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Blanket Swatching

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I noticed that Drops have Cloud on sale in Finland, so I got inspired to get started on that blanket project we've been talking about. I found a promising looking pattern on Drops, called Dreams of Snow , and swatched with the one skein of Cloud I happen to have. Loved the result, and so did hubbie, but it turns out that Cloud is no longer available. They are probably encouraging the retailers to get rid of their last few skeins in this sale. So it's back to the drawing board on the blanket. But I did like the pattern, so I decided to do another swatch with some leftovers from a skein of Andes I happen to have. Andes is a 100% alpaca yarn, which I used for a cardigan I just love. And turns out I like the Andes version better. The stitch definition is nicer and it has a bit more weight to it, which I like in a blanket. The white swatch is Cloud, 55 stitches on 8 mm needles, first stitch slipped each row, middle three stitches combined (slip two together as if to knit, k1,
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Sweater Surgery

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Inspired by my friend Ellen, I decided to try my hands on some fair isle knitting in the beginning of this year. I did a slightly modified version of Drops Garnstudio's Merry Cassandra in Drops Lima yarn with the colour work done in Drops Merino Extra Fine. For more details, please check out my project in Ravelry. One of the modifications I did was to move the band of colour work from the hip to the upper waist. Or so I thought. But knitting bottom-up can sometimes result in surprising results, and the beautiful waist band ended up across my stomach with not very flattering results. I also didn't like the flared neck. That was easy enough to change, so I did. But the waist band was there to stay, or so I thought. Until I watched Episode 33 of Fruity Knitting , where Andrea cuts and grafts her daughter's sweater to correct a mistake (starting around 11:00 in the video). She goes through the process step by step in a very clear way, and manages to make it seem less s
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The joy of socks

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  Today I finished my toe-up socks, and I just love the result. The patterns in the two skeins of DROPS Garnstudio Fabel Print yarn synchronized quite nicely along the entire foot part of the socks, but then they started to drift slightly. Still, I think the effect of similar but not identical patterns make the socks look playful and fun.  I had decided to continue knitting until all the yarn was used up, and I did. The end result was quite a bit longer than I had expected, but I don't mind at all. The immediate use for these socks will be to keep my feet warm when I attend my yearly Zhineng Qigong retreat, starting next week. We spend most of our days in a gym hall, that can be quite cool if the weather isn't hot. I'm wearing the socks as I write this, and I just love the warm, cozy feeling around my calves.  I knitted these socks with no pattern. The inspiration for this project came when I ran into a couple  of  videos on YouTube on knitting two socks at a time
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The joy of shopping

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I put in an order for some lovely yellow 100 % alpaca yarn for a sweater for myself during the spring sale. Today, as I went to pick up my order, I found a package in my mailbox. I ordered some stitch markers a a little over a week ago. Too many of my old clippy markers have disappeared under the coach, or wherever it is that stitch markers go when they grow tired of life. So I spent some time shopping around on Etsy and found  Rebecca's Room .  I put in an order for two sets of Right-O stitch markers, a set of Simply Solid larger square markers, and a set of coil-less safety pins. They looked really beautiful in the pictures, and the whole order, including shipping, was less than €20. So I thought it wouldn't be too much of a loss if they weren't as good as they looked.    But I was far from disappointed. They all seem to be of excellent quality and the Right-O ring markers are gorgeous. They look like little earrings. In the picture below you can see two of them on a 4.0
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Grandma and her socks

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My grandmother used to knit socks for all her children and grandchildren. Every Christmas we would get a package containing one pair of wool socks for each of us and a box of chocolate. I still have all the socks she gave me and I love them. I wear grandma's socks every night when I sleep, and whenever my feet get cold during the day. When grandma died in 2010, they found a lot of finished pairs of socks when they emptied her house. These were carefully divided among us. We still have a plastic bag full of socks stashed away at mom's place. But the truth is painfully clear: this stash of socks is finite and grandma will not make more socks for us. So one of my goals since I started knitting again has been to learn to knit socks. I regret not getting the opportunity to learn from grandma. But I still feel it would be nice to carry on her legacy. When Garnstudio had their spring wool sale this year, and sold sock yarns 35% off, I decided to have a go, and bought three differe
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