A small WIP

This is the beginning of a sock for Sweetheart. It is a tweedy navy yarn, soft and thicker than your usual sock yarn.

I want to get them finished during my winter holidays (yay, I am off work until January 6th), maybe even this year. 

January Mystery Mittens

These are the Secret Garden mittens that I was knitting last winter. The picture was saved as a draft and it reminds me to get them out to finally wear them. It got just cold enough and they will add some nice colour to my grey wool coat. 

KAL progress

I am behind the schedule with my mittens as all clues for the second mitten are out. But I don't worry of not being done in time as this weekend I won't be as busy as last one.

After I had taken the picture with the mittens on Bisou Myrtille had to check them out, too...

Thanks for coming over.

Tina

Mystery mittens KAL

I am having such a lot of fun with this KAL, I'm so glad I decided to take part!

The second clue is done, too. It is the first part of the first mitten (other one will be different and I love the idea), and while knitting it and discussing the motiv in the group I learned that the mittens are based on the popular children's book "The secret garden" by Frances Hodgson. I hadn't known it before, so I got it to read as an e-book as well as an audiobook so I can listen to it while knitting on the mittens. 

Even more fun! It is very interesting to see all the different mittens in the discussion thread, all those different colour combinations, and the group is very supportive and motivating.

Link to my ravelry project page

Link to the discussion thread in the I make mittens group.

Mystery mittens KAL clue #1 - The Cuff

The fun has started. First clue was the cuffs which was the same pattern for both mittens. I learned a new technique for creating the red stitches which are "rose buds" along the stem. Perhaps the stems would stand out more if I had held the yarn in the other hand, as always the yarn that comes from under the other one is the one that is dominant. But I still love the look of it.

Link to my ravelry project page (you have to log in) and link to the KAL thread in the I make mittens group.

Blueberry socks finally finished



Mystery mittens knitalong

I am SO excited to take part in a knitalong again!!!

A secret mittens KAL! I am hesitant to take part in mystery kal as you don't know if you will really like the finished object as you have no idea what you will knit.

But here it is different as (for me at least) as I love all of the designers knits. This is her blog .

First clue will be released on January first...

Back to knitting and blogging

Not only did I not feel like posting here for a while, I also didn't knit a lot during summer. But I think I am back to both again. 

Here are some socks in progress. I love having variety to choose from when picking up the needles ;-)

I remember being absolutely enthousiastic when starting them and I had thought taking part in another knit along would keep me knitting, but as I know now, it didn't help any. No problem, I can still enjoy knitting and wearing them on my own. 

So here's the Tränendes Herz (bleeding heart) socks that I started as a kal. As ours in the back yard is a white variety I finally knew what to use that cream white yarn for. 

Next are the Norfolk Rambler socks that I found in the back of the drawer and that I had completely forgotten about...

And - even one sock is already finished - plain stockinette toe ups for me, blueberries'n'cream. 

This is a pair I am knitting for my Sweetheart, I call them the curry socks for their colour, in my standard stockinette "pattern".

WIP Fingerless gloves

More to come...

Thanks for visiting!

Tina

FOA*FOA*FOA *Finished object alert*

I can’t believe I actually finished my Business Casual socks (pattern) in time for the KAL that has been hosted at the Celtic Cast On. Just in time. Where are the times when I had enough knitting time to take part in two sock KALs at once and there was even time to knit on something else. Now I just manage to squeeze in enough time to get a pair of super short socks off the needles in two months…
No, I don’t whine, 'cause I do know where the time has gone. Things change, that’s how it is and I accept it. Am even happy with it!

Back to my Business Casual socks – as the yarn is rather thin I made them short, just two pattern repeats before I started the heel flap. I love how they came out, and I love the soft warm grey colour of this yarn. But to be honest, the yarn split like hell and it was no fun to do all those crossed  stitches. But that’s history, the socks are done, the yarn is used up, the socks will make me happy in the coming weeks as it is still cold in our neck of the woods, around 0°C, a few snow flakes coming down now and then, and a cold cold wind that makes everything worse. And the next fall/winter will come for sure.

Check some of the other socks from the KAL over at Kelly’s blog, there are some great colourways. Some people even knit more than one pair…

You can click on the photos to enlarge them but I promise to take better pics as soon as a few sun rays will hit our backyard while I am at home :-)

Business Casual Socks progress

Thanks for visiting!

 Tina

Yarn for the Business Casual Socks

Business Casual Socks Knitalong

After a really long time not having taken part in a kal I felt the urge to join in when I saw on Kelly’s blog that she is hosting a sock knitalong. There were different patterns to choose from and the majority of future participants voted for the Business Casual socks and so it is this pattern we are going to knit.

Start is on Feb 4th. Which is great as I have another week to finish my socks in progress aaaaand it looks as I am going to have some time to knit right on the fourth as I am going to pick up a foster dog at the airport, so there should be some waiting time… And I will be off work next week and even if I will do a lot with the dogs, there definitely will be some knitting time!!!

I have already chosen some yarn from my stash, it will be a soft, warm grey, without any ballband on it... But in a week I might also change my decision ;-) I'll keep you updated.

Thanks for visiting! Tina

Stripes

... on my current sock in progress.

A finished sock

... came off my needles today! I had started to knit with this yarn back in spring and wanted to make a lacy summer sock. Wasn't happy with all the patterns I chose in combination with the yarn (Knit Picks "Dancing").
Had the started toe with about an inch of patterned foot in my bag for weeks, then in the drawer for more weeks.
Now that I am off work for what was planned as a nice fall break BUT I got a nasty cold so I spend a lot of my time on the couch. Knitting.
First finished the grey striped socks for Sweetheart, then found my "summer" sock in the drawer. Decided to try plain stockinette stitch and that's it! Love the colours this way. Sock fits perfectly with the heel that fits just the same way as when I knit from the cuff down.
Now I hope that the second one goes as fast as that last part of the first one but I am positive as I still need some quiet time to relax and get fit again!

Knitting

I vaguely feel my knitting mojo coming back!
Finished an UFO sock yesterday and started the second one instantly after.
Sorted through my WIP today and made some decisions.
Wanting to curl up on the sofa with a cuppa and some knitting. Good sign? But out it is with the doggies now, then running some errands...
Oh and as there is no sock picture, you perhaps want to follow this link to a picture of Dingo and Josy at my old blog.

Thanks for coming over!
Tina

Knitting for Sweetheart

I think I had lost my knitting mojo during the last weeks but it seems it has come back!
Often if Sweetheart has a bad headache he uses my Kiri shawl to keep his neck warm and calls it the Faery Shawl because it works so great. I thought he needed his own one and started one for his birthday but so sorry he got a work in progress instead of a finished object. But so I could ask how long he wanted it :-) and now I am just trying to finish it. I hope he will love it! It is made in some of my favourite leftover sock yarns! It was some redheart that was available at Walmart over here.

I am using an easy pattern, start with about four stitches in garter stitch, increase one stitch on one side every fourth row until you have used half of your yarn then decrease.

Thanks for coming over!Tina

Lazy sunday afternoon

After shutting down the notebook I got myself a cup of coffee and made myself comfy on the couch with my knitting. After not even a minute my view is this while Flavie lies next to me and Dingo works hard to get all the blankets out of his basket (and find himself another dogbed then).

Sky scarf

This is the beginning of my 2012 sky scarf:

Each night I want to knit two rows in garter stitch in two colours that match the day's sky. As special features I already added some yellow for lightning and a silver bead for hail. Not sure yet if I am happy about the pompon yarn for rain.
I got the idea on the knits and crosses blog and there is a group for it on ravelry, the conceptual knitters with a knitalong for 2012.

A finished object!

Two in fact as a pair of socks consists of two socks, doesn't it? :-)
I am not too sure about how the colourway looks knit up, the orange seems to disturb more than complement the green and the blues, but to wear into boots they are great at least as they will keep my feet warm. I made my special toe, but this time "extremely" and they fit great. My feet are "straight" at the inside until about where the nail of the big toe starts, then a light curve. At the outside there is a light bend where the little toe starts, then a nearly straight line to the second toe, that is the same lenght than the big one (a barefoot picture would be great at this point but I hope you understand it anyways). That is why I stopped knitting round toes years ago. Instead I usually do decreases in a different rate, outside more than inside.
This times I started with two decreases every other row, then each row for the outside and only where the green begins at the inside - worked greatly! Looks a bit weird when not on the foot but it's just what my toes need!Yarn is Lana Grossa Meilenweit Fantasy in colourway 4770 - fyi if you need to have this colourway now you have seen it or (more likely) want to avoid it if you come across it :-)

Oh and if you have looked closely you might have noticed that the stripes match on the foot but not on the leg... Happens when on the first sock you use the other end of the ball to have the stripe sequence uniterrupted on the upper side, don't care to find the same spot on the yarn for the second sock, forget to do the second heel with the other end of the ball, and then serendipity comes into play and your stripes match for the foot. Voila!

Thanks for coming over!

Tina