Knitmeter

I recently discovered this cute little widget!

I love it! It's just fun to know how many meters of yarn I knit for a year. It will be interesting to see what it says in December. 

Create your own here! You simply add each of your projects and then as you knit or in the end of the project you add how many meters you've knit. Simple. And fun. And then there's instructions for you to add it to your blog, website, Ravelry etc.

I must admit I don't add the actual meters I've knit and then had to rip and reknit but that's just me. I feel as if it doesn't count somehow. I messed up therefor it doesn't count. Whish I was that strict in some other parts of my life (like cleaning, erhm...if I clean just half a room then I feel I have cleaned and therefore is done, haha).

Before dark (after darkness...)

So, as I mentioned in an earlier post, I'm knitting yet another of Veera's designs. We had a sunny day today, so I managed a photo with better lighting. It's soo pretty! And it's really soft! Single ply fingering weight is new to me and I like it.

I also managed to score an excellent trade today! I'm parting with theese goodies but I'm getting something just as pretty in return! Although I really liked this yarn neither the colour nor the sparkly stuff was really me. 

I know I promised to let you know when I'd put up yarn for trade/sale on Ravelry but there's still a lot in my stash I think need new homes.

Before Dark

Or after... You know winter in Scandinavia tends to be dark... And this will be a cardi for spring. After darkness is probably more appropriate.

Anyhows It's a brand new pattern by Veera Välimäki. The yarn is Madeleine Tosh Merino Light and it arrived in my mailbox on the same day as the pattern was released.

It's meant to be!

posted from Bloggeroid

Yarn diet

My economy isn't the best this year so I'm on a strict yarn-diet. It doesn't exactly help that my car seems to have new problems each week, meaning even less money for yarn.

So far I've only bought 4 balls of yarn this year. That's extreme for me. It's good though, it means I've mainly  been knitting from my stash. I've managed to get 2 cardigans, a couple of scarfs and mitts from it so far. 

But.

I can't help browsing for yarn.

Etsy is wonderful, one of my favourite shops is Juno Fibre Arts. Their yarn is supersoft and the colours are lovely. I once ordered some yarns that wasn't in order and the owner dyed them up for me really quickly! Great customer service!

Pic borrowed from Juno Fiber Arts etsy shop

Etsy is also a very good source for buttons. And other crafrelated stuff. There's some really interesting clothes designers there too!

Other places I like to shop are ebay.co.uk and Ravelry in peoples private destashes. Sometimes there are great bargains to be found!

Speaking of destashing, I need to go through some of my stash, there's a lot of yarn I don't really need, the colours just aren't Nobiantaryish enough. Perfectly fine yarn and beautiful but it's such a waste having them lying around in plastic containers and never being knit. I'm going to wait a couple of weeks for the sun to stay up long enough for me to manage to get some descent photos but then they'll be up on my Ravelry stash/trade page. I'll let you know!

Brevduva

Brevduva = Carrier Pigeon

I'm currently working on a gift for a friend. I think I'll pass on this mailbox though, and send it trough the usual mail. Probably more secure. It would have been great if we used birds instead of planes/trucks/whatever to send our mail. Imagine the joy of a bird outside your window, brining you a letter on it's back! 

Considering I've got two very kill-happy cat's it probably wouldn't be such a great idea after all. I once woke up to the sounds of my cat trying to kill a bird under my bed! There were feathers everywhere. In the middle of the night. Not great. But the bird lived and spent the rest of the night on our balcony sans cats.

Cosy!

The theme of this post is cosy! Two of my recently finished knits that sadly have been neglected in this blog.

I give you...

Blue Wheat, another of Veera's lovely patterns. I think I'm obsessed with her designs.

Always fun to knit and the end result is great. 

Pattern: Golden Wheat by Veera Välimäki

Yarn: Araucania Nature Wool Multy

I did some mods in the pattern, I wanted the body in st st instead of reverse st st. I was inspired by this fellow raveler. I also decided to knit in the pocket instead of sewing it on.

 If you're a knitter you'll probably get what I mean, if not, just admire the result will you!

We had a very mild fall up here in the north so I basically wore this as a jacket all through fall.

This is probably as Nobiantaryish as you can get! It's wool, it's chunky and it's purple. Imagine that.
 Like a Kinder egg, 3 surprises in one. Isn't that neat?

Pattern: Cove Hat by Jo Storie
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Eskimo

This hat has been a trooper during Christmas. Way up north. However, would I knit this again I'd consider making the upper part shorter, it's a bit top heavy. I usually wear my hair up so I kinda stick the top underneath... somehow. It works but if I want to wear my hair down I usually go for another hat that day. Given the fact that I keep my hair up 99 days out of a 100 it's really not a big deal.

Stripes and snow

There's no such thing as "too many stripes". If you know me, you know this is a rule I tend to follow. 

Maybe I just made up this rule right here right now but whatever. Stripes are fun. Stripes are pretty.

Pattern: Stripe Study by Veera Välimäki

The holidays are over, I spent Christmas and New years in the north as usual, visiting friends and family.

I managed to loose one of my favourite mitts. Really annoying, I've still got one left but no yarn so I guess it's more of a decoration from now on. I am knitting the same pattern again, with different yarn. 

But I'm still really annoyed with myself.

To end this post in a more positive note I'll show you a picture of a cutie I had the fortune to visit this Christmas. His name is Svante and belongs to my dad. He's quite the character.

Leftovers

This needs to be finished! I'm right down to the last stripe in main colour so I'm almost there. Almost.

Just finished the cowl from the previous post, and it's being blocked right at this moment. So it's not like I'm lacking scarfs or something (I might be drowning in them though) but this is just so pink and bright and makes me almost forget about the long dark months ahead. 

I don't look forward to this winter. At all. I used to be a winter person, but now it feels like the darkness is here to stay forever. Perhaps a little snow would help. Please?

Cowlourful

Crazy pink Alpaca Silk (Marks & Kattens) and purple/blue Posh Yarn. It's a great mix!
The alpaca/silk was a pain to knit! Soo slinky and slippery. But the result is great of course. Super soft.

Pattern: Brooklet

There's been a lot of knitting lately, but sadly very little photos have been taken. The sun and my photographer seems to be out of sync.
I finished a cardi with some lovely yarn I bought from a fellow knitter in need of a destash (I guess we all relly do but it's so much more fun to buy yarn than to sell). The cardi is another of Veera Välimäki's great designs and I'm already planning another one. I was thinking I might knit it a bit larger next time and add some lining to make it more of a jacket. But then again, I do live in Sweden and with winter knocking on the door I probably wouldn't need a jacket like that for another 5-6 months.

Another of my current knits is as earlier mentioned another Stripe Study (guess which designer?) It's a scrap-yarn thingy and I love how some leftovers can easily be transformed into a lovely scarf.

Watching the sky

Today I spent a few hours watching the sky. Now that's not something I usually do but Emil was going skydiving so I tagged along. The weather was really nice and I got some knitting done. Decided to use up some of the leftovers from other projects and knit another Stripe study.



My spindles have had a very long holiday, but recently I picked up my Kundert and put it to work. I'd forgotten how much fun it really is.
Another forgotten friend is my poor lonely violin. I picked it up a couple of days ago and I just CAN'T stop!

With all theese rediscovered joys, how am I going to fit in some time for knitting?

posted from Bloggeroid