Mother's joy

Dear friends, I am proud to present to you a new little knitter. My sweet daughter Elsa, almost eight. She asked me the other day how one knits, and I showed hee. She then declared that we would have a knitting lesson for her the next day (as in yesterday). So we did, and it didn't take many tries for her to get it right. So proud of her!

She is really committed to it, this is her this morning before school. She usually takes her time in the morning, but today she rushed things to get time to knit. :)

She had not knitted many stitches before she declared that she needed a knitting basker. Now, where on earth could she be getting such ideas from? Luckily, she found a little basket in her room that suited her work perfectly.

This might bexome an expensive story, though. I got her the kiddy needles to start with. I think they actually belong to her brother (who is more into crochet by the way). But as soon as she had her basket, she told me she needed to ger her own needles. She just couldn't borrow someone else's all the time! :) Maybe I should bring her on my next yarn hunt. Or maybe not... Either way, she is already more interested in using circular needles than regulars. She is her mother's girl! 

Never satisfied

If you knit or crochet, this won't be news to you. No matter how much yarn I have at home, I never seem to have the right kind for the next thing I want to make. I needed to cheer myself up yesterday, and decided to start a new project or two. Or five... But I just couldn't find the right yarn!

Above all, I wanted to make mitts or wrist warmers. And I want to use them at work. For that very reason, I want them in "dull" colors, like black, grey or brown. And I want them to be neat, with cables or in a lace pattern. So I would need a pretty thin yarn. I have thin yarn. But it is either striped or in some really strong colors. I have those dull colors, but only in bulky yarn... :) So I need to go yarn shopping. Poor me! :)

At least I found one project I could get started on right away. It is a scarf from a free e-book pattern I got from Knitting Daily. It's a lace pattern, but their mohair was obviously a lot thinner than the skein I found in my stash... It looked as delicate as a spider web, and mine does not. But different doesn't have to be bad, right? So I keep knitting. Although I did almost rip it up to make wrist warmers of it instead, but I think my husband lost his patience with my inabilityto make up my mind at that point (should I make this, or that, and is it really pretty, or should I...) and simply told me to keep knitting what I started. :)  So I am about half way done already. Do you like it? Or should I make wrist warmers instead? ;) 

Slippers

I am up late tonight. Trying to get tired wnough to aleep well, in spite of the ache. There is snow in the air, and it hurts. No use to try to fall asleep then... So sincee I am getting pretty bored from lying on the couch doing nothing useful, I thought I could show you what I have been up to this week.

My daughter reealized that she had no slippers, they were all too small. She didn't seem too  keen on letting me knit her a pair, and not crochwt either. So I thought maybe I could sew her a pair or two. So I did.

The first pair (or really the second pair I made) ismade in felted wool. They used to be a cardigan that actually used to fit me a long time ago. It didn't anymore, so I threw it in the washer and felted it, and kept it for the right project. Since black and grey is not what young girls dream about, I tried to spice them up a bit by stitching them with sparkling silver yarn and adding some sequins. I think I succeeded, since she even agreed tomake them her school slippers. (As you might know,kids in swedish schools do not wear shoes inside, but it does get rather cold and wet on the floors this time of the year.)

The first pair I made was also made from clothes. A fleece sweater my daughter used to wear. And I am happy to say that I only had to use the arms, so I have most of it left. These are a lot softer than the thick, sturdy felt slippers above, but I think they are perfect for lazy days under a blanket on the couch, or after an evening shower before bedtime. 

Both pairs have leather soles, made from a bag of scrap leather I bought on a market a few years ago. The pattern is from marthastewart.com, but I will tell you more once I sit down by the computer for a while. Have some pictures from when I made the first pair.

It is getting seriously late now, so I think I better get to bed now. Hopefully to get a good nights sleep. I hope you will too, once it is your bedtime! :) Good night!

A new favourite

I have finished the red sweater, and I love it dearly allready. It is soft, cosy, fits me really good, and it is red! :)

(I know, there has been a lot of pictures of me lately. I just find it hard to show the new garments any other way. )

It was an easy pattern to follow, and I will probably use it again with a few changes. I love how open it is around the neck, with a round of crochet in a bulky yarn to keep the shape. I don't know how good you can see the colours, but it goes from dark red through red to a mix of orange and red. Warm and beautiful colours, if you ask me. Wonderful yarn!

Speaking of yarn, I did tell you I was a little worried that I didn't have enough. After all, five balls are not a lot when we are talking about knitting a sweater. When the front and back were finished, I had used up about half. I thought I was on the safe side there, but the arms ate yarn! This is all I had left after making all the stitching... Enough, but not much more! Feel like playing it safe next time. :)

Do it myself?

I have been hunting for new clothes this week. I was given some money on birthday, and thought I needed a few new things in my wardrobe. Some of my old things are literally falling apart, and some days I find it very hard to decide what to wear for work. I didn't find much, since I have almost forgot how to shop for myself. :) I haven't given up shopping, but today I thought I could glance at that pattern for a tunic that I printed a long time ago. I realized the fabric I wanted was too small for that pattern. :( Maybe I'll make something shorter, maybe I will dig through my stash to find something else. Or maybe I will tuck it all away and forget all about it for a few more years. To tired today anyway.

 I would really like to make clothes for myself. But I don't know if I'm good enough. Too sloppy, probably. Or I would choose ugly fabric, that I never would wear, simply because I happened to have enough of that fabric lying around. But I really wanted to sew that tunic. In brown linen, with some pretty embroidery. Ah well, maybe another time.

Oh, I almost forgot! Again... *embarrassed* I was meaning to thank all of you who have encouraged me to go on blogging. I will, and now when it is a little simpler (and that some obviously are reading it!) it is much more fun again. I keep getting new followers, but I honestly didn't think that any of you were actually coming back on a (more or less) regular basis. Sorry about that! I must admit that I haven't visited you all yet. I did, in the beginning. Then I kind of lost track of who was new and who wasn't. I should take the time one of those tired days to walk around and get to know you all better. No promises that it will happen soon, but I would really like to know who you are, each and every one of you And thanks again, for your sweet comments!

Lovely red

Oh yes, I am already knitting something new. I am using this lovely yarn again, Baya from Creation Cheval Blanc, the same brand as the cardigan. But this is red with a touch of orange. And how I love this yarn! The colours in it lifts my heart. Now, let's hope this sweater will fit me better than the cardigan. And I dearly hope I have enough yarn! :) Yes, I only have five skeins... I guess a cheap person like me always will try to make the most out of nothing... The first skein took me to the decrease for the arms. I think three skeins will beenough for front and back, but will it be enough with one skein per arm? I dearly hope so. Ormaybe it will become a t-shirt? :D I only know one thing. I am not ripping this baby up! Love her way too much!

Something old, something new

When I bought my mobile I got an extra shell. White didn't really feel like my thing, so I have used the black. Some time ago I saw a handpainted shell on Pinterest, and I really wanted to make something like that. But since my black shell doesn't have a flat surface to give a good grip, I simply couldn't. And then a few days ago I was looking for something and found my white, shiny flat shell. I could paint!

I used regular permanent markers. It looks like I had a lot of colours, but that is only half the truth. I bought markers recently. Thin ones in black, blue, green and red. At home, we had some huge markers, in the same colours (plus purple). But when I tested them today, they were much paler than the new ones. So the red looks pink... Happy me, dark blue and red flowers only would have looked dull.

I practised a little, and then took a deep breath and started decorating my shell. Permanent is a scary thing... But it turned out alright and I finished it off with a dot with my permanent silver pen in the middle of each flower. I am now seriously in love with my mobile. :) I think my daughter is too, since she keeps touching the flowers and barely could take her eyes of the back when she borrowed it to play a game. :) You really should try this, it was so much fun! Wish I had more shells...

Edit: Help, the colour is coming off! I better get some clear nail polish or something to make it stick to the shell. :-/ I guess permanent isn't always that permanent after all...

Some bad pictures

Look, there it is! My brand new cardigan, in a pretty lousy picture... My tablet is good for much, but it doesn't take the best pictures obviously. :) But I was too lazy to get the mobile or the camera. Anyway. I used the cardigan already on Wednesday, using a pin since I had no button yet. 

But it was a bit too wide, especially over the shoulders. Compare the two pictures with me, and you can see what I mean. I made a size medium, based on the given numbers in the pattern, but an extra small would have been enough this time. Not my regular size anymore! Well, since I had to finish it before I could see its actual size, remaking it does not feel like an option.

So I came up with an idea. I grabbed some of the left over yarn (yes, I had a little less than half a ball left!) Aand a hook, and made two rows of sc's around the neck. And that made a huge difference! So now I am one happy lady with a new and very snuggly cardigan!

Enough!

This is the moment. The very moment when I felt sure that I do have enough yarn. It has been a few anxious hours, since the arms needed much more yarn than I thought. After the back and front halves were finished I thought it was a safe trip, but these  arms... 

I'm on the very last part now, the shoulders in garter stitch, binding it all together. I hope it will look good when it is done. It's not perfect. Home made with love. :) And I hope it will fit me! I can see that it is wide... So hard to choose the right size to make when the pattern only gives you one measurement... I hope I can tell you all about it soon. I can hardly put it down, so excited about getting it done. The pattern tells me to block, but I am not sure about that. I want to wear it soon!!!

Casting on

Sitting with lit candles, soft music, the husband nearby and a brand new knitting on the needles. Not much that beats that! And it's a historical moment too - I am starting a cardigan for myself. Biggest garment I have ever tried to make. Wish me luck! Especially since I am not sure that I have enough yarn. But then again, do I ever have enough yarn? :)