House Guests

It's been a couple of busy weeks here at our house! On Friday last week we had a huge Midsummer's party, and we had over 30 guests here. 

I think 14 of them stayed over night, so we had people sleepeing in every corner! But it was a great success, the weather held up so we could have dinner outside (potatoes with sourcream, pickled herring and grilled meat, with strawberries and ice cream for dessert), and a lot of people swam in our swimming pool as well. Then Thomas' four brothers, two of their girlfriends, and two additional friends stayed one more night, and we played board games and watched movies for the entire Saturday (it was raining). 

Then on Monday afternoon my best friend Christine, her husband Martin and their three little boys came to visit for two nights, and let me tell you: We are not used to the kind of energy needed to keep three boys under the age of 10 entertained for two days! It was a blast to have them here, and I hope we get to have them back next summer too, but we are kind of exhausted right now!

So with all of those people staying here, we had a lot of cleaning and fixing to do around the house before they came, so the entire week before was spent just making sure everything was ready! We've finally got curtains in all the windows, we've unpacked the last moving box, we've bought new guest beds for the guest room and a pull-out sofa for the computer room, we hung the last lamps from the ceiling, and stuff like that! This last 1.5 weeks we have left of our vacation will probably be spent doing as little as possible :)

I did manage to finish some knitting though! First, on the weekend before midsummer, I finished the Ethereal Triangle shawl:

It's made with an entire skein of Madelinetosh Prairie yarn (100 % Merino), and I think I had less than a meter left when it was done! I actually had to redo the bind-off, as I ran out of yarn the first time, so I ended up skipping the last purl row and bound off directly instead. It's not huge, but it's pretty big, and I'm very happy with it! I wore it at the party, but since I held the camera I haven't ended up in any of the photos! But I'm going to wear it to my cousin's wedding in the middle of July, and I'll try to sneak in some actual action shots then.

On midsummer's day I got to sit down and knit while the board games were being played, and FINALLY finished the Silken Scabbard sweater! It's gorgeous!

It's made with 10.5 skeins of Rowan Silk Wool, and it's very comfortable and cozy, while the silk gives it a very glamorous sheen as well. I love it, and I almost wish for autumn so I can get to wear it!

Now that the house is finally empty (and don't get me wrong, it's been great to see all of our friends and have so many guests, we're just a bit tired), I'm going to knit a lot more! I'm currently only working on a pair of socks (Faramir socks, I'm using Opal sock yarn) and one shawl (Urdr shawl, I'm using Drops Lace yarn from Garnstudio), but once I get a little bit further on the shawl I think I'll start a new cardigan. I'm choosing between the Peanut Butter cardigan and the Austin Hoodie. I'll let you know which one I decide on.

Oh, and I also want to make the Bigger on the Inside shawl. I'm currently completely obsessed with Doctor Who, and I want my very own David Tennant! Too bad I can't knit me one of those...

/ Jenny

Socks in record time!

It took me five days to finish these socks:

Can you believe it! I spent all five of those days doing practically nothing but knit, as I was home sick with a cold, but even so. Five days for two socks!

The pattern is called Pippin Socks, from the Fellowship of the Socks e-book, and I made them in Cascade yarns Heritage Sock yarn, colourway Raspberry. And this has now officially become my new favourite sock yarn! The stitch definition is absolutely incredible, and the colour is awesome! It is so rich and saturated, and the yarn is available in quite a lot of colours as well. And it's pretty cheap too, making it perfect for every day socks. I love this pair, and I have another skein in colourway Spruce, which is a deep teal green.

Since I finished the socks, I've mostly knit on the Ethereal Triangle shawl, and I'm almost half-way through the edging, so I hope to finish it some time next week. Then I might get to wear it on our Midsummer's Eve party :)

I also started a new pair of socks last night, in my other new yarn Opal sock yarn, colourway Powder. I chose the pattern Faramir Socks from the The Road Goes Ever On e-book (also by author Claire Ellen, I really like her!), and I enjoy them a lot too. I haven't got any photos of this sock yet, but so far it's mostly ribbing. I'll get to it next time!

/ Jenny

Birthday Yarn!

I've gotten all my birthday yarn in the mail, and I thought I would show them to you. I'll start with the yarn from Garnkorgen. I got only one lace skein, from Madelinetosh:

Tosh Lace (100 % Merino, 869 m/114 g) in colourway Grove

Then I got some sock yarn:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock (80 % Wool/20 % Nylon, 398 m/100 g) in colourway Manzanita

Opal Sock yarn (75 % Wool/25 % Nylon, 425 m/100 g) in colourway Powder

Cascade Yarn Heritage Sock yarn (75 % Merino/25 % Nylon, 400 m/100 g) in colourway Spruce

And Cascade Yarn Heritage Sock yarn in colourway Raspberry

I like all of the yarns, but I am absolutely, completely in love with the Heritage yarn! The colour of these skeins is absolutely amazing, they are both so very saturated and deep. I found I could not help myself, so on Saturday I wound the Raspberry skein and immediately cast on for a new pair of socks. As I didn't have any socks on the needles right now, that was completely fine, but I have been a bit obsessed with them since then. I'm fighting a really bad cold right now, so I've been home from work today, and I've almost finished the first of the Pippin socks:

The stitch definition is soooo pretty! I think I like this yarn a lot better than I like the Wollmeise sock yarn, and this one is cheaper and more easily available to boot. Perfect! The yarn isn't as soft as the Bugga! yarn I used for the Owlie socks, but it is definitely soft enough. I won't be buying any more soon though, as I've more or less used up this year's yarn budget on this one purchase...

Well, that one purchase, and the last purchase from Chili Gredelin as well (that was included in the birthday money!). I got myself two skeins of the lovely Madame yarn (55 % silk/45 % Cashmere, 366 m/50 g) in colourway Black Forest:

I thought these skeins would be a lot darker, more black, but I kind of like this grey cololur as well so I'm happy. It is always a gamble to buy yarn off the internet, and so far I've very rarely been displeased. Maybe I'm not too picky about yarn!

Ok, now I need to go blow my nose and lie down for a bit. We'll see if I make it to work tomorrow. On Wednesday there is a national holiday here in Sweden, as it's our National Day (I guess that is somewhat like independence day in the States, only we don't celebrate as much, we just get the day off work), so we'll see if I think it's worth it to go and feel sick tomorrow or stay home and cure myself for one more day. The weather is really cold and rainy, so it's not much fun being at home either.

 Jenny