Maiden's Dream

This is actually old news, and still new. A long time ago I bought 400g light brown possum yarn with the plan of knitting a perfect sweater/cardigan for myself. I swatched and swatched, made drawings and notes, and then started knitting a snug fit cardigan (I really don't like huge sweaters, I'm too short for that, I just look like a huge ball of yarn ;)). I made it a top-down-raglan (my first - or second? was knitting Bette at the same time) and finished it after a long time. Then it has been making a lovely bottom of my knittingbasket, since I had no idea how to make the closure. Thought about hasps (is that a word?) or little buttons with tiny crocheted straps or just leaving it open with a knitted or sewn belt around the waist. I started knitting a belt in seed/moss stitch but the neckline was too wide to actually stay in the intended place on my shoulder (which honestly looked really stupid!). So it stayed for even longer in the basket. Yesterday I found it, while looking for something else, picked it up and wondered why I had left it, so close to finished. Tried it on and remembered. Thought a lot about how to keep it on my shoulders and eventually figured out the only way I was going to use it, was to sew it up as a sweater instead of a cardi. So... that's what I did! I could have saved all those purl rows, and just knit the whole thing in the round. But then I wouldn't know I have too small shoulders for that wide a neckline *giggles*

Pattern: Maiden's Dream (my own)
Yarn: 150g Possum from Sommerfuglen
Needles: 2,5mm
What I would do different next time: make the sleeves
even tighter so they
don't look so pouchy! Luckily I have enough yarn for
one more, then I'll make it
with long sleeves... and knit in the round from
the start!

Denne her er både gammel og ny. Det er længe siden jeg strikkede den færdig, den maglede bare lige de sidste "finishing touches" før den var helt klar. Jeg købte possumgarnet hos Sommerfuglen for længe siden, med en plan om at strikke den perfekte bluse til mig selv. Så jeg lavede strikkeprøver og tegnede og regnede en masse, og gik så igang med at strikke en tætsiddende cardigan. Store tykke løse trøjer får mig til at ligne et lille garnnøgle, så stramt er klart min foretrukne stil ;) Jeg blev også færdig med den, men manglede den perfekte lukning. Overvejede hægter eller små knapper med hæklde trenser og til sidst et strikket eller syet bælte i taljen, men det største problem var at holde den på mine smalle skuldre - halsåbningen var alt for bred! Så indtil i går lå den og varmede de andre ufærdige projekter i min strikkekurv. Jeg fandt den da jeg ledte efter noget andet, og kunne egentlig ikke huske hvorfor den var endt der... indtil jeg prøvede den på, og den drattede af mine skuldre! Vandrede rundt om den, indtil jeg måtte indse, at den eneste måde den ville blive brugbar på, var at sy den sammen foran, så det blev en bluse i stedet for en cardigan. Så det gjorde jeg! Færdig er den, og jeg har brugt den hele dagen :) Absolut skøn at have på, og jeg planlægger allerede den næste - der er nemlig 250g garn tilbage (de anbefalede 400g til en str small, og den her tog kun 150g...).

Snow...

Finally the snow came... and not just a little bit this time, no, we got a lot. This is close to where I live, and it is usually a road... now the cars can hardly drive through without sliding off the road!

My study group was cancelled, since the other in the group is stuck in a huge snowdrift! I had to go shopping though, and took a few pics on the way. Some people get cranky about snow, since it is troublesome, but I just get so happy when we get snow! When others take snowy days as a good excuse to sit indoors and not go out again 'till spring comes, I jump into my huge boots, hats, socks (yup in plural - wearing 3 pairs right now...), mittens and run out with all the children! Not playing like them (I don't have my sledge here *sniff*) , but just enjoying the weather :) And THEN I have a good excuse to go inside when I am so cold I can't feel myself and don't know if I lost a leg or something on the way, and make a huge cup of tea and eat some homebaked bread (I made some nice bread yesterday - forgot the salt in the dough, so I sprinkled flaky salt and rosemary on two of the breads, and salt and nigella seeds on the two others. They ended up really nice!

Århus fik sne... meget sne! Læsegruppen er aflyst, for ham jeg er i gruppe med sidder fast i en snedrive... Jeg var en tur i netto og benyttede lejligheden til at tage lidt billeder. På billedet ovenfor plejer der at være en vej, nu har bilerne problemer med overhovedet at køre der, uden at skride ud. Nogle bliver mugne når der kommer så meget sne, fordi det er for besværligt - jeg bliver bare totalt overstadig og hopper ud i sneen ligesom alle børnene *grin* Har desværre ikke min kælk her *snøft* Men man kan jo altid nyde det dejlige vejr, og så smutte ind og drikke et kæmpe krus varm the, når man er blevet så kold, at man ikke helt kan føle sig selv længere ;) Det hjemmebagte brød fra i går blev ganske vellykket selvom jeg glemte at komme salt i... så det fik olivelolie, flagesalt og rosmarin og nigellafrø på toppen i stedet. To af hver slags blev det til :)

Amimono: Snowdrop

I couldn't resist any longer. I've been tempted for a very long time, and when Snowdrop showed up on several Danish blogs again, I had to find out where to buy the pattern! With a bit of help from Strikkeforsker in my comments, I found Isager's store where I live, and went there today... crazy luxury with my not so big income, but I had some money from Christmas, that I though needed something lovely to be spent on ;) So now I have the kit for a Snowdrop in black. I could so use a little black top like that, I just can't wait to get started! But first I have to finish the baby-socks that are waiting, and the scarf for hubby.

Nu kunne jeg ikke modstå fristelsen længere. Den har fristet meget længe, og da den dukkede op på flere danske blogs igen, måtte jeg bare finde ud af, hvor jeg kunne købe den! Det er selvfølgelig den over alt elskede Snowdrop. Med hjælp til at finde frem til forhandlerlisten af Strikkeforsker via kommentarerne, fandt jeg Isager's butik, og smuttede derned i dag. Ren luksus på min SU, men jeg havde lidt penge fra jul, der vist skulle bruges på noget rigtig lækkert ;) Så nu står er kit med Snowdrop i sort i min stue, det er lige sådan en top jeg har brug for, og uhhh hvor den lokker! Kan slet ikke vente til jeg kan begynde på den, men der er vist et par babysokker og et halstørklæde til den stakkels Anders, som skal ordnes først.

Bette

Last night I finally finished this little baby sweater "Bette". Okay, I guess it isn't exactly "little", turned out bigger than I thought when I casted on for it, but I don't mind. It isn't knit for anybody in particular, so it will just wait for the right baby to come around :) The design is from DesignClub.DK (and no, they don't have a webpage - how weird is that, with a name like that? Love the designs though!). I found the pattern in a magazine, and when I saw the name, I had to knit it - when I couldn't speak properly yet, I shortened my own name to Bette ^^

Pattern: Bette from Designclub.DK
Yarn: Babygarn Superwash merinoull (I got this as gift in secret nordic
friend a long time ago)
Needles: 2,5mm bamboo circular and metal dpn's
Stash reduction: 100g

I går aftes blev jeg endelig færdig med Bette! Det er så længe siden, at jeg begyndte på den, at jeg ikke kan huske om det var sidste år eller forrige... det der har trukket det i langdrag, har helt klart været min rundpind som var lige lovlig lang til sådan en bette trøje. Men gad jeg gå ud og købe en kortere? Næh, det gik jo okay, bare lidt langsomt *grin* Men skal jeg strikke den igen, ofrer jeg absolut en kortere pind på den! Designet er så lækkert, det er klart at den er blevet sådan et hit i blogland! Der er vel snart ingen, som ikke på et tidspunkt har haft fat i den? :) Da jeg så navnet på opskriften første gang, vidste jeg, at jeg var nødt til at strikke den - da jeg var lille og ikke helt kunne tale rigtigt endnu, forkortede jeg mit eget navn til det noget nemmere Bette ^^

BlogTjek07

Skal man være "tjekket" må man vel tjekkes *grin* BlogTjek07 lyder da som en sjov lille undersøgelse, så jeg vil straks sende jer til "mit" spørgeskema.

Thrifting finds

A quick trip to the thrift store can bring many funny finds! This time I found these two 70's (?) pattern books from Marks. One is with doll clothes (they are just fabulous! a bathrobe that could just as well be a fancy long coat, dresses and "Chanel" skirts and jackets and a lot more), the other is with all kinds of things.

En tur i genbrugsbutikken kan bringe mange sjove ting! Sidst fandt jeg disse to opskriftshæfter fra Marks, jeg tror de er fra 70'erne? Det ene er med dukketøj, alt fra en baderobe(!) der lige så godt kunne være en smart frakke, "Chanel" sæt med jakke og nederdel og meget andet. Det andet hæfte er en god blanding af alt muligt sjovt, "anderledes" og knap så kønt ;)

Swallowtail Shawl #2

I forgot my camera this weekend, so you will have to use your imagination for a bit ;)
I've knitted a Swallowtail Shawl for my sister in law, for her birthday. It's like the red one I made for myself for Christmas, just white and bigger (this time around I could count, which made me knit 3 more repeats of the inner pattern *whoops* and I used bigger needles to make it more than just a tiny scarf for her). I still love the pattern, it is so beautiful and still easy to learn without having to check the pattern every 4 stitches! A huge plus for a pattern with that many stitches on the later rows ;)

Pattern: Swallowtail Shawl, Interweave Knits by Evelyn A. Clark -
Interweave Knits fall 2006
Yarn: Kidmohair, white.
Needles: 4,5mm metal circulars
Changes (since last time): now knitting all repeats *cough*

Kameraet lå nok så pænt herhjemme, da jeg var taget afsted på weekend, så I må bruge fantasien et øjeblik ;) Jeg har strikket et Swallowtail Shawl til min svigerinde til hendes fødselsdag... det samme som det røde jeg strikkede til jul. Nu er det i hvidt, med det korrekte antal mønsterrapporter (jeg glemte 3 gentagelser af det inderste mønster på det røde sjal *ups*) og på tykkere pinde. Mønsteret er stadig lige skønt - super nemt at lære udenad og utroligt smukt (synes jeg i hvert fald ;)).

Tiny Happy bag

Long time no writing, happens way too often around here... the reason is I'm too slow to take pictures, and posting without pictures is just too boring! So, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of my latest "creation": a Tiny Happy Shoulderbag! I have wanted to make this ever since I saw it on Whip Up (I think?), and just fell in love with it! It is truly my kind of bag: goes across over the shoulder (ehh how does one say that? across the chest?), easy to stick your hand in, and search for the keys/wallet/mints/knitting/whatever I need, and it just looks so good :)

The bag is made of a mix of leftovers from my box of fabric... so the stripy part is from a skirt I made earlier, the blue is from making new covers for an old chair at my parents place (which reminds me that I should finish that! love the chair, love the blue fabric, just didn't get the measures 100% right so it needs a little more sewing) and was bought at IKEA for almost nothing/metre. The lining is the leftovers from another skirt, and has originally been some very cute blue and white patterned curtains, that I bought at a second hand store close to where I live.

I gave up on the button-thing (I really suck at making those fancy little straps and placing the button at the right spot), so I just sew in "silk" ribbons from a "knit your own princess-slippers"-kit I bought a long time ago. I like the girly spring/summer look it has to it, not too girly and fuzzy but just cute, plain and ...perfect for me!

So... thanks for a really easy pattern, that makes the perfect bag! I have used it every day since I made it, and it has passed the big "going out with Elisabeth to shop-test" ;)

Lige siden jeg første gang så denne taske på Whip Up, har jeg haft lyst til at lave den! Det er en Tiny Happy Shoulderbag og afgjort min drømmetaske! Den går over skulderen, hen over brystet (jeg har smalle skuldre, så dem der hænger på én skulder falder altid af), er nem at stikke hånden i for at finde nøgler/pung/strikketøjet/hvad jeg nu ikke kan finde, og så er den bare for sød ;)

Stoffet er rester fra "lageret" - det stribede er fra en nederdel, det blå fra nye betræk til hynderne i en lænestol, og foret er rester efter endnu en nederdel, stoffet er fra et par gardiner købt på genbrug. Jeg har opgivet at få styr på knapper og stropper, så jeg syede et par bindebånd i, "silkebånd" fra et "strik selv tøfler"-kit.