Monday 30 December 2013

The Juggling Shawls

Sorry about the unsharpnes - imagine how it looked when they all fell down at the same time...
With heavy wind, cold feet and a bit unsharpened camera it is time to wish for a very happy new year.


Cavalcades are mostly boring - but when they are about knitting and yarn I am in.

Not that this is my knitting cavalcade for 2013.

This is simply to show the craziness of knitting eleven shawls from the same pattern.

And throw them up in the air to make it even more crazy.

I did not spot any men in white coats... It is all about getting things done in a hurry - and publish it online.

People in white coats do not use internet. I think. LOL!!

Anyway, the german pattern I translated into norwegian, and that I modified some, has given me lots of fun finding the yarn and colors and not to mention a warm neck.

I love these shawls with their tassels and glass beads.

They are so comfy and soft. I use them a lot actually.

Do not mention all the other shawls I have knitted... I should stay outside for the rest of my life to wear them all out.

Maybe it is time to move to Svalbard and live in an igloo...

I will definitely knit in 2014. I will definitely blog in 2014. I will definitely appreciate all of you who take the time to read and comment. Thank you so much!!!

The Stitch Story Of Them All
Yarns: Finull, Tynn Alpakka, Mitu, Plum, Mini Mochi, Little Monkey
Pattern: Schultertuch "Geschickt Gestrickt"


I wish you all a happy new year.


For last years words belong to last years language and next years words await another voice
T.S. Eliot
All 11 shawls. One of the red ones is given away for charity.





Wednesday 18 December 2013

Star Strucked And Woollen

The shawl upside down...
No, this is not about me meeting some very famous person. More like me being in some trouble trying to show off the shawl I am knitting. How do you take photos of large garments still on the needles?

Well it fell into me head - or rather onto my head to simply wear it upside down. With only a little hole on the top, there were not much star gazing to do.

Anyway, this is one of the projects that has been collecting dust way down in the pile of unfinished projects. It has been so much fun to start other projects that this ended up being overlooked. For about a year to be more precise.

But, it is never too late to get it finished. I have about 15cm to go until I start the edge on the top. I use a 150cm needle as there are a lot of stitches. I have planned to count them before the edge. I use a 2mm needle for it - as I am a loose knitter. I love stranded knitting and the pattern is easy.

After the top edge is knitted I secure the stitches by sewing with machine and cut it open. Then there are some serious picking up stitches to do...

Let´s hope I can finish this before christmas - next year....

Do not complain under the stars by lack of bright spots in your life
Henrik Wergeland

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Kauni effektgarn
Needle: 2mm
Pattern: Stjärnhop
My Ravelry Page: The Milky Way




Tuesday 10 December 2013

Crazy In Red

It may occur that I have been called mad to have knitted three of this cool construction, Viajante. In fact, the photos also confirms that. LOL!!

I love big shawls. And I love bright red. There is so much life and joy in that color. And it is the highest arc of the rainbow. Red is simply one of my favorite colors.

I have already told you about the awful oil and smell of the yarn I used for this Viajante in this post.

There were still a smell in it after washing but I used a project bag I could wash and it went well.

But this is really strange: I actually weigh the yarn right after I received it. It was just a few grams under 400 grams.

After washing, rewinding and knitting with it, 40 grams were just gone. I have absolutely no idea why. Some of it must be that oily spinning oil that was washed out.

And some must be moisture. But 40 grams?

Anyway, I managed to get that large Viajante I wanted. After another wash it is really nice. It could actually have used one more wash to get all of that smell out. But it do not bother me anymore. At least the oil is gone - or I could not have worn it.

As I ran out of yarn I started the mesh a little earlier and knitted as much as I could before BO. I am happy with the size of it.

Large, cosy and a really nice garment for cold indoors and outdoors.

A bright red color is just fantastic. Unfortunately it is really hard to come by, both in stores and in yarn color.

In Norway it is often called christmas red.

Well, I always tend to think that limited use of certain colors is all about the bright colors. I have never heard about christmas gray or summer brown.

Anyway, do not bother what colors are called. Life is too short to care about such small things.

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Blackhill Høylandsuld, Garnudsalg
Needles: 2.5mm for body, 2mm for lace
Size: 230 x 144cm
Pattern: Viajante
My Ravelry Page: Color Me Red

Red, of course, is the color of the interior of our bodies. In a way it´s inside out, red.
Anish Kapoor

Tuesday 3 December 2013

Is It Over Now?

Even my cat has given up... He is rolling over...
That is the question. After knitting 11 shawls from the same pattern I should be finished now. Sort of done what I could do by modifying and using different yarn types.

This last blue one sure took me some time to finish. It was at the bottom of my unfinished projects as I discovered it a while ago. Just lying there in all its blue glory.

I decided to finish it. I am in this "finish your current projects before starting new ones" thinking. I hope it will last some time.

I should really finish some of them. After new year, I think. That is a great time finishing them. And then again, it is also a very good time starting new ones....

Anyway, this shawl is knitted in Mitu and Schulana Kid-Seta. Mitu is a mix of half wool and half alpaca. You may remember my post about me never using alpaca again.

Well, this yarn holds up. It is soft and wears nicely. The Mitu and the mohair is a match made in a yarn store.

I use interchangeable needles with two different sizes of needles. One is 4mm and one is 10mm. This is really a rib knit with one purl, and one knit stitch knitted from the back loop. As the needles have different sizes the stitch pattern looks very different from a normal rib knit.

I really love the color in this one. A bit dark, but then again bright. I wear these both inside and outside. I have modified the pattern some and you can read about that in my Ravelry project.

So, this may be the last one from this german pattern. Or...

I never say never, because I don´t want to be one of those guys
Bob Seger

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Mitu, Schulana Kid-Seta
Needles: Interchangable needles with 10mm one on end and 4mm on the other
Extras: Glass beads and tassels
Size: 235 x 64cm
My Ravelry Page: Number Eleven
Pattern: Schultertuch "Geschickt Gestrickt"
The five shawls from the same pattern and in Mitu and mohair.