1. August 2009
SUMMERy
Pregnant? Ill? Lost knitting mojo? These things I've been asked by you but none of them is the reason for my absence. My master thesis and the last exams killed my creativity during the last couple of month. Now that I've finally graduated and found a job I feel like blogging again. I cannot offer you any knitting content right now and promise you (homemade) jam tommorow.
25. April 2009
Etwas mehr Drama, bitte / More drama, please
I have been admiring these socks for several months now. They are not my style, green is definetly not my favourite colour and most reviews of Noro Kureyon are rather disappointing. Still, I HAVE to knit these socks. I was thrilled when I received the yarn and casted on immediately. But alternating both ends every six rows gives me a yellow-brown-greenish mishmash instead of colourful stipes. I'm not looking for harmony, I want drama and contrasts. What am I doing wrong? Any ideas? Advices? In the meantime I'll start unravelling...
21. April 2009
Vom Norden inspiriert / Nordic inspiration
Am vergangenen Wochenende ist ein Projekt entstanden, dass schon lange darauf wartete, angeschlagen zu werden. Es ist mein erstes FO für den nordisch inspirierten Teil von Project Spectrum.
Thank you so much for all your comments. I highly appreciate every single one of them. A want to say a special "Thank you" to Anke who gave me some really helpful hints. Without her help my jacket would have become a coat and it wouldn't have had the fake seam on the back that a traditional Bavarian jacket needs to have.
Last weekend I finished a project that has been waiting in my queue far too long. It is my first FO for the nordic ispired part of Project Spectrum.
Garn: Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight in 1403 (ca. 20 g) und 15 (ca. 30 g)
Nadeln: 2,5 mm
Anleitung: Selbu Modern von Zeitgeist Yarns
Yarn: Jamieson & Smith 2ply Jumper Weight in 1403 (ca. 20 g) and 15 (ca. 30 g)
Needles: 2.5 mm
Pattern: Selbu Modern by Zeitgeist Yarns
Das ist meiner absoluten Lieblingsprojekte: das Garn, die Anleitung, die Farben, die Passform - einfach perfekt! Ich habe zwar in der vorletzten Reihe die Abnahmen etwas verkorkst, aber selbst das kann meine Freude nicht trüben. Kann es bitte wieder Winter sein?
This is one of my favourite projects ever. I love everything about it: yarn, pattern, colours, shape. Even the messed up decreases in one of the last rows cannot temper my delight. Could we have winter again, please?
13. April 2009
Yudl - Ay - EEE - Ooooo
During our vacation in Bavaria back in September last year my boyfriend asked me to knit him a traditional Bavarian jacket. We bought the yarn in a small local craft store and I started knitting full of beans (and sauerkraut). Only after a few rows my hands started hurting because of the very rustic wool. This and loads of garter stitch made the project moving rather slowly. Half a year later it is finally done and I'm sure it would have been easier to learn yodeling than knitting this jacket.
Anleitung: meine
Garn: 100% Wolle aus Bayern
Nadeln: 3,5 mm
Pattern: mine
Yarn: local no-name 100 % wool yarn
Needles: 3.5 mm
9. April 2009
Der rote Faden
Die Ostertage werden sicher eine Gelegenheit bieten ein paar Bilder zu machen, so dass ich ihn euch bald in Gänze präsentieren kann.
15. März 2009
Grün+Grün=braune Brühe / Green+Green=Sludge
What do you think is going to happen if you mix one shade of green with another one? A third shade of green somewhere inbetween, right? When I was dying this yarn my goal was an earthy and mossy shade of green but when I started mixing the colours it came out rather emerald. In my despair I poured on a green easter egg dye to my sour dyes and the colour turned sludge brown. Oh well, I really wanted to dye some yarn on that day and had no time for another colour mixing session, so I just put the yarn into the dye and abandoned it to it’s fate. An hour later I was holding a greenish brownish yarn in my hands and was surprised how close the achieved colour has been to my goal. The base is Merino Slim from The Knittery and it has a gorgeous sheen to it but I guess it would have been wiser to use it for a lace project as it is really thin and quite drapey. Maybe next time… For now I’m intrigued by the lace and cable goodness of future TTL Mystery socks.
8. März 2009
Grün / Green
Already during the last years I have enjoyed looking at all those amazing ideas the members of Project Spectrum shared in this Flickr group. This year I would like to be part of it. This year it's all about cardinal directions.
NORDEN (März/April)
Farbe: Grün
Material: Steine/Edelsteine/Felsen
Jahreszeit: Winter
Element: Erde
NORTH (March/April)
Color: Green
Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks
Season: Winter
Element: Earth
Though I'm a bit late for the start I had to check my stash for green yarns first and was surprised to find several that would fit the bill.
I think this picture which I took two weeks ago is a good starting point for exploring the wintery greens. Now I still have to find project that would suit the theme and my yarns.
22. Februar 2009
π
... is a mathematical contant, that is (I'm sure everyone still knows this) defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to it's diameter. Elzabeth Zimmermann found a way to use it for knitting and created the pattern for her wonderful Pi Shawl. The principle is easy: You double the number of stitches after themselves-doubling number of rows. Confused? Start with 9 stitches and double their number using yarn overs or other increase method after 1, 3, 6, 12, 24, 48 and so on rows. Do you need a more precise pattern? Take a look inside the Knitter's Almanac. I used a modified version of this principle for this cosy neckwarmer.
Garn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze und Bluefaces Leicester DK weight von World of Wool
Nadeln: 3 mm
Anleitung: frei nach dem Pi Shawl von Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Haze und Bluefaces Leicester DK weight from World of Wool
Needles: 3 mm
Pattern: a heavily modified version of the Pi Shawl by Elizabeth Zimmermann
14. Februar 2009
Hexenküche / Witches' kitchen
Until now my dyeing experiences have been limited to two or three experiments with eastern egg dyes and I felt it was time to approach this field in a more serious way. So I ordered some sour dyes from Wollpoldi, fished a undyed skein of Zitron Trekking Pro Natura out of my stash and found an old big pot. As a start I was more interested in the process than in the colour, so I used shade brown G in it's pure form. To find out how different fibers would react to the dye, I threw in a tiny skein of the blue faced leicester / silk yarn Ingrid spun for me.
30. Januar 2009
Noch ist Zeit / It isn't too late
Several days ago I found the Sock Knitters Anonymous Group on Ravelry and couldn't resist joining it even though I prefer to knit sweaters most of the time. The goal is to knit a pair of socks every month following an appointed pattern or using a special theme and to get the chance to become the lucky winner of lovely hand-dyed sock yarn. The challenge for January is to knit any pattern that uses the technique of beaded knitting or any pattern from an online knitting magazine or the mystery sock from the knitalong. If you would like to join, there is still time until tomorrow, the socks have to be done by the end of February. This is my contribution:
Garn: Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle in Sand
Nadeln: 2,25 mm
Anleitung: Froot Loop von Knitty
Yarn: Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle in Sand
Needles: 2.25 mm
Pattern: Froot Loop from Knitty
29. Januar 2009
Sprachlos / Speechless
The postman brought me a packet from Ingrid. I opened it and was speechless. It contained this gorgeous yarn she spun for me. It has a lovely silky shimmer and soo soft. Thank you so much! I can't stop touching and stroking it all the time.
20. Januar 2009
Schicksalsschläge / Strokes of fate
Gestern habe ich mir das Elend angesehen: Diese blaue Jacke ist das erste Kleidungsstück, das ich je gestrickt habe. Sie war eigentlich für mich gedacht, ist aber ein wenig zu groß ausgefallen und ich habe sie meiner Mutter vermacht, die sie seitdem gern getragen hat. Nach einer Waschmaschinenfahrt bei 30° C, zu der ich geraten hatte - schließlich soll das nach Herstellerangaben problemlos möglich sein - wechselt das gute Stück nun wieder in meinen Besitz. Wie man sieht, passt sie ganz gut, sogar die Zöpfe sind trotz Verfilzung gut erkennbar.
Several days ago my mum called me and started with the words: "Something really terrible happened." During the next split second I saw broken bones, hospitals and collapsing buildings im my mind's eye. After some time that felt like eternity she continued: "I felted the cardigan you knit for me". A gasp of relief at my end of the phone.
Yesterday I went to visit her and to take a look at the misery. This blue cardi is the first garment I've ever done. I designed and knit it for myself but it came out way too big so I bequeathed it to my mum who has been wearing it happily ever since. After a machine wash at 30° C (which shouldn't be a problem according to the ball band) it will move back to my closet. As you can see, the fit is not too bad and the cables are still visible despite the felting.
Garn: 11 Knäuel Cool Wool 2000 von Lana Grossa
Nadeln: 3,5 mm
Anleitung: Raglan von oben nach eigenen Berechnungen
Yarn: 11 balls Cool Wool 2000 von Lana Grossa
Needles: 3,5 mm
Pattern: Top-down raglan based on my own numbers
16. Januar 2009
Ausflüge / Trips
Several weeks ago I had the opportunity to spend a wonderful day at Ingrid's place. She offered me to try spinning and couldn't say no. I've never tried it before but was tempted for a long time. When I started, I could hardly stop and had to realize that it is much more challenging than it looks. Here are the skilful hands of my teacher
und das sind meine ersten Versuche. Sieht nicht unbedingt entspannt aus, oder?.
and this is my first try. Doesn't look very relaxing, huh?
Den Single habe ich dann mehr schlecht als recht im Navajo-Verfahren verzirnt. Das hat riesig viel Spaß gemacht und das hier kam dabei raus.
I plied the single using the navajo technique. This was a lot of fun and here is the result.
Falls jemand spinnen lernen möchte, darf er/sie sich vertrauensvoll an mich wenden, denn ich kann auf jeden Fall schon zeigen, wie es nicht geht. Danke, Ingrid, für diesen wundervollen Ausflug in die Welt des Spinnens.
So if you plan to learn spinning, just ask me and I will show you how it doesn't work. Thank you Ingrid for this fantastic trip into the world of spinning.
11. Januar 2009
Quilts zum Frühstück / Quilts for breakfast
Before I had started working on my blue and white hexagons, I searched the web for information about quilting and discovered a world that has been completely unknown to me. The modern quilts by Denyse Schmidt and Fun Quilts fascinated me so much that I had to order their books. I could take a look inside during a long breakfast and have to say that this purchase was totally worth-wile, no matter if I'll ever find the time to make one of these gorgeous quilts.
Hier sind einige meiner Favoriten
Here are some of my favorites
5. Januar 2009
Über Schulterschrägen / On shaping shoulders
Die Anzahl der Maschen für die Schulter durch 3 teilen, falls die Zahl sich nicht ohne Rest teilen lässt, den Rest zum Drittel, welches näher am Ausschnitt ist, dazurechnen (Beispiel: 31=Schulterbreite, 31:3=10+1, also werden die Maschen folgendermaßen aufgeteilt 10,10,11). Falls man nach Anleitung strickt, braucht man sich über die Zahlen keine Gedanken zu machen, sondern nimmt einfach die, die fürs Abketten an den Schultern vorgesehen sind. Anschließend werden die Schultern den errechneten Zahlen entsprechend laut Schema in verkürzten Reihen gestrickt, wobei an den Wendestellen die Maschen - wie bei Sockenfersen - umwickelt werden sollten, um Löcher zu vermeiden. Die Maschen werden hinterher nicht abgekettet, sondern verweilen auf einem Maschenhalter, bis Front(en) und Rückenteil fertig sind. Diese werden nun mit den rechten Seiten nach innen zusammengelegt und an den Schultern zusammen abgekettet. Diese Technik nennt sich Three Needle Bind-Off. Wie es genau geht, kann man sich bei knittinghelp anschauen. Ich hoffe, dass meine Ausführungen verständlich und nützlich sind. Wer einmal diese Technik ausprobiert, wird die Schulterpartie nie wieder anders stricken - garantiert!
Divide the number of shoulder stitches into three equal parts. If this is not possible, add the remainder to the part nearest to the neck (Example: 31 shoulder stitches, 31:3=10+1, so you would split the stitches into parts of 10, 10 and 11). If you are using a pattern, you don't need to care about the numbers but can use those given in the instructions. Start to knit short rows according to these numbers as shown in the sketch wrapping the turn stitches. After you have finished the short rows, don't cast-off the stitches but put them on a stitchholder until front(s) and back are completed. Hold front and back together right sides facing each other and work a three needle bind-off. Knittinghelp offers a great video tutorial for this technique. I hope my explanations make sense. If you try this way of shoulder shaping, you will wonder how you could do without before - I promise!
4. Januar 2009
Ein neues Zuhause / A new home
Waffeln / Waffles
Right now on my needles: Thermal by Laura Chau. I'm using a DK weight yarn instead of fingering weight, so I will have to figure out my own numbers. The waffle stitch is much easier to knit then I thought it would be and I like it a lot. Inspired by Hansuu's version I want to make a cardigan and hope that it will appeal to my mom as it's going to be her birthday present.