The Yarn-Loving Couple

Once a upon a time there was a skein of Novita Puro...

2011-07-14T11:29:00.000+03:00

I bought a skein of Novita Puro because I thought it was pretty. I'm not normally into pink, I think it's my least favorite color, but this time the pink just begged me to give it a try. I just liked how it was combined with lilac and light brown. I had my suspects though so I only bought one skein. Sometimes this kind of yarn looks horrible when knitted.

So I have a skein of new yarn, now what to do with it? You can't do much with fifty grams of bulky yarn. It had to be something small, something smaller than a pair mittens. And finally it hit me: I needed a coaster for my mug at work. I always forget to wipe dry the bottom when I wash it and a coaster would be nice so I wouldn't have to mind about the wet circles anymore. So a coaster it was. I grabbed my hook and made this:

I didn't like it. It wasn't pink and girly as I expected it to be. It was dirty-looking and brown and the shape was totally off. It was supposed to resemble a flower. I had no other choice than to grab my hook again and try something else:

It's pink and girly and looks more like a flower. But I didn't like it. I liked it even less than the first one. And the more I looked at the two coasters the more I started to like the first one. It wasn't bad. Pink isn't really my color and I liked how the pink faded to brown. It was more sturdier too because I had crocheted it with a smaller hook. Yes, indeed the first one was better so I decided to give the second one to my coworker as I thought she might need a coaster too.

And she did. She liked the coaster so much that she asked me to crocher her an extra one. She wanted to have one for her to admire and one to keep under the mug. Since I still had yarn left, I crocheted her a new one according to his requirements: she especially wanted the petals to be pink :

I didn't like that one either, but luckily my coworker did. She was even more pleased with this one that the first one and she showed them both to our other coworker and asked her if she wanted to have one too since she knew I still had yarn left and the materials with me. And so I was requested to crochet a fourth one. I grabbed my hook once again and made this :

And that way I ended up crocheting three relatively hideous flower coasters, and one relatively nice one. To be fair, they look nicer when in natural light and in use:

I like to see the coaster pictures lined up like in this post. The coasters look so different to each other that it's hard to guess they're from the same skein. That's the beauty and the curse of Novita Puro. I'm not sure if I want to use it again though as I can't never tell how it turns out.

PS: I am Amoena Online on Google+ and I would like to add more knitters to my knitting circle; feel free to advertise yourself or to ask an invitation!

The real pullover of eternity

2011-07-05T13:56:00.000+03:00

It's been a year of big projects. At least that's how I reason to myself why I haven't been posting anything in a while. But I've finished them all, at last. It takes time to knit a sweater and a cardigan at the same time, but I've done for now. I started to knit this sweater in October, but as I didn't knit it in November, December and some of January, I'd like to think that it took me "just" six months to finish. But enough of unnecessary reasonings and more pictures:

Project info

Name: Herregenser til meg

Pattern: Herregenser by Sandnes Design

Size: XS

Needles: 2.5mm, 3mm

Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Alpaca

Colorway: 0517

I don't remember having any trouble whatsoever during the project. Pattern was very short, as they usually are in the magazines, but it had all the information you need. Overall very straightforward pattern; just knit from the bottom to the top in a simple cable pattern, attach sleeves and knit the collar. Basic sweater. Drops Alpaca is also soooo soft, so I'm very, very pleased that I decided to go with it, even though it was thin. But also because it's so thin, about light-fingering (no matter what Ravelry says), the sweater is almost wearable even in the summer. The 3mm (US 2½) needles were big enough so that the knit is airy, letting wind blow through. But when the wind stops, sweating begins.

Niila wanted to get to the picture too.

Even though I used thin-ish yarn and small-ish needles, it wasn't really a 6 month long project. I just lost my interest in it sometime in February or March. I then started to knit the cardigan for my mom, and in the end I finished them about at the same time.

It took me so long to finish these, that I have nothing I'd want to knit next. Usually when the projects last for a few weeks, I always know what to knit next, but now I have no idea. I haven't even been browsing Ravelry in months. I could maybe fix the sweater I knitted for Amoena last summer. It needs some serious shaping. Or perhaps crochet a doily for a flower pot so that it won't ruin the chair it's on. I don't know.

Tsunomnom socks

2011-03-14T15:04:00.001+02:00

I finished my Tsunomnom socks a long time ago. A long, long time ago. I just didn't like them at first. I don't know what particularly put me off with them. It wasn't the color of the yarn since I was very fond of the grey/brown combination. And it wasn't the pattern because I liked those lazy diamonds and simple cables. But it must have been something because it made me put the socks away for almost a month.

Tsunomnom socks in all their glory.

But then I started to feel guilty for not wearing them. They were perfectly OK as a socks. They had a heel, toe and cuff. So I just made myself to wear them. And to my surprise, they turned out be a nice little socks. Perfect size, perfect shape, perfect color and perfect thickness. Now that I have worn them for a month in a daily basis, I think they're my favorite socks. And they already kinda look like they've been worn a lot.

Some random Niila cuteness.

Project info

Name: Tsunomnom

Pattern: Tsunami by Judy Sumner

Size: 38-39

Needle: US 1½ - 2.5 mm

Yarn: Lana Grossa Meilenweit Solo Tono

Colorway: 5223

What do you like about my leopard print pants? Aren't they hawt?

I tend to give original names to my projects instead of just naming them "socks" and "mittens". The story behind "Tsunomnom" is a simple word play. "Nami nami" is a Finnish version of "om nom nom", so instead of naming the socks "Tsunami" like the original pattern calls them, I named then "Tsunomnom".

My top 3 most worn projects

2011-02-25T21:18:00.002+02:00

Hi! Some of you might still remember me. I'm the other writer of this blog. I haven't forgot about you, since Amoena's been reminding me constantly since about the beginning of the year. I haven't blogged in a while for few reasons. One is that I've been working with my Herregenser sweater. It's been quite laborious and I still have a bit over half a sleeve to go so it'll take some more time before it's finished. So I haven't really had any projects to blog about and I suck in babble blogging.

Another reason, which also is the one Amoena hasn't really understood, is that I've been quite busy with school stuff. Well more than just quite. If I have calculated correctly, after this spring I'll be almost a year ahead of my original schedule so I can continue to master level studies already next fall. So my work really has, or will have, payed off. So whenever I've had time I wasn't doing or stressing about school stuff, I'd rather spent it with Amoena or just laying on the couch, and not blogging.

But since it was about a time to blog on something, and I had no finished projects to blog about, I decided to blog about my past projects. My top 3 most worn projects to be exact. Whenever I knit, I want to knit something that has some use. So I've usually just knitted something for Amoena to wear. That way I can easily decide on pattern and colors and stuff with her and don't really have to make any major decisions just by myself without consulting her and I can just focus on knitting. So, here we go:

#1 Cabled mittens

These I made for Amoena about two years ago after she had lost her previous ones. I think these were my first mittens, and also the first time I made cables. Basically Amoena's been wearing either these ever since. And you can quite well see it from the mittens' condition.

#2 Keemosahbee scarf

This is something I made for myself. And actually it was a week before Cabled mittens, so it was quite close call that these weren't #1. The reason for that is mainly that some time ago I got a new scarf from my dad, which he had gotten from some corporation party. And it being 100% kashmir and stuff I kinda switched to it. But before that I always wore this during winters. And I still think that the pattern is superb! I really like how it looks. Only small problem is that it twists a lot. I probably should have made some kind of sturdier border for it. But at that point I couldn't tell the difference.

#3 Villasukat

Only one of the socks was willing to come out of their hide.

This one was quite a bit harder. It was either these, the Horcrux Socks I made for Amoena after Papu had a taste of these, or my Sampo cardigan, which I've worn a lot too. I'm actually wearing it right now. But these socks lasted for a year, I think. And I'm quite sure that Amoena wore these more than the others. I actually started knitting with this project. Amoena gave me Stitch n' Bitch - Knitters handbook and set of dpns for Christmas, and this is what I managed to produce with them. I actually knitted wrong at that point: every single stitch I made was twisted.

So, these are the top 3. Though I'm still a bit uncertain about the third place. But Villasukat being my first knitted project ever, it has earned its place. The Cabled mittens will probably stay #1 since they are the only one of these still in use. Sampo will probably rise to #2 some time soon. But I have no clue about the next #3.

Finnish summary: En ole hetkeen saanut projekteja valmiiksi, pääasiassa koska teen itselleni työlästä villapaitaa, mutta koulukiireet ovat myös vieneet oman aikansa. Piti kuitenkin keksiä jotain blogattavaa, joten tässä kolme eniten käytössä kulunutta neulostani.

Marking my stitches

2011-02-15T18:51:00.002+02:00

I got us some stitch markers from WorstedKnitt. I wanted to surprise J.R. and to give him something to blog between his big knitting projects. You know, this is supposed to be a couple blog, but it's mostly me who's blogging here. But he still hasn't blog about his and I got tired of waiting. I want to blog about my stitch markers now before it's been so long ago that it would be stupid to write about them.

My stitch markers were a special request. WorstedKnitt had many pretty sets in her webstore, but I wanted something more simpler and lighter. I knit a lot of lace shawls and sometimes I knit with lace weight yarn. I wanted my stitch markers to be as delicate as the things I knit. So she made me these:

Just simple turquoise beads. There is actually four in the set; two for the center stitch and two for the edges as I figured. After I saw these little one I got all inspired and wanted to make my own too. Not for sale, but for our use and maybe for giveaways. My mother has a really nice collection of beads and she's more than happy to let
me use them too. I just need to get the other material.

Finnish summary: Hankin meille silmukkamerkkejä WorstedKnittiltä. Pyysin itselleni erityisen kevyitä ja yksinkertaisia merkkejä, ja sain juuri mitä halusin. Nähtyäni nämä pikkuruiset ajattelin, että voisin tehdä niitä myös itselleni. Helmiä saisin äidiltäni, mutta muut tarvikkeet tarvitsee hankkia vielä itse.

In(t)ro of East and West

2011-01-25T09:52:00.002+02:00

It didn't took me a long time to decide what I wanted to knit first from my new "Knitted Socks East and West" sock book. I immediately liked a pattern called "Inro" . It wasn't anything challenging or extra ordinary, but I enjoyed the simplicity of these socks. The socks-ness of these socks. I just wanted to knit them and so I did.

Pups like them too

According the book "inro" means "a small ornate case consisting a stack of small, nested boxes" and in the socks the wrap stitches are supposed to resemble the stacks of the boxes. And in a way it does, just google "inro" and you'll see it too. Learning what "inro" is made these socks more special to me. Now they're more than just rows of purl stitches and some random wrap stitches. I think good design does that.

Showing off the cuffs

I think these were the least painful socks I have ever knitted, because I finally, miraculously, learned how to make a decent Dutch heel. My biggest problem in heel knitting was picking up the stitches along the heel flap. I just couldn't pick them without getting very loose and ugly stitches. But I tackled the problem. I tackled it. And now I can knit as many socks with Dutch heels as I want and it will be completely pain free. Yay.

Project info
Name: In(t)ro of East and West
Pattern: Inro by Judy Sumner
Made for: myself
Size: 38
Needle: US 2½ - 3.0 mm
Yarn: Novita Jussi 721 1.1 skeins

I knitted these socks with 3mm needles even though the pattern suggested 3.75mm. I have 3.5mm needles, but for some reason I always tend to choose needles that are like size smaller. Though it works for me, I usually end up with the right size with the smaller needles. These socks fit perfectly as well.

I'm currently knitting my second pair of socks from the book and the pattern is the same quality as the first one: very clear. There are some errors in the book though, but I printed the errata from the Internet soon after I got the book. I want to be prepared.

Finnish summary: Sain valmiiksi ensimmäiset sukat Knitted Socks East and West -sukkakirjasta ja opin vihdoinkin miten tehdään kunnollinen kantapää ilman reikiä ja löysiä silmukoita. Helpottaa sukkien kutomista jatkossa.

Gift from a fairy yarn mother and other skein stories

2011-01-17T21:17:00.001+02:00

I think I've never babbled much about yarn in my blog. It simply has not been my favorite subject due to the generic nature of the yarns I have used in my projects. Why babble about yarn that isn't going to make the reader to "ooh" and "aah". But recently I got a gift from a fairy yarn mother and it's making me "ooh" and "aah" for sure.

I asked J.R. to write about my new yarn because only he would have been able to describe the probably widest smile ever on my face when I opened the package containing a two most gorgeous skeins of yarn I have ever hold with my own hands. It would definitely have been a nice perspective, but unfortunately and expectedly he refused to. Anyway. I never thought that I could own something as pretty as these yarns:

Sock Pixie "Napoleon and Josephine" and Brooklyn Handspun "Bubble Yum"

You see, I'm not a rich knitter. At least not yet. I've seen these beautiful hand-dyed yarns all over the knitty internet, but they've always been way beyond my financial capabilities. But there I was, holding the yarns I thought I wouldn't be holding for years. And it felt magnificent. It felt like magic. It felt like a gift from a fairy yarn mother.

I got the yarn from Knittingknoobie.com's Susie. I volunteered to make her blog a new design for free since that's what I like to do... and to thank me she sent me the yarn. I couldn't have imagined a better way to thank a knitter. And I feel so special because I know that these hanks traveled a long way to me.

I still don't know what I'll do with the yarn, but one thing is positive: it is going to be something special and it's going to be something for me and only for me. I'm going to enjoy knitting them and I'm going to enjoy wearing the knitted item.

I also got some yarn from J.R.'s mother. Or technically she just bought them for me. We were visiting a yarn shop with her because J.R. is knitting a cardigan for her and she needed to choose the yarn and color. I was about to buy the yarn but then she said that she can buy them for me together with the cardigan yarn. And as I said: I'm not a rich girl so I let her buy me these two skeins:

Lana Grossa Meilenweit Solo Tono

I fell in love with this yarn almost instantly. It reminds me of Regia Hand-dye Effect but it's even better. It's supposed to be fingering, but I think it's more like light fingering. I don't mind though. I have already knitted one sock with the grey colorway and the shades look as good knitted as they looked in the skein.

Finnish summary: Suunnittelin uuden ulkoasun Susien blogille ja kiitokseksi sain kaksi kerää käsinvärjättyjä lankoja. Sen lisäksi sain vielä J.R:n äidiltä kaksi kerää Lana Grossa Meilenweit -lankaa, kun olimme yhdessä lankaostoksilla.

It's not over until I blog about it

2011-01-10T13:51:00.003+02:00

I hope it's not too late to blog about Christmas presents... because I got "Knitted Socks East and West" sock book, a skein of Malabrigo Lace and KnitPro 2.25mm DPNs from J.R.!

The book is actually from my wish list. I listed it because it contained so many sock patterns (28 out of 30!) that I actually wanted to knit. Usually pattern books only contain couple of patterns I would like to knit. Anyway. "Knitted Socks East and West" is very lovely. The patterns aren't too difficult but the socks look rather unique. The book also introduces some special Japanese stitches which I'm very eager to learn. I have already finished one Inro sock from the book and learned wrap, which according the book is something very typical in Japanese knitting.

I also finished a pair of mittens during Christmas holiday. My sister asked for warm mittens and I decided to knit her phenomenon mittens with short cuffs. I used considerably smaller needles that the pattern suggested, but they turned out in the correct size. My sister has small hands. Here's my sister's dog modeling the mittens:

Project info

Name: Woord's Mittens

Pattern: Phenomenon by Carine Ancel

Craft: Knitting

Made for my sister

Size: small

Needle: US 4 - 3.5 mm

Yarn: Novita Isoveli 794

Finnish summary: Joulupukki toi lahjaksi "Knitted Socks East and West" -sukkakirjan, kerällisen Malabrigo Lace -lankaa ja KnitPron sukkapuikot koossa 2.25mm. Joululomalla tuli myös neulottua siskolle tumput.

Sock to shawl

2010-12-29T00:10:00.001+02:00

The only reason why I decided to knit socks to my mother for Christmas was the presence of the Cookie A's Sock Innovation. Since I waited for the book for almost a year, I was definitely going to knit something from it! My mother doesn't even wear woolly socks, but she was the only person who was without a present at the time. So I carefully chose Kai-Mei sock pattern and casted on...

Lovely pattern, poor adaptation.

The pattern was great and I really loved to knit the lace section. The only problem was the yarn, or the mismatch of the yarn and the pattern. The pattern just didn't work with the yarn I chose. Though I didn't technically choose the yarn either. It was just a random purchase I had made some time earlier, and it happened to be the only suitable yarn in my stash when I decided to knit the socks.

After I finished the first sock I realized that it was bad. It did not fit, the stitches were too loose, the yarn hid the lace... I had no other option that to frog the whole thing. I also realized that changing the pattern would not fix the problem. It was the yarn. The yarn didn't want to be socks, socks that were very likely to be unused.

I browsed Ravelry projects to get some fresh ideas, and soon I fell in love with a Haruni shawl made with my sock reluctant yarn. And it seems that Haruni and Regia Hand-Dye Effect are match made in heaven. The soft and natural color transitions really work with the lace, not against it like in my previous shawls. It also made me fall in love with the yarn. I want more of it!

Showing off some colors, unrealistically of course.

I was slightly intimidated when I first started to work with this yarn. Ravelry describes it as a "splitting hell" and apparently it was supposed to tangle really easily. There's also a thin black thread in the yarn which was supposed to cause lots of problems... but I had no problems with this yarn. It knitted nicely, didn't get tangles and it wasn't splitty either. I have absolutely no complaints. I wonder why all the others were so frustrated with this yarn? It can't be the needles alone, because I knitted this with aluminum DPN's, ebony DPN's and Addi Lace circulars.

Showing off colors, this time more realistically.

The only reason why I wanted to save this project to a separate post was the possibility to show off more puppy cuteness. Papu is my trusted model, though sometimes people complain that I'm making her to do it against her will. So not true. She likes to get wrapped in warm things and I don't have to force her to stay still. She's just a natural model.

Random Niila cuteness

And I'm pretty pleased with this Haruni shawl too. This was my second one, and this one doesn't hurt my eyes like the previous one ! I could wear this myself as well. I don't know if my mother is going to wear it, she's not into knitted shawls. I'm not sure if she's into knitted anything, really. It doesn't keep me from knitting her stuff, though.

My lovely girls chilling.

I made the shawl smaller than the pattern suggested because I didn't want to run out of yarn. And I did have limited time to knit it as well. Naturally I wanted to be able to finish the shawl before Christmas, which I did, by the way. And it felt really good to knit a shawl again! There's something magical in shawl knitting. It just makes me happy, happier than any other knitting project.

Papu is a beauty, isn't she? I hope that one day Niila learns how to model too. Right now she's just too eager. She wouldn't say still for a second. And she would probably try to eat whatever I'd make her to wear. Uh-oh.

Finnish Summary: Regia Hand-Dye Effect ei halunnut taipua sukiksi, joten tein langasta sen sijaan Haruni-huivin. Huivista tuli tosi hyvä ja langastakin tuli sen jälkeen uusi suosikkini.

The only thing I knitted for Christmas

2010-12-26T10:47:00.001+02:00

I haven't blogged in ages. In about two months to be precise. Main reason is that I haven't had anything to blog about. I've been knitting the Christmas present for my dad, so I haven't finished anything and I didn't have any babblish to blog about, unlike Amoena.

Anyway. When I saw the pattern pictures of Henry by Mareike Sattler , I really wanted to make one. I was a bit intimidated by the comments that it'll take forever to finish it, but I decided to knit it for Christmas anyway. At first the project progressed well. But then I guess I just lost interest. Mostly because of the repetitiveness of the pattern: one line had 452 stitches where you repeat the 4 stitch pattern over and over and over again, on every single row. It became boring quite quickly. I probably hadn't finished it yet if it hadn't been for Christmas.

And in the end I didn't have enough time. Well I did have enough time, I just didn't put enough effort into it. But it looked quite ok after binding off. I did that on the evening of 23rd so didn't really have any time to make it any bigger. It looked even better after wetting and blocking it a bit wider. But after my dad put it on, I saw that it should have been even wider and a bit longer. Length is something that I couldn't have done anything about, but if I hadn't gotten so bored with it and had knitted more often, it would have been better. If this and if that...

I hate giving presents I'm not happy with. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I just want to be happy with it. It just sucks so much to see that after countless of hours of work and effort I put into it, it still wasn't good enough. For me at least. My dad was happy with it and said that it's just fine. It's what's most important, but I know that it could have been better. Just if I had set aside that it's boring as hell and just knitted. But what's done is done. I don't have any interest of unraveling the bind off row and knitting more either. I've had enough. I'll just try to learn from my mistakes and knit something less laborious next year.

Finnish summary: Tein joululahjaksi Henry-kaulahuivin isälle, mutta siitä tuli liian kapea ja ehkä liian lyhytkin. Olisi pitänyt neuloa sitä ahkerammin, mutta sen neulominen oli vain ihan liian tylsää.

Things I knitted for Christmas

2010-12-25T16:06:00.005+02:00

Time to reveal some knitted Christmas presents! Like I've said in my previous posts, I knitted most of the Christmas gifts for my family, but I didn't want to blog about them before Christmas because I was worried to spoil the surprise. I still don't know who reads my blog and who don't.

I knitted Wurm hat for my uncle. He complained that it's too thin and therefor not too warm. In Finland hats are supposed to be like 100% wool and like super warm, and other kind of hats just won't do. I wouldn't mind a nice comfortable autumn hat though, like the one I knitted for my uncle.

Uncle Euno's worms

For my aunt I knitted a Lyon ear flap hat . I changed the buttons right before Christmas though. The original buttons were way too small. Though the hat is quite small too, it could have been slightly larger. For some reason my aunt likes to tie the ribbons under her chin...

I can use my pom pom maker for t his!

My oldest big sister got a cowl and a pair of matching mittlets . I had to mend the cowl pattern quite a it in order to get it perfect. I improvised the matching mittlets and I was so happy with them that I wrote a free Ravelry pattern for them.

I hope these stripes keep my sister warm too

Stripey Arms

For my younger big sister I knitted Ashley hat . It was the first gift I knitted and the reason why I decided to knit all the Christmas presents this year. I really liked the hat, and it seemed that my sister liked it too. She put in in her head after she unwrapped it and wore it for a very long time. Today she said to me that her friend liked the hat too and wished to have one as well. I'm not going to knit another one though, not even for money. I have knitted enough hats now.

You better like it or I hate you and give you nothing next year

There's still one knitted gift left, but I'm going to save it for later. It's worth a full post.

Finnish summary: Neulottuja joululahjoja ei tarvitse enää piilotella: enolle tein Wurm-pipon, tädille Lyon-korvaläppämyssyn, vanhimmalle isosiskolle raidalliset hartioiden ja käsien lämmittimen ja nuorimmalle isosiskolle Ashley-pipon. Yksi joululahja on vielä esittelemättä, mutta sen säästän seuraavaan postaukseen.

Beware, there are crazy people at Ravelry too

2010-12-13T08:51:00.002+02:00

An unbelievable thing happened to me during the weekend. I found out that a person in Ravelry was using my copyrighted pattern picture as her only wip project picture, and the project page had no notes claiming that she’s not the owner of the picture. Instead the copyright text under the picture said that she had the copyright. She also had many other copyrighted pictures in her other projects, without any additional notes as well. So I contacted the person firmly, but still very professionally, to inform her that she has infringed my copyright and that I expect her to remove the picture as soon as possible. However, I did not know that I had contacted some kind of a crazy person.

She replied to my message pretty much blaming me for not telling that I don’t want people do use my picture and that she was using them for some Ravelry group thing. The tone was really aggressive. She even said that she’s going to tell everyone that they shouldn’t bother to knit my design. I ignored the latter and kindly explained to her that copyright in fact means that people can’t use my pictures without permission and I don’t have to state that separately, and that it doesn’t matter in which context she wants to use them. They’re still my pictures and I have the rights.

And then I decided to check out what Ravelry group thing she was talking about. I thought I should warn the starter of the group thing or the moderators of that group that there’s a thing advising people to use copyrighted pictures without permission. I did not found a thing asking people to use copyrighted picture, but I found out that the very same person I contacted to, was trash talking about me in the forum.

In her forum post she claimed that I had contacted her in a “very, very rude way”. J.R. has seen all the messages I sent to her and all the messages she sent to me, and he agrees with me: the only one with rude messages was her. She also lied: she said that there was a capitalized text in the project page that said “I am not the owner of this picture but the designer” or something like that. It was an utter lie. I checked the project page carefully before contacting her. J.R. saw the project page too and he does not remember such text to exist either. I wouldn’t have mind her post so much... but she was pointing me out and making me look like an awful person.

So when I left a message in the forum to ask them to stop trash talking about me, she witched to other forum and used even nastier language there. She even said that she had reported me to Ravelry. For what? Asking her to stop using my copyrighted picture? And at that point I decided that she must be crazy. I just couldn’t come up with any other explanation. Why would anyone sane do that kind of thing? What did she benefit from doing that? You can only imagine how furious I was. I had done nothing bad to her and yet she kept on trash talking about me.

I am so disappointed with what happened that I’m reconsidering if I really want to share my patterns in Ravelry in the future. I didn’t share my patterns to be come a “designer” or to be seen as one, I shared my patterns because I loved Ravelry. I thought it was my way to thank all those wonderful people in the Ravelry whose free patterns I had used. But why share if that’s what you get? People exploit your hard work, trash talk about you, lie to make you look bad... I really don’t need any of that. I don't deserve any of that.

How many options do we need?

2010-12-02T09:22:00.001+02:00

I finally got my hands on Cookie A’s Sock Innovation ! I read about the book from Ravelry and I got curious because all the comments were so praising. It seemed like the bible of sock knitting. So of course I wanted to read it too! Since I’m not really into buying knitting books (thanks to Ravelry) I thought I could just go and borrow it from the library. What I didn’t think of was the popularity of the book. There’s only three copies of Sock Innovation in our metropolitan library and they were all borrowed at the moment. So I made a reservation so I could get it next. Too bad there was like 18 people before me thinking about the same thing. Each person can have the book for a month... so you can guess that it was a really long wait.

But eventually I got it, and I only had to wait it like... for a year. They should seriously get more copies, since waiting a year for one sock book is completely insane. The wait was worth it though.

I was surprised by the “how to design your own socks” section of the book. I expected it only to have sock patterns so I was really pleased by the technical content. There’s just one problem... Now I kinda want to own the book so I could go back to it when I want to design my own socks, which is not right now since I’m busy with the Christmas presents. I don’t want to wait it for another year! By the way, they’ve just published the book in Finnish, but according to Ravelry it was a really shitty translation and the publisher decided to pull it back from the market and to give a new copy to everyone who purchased the first edition. Finnish quality indeed.

The patterns in the book were pretty, and I really liked the complexity of them. I already casted on Kai-Mei , though I already had to modify the pattern due to resizing. The pattern calls for 2.25mm DPN’s but such things don’t even exist in Finland. I used 2.5mm DPN’s instead but the sock turned out way too big. I could have switched to 2mm, which would probably have been perfect, we just don’t happen to have that size yet. Uh-oh.

I don’t get the x.25 mm and x.75 mm sizes though. We only have x mm and x.5 mm here. Are they really necessary? We’ve been fine with what we got, but it bothers me sometimes when I see those sizes in patterns. I feel like we are missing something. I guess we could order some online, but do we really need that many size options?

Christmas dilemmas

2010-11-23T20:03:00.000+02:00

I have finished several knitted Christmas presents during this month, but because my family might visit our blog I can't show them here. I wonder how other knit bloggers survive through Christmas? I find it really hard to write a knitting blog without any actual knitted content to show! Am I supposed to just babble like this? Without any pretty pictures? J.R. is so not helping this situation either; he's currently knitting a sweater for himself and a scarf, and he's not going to finish them any time soon. Uh-oh.

By the way, I have decided to knit all the Christmas presents this year, and so far things are looking pretty good! I just need to figure out what to knit for my parents. I feel that they don't need any knitted accessories and I'm having a hard time figuring out what else is there that I could finish before Christmas. And I don't consider "dishcloths" as a realistic answer in this case.

I don't know though was it wise to decide to knit everything... I just thought it might be appropriate since and a knitter and so on. They probably expect something like that from me now that I have knitted for couple of years and became more experienced. It's just that my family doesn't really seem to appreciate knitted items as much as I would like them to. They understand that it takes time and skills to knit things, but they don't probably understand how much effort it takes to choose what to knit for everyone. It's a bigger job than to go to a store and pick something ready from the shelf, at least for me. But let's just see how this works out. Maybe next year I give them nothing but chocolate?

Advice for the new knitter

2010-11-16T09:44:00.001+02:00

My friend Tien has been interested in knitting and crocheting lately, and of course I have done my best to encourage her. Knitting is a wonderful hobby and I could not imagine my life without it anymore and I’m sure that she would love it too. She’s not going to get active though before the school ends this fall, but I have already educated her about Raverly, needles, yarn and pretty much everything else knitting related. I’m just eager to share my world with her. Anyway. I started to think about things I wish someone had told me when I was starting out... so I could tell these things to Tien!

So here’s my advice for the new knitter:

Learn to knit in English. It’s easier to find help, for example how-to videos and photo-tutorials, if you know the knitting terminology in English. And when you’re just starting out you’re going to need help. And even though almost all the women in Finland know how to knit and purl, and probably how to decrease and increase too, there’s so much more in knitting and the information is usually available in English only. It’s better to learn it first in English and then in Finnish when you need it. However, you should probably not end up like me: I still can’t understand Finnish knitting patterns!

Get a reference book. I bet that there are people who disagree with me in this, but I think it’s wise to get a book that contains all the basic knitting stuff. I recommend Stitch ’n Bitch since it has worked for us and it’s not expensive either if you do a price research at first. Sometimes you just don’t bother to google or you just want to do things easily on your own couch. Book becomes especially handy when you’re learning to make seams. Anyway. If I would have known then what I know now, I would have gotten the book in English. It would have been do much easier!

Get familiar with Ravelry . Ravelry is like a bible to knitters and crocheters and the sooner you get in to it, the more you’re going to get out from your new hobby. It’s guaranteed. Ravelry is basically the source of all knitting and crocheting inspiration. Without Ravelry you would be alone in the universe so show it respect. Learn how to search for yarn and pattern information, find some groups to follow. Favorite things. Everything might be confusing at first, but just do it.

Start cheap, but be alert. I think it’s totally OK to buy cheap needles at first, and cheap yarn too. You probably don’t want to invest too much to a hobby you’re not completely sure of. But be aware that you might get passionate about it one day. And when that day comes, you’re not going to like that all you’re needles are crappy and that every inch of your house is covered with acrylic yarn. So it’s better to get just a couple of needles first. Don’t get straight ones before you have tried to knit everything with circulars. You don’t need straight needles for anything really. So get like one set of 3.5mm DPNs and one 4mm circular needle and try to deal with them until you’re sure that your new knitting hobby is going to last. And get better equipment and yarn as you progress.

Socks don’t make great first projects. They look so harmless, but if you’re just starting out, you don’t need that frustration that comes from the French heel. It would probably kill all the joy and enthusiasm you have for knitting. Hats and mittens, on the other hand, make great first projects. It would be rather difficult to mess with a hat the same way you could mess with a French heel.

Experiment. You’re likely to get bored if you stick with just one level, so don’t be afraid to step on the next level even though you might feel that you’re not ready yet. Knitting is easy, really. Even the most complex looking lace could be made of just increasing and decreasing stitches and throwing some simple yarnovers along the way. And cables are just stitches reorganized on the needle. The more you achieve, the more you’re going to like it.

Get yourself a knitting mentor. Like me or J.R. for example. It’s usually easier to learn if someone shows you first what to do, and easier to get help if you can show the work to someone. However, it’s not always possible to get a knitting buddy, so you can substitute that with the generous community of Ravelry.

Is there something you wish that someone had told you when you started out? Or anything you would like to disagree with? Now it would be a perfect time to share.

Preparing for blizzards

2010-10-22T19:31:00.000+03:00

It's been getting colder and colder, and last week when it got close to zero degrees and Niila started shivering we decided that she really needs a sweater. Since Niila's still very small, I doubted that any pattern would fit so I decided to just knit and watch some directions from patterns if I run into problems

Project info
Name: Niila's first sweater
Craft: Knitting
Made for Niila

Needles: 3.5mm double pointed needles
Yarns: Novita 7 Veljestä in light grey & DROPS Alpaca in grey-green mix (7323)

I have been using Alpaca-yarns quite a lot lately, and I've really liked those. And since those are even warmer than wool I of course wanted to use those for Niilas sweater too. I had some leftover skeins from Pullover of eternity so I chose the grey-green mix and used it double stranded with 7 Veljestä.

I compared Niila to one of my socks to get some idea of the amount of stitches I need. I also wanted the neck to be high so I knitted the rib for quite a bit, but as you can see from the pic, it didn't turn out to be that high after all. Anyways, I just knitted, tried it on Niila, and if it didn't fit as I wanted, I unraveled and tried again. In the end the whole project was quite painless; I only had few small problems with the legs.

Isn't she pretty sporting around in her new sweater?

It turned out to be slightly too long for Niila. As you can see in the picture, it curls at the end because it goes a bit too close to her legs. Niila's still a growing puppy, but I'm not quite sure whether she's going to grow that much in length. So I might have to make the edge again if it curls too much. But we'll see.

Prancing around the hoods with a new cool sweater

2010-10-19T22:15:00.001+03:00

I finally knitted my first dog sweater, and I have to say that it was about the time! When we got Papu I planned to knit her many sweaters, but somehow I got busy knitting everything else and never knitter her any... But what kind of knitter would I be if I wouldn't even manage to knit sweaters for my precious pups? A very lousy one, indeed.

But now this has been fixed. Papu can now sport around in her petrol blue doggie sweater. Elina , my number one knitting buddy, chose the pattern. We were supposed to knit the sweaters at the same time, but I was lazy and started my sweater when Elina had already knitted the body part. Surprising? Not really.

Project info
Name: Prancing around the hoods
Pattern: Hoodie Dog Coat by Bernat Design Studio
Craft: Knitting
Made for Papu
Size: M

Needles: 4.0 mm circular and 3.5 mm DPNs
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä
Colorway: 191 blue

The pattern originally included a hood, but I decided to omit it. I liked the idea, but the hood part of the pattern was confusing me. I couldn't picture it in my head so I thought it might be better to play safe than to knit something that only slightly resembles a hoodie.

I found the rest of the pattern quite confusing too, but I guess it was just written in a way that I wasn't familiar with. The sweater itself wasn't difficult to knit because the construction is quite simple. It's just one flat piece with two holes in it and some shaping decreases in the end. I wonder how the pattern was able to make it sound way more complicated? Anyway.

Papu is actually shivering from cold in this picture...

I'm very pleased with this project as it was my first attempt to knit a dog sweater. I had no idea would the sweater actually fit Papu's body type... but it did quite closely. Even the leg openings are quite perfectly positioned. And what is most important: Papu seems to feel comfortable when she wears it. She doesn't mind it at all. Though one time I found her laying on the kitchen floor one leg stuck inside the sweater. She just laid there looking sad until I saved her. Fortunately she wasn't trapped for a long time, just couple of minutes I guess.

She looks happy and pleased, doesn't she?

I'm currently knitting a second dog sweater with the same pattern, but I'm making some modifications to it. The collar is going to be ribbed and much higher so it would be very warm, and I'm also increasing the length of the middle part. I want to cover as much of her tummy as possible. I hope it turns out better than the first one!

Finnish summary: Tuli vihdoinkin neulottua ensimmäinen koiran villapaita. Silloin kun Papu tuli, niin suunnittelin kutovani sille vaikka mitä, mutta sitten kudoinkin pelkästään muita juttuja. Ja millainen neuloja olisin jos en omalle koiralleni saisi yhtä paitaa neulottua? Aika surkea!

Nyt Pavulla kuitenkin on paita. Suunnittelin neulovani kyseisen paidan Elinan kanssa samaan aikaan, mutta Elina ehtikin kutoa sitten oman paitansa paljon aikaisemmin. Ei kyllä varsinaisesti yllätänyt. Ohjeessa oli alunperin huppukin, mutta en ymmärtänyt miten se olisi pitänyt neuloa. Ohje oli muutenkin tosi epäselvä ottaen huomioon kuinka yksinkertainen koko paita sitten loppujen lopuksi oli. Lopputulokseenkin olen ihan tyytyväinen. Osui tosi lähelle sopivaa heti ensimmäisellä kerralla. Papukin tuntuu tykkäävän siitä.

For your dwarf head, my friend!

2010-10-04T21:55:00.011+03:00

If you're a knitter, I think it's kinda obligatory to knit small items for the people you like when they have their birthday. So when my friend had her birthday last week, I knitted her a beret. Last year I knitted her a pair of lovely cupcake mittlets, so this year it was time for something else than hand wear. I'm not sure if she's a hat person, because I don't remember if I've ever seen a hat on her head... but it's the though that counts. Right?

The thought counts even when you knit the beret with quite horrible plastic mohair yarn. It counts even when you've just blasted the yarn to her the previous week. The thought counts pretty far, you see. But I just had two skeins of that shitty yarn and I wanted to use it quickly for something pretty. I tried to use it for a scarf design of my own, but it just didn't work out.

The beret pattern called for 8mm needles, but 8mm sounds huge to me. They sound like something you're supposed to slay vampires with. Besides, our thickest needles are 5.5mm and they're circular. I've heard about magic looping, but I wasn't really into mood for learning something new when I knitted this hat so I used 4mm DPNs instead. I also used two different colors stranded together and I really like the way they blended together:

Project info
Name: For your dwarf head, my friend!
Pattern: Star Crossed Slouchy Beret
by Natalie Larson
Craft: Knitting
Made for a friend
Size: small

Needle 3.5mm DNP
Yarn: Novita Rose Mohair
Colorway: 795 red purple & 798 purple

Because of the thinner needles, I had to alter the pattern slightly. I started with 81 stitches instead of 72, and I thought that I added enough extra stitches, but alas the beret turned out pretty small. I didn't worry much about that though. I knew my friend would have smaller head than I do (that's why the project is called "For your dwarf head, my friend!"). I also added one cable chart repeat to make the beret slouchier, but I think I should have added two; It turned out more like a hat and less like a beret.

At least my friend looked pretty happy when she got her gift... Or maybe it had something to do with the nice package and chocolate treats?

Finnish summary: Neulojalle on aika pakollista aina silloin tällöin neuloa pienia lahjoja myös ystäville. Kaverillani oli synttärit ja neuloin hänelle lahjaksi pipon. En ole koskaan nähnyt kyseisellä kaverillani pipoa, mutta ajatushan se on aina tärkein. Neuloin jo viime vuonna hänelle tumput. Jouduin hiukan säätämään ohjetta, koska minulla ei ollut tarpeeksi paksuja puikkoja, ja lankakin taisi olla vähän eri paksuista kuin ohje olisi vaatinut. Säätämisestä huolimatta piposta tuli aika lailla tiukempi kuin oli tarkoitus, mutta onneksi kaverilla on ainakin pienempi pää kuin minulla. Ehkä se sopii.

FO overview

2010-09-28T23:13:00.000+03:00

It's been embarrassing long since my last post and I've finished many projects since then. I can't really write about the progress of those anymore, so I thought I'll just make a short overview so that my posts are up-to-date with Ravelry again.

So here we go:

Project info:
Name: Pullover of eternity
Pattern: Knitted jumper with short raglan sleeves and Norwegian pattern by DROPS Design
Craft: Knitting
Made for: Amoena
Size: S

Needles: 3.0mm (US 2½) & 2.5mm (US 1½)
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Alpaca
Colorways: Green/Turquoise mix (7815), Grey/Green mix (7323), Light green (7120)

I knitted this one while I was still in the woods studying. When I started knitting this, I thought it would take quite a lot of time (hence the project name), after all I was using smallish needles and fingering weight yarn and hadn't really done any complex intarsia before. But I somehow managed to finish this in two weeks. I guess I just had too much free time.

Project info:
Name: Happy 60th Anniversary, Grandma!
Pattern: EZ 100th Anniversary PI Shawl: Camping by Mwaa Knit
Craft: Knitting
Made for: Grandma

Needles: 3.5mm (US 4) & 3.0mm (US 2½)
Yarn: Pirta Ahkeraliisa in Natural (10)

When I saw the pattern, I just wanted to make one. We even had the yarn so I didn't even think what to do with the finished project before casting on. I knew it was going to be big, and I also knew that we didn't have any need for a shawl/tablecloth like this. At first I was going to just give it to my mother, but then she told that my grandparents are having their 60th anniversary soon so I decided to give it to them. My grandma is also a knitter, though she mainly just knits socks, so I hope she likes this. At least I think it looks great!

Project info:
Name: Reading mitts
Pattern: Susie's Reading Mitts by Janelle Masters
Craft: Knitting
Made for: A friend

Needles: 2.5mm (US 1½)
Yarn: Novita Luxus Alpaca in Grey

I also finished a pair of mittlets. A friend of mine had her birthday and I wanted to knit something for her. I knitted her socks last year so this year I wanted to knit something to warm her hands. I decided to use Susie's Reading Mitts -pattern by Janelle Masters. They were simply the prettiest I found on Ravelry. The smallest size was too big so I casted on 36sts and decreased to 30sts. Fast knit and looks wonderful. My friend also seemed to like these.

Finnish summary: Projekteja saatu valmiiksi vaikka millä mitalla enkä syystä tai toisesta ole saanut kirjoitettua niistä ajallaan, joten postataan kaikki kerralla niin päästään taas ajan tasalle. Villapaidan sain kudottua yllättävänkin nopeasti, ainoastaan pari viikkoa meni. Tosin silloin olin vielä metsän keskellä opiskelujen takia, jossa ilmeisesti oli paljon ylimääräistä aikaa. Huivin, tai ennemminkin pöytäliinan, päätin tehdä, vaikken tiennyt mitä sillä tekisin. Onneksi sain selville, että isovanhemmillani on timanttihääpäivä tulossa, joten päätin antaa sen heille. Lisäksi tein kaverille kämmekkäät syntymäpäivälahjaksi. Helppo ja nopea projekti ja lopputuloskin on upea.

Crochet foot stool cover

2010-09-10T22:30:00.000+03:00

In case you didn't know, our living room is fairly small. It's not really a problem, but because of the size we can't have a coffee table. And that's a problem because we like to drink tea while we knit or watch TV on the sofa. There's a small table in one end of the sofa, but there's nothing in the other end. So only one have a nice place for the tea mug and the other one have to hold the mug in the hand until the tea is finished. Before it was possible to lay the mug down but since we now have a puppy running around the house, it's not a smart idea to put hot beverages on the floor. Yes. This is a short story made too long.

But then I started to think that my mother has a foot stool she doesn't need. Or technically it was my foot stool but she thought it wasn't. Anyway. I asked her if I can take it back to my home since it's mine, and she was like "I was just going to throw it away". So I saved it pretty much on the last minute. The plan was to cover the ugly food stool and get a nice large tray and use the foot stool as a
coffee table when needed.

So here's what I started with:

As you can see, it was pretty ugly. We don't like leather furnitures, it looked too much like 80's and it didn't really match our "interior decor" either. So we had to figure out something. And that something was a crocheted cover :

Project info
Name: Crochet stool cover
Craft: Crochet

Hook: 4.0 mm (G)
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä 2.5 skeins
Colorways: 099 Black & 276 Orange

The cover didn't turn out as fancy as I imagined, but it's still better than that leather ugliness. And it matched our decor way better. I was going to make a lime green circle too, but unfortunately we didn't have green yarn in our stash and I didn't bother to buy 150 grams of yarn just for one circle. Anyway. We are still pretty pleased with the outcome, and we both like to use it too - as a foot stool since we still don't have a tray for the mugs.

And there might be one problem once we get the tray: the dogs have already taken over it. They think it's wonderful and Niila likes to use it as a step when she wants on the sofa quicker.

Finnish summary: Pieneen olohuoneesemme ei mahdu sohvapöytää, joten ajattelimme, että nahkainen rahi voisi toimia sellaisen sijaisena. Tarjotin vain päälle niin meillä on joku paikka mihin laskea teemukit silloin kun istumme sohvalla. Rahissa oli vain se ongelma, että se oli melkoisen ruma eikä muutenkaan sopinut olohuoneemme "sisustukseen"... joten virkkasin sille villalangasta uuden päällyksen. Lopputulos oli melko kiva, mutta toistaiseksi koirat ovat omineet sen itselleen...

Welcome home new puppy!

2010-08-19T23:34:00.031+03:00

We got a new puppy about a week ago. Her name is Niila and she's a miniature pinscher too. When we got Papu, I crocheted her a hexagon blanket . It turned out really nice and Papu seems to still like it. And it's been a great help when we have been traveling. She'll always have something familiar with her, no matter where we go. So of course I crocheted a blanket for Niila too!

First I thought about crocheting a completely different kind of blanket for Niila to enhance the difference of the dogs. Papu is black&tan and Niila is brown, Papu is very timid and Niila is everything but. But no matter how hard I tried to find a nice pattern for a crochet blanket, I couldn't find one nicer than Lucy's hexagon pattern . So I just decided to crochet another hexagon blanket, this time with different colors though.

Project info

Name: Welcome home new puppy

Pattern: Hexagon How-To by Lucy of Attic24

Craft: Crochet

Made for: the new puppy!

Size: 45 hexagons

Hook: 4.0 mm (G)

Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä

I'm not particularly pleased with the colors I chose, but at least the colors go together quite nicely. And Niila seems to like her blanket too. She has already tested that it's suitable for sleeping and playing. And naturally the little monster has already peed on it. Luckily it's totally washable.

So welcome home new puppy!

Miles to go before I sleep

2010-08-01T02:07:00.001+03:00

I started to knit this Percy shawl because I missed J.R. I needed something to do while he was away for the weeks. I only had this yarn I bought from Viiala and this pattern I had printed out months earlier... I didn't know how they'd match, but I decided to give it a try anyway.

Project info

Name: Miles to go before I sleep

Pattern: Percy Shawl by Sanne Kalkman

Needle: US 6 - 4.0 mm

Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Fabel

Colorway: 677

I learned an important lesson while knitting this shawl: you should always read the whole pattern first. The biggest portion of the shawl was charted both right sides and wrong sides. And both sides had yarn overs and decreases and the pattern repeats were quite long. Uh-oh. I like to knit lace, even when it's complicated, but I need my all-purl-rows too. They give a nice break and a sense of fast progress. Knitting this shawl felt more like a chore because the lack of them.

But I managed to knit nice nupps this time! I knitted nupps in the Echo Flower shawl (currently hibernating) too, but they always turned out a bit wonky and I didn't like them at all. In this shawl I like them a lot. I think they look like they're supposed to and they are my favorite thing in this shawl:

Showing off nupps

I'm also deeply in love with this colorway. It just works for me, even after knitting. The colorway also reminds me of the poem called "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost. The poem mentions dark green woods, frozen lakes and snow and in my head all those things are strongly associated with the colors of this yarn. That's why I named this shawl "Miles to go before I sleep". I think the name is also suitable because I don't sleep well without J.R. I got miles of yarn to knit before I can sleep well again.

Granma Papu approves

I think I should be done with shawls now. I've knitted four this year and J.R. knitted one for me, but I also gave one away... So in total I have four knitted shawls and I probably wear them very, very rarely. There should be no demand for more. I just need to get them out of my head.

Jussi for Papu

2010-07-19T23:05:00.001+03:00

In Finland we have this thing called Jussi-paita. It's basically a sweater with grey-red pattern with diamonds, and I think about everybody recognizes it. It's been one of the most popular patterns throughout Finland's independence or something. According to this page (in Finnish, but you can see the pattern there) it rose to popularity in 1920s after Pohjalaisia-movie where character called Jussi wore it, and one story tells that it was actually designed for that character. The pattern has been probably imported to about everything, and Katri Vesikko has also made a dog's version of it. After Amoena told me about it, I sure wanted to make one.

We have quite a bit of Novita's 7 Veljestä so I decided to use it instead of Nalle. 7 Veljestä is slightly thicker, but I didn't think that the difference would be too serious so I just knitted as the pattern said. Well, unfortunately Papu is smaller than Katri's small dog or I just knitted too loose, but on the first try it was way too big. So I tried again casting on 50 stitches. I also didn't increase as much as the pattern suggested, but 10sts at first and 7 increase rows after that. I left 14 stitches for the belly-part and repeated the diamond-pattern 7 times. And this time it fitted much better.

Since Papu's a girl, I didn't do any decreases or back-flaps at the end but just made a straight border with 1k1p ribbing.

Project info
Name: Jussi for Papu
Pattern: Koiran Jussi-paita by Katri Vesikko

Craft: Knitting
Made for: Papu

Needle: US 7 - 3.5 mm
Yarn: Novita 7-Veljestä
Colorways: 587 + 060

I also made small sleeves, since according to Amoena it's not a sweater if it doesn't have sleeves. Also the belly-part should have been a bit wider than 14 stitches but the sleeves fixed it. The red looks great on Papu's dark coat, and she also seems to like it, though at the moment it's a bit too hot to wear any woolen sweaters. But at least she's prepared for the winter.

Lacy Bolero

2010-07-01T21:22:00.000+03:00

About two months ago I saw a cute bolero/vest thingy at school. As I said in my earlier post, it was lacy and knitted with not-so-furry mohair. It looked great, so I decided to knit something similar. I took few notes (on the back of my lecture sheets, I didn't pay much attention to the lecture after noticing it) and decided to give it a try.

I really liked how the bolero looked in white with black shirt under it. But since I was making it for Amoena, of course, and she's not a big fan of white, we decided to make it in turquoise instead. In the end I chose to use Sandnes Garn's Kitten Mohair, which was just what I wanted: not too furry, soft like kitten and the weight was about perfect.

At first I estimated the amount of stitches with measurements and what the yarn's banderole said the gauge should be. I casted on like 136 stitches or something, decreased about 10 stitches during the ribbing and started with the lace-part. The whole bolero is made in one piece, about like the Shawl Collar Vest, just with small extensions for sleeves, so I couldn't really fit it before it was finished. Even though I did think during knitting it that it looks way too big for Amoena, I decided to finish it. Well, as I thought, it was WAY too big. Like size hippo or something. It didn't look small and cute and stuff as I wanted it to.

The bolero has k1p1 ribbing but otherwise it's completely lace.

I thought that if I took away four repeats of the lace pattern, it should fit much better. So I frogged it and tried again with 100 stitches to begin with, decreasing 10 stitches during the ribbing and repeating the lace for 9 times. And this time it was just right.

Project info
Name: Lacy bolero
Craft: Knitting
Made for: Amoena, of course

Needle: US 7 - 4.5 mm
Yarn:Sandnes Garn Kitten Mohair
Colorway: 6755

The "original" had a button, but I decided to use a hook. I used some very small hooks so if Amoena uses the bolero open, you can't really see them.

I'm very happy how the whole bolero turned out in the end. And it only took about 2 skeins of Kitten. I hope that Amoena likes it as much as I do.

Finnish summary: Näin pari kuukautta sitten nätin mohairista tehdyn pitsisen liivin/boleron koulussa ja päätin yrittää tehdä samankaltaista. Käytin Sandnes Garnin Kitten Mohairia, joka on juuri sellaista millaista halusin langan olevan: pehmoista, ei liian pörröistä ja sopivan paksua. Ensimmäisellä yrittämällä bolerosta tuli aivan liian iso, mutta sain sentään mitattua vähennettävien silmukoiden määrän. Toisella yrittämällä vähensin 36 silmukkaa ja tällä kertaa siitä tuli juuri sopiva. "Alkuperäisessä" oli nappi, mutta päätin käyttää sen sijaan pientä hakasta, joka olisi mahdollisimman huomaamaton, jos boleroa käyttää avonaisena.

Tagged

2010-06-24T19:51:00.000+03:00

I was tagged by Amoena on her personal blog so now I really have to post. It's about a time already, so let's get started:

1- What’s your staple meal (ie. what meal do you cook most often when you can’t be bothered to be adventurous) ?

Pasta bolognese. It's just really simple, easy to make and good.

2- What do you want to be when you grow up?

I still got like four years to study so I haven't made any decisions yet. But forest insurance agent is something I consider as an option. Doesn't that sound exciting? Almost like superhero.

3- What book are you reading at the moment (if any)

Currently none. Next up most likely Silva Carelica 40: Forest Mensuration and Mapping. My summer studies (or mandatory unpaid work) start next Monday so I'll be spending my time in the middle of forest reading about forests.

4- How do you relax?

Cup of tea, knitting and TV, whether there is anything interesting on or not.

5- What color are the interior walls of your home?

Well, like Amoena said, we don't own our apartment so all the walls are white. Though we have so much stuff covering the walls, especially in the living room, so I don't mind them being white at all.

6- What is your guiltiest pleasure?

Sweet buns. Definitely. Especially cinnamon rolls, or the ones with butter and sugar in the middle, which we call "butter eye buns" here in Finland. Buns are about the only thing I crave every now and then.

7- What time is bedtime and getting up time?

We are on vacation, but I think our bedtime is a bit too late, maybe about 1am, depending what's on TV. Sometimes even later. Usually I try to get up, and stay up, at 9am on Papu's feeding time. Unlike Amoena, I don't like to sleep for too long, because I just feel more tired that way.

8- How long do you spend reading blogs (per day or per week)?

I only read a couple of blogs so the amount of time should be measured per month. And it still wouldn't be too many hours.
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Yes, yes, honey. I will post about that bolero, aka lacy vest. Sometime soon. I think. I hope. Since like everybody I know have already been tagged, I'm not going to tag anyone. Like usually.