Christmas knits, sort of.

My family is small and close. Four of us got together for Christmas this year at our summer residence: my mom, my aunt, my cousin and myself. We are one of those families where each year we say ‘No presents!’, but then end up giving some presents anyway. This Christmas, I gave presents of the knitted kind. 

In the run-up to Christmas, I finished my mom’s Skärgård sweater:

And because she’s seen it and tried it on several times, she also got a book.

After I cast off mom’s sweater, I cast on another one, this time for my cousin: the In Between Dreams sweater by Meiju K-P. She really liked my Southampton soft because of the lace detail on the sleeves and originally wanted the same one, but liked the newly published In Between Dreams, which has a lace yoke even better. I am using the same yarn that I did for mom’s sweater, namely Drops Baby Merino.

However, I haven’t managed to finish her sweater, since I only started it last week, so I gave her this one and told her that her sweater shrank in the wash:

As for my aunt, well, she seemed to like the lace socks I made as part of Niina Laitinen’s Christmas KAL, so I decided to give her another pair of socks :P

These are the Kvartsi socks by Anna Johanna, one of three ankle sock designs in her Picot Love series. This was my first time using the provisional cast-on and making a picot edge and I was pretty pleased with how they turned out. The yarn I used was Regia Premium Merino Yak and I will definitely be using it again, because it feels warm, soft and luxe as all get-out. 

State of the Project(s): Skärgård Sweater and the Great British Baking Shawl.

Although I have been a bit busy with my side gig, I have made pretty decent progress on my mom's Skärgård sweater. I bound off the body yesterday (using the tubular bind off method) and cast on one of the sleeves: 

Since I'm at mom's for the weekend, I also had her try it on yesterday and it looks like it's a pretty good fit :-) 

Naturally, I also worked on clue 2 of the Lyrical Knits mystery shawl KAL. This clue was called the Technical Challenge and I think the shawl is looking great so far! Though I wouldn't exactly call this clue technical, since Mary was so nice to us and gave very clear directions and made the pattern really easy:

Anyway, I am excited to see where this is going and what the Showstopper is going to be! 

Because why not cast on two shawls in the same week?

Well! As I mentioned in a previous post, I decided to join the Stark Baking Mad MKAL. I love knitting and I love baking and the Great British Bake Off (especially Mary Berry, whose autograph I have in one of her cookbooks - I travelled two hours from Liverpool to London to get it!), so this MKAL seemed like a match made in heaven! The first clue (appropriately titled Signature Bake) was published last week, and I am happy to say that I finished it in time for the next one, which is set to drop tomorrow. I think it looks really cute and I am enjoying my choice of colours, even if I do say so myself: 

The yarn is Everyday Sock Merino from Kettu Yarns and I am especially enjoying the green colourway called Finnish Forest. I think it's one of the prettiest things I have ever seen and really wish I had ordered more so I could use it to knit ALL the socks!

And because only making one shawl is clearly not enough, I also cast on another one last week. This one is called Lovely Megan and I am making it for my mom. I thought it would go very nicely with the sweater that I'm making for her and be a nice little surprise. The pattern is from Drops Design (I actually looked for it after I saw a picture of the shawl on their IG) and the yarn I am using is some Drops Sky from my stash that I was originally planning to use for the Rose Blush vest which, let's face it, I was never going to make or wear. It took me a few rows to get the hang of the dropped stitches, but the pattern is actually very simple and cute. I've made, eh, moderate progress so far: 

I have also made pretty good progress with mom's sweater and have made it all the way to the bottom ribbing of the body. Not long to go!

In other news, I am feeling very tempted by yet another project: the gingerbread socks KAL that Finnish yarn company Novita started on their website today. The socks were designed by Sisko Sälpäkivi and the colourways of Novita Nalle that she chose for them look so good and gingerbread-y together! But I don't have the right yarns in my stash and I kind of don't want to spend money on yarn just now, so I might catch up with the KAL in December after I've finished mom's sweater and the Stark Barking Mad MKAL.  They are publishing a new clue twice a week for four weeks, so I could still finish the socks by Christmas. 

A WIP that I made some progress on and a FO that I totally FOrgot about!

Well! After I frogged the previous yoke and started from scratch, I have actually made some progress on my mom's Skärgård sweater! I really like the rosy pink (her choice, by the way) and the simple but elegant colourwork yoke. I actually went home this weekend, so I asked her to try it on after I had separated for the sleeves, and the yoke length was just fine and everything fit nicely. Yay me!

Also, I also finished the Syyslaulu shawl a while ago, but somehow never got round to writing about it! I went to the island of Kihnu again with my doggie in early October and I got a decent amount of knitting done on the boat and on the bus, so I decided to take an artsy picture of the then as yet unfinished shawl in nature:

And here's the finished object: 

I thought I could wear it under my jacket, but it's a little too large for that. However, it is kind of perfect for wearing under my new grey coat. 

Here is a closer look at the lace portion: 

And just to give you an idea of how big it is, blocking it took most of my couch:  

Up next: finishing mom's sweater, also the first clue for the Stark Baking Mad MKAL will be published next week, and I also can't wait to get started on my Ekorre sweater! 

Last-ditch Socktober efforts.

Since the dyer behind the Woolmint brand announced a little Socktotber contest in her FB group, inviting everyone who had bought yarn from her to share photos of socks they had knit using her yarn, I decided it was time to finish my Kuiske socks and to knit another pair of very basic socks from her yarn. 

After I last posted about the Kuiske socks in September, I actually frogged them early in October and started again using smaller needles, because I figured they would turn out too big with 3.5 mm needles, being lace and all. I finally finished them last night and while I do think they are cute and I really like the summery vibe of them, a solid colour would probably have been a better choice. Ah well. They are still warm and soft. 

Here's what they look like: 

And a closer look at the pattern... ish: 

I also made a second pair of socks using Woolmint Opera, her sock yarn. My inspiration for them was a bit weird. You see, I watched a knitting podcast video by a knitwear designer a few weeks ago where she talked about being surprised that another designer was selling a pattern for some very basic socks - the kind of that kids learn to knit at school in her country and which to her is pretty much public domain, because there are so many free tutorials available for making them. So I decided to try out one said free tutorial and this is what I came up with: 

Anyway. Back to mom's sweater!

Shawls and more shawls. And posh yarn!

I finished the Syyslaulu shawl today! As if one shawl was not enough, I also signed up for a mystery shawl KAL inspired by The Great British Bake Off!

The pattern calls for a main colour and two contrasting colours of fingering weight yarn. I wanted something a bit different, so decided to order some Kettu Yarns. Although the yarn is called Everyday Sock Merino (75% superwash merino, 25% nylon), it's still one of the most boujee yarns in my stash, being hand dyed and all. The colourways I chose are Heather, No Cream No Sugar and Finnish Forest: 

In other news, I decided with a heavy heart to frog my mom's Skärgård sweater, because the colourwork yoke turned out too short. While Drops Baby Merino is actually pretty stretchy, the colourwork part, which obviously combines two yarns, is somewhat more rigid and it wouldn't look too good when blocked too hard, so I swapped my 3.5 mm needles for 4.0 mm ones and started over. I really want to finish the sweater before the Stark Baking Mad MKAL begins in November, but I have work and also stuff to do for my side gig, so I'm not 100% sure if can swing it. 

So much for stash busting...

I just can't help myself! 

I was knitting the Syyslaulu shawl yesterday and while I am kind of living for the colour gradient and the stripes, I decided that this is not what I want for the Ekorre sweater. I decided that I want a light grey background and a contrasting brown for the pattern. They would also need to be rather fine yarns and preferably 100% wool. So I searched some webshops and found Rauma Røros Lamullgarn, which is sold by the publishing house where I bought the red yarns for the Suolaulu sweater and is 100% lamb's wool, 250 per 50 grams. I bought five skeins of a lovely light sheep grey for the main colour and one skein of chestnut brown and one skein of squirrel brown. Once the yarn gets here, I will see which one I like more. 

Stash busting knits

I've been watching a lot of Finnish knitting podcast videos on YouTube lately and found a few projects which not only look cool, but also have the added benefit of me being able to use yarns that I already own. 

The first project, which I already cast on tbh, is the Syyslaulu shawl by Heidi Alander. I had been trying to find a use for my Aade Lõng Artistic yarns and thinking of turning one of them into a shawl, but I hadn't found a pattern that I liked until I saw Iina from Neulenojatuoli mention it as one of  her WIPs. It is a really simple pattern: mainly garter stitch with a lace edge, and the size can be easily adjusted. I have already made pretty good progress and I think it will be a worthy replacement for my emo scarf. I am also loving the colour gradient of the yarn!

The second project is the Ekorre sweater by Anna Johanna. I saw the word Ekorre mentioned in one of Anna Johanna's IG stories - perhaps in a photo from a subscriber that she had shared - and was instantly intrigued, because ekorre means 'squirrel' in Swedish and I am a huge fan of squirrels. Needless to say, I found the pattern with the acorns and the squirrels and the oak leaves super cute and I am all about top-down seamless sweaters these days, so I think I will get to work on it as soon as I finish the Skärgård sweater for my mom. My plan is to use the Artistic yarn in the colourway Sheep as the main colour and then use the one and half skeins of rust-coloured Drops Nord which were left over from my Southampton soft for the pattern. The gradient of the Sheep colourway does go pretty deep, but the it is still pretty muted and I think the fall orange of the Nord yarn creates a good contrast without either of the colours being overly loud. 

The third project is the Suolaulu mittens by Jenna Kostet, which use a motif from her Suolaulu sweater. My plan is to make these and give them as a present to a lady from work. The pattern calls for fine fingering weight + lace weight yarn held together and I think I have the perfect combo: the red yarn from Rauma Finull which I ordered when I was picking out the perfect shade of red for the Suolaulu sweater - this one is more of a true red than a cranberry red, but that's ok - and the one, used raspberry red skein of Drops Kid-Silk which I couldn't send back when I stupidly ordered the wrong thickness yarn to make the Fleuriste cardi. As for the contrasting colour, I'm not too keen to buy a new skein of lace weight yarn to add to a light fingering weight yarn (or to faff about with four balls of yarn tbh), so I thought of using a natural white skein of Drops Karisma which is sport weight and which I have laying around in my drawer. 

State of the Project: Southampton Soft, part III - the finale!

Yaay, she's done! I have to say, I am really starting to warm up to top-down knitting. I very much enjoyed not having to sew anything and I could also very easily make the sweater a few cm longer than what was suggested in the pattern (though in all fairness, the pattern does say '25-35 cm or desired length'). Since my doggie hasn't yet learned to take photos, but the lace pattern doesn't really show up very well when the sleeve is laid flat, I decided to wear the sweater to work today and got a colleague to snap a photo of the sleeves. I think she did an excellent job:

I really like the lace - so simple but elegant. Also, how are we feeling about the tubular cast off on the cuffs?

The only bit I question is my choice of the button for the back of the neck: 

I feel like I should have found something nicer and not quite so simple. Anyway, I might change it later.

But yeah, I am pretty chuffed and will definitely be wearing this one loads even if it is the tiniest bit itchy.  True to form, I already have a new sweater on my needles and several projects planned, all with yarn from my stash! But more on that in another post. 

 

Another week, another cast on.

I finished my Southampton soft last night and cast on the Skärgård sweater that I am making for my mom. I have made the first increases and I am working on the colourwork yoke:

The knitting is probably going to take a while, because the needles are fairly small (3.5 mm) and my mom is slightly bigger than me. I think it's really pretty and I am really enjoying the feel of the Baby Merino yarn - so soft and snuggly, but not fluffy like Nord. 

In other news: I will post pictures of the finished Southampton soft as soon as it's dry, because I think I need to put it on in order for the lace panel on the sleeve to show up. 

New techniques I've learned this year!

Where I live, September is also nicknamed the month of knowledge because that's when the kids start school. I also like learning new things, so I thought it would be fun to discuss a few techniques that I've learned when making some lovely patterns this year. Of course, the patterns don't necessarily teach you how to do them, but for example Sari Nordlund is really good about linking tutorial videos for certain techniques in her patterns. Also how did people ever learn things before YouTube?

Anyway, here they are, in no particular order:

• The crochet cast on: this one was used for the Southampton soft which I am working on right now. I never would've thought to use a crochet hook to cast on a knitting project before, luckily I have some laying around.
• Judy's magic cast on: was used for the Fleuriste socks, which are knit toe-up. I hadn't knit toe-up socks before, so that's why I wasn't aware of this technique, but it actually makes the toe look really nice and seamless. 
• The tubular bind off: I used this one for both of the projects I mentioned previously. Sewing through all 252 stitches of the ribbing of the Southampton soft got a bit tedious, but it does look elegant and elastic. 
• The German twisted cast on: I used this one for the Kuiske socks after seeing it mentioned in a tutorial for the Magic Loop method. I have always done some weird method of long tail cast on where I hold two needles together - or in the case of Haapsalu lace, used a knit cast on, of course -, so I thought it would be fun to try a new way of doing it. It's pretty easy and straightforward and I will probably keep using it for socks. 
• Which brings me to... the Magic Loop method - even though I ended up knitting the Kuiske socks on DPNs, I decided to give it a go when knitting the sleeves of the Southampton soft, and I think I've got the hang of it now. I'm not 100% sure if it's saving me time, but at least I don't have to worry about DPNs going missing :-)
• The three needle bind off: was used for the Fleuriste cardigan and the Suolaulu sweater to connect the shoulders and I am HERE for it! Anything to avoid sewing.

So that's six new techniques I've learned this year! At the ripe old age of 34! Go me!

A Forkton of Yarn.

OK, OK, maybe it's not that much, but it's still a lot for me, considering that I freed up a second drawer for my stash (which, to be honest, it was surreptitiously taking over anyway).

As I mentioned in a previous post, a local dyer from had a new batch of yarns for sale and of course I had to support local businesses :-) So those two lovely colourful hanks are sock yarn from the Woolmint brand. 

I also decided to order two skeins of self-striping sock yarn from Flotte Socke, because why not. 

But the Baby Merino is actually for my mom! I told her that I wanted to knit a sweater for her and she got to pick the pattern and the colours. I showed her the Ravelry stores of Sari Nordlund and Meiju K-P (Meiju Knits on Youtube) and she chose the Skärgård sweater. The main colour is going to be a rosy pink and the contrasting colour is going to be a natural white. I think it's an excellent choice - not only is the pattern beautiful, but Skärgård is also fun to say! It will probably be a few days before I get to cast it on, but I decided to take advantage of the Drops Merino Mania sale and bought the yarn earlier this week. Of course I have more skeins, but they didn't all fit in the basket :P

State of the Project: Southampton Soft, part II

Yeah no quippy title this time, I'm afraid. 

Today's post was actually going to be about how I finished the body part of the sweater and was moving on to the sleeves, but as I got to the k1p1 ribbing last night, I discovered, much to my chagrin, that I my stitch count was off: it was an odd number instead of an even one. I first thought that I must've picked up a rogue stitch somewhere, so I knit two stitches together to have an even number of stitches and cracked on with the ribbing. But then I counted the stitches again several times and realised that I had actually been missing a stitch, so now I was two stitches short. I also noticed that I had only knit through half of the strands in one stitch several rows before and decided to rip back to that stitch, fix it and look for the place where I lost the one stitch. I found that I had knit two stitches together another few rows before. I decided to not rip back to that place and made a new stitch instead, so now I have the correct amount of stitches and no half-knit ones. Yay me!

Here's where I'm at. Excuse the weird colouring, I took the previous photos in natural light, but this one was taken under lamplight.

In other news, I bought a forkton of yarn today and on Saturday! More on that when everything gets here. 

 

Yet another cast-on aka Knitting monogamy just isn't for me, baby.

Encouraged by the fact that I managed to complete the fiddlier part of the Southampton Soft and inspired by two posts I saw on Facebook (namely one by a local yarn shop announcing that the pre-order period for the Estonian version Niina Laitinen's third book, Villasukkien Uusi Vuosi, was being extended because the local publisher was experiencing some delays and the other one by a very local yarn dyer from the brand Woolmint announcing that she would have some freshly dyed yarns for sale this weekend), I decided to cast on a pair of socks from Niina's first book, Villasukkien Vuosi (The Year of Wool Socks). The pattern I chose is called Kuiske (Whisper) and the yarn I am using is Woolmint Opera - a fingering weight sock yarn in the colourway Orlando. I bought the yarn in August and the lady behind Woolmint was actually kind enough to deliver it to my workplace personally, because she was in the neighbourhood. Of course I want to support her again and place an order this weekend, so I thought this would be the perfect chance to put Orlando to good use and knit one of Niina's older patterns while waiting for the new book.

Anyway. The pattern calls for 2.5 mm needles and I actually wanted to try the Magic Loop method with these socks, but it ended up being a fail, because my 2.5 mm circular needles have a really long cable (I believe they're 100 cm in length) so instead of forming just the one magic loop, the cable formed like two or three and it was kind of a mess. I also remembered that Niina's patterns are written for DPNs and they are often rather specific about the amount of stitches you should have on each needle - they require you to do some shuffling around from time to time, which would've been a bit hard to do using the Magic Loop. Not to mention that I also remembered that her socks often tend to be quite narrow and I had to cast on the Pride and Prejudice socks like three times because my leg wouldn't fit through the ribbing. In the end, I went with 3.5 mm DPNs.

This is where I am now: 

How gorgeous is this colour though!

State of the Project: Southampton Soft, part 1 aka Am I a yoke to you?!?

Well, my sweater has grown nicely - I have now completed the yoke and am working on the body. The neckline shaping and shoulder increases with the wraps and turns and having to remember which way the increased stitches should lean were a bit fiddly at first, but I think the end result looks pretty great, even if I do say so myself. It should be all smooth sailing from here - just stockinette and some ribbing for the body and then the sleeves with the lovely lace pattenr, which I am planning to make with circular needles using the Magic Loop method. 

In other news, I got some new knitting gear yesterday! How cool is this project bag and these stitch markers from The Woolly Tangle?

Yes I have a new project aka idle hands are the Devil's tools.

While I was knitting the Suolaulu sweater, I discovered yet another knitting podcast by a Finnish yarn designer: Meiju Knits. Of course I had to check out her Ravelry store and found that I really like her style! A lot of her patterns were for cardigans, but she also has some lovely sweaters and shawls and a cool hoodie. A sweater called Southampton Soft caught my eye from one of her videos and I decided to make it. It is a top down pullover with lace panels on the sleeves, a decorative button on the back of the neckband and a relatively snug fit. 

At first I intended to do some stash busting and use one of the Aade Lõng yarns that I have, but I realised that I didn't have enough of it. I also realised that I didn't have 2.75 mm circular needles. Sooooo of course I ordered the needles and went to the shop to buy yarn. Drops is currently having a Merino Madness sale, but when I was looking at the merino yarns in the shop, I couldn't' find a colourway that would've called out to me and also I actually wanted something a little softer. So I went with Drops Nord in the colourway Rust, which is a slightly mottled fall orange. Nord is a sock yarn that contains alpaca, polyamide and wool and feels really nice to the touch. 

For now, I have finished the shoulder increases and am currently working on the sleeve increases: 

And here's a closer look at the lace pattern: 

State of the Project: Suolaulu sweater, part III - the finale!

She's done! I washed and blocked her yesterday and she doesn't smell like a barn anymore. You can definitely see some of the red peeking through the white in the colourwork part, because it is just so vibrant, but I think the pattern definition is pretty awesome if I do say so myself. 

I didn't enjoy picking up the stitches for the sleeves, and they turned out a bit puffy, but that's fine. 

Do you love?!?

 

Upgrading my yarn winding gear.

Seeing as winding about 200 grams of Kihnu native sheep's wool yarn took me the better part of an evening, and I have several other hanks of yarn and all the prettiest yarns seem to be sold in hanks, I decided to bite the bullet and buy a skein holder and a yarn winder. 

Here they are: 

Learning to use them took me a few minutes and the yarn kept getting stuck in the little metal articulations between the blue bits, so the first ball I made looked a bit messy, but once I attached the yarn winder to the table, used one hand to work the winder and the other one to hold the yarn up, I ended up with pretty neat looking balls of yarn that looked like this: 

I am pretty pleased with the investment. It's going to make winding the yarn for my next projects so much easier :-)

State of the Project: Suolaulu sweater, part II

The Suolaulu sweater is coming along nicely. I have finished the part of the body that was knit in the round and the entire front part and am currently working on the back part (17 more rows to go!): 

Pretty, isn't it?

I also tried the sweater on and it is a good fit, but I seem to be using slightly more yarn that what the original pattern suggested - I got four balls from my hank of 8/2 Kihnu native sheep's wool yarn, each weighing around 50 grams, but I have already almost used up the fourth one and I haven't got to the collar or the sleeves yet. That's not really a problem, because I have another hank (the one I bought was almost half a kilo and actually consisted of two separate hanks), but it does mean that I will have do some more winding. Oh well.

State of the Project: Suolaulu sweater, part I aka That's a lot of Emotions for a Sweater :D

As I mentioned in Tuesday's post, I cast on the Suolaulu sweater on Monday evening! 

Here's what happened...

After seeing the yarn and pattern sets on the Nurja IG and deciding that ordering a set from Finland was a bit too pricey for me, I spent some time thinking about my own stash and decided to use the natural white Kihnu native sheep's wool yarn that I bought when I visited the island earlier this month as the main colour. I do have other, coloured fingering weight yarns in my stash, but nothing that seemed suitable to use as the contrasting colour. The colours of the Retrosaria Pegulhal yarn in the sets are all very natural and fit in with the swamp theme, so I wanted something that was earthy AF. Inspired by Estonian Seto patterns, which traditionally use red and white (representing life force and light, accordingly), and also by the fact that traditional Kihnu knitwear patterns always contain some red (to protect the wearer from evil), I decided to look for a red shade. 

I turned to the e-shop of the publishing house that printed the Haapsalu scarf and shawl books. They also sell yarns and needles that they consider suitable for traditional Estonian handcraft. I couldn't pick a shade right away, so I ordered three different yarns: a cranberry red one and a madder red one from Aade Lõng, an Estonian yarn manufacturer, and a pure red one from a Norwegian company called Rauma Ullvarefabrikk.

Here they all are: 

I decided I liked the cranberry red one the most, and it also went very well with the swamp theme, so that's what I went with. The next step was winding the hanks of yarn into balls, which I spent the better part of Saturday night doing. I don't have the right equipment of course, so I had to improvise: 

The yarn I bought from Kihnu is also earthy AF. It made my living room smell a bit like a barn (which I don't mind, I like sheep) and it feels just a bit lanolin-y still, but I was very worried that I would mess up the hank or cause it to felt by washing it, so I decided to just wind it, make the sweater and wash that - I'm going to have to wet block it anyway.  Here is the end result:

Jenna the designer actually commented on the picture when I posted it on my IG, saying she thought it looked like cranberries on snow, which I definitely agree with!

On Monday, I started checking Jenna's Ravelry store for the pattern as soon as I woke up, and luckily I didn't have to wait very long - it was posted pretty early in the morning and I was super excited and happy about that. I began knitting the sweater later that night and worked on it for most of Tuesday. I also took it to work with me yesterday and today and even managed to make a fair bit of progress, because the shifts were relatively quiet (I mean, you're not really allowed to use the q-word in my profession, but my shift is over, so I think it's okay?). I am currently about halfway done with the colourwork portion of the body: 

Almost Weekend Project: Kiuru Hat.

Yes I did buy the pattern for the Suolaulu sweater and cast it on yesterday, but before that I thought I would be a good idea to knock off one more item from my to-knit list: the Kiuru hat by Sari Nordlund (I think I am turning into a stan). 

It was a quick and easy knit and the cables were not daunting at all. I cast it on on Saturday morning and finished it last night. I would definitely have finished it over the weekend if I hadn't been working Saturday. The yarn I used was the same Drops Flora in the colourway Petrol that I used for the Fleuriste cardi. The hat soft and light and thus probably more suitable for the autumn than the winter, and that's perfect because I have a matching autumn jacket. 

State of the Project: Fleuriste Socks, Part II: the Finale :-)

As I wrote a few days ago, I finished the lovely Fleuriste socks and used the stretchers I bought to block them. 

Here's what they looked like before blocking: 

And here is what they looked like after blocking: 

And here they are on the feet of yours truly:

I am also happy to report that the red yarns I ordered arrived yesterday and I think I managed to decide which one I am going to use for the Suolaulu sweater in combination with the natural white one :-)

Plans and More Plans.

I just finished the Fleuriste socks (there will be before and after pictures once I've blocked them) and of course I am already planning my next projects. 

After giving it some thought, I decided to skip on the cardi with my name for now, because I'm kind of scared of steeking tbh, and also knitting button holes and sewing buttons is a pain. Instead, I will focus on completing unfinished projects:

- the Wayne sweater, which still needs half of the body and the sleeves

- the Haapsalu scarf, which still needs the edge to be sewn onto the middle part, and blocking

Also on my list of stuff I have planned:

- the Kiuru Hat, for which I intend to use leftover Flora yarn

- the Rose Blush vest, for which I already bought the Sky yarn

- a Christmas present

And yes, I am also planning to make the Suolaulu sweater, but I decided to go about it in a slightly different way, namely to use the natural white yarn I bought from Kihnu as the base and knit the pattern with a red yarn. And true to form, I ordered three different red yarns to see which one I like best: a cranberry red, a madder red and a pure red one. The pattern will be published on the designer's Ravelry page on Monday the 24th and I am already quite excited about it!

State of the Project: Fleuriste socks, part I, and new temptations.

I am happy to report that the socks are coming along nicely. Knitting the heel from the bottom up was a little weird, but the German short row technique was fast and easy and I think I may actually prefer it this way. I am currently working on the leg part and I should be able to finish and block the socks before my vacation is over. 

In other news, I started following a Finnish yarn shop called Nurja who came out with the most gorgeous set consisting of yarn and a sweater pattern designed by Jenna Kostet. The sweater is called Suolaulu (Swamp Song) and is inspired by the third poem in the Finnish national epic, Kalevala. It speaks to my Fenno-Ugric soul! The colours of the yarn they chose for the sets (Retrosaria Pegulhal, 100% wool, fingering weight) are gorgeous and definitely evoke a swampy atmosphere. No wonder the sets sold out so fast.

I was super duper tempted to buy a set, but the cost of the delivery from Finland is a bit steep (which I don't blame the store for, that's literally what Itella charges), so I may buy the yarn locally and get the pattern from Jenna's Ravelry store. 

Garnstudio Drops has also began publishing their fall/winter patterns and this lovely pattern called Harvest Queen caught my eye, but I think I like Suolaulu more and once again, how many sweaters does a person really need?

A New Project: Fleuriste Socks.

Yesterday was Haapsalu Lace Day, a festival dedicated to showcasing the work of Haapsalu's master knitters and introducing the art of lace knitting to the general public. I was toying with the idea of going, but having to take a nearly 200 km detour to Haapsalu because there is no direct bus route between here and there (a distance of 107 km) and the fact that attending big public events may not be the greatest idea at this time deterred me from going.

Instead, I decided to have my own Lace Day and finally got the second lace edge of my Haapsalu scarf off the needles! I was too tired to start faffing about with sewing it to the middle part and blocking the scarf (yes I do own a blocking frame), but I did have enough energy to cast on these lovely pair of Fleuriste socks designed by Sari Nordlund, which uses the same basic pattern as the very lovely Fleuriste cardigan. The pattern was published as part of Sari Nordlund's summer sock KAL and although the other socks in the KAL were not exactly my cup of tea, I of course had to make these. I am using Alize Superwash and short 2.5 mm needles from KnitPro.  

This is the first time I have knit a pair of socks toe-up, and I was excited to learn a new technique for creating a seamless toe: Judy's Magic Cast-On. Can you see how seamless the toe is?!? Love that for me. 

There's a Cardigan with My Name!

I recently happened on an Instagram post by Laine Magazine, which is a big Scandinavian knitting and lifestyle magazine, depicting a beautiful Norwegian kofte style cardigan bearing my name! And no, it's not Moody, it's this. 

Err, I guess that means I have to knit it now?

The pattern was first published in Laine Magazine, but I also found it on the designer's Ravelry page and of course I bought it. I'm not sure when I'm going to make it, since my queue of of items for which I have bought the patterns but have not made yet has now grown to four beautiful knits, but hey ho! I may even use the yarn I bought from Kihnu as the main colour. 

On another note, I also found patterns for socks and mittens with my name on Ravelry :-)

 

The Moody Knitter also sews! Or well, sewed. That one time.

Seeing as I just bought a new knitting needle bag, I thought I would show one that I made myself a few years ago. Now, I don't sew and thus I also don't own a sewing machine, but saw the picture of a cute bag for keeping knitting stuff shared in a craft group on Facebook and decided to find out how to make it. I found the tutorial on the blog Momentos de Costura: http://momentosdecostura.blogspot.com/2016/10/tutorial-bolsas-guarda-labores-de.html

I did the measuring and the cutting and the drawing of diagonal lines on the fabric at home and took the bag with me when I went down South to my family's summer residence, because our neighbour has a sewing machine and was kind enough to let me use it. After a few hours of sewing and cussing, this is what I ended up with:

And here it is from the side: 

I was quite pleased with myself, but I don't think I will be sewing anything else anytime soon. 

Mini Craft Haul!

This weekend, I visited the island of Kihnu, a place that is renowned for its rich cultural space, which was included in UNESCO's list of Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2003. 

In addition to other facets of the island's cultural heritage such as the local cuisine (which is mostly fish-based, but Kihnu bread tastes amazing and yes I did also eat seal when I was there) and folk music, Kihnu is also pretty well known for its traditional handcrafted clothes and accessories, which the locals still wear every day. The best known examples of these - at least to me - are the ankle length skirts (made from handwoven fabric which is typically predominantly red and striped like the little fridge magnet pictured below), belts and gloves/mittens (traditionally knit from fine white and blue yarn and covered with intricate patterns).

Kihnu also has a very old native sheep breed, so of course I had to buy a skein of yarn from local sheep while I was there. It's undyed and has a distinct smell of lanolin and I can imagine using it to make a lovely pair of socks. I also got a knitting needle bag from a local crafter. 

State of the Project: Wayne Pullover, part II

The sweater has grown to the point where I have finished working in the round and separated the front and the back by starting to create the armholes. So now I will begin working back and forth. I thought knitting the coloured yoke in stockinette stitch for the Winter Escape cardigan back and forth was annoying, but this promises to be even more so :P

In other news: I finished one half of the lace edge for my Haapsalu scarf tonight and I was actually planning to cast on the other half, but I had a long day at work and I can't be bothered to cast on 601 stitches. 

I have Instagram now!

On a whim, I decided to create an Instagram account, because I thought it would be a fun way to share some photos, connect with other knitters and see what yarn shops are up to. I have 2 followers at the time I'm posting this :D

Check it out: https://www.instagram.com/themoodyknitter/

State of the Project: Wayne pullover, part I.

Remember how I received the yarn for the Wayne sweater and wrote that couldn't wait to cast it on?

Well... I couldn't. 

This is more or less two repeats of the main pattern. I have already used up one skein. Sari the designer was right when she wrote that the pattern is easy to remember, but I had to rip stitches on the first row a few times when I counted wrong. 

I have to say, I am really liking the colour and I think the pattern is still nicely visible and repetitive enough for the gradient to not distract from it. 

State of the Project: Haapsalu scarf, part IV

I promise this will be the last update before I finish the thing :P

As I have mentioned, the middle part is now ready and I am working on the lace edge. The lace edge consists of two pieces that are made separately, and this is the first one. I cast on 601 stitches and was very proud of myself for actually having counted correctly on the first go! 

I used 5 mm needles to cast on and I am using 4 mm needles to knit. I used 3 mm needles for the middle part, but I am making the edge with larger needles so it would have some more give.