Le manque

Elle me manque, la créativité. De plus en plus.

Quelque chose doit se changer. Mais quoi? Et comment?

Sunday occupations

Been jogging, toddling, fishing.

Now, it’s time for the serious stuff. Like a major decision about my stash in yarns: how much of it do I want to keep? And what do I do with the rest? There are too many of them all as that I could enjoy it any longer. And life is going on, developing further and probably other things will become more important than working with yarn day in, day out.

This Longing for Creativity

This week the longing for a moment of simply being creative grows stronger and stronger. All this administrative work at the office isn’t satisfying that much. And as I have been unusually tired this week & needed lots more of sleep than for a long time, there is a severe shortage of time that I might actually use for creative endeavours. Hopefully tonight there will be time & space to sit down and write or knit or spin and just enjoying this moment of creating something that hasn’t been there before.

Socks and socks

I finished two pairs of them. Love them both.

I call the first pari the Inca socks, because, well, of their colors. I knit them toe up with a round cast on and then increasing the number of stitches gradually. Then I tried to knit the German heel I usually knit from top down to knit in the reverse direction. It worked, although the heel got a little bit short.

It was fun to knit with this yarn. It is so soft and the 6ply helps you with getting them quickly done.

The other pair was nice to knit, too. Also Regia, Atlantis 4ply. I used a broken rib pattern. I wanted to see how the pattern matches with the stripes. Quite well, I find.

First Socks of 2008

Also the first socks finished in 2008 jumped from my needles.

The story of this yarn is epic. I bought it some three or four years ago (Regia) and always felt that I wanted to make something special of it. I had a scarf in mind. I started and ribbed and started and ribbed and finally put it aside. When I got back at it, I ribbed it all and gave it a good wash. Then, I skeined it and decided that no matter what, this yarn would become some socks.

And I nearly started again with knitting and ribbing, because, well, I was trying to find the “right” pattern for this yarn. I wrote “nearly”. And that’s that. After the second try I said plain socks. And so they became. Plain Socks.

Objet fini

Before anything else, I ribbed. Ribbed the tank (Sage from The Summer tweed Collection) I had knit with this Summer Tweed some two years ago. It never really did fit, and the holes those double yarn overs produced in the fabric were a little bit too much for my taste. So. I tried to rib Summer Tweed. I did not expect that it would work, since the thread of Summer Tweed is not the strongest one, you can actually rip it apart quite easily.
The ribbing worked. Better than I had expected. I calculated, bought some additional three hanks and started knitting again. This time it would be a sweater with long sleeves.
I made a swatch. Designed and did the maths. I started knitting and found that the yarn knitted over more than 20 stitches behaves differently, gives a different gauge and all. So I ribbed once again, did the maths based on what I had knitted and started anew.
Now, the sweater is finished. Actually, my first raglan sweater ever. I put it on and did not want to take it off again. Looks, as if I might finally have a Summer Tweed garment in my wardrobe that I actually DO wear!

Now, the good piece is drying. Had to do this. This last test to all knitted garments. Washing. And looking what is happening to it.
I liked knitting it. Summer Tweed has a character of its own. It is crisp, astonishingly soft and decidedly opinonated. But I like that for a change.

And now, as this first ribbing of Summer Tweed was successful, I ribbed today the second Summer Tweed garment – Cinnamon – in blue, also from the Summer Tweed Collection.

I loved the design, its feminity,  but I was not able to get the gauge as indicated in the pattern. And so I had to do the maths. I made them, I knit. I got a really fitting Cinnamon that was on the really tight side. And then, after the first wear, maybe also the second, the bands started to sag. I wore the cardigan from time to time, but not very often, and so. Well. It is ribbed by now. Will going to knit it into a simple sweater. In all it’s bluish beauty.

Silk Garden Scarf

As I have started to de-stash, the first after-Christmas project was this beautiful Silk Garden scarf. It came out absolutely beautiful. So soft, so colorful, so cozy. I couldn’t stop knitting until the last of the three skeins was used up.

Knitted with 5.0mm needles, Faux Brioche over 49 stitches.

Haven’t decided yet whether this is going to be an item for myself or whether I give it away or even sell it. I’ll see.

Knittted Christmas gifts

One week before Christmas I got hooked. Hooked on making some Christmas presents for the pure joy of giving something to someone else.

And so I was busy knitting and after the knitting the packing came. And after the packing the shipping. I made it before December 24 for the presents I had to send. The ones that are delivered personally, well, they got also finished. Unfortunately, there was neither the time nor the light to take some useful fotos of the finished objects. They have been mostly scarves.

And now I am wondering whether, when and how they will be received and what the reaction will be.

Knitting

Have been knitting now for some time on some gift projects. Mostly with yarn I spun myself about a year ago. Funny, how this yarn all of a sudden resurfaces and wants to be dealt with. And, actually, I like to knit it, although some of it is quite uneven spun.

The light, unfortunately, is not good enough to take any photographs, but I will try at last  before I pack and dispatch them.

Sunday and so much to do

Today saw me continuing with my knitting marathon. I wanted, I wanted so much to get finished with that sweater. This weekend. I have started it before I left for my holidays and got back on it as soon as I had reached the finishing line of NaNoWriMo 07 – for the first time I was there among the winners. 50000 words written in one month. Yay! It was so cool to paste in the whole text into the word counter and then find a moment later the confirmation that I’d made it. After all these years of trying and always finding somthing happening that needed my attention instead of writing. This time I made it. Against all odds and ends. And got the winner certificate.

Well, so, I was knitting like mad today, and watching Hercule Poirot episodes. When I finished the second sleeve, it was afternoon and definitively time for a little break. I went for a run. As I still have quite delicate heels, running means to me mostly testing out what works and what does not work. Astonishingly, pain dissipates after a while of running and so I got another nice little round done. I like running. One of my goals these days is to get back to do it regularly one to two times per week, pairing them with some daily yoga exercises.

After the break came the sewing together. And this takes as everyone concerned with knitting sweaters nows, quite some time. The actual sewing and then also the weaving in. By now I am the proud and happy owner of a new sweater. And of course, it had to be put on.

So far this is one of quickest knit sweaters ever. It is model #3 from Rebecca 33, knit with Zeta from Lang Yarns.

With December there came the longing for a tweedy garment

I long to knit something tweedy. So much. But as far I haven’t found yet a pattern that suits me really well. Will probably have to give the longing a little rest. Perhaps this will solve the problem.

Meanwhile I still have some socks on the needles and other projects going on, this one will probably have to  wait a little  bit longer.

Wardrobe talk

I urgently need some more sweaters in my wardrobe. The question is: where do I get them? Go in search for them at local stores? Or go through my stash and knitting frenzily?

First option might be devastating. Colors these days are triste, triste, triste. And do me no favour.  The chance of finding a sweater that I might feel like wearing, well this is absolute off-chance.

Knitting on the other hands asks for some time. And this I do not really have with NaNoWriMo in the second week and those knit-alongs  and holidays just ahead.

On the other hand with knitting, it is me who decides upon the colors and that’s a very very convincing argument. I  can also decide upon the decide, which might not be so convincing as the colour argument, because deciding upon a design normally means for me to start to do some maths and rework the details.

Well, I’ll see.

Today there are still stormy winds around. And the weather outside is gray. Simply gray.

So go for some colours, it might you do something good.

Morning hour

Just had this moment to spare and finally cast on for the Mystic Waters knitalong this morning. I am using a dark, beautiful blue, laceweight yarn from Uruguay. As this shawl has a triangular form, progress is soon to be made out. And now, I’m at the office and can’t wait to get on with it.

Got delivery

Must be the most happy person today, as I got today a delivery of fibers and a tid bit of yarn making all it’s way from Uruguay to Switzerland. The colours are simply breathtaking. One of the rovings more beautiful than the other. And then there is this Azul Francia in lace weight. And I can’t stop looking at it and wondering how it will look in daylight, not to talk about Golden Purple, really, I am the luckiest, happiest woman of the world with all this beauti-beautiful colors around me!

Done with Clue #3

I finally managed to get past clue 3 of the SoC. It was very agreeable knitting, although it seemed to go on forever.

When one becomes two

Somehow this is like this story about spinning wheels. First it is one, then comes a second, a third, until you have a whole flock of them. I never lived it through though, with spinning wheels, but looks as if I might with knitalongs. After the successful start with The Secret of Chrysopolis, I joined the next one, Mystic Waters. Looks, as if it might all be about blue yarns, enticing lace patterns and the mysteries of water. Have not yet started with knitting, but will do so soon. Yarn will be a blue shade of uru-yarn. Am actually looking forward to start with it.

Knit along ahoi

Da habe ich mich doch einfach angemeldet für einen dieser Knitalongs – Secret of Chrysopolis. Sogar entsprechendes Lacegarn konnte ich mir noch vor dem Start am 28. September besorgen – in Uruguay, denn in der Schweiz ist sowas kaum oder nicht zu finden.

Und so stricke ich nun an diesem Schal. Und – es macht mir Spass.

Die ersten Bilder kann ich auch schon vorweisen. Da ist erstmal die Maschenprobe, mit 3,5er Nadeln gestrickt.

Sie ist ein kleines bisschen breiter als 10cm geworden, aber wirklich nur ganz minim, so dass ich das Tuch nun auch mit Nadeln in dieser Grösse stricken werde.

Und dann liegt Clue 1 nun also definitiv hinter mir. Auch ich hatte mit dem Aufsetzen der Musterteile in Reihe 7 zu kämpfen. Erstmals war ich wirklich froh, das Prinzip des Maschenmarkierens zu kennen. Diese kleinen Maschenmarkierer haben mir sehr geholfen.

Es ist nicht so

dass ich nichts fertigstellen würde in meinen strickerischen Aktivitäten. Es ist nur so, dass ständig schon wieder das nächste ansteht & ich mit etwas anderem beschäftigt bin und ich nicht die Ruhe & Musse habe, um diese netten kleinen Beiträge inklusive Fotos zu verfassen.

Aber: ich will & ich werde. In naher Zukunft.

Harumpf.

Back to Spinning

Since I moved in February, Kiara, my one and only spinning wheel did not get much attention. In August, there was a flash of spinning a band of light blue silk-merino. Then, there was silence again.

Yesterday, the bug got back to me. And as it looks, it got me badly.

Fertig gestelltes

Da war ich ja plötzlich und ganz schnell produktiv und habe mir zwei Abwaschlappen gestrickt. Eigentlich konnte ich gar nicht anders, denn nach meinem Ausflug in die Stickerei, welche mich mit drei bestickten Geschirrtüchern zum Stricken zurückkehren liess, schrie es in der Küche noch mehr nach einheitlicher Farbgebung als vorher. Und so habe ich Garn gesucht, auf Anhieb gefunden – ich konnt’s kaum glauben – und dann gestrickt.

Etwas kleiner

Etwas grösser

Was mich vor allem beim Stricken des zweiten Lappens fasziniert hat, ist die Farbverteilung. Anfangs schienen der Farbverläufe der Maschenzahl zu entsprechen, doch dann, nach ein paar Runden, begannen die Farben plötzlich zu wandern. Gepoolt hat es nach wie vor. Und das ist ganz richtig so.

Abwaschen macht so übrigens gleich doppelt soviel Spass, mit diesen peppigen, kraftvollen, energiegeladenen Farben.