Yarnlove

A couple of days ago I finished the lace shawl I've been working on for not too long. I caved in at 13 repeats instead of 15, but when I had done 14 of 16 rows of the lace border I was out of yarn, so I'm quite happy with my poor endurance. Look at how nicely it blocks! (I don't block - or knit - lace that often) It's almost 170 cm from corner to corner. Great stuff!

Yarn: Faerytale from Du Store Alpakka
Yardage: 3 skeins = 525 metres
Needles: 4.5 mm bamboo circulars
Gauge: 18 maybe?
Lessons learned: Not many. It was a simple knit with an interesting/clever beginning and a pattern that never bored me. I never at any time felt sick of this project!

From this romantic project to something a bit more gay:
I'm knitting socks for a friend whose birthday party I didn't show up at because I was in the archipelago with a special someone having a marvellous time. This friend is now in Kabul, Afghanistan (luckily doing office-y stuff and nothing that could be dangerous), and I think he could use a pair of socks when the winter comes. I ordered this yarn (Regia 4-fädig Nation Color) from Garnkorgen (which is a great yarnshop for Swedes who wish to try something new and exotic), and I thought it would be a bright multicoloured yarn, but when I raveled it (as in Ravelry) I discovered that it is gayly rainbow striped, which is quite OK since my friend is gay in every possible sense of the word...

Yup, I'm a lucky girl these days - although it's been a couple of weeks since I got this package from Karin Malle of Strikke-Tanten. This is how cute it was on the outside->









And this is what was inside ->


Four patchwork coasters! I was very inspired by them, and some day I will start patchworking myself. Not very soon, but hopefully this year.

Thank you, Strikke-Tanten, both for these cute coasters, but also for making this world slightly sweeter by paying it forward.

I've got one participant in my own pay it forward, so there's still two openings. I'd love to make something special for you. Leave a comment and you're in!

Yesterday I got my second SP parcel! It was kind of green/red colour themed - very coordinated. Look!

There were two balls of burgundy cotton, two hanks of sock yarn, possibly hand dyed and possible self-striping, more fruity shampoo and conditioner, more chocolate, a compact mirror, and best of all: a Amy Butler sewing book! It's so good I can't believe it - I love her fabrics (check them out at purlsoho.com) and the designs are very elegant. Can't wait to make something from it!

Thank you, dear SP, for all the nice things! And please tell me more about the sock yarn!

Apart from that, I've done some yarn procurement lately. First of all, I got some Regia sock yarn from Garnkorgen - I thought it was just multicoloured, but it turns out to be rainbow striped. That works fine, since I'm going to knit socks for a gay friend... From the same shop I got two hanks of Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock in colourway "Tuscany" - very nice! This will be socks for a special someone, when I get the time... The third yarn in this pic is like heaven in my hands - Faerytale from Du Store Alpacka. It's pink and fuzzy, and I'm making a lace shawl to wear at a wedding in two weeks. Free pattern (in Swedish) available at Avigmaskan.

I've been a blogger on holiday, even though I've been working for two weeks now, for too long. I thought I'd share my thoughts on what olympic sport my knitting resembles, until I find the strength to post pictures.

I think some of my knitting can be compared to short distance running (socks, mittens), in some cases with hurdles (socks and mittens with lace and/or cables). Sometimes it's more long distance (sweaters, shawls). Sometimes it's more like wrestling (really tricky cables and not using a cable needle) and sometimes like canoeing, in the sense that I'm sitting still, working with my arms and everything runs smoothly and quickly forward.

I'm such an athlete!