a cardi for my niece

as readers of this blog may know alba has a father. and he has na craga. and an uncle who has the fishtrap cardi and a mother who didn't get a sweater for some time. last winter i started knitting an adult tomten without any refinements and it stayed as a wip through the spring and summer. i didn't really agree with me. so i saw the moss stitch jacket on ravelry and ordered the book scottish inspirations by sarah dallas et al. and decided to use the yorkshire tweed chunky that i had purchased from jannette to knit a moss stitch jacket for my niece ulle. i got it an incredibly good price and it is great to wear with all colours especially jeans.

my favourite clothes shop in copenhagen (that is closing down unfortunately) had a great sale on safety pins in supersize. so i got a few of those. i have yarn left for another moss stitch jacket, you see.

i think my niece loves when her family get gifts but i also think it is important to remember that even though you are an adult with your own family, your inner child still has to be nurtured with gifts and nice words too. well it is just a thought.

my yarn from the outer hebrides finally arrived and i have cast on for another st. brigid. a saint brigid that will be popular with anyone who is a burberry fanatic. not that my sister is that.

it is great and it is proceeding swimmingly. i am even able to knit after a few g and t's.

i am in awe of st. alice and st. brigid. there is a lot discussion going on at ravelry about the malice of alice. especially that she is so fussy about her copyright. i find it rather peculiar, as i think it is so great that she lifts up knitting to being an art form. and i don't understand that women who knows how long time it takes to get ideas let alone knit, doesn't cherish this upheaval of knitting. i wouldn't like people to say that knitting is something everyone can do effortlessly. i have worked and worked to get to this stage and no matter how much i work i know i will ever get alice's genius. so it is art. and hence be paid respect to. this also goes for other designers and i really appreciate those who actually give out some of their patterns.

when that is said, i really do hope that starmore will be reprinted eventually. because why not share the beauty.

st. alba

as you all know there are a few things in life that inspire me. among those alba and knitting so i have knitted a lot for her since she was born. and when her mum asks her, who do we know who knit, she promptly answers: merete knits. she is even starting to request things. i gave her mum the bookmark scarf and alba said: i want one too.

this year i have been very interested in cables which have resulted in different cabled knits. among those i enjoyed to knit both st. brigid and na craga enourmously. hence i will knit another st. brigid for my sister soon. but while waiting for the yarn to arrive from outer hebrides i decided to knit an alice starmore inspired sweater for little alba. when i order yarn abroad i normally order generous amounts and therefore i had enough left of beaverslide worsted for a sweater for a child. and even for a hat.

i used all my starmore literature to find the cables i wanted to knit and put it all together, my way. i thought the heart cable is so cute for a little girl, i am in love with the aran braid and the sand stitch is a great pattern. the rib is called knotted rib and is really lovely and fun to do. the neck line is inspired by na craga with 5 rounds of knitting after the ribbing.

i hope she will wear it a lot. she is as sweet as pie in it. in my opinion.

knitting stats:

3 skeins of beaverslide worsted in the colourway lichen

needles no 4½mm

the thing is knitted in 4 pieces and then seamed.

the measurements are based on ez eps however.

crochet

i was miserable at learning to knit when i was a child. my needlework teacher was highly dissatisfied with me. but somehow i managed to teach myself to crochet (with a little help from my mother) and when i got the grasp of that i soon learned to knit.

i have crocheted a lot in my life. doilies, garments, dolls clothes, grandma square afghans. but it is a long, long time ago.

since adrian posted her anne scarves i have been quite interested in crocheting again and hence i took the hook in hand last night a crocheted a scarf. it is not the anne scarf but something very much similar made from noro i had in my stash. it is actually two colourways but that just adds to the charm (seriously you will not notice).

it was great fun and i ordered some kureyon for some more scarves, but i think i will use it for mitered mittens instead. i am so much more fascinated with knitting when it comes down to brass tacks although crochet in variegated yarn has some jimi hendrix qualities to it. but i think that is all about the variegated yarn.

stay tuned for my alice starmore knock off for alba and a cardi for her mum.

there is a lot of knitting going on here and i am sick from waiting for my hebridean three ply order.

in the meantime

what can a girl do when waiting for a new kit in a different colour for st. brigid. yes my sister is in line for one and is having her birthday pretty soon. so i will give her the knitting, and maybe the yarn.

i have knitted first one koolhaas in malabrigo (rain forest).

then another (in debbie bliss donegal luxury tweed)

and then i embarked on a alice inspired knitting project for alba.

and then i knitted a cardigan type of thing for my niece.

and then i was left with a lot of seaming and a lot of darning to do. never mind. it will be done.

the nice thing is that i have finally tried jared's wonderful pattern. such a nice detailed pattern that is, and i still have to make the perfect koolhaas for me. but there are a few hats for the gift drawer now.

i used ten skeins of yorkshire tweed chunky and the rest of the beaverslide left from my first saddle shoulder aran.

which means there is plenty of space for new yarn for new winter projects. without me having to feel guilty to get yarn all the time.

and did i mention that i crocheted something today. crochet used to interest me a lot and i even wrote a paper about the crocheted kippah back in 89. and today i crocheted again from noro left overs.

here are pictures of the hats and a sneak peak of the alice sweater for alba. the rest i will present in my next post.

it has been great fun and a change to do one skein projects. i could easily get addicted, though.

and more than anything. thanks for all your lovely and kind comments on st. brigid. i can hardly wait for autumn to arrive.

st.brigid

here is st. brigid in all her glory. i think it is the most beautiful pattern i have ever used and the loveliest yarn. the yarn is so easy to work with and i am amazed at how many colours alice uses to create one colour.

stats:

knitting time: circa one month

yarn: 15 skeins of virtual yarns hebridean 3-ply

needles: addi turbo no. 4 ½

pattern: alice starmore: aran knitting

i knitted the whole thing in pieces and seamed them after blocking. i think i used 8 or 10 hours seaming which is very unusual for me, but certainly worthwhile.

i didn't have the correct tension so the whole thing is smaller than the measurements in the pattern, and i am quite pleased with that, since i don't like huge sweaters. but it took some adjustments. the sleevetop has more stitches and the sleeves an extra pattern repeat.

i think i will use this sweater a lot this coming winter. it goes with most thing and in my opinion most of all with a pencil-skirt.

i highly recommend any adventurous knitter to knit this.

mememe et moi

it is not that no knitting has been going on here lately but i have also been preoccupied with holidaying, visiting people and even teaching my dear two year old alba to knit. she is seriously interested and holds the knitting needle in her little hand while i work. how i love that. i think it has paid off to knit all those things for her. tomorrow she is two and having her birthday party on saturday with 42 visitors. i adore that girl.... alice starmore and meg swansen started early.

i have finished my st. brigid and i love it and will post pics soon. another starmore strike of genius. i am going to knit one more for my sister.

a while ago vivienne tagged me and here it is:

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

i left my husband and went into a new relationship. and i had lots of success at work.

.2. What are 5 things on my to-do list today?

well the day has almost ended. so i went to see my friend, i reknit the collar on st. brigid, i textmessaged a few friends, i assured myself that i could be happy about something that happened yesterday and i thought of knitting.

3. What snacks do I enjoy? 6 years ago i lost about 60 kilos of weight by walking big time and forget snacking. i only snack when i have got the courage by drinking. hoho.

4. Where are some places I've lived?

denmark. copenhagen and suburban copenhagen. i am a homegirl and have lived where i live now for 25 years.

5. What things would I do if I were a billionaire?

doctors without borders. a music and knitting trip through the us. shower friends and family with presents. do more contests on my blog. develop and educate myself. support a shooting star for a while. INVEST.