red in the artificial light...
with the lamp...

or without?

mitts for the whole family!

Four (4!!!) finished objects at the same time! That's right. The mitts for the women in my family in Poland, inspired by the Fetching design. I changed the cables, so each pair is different, and added a crochet reinforcement at the top, so the glove is less stretchy and open at that part. I am very happy with these, and hope the receipients will be, too! (the yarn was Siena Big by Wolle Roedel, I bought it a year ago when I was still living in Germany; I don't think it's available anywhere else)



I actually think, I will knit one of these for myself. Come to think of that, that's the accessory I need for the cold Swedish autumn...

not just socks, BFF socks! (iii)

Couple of days ago I had a day when I could not bring myself to accomplish anything. Complete de-motivation was the motto of that day. I simply went home earlier and indulged in mindless knitting. The result is a finished object!
Logically, they'll be gifted to a friend. Here, modeled on my hair spray containers (her feet are much smaller than mine, so I didn't want to stretch the socks).





Pattern: BFF by Cookie A.
Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilwenweit Cotton Festa (42% cotton, 42% wool, 13% polyamide) 380m / 100g in color #4030
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Comments: I like the socks! VERY much :-) The way the pattern is written is clear and understandable. The end result, socks that are interesting yet simple. The yarn I used, Lana Grossa Cotton, is pleasant to knit and to wear (tested on my previous socks). The only modification was the three-needle bind off instead of the toe grafting via Kitchener stitch.

just socks (socks #4)

just socks, toe-up. Meilenweit by Lana Grossa, on 2mm dpns. time to complete the project: aaages. two and a half months, to be specific. i'll weave the ends in tomorrow ;-)

despite counting rounds (yes), surprisingly the socks are somewhat asymmetric:

but then, our body also is.

grey leaves scarf

ready at last. just ~in time for spring, he he he.
i've seen the leaves pattern here, just a picture, though. i sort of figured out how to knit it (from soft merino by Wolle Roedel, again no badge to check the yarn details) and... it took me only 7 months to complete it. in another half a year, will be ready for wearing. this is called planning ;-).



a more detailed view of the pattern:

tubey 1.2

pattern: tubey
yarn: Siena Big 100% merino superwash (80m/50g) by Wolle Roedel. unfortunately, the badges were thrown away during the move so i can't give the exact colorway.
needls: 3.5mm



it's a warm sweater, nice to wear and enjoy during the evening walk. i like the pattern and the construction of the sweater, however, the pattern required some changes to fit my body shape (narrow arms and, well, busty chest).

Jaywalker, aka socks #3

pattern: jaywalker by Grumperina
yarn: Sport & Strumpf Wolle Marathon (Wolle Roedel); 380m/100g; 45% cotton, 42% wool, 13% polyamide
needles: dpns 2.0mm and 2.5mm

that was a satisfying knit. i think i'll make another pair using less variegated yarn someday. i am not an experienced sock knitter, and this was the first time i used this type of the heel, so i wasn't sure how it was going to work out. it did very well.