Yarnlove

I went to Wincent Garner to ask for advice on yarn for the Rusted Root top, and they suggested Calmer. Might be a good idea, since the last week has been quite stressful. I went for the shade "Calmer" (the combination of yarn and shade should be sedative), but it's nothing like the Wincent Garner picture. It's very very pale. I might look sick wearing it. I know you say bold colours, Fi, but if you're not with me in the store I forget.

Anyhow, the garment is knitted top down, which should be a good idea for us with abnormal backs. The pattern is clear, but could have been made easier. I had to chart the lace insertion myself since the pattern only has a text version. It's very hard to get a picture of lace without a chart, I think. Anyhow, I'm increasing with M1's, which is quite new to me. I normally increase by knitting in the stitch below, either before or after depending on which way I want it to slant. My M1's are all made the same way (I hope), but maybe if I turned them different directions the increase "seam" would look more symmetrical? Anybody have a clue?

Calmer is a kind of stretchy yarn with a pleasant softness to it, and it's very friendly on the needles. I'm having great expectations for this top, the oncoming spring and the wonderful places I'll be wearing it. To avoid heartbreak I should however do some situps before I try it on.

Apart from the knitting, I've just moved to Stockholm and my loved one to Brussels, where he'll be doing his internship for five months. It just blows. Does anybody know of any good yarn shops in Brussels?

I bought the lovely Rusted Root pattern a while ago, and am very much looking forward to wear it when springtime comes (even though it's been springtime since September) . The pattern suggests a 80% cotton/20% merino blend, which seems like an excellent option for a short-sleeved top. Cool like cotton, bouncy and elastic like wool. The best of two worlds. But what if you live in a country that doesn't provide you with these exquisite blends? Yes, I could order it from somewhere, but maybe I don't want to. Maybe I want to squeeze the yarn before I buy it, and make sure the colour is just right for me.

Dear blogreaders, what yarn should I go for? Suggested gauge is 20. Will pure wool be too hot? Will cotton drive me crazy? Am I too great a knitter to cave in for those tempting but common cotton/acrylic summer yarns? Please advise.

Pattern: Baudelaire from Knitty summer 2006
Yarn: Opal Uni, SP8 gift from Theresia
Needles: 2.5 mm, 15 cm bamboo DPN's, as above
Gauge: Smaller than suggested, so I knit these in "S" despite my size 39/6/7 feet.
Fun: Yes
Mistakes made: A few. These were intended for me, but the toe-up construction made calculating finished foot length very difficult, so they became a Christmas present for my mum who has bigger feet than me.

I'm feeling like a really bad blogger, so here's a quick and uninspired update on my recent knitting:

Hello Yarn X-mas socks for E's mum. On the right you can see a little thingy. I've no idea what they're called in English, but it's a tiny woven ribbon that says "Stickad med kärlek av Linn Lindquist" (Knitted with love by Linn Lindquist). I ordered from vavnamn.se and I'll be sewing them onto everything I knit from now on.


Before these socks I made a shrug:

It's Drops Alpaca and a glitter thread knit as one, and I knit it like this:

Wacky angle, but it's knit like a T. A friend had a shrug like this bought at H&M, and I wanted one too, so I knit it. The bottom rectangle measures 105 cm and is 30 cm high, and the top rectangle is 45 times 30, and then the ends are sewn together. It's a weird construction but it works.
At the moment I'm finishing the ribbing on the Baudelaire socks my mum got for X-mas (didn't have time to finish them on time...), and I'm making an entrelac scarf in Noro Kureyon: