Fabrics

I managed to start my old work-laptop yesterday (it's so old and worn that it only starts on about every fifth try, so I got to take it with me when I left work as no-one else wanted it), and as it turns out I've aparently been smart enough to back up my photo files on this computer too! I can't for the life of me figure out why, as it is almost broken, but I'm just so happy that I found almost all of the cat photos and all of the wedding photos again! YAY! I still have a couple of newer photos of Hobbe on the pink laptop, but if Thomas can't salvage them it's not the end of the world, as Hobbe is alive and we can take hundreds of new photos of him.

The main thing I'm missing are all of my bought knitting patterns, but luckily I'm a bit compulsive when it comes to patterns, so I like to have them printed out. I think I had saved about ten patterns on the laptop that I hadn't printed, and all of them except one were Ravelry downloads so I can just download them again. The last one was a cardigan pattern I bought from Webs a while ago, and I just e-mailed them and told me what had happened, together with my ordering number, and they just sent a reply with the file attached, so I haven't actually lost any patterns. I'll be very happy if Thomas manages to save the knitting folder, but it's not the end of the world if it isn't possible.

Ok, enough about the computer havoc. I'm much calmer about it now that I found the photos, so I'll just let it go and chalk it up to one of those things that happens.

This past Saturday when I was at Anna's and knitted with the girls, I had brought with me the green-and-white checkered project bag that my sister sewed for me for Christmas:

She actually made two more bags for me, one flowered and one striped, and I really love them. 

The striped one is currently housing my lace yarn, and the flowered one is holding all my lace shawls. Anyhow, the girls commented on the bag and asked if Sanna takes orders. I said I would ask her, and Sanna (which is my sister, I don't know if I've introduced her before?) was so glad about the comments that she immediately got into sewing again (the sewing machine has been sleeping for a while due to lack of time and mojo). We got to talking, and we thought that maybe she could start making some bags to sell? So today we've spent a long long time in one of the local fabric stores to see if we could find some nice fabrics. We ended up with six different outer fabrics, one white inner fabric and one stiffer lining fabric, some zippers and some other sewing-related stuff. I'll just show you the patterned fabrics:

I'm so excited about this! I want to learn to sew too, but Sanna is pretty good at it, so I think I'll leave it up to her for a while at least. I'll probably put them up for sale here once they're done, if you're interested! I don't really know what shapes or sizes she'll make yet, but I'll let you know once they're done.

After this we went to the library and picked up some books on sewing too, to see if we could find some inspiration. We took home a lot of books, so hopefully some of them will at least be good!

Now I'll continue knitting on the Sari Lace shawl. I'm almost done with chart three of ten, so I'm still fairly hopeful that I'll get it done in time! I haven't taken any photos of it yet though, so you'll have to wait until next time.

/ Jenny

I've lost my computer!

Well, not exactly lost it. But it seems like the hard drive is fried, so it's broken. And I'm completely heart-broken about it, as it's only a little bit over a year old. I have all my photos on that hard drive, photos from our wedding, photos of Gizmo and Hobbe, everything! Thomas has some of the photos on his computer too, but far from all of them. He's still trying to save it, he's trying about every trick he can think of, but he's not very hopeful. DAMN! Thankfully, Thomas has a Samsung Laptop that he currently isn't using (as he has a better computer for work), so I can use that for now. I really can't afford a new computer right now!

On a much happier note, yesterday I went and visited my friend Anna for a very impulse knit-and-wine evening. We were five girls who got together and just chatted, knitted and ate snacks the whole evening. I didn't have any wine as I was driving, and I actually managed to not knit a single stitch for the whole evening (everything I'm knitting right now has lots of charts, and I didn't have the concentration needed for that last night, so I just chatted and laughed the whole evening instead). It was so much fun to actually get to hang out with some friends again, I can hardly remember when I last felt well enough to do this! I really don't want to jinx anything, but it seems like most of the nausea and dizziness has disappeared. I can't tell you how good this feels! Hopefully it will last!

And I don't know if I've told you, but in a month I'm turning 30. I don't feel the least bit bad about it, but I've chosen not to have a big party or anything. Me and Thomas are going to have a weekend in Stockholm (the capital of Sweden), and the only thing I've wished for from my family is some shopping money, so I can go on a shopping spree while in Stockholm. I'm really looking forward to it!

Now I'm going to spend some time with Thomas (and knit on the birthday shawl)!

/ Jenny

New cast-on

Today my parents very suddenly decided to come visit, so I've been hanging out with them the whole day. It was a really nice and cosy day, we just walked around the city center looking in shops and just generally having a good time. As my sister lives almost next door to me, it's very convenient for my parents to be able to visit us both at the same time. Mom had gotten her shawl in the mail too, and she seemed very happy with it! She has a black leather jacket with orange details on, and the shawl matched perfectly.

I managed to pick up a new pair of shoes today too, black summer shoes with a small wedge heel. Very pretty! I love that they are patterned on the inside too, so I can feel extra pretty in secret :)

The yarn I ordered from Garnkorgen also arrived today, and I couldn't be more happy with it! I can't believe it was so incrediby cheap, I promise that as soon as I get a new job (not that I've been looking for one yet!), there will be a new order for more colours of this yarn. It is a little bit stiff, but it's 100 % wool (single ply, 600 m/100g), but I think it will soften a lot when I've washed it, and these types of yarns tend to soften a lot with wear too. I bought three colours:

Yellow

Burgundy/Wine

Pink

The yarn is called Kampes 100 % one-ply wool. The pink is absolutely gorgeous, a really old-fashioned hue, and I've already cast on for the shawl I'm making for Thomas' grandmother. I decided on the Sari Lace Triangle by Sylvie Beez. It is my first shawl knitted from side to side, so I'm really glad I get to try something new with this one too. 

Unfortunately, the whole thing is charted in the same way as the Murdered by Lace pattern, and I've happpened to print it on both sides of the paper, so I'm foreseeing a bit of puzzling here. But it will be ok, and hopefully it will be finished in time. Thomas is leaving for England on the 8th of May, so I only have two weeks to finish it! Yikes!

As the yarn didn't arrive until today, I've worked some on the Haruni shawl too. The photo is taken tonight after dark, so the flash is very bright. It makes the beads stand out a bit more than they do in real life. But I love this shawl, it will be so pretty when it's done!

I also cast on for a new pair of socks, and I decided to just make the next pair in the Sock Innovation book. These are called Eunice, and involve both cables and lace. Unfortunatley I discovered yesterday that I need two cable needles for the pattern, so I've bought some new ones today (I actually had two before, but one is 2.5 mm and the other is 5 mm, and too big as I'm making the socks with size 2 mm). I'm using the KnitPick's Essentials yarn in colourway Sarge. As I haven't started the pattern yet, I only have a cuff with ribbing done, so nothing much to show you yet. And they will be on the back burner until I finish the Sari Lace shawl. I'll try to have them done by the 15th of May, as Christine is having a party to celebrate her 30th birthday then (and they are for her).

Now I'm going to continue turbo-knitting :) If you don't hear from me for a few days, you now what I'll be doing!

/ Jenny

Glynis socks - Check!

Ok, let's see if I can manage to write this and post it before midnight?! My stomach has been quite good the past few days, but tonight it is acting up again, so I figured I might as well stay awake for a while longer. So I finished the Glynis socks! FINALLY!

I've been working on these for FOUR MONTHS! They are horribly ugly, I've seen these types of yarn/pattern mis-matches referred to as "Clown Barf" on Ravelry, and that about sums it up. I'll still wear them, because they are extremely comfy and sort of squishy. They are made from Colinette Jitterbug yarn, in colourway Gaugain, using 2.25 mm needles. I think I had about 15 m left of the yarn, so it was a pretty close call!

If you look closely at the toe part, which is just plain stockinette, you can see that the yarn is actually quite cool looking when it's not in the way too tiny pattern. And I love the yarn so much, it's incredibly springy to knit with. I heard somewhere that it is spun in a certain way to gain this springy-ness, but I have no idea how it's done. I bet that if you're really interested, you can look it up on the Colinette webpage (I don't have a link for it, as it is late and I'm too lazy to look it up).

Other than that, not much is up. Thomas made a deliceous broccoli/ham/leek pie (or do you call it quiche when it's not a dessert (and I had to look up the spelling for dessert, I could just as easily have put down desert...)?) for dinner tonight, and I guess my stomach just thought that I shouldn't get to enjoy it (I did anyway so HA!). I'm just so thrilled that Thomas likes to cook! I'm totally kitchen handicapped, although I love to eat good food, so Thomas does almost all the cooking around here. Thank God! Besides my stomach issues, we've actually had a nice evening, just watching a zombie flick (Pontypool) and actually spending some time together. Even though I'm home all day, it seems like we haven't actually done that for a while (of course, he's still at work during the days).

Oh, and I think my eye infection might have plugged my tear canal shut, as I have been feeling almost too dry in the eye since yesterday. Well what do you know, the eye drops really helped with that! :) So my eye is feeling a bit better now too. Just so you know that not all is wrong in the house of Jenny!

Now I'm off to peruse my sock books, to find a perfect sock pattern to make for Christine, instead of the ugly (but still gorgeous, in a crazy sort of way) socks I'm currently wearing! I think I'm leaning towards something in the new Wendy D. Johnson Book, Toe-Up Socks for Every Body. Or maybe a pair from the Enchanted Sole book (I've forgotten the author's name, sorry, and the book is upstairs and I don't have the energy to go look it up). Or maybe I should just plug on with the next pattern in the Cookie A. book, Sock Innovation? Hmmm, decisions, decisions!

Good night to all of you, I'll be back soon with an update on the upcoming new yarn!

/ Jenny

Beads but no yarn

The beads I ordered the other day arrived today, so I picked them up from the post office today. I had to go out anyway, as I woke up yesterday with a red and tender left eye. There's always something wrong with me! So I got an emergency appointment with the doctor, and it turns out I have an eye infection. So now awaits a week of antibiotic eye-drops. Yay....

Anyway, as I said I also picked up the beads, and I'm so happy with them! The colours are just exactly what I wanted! First, the pink ones will go perfectly with the pink Shadow yarn:

The next colour I ordered is a very pretty amber. I actually have a package of these in a bigger size that I had planned for the Alpaca Cloud Autumn yarn that I made the Spring Thaw shawl in, but they were too big for the yarn. As I have almost two whole skeins of this yarn left, I'm planning on using these smaller sized beads for that yarn.

The next colour is grey-green, shimmering, and they are just so pretty. I think these will match perfectly with the Chili Gredelin Madame yarn I have stashed, in colourway Forest Fairy.

The next colour is a gorgeous creamy yellow, and I'm thinking I should probably use them with the yellow yarn I ordered from Garnkorgen the other day (the yarns that haven't arrived yet). I borrowed a photo from their website to show you:

The next colour I ordered is a deep, dark purple. These will go perfectly with the wine/burgundy Kampes yarn I also ordered from Garnkorgen (and which hasn't arrived yet either). This yarn photo is also borrowed from their site.

And if you're wondering why I ordered so many packs of beads, it's because Panduro, where I ordered from, only ships if the order is over 200 Skr (which is about $25 or so). So I have one more pack to show you, and this is one that I'm not sure what I'll use with. The beads are a really plastic-looking white, so maybe I'll use these to make stitchmarkers or something?

I'll let you know when and if I decide to use them!

I also posted the orange murder shawl for my mom today, so hopefully it will reach her tomorrow or on Friday! She has seen the photos here on the blog, and she sounds very pleased with it, so I'm happy. She's having a hard time right now as it seems like she will have to euthanize her old horse next week or so, and her stable cat has just been put to sleep to. I can't imagine having to make that decision for two loved animals the same week, so I'm really happy I can send her the shawl and maybe cheer her up a little bit at least.

As I haven't gotten the new yarn yet, I'm toiling away on the Glynis socks, and last night I finished the heel on the second sock. So I hope they will be done by tomorrow! I can't wait to wear them! Weirdly enough, the yarn only pooled on the first sock, but as a crazy knitting lady I can't help but love them anyway :)

Oh, and on a final note for all you swedish readers: My best friend Christine has started a new blog (it's in swedish, but I bet all you other people can probably read it with google translate or similar), so go over and say hi! It's not a crafts blog, but will probably just be about her and her daily life raising three young boys (they are 7.5, 5 (soon) and 1 (soon). They boys are just adorable, and I am the proud godmother of the youngest one! I'm just thrilled that Christine has joined the blog community, and I'll be reading it from now on!

/ Jenny

Murdered by Lace - Check!

I can't believe I've already finished this shawl! It only took me eight days in total, plus today for blocking, and it came out very nice. I hope you like it, mom!

This was my first time doing a crochet bind-off, and let me tell you: Two-ply lace alpaca yarn is NOT made for crochet hooks! It took me about three hours to finish just the bind-off! But it came out very pretty, so I guess it was worth it. I'm not sure I'll do it any time soon again though. Oh, wait. I think the Haruni also has a crochet bind-off...

I've more or less decided to start over with the Haruni, because I really want to bead it. I ordered some new beads this weekend, because strangely enough I didn't have any in my stash that matched the pink yarn I'm using. I'm going to pick them up this afternoon from the post office, and see if these match.. It's hard to tell when you order online!

The yarn I ordered for the other pink shawl, for Thomas' grandmother, still hasn't arrived, so I can't cast on for that yet. I guess I should try to finish the socks until then! I think I'll work on them for the rest of the day, I really want to have them finished. It feels like I've been working on them forever!

/ Jenny

Crappy days

Hi all! I'll just whine for a few minutes, and then we'll get on with some knitting. I was actually feeling almost normal at the beginning of this week, but the last few days have been really crappy. Right now, the worst part is that as I'm not keeping very much of my food in, I don't get to keep my anti-depressant pills in either. And I feel the lack of them, so I've been feeling really down for a few days now. I just wish that the specialist physicians would get their thumbs unstuck and give me an appointment soon, so I don't have to just lie around and wait!

Anyhow, I've actually done a lot of knitting these past few days. I'm knitting away on my orange Murder shawl, and I've almost completed the first half of the charts. It is a great knit, but I have to say that I don't get why anyone would publish a pattern like this. The whole thing is charted, stitch by stitch! 

My main peeve is that the pattern is really repetitive, so the designer could have made a much smaller chart and just told us to repeat that. I guess some people prefer this way of charting? I know I don't! But other than that it's going great, and the mirroring thing is working out much better than I had anticipated.

I haven't knitted on anything else these past days, so I have no progress to show you on either the Glynis socks or the Haruni shawl. I'll get to those two soon! Although, I have decided to cast on for yet another shawl next week. My husbands paternal grandmother turns eighty years old at the beginning of May, so Thomas, two of his brothers and his father are going to the UK (where Nanna lives) to surprise her for her birthday. And I figured that since I'm not going, I can at leas knit her a shawl, right? Thomas thinks she would like something in a bright and intense colour, preferably pink or purple. When he told me, I realized I don't have any purple lace yarn, and the only pink I have I'm currently using on my Haruni (which I'm keeping for myself, thank you very much). So I immediately went online and found a really, really cheap lace yarn called Kampes one-ply wool. This was less than $5 for a 100 g skein! So I ordered some pink, some purple and some burgundy/wine. So much for my yarn diet! But as it was so incredibly cheap, I didn't mind too much!

And you know, when I saw how little it cost, I had to wonder if there was something wrong with it. And that gave me another reason to love Ravelry: I just went there and looked at what other people had made with this yarn, and most people seemed happy with it. As soon as it gets here I'll cast on for a new shawl for Nanna! I haven't really decided on what pattern to make yet. I'm thinking of making the Sari Lace Triangle, but I'm also thinking I could make her an Aeolian.

Sari Lace (photo borrowed from Ravelry)

Aeolian (my own shawl)

They are very different patterns (from each other, that is), but I think I'll decide when the yarn gets here. I have some lovely pink beads (that I had planned to use on the Haruni, but unfortunately they were the wrong shade and didn't match the Shadow yarn I'm using) that I think I'll use too, I just have to figure out where to put them in the Sari, if I choose to make that one.

Now I'll lie down on the couch and watch re-runs of Smallville...

/ Jenny

First Glynis is done!

Yup, can you believe it?! Yesterday I finally finished the first Glynis sock! I started it in December, but had to frog it and start over right after Christmas because it came out too small. I decided to give them to my best friend Christine, but now that I see the finished one, I'm not so sure about it...

It is completely hysterical! The yarn is WAY too busy for the lace pattern, and it has pooled something horrible on the leg part! I think I'll make another pair for Christine (probably a pair of green ones, as we are both huge green-fans). I think I'll keep the Glynis ones for myself, as they are so crazy only an avid knitter would actually wear them :). I really love the pattern though, and the book, Sock Innovation by Cookie A., is absolutely amazing. I think I'll just work through all the patterns one by one, and make them all.

Oh, and when I finished the sock yesterday, I got to use Kitchener stitch for the first time! When I followed the instructions in the book I did something wrong, and the stitches came out looking like purl stitches. I then went online and found a tutorial by The KnitWitch on Youtube, and it was just smooth sailing from then on. I'm so happy I finally tried this grafting technique, as I've been a bit intimidated by it before. But it wasn't hard at all, so now I think I'll use it on all my socks from now on. Until I start the toe-up socks, that is.

In my last post I mentioned in passing that I'd cast on for two new shawls. I'm working on the orange Murdered by Lace shawl for my mom, and so far it isn't very difficult. The charts are huge though, but that's ok. Since I got my pattern holder a while back, I'm not at all intimidated by charts. Not that I was before, but it is even easier now. I would like to finish this one as soon as possible, so my mom gets to wear it during the spring weather!

The other shawl I cast on for is the Haruni, that I'm making in the pink KnitPick's Shadow. I chatted with Nalamienea (of The Student Knitter) on Skype for several hours this past weekend, and we decided to make a mini-KAL out of this one, as she also wants to make one. I think she is making hers in purple, if I'm not mistaken. Possibly Malabrigo yarn? Yeesh, I'm confused.... Anyway, she decided to make it with a stockinette body, and I was really tempted to make this version too, as it is truly beautiful. But after some deep soulsearching I decided that: 1) The stockinette version probably looks better in fingering weight yarn and 2) I actually prefer te lacy shawls (if you hadn't noticed that before). So I'm making the lacy part, and so far I love it. It has sort of taken a second place though, as I want to finish the orange one first. Hopefully I can finish both in April!

And yesterday me and Thomas went on a small shopping round in the city center. I feel like I haven't been out of the apartment for months, which of course isn't true, but yesterday I actually felt ok enough to enjoy a little city walking! It was so much fun to be outside in the spring sunshine, and just doing some window shopping. I was in three yarn stores, and didn't buy one single skein of yarn! Aren't you proud of me?! Anyhow, I'm hoping that this means I'm finally getting back on my feet. (knock on wood). I'm actually feeling ok today too, so I've taken the opportunity to do a little apartment cleaning. It was WAY overdue, but now it's looking better. 

And today I've cast on for the second Glynis sock too, and I've already made two pattern repeats of the nine needed for the leg. It's pretty fast going, and if I keep at it I might actually finish it this week! Yay!

/ Jenny

My very first blog award!

Yay! Today I recieved my very fírst blog award! Kate from Lazy Kate Creates awarded me the Happy 101 blog award today, and I couldn't be more happy about it! This has otherwise been such a crappy day for me, so this news really filled me with well-needed sunshine. The idea is that I write down ten things that make me happy, and then forward the award to ten other bloggers who I think deserve it. So here goes:

1) My wonderful husband Thomas! We've been married for 2.5 years now, so not so long, but we've been together for almost 14 years in total, and that counts for a lot. He is just the best match for me, and I love him to bits!

2) My darling cat, Hobbe. Hobbe is the cuddliest, sweetest cat you could imagine, and his curly fur (he's a Devon Rex breed, they have curly fur) is like velvet to touch. I hate that we lost his older brother Gizmo a year and a half ago, but Hobbe makes life ok anyway.

3) Family and friends. This past year has been a real struggle for me, with a quite severe depression and stuff, and I love that all my friends and family have all been so very understanding and supporting. It makes a girl feel loved, you know?

4) Books. I couldn't love without books! I have to read a few pages every night no matter how tired I am, otherwise I don't fall asleep. My favourite books tend to be fantasy and horror, but I like a lot of sci-fi too (who says my taste is narrow?!), and the love of my life is Stephen King. I hope he lives forever! I'm also very thrilled that his son, Joe Hill, is also writing amazing horror fiction, and I think he might be able to fill his father's shoes one day with bravur.

5) Knitting and fibers. Of course. I don't know what I would have done this past year without my obsessive knitting. As I'm currently struggling with health issues that makes me dizzy a lot, I hate that that prevents me from knitting as much as I would have liked. But yesterday I cast on for two new shawls, and I seem to have found a new spark, so maybe that will help. I plan to learn how to spin, both on a spindle and on a wheel, this year, and I would also love to do more dyeing too. And I need to learn more about crochet too.

6) Movie-nights with my husband. And I guess I should include game-nights too, as for me they are practically the same, as I don't play much myself (I watch when Thomas plays, and I love it. It's like watching cartoons). We drink tea and have cheese and crackers, and just watch a movie or play games. I just love stay-at-home nights, when you get to wear your PJ's the whole evening and just relax together.

7) Singing. Well, music, actually. I used to take singing lessons when I was in school, and when I went to univeristy I sang in one of the student choirs. I love singing, and once I dreamed of making a career out of it. If I had been ten years younger I would have applied for Idol, but alas: Here in Sweden the participants tend to be in their late teens/early twenties, and I'd feel really old. Also, American Idol has so much higher quality it's almost ridiculous. But singing and music makes me happy.

8) Christmas. I'm a sucker for Christmas things, and I LOVE Christmas food. We always have turkey on Christmas Eve (which is the day we celebrate Christmas here in Sweden), and it's just the best food there is. I like food in general, and love to eat good food, but Christmas food is just the best. And all the Christmas music (although I'm a bit particular about which songs I like), and the calm and peace. My father has a bit more stress around Christmas, as he makes all the food, but I think the stress has lessened somewhat the past few years, as me and my sister have grown up and aren't as demanding as we were as children.

9) Chocolate. Who doesn't love chocolate, right? I especially love dark flavoured chocolate, and my favourites are either with lemon and ginger, or with dried figs. There is a chocolatier in Gothenburg, on the west coast of Sweden, who makes the best chocolate pralines, and I just can't get enough of them. It's lucky I don't get them very often, as we live about 330 km from Gothenburg...

10) Summer. I am one of those who are always cold about my hands and feet, and I just love heat. I love lying in the sun and just sweat away :) I love the green trees and flowers, and strawberries and raspberries, and going swimming. I wish I lived in a climate where it was always warm! I bet you I wouldn't miss winter at all! Snow is beautiful, but that's it.

Ok, that's it. And now to pass the award on to ten other people! These are the ones I've chosen (and I would definitely have chosen Kate too, only she's the one who sent it to me, so...):

Nalamienea of The Student Knitter

Heather of Implausible Yarn

Abby at Abby's Knits

Erin at Dropped Stitches

Jenn at Jenn's Spot

Jane at Maiden Jane

Anna at Anna bland Andra (written in Swedish)

Ilsefin at Ilsefin bloggar (written in Swedish)

Fosco at Både Varken och Eller (written in Swedish)

Leander at The  Squeaky Wheel

I love reading blogs and follow what all of you are doing, and I've made so many friends around the world since I started blogging myself. I love the blog community, and I think that all the knitters I've met - both live and online - are just the nicest people. Thank you so much Kate, for giving me this award, I really appreciate it!

/ Jenny

Spring Thaw finished

Yes, shawl number five for this year is done! This is Spring Thaw, which I testknitted for dartfrog911 on Ravelry, and it was so much fun. The pattern has just been released (I was the slowest testknitter, and once I finally finished it could be released!), and it's a free download so I highly recommend it.

I made it with KnitPick's Alpaca Cloud yarn, in colourway Autumn, and I used 459 meters in total, on needles 2.25 mm. I just want it to dry now so I can wear it! And do you know what this means? I now only have one ongoing project! I'm knitting away on the Glynis socks, and I actually picked them up for a while yesterday and made a pattern repeat. Unfortunately, I've been feeling extra crappy for the past few days, so that's more or less all I've been doing, knit-wise. But I think I'll try to finish at least the first sock before I cast on for something else.

I actually have two shawl projects in mind, that I think I'm going to cast on for simultaneously. I've promised my mother to make an orange shawl for her, and I'm thinking of making the Murdered by Lace shawl (I forgot to tell you, but I got this pattern as a RAK present from the lovely Ginger2601!) for her, using my KnitPick's Alpaca Cloud in the Cha Cha colourway.

(I borrowed the pattern photo from Ravelry). This pattern is my first one where I getto mirror the chart on the two sides of the middle stitch. Meaning I'll have to remember to change the direction of all the decreases! I't sounds a bit complicated, but I'm sure it will be fun. And I have to challenge myself sometime, don't I?

The second shawl I'll cast on for is the Haruni (finally!), that I'll make in KnitPick's Shadow yarn, colourway begonia.

I've been wanting to make this shawl ever since I first saw the pattern, but things have just gotten in the way. So now it's finally time! I'm especially looking forward to getting myself a new pink shawl, as I actually gave away my only pink shawl to my grandmother when I last visited her. I don't remember if I told you that, but I gave her the Candle Flame shawl that I made from Garnpaletten yarn in colourway Pink Play, and she loved it. I think she loves pink even more than I do, and as my uncle (you know the one with Down's syndrome, who lives with her) is still very ill, she needed a litte incouragement. I just hope she doesn't wash it...

Now I think I'll lie down on the sofa for a while and see if I feel better. Stupid stomach!

/ Jenny

Random stuff

Ok, so I think it's time for a new post. It's been a while! I got my test results back last week, and apparently there's nothing wrong with me. Go figure! But as I'm still feeling just as crappy, and I'm continuing to loose weight (which isn't such a bad thing!), they're sending me to a specialist for further tests. I have no idea how long the waiting period for this will be, but at least I'm in line for it now. Hopefully they can fix me!

This past Wednesday I also went to the unemployment office to register. So now that's done, at least, and hopefully it won't take too long until I get my first check. As we have quite high unemployment figures in Sweden, as I guess the rest of the world also has, the handling period for these things can be quite long. So here's hoping it won't be!

On a much happier note, I also got some packages in the mail last week. I have finally tired of always loosing my place when I'm reading my knitting charts, so I bought myself a pattern holder thingy, from Knit Pick's. Strangely enough, it's not very hard to find the knitting accessories such as these in Europe, it's just the yarn that is so hard to come by. But anyhow, this is what the holder looks like:

I really really like it! The magnet holder works great, and there's room for some small knicknacks on the backside too. This will really make my knitting easier!

I also got a book packet, and I think this will be the last one for quite a while. I don't think I'll afford to buy a lot of books until I get a new job, and I have no idea how long that will take. Especially since right now, I'm soooo enjoying all my free time! But back to the books: 

Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans, by Gaughan/Winter/Berroco

Toe-Up Socks for Every Body, by Wendy D. Johnson

Heirloom Knitting, by Sharon Miller

The Afghans book was a very impulse buy, and I'm not really sure about it yet. I'm not very good at crochet (yet!), and a lot of the patterns in it is for crocheting, so we'll see how much I use it. It was pretty cheap, and I think it will cost almost as much to return it, so I'm keeping it. The socks book is really amazing, even though I still haven't actually made any toe-up socks. But the patterns are gorgeous, and I have a lot of sock yarn from KnitPick's that needs to become socks soon. I just have to finish the Glynis socks I'm working on first!

And last, but certainly not least, is the Heirloom Knitting book. I LOVE this one! It's like an encyclopedia of lace pattern, and it is just so incrediby good. I forsee this one getting a lot of use in the future!

As far as my knitting goes, I haven't done any in a few days. I'm just too dizzy all the time! I hate it, and I miss my needles and yarns! I've been keeping busy by viewing a LOT of patterns on Ravelry instead, and I think my Favourites list is over 900 now... I'll not be able to knit all that in a lifetime! But it's fun to just look too, although I really hope that I'll feel better soon. I'm getting a bit tired of all of this!

I hope all of you had a great Easter too! On Easter Eve (I don't know if that's an expression anywhere but in Sweden, but I'm talking about Saturday) we had such nice weather that we took out the Barbecue for the first time this year, and my sister and her boyfriend came over and had dinner with us. I actually ate almost all of my portion! Yay! It was sooooo good with some real barbecue meat! 

So what are your Easter traditions outside of Sweden? And in Sweden too, they seem to vary a lot even in this small country. Our legends says that on Easter Eve, all the witches in the country fly away on broomsticks to visit the Devil on the island Blåkulla. This is sort of a made-up place, but on the west coast of Sweden, where I grew up, we light huge bonfires on Saturday night, with lots of fireworks, to scare the witches off on their flight. We decorate the house with pictures of chickens, bunnies and witches, and lots of feathers everywhere. Also, a lot of kids dress up as Easter witches too, with shawlettes over their hair, a skirt and apron, and lots of freckles on their cheeks (which is a really funny tradition, as in the middle ages, freckles were really believed to be a mark of the devil, along with red hair). I don't really know if there is a special Easter food, except for all the candy.

Now I think I'll lie down for a while, to stop my head from spinning!

/ Jenny