summer has not hit copenhagen (yet)

it is so cold and windy here in copenhagen. i am having a holiday and at this time of year i usually love to go on sales to get lovely summer clothes 70% off reg. price. and i did this year too. i bought lovely oliver goldsmith 60es sunglasses and my hopes were high for summer. the next week i went to buy a coat because all my hopes were gone. the worst thing about it is that next summer is so far away. and since i am a teacher there is no way i can plan when to take some time off.
so i went to my have a look in my closet for something wooly to wear and found these three fo's that i have not shown on my blog before because they were knit last autumn before i started blogging.

the first one is cheryl oberle's 'kimono shawl'. and large stole in a muted lime green. one of my favorite colours for reddish skin..... i used it a lot last year. it is made out of 300 grammes indiecita alpaca.

the second is ivy bigelow's midwest moonlight from scarf style. it is made out of 125 grammes elsebeth lavold: silky wool. it has a lovely drape and a gorgeous muted heather colour. i used it all the time last year. i should make some for christmas presents this year, i think.

and the last one is my much loved clapotis by kate gilbert. i love this pattern inside out, literally speaking. i made 7 in all. 1 for me. one for my colleague who was going through radiation therapy, to keep her warm, when going to the hospital on her bike. one for another colleague (she paid the yarn) and 4 for female family members. my colleagues' wore their clapotis' all the time and i was so happy. i think one of them actually moved into her's. they take between 6-7 skeins of noro silk garden or kureyon. if you haven't made one yet, do yourself the favour. one of the advantages of noro silk garden is you learn so much about putting unusual colours together. all of a sudden i could see what a lovely match coffee brown, denim blue, and purple is.

i love all kate's patterns. made the adorable samantha sweater and the pea pod set for alba when she was a few months old. you can purchase the pattern at kate's website http://kategilbert.com and the pea pod set is a free pattern from interweave.

the last sweater for carl, is proceeding, but boy how i dislike knitting small circumferences in the round. knit one sleeve on dpns and ripped the whole thing. remade it on 2 circs. and the result isn't very much better but as good as it gets. washing and blocking will help (i hope).

and tomorrow i am going to a gig with gillian welch. my nephew and his girlfriend and i will go out for dinner at a lovely vietnamese restaurant and then to the gig. i love gillian welch who i got to know three years ago in new york. and although she isn't 'so new york' it always reminds me of that lovely week spent with my best friend peter in a snow blizzard in new york... and i love asian food....

a continued story about norwegian sweaters

i am certainly having fun with my norwegian creations. finished albert's sweater yesterday and wet blocked it. i am quite pleased with this little no nonsense sweater and love the classic boy colours. i don't think i have ever seen a more beautiful navy blue colour. unfortunately the yarn is discontinued and there is no more navy blue rowanspun to get. the whole thing has been knit while listening to gillian welch and dreaming of future holidays checking out the music scene in the united states by bus, knitting. ending up in meg's camp!!! it is nice to dream. and who knows????

unfortunately i will not see albert before next week so in lack of a live model i came along the two young men outside my train station.

the green knitting is for carl, the eldest of my great nephews and is a really fun knit. it will not be long.

lusekoftemania

there is progress on the little trio of 'lusekofter'. tomorrow i will cast on for carl's lusekofte which is not really going to be a lusekofte but a sweater based on a norwegian children's sweater with star borders and 'lice' in stripes. very much like the striped norwegian rasta cap i did this spring.

the colours are rowanspun thor and catkin, brown and green tweed for a little green-eyed boy. and this is the least norwegian colour choice of the three.

it has been great fun to make a very 'personal' sweater for each child. but i am happy that i have only one left.

one advantage of knitting series of things is that one can improve the techniques with every garment. when i knitted alba's lusekofte i followed the instructions of the boatneck in knitting around and had no idea about what i was doing. i made a purl row, i increased like a madwoman and voila i had the nicest little inch of knitting to hem down. i really like the technique and realized that it is not neccesarily bad to be a blind follower. this time, since i knew what i was doing, i could plan a knit the collar in blue to match the lower hem. maybe i knit series instead of ripping.

lusekofte # 2

i like to knit several similar sweaters, one after the other. and with everyone you get more grip on the techniques. and i like trying new techniques. and then i think i like colourwork a great deal. i like the logic of the patterns. and that you have to think to space them correctly and the beauty of them. i am not quite sure if i like the norwegian patterns graphic qualities or the fair isle patterns watercolour qualities better. both are so lovely.
these are pictures of my current wip. again rowanspun dk. this is for the aforementioned albert. in the lower picture you can see where i plan to steek. it is a great technique.
the older brother, carl, is going to have a slightly different striped version of a lusekofte. his is going to be the same colours as alba's which will suit his moss green eyes very well.
what a joy to be a great aunt. and how sweet the title sounds in english.

eye candy friday

here is wee alba wearing her new sweater. she will starte creche next week and i think this is a lovely hardwearing sweater to play in with her new pals. she seemed to be quite pleased to pose in her new sweater. and she took immediate interest in the opinionated knitter. i hope for her that she'll grow up to be a knitter one day. it is very difficult to take pictures of a one year old since they are all over the place all the time. but she is so happy with life and one cannot but agree with her.
the light grey and blue sweater is for her second cousin albert. i am going to make three of these all with small differences.

happy friday knitting.

retro knitting

i finished the sweater and i am pretty satisfied with the result. i think steeks are a lovely invention. i love the norwegian patterns, i love the simplicity of the sweater where K is 100 and sleeves are 50 % of K on the top. i love the knitted up hem with a contrast colour for 'insiders'. and i think the norwegian sweaters give such a lovely fresh look to the wearers, small or big. and more than anything i love the rowanspun dk. it is the most lovely, but discountinued, yarn. when you put it into water it softens up and becomes almost felted. i love my ez knitting books and my books of nordic knitting.
and of course i love the little girl who is going to wear it to pieces.

and i love it so much that i have already embarked on a new one. i am going to make sweaters, not similar, for my two cute great nephews.

the first one is going to be grey and navy. the second is going to be brown and green, i think.

the original norwegian sweaters are black and white but i am not sure about how much i like black for children. which colour should one wear as a grown up if one starts with black before year one????

tomorrow i will deliver the sweater to alba and take some pics of here in it.

it is my holiday and i'll knit what i want to.....

here is albert. he is my great nephew, and the youngest of my other niece's two sons, carl and yes, albert . albert is alba's junior by one week. his mother hasn't really wanted me to knit anything for either of the boys, but i have decided that they need a norwegian sweater too. they are too cute. and it is kind of a boyish sweater.

this little one looks so scandinavian with his big blue eyes and i found a skein of navy blue rowanspun in my yarn cupboard and that will be ideal together with the light grey. the red is the yarn for the provisional cast-on. once again i will use the knitted up hem, that i think gives such a beautiful finish to sweaters. i will make one for the three year old carl (in the lower picture wth their mum) once this is finished.....

the tomten goes back into the knitting cupboard for a while. i have an issue with the colour.

progress

i finished the norwegian sweater. it has turned of very nicely and i will post more about it when i have taken some pics of the recipient in it. the recipient has been in spain on her first holiday ever and it was so great to see her again after the hiatus. she has got a new habit: at first she looks very reserved when seeing you and then she lights up in the loveliest smile. it is amazing how close one can feel to a baby even if it isn't your own.

and i am knitting on the green tomten now. i dont really know if i like it. i am not at all sure about the colour but i like the bubbles. it looks a bit like something you could buy in the grocery store and since it is my third tomten the knitting is smooth yet boring sailing.

right now i feel a bit obliged to knit certain things for certain people (including myself) and it is amazing how i always manage to turn hobbies into duties. but i like it anyway. i would like to clear my stash and wait to buy new yarn until i have used what i have i.e. a lot of tweedy yarn.

i do have a penchant for tweedy yarn.

mojo

i dare say i got the knitting mojo back with a roar, as tiennie commented. the sweater is progressing faster than expected and i am in love with it. it includes so many interesting techniques and the sweater in itself is such a classic. i even want to knit one for the father as well. why should it always be mother and daughters that match. well well i will hold my breath as i have so much else to knit. maybe a sweater for myself. haven't knitted a sweater for me since '89. and i do have the yarn that came all the way from america....

i tried to cut a swatch i made in rowanspun yesterday. i am now convinced that it takes no reinforcements but will do some anyway.

and i plan to knit a stand up collar with alba's name inside the hem with red yarn. it adds to the norwegian feel i think and is a cute detail, her father will cherish as he thinks everything i ever knit for his little polar bear is an heirloom.

if you want to know more about norwegian knitting get annechen sibberns bohn's book of norwegian stitch patterns or vibeke lind: knitting in the nordic tradition. i think both can be purchased second hand. i had both for years and they are sources of inspiration.

got my knitting mojo back

i got my knitting mojo back and i must say the weather is excellent for knitting wooly garments. i have embarked on knitting a norwegian sweater for a one year old yesterday in rowanspun dk (mist and thorn). it is proceeding swimmingly and i think i am going to love it. it is not the least babyish but that is refreshing. and even though it is for a girl it is not girlish either which is no wonder since the original sweaters were part of norwegian men's clothing. every norwegian i have ever met has been so proud of these sweaters.

i am going to crochet steek the armholes and hope everything will turn out just fine.

it is actually the third i made of these sweaters. i made two for men back in the eighties. one survived (including steeks) the owner's youth spent in new york. i like that thought.

my sources of inspiration is zimmermann but also my old book of norwegian knitting patterns that i was given by my grandmother which elizabeth has also used as a reference and a danish knitting book from the eighties knitting in the nordic tradition.

although the weather is good for knitting i am desperate to see the sun.

there has not been any knitting lately. i got a new job and has been busy with that. farewell parties and such. it is strange to leave a place i have been so happy to work for many many years although it grew a bit tough in the end. i hope i have made the right decision. otherwise i will stay there until i find something else. i am going to teach english and art and teach children with special needs.
i had to farewell parties and was very touched by my colleagues' generosity. it was heartbreaking.
and i went to a rufus wainwright gig at our opera house here on tuesday with my new friends who at the same time are my nephew's in laws. a very nice couple who are great fun to be with. and next week i will start knitting again. especially as it isn't quite summer weather here. when it rains it pours.