Curly whirly

My 'old' colleague Dorien brought me loads of yarn some time ago because she was going to move to another house. And she doesn't knit anymore because her hands start hurting when she does (doesn't that make you cry?). I knitted her this curly whirly-scarf to thank her. A fun knit! Knitted on a circular needle you have to knit only about 10 rows. But the last few rows there are 650 stitches on the needle. So it still does take some time to finish it. Especially with a wrist like mine. I'm getting bored with that wrist! Every time I think it's OK again and knit or crochet (the Art Scarf) for a while it starts hurting. Can I buy a new wrist somewhere???

Purchase of the week

I'm still not allowing myself to knit, so now I have lots of time to go shopping! And what did I find today in a second hand bookshop (aka De Slegte)? Pam Allen's Scarf Style! Now I can finally knit Backyard Leaves. Or one of the other lovely scarves. It really is a nice book. And you know what? I paid only 12.50 e. for it, instead of the more than 20 e. it normally costs. And it is a brand new book, I think. Did you know there is a weblog about this book, where lots of people show of their beautiful scarves? Smart publisher!

O, I almost forgot. I'm just back from 'Brokeback Mountain'. What a heartbreaking story *sigh*. Go see it, great actors, beautiful surroundings, and ...... lots of sheep! (No, our cowboys weren't knitting, they had other things on their mind.)

Taking a break

I'm going to take a break from knitting and blogging. Due to my sore wrist. It's not that it is very painful, but it doesn't feel right after knitting a row. So I better quit for a while. In the meantime I will be sewing and ..... spinning (I hope). Yes, I got a spinning wheel last weekend! So the idea is to spin and dye a lot of yarn this summer and knit nice stuff with it next winter. But I do have to learn how to spin. The theory I understand, but to practice it... So far I spun some very funny threads. I think someone has to teach me.

Last week I decided to join the Knitting Olympics. I'm not on the list yet and I'm not sure if that is going happen, but that doesn't matter, because I would be the first quitter probably. Having to quit before the Olympics start, pathetic! I was going to knit Knitty's Branching Out. Well, in 2008 maybe?

The good news is that Blackberry is finally finished. See picture. I even have been wearing it to my work this week. My colleagues liked it. It's nice and warm to wear, I like the yarn, and the cables and bobbles. But the way how it fits I'm not 100% satisfied with. I think I'm going to sew the fronts together because the brooche is not strong enough to keep the two parts together in a nice way.

Two socks

So here they are, nr. 17 and 18. Sounds like a lot, does't it? Well, they're not the best knitted pair. In fact, I think I never made so many mistakes. For instance, take a look at the heels. They're completely different. And why is that? Oh, I knitted this pattern before, I know how it works, I don't have to read it all over again..... Hm. That happens a lot to me. The first time I do something that is new to me, it turns out OK. Oh, piece of cake. And the next time I screw up.
Well, I better quit typing, my wrist hurts a little.Thanks to this game (and the chill in this corner of the room). Don't try it, it's dangerous!
I'm going to weave in the ends of Blackberry now. And I'll show you a picture of it the next time. I'm still not satisfied with it though, but I'm always quite fussy about clothes.

Sock

On the radio I just heard it's probably going to be very cold in a week or so. - 31 degrees in Moscow, and it's coming this way. Well, I don't always believe what the media say.... But I'm glad I started knitting another pair of socks! You can never have too many socks. The yarn I use is Lana Grossa's Meilenweit Magico. I discovered this is the ninth pair of socks I'm knitting. The next pair has to be a very special one!

Boohoo!

A few hours ago I was thinking about calling this post Woohoo!, because Blackberry was almost finished. And it is finished now, but I'm not satisfied. Boohoo! It's not very clear in the picture, because I hold my arms high, but the sides look very bumpy. I think/hope it is because the border is too tight, so I'm gonna frog that. And pick up a few stitches more in a new attempt. This certainly is not my favourite part of knitting...
But I'm glad Ajour said she was curious about the finished Blackberry cardigan. This made me pick up the needle. Maybe you remember I bought a circular needle of which I was sure it would be too short for so many stitches? Well, it turned out to be long enough. So that's the good part of the story.
And don't my orange towels look nice in my bathroom? Hah! But what is that? Do I see a double chin over there? It is strange, when I take a look in the mirror it's never there, but in pictures it always is....

Handspun

The first week of this year I spent on Schiermonnikoog, one of the Dutch Wadden-islands. Always great to be on this small island, where I spent so many holidays during childhood. But look what I found there, in a tiny shop? Handspun wool! There where a lot of nice colours, I decided to buy the two skeins you see in the picture. In real the colours are nicer/deeper, BTW. I think I'm going to knit a hat and mittens with it. I think.... But I first have to finish some other stuff, like the Blackberry cardigan. *sigh*
Anyway, when you're interested in Schiermonnikoog, there's a TV-series, called 'Eilanders'. Every Tuesdaynight at 19.30 (NL 1). I haven't seen it yet, but I'm sure I'll love it!