Sewing Festival 2010

My oh my. The Sewing Festival in Borås this year was absolutely fabulous! I went to Borås on Firday evening, to stay with my parents. When I came into my room (It's more of a spare room, the only thing that's really mine in there any longer is the bed), I was greeted by an insanely strong smell of cat pee. Turns out one of my parents' cats had peed on the couch in there. Yay. We removed the wet pillows, but the smell prevailed all through the night. The next morning we found out that the stupid cat had also peed on a pillow that was on the floor underneath the bed. No wonder it smelled! Once we removed that pillow too, the smell disappeared! Stupid cat.

Ok, on to the festival. This year I went with my mother, and I didn't partake in any of the workshops. There weren't that many of them that I was interested in anyway, but it was fun to just walk by them and see what they were all about. And let me tell you, the festival was a bit bigger this year than last! There were so many yarn vendors! And before you say anything, let me tell you that I actually didn't spend any of my own money! A month or so ago, my sister got a pair of insanely expensive boots and a new autumn coat as a gift from my grandmother (well, she got the money for them, and bought them herself). And even though my sister and I are 25 and 30 years old, my grandmother still thinks that all gifts have to be equal, so she gave me the same amount of money. So I decided to spend it on the sewing festival, which I did!

And I tell you, the harvest was bountiful this year! I didn't get as many skeins as I did last year, but went more for quality this year instead. I still managed to come home with 14 new skeins of yarn! I had my camera with me, but I only remembered to take two photos the whole day, on my favourite booth. It was the swedish dyer Färgkraft (which translates roughly as powerful colours, or strenght from colours). One of my LYS's here in town, Garnverket, carry some of this yarn as well, but this booth that was run directly by the Färgkraft people had such a huge selection! If the yarn wasn't so expensive, I would have bought the whole inventory!

All the yarn is made from swedish sheep, and dyed by hand. I walked away with three skeins of gorgeous lace yarn called SoftBlend. Two in a gorgeous dark pink/fuschia colour called Cerise:

And one in a lovely green colour called VarmGrön (warm green):

I love them all so very much! The pink is destined to become the Butterflies and Flowers shawl, and the green will become a Troll Forest shawl. I have to say that I'm very proud of myself, because I almost only bought yarn with specific projects in mind! I even wrote down a list of patterns that I have in my pattern stash, but that I don't have any yarn for yet, so I would know what to look for. 

Next we came upon a booth that only sold Opal sock yarn (the link goes to the booth people, the swedish vendors). This is a German company that only make sock yarn (I think), and in so many crazy, self-striping colours. Since I mostly knit patterned socks, I didn't think I'd want any of this, but it turns out that they had a lot of solid colours as well. So I bought five skeins in total here:

Pink

Purple

Wine

Green multi-coloured (because I couldn't help myself)

And crazy multicoloured (one crazy skein is all right, right?)

All of them except the green will be socks from my 10 patterns collection. The green skein was bought so I can make a pair of socks for Christmas for my youngest brother-in-law William (he's 14 years old, and my husband's brother, not married to my sister...). He asked for a pair of socks a while ago, and I'm going to make the Manly Aran socks from the Toe-Up Socks for Every Body book by Wendy D Johnson. All the Opal skeins have 100 grams in them, so they should be enough to make at least a pair of socks from (I think the socks for Willie will be a bit more though, as he has bigger feet than me). The yarn is 75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon (which seems to be a standard for many sock yarns).

The next booth I shopped in was Limmo Design, who also has a web shop. She had soooo many gorgeous, hand-painted sock yarns, it was hard to choose! I walked away with two skeins of gorgoeus skeins that were 100 g of 75 % wool/25 % polyamide:

Colourway Sun

Colourway Rosebud

These skeins will also go to the 10 socks pattern collection. With these skeins, I actually have ten different yarns that I'm planning to use for this pattern collection, so hopefully I will make all of them! I'm sort of in a sock zone right now (I'll tell you more about that later), so this suits me very well!

Oh, and at Limmo Design I also picked up five bags of Kool-Aid! It's a bit hard to come by here in Sweden, so I was very pleased to find it here. I have five different colours (or flavours, really): Grape, Cherry, Slammin' Strawberry/Kiwi, Black Cherry and Pink Lemonade. I realized yesterday evening though that I might actually need more than one bag to dye a whole skein, but I think I might be able to get more bags from the Limmo Design web shop. 

Next we went to the booth where GarnGalleriet sold it's wares. I got to fondle Hand Maiden for the first time, and of course I couldn't resist. One skein of AMAZING Lace Silk (100 % silk, 900 m/100g) in a beautiful, lustrous copper hue went with me home. 

This will become a Lirio shawl, which is a pattern that I've had in my queue for a while now but never got around to buying. The other day though, I got it as  RAK gift from Pyttan, and I couldn't be happier! The yarn is just so incredibly soft and shiny, it's going to be a real treat to work with it!

We then moved on to Nysta's booth, and this was also a real treat! She had lots of yarns from Colinette (although I didn't see any Jitterbug), and some Debbie Bliss and Heaven's Hand. This is the booth where I bought my only impulse yarn, that I didn't have anything planned for. Two skeins of Debbie Bliss Andes went home with me:

It's 65% alpaca/35 % silk, and oh so soft! The colour is a pale purple/grey, and I think they will become a pair of mittens for me. It's 100 m/50 g, so DK weight. 

Finally I also bought a pair of DPN's from Marks & Kattens (a swedish manufacturer), but I can't seem to remember which vendor I bought them from. They are very pretty wooden needles (you can see them in the photo of the Kool-aid above), and I'm very curious to work with them as they're not as smooth as the KnitPicks Harmony needles I'm used to.

Oh, and one more thing: I've finaly gotten my mother back on knitting! When I came home on Friday she showed me a scarf she had knitted! She used to knit a lot of sweaters and cardigans for me and my sister when we were young, but she quit some time in the late 80's. And even though I started obsessing about knitting about a year ago, she hasn't really picked it up again until now. So she went with me to the festival yesterday, and she bought some Caron Simply Soft yarn to make a sweater for herself! 

Yay! I doubt she will become as crazy as I am about it, but I love that she has finally started again. The 100 % acrylic yarn ws really, really soft, and as she wanted a white sweater I think she made a good choice in going with a washable yarn. 

There were of course LOTS of vendors that I didn't shop at, and it was so much fun to just look around! I stood a long time at Ullcentrum's booth and finally decided that I would wait with that! After the festival we went to visit my grandmother and uncle for a short while, and yeaterday afternoon I went back to Linköping again. Thomas and his friends went to a metal concert last night, so I had the apartment all to myself. I just sat in bed listening to my new audio book and knitted a bit (and Skyped with Sarah for 2.5 hours!). And fondled all my new yarn, of course! 

Ok, I'm actually going to talk a bit about my own knitting too. I finished my secret Christmas project the other day, so I decided that they would become a birthday present instead. My mother has a birthday coming up in October, so she got her gift a bit early on Friday evening. A while ago I found a free sock pattern on Ravelry called the Rosalie Socks. This was really funny, as my mother's name is Rosalie! The match was ment to be, so I knitted her a pair using KnitPicks Stroll yarn in the Saphire Heather Colourway:

She loved them, and put them on right away. Once I got into the zone knitting them, they went really fast, and as soon as I finished them I had to cast on for another pair of socks for myself! I just enjoy knitting socks so much right now! I chose the Wanida socks, from the Sock Innovation book by Cookie A. I'm using a yarn that I bought at last year's Crafts day in Old Linköping, it's Zitron Trekking XXL. 

So far I've only gotten past the cuff, so I don't have any photos to show you yet.

I've also been working a lot on the Tunic Dress, and I've finished the skirt part and just picked up stitches for the top part. Now I'm starting the pattern though, so it's become a bit too challenging to bring to work. I need to find another stockinette pattern that I can have as a work project! But today I think I'm actually going to knit some on the languishing India Stole! I'm more than half-way through it, and I really want to finish it so I can start something else :)

/ Jenny

Slacker Saturday

We're having a stay-in Saturday today, just enjoying the fall rain outside and listening to audio books and actually spend some time together for once! I'm knitting on my first Christmas project, which I won't show until the recipient gets it. I'm about 25 % in the project, and hopefully I can finish it this week.

I also have a finished object to show you: I finished the St Hyacinthe Socks this week! 

They are made with 1.6 skeins of Drops Fabel, and I love them! I've already worn them to work once, washed them, and now I'm wearing them today again! As usual, I had to decrease some extra stitches in the gusset decreases, as my foot circumference is a lot smaller than my leg circumference. Thus, I need fewer stitches over the sole than most patterns call for. But other than that, I made no changes to the pattern. It was easy to remember, but lots of fun to knit!

I'm also working a lot on the Tunic dress, and I think I will finish the skirt part some time this coming week. I'm knitting on it almost exclusively at work, so it's a bit slow going, but it's looking great. I have no new photos to show you, as it is still scrunched up on the short circular needle, but I'll take some once I cast off the hem.

Now I'm going to have me some lunch, and knit some more. And to all my swedish readers: Don't forget to vote tomorrow! It's a very improtant election (for the swedish government), and we MUST get a change of governing parties! So please, vote with your heart and not with your wallet!

/ Jenny

We're home!

We left Wednesday night for London, and met up with Thomas' family at the Stanstead airport. There were so many of us, we had to rent two cars to fit us all in, and then drove (I didn't drive, I don't do left-side traffic) almost the entire night to get to Worksop, which is located just at the edges of the Sherwood Forest (you know, where Robin Hood lived). It was a good flight, with no turbulence whatsoever, and it took us less than two hours from Nyköping (where we flew from) to London. I have to warn you about this fairly long post: I forgot my camera, so there will be no photos from England this time!

On Thursday we just walked around the center of Worksop, doing some window shopping and just spending time with the family. They all live in Borås (where both me and Thomas grew up), so we don't see them very often. Thomas has four brothers, so we had a really nice time. I found two knitting magazines that managed to come home with me too:

Then on Wednesday evening it was time for me to meet the english side of the family for the first time. I've only ever met Thomas' grandmother before, so there were LOTS of new faces for me! I have to say though that they were incredibly welcoming, and treated me like one in the family from the beginning. And despite this being a very sad occasion, they were all so nice and happy to meet me too. We had dinner at a local pub, and then went back to Nanna's favourite pub to have a few drinks and just chat some together.

And blogger insists on turning this photo around! The magazines are The knitter, issue 23 and Yarn Forward, Issue 29

Then on Friday we went to the funeral service, which was really beautiful, and afterwards we all went back to Nanna's pub to have a proper, english wake. Now, here in Sweden when you go to a funeral, you are often invited back to the family's place for some coffee and a bit of quiet get-together. In England, all the family and friends get together to celebrate the life of the deceased, with a proper sending-off. There were lots of good finger-food, and lots and lots of beer and laughter. I think this version of mourning was so much nicer, I could practically see Nanna sitting in one corner and just enjoying the whole thing. Sure the laughter was intersperced with some tears as well, but that's just to be expected. It was just a blast, and I even ended up singing some Karaoke ( sang Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow)! I only felt sorry that I had to meet all of these incredibly nice people under these sad circumstances. We swapped e-mail adresses with all of Thomas' cousins, and we'll definitely not wait another ten years until we go back again. Hopefully we can afford to visit a few days next summer!

Yesterday we flew back to Sweden, I think we were home at about 22.30 after a whole day of travelling. It's good to be back home with Hobbe! My sister has been taking care of him, and she's done a good job, but I think he hates being alone for so long a period (my sister is working during the days, and has two cats of her own to take care of, so she didn't live here with him). He seemed very happy to see us yesterday, and spoke to us all night (I think he was telling us about his weekend :).

And are you wondering about the knitting needles and the plane? It was a complete success! When we arrived at the security check-in at Skavsta (the swedish airport we flew from) I pulled up my knitting bag and asked if I could take my knitting with me. The security guy (who was a big, muscular guy of about 40 years or so) then asked me if the needles where thinner than size 12 (mm)? So he had obviously gotten that question before, and knew enough about knitting to know the needle sizes! My needles were 3 mmm, so they were fine! I've knitted a lot during the weekend, at the pub and so (although not on Friday, somehow it seemed inappropriate to bring knitting to a wake), and I've already finished a whole sock!

I cast on on Tuesday night, before we left, and finally decided on the St Hyacinthe socks. They are part of a set of ten sock patterns that I bought a while ago, and they are great! I learned the pattern by heart really fast, but the patterning is still tricky enough to keep me interested. The yarn I've used is Drops Fabel, from Garnstudio, and even though it's really cheap sock yarn, I really really enjoy knitting with it. I like the striping, and some time in about two weeks they are coming out with solid colours of this yarn as well. Yay! I won't buy any until after the USA trip this Spring (unless I find some cheap at the Sewing Festival in Borås on the 25th of September), but it's nice to know that it's there.

Oh, and I have to tell you about all the gluten free food I found in England! Apparently it's becoming more and more common over there too, and on Thursday we went to the supermarket (Sainsbury's) since the younger brothers wanted to buy some crisps. They had so many different cakes and cookies! I ended up buying a few kinds, in the hopes that I would be allowed to bring it on the plane with me (we didn't bring any check-in luggage, only carry-on). And it was ok! So I've spent today on the couch, knitting on my sock and eating jam tarts. I think I'll have to find a connection in England who'd be willing to send me some by mail!

Now me and Thomas are going to watch the last episode of Pillars of the Earth, a british mini series based on the book by Ken Follet. If you like history, and you haven't seen this one, I really recommend it! It follows the book pretty well, and there are some great, unknown (to me) actors in it.

Good night until next time!

/ Jenny

Surprise visit

Today I went into town to buy a set of dpns in bamboo, that I can bring with me to England next week. We're leaving on Wednesday, and the funeral will be held on Friday. I haven't checked with the airline yet if I can bring the needles on board (we're only bringing carry-on bags and no check-in luggage), but they were insanely cheap so if I have to leave them it's no big deal. Then I'll try to get a new pair once we arrive, so I can knit while we're there at least. 

I also picked up some cheap sock yarn that I'm going to bring with me, so I have a small, portable project that I can work on. I'm going to make one of the pairs from a set of 10 models I bought a while ago. It's easier to bring a few sheets of paper than a whole book with patterns, and it definitely weighs less. Anyway, this is the yarn:

Drops Fabel, 205 m/50 g, 75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon

I bought the yarn just so I could have something cheap to bring with me on the trip, but I'm not sure if I'll have much knitting time while over there. We're coming back home again on Saturday, so it won't be a long trip, and as it is a funeral trip it's not much fun either.

I also went to the doctor's yesterday to get my test results evaluated, but he had nothing new to tell me. They don't know what's wrong with me, so I'm going back on the 14th of September to do some additional tests. If they can't find out what's wrong with me then, they'll try to treat the symptoms and not care about the underlying reason. Maybe I just have an over-active stomach. I just wish that it would let me work!

Oh, and I bet you're wondering about the blog title? Today when I was walking back home from town, my mother called and told me that they were outside my apartment! She and my dad had just decided to come visit me and my sister as a surprise, so we all had dinner together and chatted for a few hours. It was really nice, as it's been a while since I saw them, but on the other hand I'm going home for a visit in three weeks (for the sewing festival), so they could have just waited. But it was fun, albeit short (they've already left again).

The rest of the evening will probably be spent with some knitting and either a film or tv-games (we haven't decided yet). I've gotten a bit of a cold, so I'm very tired today, but at least it seems to be going away. I think I'm going to knit on the India Stole tonight :)

/ Jenny

Sad times at the house of ours

On Thursday evening last week, Thomas' father called to tell us that Thomas' grandmother had had a stroke and was unconscious at the hospital in Worksop, England, where she lives. The weekend was spent discussing whether we should fly over there immediately, but we eventually decided to wait and see if she would wake up. Sadly, she didn't but died early Monday morning. She was a great little lady with lots of love and humour, and she will be very missed. Thomas is just glad that he and his brothers went there this past May to celebrate her 80th birthday, and it was a great time (remember, I knitted a pink shawl for her?). The funeral will be held on September 10th, and hopefully I can get time off so we can fly over there the both of us.

It's hard to make a transition from such sad news into yarn and knitting, but I'm doing it anyway. Last week I got the final shipment of the Nyansera summer yarn club, and it was a skein of gorgeous fingering weight yarn. It's called Nyansera Komplett, and is 100 % superwash merino (400 m/100 g). The colourway is called Stone Washed Jeans, and you can see why:

I love it, it is very similar in quality to Colinette Jitterbug, and I'm planning on making myself a pair of mittens from them.

On Sunday there was a crafts day in Old Linköping, and I went for a short while to have a look. I came home with some home-made marmalade, some locally produced goat cheese (boy is that delicious!) and of course two skeins of gorgeous lace yarn. I just can't seem to stop buying yarn! These skeins are hand dyed by the swedish seller Garnpaletten, and all her yarns are just to die for! The colourway is called Kattegatt (that's the name of the ocean just north of Denmark), it's 100 % swedish wool, and it's 600 m/100 g.

I knitted a Candle Flame shawl form this yarn before, in the colourway Pink Play, so I know that it knits up beautifully. I gave that shawl to my own grandmother, who loved it, and it will be nice to get to knit with this yarn again. 

I actually have three skeins that I bought last year too, in the colourway Lime, and this yarn is supposed to become the Heere Be Dragone shawl eventually.

I have also started work at the new unit, which is located about 4 minutes from our apartment. I have only been there Monday and Tuesday so far, and today my stomach exploded again so I had to stay at home. Man, I really really hate my stomach issues! On Friday I'm going back to the gastroenterology department to get some coaching, but I got my test results back yesterday in a mail. All my tests are normal and healthy! I just wanted to cry when I saw this, as there is definitely SOMETHING wrong! But hopefully they'll have some more tests lined up for me. At this point I would almost consider a full stomach transplant (yes, I know that's not possible, but a girl can dream, right?). It wouldn't be so bad if I could just manage work!

As far as my knitting goes, I'm making some progress on the tunic dress, but it's not much to show yet as it's just a lot of stockinette scrunched up on a small needle. But I have also picked up the India Stole again, and I'm almost finished with the first half! I've started the decreases for the tip, so the rest of this half should go pretty fast as the rows get shorter and shorter. Maybe I can even finish it in September (knock on wood)?

Ok, now I'm going to have a lie-down, as my head is really spinning today. Friday can not come fast enough!

/ Jenny

Oragnization Bonanza!

Wow, did you notice how I managed to work two z's into the post title? Anyhow, that's what we've been doing this weekend. I actually had to leave work a little early on Friday, because my stomach spazzed out on me (wow, two more z's!). I can not wait to get back to the physician and hear what's wrong with me! I've finally gotten a new appointment, on the 3rd of September, and that day can't come soon enough!

But never mind about that. Back to organizing! We've cleaned out our storage unit, and filled it with new stuff (well, it's far from full). We've re-organized the book shelves to accomodate all of our books. And believe you me, we have tons of books! Both me and Thomas read a lot, and we like to collect books. As it is now, we can't really buy any more books, because they won't fit into the bookcases! But all of the sorting has led to us having some shelves empty, and as of today, they house almost all of my yarn!

Notice the Jack Skellington mug at the middle, left shelf? That was part of my 25th birthday present from Thomas :) And underneath it is a small wooden frame with an all access pass from the Art Garfunkel concert me and Christine went to back in 1997 (or was it 1998?). We got to go back stage and meet mr Garfunkel himself, and the white slip of paper in the frame holds his autograph! Just if you were wondering, that is :)

I still have some of my heavier weight yarns that didn't fit into these boxes, so I think I'm going to get two more. We're also talking about maybe getting some kind of chest to put under the stairs, where I could keep all my knitting accessories. You know, needles, sewing thread, beads, my kitchen scales, left over yarn ends and stuff like that. But I think that will be next week or so, as I get my paycheck on Wednesday.

We bought the boxes for the yarn at Ikea, and while we were there I also picked up a great storage solution for my shawls. I bought a towel hanger!

Picture borrowed from Ikea.se

It's now sitting on our bedroom wall, behind the door so I can hide it if I want, and it's housing all my shawls except the giant purple one (that one kind of needs a drawer all to itself...).

There are four hanger rods on it, and it work perfectly! No more folding the shawls and keeping them in a bag under the stairs! 

Thomas is also cleaning out the closet full of stuff in our computer room, I think he's about half-way through it, and hopefully there will be room enought in there to store my sewing machine. I haven't used it once yet, but someday I will take the time to learn how to sew! Right now the machine is sitting on our kitchen table, and as I'm not currently using it it might as well go into storage for a while.

We're going to finsih off the cleaning and organizing with emptying out our bureau in the hallway that is currently full of just stuff. We need to get a key locker to hang on the wall, and just throw out all of the junk that has just ended up in those drawers! It feels so good to just get some organiztion into our lives, it feels like we've been living in such a mess lately!

Oh, and I promised you photos of the progress on the tunic dress! I'm knitting it in the SWTC Bamboo yarn, and it looks really great! It's a little hard to see in the photos, as it is so scrunched up on the 60 cm cable needle, but I'm telling you that this will be a great summer tunic! I love working on it, and I've made most of it at work.

This weekend I've also been working on my first Christmas project! I can't tell you anything about it until Christmas, which is ind of a bummer, but I think the recipient will really like it. I actually have some Christmas projects planned, but I'll just have to see if I can finish them all in time. Now that I'm going to be working full time, I have a lot less knitting time :)

And are you wondering about the India Stole? Yes, it is unfortunately sadly languishing in the UFO bag right now. I absolutely plan on finishing it, as I really love it, but I need to finish the first Christmas project first. And I can't really bring it to work, as I need the charts for every row. But it will be done!

/ Jenny

Drumroll please!

I got the job! There were 28 applicants, and I got it! Yay! So now I have work until the end of December, with a probable possibility of prolonging it then! I'm so happy! It's exhausting to work full time, but I love the job and I'm glad to have an income again. The job will be at different primary care units in Linköping and Motala (which is located about 40 minutes' drive from here), and I'll be doing the same type of work as I'm doing now in Mjölby.

I'm thinking of celebrating by buying some yarn, but I've decided to save the money for the upcoming USA trip. Also, my grandmother offered to sponsor my visit to the sewing festival at the end of September, and there will be yarns galore there (last year I walked out with two full gorcery bags of yarn after that visit...). So I think I'll try to hold out until then :)

I got into a bit of knitting slump after frogging the Paper Dolls sweater this weekend, but I've cast on for the Tunic Dress from the Debbie Bliss Magazine.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

I'm using the awesome lilac bamboo yarn for Sout West Trading Company that I got from Ulrika the other week, and it's working out great! I've done some modifications to the pattern, the main one being that I'm knitting the skirt part in the round (as I hate sewing). I think I'm going to try to knit the body in one piece up to the arm holes as well, then I will just have to seem the shoulders toghether. And now that I think about it, I could just kitchener those stitches together too, and eliminate all sewing! I have no photos of my progress yet, but I'll try to get some this weekend!

/ Jenny

Ribbit ribbit ribbit

Today I've learned the importance of trying things on as you knit. The Paper Dolls sweater is all but finished, I have about 1/2 inch ribbing on the collar left. So I decided to actually try it on. And boy, is there lots of stuff wrong with this one:

1) The collar is WAY too tight. It would barely fit over my head.

2) The decreases right before the collar, after the doll patterning, are way too tight too. The dolls are all crumpled together, and the sweater looks like it's too short over the shoulders (the neck is way too wide).

3) The waist decreases were way too few. The sweater fits me as well as a sack.

4) The sweater is way too long, it could almost be a dress. While that could be cute, it's not what I was going for.

5) The arms are too tight. The corrugated ribbing is apparently something I'm not good at.

6) The ribbing at the bottom of the sweater is also too tight. This also contributes to the sack fitting of the sweater.

I really don't think that any amount of blocking will fix all this. So. I've decided to frog it. Four weeks' worth of knitting. Yay. I think I'll start over and make me another one, although I'm not sure I'll do it right away. I'm thnking of trying to make it from the top down, but I'm not sure I'm up for all that math. I guess I'll just have to change the increases and decreases in the pattern.

I think I'll knit some lace to cheer me up!

/ Jenny

Maybe we should turn this thing into a weekly event?

Hi everyone! Long time no seen! I tell you, I'm just so completely beat when I get home from work, I just can't find the energy to write. And the past two weekends have also been super busy, although fun busy, so I just haven't had time to update in a while. But this weekend is all about relaxing and hanging out with my husband, as it seems that we hardly see each other any more.

But I have some time to update today, and I actually have some knitting progress to show you. I'm almost done with my Paper Dolls sweater!

I'm starting the dolls pattern today, and hopefully I can finish the whole thing tomorrow. I've knitted a lot on it at work, mostly on the breaks, but the afternoons have been pretty slow the past few weeks so I get to knit a row or two in between patients. This stockinette knitting is perfect for that! I love the sweater, and I can't wait to get to show it off finished at work!

And speaking of work: The county is hiring one or two biologists at the beginning of September! I sent my application in this Thursday, and I hope to hear from the bosses some time next week, or the week after. I'm more than qualified for the job, and one extra thing speaking in my favour is that I'm actually working with the boss right now, so she definitely knows who I am. At least, I hope that's working in my favour :)

And I also finally got a new appointment at the gastroenterology unit at the hospital, to get my lab answers from the endoscopy I did at the beginning of May. I really hope that they've found something that can be treated, or at least managed in some way, so my stomach can start functioning again. I think that that is a very big reason to why I'm so completely exhausted all the time, and it would be really nice to actually get some energy back!

Now I'm going to get dressed and go shop at the local farmer's market with Thomas, and then it's a day for just the two of us. If I finish the sweater tomorrow, I'll be back then!

/ Jenny

Ok, I couldn't help myself...

Yesterday I visited Skänninge Marken for the first time ever. Skänninge is a small community about 30 km from Linköping, and every year the first Wednesday and Thursday of August there is a HUGE outdoors market taking place there. I've lived in Linköping for 11 years now, and never went to this market before. So yesterday after work I went for about two hours, and it was pretty nice. A lot of the vendors sell the same stuff, lots of candy, wallets, T-shirts and purses. But I managed to find a small jewel: A yarn vendor that sold the swedish yarn Kampes. I knitted the Sari Lace Triangle from this yarn, it is a bit rough but a real joy to work with. And such great stitch definition! 

The yarn at the market was about half price from what I've ordered online before, so I actually caved in and bought four skiens!

Two grey skeins, 100 % wool, 600 m/100 g

Two Black skeins, 100 % wool, 600 m/100 g

I actually got yarn for two huge shawls for just over $10! I'm really happy about that. So happy that I don't care that I broke my vow no to buy any more yarn before the upcoming trip to the States!

And speaking of which: Here are our travel plans so far: We fly to Washington DC and meet up with Sarah and her husband. We spend a couple of days in DC and do touristy stuff (and shop some yarn!), then go with Sarah and Chris to Roanoke, VIrginia, where they live. We'll rent a cabin there for a couple of nights, hang out with Sarah and Chris and just have a great time. I've been promised a trip to an alpaca farm, so I hope I get to pet some alpacas!

Then we're flying up to Maine. I've read Stephen King since I was about 12, and I tell you I would marry that man if he offered to write for me the rest of his life. I just can't get enough of his books, and according to Thomas I'm blind to any faults he may have (in my oppinion he doesn't have any, all of his books are perfect). Therefore I really want to see Maine, as I've read so much about it (and no, I don't expect to get to see mr King, I've understood that he's a very private person and I respect that). I just want to soak in the atmosphere, and maybe get me some lobster while I'm at it (is there even lobster available in March, when we're going?). But here comes my question to all of my potential Maine residents readers: What should I not miss when I get to Maine? Where do we need to go? I don't know anything about the touristy stuff available in Maine. Are there any of you who'd like to meet up with us for a cup of coffee and a bit of knitting (Thomas won't be knitting, but he drinks coffee and is good at making conversation)?

After a couple of days in Maine, we're going to get ourselves to New York, where we'll stay for a few days and then fly back to Sweden from there. We haven't decided how we're going to travel from Maine to N.Y., as we don't really have any feeling for how far it is. Is it possible to go by bus? Or should we fly? We don't have unlimited funds, but I think we will be able to afford to fly if the bus takes too long. I'd really appreciate any input!

Anyway, now I'm going to have some dinner and then go to bed. Thank God it's Friday tomorrow, I'm really exhausted this week! But the weekend should be much fun, as one of my friends is getting married! It's an outdoor wedding, so we're really hoping the weather will be fine!

/ Jenny

What a weekend!

Well, I can definitely say that I don't feel rested after this weekend! But it was soooo worth it! On Friday me and Thomas went to dinner at our good friends Jenny and Tomas (very original name combo, don't you think?). Jenny moved to Amsterdam this spring, and I haven't seen her since and it was so much fun to catch up! The other guests were Klara and Micke, and Klara has been living a year in Liverpool, so I don't see her very often either. Seeing the both of them made me realize just how much I miss them! We sat and chatted and laughed until 2 a.m., which is really late for me! Especially as I get up at 6 a.m. to get to work... I forgot to bring my camera, so no photos from this evening.

Yesterday I slept in a bit, and in the evening me and Anna went to visit our good friend Ulrika for a knit night. We had wine (well, I drove my car, so I didn't have any wine) and lots and lots of great cheese and crackers, and knit a bit too. It was so much fun, it seems like I haven't seen either of them in way too long! Ulrika is just the most giving and generous person I know, and she had gotten me a belated birthday gift. It was a beautiful, silky project bag, filled with goodies!

First, I got two skeins of GORGEOUS silk yarn that I'm still a bit overwhelmed about. They are just amazing! It is Alchemy Silk Purse yarn, in colourway Persephone's Pomegranate. It is 100 % silk, 150 meters/50 grams.

Isn't it just to die for! The colour name is really great, as it really looks like pomegranate juice. I'm thinking of turning it into this:

Marmalade shawl

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

The next thing I picked up out of the bag was a very cute pattern keeper! These are two magnet strips that are covered in fabric, and you clamp them aroud your pattern chart to know where you are. I've been eye-ing these at various Etsy stores, but haven't gotten around to buying any yet. This is awesome!

Then there was a very pretty fragrance pouch filled with lavender, that immediately went into my yarn stash:

Next there was a needle case in a very pretty, pale green silk fabric. I've put all my KnitPicks Harmony dpn's in it, and it is just perfect! I love that I don't need to bring my big plastic bag that I got from KnitPicks along with the needle set everywhere I go! This case is so much more portable and a lot smaller.

Finally, there was a super-cute key-charm: The VooDoll Princess Lalita. 

There was a card with the doll that explains what she does: "Princess Lalita will give you fabulous magnetism. She is hot and mysterious like an arabian night. She can be seductive and adorable but also ruthless against her rivals. She is an exotic Femme Fatale who always appear in men's dreams. Her beauty will make them mad with desire." Then there is a spell that you can read while holding her, to transfer her powers to yourself. Absolutely awesome! It's currently attached to my cell phone, but I think I'll put it on my purse strap instead as I tend to put my phone in my back pocket and it kind of hurts when I sit on the doll :) Plus, I don't think that she will lend me her powers if I sit on her all the time!

I just felt completely overwhelmed by all these gifts! We had a blast the entire evening, just chatting about everything and even managing to get some knitting done too! At the end of the evening Ulrika's 13 year-old daughter Kajsa sat and chatted with us too, we talked a lot about the Twilight books and movies as she's a die-hard fan. I listened to the audio books a while ago, very reluctantly, but I have to admit that they kind of grew on me. I'm not much for that kind of pining romanticism, but the vampire parts of the story was ok. So we discussed those books, and vampires in general (as I really love vamp-lit, I'm a sucker that way). It was a real treat, and we ended up staying until almost 2 a.m. (again!). So another late night for me.

Cheese and crackers galore!

Ulrika and Anna knitting away

When we were just about to leave Ulrika remembered that she had a bag of yarn that she wanted to give away, and Anna immediately said that she didn't wear that colour. So I went home with seven HUGE skeins of 100 % Bamboo yarn in a lovely, lavender colour!

I think this might be South West Trading Company Bamboo yarn, as that is the only bamboo yarn on Ravelry that fits the information on the bag! The bag is bought at discontinued yarn brand store, and there were no label bands on the skeins. It's 1600 meters in total, and I'm going to use it for the Tunic Dress that I got the pattern for in the summer edition of Debbie Bliss Magazine.

Photo borrowed from Ravelry

The pattern is written for a 100 % silk yarn, but that would be a bit out of my price range. bamboo seems to behave a bit like silk, and I swatched this morning to see if it would be a good substitute. I had to go down a needle size (from 4 mm to 3 mm), but that just made the knitted fabric look better. It is going to be soooo pretty, I'm almost itching to cast on right away! But I think I want to finish the Paper Dolls top first.

Today has been a slow day, but we managed to get to the cabin for a few hours to mow the lawn and just check on it. It seems like the rain we've been having hasn't leaked through the roof too much, which was good. I also picked almost two litres of gooseberries, so tomorrow I'll make a pie with them (I've been too tired today). 

When we got home Thomas made the best fish soup that I've ever tasted, which was absolutely awesome! I crashed on the couch and slept for an hour or so, and now it's almost bedtime for me. It's been a busy busy weekend, but I think I haven't had this much fun in ages!

I'll be back later next week with some knitting-related news!

/ Jenny