Happy Halloween!

Since the last update, I've been working on a few different things. The amorphous mystery sweater has only progressed little, and is currently out of favor and out of the knit cycle. This always seems to happen, when I get back into the knitting groove. I frantically go back and forth between a few projects, trying to figure out what I really want to, or need to be working on, before actually settling on something that feels right. In addition to the mystery sweater, I've been working on Tweedie, started a shawl and another sweater, and even finished something:

This is Amelia, Laura Chau's pattern from the -08 Winter Knitty. I used Louet Riverstone in color Burgundy. I think it's a very nice, solid worsted wool, one of those basic yarns that is always good to have around. I was between sizes, and cast on something in between M and L, because I didn’t want the sweater to be too tight around the bust. A couple of other changes I made were:

• Button holes every 14 rows instead of every 10. I wish I would have started them an inch or two earlier.
• I modified the sleeve cuff to twisted k1p1 rib, and I did the sleeve increases slower and made fewer of them than specified. Looking at other people's projects, sometimes the sleeves seemed too wide, at least to my taste.
• I made the front neck line decreases one stich further in (k1, p1, ssk), and I added a button hole in the neck band.
  

Overall, a nice project, and a good, well written pattern!

After finishing Amelia I thought, what I really need is a couple of new sweaters I can wear to work. I searched through patterns and rummaged through my entire yarn inventory, and paired up yarns with patterns, deciding what is going to be what. The first sweater that got on the needles was a silvery gray version of Wendy's Something Red:

I'm using Rowan's Kid Classic and Addi Turbo 4.5 mm circulars. (Shocking news: Addi has changed the color of the cord in their circulars from the familiar gold to a transparent blue!) This sweater should take me another couple of weeks with the sleeves and the neck band, if I manage to stick to knitting monogamy from now on.

October is birthday-month for me, and despite having made a resolution to be on a strict yarn diet, I figured I'm allowed to splurge on my birthday. Right?

This was my "happy birthday to me"-gift: a soft pile of Malabrigo Silky Merino in color Topaz. I'm thinking a shawl, something in the style of Jared Flood. Jared is one of my favorite bloggers and designers, and I'm really fond of his use of thicker yarns for lace patterns. By using a DK or a worsted weight yarn in a lace, you really get the best of both worlds; the intricate texture and pattern, but also the substance (and warmth!) of the thicker yarn.

The weather has been absolutely miserable lately around these parts of the world, but only during the weeks. Somehow magically it always seems to clear up for the weekends, and this weekend is no exception. This of course makes me very happy -not only for the kids, but for poor old me, who has to take them trick-or-treating tonight, and if the weather was as bad as last night, no amount of knitwear could keep me warm! I hope you all have a happy (and scary!) Halloween. Stay warm!

The winter is not over...

It's been snowing here for the last two days, and I have to say that I've had just about enough of that stuff... but it's been a good excuse to dig out the heavier knits again. My favorite is a Clapotis out of Malabrigo -so soft and so big, so comforting! I haven't shown it here in the blog, because I made it before I started blogging. BTW, have you noticed, did Malabrigo change their yarns? Where is the alpaca??

Over Easter weekend, I didn't get much knitting done. The socks? -not done yet. The sweater? -not done. I was just completely overwhelmed by the beauty of these:

Three Japanese craft books that are so cram packed full of pretty patterns that I want to make almost every one of them and don't know where to start! Well, this is of course a good problem to have, I'm not complaining, but it's slowing me down.



I will definitely make a couple of these sweaters:but also the accessories are just unbearably pretty:


I almost can't take it!! And I feel like I have to start knitting every one of these things right away!But that of course won't happen... that's ok, though. I'm just happy that I have a ton of really nice patterns waiting when I'm looking for something to knit for next winter. Because these are mostly winter knits, and I don't think I'll be starting a scarf (except for lace) or a pair of gloves any time soon.

I did start a swatch from the "300 Stitch Patterns":
This is pattern numbre 071, in case anybody is interested. I used a leftover ball of Elann Peruvian Alpaca and 3.5 mm needles. I made it 20 x 20 cm, so I can use it as an Afghan square later. This is a very fun pattern and looks nice on both sides, so I might even use it for an Afghan project myself. I have a bunch of some chunky weight wool somewhere that would be suitable for that.

I also found the time to do some dyeing, since I promised Pat I'd send her some hand dyed sock yarn. I had enough undyed yarn left for three pairs of socks, and decided to dye it all at once. This is the colorway I dyed with Pat in mind:
Pat gave me free hands and didn't have any special wishes about the color, so I looked around in the blog to see what kind of colors she usually picks. Bright, clean colors, nothing too muted. Am I right, Pat? :) So I dyed this with thoughts of fruits and flowers in mind, watermelons, poppies and sunflowers. A color that would make you think of warm sunny summer days, when you wear the socks. I decided to name the color "Tutti Frutti". I hope you'll like it, Pat, I'll be sending it your way soon! (I know you're on a trip right now, so I'll wait a few days before putting it in the mail.)

The colors I dyed for myself were a sea blue with lighter greens that remind me of sea glass:
You can only see a little bit of the lighter colors here, but they are in there, trust me. ;) I made it with wide stripes, and after I had started, I realized that a smart person would have divided the yarn into two 50 g skeins before starting, instead of dyeing it all in one. Now I'll either have two unmatching socks, or a lot of ends to weave in. Oh, well, I guess I learned something there... Anyhow, I'm calling the color "Sea glass".


The last one is "Pomegranate", a somewhat muted dark pink:


And here are all three:

color fixation

Does it ever happen to you that you find yourself obsessed with a color? Maybe a color that isn't your usual choice, but something a little outside your comfort zone? This happens to me every now and then. I seem to pick things in that particular color quite unconsciously, until I've had my fix. Then I can move onto other colors again. This time the color is this deep reddish brown, or brownish red, I can't even decide which to call it. And I don't know one of those fancy color names for it, like "chartreuse" or "turquoise" and the like (I'm terrible at those... for me it's red, dark red, light red, bright red, orangy red, bluish red and so on.) I realized after I got home that the Cascade 220 I bought on my trip matched with the sock yarn I had also just bought, as well as with my new shoes:
Later on I noticed that it also was the color of the purse I dug out and wanted to start using again. We'll see if this will extend to my whole wardrobe, or if this will be enough for now. :)

By the way, I'm in love with Cascade 220! It is yummy soft and sooo nice to knit. And not terribly expensive, either, and the amount of colors that are available is just mind boggling. I've started this (actually just finished the back piece, but it's not blocking yet, just pinned down for the picture):

Can anybody guess what it is? Here's a hint: the original (from a knitting magazine) is knitted in the same yarn in a lavender blue.

Thank you all for your comments again lately. I'm sorry for not being more diligent about replying to you, but lately I haven't had a lot of time to devote to blogging. I wish I did. A lot of the comments also don't link to your e-mail, so even if I wanted to, I can't always reply. Nevertheless, all comments are greatly appreciated and are very important to me. Thank you!