Summing Up

I totally agree with SlippedStich (at least I think to remember that I read sth like that in one of her posts) – Ravelry has an impact on blogging. I admit I find it intriguing to keep up with project on the net. Specially as I never managed a handwritten notebook. (I know). But dividing the time between family, my day job, knitting/spinning, sports AND the internet (blogging, ravelry) is not easy.

In short – the job won and blogging lost.

But even if I was quite buried in work end of year (even during christmas holidays – sad) I managed to get some project finished in november, december. And I did some spinning, not nearly as muched as I hoped and some dyeing. More about that later.

During my stay in Hamburg I finished Branching out (started in June – Mohair just isn’t the right material for summertime).

And I knitted the first of the Noro mitered mittens (gift).

I actually knit another one, in a different colorway – but can you believe it, I gave them away without taking a picture!

And then another helgi for my beloved man:

And the longest project of last year – because it was crocheting? I finally finished the Boho Blocks Sweater for my little girl. Just in time

After thinking a bit – I think it wasn’t the crocheting (which actually is great for playground projects), but the sewing together!

fiber stuff to be followed.

Tags: knitting, noro, mittens, ez, elizabeth zimmermann, miter, branching out, helgi

Finished and More

I finished my first object from my own hand spun yarn! That’s something. I chose Calorimetry from knitty.com, first because it’s a perfect object for little yarn, second to manage my growing hair! And since I wear it quite a lot I probably knit some more.

I really like the yarn (and the color), I first was afraid that it would be too hard, because of being overspun, but it turns out it was totally ok to knit. I should know because I knit it twice – the first try was why toooo big (and I swatched ladies, my gauge was smaller, so I figured that using the same stitch number would be ok, but still, had to reknit it with 25% stitches less). Anyway, it’s finished and practically stays on my head.

ravelled

At the same time I try to manage the twist amount and use the cheap multicolor bats to exercise spinning fingering weight singles. And did I tell that I get some help from my oldest. That usually works that way, that he treadles and I draft. Not too bad – he treadles quite slow which is good for the twist. So far I have spun four skeins (about 65g) each. Oldest whishes a hat from the yarn, we will see…

And from time to time I am still knitting on the second edition of helgi’s mittens – this time with a heavier yarn and darker colors. It’s getting cold outside…

Tags: knitknitting spin handspun yarn calorimetry

Like these

These socks really are a pleasant surprise in our oh so perfect world.

In Need of Color

This week I plyed my second skein – some improvement is visible, at least to me (for all of you who don’t see it, the right one is the new one). I found a tip in one of the online Spin-Off articles which said to ply with a higher ratio than the wool is spun. That worked pretty well.

I still have some of the cheap grey wool, but decided, that I really needed a change – and some color. The mixture is called autumn – that fits.

The color really fits the weather after a rainy grey yesterday we have beautiful weather again today.

Tags: handspun, joy, spinning wheel

Other Fiber Related Activities

Forgot to mention that I also have dyed some yarn this september. With plants. That meant, first to treat the yarn with Alaun. So don’t get any illusions about no chemistry when dyeing with plants. But Alaun is ok, I also wanted some Kaliumbichromid (or whatever that’s called in english) but got a bit scared after the pharmacist read all the side effects. And how I have to treat this drug. So i decided to go with Alaun. I used goldenrod, red clover, leaves and shells from walnut. Unfortunately my camera is not very good with yellow and brown, so no pictures so far (I am working on it though).

New fields

Some months ago I thought that after knitting (and sometimes crochet or sewing) spinning my own yarn just would be the logical follower. And end of last month I finally managed to go to a introduction lesson at Spycher’s handwerk. It was fun, even if the result was not very promising.

But they have a good offer, for not too much money you can loan a wheel. Which is perfect to try it out before making the investment. I am quite proud of my first real handspun (2 ply), but I made some typical mistakes:

• didn’t let the yarn rest on the bobbin (not to speak of rewind it on another bobbin – guess what I read)
• didn’t put enough ply twist in it
• was very proud that the singles weren’t totally overtwisted, so at some places the twist is on the small side now (plying really removes twist, especially AFTER the washing)

  

But anyway, got into the flow at some points and am definitely going to keep my JOY…

Made one FO, just in time (didn’t have time to block them, because I actually finished them on the way to the party!). Yes, a birthday gift for C.

Helgi Mittens from Folk Knitting in Estonia, ravelled here

Knit Guerilla Art aka Knit Graffiti

I encountered knitting as guerilla art in the book below (thanks nchenga for bringing it to Switzerland). This evening, I stumbled over this.

I really like the idea of putting knitted stuff in the environment. I didn’t see any knit graffity in Basel so far, but who knows, may be I just didn’t know where to look for.

Tags: art, knitting, knit, guerilla art, keri smith

The Art of Blocking

Blocking squares is a lot of work. And now I know why a blocking board with a grid would be helpful. In complete lack of a board, I use old camping matresses, but they are on the thin side. And not stable enough. But if you look at the before and after square, blocking is definitely worth the effort.
Before:

After:

Anyway, I am in train on crocheting the squares together, see my progress on ravelry

Tags: crochet, squares, blocks, child’s boho blocks pullover

Flea Market

Bought one and a half kilo yarn on the fleamarktet – 15 100g Strands for Fr. 2.– each. Good, tweady, 100% wool  – may be an aran cardigan from Knitting Nature. Or Central Park Hoodie for me? Updated: Picture added:

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: Tweed, Knitting, Knit, wool, yarn,

BSJ, Color and Books

My first Baby Surprise Jacket for A., a beautiful little girl. Apart from the button, it was ready some time ago.

Results from my first dying experiment:

Finally I got the books from the Interweave Sale. Even if the postage takes most of the reduction it still feels like christmas.

Blogged with the Flock Browser

Tags: knit, books, ez, elizabeth zimmermann, BSJ,