FREE PATTERNS - Wind in the Fields Scarf

My first free pattern for you - a funny slanting scarf! ^^
This scarf really suprised me during making because it started to slant from the very beginning! But that's just the nature of the pattern.

What you need:
- three shades of green yarn, light worsted weight wool or blend
- needles 5 / US 8

CO 34 st.
If you want a fringe, cut the appropriate number of 24" strands in a chosen colour and set aside.

The pattern is:
R1: sl1, p, [k, yo, 2ktog] - repeat 10 times, p, k
R2: sl1, p till 1 last st, k

Repeat these two rows 9 times for one colour, then switch to another shade of green - repeat 9 times, and to the third shade of green - repeat 9 times. And so on. Knit till you desire or run out of yarn. Mine is 19 cm/7,5 in wide and 115 cm/46 in long.
Definitely needs blocking!

Sock finished, but...

Okay, so I finished my first sock ever! *applause*


(it's the same sock from two sides)

I must say I'm very happy about this pattern, I learnt how to knit a heel and how to finish a sock on toes (I learnt Three Needle BO technique), but I'm not very willing to knit the other sock to pair it.
Why?
Because this yarn turned out to be a not-for-socks-yarn! >< When I tried the sock on it stretched very much (for my heel/instep to go through) and almost stayed that way, when I pulled it up to cover my ankle... So much for the yarn from an unknown source/somebody else's stash, without a label with a content!... Well, I can always wear it pulled down just above the shoes. ^~^
But at least I practiced making a sock, I'm pleased with the result, I learnt something new and I'm ready to go on to more socks.

New Knitty! And other stuff.

OMG, I've just found out that the Spring edition of Knitty is on the website! ^^

*off to browse through new patterns!...*

Okay, I'm back! (You hardly noticed I was gone, ne? ^^)
So, here are the patterns that caught my eye:

Exchequered scarf
Tendrils shawl
Convertible shrug
Topi hat designed by Jeni - I love baseball hats, so this one has to be on my list!
Pedicure Socks
Hedera socks - I'm very much into knitting socks nowadays! ^^

And, have you ever seen a knitted squid before?... (*^-^*)



~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I've decided to make a short resume of my fiber art career up till now (and my knitting career since September last year up till now! ^^).

I can (or at least tried once...):
- sew by hand and using sewing machine,
- do different kinds of embroidery (all basic stitches, cross-stitch, white work, colour work),
- knit
- crochet (that's what I meant by 'tried once', I don't like it, but could crochet a few rows with a gun at my head...^^)
- handweave on simple looms, on heddle, on cards

Not bad, huh? *^-^*

I want to learn (at least try once...^^):
- spinning,
- dyeing fiber and fabric,
- felting,
- how to use a serger (but first I must buy one...),
- embroider using richelieu technique (my Granny was a richelieu Goddess!),

Now, as far as knitting is concerned, I started to knit in September 2005.
Since that time I knitted:
- one vest of my own design,
- lots of scarves,
- one pair of fingerless gloves (but with a thumb!),
- one bizarre sweater,
- lots of capes,
- almost one sock,
- one neck-warmer with cable pattern,
- three pieces of lace scarf I still haven't decided what to do with... ><, Techniques I learnt: - working with standard needles, circular needles, dpns, - how to knit a cable pattern (even without a cable needle, I used half-a-circular for spare stitches! ^^), - how to knit with two colours (although my checkered scarf is not finished yet so I'm not sure if it counts as "up till now"), - how to knit lace pattern, - how it is to work with needles size 2/US 0 as well as size 20/ US 35, I set up my knitting preferences to: - scarves/shawls, - capes/boleros, I like the idea of knitting gloves and socks although it bothers me that I have to make two of them (I easily get bored and distracted, so being forced to repeat exactly the same piece doesn't sound like fun at all!... I know, genetically people have hands and feet in pairs, unfortunately!... ><). And, last but not least, let me show you our today's diner (prepared by myself! ^-^):



There are lots of maki of three kinds: with smoked salmon, cucumber and pickled plum; and the rest are nigiri with Japanese egg pancakes, ebi (shrimp), tako (octopus) and ika (squid). And on Thursday I'm going to a fish market for some fresh tuna, salmon or butterfish. ^^

Eating habits and warm feet

I had a very busy weekend! ^^
On Saturday we took our friend who came from another city to visit her boyfriend (he was at work all day) and we went to a huge shopping mall outside Warsaw. In fact, we wanted to buy an electric rice cooker and didn't succeed, because they didn't have what we wanted (namely, National), but we had fun anyway! ^^ We bought some Asian food (you don't know that yet but I am a Japan-freak and I love everything that's Japanese - especially food!... ^^) and ate very delicious Vietnamese lunch.
On Sunday, we met another pair of friends, went for a sushi and discovered a shop next to our favourite sushi bar that sells Japanese and Korean food! ^-^
So, here is the result of our two-day food shopping:

Tasty Japanese sweets - Pocky (okay, I prefer the ones of green tea flavour, but the chocolate ones are also nice! ^^), Pocari Sweat - bizarre name but very nice soft drink, a bit like a grapefruit juice. The green stuff is a packet of green tea ice-cream, you just add milk, stir and freeze it! ^^

And guess what I'm preparing for diner tonight!... >^-^<



I still need to buy some fresh fish, but it's sushi time tonight!!! It's much cheaper to make it at home than to buy it in a reastaurant... Generally, we decided to change our eating habbits. Now we mostly eat meat and bread (steaks, stews, sandwiches...), so we want to give up most of the meats and introduce more dairy and fish into our diet.

As far as knitting is concerned, I wasn't that busy those two days, but what I did was:

- joined Tote Exchange and Twisted Float Shrug KAL (I sent an email to Vogue Knitting, I wonder if they are willing to sell me their magazine online all the way to Poland...),
- transferred Polish description of the maroon sweater into an English one (easier for me), it seems that it'll work, now I have to decide on a yarn and start knitting it! ^^
- finally, I started my first sock ever! (*^-^*)
The pattern is Blueberry Waffle Socks and today it looks like this:
(don't worry, I haven't chopped off my leg to take this photo, it's a plastic one!... ^^)



Of course, it won't look as good on my legs because my ankles are not so slim, but I like the pattern and the colour. I had a moment of doubt when I finished a heel flap and started to join the heel with the rest, but luckily I managed to interpret the pattern correctly and today I'm planning to finish the feet part and maybe even cast on for the other sock. Yay! ^^

I was also think about what a terrible procrastinator I am!... ><
I have projects that I started over a year ago and are still unfinished, and by this I mean eg.: lots of bags cut out of a fabric and waiting for their turn to be sewn into a bag shape or corsets in pieces ready to become proper clothing but somehow I cannot make myself sit at the sewing machine and finish them!... I decided to have a Spring resolution: finish my unfinished projects (as many and as soon as I can)!
We'll see how it goes... ^^

Knitting bag and knitting place

Okay, so I'm angry! I went to a far away supermarket (by bus) to get some fresh fish for a sushi supper for tonight. I just got inside when it turned out that few moments before several shelves crashed (some people were mildly hurt) because they were probably overloaded with some discount goods, and they decided to closed the entire huge supermarket! Of course, the cashiers were working but all the stalls (including a fish stall...) were immediately shut down, so because I had nothing in my trolley yet I had to come home empty handed!... >< Anyway, we are having a sushi and karaoke evening with some friends on Sunday, so this weekend is not totally lost!

I've been reading Kenny's knitting blog The Boy Who Knits (very interesting and helpful in many aspects, at least for me as a beginner), and I've read in his archive posts about his knitting bag and knitting place, so I started to think about mine.

My knitting bag is a green cotton tote I got with "Marie Claire" magazine some time ago, it as a good size for needles not to stick out too much and enough room for several yarn balls plus A4 size magazine or a book with patterns. But, because this one also becomes my shopping bag very often, I am also planning to sew a REAL knitting bag, and I even started to design a pattern - it's going to have separate pockets on the sides for needles, big flat pocket for a knitting magazine or printed patterns, also smaller pocket closed with a zipper for my purse, keys and mobile (in this way I'll be able to carry only one bag instead of two - one for my knitting and the other for my belongings). I even have the fabric for this, so look forward to the progress on this project! ^^



As far as knitting place is concerned, I usually knit sitting on a couch in my living room. In fact, I sit in the middle of a big space (because we don't have a wall between the living room and the kitchen), so it's easy for me to knit a few rows, then go check on diner on the stove, and make three steps back - and I'm knitting again! ^^ You can see a place where I keep the pattern and my notebook to marked knitted rows.

If you read this, feel tagged and write about your knitting bag and knitting place (if you haven't done it already). ^^

On my Postcard Swap pal's blog I found the link to another interesting swap, namely: Tote Bag Swap (http://toteexchange.blogspot.com/). I think I'll join!

Please tag my map, I want to know where you all are, my knitting friends! ^^



And now, for something completely different,... sleeping beauty!
(my dear kitty called Barbie)

Sweater problems

I didn't show you my stash on 1st April because I was away but when I looked at some of your yarn collections I felt relieved!... ^^ I thought I had a lot!
I mean, I have A LOT for my little flat and I feel constant urge to buy more (but I try not to do that because I have no space for more yarn balls...).

I started to swatch for a sweater I chose from some Polish knitting magazine, namely this one:



I took a yarn from my stash, the bluish violet, a bit fuzzy but very soft. I did two swatches - first with one yarn and the second with two yarns held together (both on needles 6, thesy suggested 5,5 in the article but I don't have it). Here are the results:



The first swatch resulted in good size but the fabric is very loose and I think I would like it to be more textured. The second swatch is too big and also too thick, better for a warm winter sweater. So, we definitely say "no" to two yarns held together. But what about the first swatch? I could try needles 5 but it will be smaller than 10x10 cm, which may result in smaller size of the finished product, and I'm not that experienced in knitting as to adjust the number of stitches to my size. And, frankly speaking, I'm not sure whether I like this colour not. Well... ><

Additionally, I noticed a very silly problem with knitting something from Polish knitting magazine... I learned how to knit from foreign patterns - English, American, ect. And they are usually written like this:

Round 1: [Kfb] in each st. 12 sts.
Even-Numbered Rounds 2-14: K all sts.
Round 3: [Kfb, k1, kfb, k1, kfb] twice, k2. 18 sts.
Round 5: [Kfb, k2] around. 24 sts.
Round 7: [Kfb, k3] twice, kfb, k4, [kfb, k3] twice, kfb, k2. 30 sts.
Round 9: [Kfb, k4] twice, kfb, k6, [kfb, k4] twice, kfb, k2. 36 sts....

But when you look at the Polish magazine, it says:

Start knitting with 1x1 rib for five rows. Then knit with stockinette stitch substracting in each row after 1 st. and before the last st. 5 st. every 10th row and 3 st. every 15th row. Then when you reach the height of your waist, add 4 st. every 10th row...

I just don't know how to follow such description of a pattern, I try to rewrite it into my preferred method but I'm not sure about the number of rows and when I should add or substract stitches, and where I should start counting the rows, and... >< I just shouldn't buy Polish magazines, because I get frustrated while reading and trying to understand the pattern...

So, before I figure out how to knit the sweater and decide on the yarn, I think I'll try some socks! ^^ I found these yarns in my stash and I believe they are the perfect training material for me to knit the first socks! ^^

Swamp Witch finished!

I must admit my Swamp Witch shawl has a life of its own... I don't know when, but it grew so long in the course of knitting!... It measures 226 cm plus 25 cm of a fringe on both sides!!! ^^
But thanks to that I can wear it in different ways (as can be seen in the pictures).
In fact, when I finished it and put it on, especially with a blue jeans jacket, I decided that I like the colour mixture!... (*^-^*) As Beverly said, these are the colours I wouldn't normally wear every day, but it was worth to give it a try.



As far as working with 20 size needles I must say that you knit extremely quickly, the result is a lightweight lacy product and it's a good way to reduce your stash by working with several different yarns at a time (exactly, Beverly! ^^). And it's fun to operate such big needles! ^^

I'm going out in a moment and I'm soooo wearing this beauty! >^-^<

Project Spectrum - April

So, April officially started and all the things orange and yellow appeared on many blogs! (*^-^*)
Here is my first April collage, and expect more to come because I have lots of orange things (clothes, accessories, items), not many yellow ones though because I look terrible in this colour...



I've done some cleaning in my wardrobe and found two jumpers I want to frog and reuse! ^^ One is a mustard colour long-sleeve jumper, very plain, knitted long time ago by my mother, it has a very interesting yarn - mercerised cotton with very small felted balls several centimeters apart. The second one is a big Winter jumper made of a very thick white wool, but it was done for a person with some serious body disproportions!... ^^ It is very wide, like size of a tall big bossomed woman, but the sleves are narrow and very short!...
So, these two are going to be frogged and turned into something else - the mustard one will probably end up as a bell-sleeved jumper with wide boatneck, and the white one will be the same only for my body proportions. Look forward to pictures of the process! ^^

BTW, I thought things through and finally decided to give up Hindu dancing classes.
The teacher is not okay, I don't have time to practice the moves at home to be able to manage during the classes, after each lesson I felt that I failed - not only didn't learn anything but also was a burden to a teacher who wanted to introduce new steps and couldn't because we were too slow to grasp the idea (I know I wasn't the only one; in fact, most of the group looked puzlled all the time, but still...). Now I want to concentrate on bellydance classes, master the steps and raise my level of fitness, and in September I want to try different teacher and start classic Hindu dancing. Maybe it's running away, maybe I should try harder and force myself to continue but it doesn't bring me any fun at all, only frustration!... ><

Swamp thing!...

I finished (my) husband's cabled fingerless gloves (by Kimberly) yesterday afternoon and here is the final result on a model (he agreed to wear them for a photo but didn't want to stop working on his computer, well... ^-^).



Of course, he complained that he got them just when Spring started and in fact doesn't need them now, but I'm sure he'll be happy next Autumn on the first chilly days when he'll find the gloves in the pocket of his jacket and they will keep his hands warm! ^^
I was thinking about knitting the same for me but from this yarn they result being too big for my hands. And then, rather than changing the yarn (this one is soooo soft!) I thought about substracting maybe 6 stitches to make them tighter. I must give it a go - results soon! ^^

But I must also confess the I made a mistake in the first glove...

I didn't notice it at the beginning but Robert started to closely analyse the pattern and he suddenly said "There's a mistake!" As you can see in the photo, I took two stitches on the cable needle and held it in front instead of the back of the glove!... I wanted to frog it and correct it immediately, but he said that's okay and it's not that visible after all. Well, I don't totally agree that it should stay like that unmended but I sooooo hate frogging... Fortunately it's not very visible on black, so I think I'll leave it for now.

Of course I wouldn't be myself if I followed my knitting plan so again I skipped several projects to knit something completely different... ^^
Namely, inspired by the Festival Jacket by Beverly (she gave me the idea of mixing several totally different yarns and work with them on 20s) last night I decided to try my new 20 size needles and started a shawl called Swamp Witch from The Anticraft page. Here are the three yarns I chose: two fuzzy earthy colours and mercerized golden cotton. Although they look fabulous being next to each other, I'm not sure yet whether I like the result of them being blended into a scarf. My husband said that he liked the final colour mixture so maybe I'll finish this shawl and try in on, ad then decide if I should frog it or leave it.



Today is my lazy day, I got up late and don't feel like doing anything substantial. I should be sitting at the sewing machine but it's just not the day for this, I tell you... In the afternoon I'm going to see the jewelery exhibition recommended by my jewelery course teacher (he is one of the participants) and then in the evening I have Hindu dancing class - and today is the final moment to decide whether I want to continue practicing this or not, and I'm still not sure... Decisions, decisions, decisions...

Kotbullar Story

Three days passed and I am back home! ^^
My Swedish trip lasted for a very short time, but it was fun! I spent lots of time knitting, while being on a train or, like here, on a ferry! ^^



I wanted to have with me some simple knitting project that would occupy mainly my hands, not my head, so I took my checkered scarf. And look how it grew - 65 cms! (*^-^*) I still need to knit 2/3 of the length but taking into account that it is my for-the-next-Winter-project, it goes really fast. I can feel I passed this mysterious point from where your knitting grows faster than before, if you know what I mean. ^^

The weather was rather windy and wet, but fortunately not very cold (like when I was there in December - photo in red Winter coat for reference! >< ). Can you see the pink coif I knitted? Not the best photo, I know. I decided not to embroider it, at least for now, so it can be regarded as finished.


This gentleman greeted us in front of one of the pubs!... ^^


As you know I wanted to visit knitting shops in Karlskrona and I found two addresses on the Web, so I went to those two places. I got really dissappointed, I must admit... "BLEKINGE HEMSLÖJD" turned out to be folk crafts shop next to Blekinge region museum, and "Cikoria" was closed, but what I saw through big shopwindows were different fabrics and not even one ball of yarn. Well... I found one more craft shop, rather poorly stocked with yarns, no stitching markers I hoped for but I bought two pairs of needles. Size 4 (US 6), because I needed them and my old 4s were of a very poor quality, and size 20 (US 35), because I found some interesting project for such enormous needles! ^^

I laso tried to find some pattern books, but all I found were two books - "Knitting for little babies" (I don't have any...) and "Scarves" (about 10-12 scarf patterns, but not very impressive). Both were very expensive hard-covers, at least for my pocket. And there are no knitting magazines in Sweden, strange...

Marine Museum

In the Marine Museum we visited I found something very interesting - namely XVII-th c. marine looms used by the sailors to weave very strong belts needed on the ships.


In the Museum I also got inspired for the new corset pattern. I want to design an Elisabethan-like corset based on the armour worn by the galeon lady below:


We also had fun winning the ferry lottery (bottles of wine and Carolina Herrera 212 perfume!... ^-^), eating kotbullars (meatballs) with potatoes and cranberries, buying lots of apple cider to take home with us. I am a bit fed up with Karlskrona for now because I've been there several times so next trips will lead me into some other direction (Czech Rep. maybe?... It'll definitely be cheaper ^^).

And now I'm off to the second cabled glove and anxious to start my first socks as I know know how to use dpns! (*^-^*)