As some of you may have guessed, I'll be taking a time-out from this blog. I don't feel I have the time or energy to post on it, as I have the Swedish blog to tend to as well.
I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll leave you with a picture of my latest project:
A sweater in cotton/acrylic for Noor. She got it for her 3-month birthday.
I've finally finished a project I've been working on for a couple of months:
It's a shawl, and the pattern is available here. It feels like I've been knitting the last rows for weeks (which I probably have). Each row gets longer than the last, and I don't have that much continous knitting time, so each row took maybe 3 days to do. But now it's finally done, and I'm really pleased with it.
I just need to find some room on the floor to block it...
I've managed to spin some yarn:
Ca 250 g, 270 meters 2-ply yarn with in 11 wpi. Fiber: Multicolour Merino from coppermoose, colour: Sugar Maple.
This yarn is very soft and lovley, eventhough it turned out much more brown and grey than I had hoped for. Still, I think it will be nice to knit with.
This is really crazy, but I'm thinking about getting myself another wheel. I wasn't planning to, but then I found this site which will sell Kromski wheels at 25% discount soon, and that got me thinking.
Now, I've never ever considered a Kromski before, but they do seem nice. I'm interested in the Polonaise or the Symphony. I really like the looks of the Polonaise, but the Symphony is Double Treadle, and I like that. Other than that, they seem to be pretty similar. I've not seen any Kromski wheels in real life, let alone tried one, but in this backwater of a country you can't find anything that's not an Ashford or a Louet. So if I want anything else (and I do!), I'll just have to take a chance.
Has anyone tried any of these wheels? Any thoughts or comments you'd like to share with me?
I haven't decided yet, if I WILL buy one. It's a bit difficult to sell the idea at home, especially since I recently sold my antique wheel because we didn't have enough room for it. But I'm working on some good excuses here, so we'll see what happens. By the beginning of March, you'll know if I took the plunge or not.
I finally had the chance to finish the mittens:
They fit perfectly, and will be very nice to wear now that we finally have some real winter here. I still have quite a lot of this yarn left, maybe 80 g. or so, and I'm thinking I'll knit a vest in colourwork for Noor. It remains to be seen, however, if I'll ever get passed the planning stage.
Yesterday, Noor and I visited our first yarn shop. It was a short little visit, more to say hi, and show her off, but I did manage to buy some yarn:
It's hand painted wool, lace weight. I have absolutely no plans for it, but it was so beautiful, I just needed to buy it.
Apparently, this visit was really exhausting, because Noor slept for almost 2 hours when we got home. So I had time to both sit at the computer, just surfing around a bit, and knit half of the second mitten. I feel really productive!
Noor and I have discovered a great little game we can play at home. It's called "Mommy spins on her spindle" and goes as follows: I place Noor on the sofa or floor, and then I stand beside her and spin. She is totally concentrated on the spindle as it twirls and goes up and down, and she "talks" all the time.
Can it get any better? I get to spin, and she's happy. I don't know how long she'll enjoy this, but I plan to spin until she gets bored of it.
Mommy, when I grow up, I want my own spindle!
I'm working on a new pair of mittens:
They may not look all that cuddly, but it sure is lovely to knit them:
I've been spinning some singles lately, and now it's time to ply. Since I don't own a lazy kate, I use a shoe-box and some knitting needles. It works fine for me, at least for now.
First is some dyed Corriedale wool from Pacific Wool and Fiber. I've tried to spin a softer, somewhat bulkier yarn than usual. It'll be interesting to see what the WPI will be.
Then there's some cotton. I'll make it 3-ply, and I just hope the singles aren't too loose, so they'll drift apart while plying. Cotton is a bit tricky to spin, but fun.
But by the look of Noor's face, you'd think differently.
That face has more to do with sleep related issues than with mommy's knitted cardigan. I hope.
At least I finished it in time for her to wear it, and it fits really well. I do however have to share a little thing I learned while knitting this: When using a contrasting yarn on the edgings for a white garment, make sure the contrasting yarn won't leave stains on the white when washed.
It doesn't really matter that much, but it is a bit annoying. I should of course have washed the purple yarn better before starting knitting, but I didn't think of it, as I've already knitted with it before, and I don't remember it letting of that much dye. Apparently, it did.
