the lonesome knitter

Curly whirly

2006-02-27T20:02:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-16T22:51:00.000+01:00

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

2006-02-09T14:18:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-29T12:49:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-19T11:09:00.000+01:00

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!

2006-01-13T17:30:00.000+01:00

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

2006-01-07T16:42:00.000+01:00

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!

Snow!

2005-12-27T19:30:00.000+01:00

This picture I made at midnight. The tree has been planted about two weeks ago, in front of my house. It looks like such a little baby, compared to the one that was cut down last spring. And I was feeling so sorry for it last night, all by itself in the cold and the snow......

When I went to work this morning I made a detour through the park nearby. This is such a beautiful place when it has been snowing. Because of the holidays it was really quiet. There was no wind, all the trees and the bushes where white. When I made this picture I forgot to turn of the flash, but this time the photo turned out nice, I think.

Blackberry, not finished

2005-12-18T10:32:00.000+01:00

Yes, I'm still working on the Blackberry cardigan. I've sewed all the parts together now. And it looks like a children's cardigan! Hope it fits when I've finished the ribbing. I've to pick up about 200 stitches now, and knit 12 rounds, so that will add about 9 cm. on all sides. I bought a circular needle, 8 mm., 80 cm. long. Way too short for all those stitches of course! What was I thinking??? But it was the only size they had in the shop. So now I've to think about how to knit the ribbing. To be continued.....
BTW, when you're looking for a new knitting related hobby, you should read this, a link I found at Elizabeth's website.

Red poppy hat

2005-12-12T13:40:00.000+01:00

I still have this stashbusting obsession. So I gathered al my red(-ish) yarns and knitted this hat, that I call the Red poppy hat. I didn't use a pattern, just tried something. It's the second hat I've knitted, the first one was Knitty 's Vinter Lue, which was a horrible disaster, probably because I used a very different yarn. Too bad, because I still like the pattern. I've seen a lot of great hats on the internet that I would like to knit. But I'm afraid I will never wear them, because I don't have a hat-head. And I don't like to wear something on my head, only when it's freezing cold.
Because I used a few different stitches it was fun to knit the hat. What I would do different the next time are the decreasings. They didn't turn out nice. Perhaps it would have been better if I'd started decreasing a little later/higher and then instead of 3 times, 6 times in a row.
The combination of colours is one of my favourites, red/aubergine/burgundy. Brown/(light-)blue is another combination I love.

The (off-topic) skirt

2005-12-09T17:24:00.000+01:00

No, this post is not about the cardigan you see in the picture. It's about the skirt, that is finally finished! I started it somewhere in september, and thought it would be finished in a few weeks. Hell, no! It took me three months. So sewing isn't less time-absorbing then knitting I think. Although this skirt isn't a very easy one to make. It has so many seams, and guess what, I linened it as well! So I had to make 20 seams altogether. The pattern is from Burda, september 2004. And the cardigan I bought in an Esprit-shop.

New Knitty

2005-12-05T19:34:00.000+01:00

The new Knitty is out, and I love it! My favourites? Those cute Pocket creatures, the practical and elegant Blanche-neige jacket, the really cool scarf/belt Marley's ghost and the romantic beaded gauntlets Mrs. Beeton. But your choice may be another one, so go and look for yourself.

Ribbit, ribbit

2005-12-03T12:59:00.000+01:00

Blackberry's second sleeve was almost finished, but then I discovered the cuff was shorter than the one of the first sleeve. *SIGH* The difference was only two rows, but with this thick yarn two rows = 2cm. = very visible. So I frogged the damned thing... And you have to wait a little longer, untill you can see me in my Blackberry. Sorry.
Perhaps in the meantime you can take a look at the, still very short, Stashbusters-list at the left. Things you can make with less then one ball of yarn, or with a combination of leftovers. So you finally get rid of all that small stuff your basket is filled up with.

Sleeve

2005-11-27T21:52:00.000+01:00

One sleeve of the Blackberry cardigan's done. On one saturday. The cables and bobbles are huge, but that goes really well with the yarn. I think it looks great, can't wait until it's finished. Uh, what did I say in my last post? About not finishing it too quickly? Well, I really need some warm clothes, because it's still cold here. And during the last months I did buy quite a lot of new clothes, but nothing for a real winter. Fancy skirts and lacy cardigans. But why didn't I knit hats and mittens and scarfs and woollen underwear?

I leave you with a picture of a beautiful landscape in the northeast of The Netherlands. This afternoon with a group we went for a 2-hour walk on the mudflats near Nieuwe Statenzijl, guided by some people of the Groninger Landschap. It was great, there was some snow, even the sun came out, and for the birdwatchers there were a lot of geese to spot.

Sinterklaas present no. 1 is done

2005-11-24T11:27:00.000+01:00

Here they are, the two (Non-) Padded Footlets. Don't they look snug, on the Ikea sheepskin? They were a great knitting project, especially the lace pattern was fun to knit. I hope mum's gonna like them, and wear them.

The facts about the (Non-) Padded Footlets
Pattern: Interweave Knits, summer 2005
Yarn: Cool wool Merino 2000 by Lana Grossa
Needles: 2,5 mm
Changes I made: In the pattern the sock has a padded sole, knitted with two strands of yarn. I decided to use only strand, that is why I didn't follow the pattern after knitting the heel. I think any other 'normal' pattern will do for the rest of the sock, as long as you have about the same amount of stitches on the needles. NB. On the IK-website you can find a (small) correction on the pattern
Start: November 5, 2005
Finish: November 20, 2005

Spiritual, thoughtful, brilliant, creative!

2005-11-19T16:31:00.000+01:00

Your Birthdate: April 11

Spiritual and thoughtful, you tend to take a step back from the world. You're very sensitive to what's going on around you, yet you remain calm. Although you are brilliant, it may take you a while to find your niche.Your creativity is supreme, but it sometimes makes it hard for you to get things done.
Your strength: Your inner peace
Your weakness: You get stuck in the clouds
Your power color: Emerald
Your power symbol: Leaf
Your power month: November

What Does Your Birth Date Mean?

Oh boy, only ten days to go in my power month! Why didn't they tell me before?

But I did do some knitting this month. This is the back of the Blackberry-cardigan. And no, it's not the wrong side I'm showing you. This is a very quick knit, in fact it's too quick for such expensive yarn. So I'm gonna take my time to finish it. Although I do need a warm cardigan now it's getting so cold.....

One Non Padded Footlet finished

2005-11-16T17:30:00.000+01:00

Here she is, my first one. This sock looks like a child's sock, but it definitely isn't. It is even too big for me. I think the lace pattern is nice, and easy to knit. The yarn I use is a bit funny to use for socks, it's thicker and more heavy than the usual sock yarn.
I still call the sock the Padded Footlet but in fact it is not. I found the pattern in the IK magazine too confusing, and so looooong (two pages!). I want to knit, not to read and translate most of the time. So in fact I knitted the Gow With The Flow pattern again, except for the cuff.
Oh, and you know what I'm doing while knitting? I'm listening to a book! I bought a book on CD, De kronieken van Narnia - de leeuw, de heks en de kleerkast (The chronicles of Narnia - the lion, the witch and the wardrobe) by C.S. Lewis. A day after I bought it, I went to the cinema and found out this story will be on screen very soon. I saw the trailer of the movie and it looked spectacular.

Something different

2005-11-13T11:25:00.000+01:00

Nothing new to show on the knitting front. I almost finished the first (non-)Padded Footlet, but decided to frog it because it was too big. The good news is I almost finished another one, with 54 stitches on the needles, instead of 58. Fits much better.

In the meantime I made this pin cushion, inspired by the ones Karin made. Great fun to make! It is made of felt and I filled it with bran. I was told that is the best filling, so the pins won't become blunt. It might be I make some more. I know a certain someone who likes one as a Saint Nicholas gift. You don't know who this man is? Here's some information in English, coming to you with a famous Saint Nicholas-tune.

In one of my closets there are different pieces of fabric, of which I have to make something. But this can take years and years. One of them was a piece of blue fleece, the same colour as one of the walls in my spare bedroom. Aha, a cushion cover would be a nice project. So I made this, very easy, the border I festooned (?) with brown wool. And doesn't it go well with the Ikea-carpet?

Herring

2005-11-07T19:25:00.000+01:00

That's how the colour of this yarn is called. I think it's a well chosen name, the yarn really has the colour of a herring. Must be a great job, to think out names for yarn colours! The yarn is Rowans's Scottish Tweed Chunky and I'm going to knit Blackberry with it, a Knitty pattern. But before I start knitting I first have to find out which needle size is best. The Blackberry pattern has been knitted with Rowan Chunky Print, which is thicker than the yarn I bought.

Socks and socks

2005-11-06T12:20:00.000+01:00

Here they are, the Gow With The Flow Socks. Colourful and warm. I totally love them! The nicest ones I've knit until so far. Although the Mega Boots Stretch yarn is not the nicest yarn I ever used. It splits very easily, rather annoying when you have to pick up stitches.
I used about 80 grs. of the yarn, so there's about 20 grs. left. In my copy of IK I found this cute heart sachet I would like to make with the leftovers. For myself or as a present..... Maybe, when it turns out OK, I can make some more with the other leftovers I have saved. I think I'll shortly make and post a picture of this heap of yarn. To remind me of all the stuff I have, when I'm thinking about buying new yarn.

Like I did last week. In the picture you can see a new ball of yarn, Cool wool Merino 2000 of Lana Grossa. It is a bit like Rowans 4 ply soft, but softer, and cheaper of course. I started knitting the Padded Footlets, another IK-pattern, which I'm probably going to change in Non-Padded Footlets. According to the pattern you have to use a double strand for the sole. But as the socks will become bedsocks for my mum, padded soles aren't necessary (phew!). Mum often has cold feet in bed (runs in the family), and she's been saying for about a year now she's going to knit socks herself. Socks without a heel she wants to knit! Hahahaaa! I think these are going to be much nicer. They will be a Saint Nicholas-present, so hush!

Next time I will you show what else I bought at the yarn shop. Yeah, Rowan-yarn of course.....

Finally completely finished....

2005-10-31T22:26:00.000+01:00

... , may I present to you, the blocked Birch! It was 'a hell of a job', but now it's finished I think it was worth wile. I like the result, it's soft, warm and it has a luxurious feel. Something to wear on a wintermorning, when you're in your pyjamas on the couch. Otherwise I'm not quite sure what to do with it, and how to wear it. Like this

Or like this

Maybe I should buy a new coat that matches well with it..... Or maybe it will be in a closet for years, because I forget about easily. When I'm finishing a piece I'm usually already thinking about the next project. Working on something gives me the greatest pleasure! Uh, well, most of the time.

Blocking Birch

2005-10-29T20:18:00.000+02:00

Tonight I have to sleep in my spare room, because my bed has been occupied by Birch. This was the only place I could find to block the shawl. I hope the 102 (?) pins won't ruin the matras.

Irma thought it a pity she couldn't enlarge one of my pictures. Lately I've been wondering what happened to my blog. Enlarging pictures was possible untill a few months ago. I don't know what went wrong. Does anyone know how to solve this problem?

Such a lovely day....

2005-10-27T17:24:00.000+02:00

.... and I'm sitting behind my computer! Although I didn't have to work today, I haven't been outside a lot. This morning I had an appointment with the chimney-sweeper (yes, they still exist, he was even wearing a high black hat!). He would arrive between 9 and 12, but as often happens, it was after 12.30 when he came by.
Anyway, I had a lot of time to make a picture of the (unblocked) Birch-shawl...

.... and a picture of the first Go With The Flow Sock.

I love that heel!

2005-10-25T22:26:00.000+02:00

Finally my free copy of Interweave Knits arrived. It's the summer edition. Hmmm, a bit late.... But I was glad to find a pair of socks in it with a lace pattern. I'd bought some Mega Boot Stretch-yarn, but didn't want to knit the ordinary socks I've knitted so many times. And these IK Go With the Flow Socks are really fun to knit! I'm always a bit scared of english patterns, but this one isn't hard at all. The heel is the easiest heel I knitted ever. And it looks great! No funny holes near the ankle this time!

And wanna know how my other lace project is doing? The Birch shawl? It's finished!!!! Finally!!! I'll post a picture soon, now my problems with my camera are over. Lately the pictures I made were not very sharp. But I think I've solved the problem.

Update

2005-10-16T17:30:00.000+02:00

I almost feel guilty, having not blogged for such a long time. It feels like truancy! I didn't finish anything during the last weeks, but I just made some pictures of the Birch-shawl and the skirt I'm sewing. Birch is finally coming to an end, there are now only 100 stitches left. Maybe that sounds like a lot, but I started with 299.... And I'm getting really bored with this shawl so it's about time. This is what it looks like now

The skirt is quite a lot of work too. I didn't realize that all these seams (10!) would cost so much time. But I think it's going to look nice, when it's finished. Very feminin!

Hope to show you something finished in a few days. Don't know why I'm so slow. I've so much time to knit, sew and do other things. The lovely weather of the past week I have to blame, I think.

What!? Sewing??

2005-09-25T16:25:00.000+02:00

Yes, sewing! It has been a long time I've been sewing something, somewhere in the 80's I think. This summer I thought about picking it up again. So I enrolled for a sewing course and last Thursday I had my first lesson. Sewing is like riding a bike, or swimming, or knitting. You never forget how to. But these days clothes are much more complicated than the clothes I made twenty years ago. Everything was straight and wide, now everything is much tighter and really has to fit well. So I thought I could use some help with that. And besides that I always find it stimulating to learn something together with other people. That's why I love to take courses. This season, besides the sewing, I'm taking classes in English and an introduction course in webdesign.

But, back to the sewing, I'm going to make a skirt. Here's a picture of it, together with the fabric I bought, a kind of black & green tweed. The green is a limegreen.

I've been working almost all day on it (= crawling around on the floor), and I'm sure my muscles will hurt tomorrow. I pinned all the parts of the pattern on the fabric and now I'm making loops around them with yarn. This takes a lot of time and maybe it is old fashioned. But they will tell me that next Thursdaynight. Laughing their heads off, probably.

For the black stripes between the different parts, I need to cut stripes of the fabric. These I have to unravel for 1 cm. Takes quite a lot of time as well, as you can imagine. Well, I hope it's all going to be worthwile....

And knitting? Yes, I still am. I've finished a sleeve and the left front of the cardigan, and I'm still working on the Birch-shawl, which is coming along nicely.

Start of the VERY cheap cardigan

2005-09-19T21:16:00.000+02:00

A while ago I explored the Rekal-website, about recycling old sweaters. And I liked it. I'm Dutch, remember? So I went to a thriftshop to find a nice sweater I could unravel. There wasn't much I liked, as I expected. Only one handknitted sweater did have nice colours, although the yarn was something acrylic. But it costed only 3 euro's so I had to take it home. I think I don't like acrylic yarns, but that might be a prejudice. I don't like secondhand clothes very much either, by the way. I (washed and washed) and unravelled the sweater which was quite a lot of work. Yesterday I started knitting the left front of a cardigan. And look, it's almost finished!

Doesn't look bad at all, does it? And it's a completely different knit from the Birch-shawl, which is nice for a change. I'm using a pattern of an old Filati-book (of Lanagrossa). Too bad I'm (still) not creative enough to make my own pattern. Or am I too lazy?

Tonight I've been watching Art School on BBC2 again, speaking of creativity. I really love that series! Six celebrities following an intensive two-week course at the Chelsea College of Art and Design in London. Every night from 7.00 - 8.00 (in the Netherlands). Only this week. Don't miss it!

No, I wasn't away

2005-09-16T10:34:00.000+02:00

Just wasn't in the mood for blogging. And the weather was too lovely to knit a lot, so I didn't make much progress with my knitting projects. But now I finally sewed on the strap to my felted Knitty-bag. This is what it looks like now:

Although I like the result, I'm not totally satisfied with it: 1. In the pattern there's nothing about how to fasten this bag. I think it's not a good idea to leave it open, so I bought a zipper. 2. When you put some lumpy things in the bag it's looking really akward because it stretches a lot. The best solution is probably to linen it. So, zipper, linen, both? I don't know yet.

My other WIP is slowly progressing. After quite a few rows the knitting became a lot easier and I like the result now:

I hope I have enough yarn, though. I spilled quite some in my first attempts. By the way, I found some useful tips about Birch on this site.

And now I seriously have to think about my next project(s). Still have to buy new sock yarn, for cabled socks. But what else? I have this in my stash:

Some time ago I bought a secondhand sweater in a thriftshop and I unravelled it. It's a blue/grey acrylic yarn and I want to make a cardigan of it, a little like Jennifer Thurston's Nimbus. Without the hood, I don't have enough yarn for that, but with the grey fluffy borders.

And another pair of new socks

2005-08-28T12:05:00.000+02:00

Yes, I finished my Mexiko-Highlands socks. Don't they look very Mexican???

I just found back the label of the yarn. Funny, all this information you can read on it. Made in the Czech Republic, for a German firm, Mexiko Highlands. Very international socks indeed. Mit Rosskastanien-Pflegezusatz veredelt. Treated with something made of chestnuts, I guess. (I'm too lazy to get up to get my German dictionary.) Is that good? Well, you can all read it in this (pdf)magazine. That is, if you do read German.

And now I have to go and find new sock yarn. Thick yarn, this time. Because I want to knit thick socks with cables, for the winter, that will be here soon....

Birch

2005-08-26T11:22:00.000+02:00

Finally I'm on the right track with Birch, the lovely Rowan shawl. I think this is the fifth attempt, so it was about time. The last time it went to the frogpond was because:
1. I knitted the garter stitch version (yep, always chosing the most convenient option....), but that didn't look nice
2. I got confused which was RS and which was WS, so I totally messed things up.

Another problem I had was knitting the K2tog tbl's. But I found out you can knit a ssk instead. I think it looks exactly the same, and it is much easier to knit. I also changed to a circular needle, which makes it more easy to move the stitches forward. Although I'm a loose knitter, 299 stitches on a needle makes it all feel like a tight knit. Well, here is the result so far:

Nurejev?

2005-08-17T20:44:00.000+02:00

How do you like my new friend? I think he's awesome! He must be a dancer, according to his left leg. Shall I call him Nurejev?

He was knitted with Rowanspun dk (100% wool) and stuffed with some carding-wool. I washed him on 60 degrees, only once, and he felted really nice. For the shawl, knitted in I-cord, I used some sock-wool.

The satchel & the rabbit

2005-08-14T16:54:00.000+02:00

And one more picture of the felted Knitty satchel, while it's blocking. I washed it twice on 60 degrees C and I'm quite content with the result. Although I've been thinking about washing it a third time, because you can still see the knitted stitches. But I don't think a third time will make much difference and I'm afraid to wash the satchel on 90 degrees.

Because I've some yarn left I decided to knit Thuy's rabbit. CUTE, isn't it? Always a challenge, these small items. I felt like the three musketeers (in one person) starting knitting the rabbit's body, all these needles and only a few stitches on it.

The-almost-finished-satchel

2005-08-11T15:09:00.000+02:00

Here is a picture of the Knitty satchel, that I'm hoping to finish next weekend. I finished knitting the satchel and the strap, and now I'm weaving in the 101 loose ends. The I-cord BO looks quite nice as you can see (a little). It took me a while though, to understand what was meant in the pattern. After struggling with two needles for some time I finally understood you need three to knit the I-cord! The next step is knitting the I-cord around the flap. I hope the pattern is more clear about this. And then, the felting! Exciting! Because my washing machine is a frontloader, I cannot check every couple minutes. Just have to wait till the machine is finished......

Nothing new to show.....

2005-08-04T21:40:00.000+02:00

..... but I have some pictures of stuff I made a while ago.

The One-hour-baby-booties I knitted for Bo's baby. The pattern is from Stitch'nBitch Nation. The yarn is something acrylic I bought at the market.

This I knitted with cotton that was left over from my knitting obsession in the 80's. It's a pattern from Katia, nr. 48. And I'm never going to wear this.

Because I wasn't sure if I remembered how to knit a sweater I started with this sleeveless sweater. I used a combination of
patterns, I think. The yarn is
Pulcino from Lana Grossa.

And this shawl I'm going to frog, because it's completely askew (?). The yarn is nice, very soft Nuovo Print from Lana Grossa. The pattern I found in Viva.

Done!

2005-08-01T18:31:00.000+02:00

Finally! Last night I finished the Loll-cardigan. And it fits. I'm always a little nervous when joining the seams. Will it look nice, or will it stay in the closet forever? But this one I'm definitely going to wear. And it feels so soft and warm. I wanted to wear it this morning but it's too warm, despite the cold weather today. It's more of an autumn-cardigan, I think. The only problem I still have, is the curling of the fronts. Maybe I'm going to press them carefully with an iron.

Here are the facts:
Loll cardigan
Pattern: Rowan, Calmer booklet
Yarn: Rowan Calmer, 9 1/2 balls, color nr. 467, not for sale anymore
Needles: 3 1/2 and 4 mm
Started: end of March, 2005
Finished: 31 of July, 2005

On the right you can see how the fringes
and the decreases look. For the decreases I didn't follow the pattern. I think they made a mistake. When you do it the way they described it, it looks terrible.

Strange, how this color differs from the picture above. I think the real color is somewhere in between.

The Knitty-satchel

2005-07-26T22:31:00.000+02:00

After a few false starts with the Birch-shawl, I decided to knit the Knitty-satchel first. And I like the result! The Rowanspun DK is OK to knit with, although very different from the Calmer-yarn I'm using for the Loll-cardigan (yeah, almost finished!). The Rowanspun is a little like homespun yarn, I think. I first had to knit the bottom of the satchel, which was quite difficult in the beginning. I was really afraid the circular needle was going to break. But now everything is going well. I'm knitting the satchel with double strand on a 5 mm needle. Thight knitting, but hopefully nice when felted.

Museum and socks

2005-07-24T21:41:00.001+02:00

Today I went to the Groninger Museum to see the exhibition of the work of fashion designer Hussein Chalayan. 'Chalayan belongs to the most innovative, experimental and conceptual fashion designers of the present day', as it is said on the website of the museum. I'd never heard of him before this exhibition started. But I really like his minimalistic (but not trendy) clothes. His designs could be of inspiration to knitters who like to design their own knitting, I think.
And .... one the models was wearing boots I MUST have!

And now for something completely different: the socks I'm knitting. I forgot to mention them, but here's the first one...
When you don't know what to knit, you can always knit a pair of socks. But now I started with the satchel the socks will be forgotten for a while, I'm afraid.

Yummie!!!

2005-07-22T12:00:00.000+02:00

New yarn

2005-07-21T11:14:00.000+02:00

Last weekend I bought some new yarn, both Rowan. The grey Kidsilk Haze (Smoke) is meant to become a beautiful shawl, called Birch, from Rowan Magazine 34. I casted on 299 (!) stitches last night and now I can start with the lace pattern. I'm really curious how this is going to work out, as I have never knitted a lace pattern before.

The other skeins I bought are Rowanspun DK in the colours Rush, Icy and Snowball. Hmm, doesn't sound very summerish, but they were on sale so I couldn't resist. I'm going to knit the satchel (the smaller striped version) from Knitty with it. And probably will have a lot left over from the yarn when I'm finished.... Although I bought the same weight as in the pattern (500 gr.) the yardage of this yarn is a lot more.

I already knitted a swatch with double strand and threw it in the washing machine, on 60 degrees. I washed it twice now, together with an old pair of jeans. And it looks real nice, just the way it should, I think.

And now I'm probably the only person in The Netherlands who doesn't mind the weather is quite bad. Because both these yarns are not very nice to knit with when it's warm.....

Some people ...

2005-07-05T21:19:00.000+02:00

Some people see things that are

and ask 'why'?

Some people dream of things that never were

and ask 'why not'?

Some people have to go to work

and don't have time for all that...

Don't remember where I read this, but it does make sense, doesn't it?

Loop-d-loop

2005-07-03T21:50:00.000+02:00

Yesterday my copy of Teva Durham's Loop-d-Loop arrived. Great book! There are a lot of patterns in it I like. I hope I'll understand the way they are described. It's too bad most of the yarns that are used aren't for sale in The Netherlands. Come on, you Dutch, start knitting!!! That will probably help.

On the Loop-d-loop website, where you can find a lot of the patterns that are published in the book, I found a list (pdf) with, at the bottom, suggested materials. Here you can find which alternative yarns you can use.

By the way, did you notice the picture is on the right side now, instead of in the middle, as in the old postings? That is because I can insert pictures in my postings now, instead of using Hello for the pictures. Very convenient.
Thank you, Blogspot people!

As my Loll-cardigan is almost finished now I have to think about a new project. That's why I started a wishlist, on which are a few patterns that will always stay there, I'm afraid. I've f.e. never seen a copy of Rebecca here.

Wishlist:
Corrugated asymmetrical v-neck, Loop-d-loop, Teva Durham
Wavy, Knitty
Branching out, Knitty
Lace leaf pullover, Loop-d-loop, Teva Durham
Cloud, Calmer Collection, Rowan, Kim Hargreaves
Hearten, Calmer Collection, Rowan, Kim Hargreaves
Apricot jacket, Rebecca
Wrap cardi, Rebecca
Satchel, Knitty
Audrey, Rowan
Aibhlinn, Knitty
Simply Marilyn, Interweave Knits
A shoulder shrug, Interweave Knits
Rabbit, by Thuy
(to be continued!)

Curling Loll

2005-06-23T14:59:00.000+02:00

I just finished the right front side of Loll. It worries me a little that the right side is curling. Doesn't look nice. I hope it will turn out right when I've sewn it together.

Curling Loll 2

2005-06-23T14:57:00.000+02:00

Maybe the Rowan-knitter of the Loll-cardigan had the same problem? When you look at this picture from the Rowan Calmer-booklet it looks like the right front side curls as well.

Did the model have to hide this? Maybe I have to keep my right arm like she does, when I'm wearing the cardigan. Like Napoleon :-)
When you take a look at Elizabeth's Loll-cardigan it looks fine. Maybe it's the way you knit, tight or loose?

Flowers for Maaike

2005-06-19T15:15:00.000+02:00

Today is my sister's birthday! Happy birthday!
I picked her some flowers from my garden and made a picture of them. In case they will all be nearly dead when they arrive at here home (as it is steaming hot here, wonder when my pixie is going to wear her bikini ;-) ). So she can see what they looked like freshly picked.

Maybe you believe by now I have lots of flowers in my garden. But, alas, that is not the case. I really have to make some changes in my garden, there are too many shrubs, growing bigger and bigger. And most of them don't grow any flowers. Away with them!

As for the knitting, I'm still working on the Loll-cardigan. I finished the back, the left front, and nearly the right front. And the socks are finished, see next post!

Long time no blog

2005-06-19T14:55:00.000+02:00

Six weeks, hmmm, that sure is quite a long time. But as you can see here I did do some knitting. Yesterday I finished the blue socks for my father. As it is father's day today I will give them to him later this afternoon.

They were a bit of a bore to knit, that's why it took me so long to finish them. Next time you'll have to chose brighter colours, dad, or there will be no more handmade socks for you again!

Finished object!

2005-05-08T16:55:00.000+02:00

Finally...., a finished object. Somewhere I read that the last 5% always takes so much time, and that's exactly what happened with this top. The picture isn't very sharp, so I'm going to replace it with a new one. But I have to wait till the batteries of my camera are recharged.

But it's a nice top, I think. Too bad it's too cold, way too cold to wear it right now.
Anyway, now I can think about the next project! Although there still are a few to be finished: my dad's socks (I finished one) and the Rowan Loll-cardigan (finished for about 15%).

The shapely tank top

2005-04-16T10:57:00.000+02:00

Last week I started the shapely tank top I found at the site of White Lies Design. And look at this, it's almost finished! I knitted the smallest size, but hope it's not too small. As cotton usually stretches, I thought I'd made it fit tight. Well, we'll see. After finishing the back I'm going to block the two pieces, for he first time in my life.... Isn't that exciting? :-)

I also started to knit socks for my dad. He's always complaining about his socks, too tight, too long, too whatever.... Yesterday I showed the small piece (with a small cable in it) I had started and he was satisfied! Pfew! I could choose from the colours darkblue, darkblue and darkblue. Yes, darkblue socks are his favourite! But it's not an easy coulour to knit with, my old eyes cannot count the rows very well, so I hope the cable will turn out OK.

says: Have a nice weekend!

(And get your own here)

Socks for Rene

2005-04-08T20:39:00.000+02:00

Finally I finished the socks for Rene. It was his birthday two weeks ago. A bit late, I know, but I know he won't complain. Who gets handmade socks on his birthday these days?
I decided I'm going to knit socks as a birthdaypresent for everyone who invites me for his/her birthday. Whether they like it or not!

The feet in the socks are mine. That's why they look too big. The socks, I mean.

Loll

2005-04-07T17:28:00.000+02:00

As I promised yesterday......

Have to go now, Pilates in the gym, at 6.15.

What to knit....

2005-04-06T20:39:00.000+02:00

... with these luvely colours? I've been thinking about this shapely tank top. It sure looks like a nice fitting tanktop and I started knitting it a few times, but it seemed to turn out too big all the time. That's very often a problem when you don't use the yarn that is used in the pattern. You have to try and try before you have the right amount of stitches on your needles.

In the meantime I started with the Loll-cardigan again, with Rowan Calmer-yarn. Boy, is this great yarn! So soft and stretchy. Tomorrow I will post a picture of it. I'm too lazy now, to make a picture.

Aaaaaargggghhhh!!!

2005-03-27T18:50:00.000+02:00

And now for the bad news. Yesterday I started knitting the Loll-cardigan. Which is, by the way, not just a cardigan, it is a real PROJECT. The small piece in the picture must have taken me about 2 hours. All these little thingies, cast on 6 stitches, bind of 6 stitches. And this morning I found out I started with size S instead of M. So, too small!!!! So, I have to frog it. So, I'm very frustrated!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrr!!!

And even older stuff

2005-03-27T18:20:00.000+02:00

This dress and hat for one of our dolls has been knitted in the sixties by one of my grandmothers. It has been made so neatly, as if knitted by machine.

I found even some older things my mother's mother probably made at school (around 1920?). Next time I will make some pictures of these things.

Old stuff

2005-03-27T18:10:00.000+02:00

Look what I found today at my parents' house! This is probably one of the first things I knitted at elementary school. Cute, isn't it? It has been knitted very, very tight. When I'm looking at it I feel my hands get sweaty again. We always used cotton, which is difficult to handle for children (and grown-ups).

New knitter

2005-03-23T22:19:00.000+01:00

Finally my sister is infected by the knitting-fever. Like me, she learned knitting at elementary school. I picked it up at the end of the seventies again but she didn't.
In the yarnshop she saw this beautiful scarf and now she's making one herself. She already knitted 15 cms this evening, so it will be finished after the weekend, I think!?

It doesn't look really comfortable yet, don't you think? Well, believe me, it's the chair. Too small for knitting.

Something new on the needles!

2005-03-23T21:23:00.000+01:00

This afternoon I went with my sister to the Ryahuis, a yarnshop in Zuidlaren. Not the first time we went there. Last saturday I bought some very purple Rowan Calmer-yarn. Very purple is not my favourite colour at all. So at home I decided to go back to the shop to change the yarn for a more summerish colour. Very nice ladies own the shop, and changing was no problem at all. So now I have 2 balls of this nice I-dont-know-how-to-call-this-colour. The other 7 will arrive asap. And I can start knitting this lovely Loll cardigan designed by Kim Hargreaves. My favourite knitting-designer, I think.

Spring is here!

2005-03-18T22:52:00.000+01:00

Two weeks ago I finished this sweater. I knitted it with Lana Grossa Opaco, which I bought at the market. The only place where you can buy nice yarn in this town of 180.000 people. Well, there are 2 yarnshops, but they are NOT nice. So there's not much knitting going on in The Netherlands. And that explains why I called my blog The Lonesome Knitter.

But, aren't these colours nice? So different from all these brownish colours I've been wearing during the winter. I'm really satisfied with this sweater!

Hello.....

2005-03-18T22:04:00.000+01:00

....world! I want to show you the stuff I knitted. Interested? Hope so. But if you're not, no hard feelings. This blog is also for myself, to have an overview of everything I knitted. And to practice my english writing.