It's almost 2011

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas! Mine included a lot of good food, seeing LOTS of people during the three short days I spent with my parents, and a bit too much driving around, just to have time to see everybody! But it was good, and I got to relax some too. Me and Thomas got a lot of contributions for our up-coming trip to the States, which was very nice. We're going to book the trip some time next week, after Thomas double-checks with his boss that he can get the time off.

Hobbe has had a wonderful Christmas at my parents' house! My sister brought her two cats, Medoxa and Daisy, but they're not really fond of other cats so they've spent the whole weekend growling at everybody else. But my parents have two cats as well, Isak and Sigge (imagine five cats in one house!), and they really enjoyed getting to play some with Hobbe! Those three have chased each other around the house, mainly through a play tunnel that my mom has bought for Sigge and Isak, and I really think Hobbe enjoyed getting to play with other cats too. Hobbe is an asymptomatic carrier of the virus that killed our previous cat, Gizmo, so we can't get a permanent companion for him. The virus is transmitted through the litter box, so when we visit my parents we can make sure that they don't use the same litter box, but that wouldn't work if Hobbe was to live full time with another cat. We're having him tested once a year and just hope that the virus will go away (which it might, although no-one seems to be able to say for sure).

Anyway, now that the Holidays are over, I can finally show you my secret Christmas projects! I knitted a pair of socks for my 14-year-old brother in law, William. These are the Manly Aran Socks (modelled by Thomas, who has a little bit smaller feet than William), from the Toe-Up Socks for Every Body by Wendy D. Johnson.

I've never made toe-up socks before, and I think I still prefer cuff-down. I like that once you get past the heel, you get to knit stockinette for the sole for half of every row. I think it's kind of relaxing, as I by that point start to tire of the pattern (for the most part). But I liked the socks, they're not really as hysterical-looking as they are in the photo. Lots and LOTS of cabelling! William loves them, and wore them for the whole Christmas Eve. Success! They're knitted in one full skein of Opal sock yarn, in colourway 3157, and I think I had about 10 meters left of the skein!

My next gift was a shawl for my mom. I think I've told you that her name is Rosalie, and a while ago I found a sock pattern named Rosalie socks. This time I found a shawl pattern named the Rosa shawl, and as that's my mother's nick-name, this was also ment to be.

The shawl is knitted in two skeins of KnitPicks Palette, in colourway Garnet Heather, and I really don't have any other photos than this! I blocked it two days before Christmas, so it was finished just in time! Mom seemed to like it, and I think it will look good with her white winter coat.

I also managed to finish a pair of socks for me over the holidays! These are the Pink Ribbon socks, from my collection of 10 socks for €15.

They are knitted in 75 g of sockyarn bought from Limmo Design at the Sewing festival earlier this fall, and I really enjoyed working with this yarn. The colourway is called Rosebud, which is perfect, and I finally have a pair of pink socks! I wore them to work yesterday, and I love wearing knitted socks at the lab since the AC is always on there to cool all of our machinery off.

Right now I'm working on my Paper Dolls sweater, and I've actually attached the arms and started on the colourwork pattern. I would LOVE to finish this one soon, as I have worked on it for ages (remember, I frogged it this summer as it turned out too big). It's looking good so far, but I have actually forgotten to take any new photos of it so I think you'll have to wait until next time.

I'm also working a bit on the Evenstar shawl, and it's a bit slow going. I'm using my skein of Wollmeise Lace-Garn in colourway Sabrina, and it is just sooooo pretty! However, I'm not a Wollmeise convert, as I can't say that I'm overly enjoying working with this yarn. It isn't as soft as I would like, and I actually find it to be a bit splitty. But it will probably soften once I wash and block it, and the colour is really, really gorgeous, so I think it's worth it. I don't think I'll be buying any more from that store though, especially since it's almost impossible to get anything during the updates. I have no new photos of this one either, mainly because the stitches are all scrunched together on a bit too short needle, so it just looks like green noodle soup so far. I can't wait to finish and block it, so I can actually see the pattern!

Oh, and tonight, at 12.01, the new 11 shawls in 2011 (the group is still called 20 shawls in 2010, but that will change tomorrow) starts! Yes, that's right, the challenge will continue for the next year! I am definitely going to join the group, but I doubt that I'll actually finish next year. I'm working a lot longer days now, and I just don't knit as much as I used to. I also plan on knitting a bunch of other stuff next year, lots and lots of socks and probably some more mittens, so I don't think I will focus on shawls as much. Which might be a good thing, as I have about ten of them hanging in my bedroom allready. It is very possible that I don't really need any more shawls for myself, but I just enjoy them so much! And let's face it: I don't have a black one, a purple one, a grey one, a yellow one...

I'm not sure if I'll actually cast on for a new one right after midnight tonight, as I think I might want to finish the Evenstar first. As that one was started in 2010, it won't count for the new challenge, and I don't want it to end up in some obscure corner while I focus on the 11 shawls that will count. I don't think I'll be that obsessed with the group! But I have yarn wound and patterns prepared for two more shawls: I'm going to make the Panama Tuch in my two skeins of Chopped Tomatoes' Heavenly Infusion yarn (85 % wool/15 % cashmere) in colourway Sister Sister (and what do you know, it's purple!). This yarn is so soft it is silly, and I atually had a bit of problems winding it, as it tended to break a bit too easily. I just hope it will hold up for knitting with!

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

And I'm going to make the Gordischer Knoten shawl with my skein of black lace wool from Ullcentrum on Öland (this is a swedish yarn, Öland is a swedish island off the east coast). This will be my first black shawl, which will be very wearable for me as I have a lot of dark clothes.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

Did I moan about misplacing my mp3-player before Christmas? I don't remember if I told you, but it seems to have fallen out of my purse when I was walking from my car to my appartment, and as it has been snowing almost every day here, it was probably either covered in snow (and thus probably broken), or someone else found it and had a lucky break (it was a nice mp3-player with 5 Gb memory). I was very sad about it, as I plug it into the car stereo when I commute, but I got a new one for Christmas from Thomas. The new one holds a bit less memory, but it can be expanded with micro-SD cards, and it is very tiny and cute. I love it! Plus, the new one can play all my audiobooks from Audible (I subscribe to the british site, but there is also an american one), which my old player was too old to manage. Yay!

So, today is New Year's Eve. Are you all having fun stuff planned? Thomas' brother William is here visiting us over the weekend, so we're going to have dinner (Thomas is making Porter Steak) with my sister and her boyfriend, and then we're just going to play board games and have a relaxed evening. Especially since William is only 14 years old, the evening will be very calm and non-alcoholic for us (we haven't even bought any champagne!). It will be the perfect evening!

Now I'd better go clean up in the kitchen, so Thomas can cook there later on today. Have a wonderful evening, and I'll talk to you soon!

Happy new year!

/ Jenny

Merry Christmas!

Yes, this will be my last post until Christmas. Tomorrow morning me, Thomas and Hobbe are going down to Borås to spend the weekend at our parents' homes over the holidays. My parents only have sucky internet, so I won't be posting anything until I get home to Linköping again. So I thought I would take some time today to wish you all a very merry Christmas (or any other holiday you might be celebrating)! I hope you all get to have a fun and relaxing weekend, filled wtih family and good food!

I managed to finish all (actually it was only two) my Christmas knitting too, I blocked the last one on Sunday. I can't wait to get to show them to you, as I'm really pleased with both of them. I have to admit that I really don't like working under a deadline though! Even though I enjoyed making both of these projects, some of the joy went out of it as I felt I had to work on ONLY those two projects until they were done. I like to alternate between different projects, so I'm really happy that I get to go back to knitting on my ordinary projects now!

I'm working on three things right now, that have been WIP's for a while. The Evenstar shawl has been sadly neglected for quite some time, but I'm really looking forward to have some quality time with it over the weekend.

I'm also working away on my Paper Dolls sweater, and I've almost finished the body. Which reminds me, I have to bring my dpn's with me to Borås, so I can start the sleeves! This has mainly been worked on at work, as it's been more or less mindless stockinette knitting so far. But after the sleeves are attached, the colourwork will begin, which will be fun. Can't wait to get this finished, as this is the second time I'm trying it!

And finally, I cast on for a pair of socks on Sunday night, and yesterday we had a really slow hour at work, right before lunch, so I've almost finished the leg! This is one of the patterns from the 10 models for €15 that I bought a while ago. The pattern is called Pink Ribbon socks, and I'm using my Limmo Design Handpainted sock yarn in colourway Rosebud, that I bought at the sewing festival this past September. It's great to work woth, and it looks really pink and pretty in real life!

And if you're wondering why I'm writing today in the middle of the day (it's noon here), it's because my stomach is acting up again. It started on Sunday morning (which made me miss Anna's Christmas evening party!), and has been a bit on the fritz since then. Not too much, I've been to work Monday and Tuesday, but today it was worse again. If things don't look better tomorrow I think I'll have to cave in and take an Immodium, because I want to be able to enjoy all the Christmas food on Friday. I really don't like taking those pills, as they sort of stop up everything for a couple of days, which tends to hurt a bit, but for this once it might be worth it.

Oh, and on Saturday me and my sister went to the movies to see the new Harry Potter movie! I was a bit hesitant about it, as I found the last book to be a bit slow (good anyway, but there was a lot of just travelling back and forth). So I didn't know how that would work in the movie, especially since they've divided the last book into two films. But it was surprisingly good, and apparently it's been too long since I read the book because I didn't remeber much. It has a lot of sad parts in it, and now that I'm off my antidepressants and back to my normal, sappy self, I cried a lot. Thank God it's dark in the theatre! I'm glad I don'thave to wait longer than the summer for the last one though, as it's really close to the end now.

And can you believe it's been snowing more and more?! We have about a meter of snow right now, and yesterday it was almost -15 Centigrades outside! Brrrrrr! I'm so over the winter already, and ready for spring, but sadly I think I have to wait a while. Last "spring" the snow stayed until the beginning of April, and I bet it will be the same next year. Ugh! They're saying that there will come a huge snow storm on Christmas eve, bigger than in the pst 40 years or so, so we'll probably be trapped inside for the whole day!

Now I'm going upstairs to see if I can't wake my husband up. He has the day off today, and he likes to sleep in, but now it's noon and I think he should get up and spend some time with me instead. I've been up since 6, so I'm getting a bit bored!

Have a wonderful holiday everybody, and I'll be back next week!

/ Jenny

Lucia

Ok, those of you who know me know that I sort of love to sing. I took singing lessons for about 5 years or so when I was a teenager, and I sang soprano in one of the student choirs here in Linköping when I went to the university. Today is S:t Lucia day here in Sweden, which we celebrate to honor the Italian saint Lucia who was a christian martyr (you can read more about it here). I don't know that we actually celebrate the saint any more, in swedish tradition it's more a festivity of lights to survive the dark time of year. A Lucia procession consists of a woman being the Lucia, wearing white with a crown of candles in her hair. She has a following of maids and star-carrying boys, and they sing lucia songs to celebrate. It's a very beautiful ceremony, and I've participated in too many processions to count. I sort of miss being in a choir just for that!

Tonight on swedish TV there is a lucia procession with Södra Latins Kammarkör (a swedish school choir), and it is just incredibly beautiful! They were just singing Pie Jesu, and my hairs on my arms stood up! It was soo sweet and clear and just amazing. If you want to watch a classical lucia procession, just go to the swedish tv site and watch it here!

/ Jenny

It's almost Christmas!

I can't believe how fast time goes by these days! It's only 12 more days til Christmas (here in Sweden we celebrate on the 24th)! And I sound like I'm 100 years old when I say it like that too.

My health finally seems to be back on track! My stomach is behaving (knock on wood), and the treatment I got for my dizziness really helped, and 24 hours after I was back to normal again. It was a really weird treatment, that consisted of moving the dislodged particles (you know, the ones that had ended up in my balance bows in my ear) back into the liquid sack where they belonged. This was done by moving my head in a specific order, and then I had to keep the head completely still for 24 hours. And let me tell you, those 24 hours were no fun, but it was worth it! After sitting up the whole night I got a few hours of sleep in the morning, and when I woke up I wasn't dizzy anymore. Awesome!

So how is the Christmas shopping going? Me and my sister picked up the last gift yesterday, for our dad, so now I'm all set. It feel good to be finished already with that, as it can be a huge pressure! I'll finish the first knitted gift today, and hopefully the second (and last) one next weekend. I can't wait to get to tell you about them, as I'm very pleased with both of them! 

Last Saturday, on the 4th, Anna, Lovisa and Alexandra came here for an evening of yarn dyeing together. We had such a blast, we ate some quiche, drank lots of wine (now that I'm off the antidepressants I can finally have some wine again, and it was sooooo good!) and dyed about 14 skeins of yarn! 

Alexandra is winding yarn on our kitchen cabinets!

Supplies

Lovisa is dyeing yellow yarn

Anna's purple and blue yarn

Lovisa's blue yarn

Alexandra's blue, red and orange yarn

Anna's orange and pink yarn

My green yarn

Anna knitting

Me and Anna got a bag of undyed sport yarn from Progg a while ago, and we divided these skeins between us, and both Lovisa and Alexandra had brought their own, so we ended up with some skeins each. I kept three skeins, one lace skein that I dyed green and two sport skeins that I dyed pink.

We used mostly KoolAid, but I also had some easter dyes that I got in a RAK gift from Ravelry a year or so ago. I think we were all very pleased with our skeins! I went for the solid colours, but the others mixed it up a bit, as you can see in the photo of the drying yarns (unfortunately, Annas skeins of gorgeous, blue-purple skeins are missing from that picture, but you'll have to make due).

I actually caved in and bought some yarn last week too, but only because I was running out on one of the Christmas gifts. A couple of days before the order Thomas had actually told me that he'd maybe like a pair of hand knitted socks after all (he's been refusing them for a while now, as he prefures regular, store-bought, black socks), since they look so warm. So I ordered two more skeins of sock yarn, Opal in black and green:

I think I'm going to make his black, as I think one skein should be enough, and keep the green one for myself. I haven't decided which pattern to use for his socks yet, but I don't think I'll start them until after Christmas anyway so I'll have some time to think about it.

Oh, and I have to tell you about this awesome package I got in the mail yesterday! I got a RAK gift from bastelwastel in Germany, which held a whole package of gluten-free cookies! I'm just overwhelmed by the thoughtfulness, and they taste amazing too! Yay! I also got a Christmas card from Fabie in the same group on Ravelry (RAK in Europe), and I just love this group so much!

And finally, I wasn't sure if I was going to mention this here on the blog, as I try to keep everything political and religious and stuff like that out of the blog. I'm not a very political person (or religious), but this just can't go by unnoticed. Yesterday it seems like we had the very first suicide bombing in Sweden, in Stockholm. A car blew up at around five in the afternoon, and shortly thereafter the police found a man who had blown himself up. Next to him was a bag full of nails, and apparently there were more bombs which hadn't gone off. Only the bomber died, and a few people were lightly injured, and the police is calling it a failed bombing attempt. The police got an e-mail about 10 minutes before the deed, where someone blaimed Sweden's involvement in Afghanistan, and our support of the artist Lars Vilks, who made the Mohammed charicatyrs a while ago. The last part is a bit scary, as Lars Vilks was in Linköping holding a lecture at the University just a couple of weeks ago. I thik we Swedes have just felt a bit too safe from these sorts of deeds, as we're such a small and sort of unimportant country. The Police is holding a press conference right now, butthey don't know very much yet. It's just terrifying, and I really feel for all those people in for example Palestine and Irak who live with this threat every day. Just horrible!

And to end the post on a bit more cheery note, me and Thomas are going to have breakfast together no, and light the third candle in aour advent candle holder. I'll try to be beck next weekend, so I get one more post in before Christmas!

/ Jenny

I hate being sick!

Ok, these past couple of days have been a bit of a drag. I'm just going to tell you about it quickly, and then be over with it! Last weekend I woke up with a stiff neck, and could hardly move for two days. I was in so much pain that I had to skip Linköping Knitters' birthday party on Saturday, which sucked big time! Work on Monday was a bit hindered, but I managed.

Then this past weekend, I woke up - and I mean litterary, it woke me up - feeling incredibly dizzy. As soon as I moved my head the whole room was spinning. It didn't pass for two whole days, so yesterday I called in sick and went to the doctor's. Apparently, I have some loose particles that have ended up in my balance organs, that aren't supposed to be there (in swedish this is called Chrystal disease). It is treatable with physical therapy, as you need to do some movements to dislodge the pasticles and move them from the balance tubes to the ear instead, where they will do no harm. It is supposed to be very uncomfortable, and I've got an appointment with a physio therapist tomorrow to do it. At least this time I have a real diagnosis!

Now on to some more fun stuff! I actually have a finished object to show you! I finished the Wanida socks, and I'm really happy with them!

They actually work pretty well with the yarn, and they are really soft and comfy. I've worn them once already. I haven't really done much other knitting (last weekend I was in too much pain, and this weekend I was too dizzy), so I have nothing else to show you. I can tell you that I'm working on a secret Christmas project though, so you'll have to wait a month before I show it to you.

We also had our kitchen redecorated the other week! I don't have any really good pictures of how it looked before, but it was pretty much all white. 

White cubbord doors and white benchtops. It wasn't really completely white any longer though, as white has a tendency to stain. And all that bright white made the room look pretty sterile and impersonal. So we decided to change it, so now the cubbord doors are oak, and the countertops are black!

It looks so much more warm and cozy! A real incentive to actually keep it clean (which we're horrible at), and so much nicer to be in. We love it!

Other than that I haven't really done much but work. The coming weekend (second in Advent) I'm going to have some of my girlfriends over for a day of yarn dyeing and general fun. It's going to be a blast (if I get to stay healthy, that is...)!

Did you wonder about my novel writing during the NaNoWriMo month? Yeah, I gave up on that one almost from the start... I managed to write almost 3000 words (out of 50 000), lost my mojo, and decided to put the book on ice for a while. I don't have any energy when I get home from work, mostly I just fall asleep on the couch, and I didn't feel like stressing it out during the weekends. There will come a time when I finish it, just not right now!

And finally, this is what I see when I look out through the kitchen window:

Yeah, that's snow (and no, we haven't put away our garden furniture yet!). About half a meter of it. And it's -12 Centigrades today, so it looks like it's not going anywhere anytime soon either. Yay...

/ Jenny

Busy busy busy!

Yep, it's been a couple of busy weeks lately, but I'm going to start by telling you the most awesome news: I got offered to stay on at a permanent possition at my job! YAY! I was so excited I even forgot to ask what the pay would be, I'm just so glad to have a permanent job! Especially since I love the job, and I love my co-workers, and I couldn't be happier.

Yesterday I went on a shopping trip with my sister, Sanna, and our friend Anna. We were out for about five hours, and I finally managed to find a new winter coat (and you won't see it modelled today, as I'm still wearing my bathrobe and yesterday's make-up).

I've had a brown one for a couple of years, and I can't for the life of me remember why I bought it in the first place. It's too tight, it's got a very unflattering fit, it's pilling, and it's BROWN! So it's going into retirement (I think I'll give it to goodwill), and tomorrow I get to use the new one. We've had our first snow these past two weeks, but it's more or less rained away this weekend. But it's still cold enough (barely) to warrant the winter coat.

I've also been doing a little bit of knitting, with emphasis on little. I'm now up to 560 stitches on the Evenstar shawl, and every row takes me forever. It's continually growing though, although I doubt I'll finish it this year (can you believe it's Christmas soon!).

I'm also working on the Wanida socks, and I've almost finished the first one. The yarn is working great with the pattern, and I really want to wear them, but I'm usually too tired to knit when I get home in the evenings, so I rarely knit on them. I'l get them done though. Probably this year too :)

And finally I'm knitting on the Paper Dolls sweater, and it's coming along nicely. I've finished the waist decreases, and I've almost finished all the increases too. It's looking really good, and this one is probably the one I'm working the most on. I'm working on it at the coffee breaks at work, so I usually work a little on it every day. I know that the ribbing fits this time, but I think I'll have to try it on soon again, to see that the waist is ok this time.

Oh, and I'be bought myself some new books as well! I first picked up a copy of the new Cookie A. book, Knit. Sock. Love. (Ravelry link). I LOVE this one! Cookie must be the most talented sock designer there ever was, and I want to knit ALL of the patterns! Too bad I've still got lots of patterns in the Sock Innovation book left to knit, as I want to knit ALL of those too! 

I also bought the Brave New Knits book (Ravelry link), and I have to admit that it was mostly for the new Ysolda Teague pattern, the Orchid Thief Shawlette. However, this book is a real gem, with lots of mini biographies about all the designers. And there are lots more patterns I would definitely consider making for myself other than the shawlette too, which is really nice. I think I'll read it all through once I'm done with what I'm reading right now (I'm getting to that in a minute).

I also got two books with amigurumi crochet patterns: Välkommen till Virkligheten (It's rougly translated as "Welcome to the Crochet Reality, but it's a pun on word in swedish that doesn't translate) by Annika Messing, and Virka Roliga Amigurumis (Crochet funny amigurumis) by Mia Bengtsson.

These are both swedish books, with lots of cute patterns in. I own the first amigurumi book by Mia Bengtsson too, Virka Amigurumi - Söta Små Glädjespridare (Crochet Amigurumi's - Cute Little Joybringers), and I just need to find the time to actually learn how to crochet properly...

I also picked up some fiction literature, the first being the new Stephen King book, Full Dark, No Stars. I finished it today, and boy was it good! I know, I'm a bit biased when it comes to mr King, but this one was actually a lot better than the last couple of books he's written. It contains four novellas, all dealing with how ordinary people deal with different kinds of catastrophes. I particularly love how mr King writes character descriptins, and these four novellas all contained some pretty awesome character portraits. Just an Awesome book.

I started a new book today too, a graphic novel by Neil Gaiman. I think I've told you before that he's my second favourite author, after mr King, and I LOVE that he does comics as well as "normal" fantasy fiction. The book I'm reading now is Marvel 1604, which is a story about what it would have been like if the Marvel Heroes (X-men, Fantastic four, Daredevil and lots of others) had lived in the 17th century England. I've not gotten very far yet, but I like it so far. Bear in mind though that I've not read any Marvel Heros comics before, so I have nothing to compare it to.

I finally bought the newest Discworld novel, by Terry Pratchett. It's called I Shall Wear Midnight, and I haven't started it yet. But so far I've loved all of mr Pratchett's books, I think he's hillarious with just a bit of edge to the satire he writes, so I'm really looking forward to this one too. I read somewhere a year or two ago that mr Pratchett has gotten diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease, and it will be a huge loss for the literary world when he quits writing. Hopefully it won't be for years and years!

Now that I've been on Ad Libris (the swedish book site) looking for pictures of all the books, I just realized that there are TWO books by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son, he's almost as brilliant as his father) that I don't have yet! Maybe I'll just have to place a new order tonight...

Today has been a really lazy day! I've just been sitting on the couch reading and having a very nice skype chat with Anna and Sarah! I wonder if anyone knows if you can have a video conference with more than one person at once on Skype? We couldn't find that function, so we've just had audio chats today, but it would be fun if we could all see each other as well. I don't think it should be impossible, right?

Now I'm going to pick out my food from the oven (fishsticks and french fries, nothing healthy for me tonight!), but I'll try to be back next weekend with a new update. I hate that it's been two weeks since last!

/ Jenny

Another long absence

Well hello there! I'm amazed I still have any readers left, since I seem to take longer and longer breaks from writing here. But now I'm back, at least for today! 

Last weekend my mother came to visit, for the second weekend in a row, and her, me and my sister went to a concert. The swedish musical artist Peter Johansson, who has held the lead roll in the We Will Rock You musical in London, has toured Sweden with a tribute show to Queen. I don't know if you know this, but I was pretty much brought up with Queen along with my baby food, so I've listened to them my whole life. When Freddie Mercury died in 1991, it was one of the biggest tragedies in the history of mankind, according to me. 

The concert was really, really good! Of course Peter is no Freddie (no-one is), but he did a fabulous job (alnog with two female guest artists). I was very glad that I went, and pretty satisfied that my stomach held up long enough for me to acctualy go. The stomach actually seems to be back on track again, but I'm not going to say it out loud yet or I'll just jinx it.

The past week I've just been working, and it feels so good to be back at work again! And yesterday I had a very spontaneous day in town with Anna, as she needed to buy new shoes and asked me for advice. We spent a couple of hours browsing stores and had tea and chocolate at a café as well. A really nice day, and it was so much fun to hang out with Anna, we don't see enough of each other anymore, now that we both have full time jobs. And Anna lured me into buying two skeins of sock yarn that I "really needed"...

Actually, I think I really needed this, as I don't have any turqoise sock yarn. That I'm going to use for socks, anyway. I have some teal and turqoise Wollmeise sock yarn, but those are all destined to become other stuff than socks. These will probably become the Summer Sliding socks, as I was RAK'ed the pattern a while ago.

Today me and Thomas are just hanging out at the apartment, taking a slow day off from everything. We're going to make lasagna and apple pie later on, but that's about it. I'm spending most of the day on the couch knitting, which is awesome! Right now I'm knitting on the Evenstar shawl, and I think I might finish the first half of chart 2 today. I'm using my Wollmeise Lace yarn for this shawl, and the colour is just amazing! Although I have to admit that the yarn is a bit stiffer than I had anticipated. I think I might not buy any more Wollmeise, as I have several softer yarns in my stash already. I actually have some more Wollmeise as well, and I definitely think I'll use all of them as the colours are so wonderful. But there are several other dyers doing great work as well!

Oh, and I cast on for the Paper Dolls sweater again. I've been working on it mostly at the coffee breaks at work, so I haven't gotten very far yet. But I've changed the ribbing from 1x1 to 2x2, as it gets more flexible then (at least when I knit it), and I'm doing more decreases for the waist as well. I'm also decreasing more frequently than the pattern calls for, as my last attempt gave me a very long sweater. I hope it will look better this time around. I know for sure that I'll try it on more often this time!

I've also been working some on my Wanida socks, from the Cookie A book. They are looking great so far, but I haven't gotten any photos of it yet. You'll have to wait until the first one is finished I think!

And last weekend when my mom came to visit, she had knitted herself a very pretty cowl in a beautiful, autumn-coloured acrylic yarn. She brought me a skein and asked if I could knit her a pair of mittens, as she thought it would be too complicated for her to make herself. As it was a buly yarn, and I knitted the mittens in garter stitch on 8 mm needles, it took me about three hours to complete both:

I think I've knitted a few more rounds on the ribbing on one of them, but I don't think that will be visible when they're worn. My sister is going to Borås for a visit this coming week, so she'll bring them down to mom then. We had some very cold days last weekend, whit temperatures just below freezing, but it looks like it will be a bit warmer at least for a few more days now, so I don't think mom needs the mittens desperately yet. But I bet they'll feel great come winter!

Tomorrow is the first of November, which kicks of the National Novel Writing Month. I have to write 1667 words each day to get 50 000 by the end of the month! I actually doubt that I'll finish, but at least it might get me going on writing again. Stephen King says in his excellent book On Writing, that it is very important to write every day if you want to become a professional writer. So maybe I'll get there some day too :) Probably not in mr King's caliber, but at least I can make a start, right?

Now I'm going to go have a snuggle with Hobbe, as he's stanging beside my lap hadbutting my elbow. I'll try to see you again at least next weekend (hopefully with some updated photos too)!

/ Jenny

Suckety suck suck (and a lot of knitting!)

Yep, my stomach issues have come roaring back with a vengance this past week. I was home from work four days last week, and two days so far this week, as I can't go very far from the bathroom. My sister had her 25th birthday on Sunday, so on Saturday my parents came to town to visit, and we were all supposed to head out to an amazing spanish restaurant for the evening. I stayed at home instead, watching lots and lots of Angel episodes (I have a thing for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but haven't actually seen Angel until now. Silly me). Today I think I'm finally starting to feel like myself again, but so far it has gotten worse in the evenings, so I'll not count my eggs yet.

Anyhow, having stayed at home for so long, I've actually gotten lots and lots of knitting done. Last Monday I finished my lilac Tunic dress, and I couldn't be more happy with it!

It fits me very well, even though I did a LOT of tweaking to the pattern to be able to knit it in the round. It's supposed to be knit in two different parts and then sewn together, but I really hate sewing. I also opted for kitchenering the shoulder seams (which I think makes me an expert on kitchener stitch now, all in all about 180 stitches kitchenered together), and it worked out great. I wore it on Sunday when my sister and her boyfriend were here to play some board games on her birthday (she and her boyfriend and my husband had chinese food. I had water). 

I've also FINALLY managed to finish the India Stole! I started this one on June 4th, so it took me over four months to complete. I've done some other stuff in between, but it still feels like ages!

And do you know what: This is my tenth shawl this year! I've actually managed to knit 10 shawls in 2010, just like the challenge was! I'm very happy with that! And I love the stole too, it turned out great. It will be perfect to wear around the shoulders once the winter is over. The yarn (Chili Gredelin Simone) is a bliss to work with, and I actually have 2.2 more skeins of this same colourway, which will last me for at least another shawl. Possibly two!

Today I also cast on for the Evenstar shawl, which is going to be awesome too. I'm knitting it in my Wollmeise Lace yarn, in colourway Sabrina, and so far I love the yarn! It's great to work with and the colour is amazing! 

Although I have to admit that I probably love Chili Gredelin's yarns more, because they are even softer. And Kia who runs Chili Gredelin is also an amazingly talented dyer! I wish she would hold a course in dyeing, I would travel the 500 kilometers to her city for that :)

I'm also thinking of starting over on the Paper Dolls sweater. I really need a more or less mindless stockinette knit to bring with me to work, and the body of that sweater should be just perfect for that. I've decided to make a lot more decreases for the waist, as well as making a 2x2 rib at the hem instead of 1x1. I'm also going to knit the I-cord edges on after the thing is done, as I couldn't manage to get the I-cord cast-on to look good. I'll see if I pick it up tonight, or if I get too immersed in the Evenstar :)


Oh, and finally: Did you notice a new linky on the right side column of the blog? the NaNoWiMo? It stands for Nationla Novel Writing Month, and I signed up a couple of days ago. This means that I'm going to try to write a 50 000 word novel in just the month of November! I actually signed up before my stomach crashed, so I'm feeling a bit less motivated right now, but hopefully that will sort itself out before November comes around. I've wanted to be a fiction writer ever since I learned how to read at the age of 5, and I figured this might just be the kick in the but that I need to get me going. I've only written scientific papers for the last couple of years, but since I'm done with research I figured I would pick up my fiction writing again. Wish me luck!

Now I'll see if I can find something mild to eat. Hold your thumbs that I can go to work tomorrow again, I really miss it!

/ Jenny