pay it forward

A while back i was visiting solveigs colourful blog and was tempted to join the game pay it forward. what happens is that you get a gift from the person/blogger you sign up with and agree to send gifts to the three first ones that sign up with you. the gifts are to be sent off within a year. if you’d like to be part of the network of paying it forward, leave me a comment.

these are the rules:

1. you need to have a blog, so everyone can see what you send off and what you recieve

2. you must want to make someone happy!

3. you need to send your own 3 gifts within the next 365 days

how about a surprise in the mail from me within the next year? let me know

(and did you see the movie from 2000 featuring helen hunt and kevin spacey? it’s a good one)

3 wips on the needles

it seems i’m not able to focus on one project these days, so here are the three that share my attention:

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the brainless socks from yarnissima in shibuiknits sock, needles 2,5 mm.

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the edging for the starstruck shawl from pickles in the yarn merino super fine from garnstudio. i didn’t want fringes som i’m testing i-cord edging. not sure yet, though…

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and when i saw monai’s potholders, i had an urge to learn to do double knitting. now, looking at monai’s post it seems they’re knit in the round, but i see how double knitting is very suitable for a project like this. i got some help from stitch diva’s tutorial on the subject. i do have a hard time knitting double tight enough, though, so this first one may get – frogged we’ll see.

Mille’s puffed rings

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i’m proud to present

THE PATTERN !!!

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the project has gotten some fans over at ravelry, so i’m excited to see if anyone will make it. one of my test crocheters – IdaE – already finished hers – looking good! go check it out here. (and to you who knows norwegian, don’t you just love the tommy&tigern strip that’s heading her blog? i do )

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i would like to thank my test crocheters at hobbyboden – synnøve, pus, maja, IdaE and ajende. your feedback has been constructive – thanks! to anyone else with input – just let me know

sorry….

i’ve been gone from blogging for half a year! for quite a while there i wasn’t doing much crafting either, but it’s picked up over the summer. i’ll just have to face it – i’m a periodical person. a project person. so i apologize for the inconcistency, but i think that’s the way it’s going to be. hopefully i still have some readers, but i have to agree – i probably don’t deserve it after all this time

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Anyway, what have i’ve been up to – craftwise?

(the pictures are linked to my projects on ravelry)

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well, the houndstooth cardi is done!

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and i’ve made 5 baby blankets since last. only two of them have found owners so far, but again, i have a few friends with a bun in the oven…

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pattern: design 201-15 from dale

yarn: dale babyull, 9 skeins

hook: 3,5 mm

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pattern: starflower estonian lace baby blanket (ravelry link)

yarn: tuva from europris, 6 1/2 skeins

needles: 4 mm

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pattern: design 201-15 from dale

yarn: baby merino fra nille, 9 skeins

hook: 3,5 mm

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pattern: knitty’s opart

yarn: tuva from europris

needles: 3,5 mm

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one of the blankets is actually of my own design, and i’m about to post the pattern for it! it’s been test-knit by a few of you, so i just need to to the polishing of the pattern before releasing it (i’ll come back and link it when that’s done).

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oh, and the yarn-eating catherine wheel blanket has found it’s place on my couch, finally having reached it’s completion. i lost count of the amount of yarn used, but i think between 40 and 50 skeins… yikes! but i like it all the same!

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i also made a silk shawl/scarf. i don’t think i mentioned it on the blog before.

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pattern: a wide triangle from victorian lace today

yarn: morbærsilke, 1 skein, 100 g

needles: 4 mm

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and of course i was bitten by the bug  – starstruck shawl (stjernespekksjal)- as the pattern was released from the talented girls at pickles! it’s a bit boring, but works up reasonably quick, and i love the daisy stitch – it was only about time i learned how to do it! i’m actually almost done, but this is a snap shot from last week:

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…scarf exchanges…

i’ve been participating in the first annual facebook handmade scarf exchange and the international scarf exchange 7 for the last few months. that’s of course nothing much to blog about along the way, since it’s supposed to be a surprise for the reciever, but since it’s all done now, i’ll tell ya…
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i made the housatonic her reversible cable scarf for kryssie in british columbia, canada:
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(kryssie’s daughter with the toothbrush…)
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and then i made this delta stitch shawl/scarf for allison in massachusets, usa:
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(me modelling)
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and YESTERDAY – i got this bunch of treats in the mail from martha in texas:
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the looong cool scarf (soft malabrigo):

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the hot sauce (as put on everything in texas):

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the chocolate (yummy):

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the yarn (about to turn into the grrlfriend market bag):

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and such cute knitter note cards:

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thank you thank you martha!

back to sewing

this post is dedicated to elite. see, she dropped me a comment about wanting to see the make-up pouches in RL. well, thing is, they were christmas presents. and christmas is over… well, it doesn’t take much to get me off track, so with great plans to work on the cw blanket, i took out my sewing machine today….
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and made this

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somewhat similar of the make-up pouches actually, but the folding before sewing is sort of reversed. saw it done on a friends little tote from japan. as you can see on the pic, it haven’t covered up the fringy inside seam yet, had to get a picture taken while it was daylight!
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i might leave the sewing machine out and continue this spree a few days, maybe it will result in a make-up pouch or two that i can bring to the snb and show elite

CW blanket

well, this is how far i am now with the catherine wheel blanket:
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it measures 133 cm wide by 44 tall. so far. i started with about 230 chain stiches, and with 8 rows per 10 cm it seems i will have to crochet some 160 rows… 35 down.
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and about the yarn EATING: used maybe 12 skeins so far. i’m not even gonna do that math…

1st annual facebook handmade scarf exchange

look what i got in the mail this week!

lyn(ravelry link) from england was my designated scarf knitter for the 1st annual facebook handmade scarf exchange (puh! facebook link) and sent me this scarf along with a pair of wristlets and two skeins of her handspun merino wool! thank you lyn – i like it

i knitted a scarf for Kryssie in Canada (ravelry link), and was of course late and didn’t have the time to take a picture of the finished scarf! Hopefully Kryssie will and send me a pic. anyway, i knitted her scarf from housatonic his and hers reversible cable scarves (ravelry link). available as a download at webs. i knitted it in sandnes alpakka, needles 4 1/2, colour green, very similar to the colour above!

catherine wheel – continued

as i blogged about here – i fell in love with the catherine wheel stich. and it’s been running around the back of my head until i finally decided that i wanted to make a blanket using the stitch. i had to do a little swatching, though, as the pattern EATS yarn like crazy and in order to figure out hook size, gauge, colour, pattern etc. here’s a glimpse of the swatch, i’ve gotten a leap longer, but have to wait for daylight tomorrow to take a picture!

yarn: alfa from sandnes garn 85% wool, 15% mohair
hook: 7 mm
gauge: 1 pattern repeat = 6 cm

i don’t know if it’s possible to see in the picture, but i started with the brown/white/green and the regular pattern, but tested reduced number of stiches in the wheel with the blue/green/white. the original pattern calls for a combination of 3 single crochet and 7 double crochet in the wheel, but i reduced 7 to 5 in order to save yarn and time.

kusudama

actually, before pulling out big old sewing machine before christmas i got into 5 paper squares into a flower, then gluing 12 flowers together to form a ball. the picture shows the 4 half-balls. unfortunately, i forgot to take pictures of the finished balls before they went off as presents for my aunt and grandma. i had to think a little extra about who to give these to, as, well… it’s quite a bit of work…
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you can find the tutorial here: part one – part two.