Back to reality

Now we only have one week left off before we start working again, and we're spending all of it getting Ella used to her preschool. Here in Sweden children usually start preschool after they are one year old, so Ella is definitely one of the younger kids in her group. She has two weeks where we go with her there, to get her used to all of her teachers and her new surroundings before we actually leave her there for the full days. She'll be there from 7.30 to 15.00 every day, and so far everything is going great. She loves to play with the other kids and all of the new toys, so I think she'll be fine there.

The weather this summer has been really really awful here in Sweden! It's been cold and raining for almost all of July, which means that all of the house projects we had planned have been postponed. We've done some small outings around our own county, and we've spent a lot of time with our parents in Borås. We also rented a cabin for a week on Tjörn, a small island off the west coast of Sweden, at the end of July. Even though it was raining almost every day, we spent the week going round the island and the surrounding areas, and it was a perfect week. I got to buy some souvenir yarns as well, which I'll tell you about later.

Other than that the summer has mostly been spent hanging out as a family. It's been really awesome to have all of the summer off together, I wish we could do this every year. I have done a fair amount of knitting too, and I have six FO's since the last time I wrote. I'll just show them in the order they were done, and then I'll show you all of the acquisitions at the end.

First, at the end of June I finished a cardigan for Ella. It's the Kyoto cardigan, and I made it with Karabella Lacampo yarn that I bought when we were in New York a couple of years ago. 

The yarn is half cotton, half camel, and it is really super soft and nice. I only bought two skeins though, and about half-way through the cardigan I realized it wouldn't be enough. After finding out that the yarn seems to be discontinued, I went on Ravelry and found a woman who had ten skeins for sale, and she was very willing to sell only two of them to me, so I was eventually able to finish the cardigan. The new skeins even turned out to be the same dye lot as mine!

As I only used about half of one of the new skeins, I decided I wanted to make a matching hat with the rest of the yarn. I just cast on enough stitches to fit around Ella's head, made a couple of inches of ribbing to get a folded brim, and then used the same stitch pattern as on the cardigan to make a little hat. To use up most of the yarn I also added a pom pom at the top.

I think it turned out very cute! It will be perfect for fall when she spends the days outside at preschool!

Next up I finally finished the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star shawl that I've been making with the Chili Gredelin Geisha yarn. The pattern actually calls for a sport weight, so as mine is made in lace weight it turned out pretty small, more of a shoulderette than a full size shawl. I was well aware that that was going to be the case, so that was ok. 

However, I'm not crazy about it anyway. I think I might not enjoy the 100 % silk, as it didn't bloom at all when I blocked it. I guess that is the case with all silk, but I still think the stitches look uneven and the shawl is a bit too airy for my taste. I'll probably not use this one very much, and I'm thinking of giving it away to a better home. We'll see.

The Stockinette Zombies are running a "Not a sock self striping sock yarn (nasssy) KAL" during July and August, and once I heard about it I got a sudden craving for a colourful shawl. So I cast on for a Daybreak shawl out of Marks & Kattens Fame Trend yarn and a black Austermann Step yarn. I finished the shawl just before we left for Tjörn, I actually left it on the blocking mats when we left. 

I really like this one, but I hated working with the Fame Trend yarn! It is very thick-and-thin, and there were a couple of breaks in the skein I used that really messed up the colour repeats. I had two skeins, and I only used up one for the shawl, so I decided to get all of it out of my stash by making a Sockhead hat out of the remaining skein. I knit all of it during the week on Tjörn, and when we got back home I made a pom pom out of the last bits, so now it's all gone. 

I kind of like the hat, even though the colours are a bit hysterical, but I think I'll use it a lot this Fall. It was a good vacation project as it was all stockinette! Plus, I got to enter this one in the KAL as well.

The final FO is a small stuffy that I made for Ella. It's a Miffy rabbit that I made from Järbo Mini Akryl, the mini skeins that I bought ages ago to use for Christmas balls. I used up almost two white skeins of the white acrylic, and almost one skein of the blue wool ones (remember the skeins are only 10 g each). 

It was a fun knit, even though it was a little bit fiddly here and there, but the end result was really cute. Ella really likes it as well, she has been watching some Miffy on Netflix so I think she recognizes her.

Ok, that was all of the FO's. The KnitGirllls are running their usual Stash Dash this summer, where you use up stash. They have three categories this year, 3K, 5K and 10K. The idea is that you use up either 3000, 5000 or 10000 meters of yarn during the summer (middle of June to August 14th this year, it's the time Laura has her summer break I think). I actually managed to reach the 3K this year, which was very nice!

I currently have seven projects going too! I had a day a couple of weeks ago where I wanted to cast on all the things, so I did! I'll start with a report on the oldest projects though, to get them out of the way.

The longest running project so far are the Firenze socks that I'm making out of the FibroFibers Nightfall yarn. I've been working on them since November last year! I think they're taking so long as I'm really not enjoying the yarn. I thought the colour changes would be much more gradiating, but they're much more flecked than I like. 

I'll finish them as I really like the pattern, but I'll not buy any more of this yarn. I've turned the heel and started the gusset decreases on the first sock, so it should be finished pretty soon. I've actually worked some on them the past couple of days as I want them finished!

I've also worked some on the Fiori di Sole shawl, and this one I really love! The Malabrigo lace yarn is soft as butter, and the beads really pop. I managed to break my tiny crochet needle that I use to place the beads so I had to order a new one, but now it's going again. I can only work on this one when Ella is asleep though, as it is a bit difficult to follow charts when you have to chase a toddler around!

I've also tried to work a bit on the Alvi sweater, but it's a bit slow going. I think I'm just not in the mood for colourwork right now, but I would love to have it finished this Fall. I've gotten about to the waist, so half of the body is done. Then you put that aside, make the two sleeves, and then put all of it together and knit the yoke. We'll see when it gets done.

At the end of June I also cast on for a new pair of striping socks. I'm making a pair of knee-high socks for my mother, in some Regia Zoo striping Zebra yarn. 

At first I thought they were a bit boring, I think the white and black threw me off, but now that the first one is done I kind of like them. I think they turned out pretty cool! They are just plain vanilla socks, so it's all the yarn. I wasn't sure that they would count for the self-striping KAL (the year-long that the the Stockinette Zombies are running, not the nasssy KAL that I mentioned earlier), but I asked Megan on Ravelry and she approved them. I knit the heel on the second one last night, and if I finish them before the end of August I will actually have eight self-striping projects this year.

Then on the cast-on day, I started a new sweater for myself, the February Fitted Pullover by Amy Herzog. I'm using MadelineTosh Tosh Vintage yarn, in the colourway Copper Penny, and as the skeins seemed almost identical, I didn't bother alternating them. I'm just about to start the waist decreases, so I haven't gotten very far on it, but I enjoy it so far. The pattern is really easy, I had it memorized after the first repeat, so this one is pretty mindless.

I also started a new cardigan for myself, as I only had two sweaters on the needles. It's the Spelunking cardigan by Anna Dalvi, and I'm using Wollmeise Lace garn in the colourway Cassis. It is turning out very pretty, but as with the lace shawl I can only work on it while Ella sleeps as I need to follow the chart. And I know that the photo isn't much to see, as I only just started it!

Finally, as I had finished the Kyoto cardigan for Ella, I cast on yet another cardigan for her, the Teatime with Teddy Bear, and I'm using Dream in Color Smooshy in the colourway Melon Bomb. I've only made the ribbing collar so far, but I really enjoy the yarn.

And that's it for the knitting! I'm trying to finish up both pairs of socks first, and then I think I need to get to town on the Alvi sweater. But that might change...

I've also bought some nice stuff this summer! When my crochet needle broke I ordered a new one from Stäkets Hantverk, and as they had free shipping above a specific sum, I also got a skein of yarn. Or rather, I got my very first sock blank.

It's a basic 75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon sock yarn that has been knit up into a blank and then dyed. I am a sucker for green, so this one really fits me. It's marinating in the stash for now, but once I finish bith pair of socks I currently have going I might cast on with this.

Before we went to Tjörn me and my mother were out shopping in Borås, and I decided I wanted to visit the local yarn shop, Stickat och Klart. I've been there before, and I find it a bit boring, They mostly have standard base yarns, but I figured it was worth a look. I had looked through all of the yarn and found nothing I wanted, so we were about ready to leave, when I just threw a glance at the needle display. And saw a full set of KnitPicks Caspian wooden exchangeable needles! I have never seen these in Europe before, and I've been wanting a set since I first saw them on KnitPicks' website (where I borrowed the photo, my phone didn't want to upload my photo), so I immediately grabbed them. They are absolutely stunning and I really love them. They might have been part of the reason why I wanted to cast on so many things once I got back home...

I also wanted a pretty needle roll to hold them, as I really don't like the plastic bag that they come in, so that evening I had a little shopping spree on Etsy. I bought a needle case for the new set, and also a needle roll for my 6 inch KnitPro dpn's that I got a while ago but never got a case for, both from See Jane Sew. The case with TARDISse (or TARDI?) on holds the Caspian needles, and the one with the Daleks holds the dpn's. I really really love them!

One of the days we were on Tjörn we went shopping in Stenungsund, the closest town past the bridge to the main land. I went to the local yarn store there, Garn & Hantverkshuset (of course I had scouted it out beforehand), but this was also a little bit boring. Lot's of mainstream base yarns that I can get anywhere, so I just bought a couple of pairs of scissors and darning needles. I also got a package of ten mini skeins (Marks & Kattens Pysselnystan), that I'm also planning on using for more toys for Ella. 

We also went to a huge toy store in Stenungsund, and they had Järbo Mini Akryl skeins sets, so I bought two sets, one in Metallic and one in Neon.

Another day we went to Skärhamn, which is a town on Tjörn, and I visited another yarn shop there, Vinterverkstan. This was a much more fun store, probably because it has an extensive web shop as well, and I left with a few more skeins. I got three skeins of Crystal Palace Panda Silk yarn, in a gorgeous blue /teal colour. I'm not sure what I'll use it for, but it was very nice souvenir yarn. 

I also got three skeins of Onion Knits Tussah Silk yarn, in red. I already had two skeins of this yarn in the same colour, that I bought at the sewing festival last year, but I wanted a few more to make a bigger project. I don't know what yet, but now I should have enough.

Finally, one day we went to a huge shopping center on Orust, the island just to the north of Tjörn, and I got some sock yarn. I got five skeins of Marks & Kattens Fame sock yarn, which is a basic 75 % superwash wool/25 5 nylon yarn.

About a week ago I also got a set of Järbo Mini Acryl skeins in the Prints colours, to add to my collection. These mini skeins are about the most fun things Ella wants to play with right now...

I think that's about it! It's been a productive summer, and it seems I've really added to the stash! But to be fair, I haven't bought any yarn since February before this, so I think I'm ok. All of the yarns still fit in the same boxes, so at least I've used up as much as I've acquired.

This past Thursday Ella came down with a really nasty cold (daycare germs!), which she promptly gave to me, so this weekend has been spent on the couch watching lots of cartoons and taking it easy. I think the sleep deprivation is probably the worst part of it, as Ella seems to wake up and cry every time she coughs. But she's a lot better today, so let's hope that the worst is over. We're going back to preschool tomorrow, and in a week me and Thomas both go back to work, so we really want to have a good last week!

I'll be back in a while, as usual I don't know when :)

/ Jenny

Vacation!

It's finally summer, and even though the weather has been rainy and cold, I still have time off from work! I'm taking both vacation days and maternity leave, so me and Thomas will be home together with Ella until the middle of August. This past spring has been very tough for us, which is probably why I haven't written here for so long. We have had three bouts of stomach flu, and just haven't had any energy to do anything more than the basics. So these days off from work and anything else are very well timed!

Well, even though we've mostly been working (me) and taking care of Ella (Thomas), I have managed to get a lot of knitting done. I have seven new FO's for you since the last time! I'll just go through them as they were finished. 

The first thing I finished was the Star Bright cardigan for Ella. It was finished in February and it is still a bit too big. I had to re-knit the sleeves as they turned out too tight, so I just ended up omitting all of the decreases and making them straight. The cardigan is very pretty and I think it will be perfect for this fall.

It was made with Cascade 220 superwash (100 % superwash wool), in the colourway Marionberry.

Next up I finished the Porthos socks that I made for my brother-in-law William. They turned out very nice, and I used up all but a few meters of the skeins.

They are made with Regia Design Line sock yarn, in the Herb Garden colourway, and they were even striping enough that I got to count them for the Self-Striping KAL that's going on in the Stockinette Zombies Ravelry group. William really likes them too.

I then realized that I have four brothers-in-law, but I've only ever made socks for one of them. So at the beginning of April I cast on for a pair of vanilla socks for my other brother-in-law, Marcus. I used two skeins of Regia Design Line Arne & Carlos yarn that I got in February, in the colourway Winter Night.

They turned out very pretty, and Marcus was very pleased with them. I really like this yarn, the only downside is that since the stripes are so busy it is hard to make anything but vanilla socks with it. Any pattern just obscures the fake colourwork that the yarn is doing by itself.

Next up I started and finished a hat for my best friend for her 35th birthday. I was going to make her a pair of socks, but she asked if I could make a hat instead. I dug deep into the stash to find a suiting yarn, as she isn't a knitter and would probably not appreciate anything with too much colour. I found three skeins of Drops Delight yarn (75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon), in a green and brown striping colourway, and that fit her perfectly. The yarn is a bit thick-and-thin, so I wouldn't use it for socks, but it was perfect for a hat. I started to make the sockhead hat, but to liven it up a bit I made it in reverse stockinette with some knit tbl stitches running along the head. I think it turned out great!

And please excuse the very weird photo of me wearing it! It is pretty difficult to take a picture of yourself and get a good angle of the hat! Christine didn't pose for any photos as it was very warm when I gave it to her. And we were in a church at a Christening that was just about to start too :)

I've also started and finished a little sweater for Ella, the Persille sweater. I used almost a whole skein of Chili Gredelin Cassiopeia yarn (75 % merino/20 % nylon/5 % stellina), in the colourway Glitter Canary, and it is super soft! I have one more skein of this yarn in a blue colourway, and I think I'll make something else for Ella from it as it is just perfect for soft baby skin!

This sweater was a bit of a challenge for me, as the whole thing is knit in pieces and then seamed. I am really not good at seaming, but I made sure I had plenty of time to get it right, and it turned out very good! It is such a pretty little sweater, perfect for summer evenings (if the rain would just stop for a while...).

Right before I went on vacation I also finished the Krydda cardigan for me! It seems like I haven't made anything for myself for a while, so this one was a very fun FO. I really, really love it, and it fits perfectly!

It is made from Cascade 220 (100 % wool), in the colourway Liechen, and the colour is very pretty. I really like Cascade, and this cardigan will be perfect all year round I think.

Finally, yesterday I finished another little cardigan for Ella. I made her a My Aunt Doris cardigan, out of the Araucania llama yarn that I got at the sewing festival last autumn. I haven't had a chance to put it on her after blocking it, as it is still drying upstairs, but it fit her before I soaked it so I think it will be fine. The red semisolid colour is very pretty, and it was a very fun and fast knit.

I also have five projects on the needles. Both the shawls (the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star shawl and the Fiori Di Sole shawl) are still going, and I have made very little progress on them. I very rarely get to knit on anything complicated these days, as I almost always keep an eye on Ella while she crawls around and plays while I knit. She still isn't walking by herself, but she walks while holding on to stuff so I think she will start walking very soon. Anyway, I haven't gotten any new photos of the shawls, since very little has happened to them.

I'm also still working on the Firenze socks by Coopknits, and I have made a little bit of progress on them. I am four repeats into the leg, out of six total, but I think I'll probably make the sock a little longer as I prefer them that way. I have very small feet, so the yarn will be enough to make them a little bit taller.

I had hoped that the colours of the yarn would fade a bit more into each other, so far there are only increasing amounts of purple flecks in the black (it's FibroFibers Nightfall yarn). I'll leave my final judgement of the yarn until the sock is done though, as it is still predominantly black.

I've also started a pair of striping vanilla socks for me, in another skein if Regia Design Line Arne & Carlos yarn, this time in the colourway Star Night. I have just started the second sock, and I had to make them completely un-matching as the starting point of the two skeins was almost exactly different enough to be half-way through the entire stripe repeat! Good thing they're for me!

Finally, at the beginning of May I cast on for a colourwork sweater for myself. I got inspired by Megan of the Stockinette Zombies, who made an Alvi out of Wollmeise Blend yarn, so I started one for myself as well. I was very well on gauge, so even though the pattern calls for a DK, I'm using a sport weight.

The colourways are Krokodil and Ooohm. This is such a fun knit, and I've actually memorized the pattern so I can use it as social knitting. I'm just going to finish the striping socks first, and then this will be my primary knitting I think.

And that's it for knitting! The only yarn I've bought since the last time was the skeins of Arne & Carlos yarn, and I've already used up all of that. I hope to get to do some lace knitting this summer as well, to at least finish one of the shawls. And I'll probably start something new for Ella soon too, as right now I only have projects for myself on the needles!

Other than knitting, it feels like this spring has mostly been spent doing nothing at all. On the first day of vacation though, we went to Gothenburg to see Foo Fighters play! We left Ella with Thomas' mother for the evening (her first time alone with a babysitter! It went perfectly, she was happy all the evening and fell soundly asleep), and me, Thomas, my sister and her boyfriend went to the concert. The opening act was the Linköping band Ghost, which we love, and they were amazing. Then Foo Fighters came on, and after 1.5 songs Dave Grohl fell off the stage and broke his leg! It's been in a lot of international media too, so I guess you've probably heard that he came back and finished the concert with a cast on his leg. It was an amazing show, the crowd was really happy that the show went on so the energy was through the roof (although it was an outside arena...), and the band was just in shock I think. Dave Grohl was probably on a lot of painkillers as well :) All in all it was a perfect evening, and it was very nice to finally get away and do something as adults, without Ella.

Friday this past week was Midsummer's Eve, but since the weather was horrible we didn't go and see the rising of the maypole. We had two friends over for dinner, and just sat around playing board games and had a very good time. Ella is still too small to appreciate any celebrating, so she was content just hanging out with us and playing with her toys. And she got to watch some cartoons too, which she loves.

Ok, I think that's it for this time. Hopefully we'll get to save some energy during the summer, and the autumn will be a better one. Ella is starting daycare in August, and I'm decreasing my working hours to 75 % weeks instead, which should be good for all of us. I'll try to get back sooner next time, but once again I make no promises :)

/ Jenny

A long winter seems to be ending soon!

It seems like I haven't written here in forever, and indeed, I haven't since September last year! The winter has seemed very long and dark, but now it's finally starting to get lighter and a tiny bit warmer. Thomas worked almost around the clock until Christmas, and this coincided with Ella getting her first teeth and being very cranky and clingy, so I didn't have very much time to do anything but take care of her. 

However, at the end of September I went to the sewing festival in Borås, which was very nice. I haven't been in a couple of years, so it was a lot of fun, although this year I found it to be more focused on sewing than on knitting and yarn. I did come home with some yarn though:

Two skeins of The Natural Dye Studio Dazzling sock yarn (55 % wool/45 % silk, 400 m/100 g)), in colourways Lundy (the orange one) and Woody Bay (the green one).

Onion Knit Tussah silk yarn (66 % merino/34 % silk134 m/50 g)), in the colourway Red 210.

Onion Knit Nettle sock yarn (70 % wool/30 % plant fiber, 185 m/50 g), in the colourway Green 1006.

Arucania Puelo yarn (100 % Llama, 210 m/100 g), in the colourway Red 5004.

I also bought a kit for a Strawberry hat from Tant Kofta, which contained a lace weight merino/angora yarn dyed in three different colours, to make a hat from:

Then we went home to our parents for Christmas and New Year's, which was very nice, but there wasn't much time for blogging then either. Ella had a lovely first Christmas, and as she is the first grandchild of both mine and Thomas' parents, she got very spoiled! But it was a great holiday, filled with lots of friends and family, and good food of course.

In January both me and Thomas stayed home with Ella (here in Sweden we have something called double days, where both parents can be home with their child. I think it's 30 days that we can use during the first year), and that was exactly what we needed. We spent the whole month just hanging out as a family, making small outings and just enjoying ourselves. That month there was also some knitting getting done, but I'll get to that.

On the second of February I went back to work, after being home for almost exactly one year with Ella. Thomas is staying home with her this spring, and then we'll both be home with her during the summer, and in the Autumn she'll start pre-school. I think the timing for me starting work again was near perfect: I was starting to get a little bit lonely just being home with Ella for all those months, Thomas was fed up with his job and just wanted to spend more time with Ella, and Ella was starting to be a bit too "mom-ish", just being very clingy with me. She needed to be with another adult, and getting more used to being alone with her dad. So now we're all happy again!

I have managed to do a lot of knitting since I wrote last. I think I'll just show them off in chronological order. The first thing I finished, on September 24th, was a pair of socks. These are the Walk the Line socks, and I made them in Regia Color 4-ply sock yarn (75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon), in the colourway Ringel Clown:

I really liked them, and the colours were a lot of fun, but I ended up giving them to my mother-in-law, as she had started to wear out her previous pair I gave her. She loves them and wears them all the time.

Next up was a pair of socks for me, a pair of vanilla socks in Fibernymph Dye Works Bedazzled sock yarn. I managed to snag a set of Nyan Cat sock yarn in one of her updates, and I cast them on almost as soon as I got the yarn:

I really, really love these, and they were most definitely for me! I have a lot of yarn let over, and I think I'll make a matching pair for Ella eventually.

Then I started a winter set for Ella, a hat, a scarf, a pair of mittens, and I had yarn left over to make a pair of matching socks as well. I bought two skeins of Drops Baby Alpaca Silk yarn in an off-white colour, and made a set from a Drops pattern. I finished the set on October 18th.

The set is very cute, but she actually moves around too much for the hat to stay still (it shifts sideways, so she ends up with it over her face...), and I think she used the mittens twice before we dropped one of them outside and never found them again! The socks fit for a while but are too small now, but we still use the scarf a lot.

As she lost the mitten, I started a new set for her, which I finished on November 21st. I used the yarn I got from Tant Kofta at the sewing festival and made a hat and a pair of matching mittens for Ella:

I chose not to use the pattern that came with the hat, where the green leafy edge was at the bottom of the hat, but used this Drops pattern instead. I made the mittens as simple tubes, and to protect the small fingers from the colourwork strands I also made an inside lining with the red yarn, so they're double layered and very warm. Ella has used this set all winter, and gotten lots of compliments on them as well.

Then in January I finally finished the Minni cardigan that I started in August. It turned out super cute, and a little big, but Ella has worn it a lot anyway, and she will grow into it.

It's made with Fleece Artist merino sock yarn in the colourway Blush, KnitPicks Stroll yarn in the colourway Aurora Heather, and Gepard CashSoft sock yarn in a pale pink.

At the beginning of winter Thomas asked me if I could make him a new hat, and I chose the Weather the Weather pattern. I first bought a skein of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Worsted, in the colourway Kerfluffle, but Thomas thought it was a bit too purple (he wanted black or grey). I then bought two skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in black (and boy did those skeins stain my hands when I knit with it!), and made the hat twice as the first attempt turned out too small.

The final hat is a smidge too big, but I just won't knit it a third time so he'll have to be satisfied. It was a fun and easy knit though.

I also got some yarn money from my parents this Christmas, so at the beginning of January I made two orders. The first one was from Garnkorgen, and contained:

Lorna's Laces Shepherd sock yarn (80 % wool/20 % nylon, 398 m/100g), in the colourways Childsplay (the multi-coloured one) and Envy (the green one). Both of these are destined to become socks for my mother.

Regia Color 4-ply in the colourways Zebra and Tiger (I think you can guess which is which). My mother claimed the white ones, and the orange ones will be socks for me.

I also ordered two skeins of Wollmeise Blend yarn (70 % merino/20 % cashmere/10 % nylon, 499 m/150 g), the new sport weight yarn, from Wollmeise, in colourways Ooohm (the teal one) and Krokodil (the green one), that I plan on using for a striped sweater or cardigan for me.

Ok, more knitting! At the end of September I started a little dress for Ella, the Little Sister's dress. I chose to use my two skeins of Koigu KPPPM yarn, and of course I ran out. I finally found more skeins in the same colourway at Webs, so I ordered them (even though the shipping was almost as much as the yarn). They were of course not from the same dye lot, and they didn't match. At all! So I ended up striping the different skeins to make them last.

I finished the dress on January 22nd, and I was so glad to be done with it! As I had to frog it back to nothing to alternate the skeins, I had knit it twice, and the yarn was a nightmare! I think I ended up having to weave in over 30 ends in this tiny thing, due to all the knots and breaks in the yarn! I will never buy it again, and I can't believe this is such an expensive and popular yarn. It is pretty though.

On January 30th I also finished a pair of socks, the MineCraft socks, that I made of a skein of Opal Surprise! sock yarn, in the colourway Leckerbissen. 

I honestly can't remember when I ordered this (it says December 9th 2014 on Ravelry, so maybe I got it when I ordered the yarn for Thomas' hat?). I was planning on keeping them for myself, but I ended up giving them to my mother-in-law as she's been going through some stuff this winter. She was very happy with them too!

One more FO for you! On Valentine's Day I finished another little cardigan for Ella, the Korrigan. 

I used MarigoldJen Yarns BFL/nylon sock yarn (75 % wool/25 % nylon) in the colourway Apple of Megan's Eye, and it turned out super cute! She has been wearing it almost every day since it was finished, and she seems to like it (although she doesn't really have a choice yet!).

I also have a lot of stuff on the needles, as I seem to have had a bit of cast-on-itis lately. In November I started a new shawl, the Twinkle Twinkle Little Star shawl, in some Chili Gredelin Geisha yarn (100 % silk), in the colourway Selleri.

I've made almost half of the first chart, but I don't get to work a lot on my lace projects right now as I spend most of my non-working time with Ella, and I'm too tired in the evenings after she goes to sleep. As I get more used to working again I'll probably not feel as tired in the evenings, then I can hopefully work some lace again.

I also have a pair of cabled socks on the needles, and these ones are for me. They are the Firenze socks that I got in the 7 Degrees of Kevin Bacon sock club back in 2013. I'm using my skein of FibroFibers Nightfall sock yarn in the Deep Purple colourway. They are also a bit slow going, but I'm really enjoying them.

Next up is another lace shawl, and this one I'm making with beads! It's the Fiori de Sole shawl, and I'm using some old stash Malabrigo Lace yarn, in the colurway Emerald. It's so much fun, but I'm not working much on this one either right now. It will get done eventually though.

A couple of years ago I made a pair of socks for my youngest brother-in-law, William, and he has finally worn them through. So I'm making him a new pair, the Porthos socks, in Regia Design Line sock yarn, colourway Herb Garden. They are so much fun, and the pattern is really easy to memorize. I was hoping to have them finished by the end of the month, but that's not going to happen. Soon, though!

As I finished the Korrigan cardigan for Ella, I immediately cast on for another one for her. I'm making the Star Bright cardigan (and I'll make the matching hat too, if I have enough yarn left over), in Cascade 220 superwash, in the colourway Marionberry. I'm using this as my break knitting at work, and it goes by really fast. I should be done some time next week, I think.

Finally, I also cast on for a new cardigan for me. I haven't really knitted much for myself, other than socks, for a long while, so I thought it was time. I had a couple of skeins of Cascade 220 in the Liechen colourway balled up, that I had started a Dark and Stormy cardigan with a long, long while ago. A couple of weeks ago I finally decided that I didn't want that cardigan anymore, so I frogged the five rows I had made, and now I'm using the yarn for the Krydda cardigan. So far it's going by very fast, but I haven't started the lace pattern yet. It should be fun though!

So, lots of knitting and yarn! Ella is growing fast, right now she's crawling around all of the house and exploring (and tasting!) everything. On March 5th she'll turn one year old, I can't believe it's been a year already! We're having our families over for her birthday party, which will be a lot of fun, so we'll have to bake a birthday cake!

I think I'll leave you with that, congratulations if you managed to get all the way through! I'll try not to take five months off until next time, but I make no promises :)

/ Jenny