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.

congrats becky c.

i was becky of knitasha von stashenskeins who won the kauni yarn. i can't find your email, so please send me an email so i can send the prize to you. isn't it just a great name for a blog?? i didn't know what to call mine and then it became knititch, which would be a perfectly valid word in danish but that may sound very odd in english.

my camera is really strange for the time being and i am very much in need of a new smashing one, so i simply didn't have it in me to go through all the hazzle of documenting the raffle.
sorry folks. but it was a drawing and becky's name was up.

i have been having a lot of festivities this weekend. and no knitting. went to see leonard cohen of whom i have been a devoted fan since i was 16. omg it was so great. he, who is 73 years old, played 24 songs in hours. quite impressive and beautiful.

my 100th post

this post is my 100th post since i began blogging in january 2006. i had expected to have a beautiful blog with lovely pictures and ever since i have been quite disappointed with the quality of the pictures and sometimes with the contents of the text as well. but anyway i keep blogging because it is a fun way to get in touch with knitters from all over the world. i do appreciate that immensely and i appreciate both my loyal readers and those who leave a comment less frequently and also those i know read my blog but never leave a comment. thanks a lot.

and there has to be a little celebration and a little contest on this occasion. so i have to pop some kind of question. what would i like to know about my readers??? do you always rip back if you notice a minor mistake?? who is your favourite knitting designer?? or do you dream about becoming one yourself??? or how big is your yarn budget a year??? i just think any comment goes and you will be in my drawing of a little prize.

i decided it should be something that is not easy to get everywhere in the world, so i decided on a big skein (150 grs or about 600 meters) of Kauni in blues, greens, lavenders, and maybe even more colours. there was a felted bag knitted in this colourway at my lys and i rather liked it. and i rather liked to support my lys a bit, since i order so much yarn from all kinds of places around the world. i suppose if you don't support those irl knitting stores they will eventually close and there will not be any opportunity to go fondle wool.

oh and st. brigid is proceeding well. everyday i take my knitting to the beautiful kongens have (king's garden) in the center of copenhagen and sit on a bench watching the beautiful plethora of flowers and the renaissance castle and knit like crazy. i am on a knitting binge.

the contest will be open through sunday and i will pick a random winner.