Socks and Yarn

Yeah, the title of this post is really unimaginative, but at least it tells you what it will be about. I got my last order of Fibernymph Dye Works yarn yesterday, and it is sooo cool!

This is her Bounce base (80 % superwash merino/20 % nylon), and the colourway is called Rainbow Riot. It is so much fun! It is striped in yellow, orange, red, purple, blue, teal and green, and I can't wait to cast this on. I think it needs to be just plain vanilla socks, and that will be a bit challenging for me as I find that kind of boring to make. But I think any pattern will take away from the awesome stripes, so I just have to bite the bullet on this one!

I also cast on a new pair of socks during the weekend, as I needed a mindless pattern for work. I chose my Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled yarn, in the colourway Leprechaun Socks, and the pattern House Targaryen socks.

They are looking really nice so far, and I'm already almost halfway through the foot on the first sock. It's flying off the needles, even if I'm trying to just knit on it at work. I'm really enjoying the yarn, and this is my first time knitting with a sparkling yarn too. I'm not completely sold on that, but it's ok, and the socks look kind of cool with the sparkly stuff. I love the feel of the yarn though, it's super soft but still feels like it's durable.

Other than that I've mostly knit on the Parcel sweater, and I've just started to increase again after the waist decreases. I haven't gotten any new photos of it yet, as there isn't too much visible difference from the last time I showed it, but it's getting there. I actually knit up a whole skein of yarn on Sunday! It's a fun knit, the cables keep it interesting. I'm just a little bit sad that I probably won't get much use from it until next winter.

This coming weekend I'll be going home to visit my parents, I'm going to help them with some planting and stuff, so I might not be back here until next week. I doubt that I'll have very much progress to show off before I leave on Friday. I haven't been home for quite some time, so that will be nice. I'm leaving Thomas here with the cats, but my sister will be going with me instead.

Oh, this past weekend she and I went for a small shopping trip, and I bought myself a very pretty dress. Isn't it cute?

I'm planning on using it mostly as an every day dress, I have way too many dress-up dresses already. Since I started knitting, I seem to spend less and less money on clothes and more and more on yarn...

/ Jenny

It's been a whole week!

I have been so good with posting regularly this year, I'm kind of surprised that I've let a whole week go by without! I have just been busy with work, and had a lot of other stuff to do too, so I've been a bit too tired in the evenings to feel inspired to write. But today I have the day off (it's another national holiday today. We have a lot of those in the spring), and nothing special planned, so I thought I would update you all!

First of all, I'm getting new glasses. I have had a lot of headaches in the evenings lately, and usually when I get like that it means that my eyes have changed again. They do that about once every fourth or fifth year, and then it's time to get a new prescription. I've been trying out new frames for about a week now, and I've finally decided. I'm getting one regular pair and one pair of sunglasses. 

These frames are just the ones that you get to borrow from the optician to try out, mine will of course not have all those stickers on. And please excuse the goofy phone photos, I was home alone and couldn't ask Thomas to help me :)

I haven't been doing a ton of knitting, but I did finish the Carousel socks the other day.

They were fun to knit, but I really don't like the yarn. My sister said that all the dark colours looked sad and morose, and I agree. The pale lilac (which looks almost white in the photos) isn't happy enough to brighten the socks up. Plus, all those picked up stitches that run around all the spiralling makes the sock pretty uncomfortable to walk on. And I managed to get one sock a little bit too large, and the other one a little bit too small! So I think I'll knit another, nicer pair for my mother instead, and these will just end up in the pile of socks I don't wear much (that pile is fortunately very small). They were very cool to knit though, I had a lot of fun, and the technique was very smart.

I also got some yarn in the mail yesterday, the May shipment in the Hunger Games yarn club from Friday Studios.

The yarn is the Monday base (75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon), and the colourway is called Girl on Fire. I love this one too, and I'm so glad I joined this club! We also got some lip balm (Which is called TrackerJack Anti Venom!) and some stickers, and I love that we get a little bit of extras with every shipment. 

I hope Frida starts a new club once this one is finished!

I'm also still waiting for my first shipment in the next round of the Doctor Who club from Mad Color Fiber Arts, but apparently there had been a mix-up and she had missed my order. The yarn is coming, but it might take a little bit longer. I don't mind though, Heather was sooo nice about it and sent me a very apologetic message on Ravelry, and I completely understand that mistakes happen. We're all human, and as long as the mistake is fixed (and with such a nice message to go with is), it's fine. Just makes me want to buy more from the shop, as you can't beat good customer service!

And since we last spoke, I have actually knit a lot on my Gördes socks!

I'm almost done with the first leg, I think I might start the heel flap today. I love how these are turning out, the yarn (Shibui Knits sock yarn) is very nice to work with and the pattern is a lot of fun. Especially now that I'm getting used to the chart symbols. I wonder if they would fit my mom? I'm going home to visit next weekend, but I doubt they will be finished by then. But maybe the first one will, so she can at least try them on. I thin she would wear these a lot more than the Carousel ones.

I've also knit a bit on the Parcel sweater, and it's coming along nicely. I've done half of the waist decreases, and I really want to finish this one soon. I like knitting with the yarn (Drops Garnstudio Lima), but I also find myself in the mood for some Wollmeise DK again. But I don't like having two sweaters going at the same time, so I need to finish this one first.

Other than that the past week has been filled with work, and a lot of stupid stomach issues. I'm hoping that it is slowly getting better though, so cross your fingers for that! Last weekend Thomas' brother Adam moved to a new apartment, so all of the five brothers were in town to help. We went out for dinner on Saturday evening, which was really nice. My sister joined us too, and it is really nice to spend time with her. Since we moved from Linköping we really don't see each other as often, and at the end of the summer she is moving away too, to get closer to her work. It's still only a two hour drive away, but I'm still a little bit sad about it. It will be good for her though!

Now I think it's time for breakfast, and then I think I'll go outside before the predicted rain gets here. I'll try not to let a whole week go by before I post again!

/ Jenny

Back to our regular schedule!

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week was fun and awesome as always, and I'm really glad I managed to participate all week last week! Mimi over at EskiMimi Makes is an awesome person, and her blog is one of the prettiest I know. It's so cool of her to organize this event each year, and I be even bigger next year, when it's the fifth anniversary.

Yesterday was something which is called Valborgsmässoafton (according to my dictionary, it's translated into Walpurgis Night, which is a German term originally), which is celebrated in the northern parts of Europe. I think that in "heathen times", this was a rite to celebrate the spring equinox, but once the Christians arrived and started baptising people, it got mashed up with the celebration of Saint Valborg (which is the swedification of the name Walpurgis). Now we just light big bonfires and have fireworks. It's supposed to be to frighten away all the witches that fly away on their brooms to celebrate with the devil. In the western part of Sweden, where I come from originally, we don't really celebrate Valborg much, but we have the fires and fireworks on Easter instead. Here in the eastern part of Sweden, Valborg is celebrated much more, and is unfortunately intimately connected with teen drunkenness. Well, actually, that part we have in western Sweden as well..

And today, the day after Valborg, we have the day off. It's a national Union day, and when socialism took it's hold of the country in the beginning of the last century, this was a day for demonstrations. It still is, to a big extent, and there are often May 1st walks in many cities, to protest against different stuff. I have never taken part in any, but it's nice to have the day off from work. It's supposed to get pretty warm today too (around 15 Centigrades), so Thomas has planned to barbecue. I plan on sitting in the sun knitting, and possibly do a little bit of gardening.

And speaking of gardening: In January we got connected to the communal sewage system (we had our own well before that), which meant that we got the hole garden dug up. Since then it's been either snowy and cold (so we couldn't see the ugliness), or wet and incredibly muddy (so we couldn't start fixing it). Now it's starting to dry up, and hopefully the digger guys will come back to help us fix it (we're just waiting for an estimate, to see how much it will cost us). I can't wait to have a pretty lawn again!

Ok, on to the knitting! I've actually been doing stuff this past week, I've just been too tired after work to make double blog posts. I haven't finished any more stuff since the last time, but I have started something. As I was writing about the Carousel socks, I decided that those needed to be my May striping project. I cast on early last week, and I've already finished the first one!

It is knit with Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett yarn (75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon, 210 m/50 g), in the colourway Exotic Pool  04453. I'm not too sure that I like the colours knit up, but they are ok I guess. I love knitting these socks though, the design is pretty ingenious! They are turning out just a little bit long in the foot, so I'm going to give them to my mom when I see her next. She saw the photo of the socks from the pattern that I posted last week and really liked them, so I think she'll be happy. Although mine are nowhere near as nice as the pattern ones!

I also got some yarn in the mail this week. I finally got my Fibernymph Dyeworks yarn that I ordered a while ago (and there might be one more skein coming...), and I am very happy with it. Both skeins are in the Bedazzled base (75 % superwash merino/20 % nylon/5 % stellina, 401 m/100 g), the first one is in the colourway Leprechaun socks:

Can you tell why I love this skein! I'm a sucker for green, and this skein just screamed my name. The next colourway is Froot Loops, and it is just so much fun:

The stripes in this skein are just so silly and awesome! I'm very, very pleased that I managed to get both of these skeins, as it is really difficult to catch any at the updates. I think one of these might be the next stripy socks, if I don't decide to start with the Friday Studios Hunger Games yarn I got a couple of weeks ago. Me and Tammi over at Life and Yarn or Yarn and Life have been talking about a KAL with this yarn, so that might start soon.

I also happened to see that Garnkorgen had finally gotten a new shipment of MadelineTosh yarns last weekend (I get their news on Facebook. Which might be a bad idea...), so I also got four skeins of Vintage (100 % merino, 183 m/aprox. 100 g), in the colourway Copper Penny:

I'm thinking of making a February Fitted Pullover with this, but I haven't really decided yet. As I think I might have miscalculated a little bit, I'm not sure if I'll have enough for a full sweater, so I'm actually contemplating getting another skein or two. I actually have a birthday coming up at the end of May, so maybe I'll wish for some yarn money. As if I need more yarn...

This past weekend I picked up my Parcel sweater again, it has been neglected for quite a while now. I made it past the bottom ribbing, and I have just started the waist decreases.

It's made with Garnstudio Drops Lima yarn (65 % wool/25 % alpaca) in DK weight, and I really like it. I was afraid that the alpaca would make it too fuzzy to see the cables, but that doesn't seem to be a problem. As I haven't gotten back to my Gördes socks yet, the sweater will probably become my evening knitting for a while.

Now I think it's time for breakfast, and I think I'll go outside and eat as the sun is shining. Let's hope spring is here to stay this time!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 7

Day 7: Looking Forward

Today is the last week of Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, and the topic is the future. What are our plans and dreams for the coming year? Where do you want your knitting to take you?

I always like to try out new thing, and I think the newest thing I've made so far this year has been all the yarn clubs. I've learned that I really like getting surprise yarn in the mail, and I appreciate all of the colours even though some of them might not be ones that I had chosen myself. I really do hope that when I look back on this year, I'll have knit some of the yarns that I've gotten in the clubs. I have started already, but I've only used yarn from one of the clubs. I want to try out more new yarn brands, that I haven't tried before!

I also hope that my knitting mojo keeps at it's current level, as I seem to churn out three projects each month right now. The past two years it has been less than two each month, and I really want to knit up more of my stash. And as I keep adding to it, that won't happen unless I increase my knitting speed!

Finally, I really want to finish 2013 as I did 2012, with nothing on my needles. It was so good for me to be in that KAL where the goal was to finish everything that you had going before you started any new projects. I think that might have caused the increase in mojo, as when I had done that I wanted to cast on ALL THE THINGS. That feeling is still there, although it has decreased a little bit, but I still want to knit all the time. So I plan on keeping up the speed, and clearing my needles before the end of the year.

Other than that I don't think that there are any particular techniques that I specifically want to try out, but I'm also not going to shy away from anything just because it looks difficult. I think that will be my knitting goal for the year!

Next time I get back to you it will be for a regular blog post, but I bet Knitting and Crochet Blog week will be back next year for its fifth anniversary!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 6

Day 6: A Tool to Covet

Today's topic is tools, and how we use them in knitting. What is the one tool that you use more than others, and why is it so awesome?

I'm not sure if it counts as a tool, but I have chosen to talk about my iPad. I bought it about two years ago, and I have used it every day since. I downloaded Goodreader on it, which is a PDF reader, and I have all of my patterns in there. The program allows you to draw lines and write notes on the documents, which means that it's very easy to keep track of where I am in the patterns. It also functions as a small computer, which means that I can look up techniques on youtube or Ravelry while I'm knitting, and I can have music or audiobooks going as well. It's pretty much the best thing I ever got. I have the oldest version, and as I bought it after the iPad 2 had come out, it wasn't too expensive. But I'm pretty certain that once it gives up I'll fork out the money for a new one, no matter how much it costs!

I can't really think of a tool I have that I regret buying though. I have a couple of needle brands that I don't really use, but I still don't regret buying them to try them out. I still plan to give them away here on the blog eventually, but I'm saving all of that stuff up for the four year anniversary that's coming up in June. Other than that, I think I use most of my stuff, although since I got the iPad I don't really use my document holder that I got from KnitPicks a couple of years ago. I used that one for all of my patterns before though, so I definitely had a use for it.

Ok, short post today. I'll be back tomorrow for the final instalment in the Knitting and Crochet Blog Week!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 5

Day 5: Something a Bit Different

Today we're supposed to do something that's different from how we usually blog. I know I found this part a bit of a challenge in the past years, and the same is true this time. I used to think I was kind of imaginative, but I've found that five years in research has kind of diminished my creative streak. I have always wanted to be a fiction writer, but I can't even remember the last time I wrote something! I don't really count the blog for that, as this isn't fiction, and I don't really use my imagination to write here. But I find that this day's task really intimidates me!

Anyway, what I have chosen to do is this (and it has nothing to do with knitting, but that will have to be ok!). A little more than two years ago I started participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel-Writing Month). I only wrote about five pages, but I had a pretty neat idea for a zombie story, with a twist that I still don't think I've read about so far (and I have read A LOT of zombie fiction!). A couple of days ago I opened my file again, and even though I hadn't even looked through it for almost two years, I read it through and kind of decided that I wanted to keep going. This coming month, Thomas will be away a lot with his job, so I'll be alone for a lot of the time. I'm thinking that that might be a good time to start picking up writing again!

I've decided not to tell you about the plot line yet, but I figured I could try to translate a little bit of the first page for you here. Remember, I write it originally in Swedish, so if the language seems a little bit strange here it is because I've translated it for you. Here you go!


"Julia had just gotten through the front door when the phone rang. She threw her black leather jacket on a chair that was in the hallway, and put her purse on the floor. After a long day at the lab, all she wanted was to curl up on the sofa with a book and a cup of tea, but it was her best friend Sara on the phone. Julia looked at the apartment while she spoke. Her two cats came up to her to say hello, just as they usually did when she came home. Gizmo stretched and yawned while she petted him, and gave her a look with his green eyes that seemed to know everything, while Gremlin sat a little distance away beside the sofa. Julia petted both of them while listening to her friend talk.
-Hi, Sara, are you home already?
Julia knew that Sara was going to pick up her husband Alex at Arlanda airport today. Alex had spent the last couple of months in Rwanda with Doctors Without Borders.
-Yes, there was almost no traffic, so it went fast. We made it out of Stockholm before the rush hour.
-How's Alex? Was the flight ok? Has he had a good stay in Rwanda? Julia asked. She picked up the pile of mail from the hallway floor and flicked through it. Mostly bills, and some adds. 
-Sure, he's fine. I think he just didn't want to leave early, but that's life I guess. It seems like they got out just in time.
The refugee camp where Alex had worked had been struck by a particularly aggressive strain of Malaria, that had started to become epidemic among the refugees. Despite huge efforts to give the population profylactics, nothing seemed to work. Alex and his colleagues had collected lots of samples for research, to bring to Europe and the States, but the government in Rwanda had become more and more hostile. Finally the foreign doctors had decided to leave. 
-I can understand that, Julia said. Will he spend most of his time at Karolinska Hospital now?
-Some, Sara said. But it seems like the microbiology department here in town will get to do some of the research too, at least the less infectious kind. They'll probably run some antibody screenings here.
-Exciting! Julia exclaimed. Although, maybe you shouldn't say that about infectious, deadly diseases. But it isn't every day that you get the chance to work with Malaria here in Linköping. I almost wish I worked with microbiology instead of at the Pathology department."


Ok, what do you think of that set-up? As you might have guessed, there will be zombies involved too, and I figured I might as well write about a place I know so it's set in Linköping. I'll let you know how it's progressing!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 4

Day 4: Colour Review

The topic today is colour, and what our favourite colours are. First, we are to think about what colours we prefer when knitting or buying yarn. Then, once we've reflected on that, it's time to have an actual look through the stash and the past year's projects. Does your perceived opinion match reality?

I am pretty certain that my favourite colour is green, which it has pretty much always been. When I was a kid I loved pink like most little girls (plus, I grew up in the eighties, it was very much allowed to be girlish then), and I still wear pink a lot too, but green has always had a special spot in my heart. I have pretty dark hair and brown eyes, and I think someone told me when I was young that green suited me, and that kind of stuck.

Lately though, I find myself being drawn to more jewel toned yarns, and I think I have a lot of purple and teal in my stash too. Teal and turquoise are the shades that I'm really drawn to, and I think that will probably be obvious when I look through my stash.

Finally, since around Christmas, I've been buying lots and lots of self striping sock yarn in very different shades, and I don't think those will reflect my colour preferences at all! The more, crazy colours the better!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ok, so I took a look through my stash. I had a lot of green and a lot of teal, just as I thought, but what surprised me was how much red yarn I've bought during the past year (not to mention how MUCH yarn I've bought the last year. Let's not mention that). I do not consider myself as someone who wears a lot of red, as I think it makes me look pale and blemish, but apparently I have acquired some anyway. As I had so much fun working some statistics yesterday, I decided to make yet another graph:

I didn't know what colour to choose for the multi category, so that's the off-white section. As you can see that is fairly large! I have also got quite a few brown yarns this past year, which I also didn't realize. But I like brown a lot too, so that's ok.

When looking at my projects I think I was more consistent, except for the yellow mittens and cowl I made for my mother. Yellow isn't a colour that I wear very much either, but she asked for those so I made them. The same with the blue hat, although that one I could have kept for myself too. I made a graph of this too (because I know how much you like graphs, right?).

If you don't count the large yellow and large blue wedges, I think that my purchases and my projects actually match up pretty ok. So apparently I do know what colours I use when I buy yarn! Imagine that.

I think that the fact that I have so many projects in the colours that I know I like shows that I am not a complete process knitter too, as I do care about the finished object. But I have a huge stash, so when I find a project that has a technique I want to try out I can usually find something there to knit with. 

This was so much fun, which the blog week usually is. Tomorrow is going to be a difficult one though, but I'll be back with a new topic!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 3

Day 3: Infographic

The assignment today is to display information on the blog with some sort of infographic. As I have worked a lot in research, I am very familiar with statistics and graphs, so this isn't too difficult for me. The hardest part was finding a software that would let me show hat I wanted to show! But as I have worked a lot with GraphPad Prism before, I got their 30 day trial version for now, so that's where I've made the following pictures.

I thought I would try to stay on the theme of my House (I'm in House of Monkey, where we like to challenge ourselves with our knitting), and decided I would try to show you a graph of my projects. I've divided the projects I've knit into four difficulty levels, but bear in mind that these levels are completely subjective! It is just how I have felt when I knit stuff, and that might mean that the first project I ever made was very difficult, while the cabled sweater that I made after Christmas this year wasn't very difficult at all as I am that much more experienced now.

Anyhow, here's all my projects, divided into the four categories.

That was a lot of fun to make! The difficulty levels also reflect how much I feel like I learned on each project, and when looking back in Ravelry I can really see how much I've evolved as a knitter these past few years. 

Ok, I'll see you tomorrow with a new topic!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 2

Day 2: A Mascot Project

Today's assignment is to choose one project that sort of personifies the House that we chose yesterday. If you remember, I sorted myself into the House of Monkey, since I tend to try and not shy away from new techniques when I start projects. I like learning new stuff, and my philosophy in knitting is that it can't be too difficult since it's only yarn. Right? 

When looking through my own, finished projects, I think I would have to choose the Companion Cube that I made for my husband last Christmas. In this project I had to do steeking for the very first time, and I also had to do a lot of seaming that I hadn't tried out before. Scary, but exciting! The first version I made I did with superwash yarn, which in itself was kind of a stupid choice for steeking. I also made it in three colours, which also made the steeking near impossible. Ok, I said impossible. It wasn't impossible, it just kind of unravelled when I cut the steeks... 

It was a total and complete failure, and so I had to make a second one. The second cube I made with non-superwash wool (Cascade 220), and then I also decided to add the pink with duplicate stitch instead of having three strands of yarn on the back side of the knitting. And that was also a first for me, I had never tried that technique before. It worked out like a charm, and the cube turned out amazing! My husband was very happy and surprised, and it is now sitting on top of a speaker in the living room, displayed for everyone to see.

I think I have a tendency to just dive in when it comes to these things. The more experienced I get with knitting, the less afraid of frogging I get. I'm not a complete process knitter (where the knitting in itself is the goal, and not so much the finished object), but I have become less and less of a project knitter (where the finished object is the goal, and knitting is just a means to an end). Two years ago I don't think I would have ever made the socks that I'm tending towards now, where the knitting is more or less mindless and the yarn is doing all the work for me. But I like that I'm evolving in my knitting, and I bet things will change even more in the coming years. As long as I'm not standing still, I don't mind where it will take me. I'm having fun, and that's all that matters!

When choosing a new project, it completely depends on what kind of project I'm looking for. It it's a sweater I usually start with trying to find something that will look flattering on me. I am somewhat hourglass shaped, although I am pretty short, so I usually try to find something that will take focus from my short legs. Not that I knit much for the legs, but anyway. If it is socks that I'm starting, it depends a lot on the yarn. If I have a multi-coloured yarn, I've learned to look for a project that is very easy, but still has a little variation to keep my mind occupied. If I have a solid yarn, I usually go for some sort of cables, or a pretty difficult pattern. I definitely prefer patterns that I have to look at while knitting (if it isn't supposed to be my work knitting, then I need mindless), as that keeps me busy.

The project that I'm choosing for a House Mascot is the Carousel Socks, that were published in Knitty a while ago. 

Pattern from Ravelry

I have never made socks this way before, and the technique really intrigues me. I'll make it in one of my many self-striping yarns, but I have no clue yet which one. I have some to choose from!

See you tomorrow for the next topic!

/ Jenny

Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, Day 1

Day 1: The House Cup

The first assigned topic is to choose the House you want to be in. This year's blog week has a sort of Harry Potter theme, where we start off by being selected into different houses, depending on how we see ourselves as knitters. There are four houses available (unless you're a rebel and make up your own house!):

1) House of Bee: "Bees are busy and industrious, but can flit from one interesting project to the next as bright and shiny things capture their interest."

2) House of Manatee: "Manatees are gentle, calm and cuddly. relaxed and unflashy they represent the comfort and soft side of knitting and crochet."

3) House of Monkey: "Intelligent and with a fun loving side, Monkeys like to be challenged with every project presenting them with something new and interesting."

4) House of Peacock: "Peacocks take something good and make it brilliant. Buttons, embellishments and a bit of sparkle prove that perfection lies in the details - like a Peacosk's tail."

I'm having a little bit of difficulty choosing between House of Bee and House of Monkey, but I think I've finally settled on the Monkey theme. I tend to have a lot of projects going simultaneously, but I also like to learn new stuff with my knitting. I try not to shy away from new techniques, and even though I am a bit afraid of for instance seaming I try to not look at the project descriptions before I decide to start something new, so I don't avoid projects that are knitted flat and seamed. When I decided to start knitting lace a couple of years ago I didn't read a lot about it before I started, I just dove right in. And the shawl I made turned out HUGE! But it was a lot of fun, and I've never been scared of lace since. So I think I'll have to sort myself into the Monkey House :)

See you tomorrow for the next topic!

/ Jenny

Yet another HO, and possibly some more yarn...

I'll start with the best part. I finished the first of the Scylla socks today!

I've mostly knit on these at work, so I'm pretty pleased that they've gone as fast as they have. I LOVE this yarn, and I have gotten a ton of compliments on it in the coffee room at work (and I've referred all of them to Friday Studios). The fit is a little bit weird, as the foot is very tight and the leg is almost a bit slouchy, but that's ok. I'm very pleased anyway, and I've already knit most of the second toe too.

I've also gotten some more yarn in the mail this week. The first shipment came from Garnkorgen, and only came about as there was a sale and I needed some more cable needles. I bought a set of straight cable needles from KnitPicks a while ago, but I just hate them. I love that they are made of wood, but the notches in them that are supposed to keep the yarn on them just prevented me from sliding them through the stitches when I was knitting them. I really prefer the v-shaped ones, so I got another set of those instead. And as I said, there was a sale...

I got eight skeins (which is about a sweater quantity) of Debbie Bliss Rialto 4-ply (100 % superwash merino, 181 m/50 g), in the colourway Fuschia 22022. It is a very vibrant pink, and I love it! I think that Garnkorgen might be discontinuing this yarn, as it was really cheap, so I had to try it out. 

I also got my April shipment in the 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon yarn club from The Knitting Goddess, and once again I am in love!

The yarn is The Knitting Goddess 4ply Merino Nylon Sock (424 m/100 g), and the colourway is called Tooth Decay. It's from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which is such a great movie, and the soft pink with tiny red speckles is just perfect! I think I need to knit with some of this club yarn soon!

Other than that I haven't knit much this week, I've just been so exhausted from work. On Monday we start having student at the lab, which we will then have for six weeks, so I think the exhaustion will probably stay. It's very nice and a lot of fun to have students at the lab, but it's also a bit tiring. At least the weather seems to be turning around! We've had sunshine for two days now, with temperatures well above freezing, and it's so nice. I have a little bit of trouble with all the pollen, but with eye drops I'm pretty ok. I don't do well with anti-histamines, as they make me very sleepy, so I'd rather sneeze a bit extra than take a pill. But it's fine, I'm not complaining as spring finally seems to have arrived!

Oh, and Monday is also the start of this year's Knitting and Crochet Blog Week! Join us for a lot of fun blogging and reading!

/ Jenny

FO and cookies!

Yup, I have another finished object! On Thursday last week I cleaned out our storage room, and that was the last day of nice weather for a while. Since then it's been raining and snowing, and the wind has been terrible. Needless to say I didn't feel like spending all of Friday cleaning out the garage as I had planned, as that would have meant being outside for most of the day. I did a little cleaning inside the house instead, and I've been knitting a whole lot. So today I finished my Glacier gloves, and as the weather is so bad I think I'll get to use them next week!

They are made with MarigoldJen BFL/Nylon sock yarn, and I only used 56 grams for them. That leaves me with 144 grams, as I have a whole other skein. I can probably wring out two pairs of socks from that! I love the yarn, and the colour is very pretty.

Yesterday I finally got around to making some of the cookies that I got the recipe for in the Cookie A sock club in February. I made a batch of gluten free Fig Newtons, and I have to admit I'm pretty proud that they turned out great. I didn't make three rolls like the recipe said, as the gluten free flour made the dough really sticky, but that didn't matter. We've been eating cookies like crazy here today!

My sister spent yesterday in Borås with my parents, and when she drove home she stopped by here to drop off a gift for me from my god parents. They have a small sheep farm, and they had saved me some fleece! I haven't gotten a photo of it yet, but it's from a dark grey sheep, and it's still pretty dirty. Once the weather turns nicer I'm going to clean it and try to get around to card and spin it. I don't know if you remember, but two Christmases ago I got a fleece from my parents too, and I STILL haven't gotten around to making anything with it. I have cleaned it, but as it is so much I am still only teasing the locks, and I haven't started carding any of it. I'll get to it eventually!

Now it's dinner time, and tonight I think I'll knit some on my stripy socks!

/ Jenny

Hunger Games yarn club spoilers!

Yep, I got my first shipment in the Hunger Games yarn club from Friday Studios today, but I think I'll start with some knitting instead. I don't want the photo of the yarn to be the one that shows up in the Blogger list for anyone who hasn't gotten the yarn yet!

I think I told you that I have Thursday, Friday and next Monday off from work, and yesterday I spent a lot of time cleaning out our storage shed. Not much fun, but very needed! Today I drove to the recycling plant with all the stuff that I cleaned out, and I had planned on cleaning out the garage today too, but it's sleeting and freezing outside. I just couldn't stand staying outside in the freezing winds, so I decided to wait for better weather. Hopefully tomorrow!

So, I've also been knitting a lot these past two days. I knit a little bit on the Glacier gloves, and I have about half of the second cuff done.

I think I'll knit on these for the rest of the day today, as I really want to finish them. They are turning out very pretty, and as the weather took a turn for the worse I think I might actually get some use out of them this winter too. I still have more than half the skein left, plus the other one that I haven't even started on yet, so I think I'll make some socks later on. That won't be for this KAL though, I have too much other stuff I want to knit first.

I've also made lots of progress on the Scylla socks, and I adore these!

I love how the pattern is making the red slipped stitches cross the white stripe on every stripe repeat, especially since it is totally by coincidence! The yarn is still amazing, and I can't wait to wear them. These will be my May socks for the Self Striping KAL, so I have plenty of time to finish them, but I'm sure it won't take me that long. I'm making an afterthought heel on these, to keep the striping continuous, as opposed to the pattern that has a heel flap design.

The project I've been working most on, however, is the Mandala II shawl.

I'm using MadelineTosh Tosh lace yarn, in the colourway Rose, and it's turning out so pretty. I know that what you're seeing in the photo looks like a bunch of wet noodles, but it will be very nice once I block it. I'm making it a little larger than called for, so I've made an extra repeat of chart 2 so far. I just started chart 3, and if I finish it before I run out of yarn I might make an extra repeat of that too (as I have two whole skeins to play with).

Ok, that was the knitting. Now to the club yarn! The yarn is Friday Studios Monday Base (the same as I'm using for the Scylla socks), so I already knew I would love that. I am completely smitten with the colour too, which is called Capitol Couture:

It is based on all the insane colours that the people of the Capitol wear, and I think Frida has captured that perfectly! It is so bright it almost seems to glow in the dark, and it will make some crazy socks! The yarn came with a bag of tea and a set of amazing mockingjay stitchmarkers:

Aren't they adorable?! I wonder if she's made them herself? I'll have to ask her on plurk. Anyway, I am very satisfied with my first shipment in the club, and I love that it's a Swedish dyer so I get the yarn early!

/ Jenny

Late night posting

First of all, I finished the Jeck socks the other night!

I am very proud of how they came out, especially as they seem almost identical in the striping. They yarn was stiff to work with, but they feel ok on my feet. I think I need to look around to try and find a nicer undyed base of yarn so I can experiment some more with dyeing! Although that will have to wait, as I currently am very out of funds. Yesterday I had my car at the shop to change the tires from winter tires to summer tires (the ones without studs), and it turned out that two of my summer tires were too worn. So I had to buy new ones. And let me tell you: Tires are expensive! But at least now I'll be safe, right?

As I finished my work knitting, I needed to start a new one, and I picked up the Friday Studios yarn that I bought a while ago, in the Toothpaste colourway. I started the Scylla socks on Sunday night, and I really, really love this yarn!

The pattern isn't perfect with striping yarn, but I'm ok with that. The yarn is one of the softest socks yarns I've knit with that doesn't have cashmere in it, and the colours are perfect! I will definitely buy more from Frida, and I'm really happy that I chose to join in her Hunger Games yarn club! That yarn will probably be here at the end of the week, or possibly at the beginning of next week, and I'm very excited!

Tomorrow I only have work in the afternoon, and then I am having Thursday, Friday and Monday off (I've taken some vacation days), which will be so awesome! I've been feeling really tired these past few days, and it will be nice with some time to rest. I'll probably spend some of the time sorting out our garden and throwing out some old stuff that's left over from the move, but I hope to get some knitting in too. I'll try to finish the Glacier gloves first, but I still haven't cast on for the second one. I'll probably do that tomorrow.

/ Jenny

Needles Blazing!

I've been knitting for most of the day, and my Glacier gloves have been flying off the needles! When I got up this morning I hadn't even gotten to the thumb increases, and now I actually have a HO (And for those of you who don't know, HO stands for Half-finished Object)!

It's knit with Marigold Jen BFL fingering yarn (75 % BFL/25 % nylon), and I love how it's turning out. It has great stitch definition and is really soft and nice. I think the second glove will go pretty fast too, now that I'm focusing on this project. Julia Mueller, the woman behind Laris Designs, is a genius pattern writer, the instructions are so clear and detailed. These are the fourth pair of her gloves and mittens that I've knit, and I adore all of them.

I've also been knitting a little bit on my Jeck socks, I've knit two full stripe repeats on the second sock, but I haven't gotten any new photos. But you've seen them before, and the second sock looks just like the first one. I kind of want to finish them, as I'm itching to cast on with my Friday Studios toothpaste self striping yarn that I got a while ago.

Yesterday I also got my April shipment in the Cookie A sock club. The patterns haven't been released yet, but I really like the yarn.

It's Dream in Color Everlasting Sock yarn (100 % superwash merino, 384 m/100 g), and the colourway is called Violet Hour. The colour is a bit off in the photo, but it really is a very soft lilac colour. I'm really looking forward to the patterns!

Now it's almost time for Doctor Who, and I think I'll continue on the Jeck socks tonight.

/ Jenny

More Club Yarn, and another HO

The other day I finished the first of my Jeck socks, and I'm very happy with it so far:

This is the yarn that I dyed myself, and I love how the stripes are coming out! I'm not really enjoying the yarn, as I think I told you, but I'll finish them and wear them proudly only because of the colours.

Today when I got home from work I had gotten the last shipment in the Mad Color Fiber Arts Mad Geek Tour yarn club (sign-ups are open for next round right now!), and once again I am blown away by the yarn! 

It is the Bling base (63 % superwash merino/20 % silk/15 % nylon/2 % sparkling aluminum coated poly fiber), and the colour is called Petrichor (which is what Idris defines as the smell of dust after rain, I actually had to look that up :). This tealy green is really me, and I love it! This will make an awesome pair of socks, although not right now.

Since it was the last shipment I also got the JessaLu bag that was included in the club, and of course I love this as well.

The fabric has all of the Doctor's companions on it, and the swirly things in the background is Galifreyan and says "Hello Sweetie"! It is awesome, and it will be exclusive to the club in the future too! Another version of the fabric will be offered, but it will have a different wording on it. I am very happy that I decided to join in for another three month round in the club, and that theme will also be Doctor Who. Heather of Mad Color has decided to only offer one theme each round, so the Battlestar Galactica theme was postponed indefinitely, at least for now.

And as I decided to not renew the Sheepy Time Knits yarn club, I found myself having funds enough for another club instead. I have been dithering back and forth about this club that Friday Studios is offering, where the theme is the Hunger Games. I think it could be a lot of fun, so I finally decided to sign up. It will run for three months too, from April until June. Frida will send the yarn out on the 5th though, so if you want to join you need to hurry!

Finally, on April 22nd, the fourth Annual Knit and Crochet Blog Week will start. I participated in the first and second, but last year I missed it since it was just after we moved to our house, and I was a bit busy. But this year I'll try to participate again, as it is a lot of fun! Our Host, Mimi over at Eskimimi Makes, gives us seven topics that we write about each day, and it is so much fun to read other bloggers taking part. I really recommend you to check it out!

/ Jenny