Trillian Knits

Back again

2008-07-01T08:44:00.003+03:00

I'm back from a long absence (again), to tell you that I've been very busy with school. Haven't knit a thing, except a bit of the SWIII socks which I ended up having to frog because I messed up the pattern and then couldn't get gauge. I didn't get to kill anyone in this war, which is a shame but I got a pair of lovely socks from my assasin (in tofutsies!). Don't ask me who won or who gets the 60 skeins of Tofutsies, because I have no idea. Our fearless leader called for an early end to the war, but some people are still continuing... so who knows?

I am going back to Finland in about a day, which freaks me out a bit because I've gotten used to living in the Netherlands! But it'll be fun to go back home, I haven't been back even once. I've had fun but all good things must come to and end, I guess. There is a vest in the fall issue of Knitscene called 'Nederland vest', which is really pretty and that I might just have to knit to commemorate my time in A'dam!

I've found a new obsession btw: plurk! There are a lot of knitters there chattering away at the moment, why don't you join us?

This and that

2008-04-11T22:07:00.006+03:00

The school induced madness is finally over and I am, once again the mistress of my own schedule! For this weekend anyway, the next block is starting on monday. Some days I'm ready to call it quits and go home (summer holidays start there next week...) and other days I never want to leave Amsterdam! My dad is coming over next friday though, so I'm in a good mood about that! My mum will visit me in 2.5 weeks, yay!

I'm done with the knitting part of my raglan hoodie version of Sesame. I'm in mad, mad love with it! I'll weave in the ends, eventually. Since it's a little bigger than it should be (my gauge changed...) so I'll probably put in a zipper insted of th button band. I might still frog the top part of the hood, inorder to make it bigger. I'll definitely knit another raglan Sesame at some point, a single colour one! I hate, hate, hate weaving in ends! I'd link to the pattern but I'm not sure where it can be found at this time, since Magknits is no more. It's a shame, I really liked a lot of the patterns. I hope the editor is ok, all that drama can easily get to you!

I used the left over yarn to knit a Purl beret and I've started a Mr.Dangly, but its on hold until I figure out what to stuff it with! I don't know why my right eye is squinting like that, I seem to do that in all the photos I'm in. Its so unfair that some people photograph well and some... don't. I once had a really strange conversation at a party, with a guy about that (the conversation started with "I saw a photo of you, you looked really drunk" I wasn't drunk!).

There is a group on Ravelry called "10 lousy bucks", which is holding Ravelraiser '08. If you donate 10 dollars to Ravelry, you can win all sort of cool stuff. Go, donate! I think it's definitely worth it, I'm on Ravelry pretty much every damn day (don't tell me you're not!).

Sock Wars III

2008-03-17T22:47:00.004+02:00

I have signed up to do Sock Wars III, I liked doing SWII and I think this time will be even better! SWIII has it's own site, having to wade through the Yahoo-group to find out what was going on was not particularly fun. I didn't mind paying the 2$ membership fee, because if someone is jilted then the sock Valkyries can knit a pair for them.

I was thinking of using Tofutsies since SWTC is the official sponsor, but I couldn't find any local vendors. For all I know there's one down the street, but since I don't speak Dutch... I found some skeins on Ebay, but since none of them called out to me I ended up buying two skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepard Sock from a1lorraine. I love the purple and the socks should not be too girly if I should happen to be assigned a male target. The colours are a little bit darker in real life.

My newest knitting project is an adaption of Sesame from Magknits. I'm knitting it as a bottom up raglan and I'll add a hood, because I have a new found love of hoodies. I'm using a very cheap acrylic yarn, in silver and petrol. I've knit 1.5 sleeves so far, not so much because I love knitting sleeves but because I'm avoiding schoolwork. The next two weeks of school will be very busy though, so I probably won't get around to knitting the body of the sweater in a while.

All hallows eve 2008

2008-03-08T01:25:00.012+02:00

It may not be a surprise, to those who have read my earlier posts, that I love Halloween. I have already decided what to go as this year. I want to go as Joan of Arc, I think I might be reacting to the fact that I was a little uncomfortable in my 'sexy costume' last year (the skirt was way too short... which is why no photos of the entire ensemble were ever put up, here is an early sketch of the costume though, if you are curious!) and now I want something that covers everything :-)

This is a sketch of what it will look like, I'm going to use this vintage knitting pattern (it's a pdf-file) as inspiration for my chain mail shirt. I'll probably buy a toy sword from punanaamio.fi.

I also have an idea for an alternative costume, using the same vintage pattern. Namely a Robin Hood costume, but I'm not as interested in going as Robin Hood as I am in going as Joan of Arc. Anyone else is more than welcome to use the idea though, it's hardly a very novel idea!

My drawing ability has definitely improved since last year, though last year's sketch was a very, very rough sketch, so maybe they can't really be compared :-)

First I don't write anything in 3 months and the I write two posts in one day... strange!

Edited because I can't spell this late at night!

Oh dear...

2008-03-08T00:44:00.015+02:00

How did this happen? One minute it's Christmas and the next it's March!?! What have I been doing, you might ask. I've moved all of my things from my student flat into my old room at my dad's (where did all that stuff come from???) and then moved myself and 23kg of my favorite things to Diemen, which is just outside Amsterdam. I'm currently studying Fashion and Management at Amsterdam Fashion Institute. It's a lot of work, but also a lot of fun... there's nothing quite like the Erasmus lifestyle :-)

Here is a cavalcade of my FO's, in no particular order. I'm sorry for the lack of descriptions, I hate putting together posts with many photos. It took all I have to just arrange them and the text in some semblance of aesthetic order.

Jaywalkers for my flatmate Sanna

Jaywalker cellphone cozy for me

Doll clothes for a school project, my own 'design.'

Ursus arm warmers for Sonja (then my brother's girlfriend, now his fiance!)

Cabled dress for myself

Tiny mittens for flatmate

Never anger the knitting gods

2007-11-27T17:11:00.000+02:00

I fear I may have angered the almighty gods of knitting, how you may ask. I'm not sure. Perhaps it was my hubris, I was certain that I would be able to finish my Christmas projects long before Christmas. I have cast on the Branching out scarf for my father's girlfriend (eh, ladyfriend?) three times in the last three days. I keep messing up, if I wouldn't have frogged it I would almost be finished.

But, never fear. There is also some good news! I have figured out what was troubling my camera. Apparently it could not stand the cheap batteries I was using. I have since bought re-chargeable batteries and they are working like a charm.

Above you can see the, soon to be frogged, third incarnation of my Branching out scarf. It's like a "find five faults" picture, but with knitting! The yarn is Novita Olivia (70% bamboo, 30% Polyester) and was on sale for 1.50e/skein (~2.20$). It's very soft and doesn't look worse for wear, even though it's been frogged a few times!

Stupid camera

2007-11-13T17:52:00.000+02:00

My camera is dead. Which sucks. Obviously! I'm going to look for the receipt and the box it came in and hope it has a 12month warranty (I bought it 11 months ago).

I finished the Halloween capelet ages ago and started knitting two different sock patterns, both x-mas gifts. I've also bought a new knitting book called "Knitting Classic Style: 35 Modern Designs Inspired by Fashion's Archives", by Veronik Avery. It is really brilliant and I've added a few of the projects to my list (which keeps growing and growing and growing)

I'm dead, but what a way to go!

2007-10-26T12:12:00.000+03:00

I can't believe it, it's been 21 days since I posted last... crap, not much of an excuse but I've been ridiculously busy. As the title says, I'm dead. Mamiecaisse's socks got here today, there was a small spelling 'oopsie' in the address so it got held up for a bit. Not that it matters since I only got one kill :( But I will not be sad, because I was so spoiled. I got the prettiest socks ever, that fit and the leftover yarn (*drool* so pretty!) and a zip pouch (which will really come in handy!)

I guess I should post photos of the socks I knit for Bridget'smom. Too bad I only have one decent photo, the batteries died ~2sec. after I took it! I feel a bit bad that I didn't send any extras... But I guess there's always next year!

My first time...

2007-10-05T15:43:00.000+03:00

I have ordered my first skein of yarn on-line and I think I'm hooked. I just wish I'd ordered a set of needles while I was at it!

I ordered my sock wars weaponry on Monday and received it today, they are work very quickly over at Vuorelma! I hope my target will like the color, but I won't worry about it. A lot of people on the yahoo group seem to think that they can't send pink socks to a male target, I think it's silly. If he is secure enough in his masculinity to knit, he is surely man enough to wear pink socks.

In other news: I'm officially a Facebook addict... not good!

Edited to add: didn't get gauge on the Veto yarn, so I used a very masculine, dark green Gjestal Maija instead (which was supposed to become socks for either my brother or my dad)

Halloween capelet

2007-10-01T18:16:00.000+03:00

I'm going to dress up as the Green Faerie for Halloween and since my costume will be a little... skimpy, I decided to knit myself something to keep me warm. I stumbled across the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet pattern and fell in love! It's a very simple pattern, with almost no seaming! And I finally got to try Novita's new Mambo yarn, it's a bit itchy against my skin but still quite nice and fun to knit with.

I'm going to knit full length sleeves, so I can use it in school as well. Didn't buy enough yarn, so I have to wait until tomorrow until I can get some more... :( I hope I can find a nice brooch to go with it!

Progress report

2007-09-24T15:44:00.001+03:00

I have started knitting this three times, which is why I am so deliriously happy that it fits. I'm using the Minisweater/Boob holder pattern, but without the poofy sleeves. And I'm making both the body and the sleeves longer.

I didn't get the right gauge so I had to add 20sts. It doesn't look all that much like finished ones I've seen, but I hope it'll sort itself out! Because if I have to frog it again I might have a nervous break down...

I'm using two strands of Novita Florica, which is 100% wool. Which means the sweater is going to be very warm and toasty. Yay! The colors don't look that terrible in real life, must stop taking photos of projects in the dead of night!

It's not long 'til Sock Wars start! I can hardly wait! There's still time to sign up! You know you want to!

Purple

2007-09-10T10:09:00.001+03:00

Annaonthemoon received her birthday surprise, so here are the photos of what I sent.
The socks are somewhat more 'purplish' than the photo would have you believe, but I couldn't get the right shade for some reason. Didn't follow any pattern, made up the pattern as I went along.

I'm quite proud of the Rose's Wrist Warmers, they came out quite nicely. I've still got enough yarn to make another pair, yay! Purple isn't my colour though, so I 'll probably give them to my friend Susku (We both love Dr.Who!) I wish I could have gotten a better photo of the wrist warmers but it 's really difficult to take photos of your own arms (go figure)

Sock wars II

2007-09-05T22:08:00.000+03:00

Sock wars is back and this time I found out about it early enough to participate! Yes! I can't wait for it to start, incidentally it starts two days before my birthday. Which happens to coincide with a week long vacation! Meaning I have all the time in the world to knit!!!

I sent out the suprise birthday present to Annaonthemoon last thursday, nearly a week ago. I hope it get's there safe and sound! I'll post the photos once she has received, I'm quite pleased with what I knit and I hope she will be to!

Kool-Aid rules!

2007-08-16T19:55:00.000+03:00

I dyed some yarn yesterday, I love playing with Kool-Aid. You never know exactly what the end result will be.
I started out with two skeins of natural white Novita Bambino yarn (100% wool), which I dyed with Grape Kool-Aid. After the dyeing I realized there where a lot of white bits, so I dyed it again with a mixture of Grape and Cherry Kool-Aid. The end reault is not really anything like what I'd imagined, it's better! I'm going to knit a birthday surprise for Annaonthemoon over at Craftster. I can't say what in case she reads this! Her favorite color is purple, hence the color of the yarn.

Edited to add a picture of the yarn wound up in two center-pull balls, I can finally start knitting! Yay!

Pink FBB finished

2007-07-29T10:41:00.000+03:00

It's far from perfect, but I don't think I'm going to frog it. I don't remember what the yarn is called, but it was kind of difficult to work with since it has so many ´thick and thin´ bits. I used double strands and I used more or less three skeins. I still have four or five skeins left and I have no idea what to do with it.

In other news, Novita has released their new yarns! Yay! I saw a lot of yarns that just called out to me. I want to knit a bag out of the green Mambo (which looks much better in real life) and crochet an FBB out of the gold Paola (I know, another one?!) und so weiter...

I've already started putting together a Christmas knitting list and for once it's actually organized (thanks to Ravelry!) I wonder if I'll be able to finish everything on time this year, last year was a bit of a disaster because I started so late :)

I love Ravelry

2007-07-26T18:09:00.000+03:00

I have got to rave about Ravelry! I put my email on the list ages ago and completely forgot about it, the out of the blue I get an email with the heading "frecklegirl has invited you to Ravelry!"

I haven't really had any time to familiarize myself with it yet (still no internet!), but what I've seen is very promising. Can't wait until I can get back to my stash and my books, we've been tragically parted for over 2 months now when I've been living at my dad's. My stash is currently collecting dust in my apartment (I only have to pay half the rent in the summer if I don't live there).

I've finished the pink FBB but it looks kind of awful so I don't know if I should frog it or not, I might get some photos up this weekend. The cardigan was a lost cause so I frogged it and started knitting a halter neck tunic instead, it's almost finished... just needs seaming (I'll get around to it eventually, hopefully before the summer ends!)

No news is good news?

2007-06-23T10:52:00.000+03:00

Good news is I'm not dead, I got a summer job and I'm living with my dad, so no internet connection. I'm currently in Helsinki visiting Susku, who does have an internet connection.

Here's what I've been working on lately, a cardigan and yet another fat bottom bag! I've been very lucky lately when it comes to yarn, I found the yarn for both projects at a flea market. I got 10 skeins of the yellow yarn for 6 euro and 8 skeins of the pink yarn for 6.50 euro. Yay for cheap yarn! I also found a really cheap bag with the perfect handles for the FBB, only 4 euro. I'm thinking of giving the FBB to my aunt as a late birthday present when/if she visits us this summer (I'm not sure it's 'fashionable' enough for her...)

Meet Frank the Frog!

2007-06-01T10:09:00.000+03:00

There is a frog pattern in one of my Finnish craft magazines and last week I decided to knit it. Of course this was quite late in the evening and I couldn't go out and buy some green yarn so I settled for pink... His name is Frank and he is a bit wonky due to the fact I was watching a very thrilling episode Veronica Mars while knitting. I really should find some buttons to use as eyes, he's creeping me out.

Here is my mum's clapotis. It took me about three days to knit, it's "scarf sized." It had to be finished for mother's day so I couldn't make a full sized one. I used a cotton and acrylic blend yarn, which felt very soft compared to my own sock yarn clapotis.

TAG: I'm it!

2007-05-20T16:00:00.000+03:00

I got tagged by Torrence. Here's how this works: Each person tagged gives 7 random facts about themselves. Those who are tagged need to write on their own blog those 7 facts as well as the rules of the game. You need to tag seven others and list their names on your blog. You have to leave those you plan on tagging a note in their comments so they know that they have been tagged and to read your blog. Here are 7 facts about me:

1. I hate the smell of donuts.
2. I love Doctor Who.
3. I don't like beer.
4. I love seafood.
5. I eat vegeterian food at the school cafeteria, because it's cheaper than 'regular food'
6. I have no allergies, unlike my siblings who are allergic to almost everything.
7. I can't cook, but I'm good at baking.

I don't have time to tag anyone right now but I'll do it soon. I have no idea where I'm going to find 7 people who haven't been tagged a million times allready :)

In other news; I've knit a beret for my friend Susku, a scarf sized clapotis for my mum and finished my own clapotis. Photo's might be up some time next week.

Stripey Beret

2007-04-21T09:52:00.000+03:00

I finished my beret late last night. Due to a great miscalculation in size... it's too big. But it's really cute so I might still wear it, just not right now because it's snowing and there's quite a strong wind blowing outside. It mysteriously started snowing yesterday, it's practucally may and almost all the snow had melted. WTF?

The yarn is a really cheap acrylic I found at Halppis (a small supermarket) and there's still lot's left so i might knit more of these (just a bit smaller)

I've no excuse...

2007-04-19T22:41:00.000+03:00

for my non-blogging lately, except for a very hectic few weeks at school (all my own fault of course!) The HP themed sock is still feeling quite lonely in my stash and I still haven't gotten/made handles for the FBBs! But I've started knitting a beret and gotten quite a lot done on my clapotis!

I've got some great news! I'm going to Germany next week and my school is paying for flights and accommodations! I can't wait to go, we'll probably spend most of the time at lectures and workshops but hopefully we'll get to see a bit of the town and the nightlife!

Fat Bottom Bags

2007-03-31T13:53:00.000+03:00

I've finished two Fat Bottom Bags, one for myself (the green one) and one for my sister (the variegated one). I still have to buy some handles, the only ones I've found cost almost 8e... I'm hoping to find cheaper ones when I go home next week!

I finished my first March sock a while back and was then overcome by the dreaded second sock syndrome :( I'll start it someday, honestly. The progress of my clapotis is also being held because I am honestly so bored with that pattern and I messed up a bit... I should really frog it and start over again.

Should I study? No I think I'll make some stitch markers instead...

2007-03-22T20:59:00.000+02:00

I should have spent the last few hours studying, but I got distracted and decided to make stitch markers instead!

I've started knitting myself a clapotis out of some variegated pink sock yarn and these will come in handy, I'm getting tired of using bits of yarn for stitch markers. I still need to make 7 more, the pattern calls for 18!

I've finished one of my March socks, they're Harry Potter themed. I used the Finnish toe up pattern I mentioned in an earlier post. I'll post pics of both at some point when I get around to it, the only reason I'm posting now is to keep the blog going... if I don't post every so often I'll stop alltogether.

I bought some yarn to make a Fat Bottom Bag, from Debbie Stoller's crochet book. The yarn was on sale, I was looking for something completely different but it called to me... and it was on sale :)

My "stash"

2007-03-13T23:09:00.000+02:00

I don't have any new knitting to showcase, I've been very busy (the kind where you can't believe it's only Tuesday.) So I did something I've been meaning to do for a while, I took photos of my "stash" and uploaded them to blogger. It's quite meagre, I did some stash busting in January and I've only been to a LYS once this year to buy yarn for the panta swap (and I didn't buy anything else, even though I was tempted.) It sucks to be on a tight knitting budget.

I've been thinking of trying my hand at spinning my own yarn and there's even this spinning class I'd love to go to on Mondays but alas I have school 'til 18.40 so I can't go :(

I've even saved all the little leftover bits from previous projects, just in case! (I'm such a pack rat...)

Been lazy

2007-03-08T21:25:00.000+02:00

I finished my Tubey the other day, it's not as itchy as I thought it would be... the only place it really itches a lot is at the back of my neck (and it's kind of driving me crazy!) Lord I hate that photo, but alas it was the best I could do!

I finished the Greenery hat for the KAL ages ago, but I'm only now getting around to posting photos of it.

I sent out two Panta's to my partner panic_paizlee in the Panta swap over at Craftster, I'll post photos of them once she receives.

Internet withdrawl :(

2007-02-25T19:44:00.000+02:00

I've spent the last few days first at my dad's and then at my mother's, helping her move into her new place. I hate moving, I've told her that she isn't allowed to move for another 10 years... at least ;=)

I've almost finished my green hat for the Green Hat-along at Get Stitchy, I used fisherman's wool that I dyed with green and yellow Koolaid. It looks awesome, the pattern is called the Greenery Hat which I don't have a link to because I'm sitting at my mother's cousin's computer. I can't finish the hat until I go home because I didn't bring any dpns... I feel so stupid!

On other news, I've only got another ~15cm left of the body of my Tubey (and it's soooo boring to knit it!)

No photos, sorry. Left the cable thing at home.

Getting tired of the Tubey

2007-02-19T17:51:00.000+02:00

I was really sick and tired af my Tubey this weekend and I really didn't do much towards finishing it. I tried my hand at the February sock instead, we're all supposed to use the Universal toe-up sock formula from Knitty and ofcourse I couldn't figure it out so I cheated... a little, I found a Finnish toe-up pattern and modified it a bit to fit the yarn I'd chosen (hideous baby yarn I bought in a moment of weakness). I have to say I'm not loving this toe-up method all that much, might just knit one and blame second sock syndrome...

Almost free

2007-02-16T11:11:00.000+02:00

I've got an almost two week long holiday coming up, all I have to do is to study for a test and write a report over the weekend, take the test on Monday, go to a lecture on Tuesday and then I'll have 12 days of knitting to look forward to!

I've finished the first sleeve of my Tubey and I've knit about 10cm (4 inches) of the second one *yay* Not bad considering I started it about 7 days ago, huh? No pictures at this point though, couldn't get a good one of the whole thing so I gave up (for now).

Did you know that Finns use the most yarn in the world? Apparently we Finnish knitters buy enough to give every person in the country (give or take 5 million) 200g!

Also, I only just realized that Blogger has a spellchecking feature...

Tubey update

2007-02-14T21:38:00.000+02:00

I'm about halfway done on the first sleeve, looking pretty good if I do say so myself! This isn't the most up to date photo of it but I was offered a free dinner today and I'm as big as a house now... so no photos :)

I have to do a presentation tomorrow... guess who forgot all about it until now? Good thing the topic is free so I'm going to tell my classmates about the intresting world of internet knitters and knitting blogs. And show them all of my "cool" knitting books and magazines. If I get really desperate I'll show them some UFO's and FO's. The teacher will probably find tons of faults in my presentation though :( She's been picking on me since the day she realized, that my primary education has been in swedish and not finnish like everyone else in my class.

Late night knitting

2007-02-09T18:17:00.000+02:00

I was inspired yesterday and started knitting my Tubey, I've got 14 cm done so far! I'm obviously using the same yarn as I used for the Calorimetry and I think I'll go for a solid red one instead of a stripy one.

I found this blog entry through craftster and now I have a nifty progress bar on my blog!

Calorimetry 3.0

2007-02-08T21:32:00.000+02:00

I knit myself a third calorimetry, since I gave the blue one to a friend (blue isn't really my colour.) So technically it's my second one :)
It's Novita 7 veljestä and my ears are nice and toasty... which is not something I can say for the rest of me, it's really cold both in my flat and outdoors. I'm wearing 3 sweaters, jeans, long johns and two pairs of socks! I'm thinking of putting on a pair of gloves, but it'd make knitting and typing difficult! The other photo is of my friend Susku wearing her new Calorimetry, she seemed very happy with it, which in turn made me happy!

I've decided to join the Green Hat-along at Get Stitchy, I'm about 85% sure of the pattern I want to use. Another thing I've decided is that I'm going to get over the "sweater fear" and knit myself a tubey with black and red stripes.

Let me tell you the story of my first (and so far, only) handknit sweater. It was knit out of quite bulky, mostly acrylic yarn that felt a bit scratchy against my hands as I was knitting it (not a good sign), it was lavender a colour I have since grown to loathe with a passion. The pattern was boring, all stockinette all the time. It was in Finnish so my Swedish speaking teacher was of no help (did I mention I was 13?) what so ever. No one told me I needed to check my gauge before starting it, but since I'd finished the back, front and one of the sleves by that time (after about 4 months of dull knitting) I decided I didn't f*cking care. I knit all the pieces but never got around to seaming the tiny, hideous mess, which then spent about a year in the back of my closet until it was passed on to my grandmother for some reason. Since no one in the family could fit into it by this point, it was forgotten by all. Or atleast me. I have no idea what happened to it after this, I hope she frogged it and used it for some other project (it really would be wrong to throw away free yarn!)

It's been a while

2007-02-06T18:12:00.000+02:00

since I last posted. I've been busy lately and my modem died on me last thursday so I've been in internet-withdrawl for the last five days. The first two days were pretty awful, but then I got used to it :)

I don't really have anything to show you guys, since I haven't really done any crafting... aside from teaching myself double knitting. So I thought I might show you something that I've been working on, it's a design assignment for school. I think I'm going to make up a pattern for the sweater, I really quite like it. The drawing isn't quite finished yet, I still have to fix the eyes, add the rest of the texture to the clothes and do a bit of shading. I used a croquis I found on the Threads Magazine website for the body, 'cause it takes me ages to draw an actual person and they all come out looking really skinny. I like the Threads croquis because she looks like a normal woman and not like some skinny model (which is what everyone else in my class prefer to draw.) I almost forgot, the design consists of two parts; a sweater and a dress.

Knitting adventurer

2007-01-25T20:36:00.000+02:00

I took a quiz today called What kind of knitter are you? Apparently I am an knitting adventurer, which I think it describes me pretty well, I love trying new things. Today I decided that I should learn entrelac and I saw this really cute stitch pattern called "feather and fan," that I might just have to make a scarf out of. I would have posted the result of the quiz but blogger wouldn't let me (sometimes I hate HTML!)

I've finished two items since I last posted, the socks for my friend and a Calorimetry out of the leftover yarn.

Sorry about the expression, I'd just gotten home from an 11h school day... (need I say more?)

I only cast on 100sts and it came out the perfect size!

Socks for susku (or second January socks)

2007-01-20T11:45:00.000+02:00

I found some blue yarn in my stash this week, that I bought ages ago and I decided to knit a pair of socks for my friend Susku out of it. They have to be finished by the 26th when I'll be visiting her in Helsinki (wish me luck.)

Piggle is done!

2007-01-16T20:48:00.000+02:00

I suprised myself by actually finishing it, I thought it would look really awful! But it doesen't, I'm actually kind of glad that the top bit isn't the same shape as in the original. Bad news is that my mystery yarn is a bit itchy, but it's so pretty I can surely live with it!

Finished socks

2007-01-15T19:42:00.000+02:00

I finished the socks for my grandmother a few days back but I forgot to post photos of them. I still have some yarn left, no idea what to do with it or any of the other left over yarn that is currently floating around my room ;)

I started doing the decreases on Piggle yesterday and I must say I've messed up in more ways than I thought possible, but since I'm too stubborn to frog it I'll just have to live with the fact that it looks a bit wonky... I'm beani-challanged apparently, when ever I try to make one it just ends up looking awful.

PS: let's pretend you can't see my long johns, ok?

Piggle

2007-01-14T15:26:00.000+02:00

More knitting? Yes! I work very well when ignoring, other more important things (such as schoolwork and cleaning). I cast on Piggle very late friday evening and this is as far as I've come so far, one more row of the lace pattern and it'll be time for the decreases. I'm only doing one hole though, I'm far too old to walk around with pigtails.

Sorry about the crappy photo, it's difficult to take a good photo of anything knit that is black :(

Everyone else is doing it...

2007-01-12T19:42:00.000+02:00

knitting Calorimetries, that is! Here is mine, I love it! It's warm, pretty and functional, what more could a gal ask for? Please excuse my silly facial expression and the mess in the background :) It only took about 3½h to knit, there is a yarn sale at Citymarket (think Walmart, but smaller) so I'll probably go see if there is any suitable yarn to make another of these babies!

Sock-along 2007

2007-01-10T20:01:00.000+02:00

I'm going to take part in the 2007 Sock-along at Craftster! We're going to knit one pair of socks a month, yay!

I'm currently knitting a pair of socks I started 'round Christmas and then lost interest in... I don't know I should consider them my January socks or not :) They are the first pair of socks I've ever knit without a pattern and the yarn is the most expensive I've ever bought, I think it cost about 11e. It's got Aloe vera and Jojoba oils in it, which I think is kind of cool. I hope my grandmother will like them (and not too annoyed with how long it took me to knit them.) I think I shouldn't start every sentence with the word "I" ;-)

Christmas crafts

2007-01-01T23:36:00.000+02:00

I took the opportunity to do quite a lot of crafting over the holidays, but I didn't have any internet access so I'm posting it all in one.

This is the ginger bread house my friend Susanna and I made, it ended up a bit wonky so we had to improvise... a lot. It's sort of unintentionally "Nightmare before Christmas"-themed.

These socks were a Christmas gift for my mother, the pattern is from the latest issue of knitty and is called monkey.

This is my sister's dog Wagner and he is wearing a Santa outfit I made for him. It was supposed to be a jacket but since I'm an idiot I messed up and ended up having to make a cape instead. Click here to see a video of him wearing it.

This is my first try using the shrinky dinks I got ages ago in the MCDHT6 swap. I glued them onto magnets with erikeeper, managed to lose them though :( The sewing machine in the background used to be my grandmother's, pretty isn't it? No one uses it at my dad's, which is a bit of a shame since it works perfectly.

I knit this bag out of the yarn I got from Superhooker, which I dyed with koolaid. I probably didn't use enough colour because the yarn came out quite pale but I still like it. It's basically the same as the other garnstudio bag I knitted but it's slightly smaller and the handle is different. The handle is just two icords, I considered adding a third but then I got the idea to crochet myself a headband thingy out of the left over yarn.

There are still four projects that I haven't posted, two are UFOs and one is going to be sent to Superhooker and she might still lurk around and get a look at it... wouldn't want that now would we? I thought her package had gotten lost in the mail so I started a new one and then she received her package. But I had allready finished one item, so I have decided to send it since they're too small for me and I don't know anyone else who'd appriciate them.

Comments? Questions?

socks

2006-12-04T18:10:00.000+02:00

Here are the long awaited pictures of the socks I knitted (knit?) for my dad... not that anyone reads this :)

Christmas at Hogwarts

2006-11-29T21:13:00.000+02:00

I received my package from my lovely swap partner Superhooker, she sent me so many great things! If you want to see what she sent go here.

This is an action shots of the ha she sent me! Isn't it awsome!

Father's day

2006-11-12T19:41:00.000+02:00

So it's father's day in Finland today.

I made some fudge for my dad on friday, which we ate on saturday :) I also spent most of friday and saturday knitting a pair of socks for him. They came out really well, I'll post some pics of it once the roll of film in my camera is full and I have chance to get it developed. I used Novita 7 veljestä Raita (7 Brothers Stripe), it has three different shades of blue. They look fairly similar to these found on the novita website... except the toepart is not as neat on the ones I made.

Postcard swap

2006-11-10T14:55:00.001+02:00

I took part in a postcard swap on craftster, these are the cards I received.
The card on the left was sent to me by Listener15 sent, isn't it beautiful? She took the photo herself! I thought I'd lost it but I found it in my scanner when I wanted to scan some postcards I got through postcrossing so I could upload them to Flickr. Unfortunately I couldn't because the scanner kept complaining about something or other, I probably tripped on one of the cords again.... The one on the left is from Knuckstermom. I really like the manga-ish art (or is it anime? or is there a difference, I guess I should find out... at some point)

The Australian card was sent to me by our lovely organizer missmeshell. I like animal cards, especially exotic ones. I'm probably never going to get to go to Australia but atleast I have a post card from Australia :)
Cassafrass sent me this card, if I remember correctly it is part of a drug awarness campaign in the US. And it's always good to know where you're going.

And last but not least is the card I received from shelikesstars.
Looks like a good apple :) I've never been to Washington (I've never been to a lot of places) but I think I have some distant relatives living there (like my dad's uncles great-grandchildren or some such)

First post!

2006-11-09T19:39:00.000+02:00

So.... The only reason I signed up was to comment on a swap partner's blog but I guess I could upload something while I'm at it :)
My digital camera stoped working months ago so I don't really have any pictures of anything recent but here is a picture of two bags I made months ago.

They are both jordy bags, I think, you can find a tutorial here (it's really easy). In the background you can see my sock monkey Samantha who I also made months ago.

It's father's day in Finland in two days, I haven't had time to make anything special so I'll make him some chocolate fudge and maybe if I have the time knit him up some socks, a man can never have too many socks.

This is a in-progress photo of a bag I made for a swap partner. I didn't take a picture of the finished product because I ran out of film (I'm back to using my stone-age camera these days) and I finished it only 30min or so before sending the package. This is the pattern I used. Funny story, whilst checking if I had remembered to put everything in I found my tv remote inside the bag... You can see the finished bag here, along with all the other stuff I sent. None of the photos show exactly what colour it is, my photo is too light and her's is too dark.

Here is another in-progress photo of a bag I've been sewing for quite a while, I'm sewing it by hand since I am sewing machine-less these days. I doubt I'll finish it any time soon, might take it with me the next time I visit my mum and use her machine. I haven't even bought fabric to line it with. It used to be a pair of really low rise trousers that looked really silly on me, I had to pull them up every two seconds.