Monday 30 September 2013

Not Having A Clue

Clue 1 is the striped section, clue 2 is the orange section and clue 3 is the purple section. One clue left of the shawl.
This is the funny thing. Normally I would not have knitted a garment I have not seen in advance.

Clue 1.
But I would not have knitted this if I had seen it.

Too much partial knitting.

But since I had no clue this is actually good. Just as life itself - there are so many things we would have been afraid of doing if we had known the future.

Well back to the Mystery Shawl KAL. I have done three clues and only have one left.

But I still have a problem finding out how this shawl is going to be. I hope for a wide wingspan and a long shape. You can read about the yarn and the project on my Ravelry page.

It was a quick knit this time all though there are 619 stitches on the needle with the purple color. All together there are 1004 stitches.

Clue 2.
Since there are so many stitches, a lot of short rows and yarn overs it would soon be a nightmare to keep track of the stitch count.

But Pauline on Ravelry is so generous that she has done the math and made charts for the stitch count on clue two and three.

That saved me - cause if I had to unravel any of this I think I would have given up.

Last clue on friday - and I can not wait to see this finished.

Knowing too much of your future is never a good thing
Rick Riordan

Monday 23 September 2013

Getting Weirder

Clue one and two finished.
I did not see that coming at all. Starting with a really strange creation - now it is even weirder than before. Not easy photographing it properly - you may get the deal... LOL!!

Clue one when finished.
This is clue one and two in Stephen Wests Mystery Knit Along on Ravelry.

We are half way done with the shawl. I can not even imagine how this is going to be. It looks like a swiss cheese with the Eiffel Tower as a part of it.

Clue two was so much faster to knit. With the instructional videos this is going smooth. I am a bit concerned about the orange yarn.

It bleeds like mad and my fingers got all orange from it. Madelinetosh has never done that before. Hope this is going to be safe to wash when that time comes.

Well, first I need two more clues. Friday is the next up - can not wait to see more of my new shawl.

Stay tuned.....

Thursday 19 September 2013

Mysterious Color Craving

During the knitting process.
I always like to see the garments I knit - before I knit them that is. Nice to have a photo of the finished thing if I wonder about the next step or if I even like it.

Well, that was some weeks ago. Before I decided to get myself out of the comfort zone. And I mean comfort! Being safe and all. Not taking chances with patterns or designers before I was absolutely sure.

Madelinetosh sock in bright colors. Need I say more?
But that was before Stephen West. This extraordinary knitter with the most creative garments on his list of patterns.

He invited to a mystery knit along (MKAL), the shawl Color Craving.

I got that exciting feeling inside. I needed a challenge and learning something new was just what I needed.

And the word color made me jump into my stash after some goodies.

So I did it. I signed up and I have done clue1 without problems. With a good pattern and instructional videos I had no problems. So genius created.

The only thing is this: How in the world is this going to be a shawl??? Is this the top, the bottom or the middle of it? And why is there over 400 stitches in this and half the yarn used?

I am really excited to see how this goes over the next three weeks. Tomorrow Clue2 will be published. I am very happy with the colors I found in my stash. Can not wait to use the orange one to get that color craving out. I use Madelinetosh sock for my project in bright colors of course.

Stay tuned for next stitch story about this mystery....
Clue 1 is finished with over 400 stitches on a 150cm circular needle. Is this really a shawl - or a swiss cheese?



Sunday 15 September 2013

Color Up The Winter

Colors for autumn and winter is back in the shops and the yarn stores. That means a lot of gray, black, brown and other colors that makes the days even darker. Just as all the others autumns and winters before this one.

It is almost impossible to find clothes and accessories with colors on. But, there is hope.  If you want to color up your winter with some light you can use my free knitting patterns if you want.

You can never get too much colors
 But you can think too much about why you should not wear them
Me

So, trash those thoughts and be your self. I have never met anyone who did not look good in colors - it is all about finding the right hue of them.

Both patterns are in norwegian and english. Lifelines are also in german thanks to Tanja who translated it.

Download Heartwarming scarf here.
Download Lifelines here.

Tuesday 10 September 2013

Green Garter Girl

It has been a while since I finished this. I can finally show it in public - it was a gift for a very special friend and she got it for her birthday yesterday.

I was really afraid that the colors where not right. But they were - totally a hit. Man, I was so relieved. She deserves the best and colors are such a personal matter.

A green color is not just green.

There are a million green colors. I took a chance and added some red to spark it all up. And that was a hit too.

This is another Hitchhiker scarf. I love knitting it, and it is so great to use both in summer and winter.

You start with a couple of stitches and increase and decrease in a pattern that is easy to memorize.

You can see my rainbow hitchhiker here and another one with some orange fun here. It is very addictive to knit this - just one more teeth and another one.

The Madelinetosh yarn is soft and perfect if you do not like scratchy wool.

On Etsy I found just the perfect beads to add with the tassels.

And, I also found a tote bag that my friends name was added to. That was so much fun. And the gift got so personal. Nothing is more lovely than to give handmade things.

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Madelinetosh merino light
Needle: 2mm
The Little Extra: Tassels, lampwork glass beads
Pattern: Hitchhiker
My Ravelry Page: Daring Red