Peppermint Winter

Owl City has made this beautiful song called Peppermint Winter. This is also what I came to think about when I made these wrist warmers with their polkagris edging.

 These are for my lovely and beautiful daughter-in-law who had her birthday yesterday. I don't think she reads this blog, so I take my chances and post this already before she gets them.
 
 The yarn is grey Drops Andes and it comes in 100 g balls, so one is enough for this little one day project. The edges are made from scraps of Drops Lima, red and white.
 
 I also made a little star as a bonus.
 

/Maia

Taste of Peppermint by Tingestar:

CO= cast on; K = knit; P = purl
Increases: KNL = knit left loop; KRL = knit right loop (see wonderfully smart video from Knittinghelp.com here)

CO 20 stitches with the grey Drops Andes on a round needle or sock needles. Knit in the round.
12 rounds: K.
6 rounds: K2 P2, repeat
12 rounds: K

Increases for the thumb:
Round 1: K12 KNL KRL K12
Round 2: K12 KNL K2 KRL K12
Round 3: K12 KNL K4 KRL K12
Round 4: K12 KNL K6 KRL K12
Round 5: K12 KNL K8 KRL K12
Round 6: K12 KNL K10 KRL K12
Round 8: K12 KNL K12 KRL K12

K12, put 12 on a string, K12
9 rounds: K

Cast off by knitting two stitches, put them back on the left needle and knit them together through their back loops. Knit one, put two back on left needle, and so on.

Pick up the 12 stitches that you left on a string, and knit 4 rounds. Cast off. To avoid getting a big hole in-between the thumb and the body of the mitten part, I picked up two of the body stitches and knit them together with the thumb stitches.

Take two strands of Drops Lima and crochet an edging on the top, at the bottom and on hte thumb.. One single crochet in each of the knit stitches.

And the star, of course

1: On a magic loop double crochet (DC) 12 with white Drops Andes. One slip stich in the first DC.
2: Chain stitch (CS) 6, 1 single crochet (SC) in 2nd DC, repeat.
3: 4 SC – 3 CS – 4 SC in each of the six chains.
4: Switch to red Drops Lima and SC all the way around the star.

Slip stich iPhone headset

So I got myself a new iPhone. And a new headset came with it. You all know what a nuisance it is when the cords get tangled, so I was planning to do what I always do, namely knit them in with an i-cord. A very time consuming business.

Some weeks ago I saw that someone had single crocheted the cord, and that is so much easier. But not very neat. So after having tried the i-cord (gave up directly – no time) and the single crochet (too bulky and uneven) i came up with the slip stitch solution.

One slip stitch over the cord and one under – and crochet away! Very slim and nice. And it took me 30 minutes tops.

/Maia

Fair Isle Shawl - in the round IV

Progress. Cast off for parts of the edging. Picking up for the last part.


/Maia

Fair Isle shawl – in the round III

First of all, I am sorry that the photos are so dark. But... anyhoo.

So I cut the shawl and used a KnitPicks tunisian chrochet needle with a very long cable (or rather two unified cables) to pick up the stitches. Many, many of them. Then I put knitting needles on the cables.

Here is a close up on the edging so far. It's going to be at least twice as wide. It's two knit, two purl, just as I did for the Kotten blanket.

And at the very bottom, increases. This is fun. It really is great fun to make the edging. Strangely enough.

Again, sorry about the photos. Some other day, brighter photos!

/Maia

Socks for husband

I always have some small projects going while working with big ones. These socks for my husband are finished now.


Yarn: Raggi. I love that yarn for socks. It really keeps its shape after washing.

/Maia

Fair Isle shawl – in the round II

I've finished the body of the shawl and now it is time to sew off and cut it open. Right now it looks like a crazy giant hat. Or a funny looking knit skirt.
/Maia

Fair Isle Shawl – in the round

Following the brilliant idea of Pinneguri I am now knitting a fair isle shawl in the round. This way you avoid the nuisance of color knitting the purl side.  Since I was quite happy with the edging of Kotten's blanket my plan is to make a similar edging on the shawl.

I am knitting a checked pattern, and some stars. But most of the shawl will be checked. 

/Maia

Kotten blanket, finished

We went to see our daughter, son-in-law and dear dear grand daughter E this morning for some coffee. Lovely! While sitting there chatting I managed to get a lot of work done on the Kotten blanket, that I prepare for our next grandchild, the cousin of E, who hasn't arrived yet. And tonight I finished it. 

Here it is. The roses are from a sweater pattern that I found at Garnstudio, and the snow stars are also from Garnstudio, I think it was a sock pattern of some kind (Red. January 2014: I found it!), but I can't find it anymore.

I have used Drops Lima, offwhite (0100), light grey (9015) and dark grey (0519). Check out the price for this yarn right now. At least here in Sweden there is a sale on Drops Alpacka yarns, and I complemented my stash with some six or seven balls of Lima for 20 SEK/50 grams at Deisy Design in the center of Göteborg this friday.

No lining on this blanket, since all the threads on the back are interweaved.

The corners turned out quite all right and I also put the year in one corner. Too soon to put the date there, but Kotten, you may come now! Any day you think fit to be a good birthday.

/Maia

Kotten's blanket update

Sewing the loose ends. Looks neat.


/Maia

Blanket for Kotten: Cutting and edging

So the fair isle part was done. It took some time, with the roses and all. Then I machine sewed twice on each side of the pattern and I cut in the middle. This cutting. Every time this is a little bit scary, even though I know it really is safe with the machine sewing and all. 

I have decided to make an edging that looks a bit like the one that Pinneguri made on this beautiful blanket. You have got to look at this blog, even though it is in Norwegian. Use Google translate! This lady is a pinneguru. I don't think my edging will be as nice as hers but I will try.

I have picked up stitches through the knitting some three stitches in, see the picture below. The edging is knitted with pins that are somewhat smaller than the rest of the blanket, three knits, three purls.

Of course the cut edge is not very beautiful, but I will fold it in and sew off nicely as soon as the knitting is done.

My first knitted blanket, I lined with cotton. But this time I wanted to take advantage of the nice wrong side of the knitting, where all the threads are weaved in due to my knitting european style with one thread in the left hand, and american style with the other thread in the other. No lining means a softer and more comfy blanket.

And this is how it will look on the right side. Hopefully.

/Maia

All-winter Irish wool sweater

Yarn: Drops Alaska

Colour:  49

It is getting all autumn now, here in Sweden, and baby Edit needs something to keep her warm. This little sweater is worked top-down on circular needles.

There are buttons at the left shoulder to avoid any sad moments when getting the sweater on and off.

The cables make the arms look quite sleek, although they are very roomy. A good sweater to grow into. I made some decreases on the inside of the arm.

/Maia

Tingestar pattern: Hedda – the luvhjälm

This is Luvhjälmen. Sometimes, with small children, you need to make sure that the knitted hats stays on. At the same time, you would want to look smart with a luva and a nice pompom and all.

This little hat is a combination of that. 

You start at the top with six knits in the round. You go on like that for a while, and then you add six every fourth row. 

When you are OK with the width, you make four more rows with stripes, and then you leave four stitches on a string of yarn and knit 3 purl 1 on the right side, purl 1, knit 3 on the wrong side for about 11 rows. 

Bind off  (always on the right side, bur with purls) and leave the last stitch on the pin. Pick up 11 more stitches on the side of the ribbed part, knit the six stitches on the string, pick up 12 stitches on the other side of the ribbed part. And then go on with 3k 1p for a couple of rows (6–8).

Bind off, like above, and leave the last stitch for the crocheted band. Pick up a new stitch for the band on the other side. Make a small pompom and put it on the top. (Make sure you fasten it well...)

Ta-daaa! The Luvhjälm!

/Maia

PS. I used a yarn in sport weight and needles 4,5. The hat I made had seven increases and it fits a newborn up to three or four months. It is easy to change the size by adding increases and adding to the stitches that are put on the string. Or change to bigger needles and a worsted yarn?

PPS. Here's a link to a more detailed pattern. In Swedish.

Testing: Angel's wings vest

I got the opportunity to test knit the Angel's Wings vest from Kyrkkaffe. So I grabbed some Drops Alaska and got to work. Here's the result. BTW, the pattern worked as a charm!

The name Angel's Wings comes from those bookmark angels with just a head and the wings under it. Just look how the yoke looks like the wings of an angel.

I used some left over yarn that I had in my stash and 4,5 needles. The finished vest weighs 103 g all in all, but I think I made it somewhat longer than the pattern said. Just checked. Yes, I did. 2 centimeters longer. So 100 g Alaska with needles 4,5 will work fine, just as the Falkgarn Sport and needles 5 that the pattern suggests.

In the original pattern, there was thin crocheted chain, that you tied into a pretty bow, but I really wanted a button, and found one among those that my mother-in-law and her relatives had left in the house at Donsö in the Göteborg archipelago, and that now are mine. It is so precious to have access to a treasure like that.

This is how the button hole looks from behind:

One important thing with the finishing off a garter stitch (Swedish 'rätstickning') is that you need to bind off from the right side, but using the purl stitch. That way you prevent the "chainy" stockinette bind off to show on the right side.

See how great it looks below:

I really liked this pattern. As you know, I am NOT a fan of patterns, but this was neatly put. 

I would really like to try this pattern out for a little dress or a tunic.

/Maia

Blanket for Kotten

Work in progress.


/Maia
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Edit's slightly bigger blue cardigan

Dear grand daughter E has outgrown the brown cardigan I made for her this spring. So I made a bigger version. Enough to last for the winter, I presume. Though she might need something in wool as well, I think.

There are some small differences. Both the body and the arms end with ribbed knitting. But the yarn is Drops Paris, just as the brown one.

The raglan is thinner, with only one stitch in between.

The buttons are from Strikk.

/Maia

Kotten blanket

Another grandchild is coming this autumn; this time it is DDJ who is expecting. Another blanket is needed. Granddaughter E got this.

I have bought Lima yarn from Drops, in white and two shades of grey, and now I am trying out a pattern with roses, from a sweater at Garnstudios homepage. I searched for brokad and found a bunch of 80's to early 90's sweaters. Too much for an entire sweater today, if you ask me, but, lovely as an edging for the baby blanket.


/Maia

Karin shawl

When I was at Carl Larssongården recently (if you are in Sweden, do visit there) I saw a red shawl with a pompom edging. Very nice. Probably one of Karin Larssons ideas, she was an artist that turned from painting to textile when she married. Lucky us!
When I finished the book The Night Circus, I knew that I had to knit a bright red scarf, and the memory of the visit to the Larsson home the week before came to my mind. I bought some Finullgarn at Strikk, and here I go.

I don't know why my iPhone refuses the color red, but it always come up blurry and messy. But anyhow. you get the idea. I knit the shawl from left to right. I have five balls of yarn and I will use four of them for the shawl, and one for the many, many small pompoms.

/Maia

Socks that (possibly) stay up

DD said that DGD needed some knee-high socks that stay up and don not fall off when DGD is carried around in the big scarf. Here they are! Two pairs.

/Maia

And a pair of socks...

And a pair of tiny socks to go with the sweater.


/Maia
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Edit's little brown cardigan

I finally managed to complete an upside-down sweater for little Edit, now two months old. The last one was the size of a doll sweater. And this one I have knitted twice. The first time I made it for an 18 month's toddler.


The yarn is Drops Paris, color 44, and the lovely buttons are Panduro's Fabric buttons (rand/rut röd). They come in many different colors and fabrics.


I started out from the neck with 60 stitches, 6 for the arms, 20 for the back and 9 + 9 for the front. I added a crocheted edging for stability.


I really hope I will get permission to publish a photo with beautiful, lovely Edit wearing it. Can I? Can I please?

/Maia

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Savoy cardigan

So, again there is that steeking part...


Figure why I want to call the cardigan Savoy?


/Maia
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Looking forward to spring

Fair Isle knitting in Drops Paris cotton is lovely!


/Maia
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Cowl: Blåsippa

Since I had loads of yarn left after finishing the Latvian Garden blanket, I created a pattern for Fair Isle knitting that I call Blåsippa (Anemone Hepatica), a true Swedish sign of spring (see chart below).

And I made a cowl with Blåsippa at the top and a traditional Fair Isle diamond pattern at the bottom. And beautiful daughter A agreed to model in the icy February rain. Cheers!

/Maia
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