Join the birthday celebrations!

I completely forgot to tell you last time, but my very good friend Sarah over at The Student Knitter, is celebrating her 2-year blogiversity! She's doing this by offering five days of give-aways, and you can win some awesome stuff! Please go over there and say hi, and have a look around!

/ Jenny

Busy June!

Wow, it's been ages! Hello everyone!

June has been such a busy month, with lots of fun stuff happening, but i think I'll start by telling you the really bad stuff that happened. On the very same day I posted last, June 8th, I went with my sister and her cat, Medoxa, to the vet since she had stopped eating. It turned out that she had acute renal failure, and there was nothing to be done, so we went back the next day to have her put to sleep. It has been a rough couple of weeks for my sister, and we have both cried a lot (I cry as soon as I see her cry!). Medoxa was a very pretty Birma cat, who loved my sister more than anything (an pretty much disliked anyone else). Now she will be put to rest next to my little Gizmo in our parents' yard, and I'm sure he is taking care of her in Kitty Heaven.

This happened on Thursday morning. On Friday I went home to visit my parents, and hold a bachelorette party on Saturday for my best friend, Christine! Talk about the opposite end of the emotional spectra! Me and Christine's sister have been planning this for quite some time, but of course I haven't been able to tell you anything about it, as I think Christine checks in here from time to time. Anyway, we started the day by invading Christine's home, we put LOTS of make-up on her and put her in a very funny Queen of Hearts dress. She looked very funny! We then had a dancing lesson at a studio, where we got to learn striptease dancing! There was actually very little striptease, more like a sort of "sexy" dance (we all looked more funny than sexy, I think), but it was so much fun! I don't think I'll post any photos of this here though...

After this we went and had a picnic lunch, and then went to a spa for the rest of the day (and you won't get to see our bikini photos either!). We sat in the hot-tub, made facial treatments on each other and painted our nails. So relaxing, and so much fun! Finally we went out for dinner at our very favourite restaurant in the world, The Olive, and the night ended with us dancing our socks off at a local dance club. I think Christine was very happy with the whole thing.

So that was that weekend (Sunday was spent with a mild hangover in the car back to Linköping - Don't worry, Sanna drove). The week was spent working a lot, and then the next weekend Thomas was in Borås for Christine's fiancé's bahelor party. They had a bit more action, and played paintball, pinball and bathed in a lake. And I think they had a LOT more alcohol than us girls! Thomas was pretty worn when he got back to Linköping on Sunday! I spent the weekend knitting more or less furiously on the wedding stole, and completely forgot to blog!

This weekend was Midsummer's Eve, which meant that we had Friday off work. It's traditionally celebrated pretty heavily here in Sweden, with Maypoles and dancing. This is the holiday where we mostly have Pickled Herring, which is exactly what it sounds like. It's small pieces of herring pickled in vinegar with different seasonings (I like the blackcurrant or the Shrimp salad flavour, Thomas likes the snaps flavour), and we have it with new potatoes, sourcream and chives. It's sort of an aquired taste, but I really like it! This Friday we had some people over for a dinner party, and we had a really nice time. Lots of laughter and good food, and just generally lots of enjoyment. 

And yesterday I finished the wedding stole! 

I'm very pleased that it's finished in time (the wedding is on August 6th), now I'll just have to make the little purse bag to math as well! That shouldn't be a problem though, as it is quite a bit smaller. I'm planning on making this one from A Gathering of Lace, in KnitPicks Palette yarn in the Forest Heather colourway (the same colourway I used for the stole).

I also finished the first of the Jaywalker socks!

Do you remember me telling you that I thought it might turn out too big, since it uses 76 stitches? Well, I was very wrong! It's almost too small over the gusset instead! The pattern has almost no give at all, so I'm very glad that I've tried it on while I made it, so I know it will fit me. I like the wide stripes that this yarn (Hjertegarn sock, 75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon) makes, and I think the socks are a lot of fun!

I've also been working a lot on the Rusted Root top, and it's coming along nicely. I haven't gotten any photos of it yet though, as it's such a hassle to try it on as I have to divide the stitches onto two needles to fit it over my shoulders. But it seems to fit me though, and I'm almost at the waist (it's knitted top-down). I might be able to finish this one soon!

Ok, now I think you're all up to speed! I'll try to get back next weekend, and not let you wait this long again!

/ Jenny

Sunny days

This weekend was a long one for us! I think I told you in my last post that I had both Thursday and Monday off, so Friday didn't feel too bad working. We've spent lots and lots of time in the cabin, just soaking up the sun, firing up the grill and just generally enjoyed ourselves. Lots of knitting for me as well!

It's been a bit too hot to knit on the wool shawl though, so I haven't gotten much progress on it this time (don't worry Christine, it will still be finished in time). But I managed to finish my St James top!

I'm very pleased with it (although in the photo it looks like my boobs are very uneven. I blame the bra), and I think I've come around on the colour as well. It's been to warm to wear so far, it's made with KnitPicks Palette yarn held double, but I think it will be a perfect spring/autumn top.

Since I finished this one on Saturday, I needed to have another mindless project that I can bring to work, so I decided to start another pair of socks. Yes, I know, I haven't finished the Wrought Iron Socks that I'm manking with my Hokie yarn, but those are anything but mindless with all those cables! Don't get me wrong, I love those socks, but they're a bit on time out right now until I finish the stole. Anyway, I started the Jaywalker socks!

I'm using a pretty old yarn that has been in my stash since 2009 at least. It's Hjertegarn Sock, which I think is a Danish yarn, and it's 75 % superwash wool/25 % nylon (as almost any sock yarn!), and pretty nice to work with so far. I love the long colour repeats, and I think it will work very well with the pattern. I'm not sure if these socks will fit me though, as I had to cast on 76 stitches! That's a lot of stitches! I usually only use about 60-65 stitches for my socks, so these might be too big. Oh well, then I have to find someone to gift these with :)

I also decided that I needed to work on another sweater, as the St James was done. So I also cast on for The Rusted Root top. I'm using another pretty old stash yarn for this, Brown Sheep Cotton Fleece, that I got as a gift from the wonderful and overly generous Ulrika. 

The yarn is 80 % Cotton/20 % Merino wool, and incredibly soft! The colourway is called Green Olivette, and is probably one of my very favourite colours ever. I think the top might be a little bit too big, but I haven't added the ribbing to the edges yet (naturally), so it will probably fit me better once it's finished. I'm making the smallest size, and I'm going to add some extra waist decreases on this one too, soit will fit me better. I'm also changing the collar, so the neckline wil be a bit deeper and suit my body type better as well.

Ok, that's the knitting. I also got some yarn in the mail yesterday. Yes, I know. But I actually had a reason for this purchase as well. You remember me telling you how I really didn't fancy Wollmeise Lace yarn? Well, it turns out that the Evenstar shawl that I made from my skein is the shawl I wear the most. It's incredibly comfortable, and the prettiest one I own as well. I still am not overly fond of the other colourway I have (Sanguinello, bright red):

I don't really wear red against my face, as it makes my skin look really blotchy, so I didn't know what to do with this one. Now I've decided to sell it, or possibly trade it. Sadly it isn't one of the most coveted colours, so no one seems to be interested in giving me a green skein for this one. That's why, when I found myself actually being able to catch one of the store updates the other week, I decided to buy a green skein of my own. And another skein just happened to fall into the shopping basket as well...

So yesterday I picked up these two gorgeous skeins at the post office:

Wollmeise Lace-Garn (100 % superwash merino, 1590 m/300 g) in colourway Pistazie

Wollmeise Lace-Garn (100 % superwash merino, 1590 m/300 g) in colourway Maus Alt

The green one is just perfect! I still haven't decided on the Maus Alt one, it might be a little too blue for me, so I might put that one up for trade as well. We'll see. I just have to decide what colours I want now that I have my own green skein :)

Anyway, the red one is going up for trade or sell soon. It's too bad that the dollar is so weak, as I think I might have to take a loss on this one. But maybe I can trade it instead :)

/ Jenny

Half-way there!

Yes, that's right. I've gotten past the half-way mark on the wedding stole!

It's a bit hard to photograph with a flash, the colour looks a little muted, but I think it's turning out pretty good. I just hope Christine likes it too! I finished the seventh chart (out of twelve) yesterday, and hopefully I'll finish another one today. I'm going to make her a small purse/string bag as well, in matching Palette yarn, so I really want to finish this one so I won't feel stressed about finishing the bag in time as well.

I've also knitted a lot on the St James sweater the past few days, at work, and I'm almost done with the hip increaes. Which means that I just have to add the ribbing at the bottom, at the arms, and a collar! Yay! I actually like the colour more and more, so I think I'll skip trying to overdye it. I haven't gotten any newer photos of it yet, it's such a hassle to put all the stitches on string and try it on! But it looks like this photo, only it now reaches below the waist.

Today we have a national holiday here in Sweden. It's Ascencion Day (the day Christ ascended into heaven), and although we officially have no state church any longer, we still have this day as a holiday. So I'm off work! And on Monday it's our National Day (our equivalent to Independence Day, I guess), which is also a day off work. Unfortunately I have to work on Friday, but I can live with that. Two extra short weeks in a row!

Yesterday after work me and Thomas went to our cabin for the first time in quite a while, to mow the lawn and just enjoy the weather. I got to sit in the sun and knit for over an hour, which was really nice!

The flowers are really starting to bloom now, I just have to figure out what everything is! I think we'll probably go back this weekend to do some weed cutting as well ( I just need to figure out which plants are weeds and which are actual flowers...), and just hang out for a while. It's supposed to be sunny and warm (although today is pretty overcast so far), so I think we'll just do lots of barbecue and relax. Perfect! Hopefully I'll get lots of knitting done as well.

Oh, on Monday my book package finally arrived too! I got myself five craft books. The first one was Crochet Happy Amigurumis, by Mia Bengtsson.

This is her third book on amigurumis, and they are all super cute! I still suck at crochet, but I plan on learning eventually. I save all my yarn left overs so I can eventually use them for toy-making.

The second and third books were the First and Second Books of Modern Lace Knitting, By Marianne Kinzel:

These aren't filled with lots of patterns, but there are lots of techniques and pattern construction in them. I really like them so far, even though I've more or less just flipped through them, but I think they will be used a lot!

The last two books were pattern books, New England Knits by Cecily Glowik MacDonals and Melissa LaBarre, and Wrapped in Lace, by Margaret Stove. 

I've been eying both of these for quite a while! I think you know how obsessed I am by Stephen King books, and as most of his books are set in New England I have a pretty big obsession about this area as well. Some day I'll go see Derry in real life, and have Maine Lobster! Oh, and the patterns in this book are really pretty as well :)

I also got all of the Jack Whyte books on Camulod as well (Fantasy/History books, not related to knitting in any way), I've just started on the second one. Lots of people think I'm really weird and un-girly to read horror and fantasy as much as I do, but I really don't see it that way. Why should fantasy be a boy thing?! It's way too good to allow the boys to hog this genre. I guess I'm just a nerd at heart :)

And speaking of Fantasy: I subscribe to monthly audiobooks from audible.co.uk, and this month I got Outlander, by Diana Gabaldon. Has anyone read this series? Is it any good? I haven't started listening to it yet, I'm still on a collection of short stories about Vampires, called Fangs, edited by Otto Penzler. This is the third collection on Vampires he's edited, the first one is called Bloodsuckers and the second one is called Coffins. All of them have been really good! I love short stories in general, and these books contain lots and lots of really good authors. I mostly prefer my vampires to be scary and nasty and evil (as opposed to loving and erotic - although I like Anne Rice and her Lestat series), and there are lots of really nasty vampires in these books :)

Yesterday when I got home from work I had gotten a very, very lovely package in the mail, from TessVintageKnits in England:

She had RAK'ed me (you know, the Random Acts of Kindness group I'm in on Ravelry) an awesome box filled with Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate! Yay! I just can't seem to get enough of this chocolate, it's just sooooo good! Otherwise I mostly prefer dark, not so sweet chocolate, but I think the salty combination of peanut butter and super sweet milk chocolate has seduced me. It will last me a pretty long time (I hope...), and I'm so grateful!

Now Thomas has finally woken up and I think we'll have some breakfast (for him) and lunch (for me)!

/ Jenny

Procrastinating

I really need to go clean the kitchen after dinner (Thomas made Salmon with quinoa and broccoli - very good), but it's more fun to finally get a new post under way! It's been a while - again - but now I'm finally back!

I had my birthday on Monday, but since I was going to work the entire day we decided to celebrate on Sunday instead. I got some good food and some nice presents, and I got to sit outside in the sun for a while too. We were planning to go to the cabin, but after doing some grocery shopping and realizing that I had a ton of laundry to take care of (and don't give me any feminist remarks saying that Thomas could have done it. We do equal stuff around the house, I think he even does a bit more than me, and laundry is my chore. Plus, that way I get it done the way I want to!), we decided against it. Thomas put some meat on the grill here at home instead, and we had a very nice dinner, with rhubarb pie for desert.

Thomas got me a bunch of comics, which was an awesome present!

And my sister had made me a new needle roll, that I had been asking her for for a while:

I love it! And she made me a matching project bag too:

Also, the project bag was filled with this:

Reese's Peanut Butter Chocolate! I got seriously addicted to this stuff when we were in the States, but there are only a few stores that sell them in Sweden so it's kind of hard to get. Sanna got her hands on some of it when she was in Gothenburg the other weekend, and I'm so pleased! It won't last long, I tell you!

My parents were talking about coming to visit, but we finally agreed that this weekend wasn't very good for either of us. I'll see them later this summer, so it's ok. I turned 31, so it's not that it's a huge day to celebrate! I was just happy to get to spend the day with Thomas and just relax (even though the laundry did get done too).

Oh, this week we're having one of our bathrooms re-done! Finally! When we moved in three years ago we noticed that the floor in the downstairs shower had sort of sunken around the shower drain. The plastic mat was whole, so there wasn't any leakage, but it was pretty uncomfortable to stand on, plus it meant that the concrete underneath was crumbling. Now, finally, we convinced the landlord that there was a lot of water damage under the shower, as it has only gotten worse with time, so we get a whole new bathroom. Yay! Unfortunately, this means that I'm without a washer and dryer for about a month, but we'll just have to use the neighbourhood common laundry room. We'll survive. We have a smaller bathroom with a bath tub upstairs, so those things we won't have to go without. I of course forgot to take any before-photos, so you'll have to wait about a month to see the finished result.

Oh, and knitting? Actually, I've been slacking a bit the past few days. I've knitted mostly on the wedding shawl, and I'm done with five charts (out of 12) so almost half done. It's going faster and faster too, which is nice, and I've actually been able to knit a bit on it at work too. I  haven't gotten around to taking any new photos yet, so you'll have to wait. Hopefully the next time I get back to you I've finished the first half at least.

I've also knitted a bit on the St James top (I think it felt a bit neglected after I mentioned it the last time), and I'm almost half done with that one too:

I still haven't decided on the colour, if I like it or not, but it doesn't look as bad on me as I had feared. I'm pondering whether to put a black bow and black ribbing on it, to sort of mute it down a bit. I'll see what I decide. I think once this one is done I'l probably try and finish my Hokie socks, I really miss those!

Oh, that's right: I also got some birthday money from my grandmother, so I ordered myself some books! When we were visiting Sarah and Chris in the States, Chris bought us a book that he said we ought to read, and I've just finished it. It's Skystone, by Jack Whyte, and it's the first in a series of seven or eight books. I LOVED it! So I've ordered the rest of them (in paperback, I'm not made of money), along with some more knitting books. I think I'll wait to tell you about those until they actually arrive.

Oh, and Sarah: We finally tried the Astronaut Ice Cream. And we both loved it! So you can tell Chris we can still be friends :)

/ Jenny

"Those socks look insane, maybe they would look even more crazy if you...

... Add toes to them?"

That's what Thomas suggested last weekend when he saw the crazy, ugly socks.  So I did.

They are actually so crazy looking that I kind of fancy them! I've decided to keep them myself, as I felt that only a mother could love them, but actually I've had requests at work for making more pairs for some of my coworkers. So apparently someone else than me could love them! I'm not sure if I'll make any more of them though, as I really didn't like the yarn (at least not the colour), but it was great fun making the toes. They are fairly comfortable, although a little bulky between the toes where I've picked up stitches, but I haven't washed them yet so they're still pretty stiff. I think I'll soak them tonight, so I can wear them to work on Thursday at least :)

I've also worked a lot on the wedding stole this weekend. Thomas has been in Borås visiting his parents, and as the weather wasn't very nice I've been inside knitting on the stole instead. I'm almost done with chart 4 (out of 12), so almost 30 % done!

It's looking really good so far, the colour is a little pale in the photo. The beads work fabulously too, they add just enough sparkle to make it a bit more festive. It will be so much fun to block it and see how big it gets!

My poor Hokie socks have been put a bit on the back burner the past week. I'm focusing mostly on the stole when I have the opportunity to work on a bit more complicated projects, and I've knitted a lot on the Cotonnettes socks at work as the pattern was so easy I memorized it pretty much at once. Now that the socks are done I guess I'll pick up the St James top as work knitting again.

Work has finally slowed down a bit for me too! I don't know if I told you, but one of the girls at one of the units I'm working at sometimes broke her arm a couple of weeks ago. She really couldn't work at the lab with a cast, so she got on extended sick leave. That meant that I got to work at her place instead, and that unit is the second biggest in the whole county! There is always so much to do there, much more than at the other places I'm usually working at, so I've been pretty beat. But now the other girl is back, meaning I can get back to my regular schedule. More knitting time at work!

Oh, this weekend while Thomas was away I got to visit with Anna! I went to her place for tea and cookies, and it was so nice! I can't even remember when I saw her last, it's been ages! I guess we live too close to each other, plus we chat online pretty often. But it's so much nicer to get to meet in person. We knitted, chatted and had a generally good time. Of course I forgot my camera at home. Don't I always?

Next weekend my parents might visit, as it is my birthday on Monday, and we're thinking of visiting the cabin if the weather allows. I'll be sure to bring my camera then! We need to mow the lawn and probably clean up in the flower beds as well, but I doubt we'll do that this weekend with my parents there. If they decide not to come, I think me and Thomas wil go there alone, do some fixing and just have some relaxation and barbecue.

Ok, now I think I need to get some food in me before I fall asleep. I'll see you next weekend!

/ Jenny

Knitting in the Sun!

This weekend has had some amazing weather! I'm so happy that spring has finally seemed to arrive (even though the pollen is kind of a bummer right now), and I've spent a lot of time this weekend in a chair outside in the sun, knitting and just having a relaxing time. 

Hobbe has spent a lot of time in the yard as well, and he really loves to be outside when it's warm enough. He only gets to go outside when we're with him, as he's really an indoors cat. And he's the most chicken cat there is, so he very rarely ventures outside of our tiny yard. Although, he's getting more and more courageous! On Friday Thomas was outside with him, and a strange black cat wandered through the hedge. Thomas bent to pet the newcomer, who then promptly attacked Thomas' arm! But Hobbe got into full protection mode, and flew on the intruder and chased him away! Thomas was so proud of the little guy, he's apparently a real guard cat :) (Thomas got some scratches on his arm, and we think that Hobbe got at least one good jab at the black cat as Thomas found some black hair puffs on the walk outside our yard later on, but no one got really hurt)

Ok, on with the knitting! I'm done with the two first charts (of twelve!) on the Scheherazade wedding stole I'm making for my friend. It's turning out really pretty!

At the edges it's supposed to be a lace pattern that makes the triangles, but I've substituted that for beads to make it a bit more sparkly. I just sent some photos off to Christine, so I really hope she likes it! I'm also going to knit her a matching bridal pouch/bag in my Palette yarn in the same colourway, but we haven't decided on a pattern yet.

Yesterday though, I wanted to sit in the sun and knit, and as I need the pattern for the stole, and the same for the Wrought Iron socks, I decided to cast on something new (did anyone say St James top? All stockinette? I have no idea what you're talking about. Am I knitting that one...?). I chose the Cotonnette socks from my 10 patterns collection (I really want to make all of these patterns!), and I picked my insanely multi-coloured skein of Opal sock yarn. Let's just say that the result is... interesting...

I can honestly say that the yarn is but ugly! The colours don't match each other at all, and the striping is weird and the flecks of orange is really wrong somehow. I've used this yarn (in other colours!) for socks for Thomas and his brother, and they are insanely soft after a couple of washes, so I know these will be great to wear. I guess I'll just wear them at home where no-one can see them! Or I'll give them to my sick uncle, who rarely leaves the bed. He has issues with bad circulation, so he often gets cold hands and feet, so I know that they'll be appreciated there no matter what they look like. I'm just glad to knit the yarn up and get it out of my stash! More room for new yarn!

And speaking of new yarn... Yes, I know. My name is Jenny and I'm addicted to yarn. Apparently I can't go more than a month without buying yarn! But in all fairness, this purchase is one that I've been waiting for since early february or something like that. Drops Garnstudio has finally made a lace yarn! It's been announced since forever, and the release has been delayed more than once, but now it's finally out in stores! The colour selection isn't great (yet - I bet that'll change in the future), but the yarn is awesome! This is my Drops Lace in a pale teal colour (colour 7120).

It's 70 % baby alpaca/30 % mulberry silk. Can you believe how awesome it is! 800 m/100 g, and it was only about $13 for one skein! Really cheap, I think. Especially since it has silk in it. I bought three skeins, and I'm planning on using it for an Urdr shawl. It's designed by Anna Dalvi, of Knit & Knag, and boy do I love her patterns! I've bought most of them, and this June she is coming out with her first book, Shaping Shawls! I'm buying it as soon as it comes out, as a pdf download. I think that the Urdr will be the next shawl I'm going to knit, after the two I have on the needles right now are done (remember, I'm also knitting a Panama shawl in purple, which is on the backburner until I finish the Scheherazade).

Now I really think I need to stop buying yarn! I really don't have any room for it as it is, and I really want to knit with the ones I have in stash too. Sometimes it's almost difficult to look at the stash page on Ravelry and see all of the gorgeous yarn I have, and know that I won't get to it any time soon.

Now I'm going to have dinner and watch another episode of Borgias. If you like historic drama, you should really watch this show! It's about the Borgia family that ruled Rome in the 15th century. Lots of them became popes, and it's really political and interesting. Love it!

/ Jenny

Weekend sock update

The past week has been spent mostly knitting, as my stomach decided to spazz out on Monday night. Nothing bad that doesn't have a godd thing with it, right (that's a swedish saying, I don't know if it translates properly though)? I finished my Devon socks this week:

I call them my Hobbe socks, as Hobbe is a Devon Rex breed. I LOVE the socks, KnitPicks Stroll is really soft and nice to work with, and the colours didn't bleed at all when I washed them. Of course I immediately had to cast on for another pair! I can't go without a pair of socks on the needles! Thomas actually helped me pick which yarn to work with, and he chose the Unplanned Peacock sock yarn that I bought in Roanoke a month ago. The colourway is called Hokie, which apparently is some kind of local sports team (I think football?). That tells you how much I enjoy sports, and maybe especially american sports... We don't have either baseball or american football here in Sweden, it's all about soccer and hockey. Not that I watch any of that either though!

Anyway, the socks! I chose the Wrought Iron Socks pattern from Toe-Up Socks for Every Body by Wendy D Johnson, and I'm enjoying them so much! I had to look up Judy's magic cast on on youtube to get it right, and that really really sucks on dpns (I think it would be so much easier on two circulars, but I don't have two in the 2 mm size, plus I love working on dpn's), but I managed. And after the first two rows, it's smooth sailing. It's fun to work some cables again, it's been a while, and I'm actually already past the heel on the first one!

I was a bit worried that it was turning out too small to fit over the heel, but I've put the stitches on scrap yarn and tried them on today for real (I tried it yesterday with the needles still in them, and promptly broke one of the KnitPicks needles! Thank god I have ten of that size, as I've bought two sets (and broken two of them before this too)), and they fit. It's kind of a close call to actually get them on, but once on they fit perfectly! I can't tell you how thrilled I am about this colourway, and the yarn is a dream to work with! I want to wear them NOW!

Unfortunatley I think they will have to go on a time-out for a while, as I picked up my beads for the wedding stole I'm making yesterday. The stole needs to be done before anything else, so I get it finished in time for the wedding. As I only picked the beads up yesterday I don't have any new photos to show you, but I bet I'll be getting along fine til next time though.

Now, I think I'm going to go outside and get me some sun. We're having the most amazing spring weather here this week, it's so nice to see the sun again! I've been trying to get me some fresh air at least once a day even though the stomach has been arguing with me, and I've gotten some freckles on the nose at least. I love my freckles! I wish I got to have them all year round, but alas they only come out during the sunnier months.

See you soon!

/ Jenny

Happy Easter everybody!

It's been a while! Last weekend I decided sort of on a whim to go home and visit my parents, and since they have the slowest internet in the world, I didn't even bring my computer with me! The weekend was spent shopping a little with mom, visiting my grandmother, and visiting my best friend and her three boys. She's getting married this summer, and I'm going to be a bride's maid! Yay! I'm also knitting her a shawl, so we decided on a pattern last weekend too. I've cast on for the Scheherazade stole, in my wonderful KnitPicks Shadow yarn in Forest heather (the colours in the wedding will be green and red). Actually, I've already frogged it twice. I started with 2 mm needles, and it turned out too tiny and tight. Also, I tried it with green beads, but they didn't look good with the yarn, so I've ordered clear silverlined beads to match the dress instead. Now I have to wait until next week when they arrive, to continue knitting on it. I haven't gotten a photo of it yet either, since I've made about 3 cm on it, so you'll have to do with a photo of the yarn!

This weekend, as it's Easter, we have Friday and Monday off from work, so Thomas' four brothers are visiting. It's very rare that they get together all at once, so it's great to have them here. They're 15, 18, 21 and 33 years old, so pretty spread out. 

We've been playing lots and lots of board games, some xbox and wii games, and yesterday we invited some friends to go out to the cabin with us to celebrate Easter evening. We barbecued (and my sister had made awesome mini cupcakes and white chocolate sufflé), played Kubb, threw some darts and just had a great time. Me and Thomas have been cleaning at the cabin for the entire week, so it looked really nice, and the weather has been awesome the entire weekend too. 

We've been sitting in the garden today just enjoying the sun and played more games (and I've knitted a lot too). As my sister lives next door to us she's been with us for most of the weekend too!

Oh, and yesterday morning we followed the swedish tradition of paiting eggs for breakfast!

Last time I wrote, I told you that I hadn't really gotten around to knitting any lace for a while. As I finished writing I figured I actually felt like lace, so I picked up my shawl just to find that the wooden needle had broken! It took two days for a new one to get here by mail, and by then the work week had started and I haven't touched it since. I'm thinking about picking it up tonight though, if I have the energy for it after dinner.

I'm also currently blocking the Chtulhu mittens that I finished two weeks ago, but they're not dry yet so no new photos.

The project I've knitted on today and the past few days (since I couldn't continue on the wedding stole without the beads) is my Devon socks. I'm almost at the toe on the first one (I took this photo this morning so I've gotten a bit farther today):

It's so hard to photograph red! I'm making them in KnitPicks Stroll yarn, colourway Burgundy, and I love this yarn! I love that it's so incredibly cheap, really soft with great stitch definition, very durable and comes in lots and lots of colours. The only thing I don't loke about it is that it is so hard to get here in Europe. Not that I need any more of it right now though, I have PLENTY of yarn to knit through before I buy any more!

Tomorrow the brothers are leaving, I think pretty early in the day, so I think we're going to have a cleaning day. The dishes have been fixed all weekend (a lot more is used when we're seven instead of two!), but there are lots of laundry to be done, and I think I'l clean the bathrooms as weel after having been so many more of us too. The shower seems to run more or less constantly this weekend :)

See you all soon, hopefully with some updated photos of lace!

/ Jenny

Back to the ordinary blog world again?

It's been a while! I've just been updating with snippets from my new iPad, which I LOVE LOVE LOVE! Thomas was looking for an iPad2 while we were in the States, but they were sold out everywhere (of course). But he just spoke so much about how awesome it would be to have one, that I kind of fell for it. Then I read a blog post from The Knit Witch, where she told about an app called GoodReader, where you can read your pdf files and make comments and doodles on them! That was the sell for me, let me tell you. So we sent out and found the cheapest iPad1 with the least amount of memory and no 3G (let's face it, I wouldn't use that very much anyway), and it didn't cost too much. Now I'm downloading apps right and left!

My favourite is of course GoodReader, but I'm also using the iBooks app to read ebooks. I had no idea there were so many free classics available! There are so many I haven't read, and I just started The Portrait of Dorian Gray, by Oscar Wilde. I also have Rudyard Kipling's Junglebook and Sir Walter Scott's Ivanhoe in the queue :)

I also bought an app called Knitting and Crocheting HD, which is a kind of knitting (and crocheting) tutorial. It's pretty good, with lots of photos, but I'm a bit surprised that they don't list Ravelry among their tips for knitting online. What's up with that? Is there anything bigger knittingwise online?

I of course also immediately got the app called XComics, to read comic books online. Just Awesome! The only problem is it's so easy to just buy more and more comics, it gets a bit expensive after a while...

I think I told you that I got an app for blogging too, BlogPress. It's ok I guess, but I haven't figured out how to turn the (swedish) autocorrect off yet. And it can't edit the layout of the post, so I can't change the margin alignment into what I like. Or change fonts. But I guess it's good if I'm in a jiffy. Actually, my little pink laptop has started to get very hot when used (I think the fans might be giving up), and it's starting to make a small, whining noice every once in a while. Plus, the other day the charging cord wouldn't work either. I've transferred all my files to Thomas' external hard drive, so it wouldn't be the end of the world if it gave up. At least now I can get by with the iPad!

Oh, I geeked out a bit further last weekend too, and got myself a new Scanner! It's a Cannon Lide 110, and was dirt cheap, but it works just fine. 

(And yes, I know I souldn't flaunt all my electronic devices here online. Please don't rob us)

I'm aiming to not having to print any more of my patterns, but I hate lugging my knitting books around. They get all scratched and worn, plus I don't want to draw in them or make notes, so I always end up with lots and lots of post-its instead. Now, I've started to scan my books and save them to the iPad, which will be the only thing I need to bring! Gotta love a paper-less society :)

Ok, are you waiting for knitting? I actually have a finished object for you! When we flew to the States, I cast on for a new pair of socks, the Terrebonne socks from my 10 patterns collection. I started them in Opal sock yarn, the same colourway that I used for the socks I knitted for my brother-in-law this Christmas, on 2.5 mm needles. They turned out HUGE for me, and instead of frogging them I just decided to make them for Thomas instead. I finished them the weekend before last, and he's alread worn them a lot. I think he likes them!

Since then I've knitted a lot on a pair of mittens that I also cast on for on the plane over to the States. This is the first one finished, I'm about halfway finished with the second one too. It's a pattern called Chtulhu mittens (unblocked):

If you don't know who Chtulhu is, you need to read up on you occult knowledge in general, and H.P. Lovecraft in particular. Chtulhu is evil, let's just leave it at that. I'm making these for Thomas to match his scarf that he has (it's storebought), but I'm planning on making another par for his older brother too, who also loves Lovecraft. He and the other brothers (there are five of them in total, Thomas included) are coming here to visit for easter weekend, so I'll ask him then what colours he'd like. I'm making them in KnitPicks Palette yarn, so I have some colours to choose from!

Work has been kind of crazy lately, there has been so much to do! I wonder if people are getting sicker? There has been some co-workers on vaccation, and one girl has broken her arm and is off work for at least six weeks, which means that us that are left get to work a little bit more. It's still fun, and I prefer having lots to do to not having anything to do, but I've just been to exhausted in the evenings to post here! Today though, my stomach decided to revolt (for the first time in about a month, so I'm not really complaining too much), so I had to stay at home. The perk about that is that I get to catch up on the laundry, and write a bit here :)

Oh, were you wondering about lace? Yeah, me too. I guess I've just had too much to do lately! I haven't gotten half-way through the first shawl of the year (remember, I'm officially partaking in the 11 shawls in 2011 challenge...), so I'm thinking I'm not going to bother even trying to make 11. I'll just knit where my fancy takes me, and have fun with it. Knitting is supposed to be fun, right?

Ok, now I think I'm going to wathc a movie on the iPad (yes, I've got an app for that too) and actually do some knitting while the washer finishes it's current load. See you all this weekend, hopefully with a finished (and blocked!) pair of mittens!

/ Jenny