A severe case of Startitis

Yes, last weekend I came down with a real bad case of Startitis. First I decided to frog the Black shawl I started, becaue I simply didn't enjoy it. I wasn't particularly fond of the pattern, and I definitely didn't enjoy the yarn. So the pattern will go back into my queue for a while, and I'm going to give the yarn away to my friend Lovisa, who claims to love this yarn. But I had to have some kind of project to work on while at work, so I decided to cast on for the Coraline cardigan, which is a pattern by Ysolda Teague. I'm using Drops Alpacca yarn in a dark purple colourway, and I'm holding it double to get gauge. I haven't gotten very far yet, but so far I love it!

This yarn i absolutely gorgeous to work with, super soft and just very pretty. The pattern construction is very nice too, and I'm enjoying it even though it's only stockinette so far.

I also decided that since I finished my Pink Ribbon socks, I needed to start a new pair. However, I just couldn't decide which ones I wanted to start with, so I actualy cast on for two pairs of socks. The first pair is the Devon socks, from the Sock Innovation book by Cookie A. I'm slowly working my way through this book, and I actually think I want to make pretty much all of the patterns. I love Cookie's patterns!

I'm using KnitPicks Stroll sock yarn in colourway Burgundy, and I haven't gotten very far on these yet either. The yarn is really pretty though, and I love working Cookie's patterns.

The second pair I cast on for are the Mirabelles socks from my 10 patterns collection. I've actually gotten a little bit further on these ones!

I'm using a yarn that I bought at Marias Garn in Stockholm for my birthday this past spring, it's her own handpainted brand and consists of 75 % superwash wool and 25 % bamboo. It has a very pretty shine to it, but the bamboo is making it a little bit stiff, so I hope they soften with wear. The colours are really pretty though, and even though it seemed to pool a lot at the beginning it has sorted itself out now so I'm ok with it.

The project I've been working on the most this past week however, is my Paper Dolls sweater.

I just want to get this one finished so I can wear it! I'm about half-way through the colourwork yoke, and after that it's just a bit of black decreases and then I'm done. I haven't knitted very much at all this past week though, as on Monday night I woke up with stomach flue. No fun at all! I haven't eaten pretty much anything for four days now, and today is the first day that I actually felt a little bit hungry in the morning (not much though, I only ate a yoghurt). 

The only positive thing about it is that I'm finally back at my wedding weight! I don't know if I've told you, but two years ago when I started eating my antidepressants, I gained 10 kilos in about three months. I wasn't very big to begin with, and if it hadn't been for the fact that none of my clothes fit me anymore I don't think I would have cared. But I really didn't want to get out and buy a whole new wardrobe, so the past two years my clothing options have been rather limited. Once I stopped taking the pills in October, my weight actually started to decrease, but since my stomach has been misbehaving so much I haven't gotten around to getting any excercise (that's going to change from next week though) so I guess my metabolism changed back to its normal setting. I didn't loose all of the weight though, but this past week has taken the last three kilos off as well. I think I'm going to have to try on all my dresses again soon :)

My poor Evenstar shawl is being pretty neglected right now too. I've just been to tired to concentrate on any lace patterns lately, so I've more or less concentrated on the easier patterns. I feel a bit bad about this, as I actually think I won't manage to make 11 shawl this year as I had sort of planned. Maybe I'll have to concentrate on smaller shawls? I don't really wear them if they're too small though, so I think that would be sort of unneccessary!

Oh, and have you seen that I've actually gotten over 50 followers! I can't tell you how happy you all make me! When I first started this blog in 2009, I was thrilled when I got my first followers, and I couldn't imagine that anyone would actually want to read what I write. Thank you so much for supporting me, and staying with me! Even though I write a bit more sedom now that I work so much, I still enjoy it immensly, and I'm definitely in this for the long haul!

Oh, and speaking of blogs: My little sister, Sanna, has started her own blog! It's called Sanno skriver, and it's in swedish, but if you want to support her and go say hi I bet Google translate can help you out. My sister is a pretty good writer too, and she writes mainly about cooking, sewing and her two cats Medoxa and Daisy. As we live next door to each other I kind of know what she's up to without reading the blog, but I still think it's really nice to read. Go over there and say hi from me!

Now, Thomas is finally starting his new video game (God of War - Ghost of Sparta) that he got from me this Christmas, and I'm going to watch (I think I'm the perfect wife when it comes to video games: I love to watch when Thomas plays!). I'll see you all soon!

/ Jenny