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...

Fibre and yarn, and more yarn, and some socks...

Mister postman has been soo kind to me lately! It seems like every other day, something interesting has magically appeared in my mailbox. Really, I have no idea how this happens. Suddenly, all this fibre and yarn arrives at my doorstep, and I can't seem to make myself remember that I actually ordered and paid for this... ;)

This is merino superwash wool from Crown Mountain Farms

And this is my extremely pathetic first attempt at spinning it. Spinning is a lot of fun, and relaxing, but the result... not so much fun. It's lumpy and much too thin at the same time, and kind of looks like the dog ate it and spat it out again.

Moving on to nicer things. I've been trying to find the perfect shawl yarn for a long time, and whadda ya know, I found it right here in Finland! I don't really know how to describe it, because I couldn't possibly do it justice. But it's soft, smooth, the perfect thickness (or thinness), and it's cheap! It's Wetterhoff Silvia

Some Colinette Jitterbug has also appeared here, somehow. The colors are Copper Beach and Lapis, from Cucumberpatch

Unfortunately, there was a sale at Cucumberpatch, and they made me get this too! Rowanspun 4-ply. Dirt cheap!

And finally, some Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock, colors Sand Ridge and Aslan. These will be manly socks when they grow up. I found these at Garnkorgen

I also participated in Socktopia's Knit Off madness this weekend. It was a lot of fun, but I'm still bummed about the time difference. You see, we were divided into two teams and the team with the most finished socks (pairs) after about 2 days of knitting won. There was also an award for fastest knitter, i.e. the knitter who first finished a pair. And this is where the bummedness comes in. The contest started at 6.45 pm finnish time. I was knitting like a madwoman and finished my first sock in record time. But then, night time got in the way of knitting and I had to go to sleep. That's reasonable, you might think, but that meant that the knitters that live in the western US, for example, still had many hours of knitting left while I was sleeping. So the conclusion is that I had no chance of winning the fastest knitter award, which was what I was really aiming for with this competition. Well, no, the conclusion is actually this: I'm a really bad loser!!! :) But, anyway, here are my Knit Off socks. The pattern was made especially for the Knit Off by Momma-Monkey (our ring leader), and it's called Eleanor. I'm really happy with the way they turned out.

Candy yarn

I don't know what's up with me lately, but there seems to be a strong preference for yarn in candy colors. I guess it's because spring and summer is coming and I'm getting a bit tired of dark wintery colors. The pink little beauties that I've wound up with my brand new yarn winder are Lorna's Laces. The darker pink is "Bittersweet" and the lighter one is "Sherbet". Don't they just look good enough to eat! The ball to the left is my own Kool Aid yarn, and it's already had a moment of fame here on the blog.



I also got this in the mail the other day. It's some kind of lace weight yarn from HipKnits. I don't know what it's called, because there wasn't any label or info about it. This yarn is for a contest on the HipKnits webpage. You're supposed to knit something with lace, anything at all that has some lace in it. Again, sweet like candy! It looks like cotton candy. Yummy!



I'm knitting a pair of Monkey socks at the moment, and I'm just about done with the first sock. The yarn is the Kool Aid dyed one I mentioned before, and I think it works really well with this pattern. I'm surprised! :)



I also cast on a pair of Chuck's Cabled Socks today, but believe me, they're a LOT of work! I usually don't like knitting things that take a long time, but I really like the way these look, so I'm determined to give them an honest try.

Socktopia socks and more yarn

I finally finished my heart socks for Socktopia.





The themes for february were:


Life is like a box of chocolates...
Forever in my heart
Bed of roses
Short and sweet
Laissez les bon temps rouler!


I think these socks have a little bit of all the themes in them. They were really fun to knit. The yarn is Colinette Jitterbug, a very easy yarn to knit with. The white fluffy yarn is Novita Teddy. I have a lot of it left, so it will probably be knitted into something nice and warm sometime in the future.


I have also somehow managed to order more yarn online. I just can't figure out how that happens! For some mysterious reason, I keep finding myself on yarn websites, looking at all the beautiful colors and textures, and more and more yarn keeps dropping into my shopping basket. What is going on!!?? I do have something to say in my defense. This yarn will actually become a dog sweater for my friend's dog Viggo. So there, I'm not completely insane!






Zitron Unikat, again. I soo love this yarn!

Finished object, UFO's and Noro

I've been knitting a lot lately, but I can't seem to finish much. I knit half a sock, or 10 rows of a shawl, and then I frog it. If it doesn't feel right, I can't make myself continue. In spite of all the traumatic frogging experiences, I did finish one object yesterday. This scarf. It goes really well with the beautiful mittens and I can't wait to wear it.



I've also been working on some ankle socks for Socktopia. I don't want to reveal too much about them before they're finished, but the process has involved a lot of frogging (again!) and a really sore pinkie... The yarn I've finally decided on is Colinette Jitterbug in the color Fire. I love this yarn. It's perfect for socks with small details and lace patterns.

I also received some more yarn in the mail today. Superfast delivery! I ordered on Monday, and it arrived on Wednesday! Thank you Priima. It's the oh so wonderful Noro Kureyon. I test-knitted a sock with one skein, just to see how the yarn would work with the pattern, and I really liked the effect. So I just had to order more of it for another sock for me and a pair for my significant other. Let's hope the cold weather continues for a while so we can cuddle up on the couch with our matching socks!

Yarnalicious!

I got some yarn in the mail today! Beautiful! I always forget what I ordered and then get really surprised when it arrives. Funny!

Some sockyarn of course...




And some puffy things that I don't know what will become of...


Lately, I've been buying yarn that I think is cute first (usually just one skein) and then try to find something to knit with it... Not the best system, but the most fun one! Don't you agree? :)

More yarn...

Yay, I dyed some more yarn! It's sooo much fun. I'm a little more pleased with this one than the first one, but the brown was supposed to be lighter and more beige.. Oh well, I'm sure this will make a nice pair of socks!

First attempt!

I have an announcement to make. I've dyed my first skein of yarn! I wanted it to be a nice deep red with light olive green stripes. The green is a little darker than I intended, and the red is not dark enough, but I'm pretty pleased with myself...