Monday, January 21, 2008

and the winner is...






well i never had it done on saturday but the winner is vivienne of viviennes pastimes. congratulations vivienne, email me your details and i will have the stitchionary sent to you. vivienne is english and has a very nice blog about knitting but also about her life and about books. go visit!!!

and i have knitted my 8th clapotis. a pleasure to knit as always, and definitely something to keep the owner warm. i love my own and all those who have gotten one hot off my needles has been wearing their's a lot too. that is so nice. and the green, pink, red colourway (noro no 84 is great and classic for a clapotis since this was the colourway mrs dogs steal yarn knitted her's in and she also wrote a love ode to the clapotis.

the clapotis is both nice to wear and fun to knit. there is something delightful about ripping all the stitches you have just knit and see the scarf growing.

and then i got stitchionaries myself from austria, only i bought them at daw-verlag in germany for 23 euros including postage and i cannot begin to say how great they are. they are very useful even if you don't understand a word german. so go ahead. you order them, he sends you a bill and then you make an international bank transfer. if you are interested in design and knitting history the will be classics.

Monday, January 14, 2008

good news and a blogiversary


firstly, i got a new job. i have been to a lot of jobinterviews but didn't really want to blog about them before it actually lead to a new job. and now it is here. i am a counsellor again and will be working with getting refugees out on the jobmarket.. it is in elsinore, beautiful city, and i will start in two weeks. i cannot begin to say how relieved i am.


and then this blog has it's first birthday which means i will have a give away. the prize is interweave's book of cables and arans by erika knight of rowan fame. i love my stitchionaries and from what i know about the readers of this blog, they are not blind followers, as elizabeth says and hence i think you love stitchionaries too. it can however be another book if you already got this one in your knitting library.

write a comment about your favourite finished object and i will draw the winner on saturday and have the book sent to you.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

i am still here


well i am still knitting. the saddle shoulder. does the sleeve look narrow to you?? but i will make a clapotis for my sister's friend in between. she had a nasty operation and i am sure a warm scarf will enhance the recovery process. and silk garden is warm. it will be a red/pink/green colourway which will be splendid for that girl as she is quite flamboyant herself.
and i am shopping. i joined a swap on ravelry. it is very interesting to buy something for someone you don't know at all. i will not write too much about it though since there is a chance that the person is eavesdropping.
did any of you see the preview of piecework ? there is an interesting article online on annichen sibbern bøhn whose book norwegian knitting designs was one of the sources for inspiration to knit lusekofter this summer. and i adore the poetry mittens on the front page inspired by old knittings. in montse stanley's book there is a colourplate of old spanish knittings with lovely texts knitted into the garments or little bags. things like 'long live my owner'.
this book was such a great source of inspiration last year and will be in years to come.
another book which inspires me a lot is priscilla gibson roberts: knitting in the old way and it has lead me to buy three austrian books by maria erlbacher: überlieferte strickmuster on traveling stitches. knitting the sheepfold pattern has made me enormously interested in traveling stitches. i adore the texture and i hope i can knit a sweater with the remains of the saddleshoulder for alba later this year. a johanna spyri: heidi kind of thing. wouldn't it be cute with an uncle and a nice in similar sweaters? that one is new i think. i am getting increasingly interested in knitting history and technique.
today i went out of town to a city west of copenhagen. to my amazement there were three yarn shops and one was filled with customers even at 10 o'clock in the morning. they were all carrying different brands of yarn and i found it very nice. i am sure there were none 5 years ago. as the lady in on of the shops said: we are not odd any longer. but i wasn't odd 5 years ago either since i didn't knit very much then.
and there were colourcards in the mail. now i know what the colour moorit is. i ordered sample cards from garthenor . it is organic traditional multi-plied wool from different breeds of sheep. i have become interested in sheep. i think it is very much from reading clara parkes' book of yarn. and maybe from seeing all my virtual friends' spinning.
and in the music department i listen to alison krauss and robert plant: rasing sand. omg is it a lovely cd. she is another country influenced singer with a lovely voice and i have fallen madly in love with his way of singing (used to sing in led zeppelin). oh music and yarn.

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

happy new year!

happy new year to all readers. i hope you will all have a lovely year with a lot of nice things coming your way and lovely knitting experiences. happily knitting experiences are something that is in our control, so i am sure about that one. i am still knitting the saddle-shoulder cardigan and it is going a little slow because my mind is so pre-occupied with job-seeking and worries. i hope everything will be solved within the next month and that the coming year will be better than the last 6 months has been. it is a bit up-hill right now and i cannot wait to find something nice to do again.

and did i get anything knitterly for christmas. yes a vogue stitchionary. i really want my knitting mojo and focus to return. partly because i have promised my nephew this cardi for so long, and partly because i have lots of ideas for new things. and then i want to take up walking again. i usually walk for at least one hour a day but due to cold weather, darkness and to just not being in the mood the walks are getting shorter and shorter. that is not allowed.

sorry for such a boring post. i promise to write something more entertaining and including more pictures very soon.