Friday, April 27, 2007

Twisted Flower socks finished

So the Twisted Flower socks are finally finished. Yay! Here they are, lounging in the sun on our balcony.

They're still a little fussy about being photographed, so they put on their whitest glow everytime a camera is close by...

The white color is also the biggest problem when it comes to wearability. That's why I thought I would ask you, my dear readers, what you think about dyeing them.

Should I dye them to make them more wearable and practical, or should I leave them white because they're oh so pretty in white? Tell me what you think.

If I dye them, the color would probably be burgundy or olive green or light blue...

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

A visit to the post office...

I just got back from the post office where I picked these up. And I also got a pen and a lollipop from the nice people at Get Knitted! Thank you!

More yarn again? Well, it's not my fault! You can blame b r o o k l y n t w e e d for this one! After seeing his Noro scarf I just had to knit one! This is silk garden in four different colors. The one on the bottom is a little more blue than I expected, but the other ones are perfect.

I also got these in the mail yesterday.

They will turn into Bayerische socks for a finnish KAL.

In between all the yarn shopping, I have also managed to get some knitting done. Can you guess what this is?


I'm also making some progress on my Twisted Flower socks, and I'm almost at the heel of the second one. For some reason, the second one is taking a looooot longer. I guess it's the famous SSS (Second Sock Syndrome).

What other knitting related things are happening here? Well, I sent the first package to my Secret Pal yesterday (yes, late, I know!), and hopefully she will get it sometime this week. Some knitters have already signed up for the KAL I'm hosting. If you're interested, don't hesitate to get over there and sign up! It will be a lot of fun!

Monday, April 23, 2007

Image links

Calling all Blogger users i blogland! Can anybody tell me how to make the images in the sidebar into clickable links? A step-by-step description would be great! I've been trying to figure this out through different blogger help sites, but no luck... :( Is there a special "page element" for this, or do I need to do it another way? I would really appreciate some help.
(Edit) Erasmus helped me with this, and now it works. So thank you very much Erasmus!

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Summer, please hurry up!

So is anyone else looking forward to summer? This picture makes me wish it were here already!
This is where I'll be sitting, knitting, all summer! The little pavilion by the waterside at our summer house. I just can't wait! I'm already planning what projects and patterns to bring and what yarn to buy. Wouldn't it be perfect to knit a shawl from Victorian Lace Today!

Saturday, April 21, 2007

The truly international socks!


Globetrotter socks. How does that sound to you?

Socks that travel around the world, take pictures along the way and keep a diary.

If you think that sounds interesting you need to check out this new KAL hosted by yours truly.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

Twisted Flower continued...

First Twisted Flower sock finished. This pattern really is something else! Cookie A., I humbly bow to you. I really like the way the pattern stands out in the white yarn.

(Again, white is impossible to photograph!)







Sunday, April 15, 2007

Twisted Flower in progress


I just started the heel on my first Twisted Flower sock by Cookie A., and I really like knitting it! Too bad I get blisters on my fingers because I'm so focused that I almost break the needles! And white yarn is almost impossible to get a good photo of...

Saturday, April 14, 2007

Manly lace socks

I finally finished the manly lace socks for my dad. I was planning to finish these during the Easter holidays, but a lot of ripping and yarn issues got in the way.

The pattern is my own. The paired leaves lace pattern runs from the front of the cuff all the way down to the toe. On the back of the cuff, there's a pattern with twisted and purl stitches.

Up close the leaves look like this.

The whole idea for a pair of "manly" lace socks was born when I started thinking about why socks for men always have to be so boring. Ribbed cuff, stockinette, and if you're lucky, some stripes in different colors. There are some bold socks for men out there, but not that many where lace patterns are used. So here you have it, a manly lace sock. Why should men not be allowed to prance around in fancy socks? Warm their feet with something that is both beautiful and functional? No reason, I say!

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug, "Copper Beach".

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Old school yarn winder


I brought this old yarn winder back with me from my parents' after Easter holidays. My dad guessed that it's from the late 1800:s, and my grandfather called it a "härvträ" (ostrobothnian, direct translation would be something like "skein wood").

It counts the amount of wound yarn by making a snapping sound when the wheel has turned one whole round. There is a small wooden pin (doesn't show in the picture) that sticks out from the wheel, and when it touches the piece of bone on the right and the snap is heard, you know that you've wound a certain amount of yarn.

The arms that hold the yarn are not the original ones and don't really work that well. I'm going to make new arms this summer when I get to spend some time at our summer house. Can't wait!

Secret Pal package and some yarn...

I got a very interesting package in the mail today! I was going to the post office to get some yarn that I ordered from Cucumberpatch, and the post office lady came back with two packages for me! I did suspect that the unknown one could possibly be from my secret pal, but I didn't know for sure until I got home and opened it. And this is what I found inside.

Two kinds of easter chocolate eggs! Yay! The cutest card with the nicest easter greeting! Shower gel pyramids (haven't seen those before)! Easter inspired candles! And the fun doesn't stop there...

Simply Knitting including a knitting project bag! Just perfect! Thank you so much my secret pal!


And this is the yarn I got from Cucumberpatch. I'm making Eunny Jang's Deep V Argyle Vest with this. Fingers crossed that it's enough, because it was on sale and it might be a discontinued yarn...

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Beautiful Pomatomi




Pattern: Pomatomus by Cookie A. for Knitty
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, "Bittersweet"

These really turned out great! I was a bit suspicious of the yarn choice, and expected a lot of weird pooling, but it striped really nicely and only pooled a little on the foot. Cookie A. is a genious! I can't wait to knit some of her new patterns! I'm planning to start Twisted Flower real soon. Just have to find the perfect yarn first.