finally

i have threated with showing my saddle shoulder aran for a long time now. and here it finally is. i am very pleased with the sweater and love the place the photo shoot took place. it is denmark at it's best.
stats:

13 balls of classic elite skye tweed, upland green
needles 3½, 4 and 4½ mm.
pattern: meg swansen's saddle shoulder aran

i did as meg said in the pattern and like so often before with the zimmermann family patterns i figured out what to do as i went. i knit on with confidence. well this maybe applies more for the first saddle shoulder i knit for my nephew and which was so terribly wrong-sized.

the yarn is beautiful beyond belief, and like many other bloggers i pester myself for not having bought a little bit more before it went out of the market. some find this yarn very scratchy and it is definitely not malabrigo but i love the texture and feel.

the cables are ribbed cable, fishbone, sheepfold, and staghorn. the arrangement of staghorn and ribbed cable is stolen from alice starmore's inishmore.

all i can say is, if you haven't knitted it yet, do sometime in the future. it is genius.

thank you

first of all. thank you for all your nice words regarding my father's death. it warmed me very much. now we have the funeral over and done with and a home that needs to be closed down. it is now the family home but a place where he went to live around 10 years ago.
it was a beautiful funeral. we had chosen roses in all colours for the coffin and it looked lovely. the priest made a lovely speak and he was such a good choice since he knew my mom and dad when they were young and hence it became very personal.

and there has been knitting. the fishtrap is proceeding wonderfully. i have always been in lovely with this pattern that reminds me of woodcarvings or something like that. it is not very difficult and the canadian regal makes the cables stand out very well. it is quite scratchy though. but i like this kind of scratchy yarn much more than soft processed yarn. i think it will last a lifetime.

after this project i plan to knit na craga in cascade heathers. i bought the yarn for a sweater for my dad but now i am going to knit it for andrés, the hubby of my niece, and alba's dad. he is such an aran man to look at.

and look at my turkish socks. they were bought in turkey some 50 years ago. my grandparents lived there and my parents and siblings were invited there on holiday. it was so unusual to go somewhere like that in that time. they made an article about it in the local newspaper.

i think they are beautiful stockings knitted on ultra small needles on an ultra tight gauge. the colours really stand out and they can serve as inspiration for something.

a sad time

i have been having a lot of heartache and problems lately. my 83 year old father fell in his home and was taken to hospital where everything went rapidly downhill. he passed away tuesday morning and i have been busy informing friends and family and getting a priest (his cousin) and things like that. tomorrow my siblings and i are going to his house to see what needs to be done. the funeral is scheduled to wednesday.

in a time like this i cannot begin to say how much i enjoy knitting. there is something that doesn't ask anything or demand anything. i have started a fishtrap cardi for my nephew. the yarn is briggs little: canadian regal. i enjoy the roughness of this yarn enormously and it actually blooms and softens up when washed. as elizabeth says: knit on with confidence and hope through all crises.

a red aran for a little girl

here is the cute little alba in her aran. it is of course based on the eps system and the yoke is a raglan. i think she is adorable in girlish red. and she really enjoys her handknitted sweaters and jackets. i wonder if she will grow up to be a knitter herself having spent all her life in zimmermann knits. she is still wearing the green tomten every time i see her and i love elizabeth's idea about making long cuffs for children's sweaters since it makes it possible for them to wear the sweaters much longer.
the yarn is debbie bliss: luxury donegal tweed. it is one ply with green and blue flecks and the cable is a barbara walker thing. one side is moss stich, the other stockinette.
one ply is not optimal for cables but i do think they stand out pretty well due to the weight of the yarn.
i have just embarked on another aran for my nephew since the last one was wrong sized. this time i ordered canadian regal from meg swansen and unfortunately had to pay usd 60 in taxes. argh.

make my day award

i am certainly not a very diligent blogger these days. i suppose other things come beforehand and i am not proud of that.
but i have been awarded by two fellow bloggers and i am happy and honoured to pass on the torch to other bloggers whose blogs make my day.
the bloggers who have nominated me are jen and peggy of chasing bunny. they are both wonderful knitters and love being nominated by them.

i will also nominate a few bloggers. i think one is supposed to nominate 10 bloggers but i am not sure i can.

i will nominate filambulle. she is a great knitter living in switzerland who always sends nice comments my way. she is a fellow zimmermaniac and that was really my way into knitting again.

i will also nominate jean miles. a very skilled knitter, american, living in edinburgh. she is into knitting, politics, cultural history and latin, i believe. her blog is a wonderful read. go there.

and kent of kent. we share our love for knitting and music. kent is a meticulous knitter with great sense of colour. we have been discussing the saddle shouldered aran for ages in our email correspondance. it is so much fun to acquaint with people you never have met. thanks.

and john. i mean who else emabarks on knitting a sweater, a russian coat, for a perfect stranger. i think that among other things is hilarious. we also share a love for music.

and lastly (for today) i still have a few nominations to give out is shan. her knitting blog is super philosophical and you really get to know her through it in my opinion. she is a alice starmore fan and so am i. and i love the way she earns money for her yarn.

Knitting news: my second saddle shoulder aran is finished and i am wearing it as i write. i love it but it is rather unphotographable and i need to go out in the daylight for a photo shoot. i will review the yarn and cables in near future.

saddle shoulder aran encore

i am a serial knitter. i confess. and that is allright because things get more perfect with each try. and here are some awfully amateurish pics of the one in progress for me. yarn is the ubiquitous classic elite skye tweed. like all nice yarn it is now discontinued which really should be reconsidered as it is the most manageable yarn i ever knitted with. no splicing and very few knots. the patterns are sheepfold, fishbone, and a panel stolen from alice starmore's inishmore from fishermen's sweaters. it is a great book but quite 80ish somehow. but loads and loads ideas to copy in to one's own cable or colourwork. many of the patterns are in stitch dictionaries as well but alice has managed to put them together beautifully.
there is not much knitting though. it seems that work is taking all my time. it takes a long time to get there and even longer to get home so i am still looking for the ideal job close to home (for god's sakes i live in a capital) so i can walk and knit and see other people. as a single you have to be outgoing all the time. and i don't mind as long as i have the time and with this job it is hard to get the time for anything. and i really do love to play.

i have ordered yarn today for the first time in a very long time. i plan to knit a sweater for my father after this one is finished. i suppose it will be a seamless hybrid of some kind. he has proclaimed he wants a brown sweater with cables. and that is inspiring. the yarn i ordered is cascade 220 which i think is a practical yarn for kiddoes and old people.

other people's crafts

i haven't quite diaappeared and here is finnish anatolian basketry and anatolian knitting, both birthday presents for me, for you.