January 2013 – bleak midwinter

Something warm

January 29, 2013 Katarina6 Comments

I’m still revisiting my old UFO’s. Either unravelling them or (trying to) finish them. I don’t know why these mittens have been left out in the cold. They’re very pretty and very soft. A bit tight, perhaps, but still wearable. You’ll find the pattern in one of my favourite books, Knitting Fair Isle Mittens and Gloves by Carol Rasmussen Noble.

Almost finished

I begun this project in 2008 according to my ravelry notes. If I’d started it today I probably wouldn’t use Drops/Garnstudio Alpaca. The colours are lovely and it’s very soft, but it tends to get quite fuzzy after some wear.

I managed to break one of the needles…

D’oh!

Luckily, these were just old bamboo needles. I tossed out the thole lot and switched to my beloved KnitPro’s instead.

Happy knitting!

Make Do and Mend, part 4

January 25, 2013January 25, 2013 Katarina2 Comments

Ok, I already know this, but some yarn isn’t suitable some types of garments. The Widdershins socks I finished in September last year turned out really lovely, but they’re already worn thin. I used them perhaps twice in my boots, even though I knew that 100% merino really isn’t suitable for that kind of wear. It only made them slightly fuzzy on the back of the heel, but I decided only to wear them indoors after that. Sans shoes.

I washed them. By hand. They stretched like mad and became too big for my feet. I gave them Stefan who has worn them quite a lot. Indoors. Sans shoes. They’re now worn thin on the bottom of the heels and under the ball of the foot. I noticed the other day that they were dangerously close to developing a hole.

Time for some mending!

I realized that I don’t have enought Koigu left to mend all weak areas. I have to find another yarn with similar thickness. But I managed to prevent a hole where the sock looked really bad.

It looks a bit funny, but they’ll now last a bit longer

I have at least four pairs of hand-knitted socks with holes in them. I really must learn how to darn. And not use Koigu KPPPM for socks.

Happy knitting!

Ribbed socks

January 24, 2013January 25, 2013 Katarina1 Comment

Brown, ribbed socks are finished.

Woolly socks

Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Socks from Knitting Vintage Socks
Design: Nancy Bush
Yarn: BC Shetlandsuld, 100% wool
Yarn source: Litet nystan
Needles: 2 mm and 2,5 mm dpns
Started: 2 December2012
Finished: 20 January 2013
Modifications: I made them slightly bigger to accomodate Stefan’s feet. Instead of 60 sts, I cast on 68 sts. Because of this I had too many stitches to make the star toe so I made a regular flat toe instead.

To prevent wear on the heel flap, I made some reinforcements.

Reinforcing the inside of the heel flap

Ribbed socks

Detail

Stefan was very happy to recieve warm socks now when we have a really cold winter.

Happy knitting!

Winter wonderland

January 22, 2013 Katarina8 Comments

I went for a long walk on Friday. The weather was glorious.

When I came home, I had a large mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream.

On Saturday, there was even more frost.

Later that evening it was almost -20 degrees celsius. I spent it in front of the fireplace with a glass of sherry, knitting. A perfect day.

My next post will be about knitting. I promise.

Winter is back!

January 15, 2013 Katarina2 Comments

Winter returned by the end of last week. Temperatures dropped and on Friday we had some snow.

Snow on the balcony

It started snowing again last night and it’s been snowing since. When I arrived at work this morning I looked like a veritable snowman and had to dry my knits on the radiator.

Drying my knits

View from work

I think we’ve had at least two decimetres of snow today.

My friend and colleague Gertrud in Kungsträdgården on our way from work

Kungsträdgården in Stockholm

The Christmas tree at Vanadisplan in still in place

Well, time for tea and knitting!

Inspiring mystery

January 11, 2013January 11, 2013 Katarina3 Comments

I am extremely fond of Britsh period drama and the three episode mystery set in 1950’s London, The Bletchley Circle, is no exeption. The story itself is a murder mystery and perfectly alright, not extremely exciting, but still good. But the best things are the actors (especially Anna Maxwell Martin whom I’ve been a big fan of since I first saw her appearance in Bleak House), the environments and perhaps above all THE CLOTHES!

The code breaking, brilliant women in The Bletchley Circle

Almost every scene has some absolutely lovely knitwear. Jumpers, cardigans, vests or simply just wonderfully stylish clothes. The story is set in the early 50’s but many of the characters are wearing a bit out-dated and plain clothes due to the rationing that still was in effect, but it’s just to my taste.

Anna Maxwell Martin as Susan in The Bletchley Circle

The story centers around a serial killer on the loose in London and four brilliant women, who used to work as code breakers during WWII at Bletchley Park, decide upon trying to catch the killer by using their experience from their work during the war and their sharp intellects.

Short sleeved 1940’s jumper

I don’t think there will be any more episodes, and I actually hope this was a one off because I think it would be difficult to continue with the story without it losing it’s credibility.

Cardigans galore!

A plain but stylish vest

Well, I’m off to search my 40’s and 50’s patterns for upcoming projects!

Happy knitting!

Useful

January 9, 2013January 7, 2013 Katarina3 Comments

Winter arrived rather early, we had snow almost through December here in Stockholm (unfortunately most of it has melted away now) and it was quite cold for several weeks. Stefan (who enjoys winter as much as I do) commented on the fact that he didn’t have enough warm sock for the season. Well, I like knitting socks and decided to put my cardigan aside for a while (those large needles are efficient, but not very enjoyable to knit with) and cast on for a pair of socks (on small needles!).

It’s difficult to take a photo of something on the floor without a cat in the way

My favourite sock book is Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush (so far, I haven’t tried anything yet from those toe-up sock books I got at Christmas) and I was eager to try one of the patterns I’ve had my eyes on. I didn’t have any sock yarn in a suitable colour, so I decided to use some left over 2-ply wool from Stefans vest.

The yarn is indeed brown even though it’s hard to tell in this photo

The yarn is rather dark so I decided on a very plain rib pattern with a welsh heel, the pattern is called Lichen Ribbed Socks. I’d never knit a welsh heel before so even though the sock pattern isn’t much of a challenge, the heel was new to me.

I’ve finished the first sock and I’m now approaching the heel on the second sock.

I’m sorry about the crappy pictures, it’s hard to take decent photos during the winter months.

Christmas presents

January 7, 2013 Katarina3 Comments

I know, I know, Christmas was two weeks ago, but I’ve had such a lovely and lazy holiday with a lot of great food, movies, books and knitting so I didn’t feel like fiddling with the computor. Anyway, I’m back!

I’ve recieved a lot of great Christmas presents, but the ones you’re interested in are of course these:

New knitting books!

I’m very much looking forward to new knitting projects from these books. Especially Colours of Shetland by Kate Davies. As you might know, she is one of my favourite designers and I’ve followed her blog for donkey’s years. I’m especially excited about that my copy is signed by her! Oh, and the books are from Stefan, of course. He knows me so well.