Pinwheel sweater for me

Unfortunately I need to complain. Namely, quality of the Kauni yarn is not at all sufficient. Already at many knitting forums I read that the yarn might be broken leaving a knot and suddenly revealing a completely different colour. When the effect is supposed to be a smooth transition like this brand is developed for, then the poor knitter wants to have this effect into the piece of fiber art. When I started to knit I detected a knot. Gladly, it was made from exactly the same colour threads and I felt relieved… but soon after I discovered that now instead of being red-orange-yellow-green-etc. my garment will look like red-orange-yellow-orange-red-etc. No good.

Well, as I had bought a little bit more yarn than needed just for my and my child’s sweaters, I managed to plan so that I finally got the right colours at the right places. Oh, I love this jacket very much already! Also this pattern is taken from Elann.

My last needle felt project: dreads

I wanted to try dreads for some time now. Finally my hair seemed long enough and I asked around for some dreadmaster who might be able to make my head. This question left unanswered and then my boyfriend who is the father of my child (yes, we are together again) said that he would give a try to make dreads for me. We checked some dreadheaded people forums, found some answers, some we got from his colleague NuttyDread and then process started! It took almost 3 weeks to finish the forms, but actually, might be good to know that dreads are the stuff that never is finished. And yes, one part of the dread people takes the help of crochet hook. But as all this process is named ´to felt your own hair´ I said, that would be interesting to hasten the process with felting needles. It works! For me at least.

Huge thanks to Joakim for making these wonderful dreads and also to our child for surviving that chronic attention deficit during the dread-making weeks!!!

Crocheted dress

Long, long time ago I was visiting my boyfriends’ now late mother. She had old Swedish knitting and crocheting magazines from 70-ies at home. I fall in love with the pattern of crocheted dress. Then she was so kind to pay for yarn as the present for me. My boyfriend then chose the colours for yarn to order. After a while I had one dress of my own. Here at the picture I am with the daughter of my cousin at her school graduating party!

Shame for me for wearing the dress too seldom.

Skull and snake sweater for hard rock fan

I have a friend. He came into my life when I had it as hardest and darkest. He was standing there with the torch and showing me that light is possible again. As warm and nice is his heart as dark is his music taste, home design and clothes. ;)

Well, and then he was going to have a birthday. Knowing that black is a right colour I went to the yarn shop… but there… following my own taste, I just could not resist not to chose completely black, but next in the colour scale: greyish. Then I also guessed that for a mans sweater I need to have almost more that half kg yarn, but it was not true, I used just 300 g of Kampes wool. What was over I changed later to more colourful yarns. Model I compiled from 5 different patterns. Looking around on Ravelry I found also a suitable sign but that I just made in my favourite colour, orange. And seems that I have been forgiven!

Pinwheel sun hat

Now I have been knitting two pinwheel jackets. One for my kid, one for me (not published yet). When I saw pinwheel sun hat at Ravelry, I had an urge to make it. Because my child really need one and because it looks so nice! After experience with this genius pattern I even didn’t need one for hat. Just was able to make it from the photos of other knitters.

This cotton yarn I bought at curiosity shop, which I passed by on my way to yarn shop :D. Great orange colour, but when the seller told me that yarn is from 60-ies or 70-ies I started to think if it good or bad. Fortunately, I just read the book of Yarn Harlot and she, as well as other passionate knitters say that there is no expiry date for yarn.

Entrelac jacket

Finally I can present my first entrelac project. It has been swarming in my head for long time. Once I tried with another yarn, but got stuck when reading the description. Incredible difficult for me was to understand how could one knit at the front and back loop at the same stitch. I tried and tried, but nope, didn’t get it.
Then I asked for advice in crafters community, got help. But meanwhile I had many other project plans and my entrelac was waiting.
Then when summer was here and my kid didn’t have light cotton-like jacket, I felt ready to give the second chance to entrelac.
Yarn is ecological cotton Eko Tekla 8/4, bought at craft fare for some years ago. Made by Ateljé Huskroken. I used 5 skeins of 50 g. To be honest, the only reason why I didn’t gave up understanding of entrelac was memory that my mother once started to knit me an entrelac pullover, which was finished as vest :D. All the time I thought: if my mother did it, then I should also be able to do. Not that she can’t knit or so, but she doesn’t really like it. Completely different from me. From the other side her sister; my godmother is the crafty one in the family. So part of my crafty genes I got from her, another part from my grandmother from fathers side.

Take a seat on the rainbow!

At the springtime I was again at the craft fair. Among other things I put an eye on the Evillas preyarn in rainbow colours. First I thought that I finally need to learn to spin, but then the seller told me that one could knit preyarn even without spinning. Well, then I napped on idea to do felted things and bought 4 skeins of preyarn.
I have one round chair at my new apartment and decided that this chair need to look more colourful. Honestly, it is not at all easy to handle the preyarn, it takes time do crochet or knit, as yarn easily breaks. I crocheted round piece and made it for 1/3 larger as the chairs diameter is. Then I continued without increasing until the skein was finished. Washing and voila! Here it is: my rainbow chair!

Pinwheel sweater for child

As soon as I saw the Pinwheel sweaters pattern, I knew that someday I was going to make it.
As soon as I saw the Kauni yarn, I knew that I would make the pinwheel sweater out of it.

Yarn I bought at online shop Garnkorgen.se and started to knit this sweater for child. As Kauni is thinner as yarn used for pattern, I literally knitted sweater for adult, which then suites my 3 years old.

And, yes, right now apart from orange I am in love with rainbow colours!!!

Have you heard this song?

Before and after… :(

Oh, those things sometimes just happen. Always unintentional, unexpected but leaves behind a paralysing feeling. Namely, washing of knitted garment. Yes, sometimes the washers are stupid enough or tired or find other excuses why to put in washing machine fine wool and then to take out a fine felted piece of art. (And yes, I’ve done it as well).
But this time it was different. Fabel is superwash wool and this jacket has been washed at washing machine for several times. This time was crucial though. Apparently another clothing, washed together with this the most beautiful thing ever (or so far ;)), knitted by me, had bad personal chemistry with each other.
I tried already several more washings, bleaching, but so far nothing helps. Maybe you have some god hints?
Yes and photos are before and after…

It’s been long, long blog vacation

Oh, so many things have happened in my life in the last few months. All together I can call this period of life as prolonged tornado season.

A couple of month I felt so bad, that there even were no knitting or crocheting. After a while I recovered and started to work with my hands desperately. And later I thought a lot of updating my blog, but I never did, until now.
Meanwhile I have changed the place of residence and as I came into my new flat I started to make things to have it nicer around. I decided to try not to buy new things but either to do them by myself or to buy in the second hand shops. Well, still I bought the yarn ;)
Here I have crocheted some of the bathroom little things as toilet paper holder, wire candlestick for tea candles, one small wire case for small things and one for toothbrushes.