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.