I'm going through changes

Well, not I, but the blog! I spoke to Kate in Main yesterday and today, and she's starting up a business with web design. That made me think that I don't really like blogger's pre-installed backgrounds so much, and I really hate that there are about a gazillion similar blogs like mine out there. Everyone wants to be an original, right? So I'm going to be her first customer, and she pointed me to the ShabbyBlogs website. And my, don't they have gorgeous backgrounds! I chose this one for now, and I really like the lace-like edging. Do you like it? I think I might change a lot more than this with Kate's help, among other things I think it's time to fix a real header, right? And possibly Kate can design a real individual background for me too, I just have to decide what I want first...

Ok, onwards with the knitting! I woke up this morning with a really stuffed nose and a throat ache, so I guess Thomas' cold has finally gotten to me. It's not too bad yet, and I'm stuffing myself with vitamins and cold-pills, so hopefully I'll get better soon. But then I logged on to Ravelry, and my spirits immediately lifted. Ravelry has recently instituted the function of gifting patterns, that is you can buy patterns for others as gifts. I've told you millions of times that I'm in a group called RAK (Random Acts of Kindness) in Europe, where we send gifts to each other. And today I had recieved two patterns from my queue! Linabear sent me the pattern for a pair of gloves, Miss Sophie's Hands, and tumbleweed sent me the pattern for the Butterflies and Flowers shawl! I immediately had to rearrange my queue, and I'm so happy about this! It's such a great function, and you can make people really happy with it.

And yesterday I was also RAK'ed by the sweet Sophiphi137. She sent me an e-mail with FIVE shawl patterns for me! We both live here in Linköping, and see each other on the knitting cafés, and she is just the sweetest person! She knits a lot of lace, and all her projects are gorgeous. We're both in the 10 shawls in 2010 group, and I'm guessing we're going to have so much fun knitting together this year! The patterns I got were: The Aestlight shawl (which I've been coveting for quite some time now), The Butternut Scarf, The Nightingale Wing shawl, The Just Enough Ruffles shawl, and finally the pattern for the Hanami Stole. Can you believe how lucky I feel! Thank you so much, Sophiphi137 (I'm using your Ravelry name, as I haven't gotten a chance to ask you if I can use your real name)!

And yesterday evening (ok night, I'm staying up way past my regular bedtime now that I'm off work, which will be great when I have to get back to work on Monday...) I sat knitting on my Aeolian, and I'm almost finished with all my Yucca chart repeats (I'm doing four in total).

Unfortunately I managed to break my last needle threaders that I use to place the beads on the stitches! The beads are really tiny, so I have to sort of struggle to get them on, and I guess that was too much of a strain on the fragile threaders. I have to buy more on Monday when the yarn store opens again, but of course I couldn't just sit without knitting, so I cast on for the September shawl instead, in my gorgeous Pälsblend from Färgkraft. It is looking great so far!

I'm half-way through the stockinette part, and will soon start the lace part which is so much more fun! And the yarn looks gorgeous so far, I think it will look great in this pattern that doesn't have a too busy lace part. No beads on this one either :)

And after yesterday's post, Kate asked me what shawl I'm going to knit for February. I have to admit that I haven't decided the order of the 10 (20) shawls that I plan to knit this year, and I'll probably going to start the next one as soon as I'm done with the first one. But I realized that I hadn't told you what patterns I'm planning on knitting at all! This will of course be rectified right now! And of course I couldn't limit my queue to just 10 shawls, but these 16 are the ones I want to make the most... If you want to see the short version of this, just go check out my queue on Ravelry.

Echo Flower Shawl, that I'm planning on knitting in my KnitPick's Shadow Kettle Dyed, in colourway Wine (100 % merino). The designer is a swedish yarn dyer, go check out her shop Nyansera! And the pattern is free!

The next one I'm planning is a free pattern from Elann called Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is unfortunately not available there anymore. I contacted the designer, Libby Grant, directly through Ravelry, and she was kind enough to e-mail the pattern to me. I'm planning on making this one in my Pälsull from Östergötlands Ullspinneri (100 % wool). I'm sure that if you want to knit this one, the designer will be happy to supply you with a pattern!

The third one in my queue is the 24 Carats Shawl, which is also from Elann. I'm planning on buying some Drops Alpaca for this, and I haven't decided what colour I want to make it yet. This is the only pattern that I actually need to buy yarn for, and I'm guessing I'll make this one pretty late in 2010.

The fourth in my queue is the Oriental Impressions Triangle shawl, which is also a free pattern. I can't believe that designers make patterns this intrcate for free! I'm going to use half of my Chili Gredelin Simone, in colourway Sheer Apricot (70 % alpaca/30 % silk) for this one.

The fifth is the Seascape Stole, from Knitty, which is also a free pattern (can you see a trend here?). For this one I'm going to use my only cobweb yarn, Jojoland Harmony (100 % merino), that I bought at the Sewing Festival this summer. I'm a bit intimidated by this one, as I've never used yarn this thin before, so this one will probably also be done late in the year.

The sixth is the Windsbraut - Steife Brise, that is NOT a free pattern! Wow! This is one of the five Windsbraut patterns that I bought right before Christmas from Monika Eckert, and I'm planning on using my KnitPick's Shadow Kettle Dyed, in the Wilderness colourway (100 % merino).

The seventh in my queue is another free pattern, the India Stole. I'm planning on making this one in the rest of my Chili Gredelin Simone yarn, in Sheer Apricot (70 % alpaca/30 % silk, you'll have to do with the photo above :).

Number eigth is another free pattern, the Keltische Verknotung shawl. I'll make this in my Chili Gredelin Geisha yarn, in colourway Selleri (100 % silk). This should officially be the end of my list, as I've already started two shawls, but of course it isn't.

Number nine on my list is the Windsbraut - Blaue Stunde, also by Monika Eckert. This is another one of the patterns I bought before Christmas, and I will get around to knitting all five of them some day. Possibly not all this year :). I'll make this one from the yarn I bought a few days ago, the Pälsblend from Färgkraft in the Glam Goth colourway (100 % wool). Can I tell you I LOVE this yarn, and I forsee an increase in stash in the near future :)

The tenth shawl is the amazing Heere Be Dragone shawl, that I bought from Sharon Winsauer that runs Alpaca with a Twist. The Fantasy reader in me just drools at this pattern! I'm going to make it in the lovely Garnpaletten yarn, in the colourway Lime (100 % wool). I'm not sure if I'll actually get to it this year, as it is such a huge undertaking, but possibly if I finish ten before this one :)

The eleventh shawl I want to make is the Maskenball in Venedig shawl, that is absolutely gorgeous! This one I haven't got any yarn for yet, and it's to be knit in cobweb lace, so this is probably also a huge project. The designer, Monika Eckert (again, I LOVE her shawls. I'll probably buy the few I haven't gotten yet some day too), used three whole skeins for the large version - which of course is the one I want to make - and that equals almost 5000 meters! My oh my!

Number twelve on my list is a new pattern on Ravelry, called Haruni. The designer, Emily Ross, is also on Ravelry, and she was sweet enough to release this pattern for free. I haven't got a yarn designated for this one either (I've queued up all my lace yarn on the first ten shawls on the list...), but I imagine something pink for this one!

The thirteenth (you're not getting tired, are you? Only a few to go...) is the Aestlight shawl. This isn't a free pattern, but as I got it as a gift, I'm definitely going to knit it! I'm thinking of maybe using my Marks & Kattens Fame Trend yarn (75 % superwash wool/25 % polyamide) for this one, as the pattern is not that busy.

Number fourteen is the Butterflies and Flowers shawl that I got today. I have no idea what I'll make this one from, but as it requires a lot of beads, in two different colours, I'm thinking possibly something green, with green and pink beads in it. I'll have to look closer on the pattern to see how many beads of each colour are needed.

Number fifteen on the list is another free pattern from Elann, called the Garden Path Shawl. This one is to be done in worsted weight, so I'm thinking possibly Drops Alpaca or similar. I know this yarn isn't really worsted, but I think it will work anyway, it's just that the shawl won't be as big. Which is fine by me.

And the last one on my list, number sixteen, is the free pattern I told you about yesterday, the Glimfeather Shawl. I'm planning on making this in Drops Alpaca and Drops Cotton Viscose held together. We'll see when I get to this one, thank God there isn't a time limit on stash... I just have to make sure I don't get moths!

Ok, now that I've bored you enough, I'll continue knitting on my September Shawl! Kate, chose whichever you want to knit, and I'll be ready to cast on almost whenever! And if anyone else wants to join in our mini-KAL (Knit-along for those of you who don't know, that is when several people knit the same pattern at the same time, and can help each other out with problems and such), feel free to join us!

/ Jenny