Round and round it goes...

Where it stops, only Lene knows!

Precisely at 60 cm, to start the neck opening that is knitted back and forth over the whole body (Sleeve holes will be CUT open).

I am finally over the "Three white, three red, repeat until sick and tired, then alternate until you want to throw the knitting away" stage, and am now allowed to make the nice red-and-white alternating rounds with the occasional round of lice. (That is an official term for the little flecks of the contrast colour, really!)

While doing that, I am very busy. With flies. More accurately, trying to chase the flies away that MATE on MY leg. Buzzing away, making little flies... :-S

Have a really nice day

/Lene

Creative for Two!

Here is the Fana Sleeve, take two. Also known as the second sleeve - it grows lightning fast, which it is not supposed to because I only have yarn enough for this sleeve until Sunday, when I return to my own home.







My mother was also very creative, and has spun this beautifull silk yarn for a summer top. She dyed it herself, and in real life it is a washed-out lavendar colour.





Jean: The beautifull sweater is in "Best of Lopi", which is a hard-back book that can be found on Amazon, among other places. There are also some other gorgeous designs.

Have a really nice day

Ute and Lene

Inaugural Post

Dear reader of our blog.

I want to present myself, my Name is Ute and I am Lenes mother. As every other mother I am very proud of my daughter. She is a very good knitter, spinner and now patchworker. Lene learned to knit and sew, when she only was a little girl, but she never wanted to do it more
than for five minutes or so. She had to be a grown up woman before knitting became her favourite hobby. It is very nice for me, to have a daughter I can share my hobbies with. We have a lot of fun og many nice hours together knitting, spinning and sewing patchwork.

Lene had the idea that we share this blog. Tankyou for that , Lene. My english is not very good, but Lene promised to read my text and correct it. My motherlanguage is danish and german, because we belong to the danish minority in Germany. People say, that the language you dream on, that is your Mother langugage. If that is true, I have two danish and german.

My newest project is this nice little sweater for my grandchild. I knitted it in a norwegian wool called Peer gynt. It is a Lopi design and I love it very much. My daughter in law too loves this design, so the little boy had to get it now, where he is going to be a big boy - running around and try to say "farmor" (grandma).







PS: My mother is quite busy right now, so I agreed to put this up here. I know she has many other pretty things to show you, but that will have to wait until she can and want to do it herself :-) (Or I get my hands on the original pictures, since the ones she sent me were shrunk into oblivion - ah well)

Fana Sleeve

Here it is!

Courtesy of my mother, who yesterday asked me "When do we get to see a picture of your "Fanakofte"? Shouldnt you be finished now, thick needles and all?

Irony, Irony (I hope). It is knit on US 4 needles, with Dale Heilo and Knitpicks undyed Wool of the Andes. I am changing the pattern a bit, because the original sleeves probably would have been huge. I dont like huge sleeves. Long is OK, but wide, nah.



This sleeve has used up a bit more than one ball of the red until now, and I have (had) 11 of the red balls. If my grandmothers formula of 3:5 applies here too, I should be just fine with oneandahalf ball for each sleeve and five (or more, since there is no armhole shaping) for the body.

I am a little sad that I could not knit the whole sleeve with my Ebony Holz and Stein DPN's, because they made the knitting such a joyfull experience - having good tools pays off!
Already looking forward to start the next sleeve or the body soon, when I have finished the star motif on top of the sleeve, because that means I can knit while reading again :)

Have a nice day

Lene

Fana-swatch

"Cast on 151 / 163 / 175 / 187 / 197 / 209 / 245 / 257 /267 / 279 stitches with 2,5 mm needle, and knit stockinette back and forth for 4 cm...."

Swatch swatch, I am supposed to have 22 stitches to 4" (10 cm) over stockinette on 3,5 mm needles (The 2,5 are for the hems only). With worsted weight? Hm. I have knitted this Dale Heilo on 4,5 mm's with 20 st / 4". My mother even has used a 5mm with it.

I am yet undecided which size I will choose - but it will not be the largest :-) Either the M or the L - this pattern ranges from 2 yars to XL, where the XL is 134 in the bust. My actual bust is somewhere around 107 cm, so 123 or 129 cm at the bust should be good. This is a buttoned cardigan, after all. (But I really dont want a whole foot of ease! I am SO over knitting sacks!)


Have a nice day

/Lene

Wicked Pictures

My new favourite spring/fall sweater! It is simply gorgeous, feels good, fits really good, and is perfect for when you are not entirely comfortable with just a tee, but dont want a long-sleeved tee - and for many occasions in between.

Stats:

Yarn: Dale heilo, on sale, in a rich, yellowish brown.

Pattern: Reverse-engineered "Wicked" from Zephyrstyle, with many many alterations, for example CO 10 st. under the sleeves to avoid excessive pucking under the sleeves.

Time: Five days, from April 25 til April 30.

Amount used: 6 balls and roughly another ½ ball. That means i used maybe 650 yards?

Comments: Fits, is warm, has a nice colour and cost me 5$ to make! It does not get much better than that. Plus, it makes me feel like a woman and not like a tent, a thing that is a good thing. (I have felt like a tent for years when I weighed well over 60 pounds more than now)


I will leave you with a bonus picture:

Into the Sky!

/Lene


PS: Thank you, stalking weirdo. You make me feel special, spending time and noticing when I post, making me laugh and help me grow self confidence. It is just like having a good friend, except, you obviosly are not :-)

Even more Wicked!

This is Wicked on, in front of our chaos-garden, that has finally been taken all OUT and grass has been sown. It really was neccesary. I like the fit of Wicked! It sits tightly around the waist and will soon flare out to fit my hips. Pocket? Uhm, I dont know. Maybe? Short sleeves and a cabled ribbing.

Have a nice day

/Lene

Wicked!

I started using all that Heilo for something usefull after just gazing all happily at it for a while (It lies on my living room floor like a sea of happy colours).

Wicked




It is not really a Wicked (Link in a previous post), but a sort-of. I wanted a look kind of like on the model, and not like the finished ones I have seen in, uhm, ample sizes (US 14 for me). It ended up a bit too tight, and I dont know about the body, it might be a bit too fitting while the arms may end up too loose (I could not buy the pattern. Spent too much money on yarn this month). I am at the point where I will put it on two circs and see where I want to put the waist shaping - or if my breasts can get into it, at all :-P If not, I might.. uhm.. Probably rip. Or finish and wait until I loose some more weight.


The weater is lovely here in Denmark, and the Guinea Pigs and I have been sitting outside for three hours today - I live very near two little streams with grass and everything around them, so I pack the piggies, a book, my knitting, and a box that I can turn around and put them into. They graze, sleep and poop, while I knit and sleep. Fair enough :-)


Have a really nice day

/Lene

PS: Yes Hanne, you are one of the three :-) I am glad you liked the danish poetry - it was written as an ode to an Aarhusian spring!

Writing

I dont think that any (Well, three maybe) of those who are reading this blog know that I have written poetry - and do sometimes - and even have earned money (whoa) with it.


En Tone



Gennem luften danser stille en tone,
blid fuglesang.
Sender bud om solens mildt-varme stråler,
ømt kærhedstegn.
Al vor jord vrimler over af fugle, i vor himmel og på paradisvis.
givet til os af skaberens godhed, så til evig tid vi på ham tror.

Over haven ligger nænsomt et sollag,
blomstrende trær.
Fylder sind og alle buske med lyde,
sød jubelsang.
Dagen skrider og aftenen lider, stille rolig i vor sjæls helligdom.
Gir forvisning om skaberens nærhed i hver bi, hver blomst hver busk og træ.

Aftnen nærmer sig med listende poter,
gylden og varm.
Trækker over sø og enge et dække,
sover i ro.
Se da kommer fra Gud evig varme, rige gaver med et løfte om fred.
Vi skal alle i modenheds fylde, nyde livet i hans kærlighedsbo.


So sorry for posting it in danish - it is a psalm written on an absolutely beautifull melody that is both slow and resembles humming, a peacefull and restfull melody. I just felt the need to post something beautifull on the blog :-)

Want some poetry in another language?


Ich bin so froh
Denn mein Po
Passt genau auf unsrem Klo!


What, that wasnt good enough?

The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

Well!

Thanks to Robert Frost, there has now also been content for all the english-speakers out there, too.

/Lene

Who is knitting socks and a fabulous new sweater...

When I finally blog...

I blog a LOT!


Patchwork-knitting Sweater

My mother has made one of these, and I really really liked it :-) First, you knit two strips in a diamond pattern that go from your butt to your belly, and then they are connected by knitting narrows panels of garter st. between them. My mother modified the original pattern, which is for a vest, into a long-sleeved sweater. I think I might make a vest after all, but much longer than the pattern states, and also changing some other things.

It is knit holding two strands throughout (Huh, sensing a trend here?). One strand is Evilla Blue 2, in the 8/2 thickness, and another is Lisa Souza handdyed Merino Laceweight in "Sapphire".


Lucking out

Yeah well - what other could I call this? There was this yarn shop owned by an elderly lady. Who had owned it for... Hmm... Longer than anyone can remember, at least. Now she wanted to retire. But, noone could possibly buy her yarn shop with all the yarn she had there, and in storage! Well, so she just... Made a great giant sale before closing. I did not see it until almost everything was sold, but on the other hand - I got some GRRREAT deals on the last things. Like the Dale of Norway booklets? The whole shebang for 15$, and I think there are 20 booklets in there with 15 designs in each of the most beautifull traditional designs - including almost all the olympic sweaters :)
I bought yarn for the sweater that is on the cover of the booklet I laid on top of the binder, namely the dark blue, light blue and three balls of the orange.

My mother bought.. Uhh... 5 binders too? And several booklets from Lopi etc... For almost free. It even got better when we were there the day before they closed down. We got tons of patterns, and when she asked if we were interested in more, I responded that only the Heilo... But I werent going to pay what she was asking for the leftovers. "I'll make you a good price". Oooook...

I got 38 balls in aumtuney colours for... 36 USD. I have NEVER bought yarn this cheap before! Heilo is a worsted weight non-superwash wool yarn, but wow... Less than 1 USD each? I paid 2,5 USD for the 19 balls I bought just a few days previously.... (It is normally priced at around 5 USD)

My mother also bought a good cache of this yarn, and is already knitting a sweater for my nephew out of it - and has 25 balls for a colourwork sweater for my little brother (Who is two metres tall).



She did not get the hyper deal that I got in the last end though - but for Denmark, those prices were avesome. (Even the 5 USD are not expensive - yarn is ridiculously expensive in Denmark).

Have a really nice day


Lene

Turbo-FO.

Good morning all!

Oppps, It has been some time since I last wrote here - not for lack of things, but a little spring-depression has been making the rounds here, so I was not quite up to it. Natch, does not matter, because nothing really depends on wether I blog or not - it is just an added bonus in a nice life.


Empire-waisted, skirt-style sweater!



I love this!
It was knitted within six days, including two sick days and two days where I was not able to knit. Pattern is out of Rebecca, Winter 2005, which my friend had brought with her to our summer cottage for Easter. She knitted a nice wrap sweater while we were there.

Of course, I modified this to have raglan sleeves because I KNEW it would pull itself out of shape (The original had the bodice in 1x1 rib and set-in sleeves... ouch). However, I dont like the neck... Some sort of lacing up must be put there, that is for sure.

I do not have a picture of the whole thing modeled, because the angle I can take pictures of myself in is so weird - I look seven months pregnant :-/





Stats:

Yarn: One strand of vintage Phildar "Gaïka", which consists of a strand mohair, nylon, wool and a polyester strand that goes around and sometimes wraps violently around the yarn, creating shiny, hard spots. One strand of blue sock yarn - I used three different colours to use up yarns I would not knit socks out of.

Pattern: Rebecca, Winter 2005. The pattern was not bad, and had some clever details. But, 1x1 ribbing and set-in sleeves? AND a V-neck? Who was asking for droopy sleeves and a giant neck? (My adaptation is not that much better... But I tried). I love love love the empire style. Must knit more in a thinner and more flattering yarn.


Time used: Pretty exactly one week, though I did not knit every day due to unseen circumstances.

Needles: Plastic 8 mm's. This sweater is heeeavy....

Overall thoughts: I like it. I must find a way to lace up the V-neck and pull in the neck (Which shouldnt be hard because I somehow created a row of holes when I crocheted the stitches off the needle - didnt want to just cast off). Empire waists are sooo goood...
The sweater is four yards around (two metres) around the bottom, and loose everywhere except for in the middle of the arms, but it was a fun knit and an excellent way to use up half (sigh) of the weird Phildar Gaïka I bought years ago in E-bay.

Have a really nice day

Lene

Snooze

How much did I knit this weekend?

Not one single stitch.

We were at our local campsite, Tydal, an old farm that was bought by the scouts in the 60's and rebuilt to be a camp site with huts, meeting facilities, and lots of space for tents. It is also really good for all kinds of scout activities. There is a little river right along the edge of the campgrounds, forests etc.

We had so much fun in our rover group, called "Garfield". Of course, we watched Garfield (2, because we watched 1 last time), played with the baby (My nephew), organized some activities for the little scouts (scared the cr*p out of them), ate pizza until we almost puked and discussed how much more it would have to rain before we would have to swim home, seeing how the little river had swallowed an area almost 10 times as wide as it is normally.

Oh! I also found something to try with the yarn I wanted to use for the Aranmor sweater. It is the beautifull red cabled sweater in the Winter IK. Something tells me that I should try to make bust shaping, well maybe, I must see.

Have a really nice day

/Lene

As time goes by...

You learn to appreciate your handknits more and more. At least it is that way for me.


Marianne

This pullover was not a favourite for some time because it always needed a cami underneath, but since I found a few right-coloured ones, it is hard to pry this sweater off my body. It is dressy, classic, unique, and the yarn has gotland-sheep character, meaning that it has a little halo (almost like mohair) and does really well when knitted loosely. It IS knitted loosely (My mother told me I was cheating, lol). It has a clean cut, clean lines and good colour. Nice hems and covers my neck.

So, who should be surprised that I want ANOTHER one? Not exactly like this one, though, as this colour of the particular yarn is not nearly as gotland-sheepy as the green/grey (I suspect the white and grey to be natural colours).



More Evilla Yarn, in a colourway best described as "Summer, Sun and beach"

I found a very simple pattern that should bring out the best of the colour changes and the soft, yet rustic yarn.

From Vermont Fiber Arts

I am not going to buy the pattern, but will try to adapt it for a raglan-in-the-round. Yes, I am so predictable.


Aranmor


I *think* That my second swatch has 17,5 or 18 stitches / 10 inches. If I knit the smallest size (117 cm around) I will probably end up somewhere between the middle (126 cm) and the large (134 cm). I would wastly prefer to end up somewhere between the small and middle, though. I am not so into oversized sweaters (I have plenty), and would prefer one that hangs with just a tiny bit of drape - which it wont if I go further down in needle size. I was not aiming for an armour :-)

First sleeve has been started - and frogged! 51 stitches as per smallest size, 4mm/US6 needles instead of 7 - and yet it had 10 inches /24 cm circumference :-0!! I dont want a sleeve where everyone can peek up and see my bare arms. 8 inches / 20 cm would be OK. Here I go then... Frog and re-cast on... Later.

Have a really nice day

/Lene

Eh... what?

I measured both squares.

One has 23 stitches, the other 25. They both tell me that they have 17 stitches /4inches?? And 25 rows/10 inches? Yet I can see, by simple comparing, that the square with the 5mm needle and 25 stitches is 4 stitches wider than the one with the 4,5 needle? What is happening? Can't i count?

They dont even look similar - one looks and feels much more dense than the other.I have no idea what happened.

I will let them rest for today and see what happens tomorrow. Maybe the gauge faeries will change gauge on one of the squares?

Have a really nice day

Swatch swatch

Yesss, I am going to make me another sweater! After the sad disaster with the Green-white snowflake sweater ( I still cringe when I think of it, it was so pretty, and then I destroyed it. ), I did not think I would have the mojo to make another sweater for a long time. But oh, how I do!

I made a swatch out of Jaeger Shetland Aran (20% Alpaca, 80% Virgin Wool - where did the Shetland go?), that I got on Ebay.uk for 45$ /pack including shipping to Denmark :) It is a pretty sky blue, and I have a picture somewhere....

Just moss stitch on US8's, but I love this stitch so much, it might almost be considered an obsession. (I even knit my nephews sleeves out of it even though it was about to drive me batty). It looks really good, and if I knit the middle size (126 cm at underarm! wow), I should be able to eke it out of my 10 balls with 186 yards (supposedly), as opposed to the Bainin wool Starmore specifies and that is long unavailible, and that runs 150 yards to the same weight. She is using 11/12 balls, but I also want to modify the neck (It has a ridiculously large neckhole, that just looks mightily silly.

Edit: I knitted another square when the first square on 5mm/8's had a gauge of 16 st/10 cm instead of 19 st/10 cm. The square knitted on 4.5mm/7's hit the gauge exactly - prewashing! Time will show how it behaves when I have washed it. I have heard tales about weird gauge issues with AS (How funny, that's just how Aspergers is written in short: AS) pattern. I might knit it with the loose gauge, or not, because I will, as I am wont to do, knit in it round as long as I can. Edit End


I am sorry, but no picture: I forgot the cam at home! Argh!!


Have a really nice day


/Lene


PS: I have not stopped knitting lace. I just felt the need for a new sweater to comfort me after the previous desaster.