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

Kids are apparently time consuming...

I knew when we got Ella that my knitting time would be diminished, and that is totally fine. I love taking care of our daughter, and we have a lot of fun during the days, I just wish I wasn't so tired when she goes to sleep at night! Most evenings I just haven't got the energy to do any knitting at all, which means that the projects take a lot longer than usual. Oh well. I have managed to finish four things since I wrote last though, although three of them are baby items.

The first thing off the needles since last time was my Austin hoodie, and I am very pleased with it:

It is made with Manos del Uruguay Fino yarn (70 % merino/30 % silk), and I started it back in February before Ella was born. It turned out great, and fits me perfectly. I had to shorten the armhole length, which I almost always have to do, but I think that's the only modification I made. I bought frog fastenings and sewed them on to the fronts, and it took me three tries to get them placed right! But now it's finally done, and I've worn it a lot.

Once that was finished I started the Flower cardigan for Ella, and finished it about two weeks ago I think. I made the one year size, so it's a little big on her still, but she can wear it this fall anyway:

The construction on this one was really unique, and I don't think I'm giving the pattern away by saying that you start with knitting the flower on the back in the round, and then continue on with the sides and sleeves. It was so much fun, not difficult because the pattern is very well written, but I had to keep track in the pattern. I made it in Wollmeise DK (100 % superwash merino), in the colourway Sabrina, which I had a little more than one whole skein left over after my Julissa sweater.

I then cast on for the matching Little Flower hat, in the same yarn, and finished it in less than a week:

It is also a little bit big, but as long as I fold the ribbing, she can wear it right now. And she will grow into it during the winter I think.

Then I cast on for another hat, mostly to use up the last of the Wollmeise yarn. Yesterday I finished the Owl baby hat, and it fits Ella right now. It is a little bit wide, but it is fine. I like this one a lot, and it was a lot of fun to knit the owl too.

I have made a little bit of progress on the Walk the Line socks, the first one is almost finished. I finished the toe a while ago, but I just haven't felt like knitting socks lately so the heel is taking me forever. They will get done eventually though.

Finally I also cast on for a new cardigan for Ella, and this one is so much fun! It's the Minni cardigan, and I read about it on the Yarn Harlot blog as she's making one right now. It has stripes and short rows and intarsia colour changing, so it is a challenge, but so far it's fun. I took a picture when I had just started, and you'll have to make do with that. I'm making it in three different sock yarns: Gepard Cash-soft in pink and KnitPicks Stroll in Merlot for the main body, and Fleece Artist Merino 2/6 in Blush for the accents (the green yarn in the photo is just the provisional cast-on). 

I also bought some new yarn a couple of weeks ago. I ordered another skein of Manos del Uruguay for the Austin Hoodie as I wasn't sure I had enough to finish, and I noticed that that colour was to be discontinued. So I got three new skeins, as I really love it, and I figured I could just use the left-overs for something else eventually. It turned out I didn't actually need any of that yarn, but I'll just keep it in the stash for now. Along on that order I also got four skeins of Cascade 220 superwash, in colourways Saphire Heather and Marionberry, to make some baby clothes for Ella.

I got the book 60 more quick baby knits, that only uses Cascade yarns, and there are some stuff in there that I want to make. I really really like the Cascade 220 superwash yarn too, and it's fairly inexpensive, so I figured I'd get some to have on hand.

Yesterday I also got a package in the mail, and although it didn't contain yarn it had some craft supplies. I got a new set of dpn's, KnitPro Natural needles (KnitPro is the European version of KnitPicks I think, and they usually change the name of the products. The Harmony needles are called Symphony here in Europe, for example). These are 20 cm long (8 inches), even in the smallest sizes, which is very nice.

I also got a set of pom pom makers, as I figured that the ones I was going to make for the Owl hat will probably not be my last ones, now that we have Ella. I used them yesterday evening, and it was so much faster to use these than the ones I have made myself previously. They were very cheap, so a very worthwhile investment!

This past weekend we went and visited Anna and Peter in Linköping, and Anna had gotten a package in the mail from Sarah. Anna and Sarah have been making a baby blanket for Ella, but due to lots of other stuff happening in their lives it has taken a while (and that is more than all right, I'm just so happy they wanted to do it at all!), but now it's finished. It's absolutely wonderful, and we both love it!

It's also made with Cascade 220 superwash, and I got to pick the colours myself. We have already used it, and Ella seems to like it too as she is keen on grabbing it when it's hanging from the couch back so she can reach it. Also included in the package was a little cardigan that Sarah knit for Ella, in white thick-and-thin cotton, and it's absolutely gorgeous! I'm so happy to have yarny friends!

I think that's probably it for this time. The last weekend in September I'm going home to my parents for a visit, and to visit the annual sewing festival that takes place in Borås each September. I haven't been for a couple of years now, so that will be a lot of fun. I'll be back with a full report on that!

/ Jenny