WIP Wednesday - December Edition

I haven't made one of these in MONTHS, so in order not to make it insanely long, I'll limit myself to the projects I'm the most excited about having finished / working on.

Stripy Top I found the most amazingly soft yarn while away with work for a few days, and decided I had to have it. The design is heavily inspired by a few other tops I have, that I know fit me well. I loved making it, and finished in less than a month :-D Gaia I had some gorgeous yarn languishing in an unloved (and thus unlikely to be finished) WIP, and had been looking around for something else to use it for. I randomly came across the pattern for this in my ravelry highlights one day, and knew the yarn would be perfect for it. It's great for work when the AC gets a tad too much. I do wish it had been slightly bigger, but not enough that I feel the need to redo it. Ida's Genser Made for a friend of mine. Knit with much bulkier yarn than I usually use, which did hurt my hands a bit, but I loved how quickly it knit up, and am quite happy with the finished result. Fortunately my friend was too :-D Perseverance MKAL Finally finished this yesterday!!! REALLY happy with how it turned out. I still need to block it, so it's not finished-finished-finished, but I greatly enjoyed snuggling under it this morning! And finally, the project I'm currently working on... Maisie Sweater I'd forgotten how MUCH I love working with Malabrigo Arroyo! The yarn's expensive, but worth every penny! I've had this in my stash for ages, but finally decided to do something with it, and the Maisie Sweater was in my library, beginning to be knit. It was the perfect match, and I absolutely adore it. Can't wait for this to be done :-D

DIY Kit - Sam's Study

As you may know, I've wanted a Book Nook practically since I realized such a thing even existed. However, all the ones I came across were way too expensive for me to actually consider buying - especially online.

Cue end of July, where Lars and I took Nina's three kids with us on a long-delayed trip to Hamburg, Germany (we were supposed to go in April 2020... we all know how THAT turned out...) to show them Miniature Wunderland. We'd taken Jordan there back in 2018'ish, and he really enjoyed it, so wanted to share the experience with his sisters as well. I never got around to writing about that trip here, but we had a terrific time and as always I absolutely LOVED spending time with the kids. Isabella even got me a sunflower lanyard of my very own!! So sweet.

*Ahrem*, but I digress. The giftshop at MiWuLa is filled with all sorts of gadgets, puzzles... and miniature kits of all sorts. One of those being the most adorable miniature library/book shop. I immediately called Isabella over, "Look, look, look, look!!!"
Isabella: "Auntie!! You've always wanted a book nook!!" (so sweet of her to remember! She takes after her mother in that regard!) "You have to get it!"
Me: "Oh, I'm gonna!!".
The kit was only €25 - a steal at that price. And since they had a bunch pre-assembled, I could see what they looked like all set up, and knew that it would look AMAZING in my library :-D

I was a good girl and didn't open the kit while we were away (didn't want to risk losing pieces, and it's not like I could get started on it anyway), but immediately after returning home, I ripped it open and spent pretty much every free minute at the dining table for the next 3-4 days cutting, glueing, painting, assembling and even fixing electronics! (SO proud of myself that I got the lamp to work by myself!!!) Those of you who follow me on Instagram will have seen the progress photos already, but I have to share here as well :-D
So excited!! The kit all laid out... at this stage I did wonder if I was getting in over my head, but despite the instructions being a tad vague at times, they were clear enough when it mattered, and I managed okay. Getting started... My second attempt at this book case. I made two mistakes making it - the first one I fixed (adding the drawer front on the wrong side!), the second I kept and called a design feature! (the drawer was supposed to be at the very bottom, not one shelf up... who cares ;-) ) The frames had to be painted. I'd forgotten how much I love to paint! Ended up giving them three coats I think, as the wood kept absorbing the paint. Progress.... So many books!!! The kit has a total of 107 in 4 different styles. I love that they aren't just all the same. In a perfect world I would have printed out my own book covers, but that would have taken WAY too long, and would perhaps be slightly overkill for something you can't even see! ... I may still do it for some of them though ;) Getting there.... So cute!!! Finally everything is all done, and ready to be put together. I decided I did NOT like the original carpet (first photo - would be cute for a kitchen - not so much for a library), so played around with some other scraps, and decided on this. Almost done! However, I decided I wanted personal photos for the walls, instead of the pictures provided by the kit, so had to wait until I had time to print them out (in the end, Henriette did so for me :-D ) And done!!! Working lamp and everything! Holding a place of honour in my library. Getting the lamp to work was definitely the biggest challenge, and it's ugly as up close. But I don't even care - it works, and I'm totally chuffed that I managed! The finished kit fits my library perfectly (even if it does take up quite a bit of room ;-) ), and I absolutely love it!

I kinda want to make more kits now, because it was SO satisfying to get everything sorted, but there aren't any other kits that have as obvious a place to put the final object, so while they'd be heaps of fun to make, the finished object would end up being clutter... which would be a shame. I may still change my mind though.

WIP Wednesday - May Edition

Off the needles: Henni asked me if I'd crochet some Easter decorations for her. We took a quick look through ravelry, but she never made it past the first page, as she immediately fell in love with these chickens. Don't blame her - they are adorable! And it's the first time I've put make-up on my crafting! (Rouge under the eyes) Project "Knitting through my WIPs" continues, and I've actually managed to finish the Almond Tee finally! I cast it on last spring, but it quickly got to warm to work on, so it's been dormant ever since. Of course it's now much to warm to wear, but ah well - it'll be ready for next autumn. Of course AFTER sewing in all three buttons I discovered that they were too small and keep popping out, so I'll have to do something about that... eventually. I made another sweater for Hugo (to be used next winter, so made large on purpose). However, it did NOT want to behave! I've had to adapt the pattern quite a bit, as the yarn's a lot thicker than what it calls for (so there's no WAY I could get gauge), and so far I've had to rip back THREE TIMES! Fortunately the fourth time was the charm, and I managed to finish it finally. Hope it'll fit! After my many years of knitting I have amassed huge amounts of scraps, so now I'm trying to figure out how to use it! Some of the fingering weight scraps I use for the cozy memories blanket, but there's still SO much left over. I recently got the idea to use it for a crocheted cardigan - figuring that if I could find one that was fairly lenient with its gauge requirements, then that might work. So last weekend I searched Ravelry and came across the Campfire Cardigan. I sorted out a bunch of suitable scraps and started working. I absolutely loved working on it (it's a really brilliant construction!) and adore the way it turned out. It was so satisfying to finally be using all these old scraps - even handspun!

On the needles: Still working on the MKAL blanket. It's a year-long project, so obviously has quite a ways to go yet. I've finished clue 4 and am quite happy with how the colours are working out. I've decided on a progression of colours that I think will work well - time will show :-D

WIP Wednesday - March Edition

On the Needles
Strangely enough I only have two active WIPs at the moment (don't ask me about my UFOs though....) - mostly because I just finished a number of things and am swatching for several others ;-)

I'm knitting a pair of socks for one of Henriette's colleagues. She commisioned three pairs from me last year, and liked them so much that she's now asked for another 5! She's a knitter herself (but doesn't do socks), so she knows how much time it takes, and therefore pays really well. I've told her I'd be happy to do it for half, but she insists, so I'm definitely happy to knit her more! This first pair allowed me to play around with colourwork a bit. She wanted it plain with a contrasting toe and fun fade - so I tried my best. I finished the first one in just a few days - the yarn is awesome, so it flew off the needles. After finishing a bunch of things for others (see below ;-) ), I decided it was time to make something for myself and picked up an old UFO (unfinished object). I started this Almond Tee last year sometime, and then put it down for the summer (the yarn's very warm) and just never picked it up again! Chances are I'll finished it just as it's getting too hot to wear again, but ah well - at least I'll have it for next fall then! I've just finished the body and need to pick up for the sleeves. Off the Needles
I finished the Telemark pullover shortly after my last post and finally got the chance to gift it to Hugo last week. Fortunately Ida (his mother) loved it and promised to send me photos of him wearing it :-D The elephants are my own design. I've added the chart to my ravelry project page. I went to visit Nina weekend before last, so worked hard on finishing the Granny Shrug Cocoon in time. I was a bit nervous about it, as I thought the fit was slightly weird, but once again Nina proved that she knows what looks good on her. She absolutely rocked it! It got a bit dull to make the giant granny square in a plain yarn, but the end result was well worth it. Still, if I ever make this again, I think I'll use a varigated or self-striping yarn.... or just thicker yarn, so the square is done faster! :-D Once the square is done, the rest takes no time at all!

And finally I made a bit of a joke gift for Henriette. She's one of the few people I know who uses placemats instead of a tablecloth, so once I saw these mandela placemats I knew I had to make them for her! And of course I had to make them match her, Lars' and my chosen colours for game nights - so blue, green and red it was! I probably actually like the green one the best myself (the red ended up being a bit to loud due to the yellow, but the alternative was pink and that looked weird), but the three look great together. I'm seeing her on Friday, so she'll get them there.

FO Friday - February Edition

Time for another one of these! I don't actually have all that much actively on my needles at the moment though, so I'll post it as a Finished Object Friday post instead :-D Since last post I've started and finished Squish. No longer remember what made me want to make it, but it's cute, so who cares :-D A bit fiddly to make, and the dark blue is a tad too dark to actually show the face, but oh well. Sometimes you're allowed to just be silly. One of my friends had a son last September, and I told him to just let me know if they ever wanted some handknit items for him. His girlfriend took me up on the offer, and asked if I'd knit a vest or a pullover. You know me - why not both! So I've recently finished a vest for him, and am currently working on the Telemark Pullover - just need to knit the sleeves, so should hopefully finish next week sometime. The elephants are my own design - I just think they're cute! And last, but DEFINITELY not least, after two+ years on the needles I've finally, finally, FINALLY finished the genser I showed off last time. The pattern was really badly written - confusing and with several mistakes - so it took quite a bit of frogging and fudging to make it work, but now I'm done!!! And fortunately I loved the finished object, so it was worth the hassle. Definitely don't see myself making this again anytime soon though!!!

WIP Wednesday - January edition

First WIP Wednesday post of the year! I'm going to try to do one a month, but we'll see if I manage :-P My crafting goal of 2022 is two-fold: finish some of my long-languishing WIPs and knit from stash! I'm well under way with both already! Off the Needles I did a lot of Christmas crafting in December. Not all of it is worth showing off, but I really love these Christmas baubles I found. Each takes about 3 hours to make and are just adorable! I see a lot more of these coming in my future. I kept two for myself and gave two to colleagues. Another coworker gave birth a few months ago. She's still off on maternity leave, but I finished a second Knut for her, so I can have it ready when she comes by the office to show off her baby :-D It's really cute, but I've made two now, so I think I'm done with this pattern. But we'll see - I've been wrong before. Last summer I bought some really lovely yarn while we were on vacation, and I finally found a good use for it! I knew I wanted to hold it double to really make the most of the marled effect that would give, which meant I didn't have enough to add sleeves, AND I wanted to knit it in the round, so I'd have to do as little yarn management as possible. Elena Nodel and her gorgeous Cosmopolitan tunic to the rescue! (Although I did leave out the turtleneck - I didn't have enough yarn, and liked the roll of the natural cast on). I finished this in just 8 days! SUCH a quick knit! My oldest nephew asked me if I'd knit him a scarf with stripes. "Sure! What kind of stripes? Thick stripes, thin stripes, or fibonacci stripes?" "Oooh! Fibonacci stripes!" My nephew is as much of a geek as I am ;-) We celebrated Christmas Day together, so I made sure to have it ready for him by then. (He's practising his "Blue Steel" look ;-) ) On the Needles Nina asked me to make her "a shawl that is also a sweater", which made perfect sense to me, so I went looking for suitable patterns. We ended up deciding on the Granny Cocoon Shrug, so I'm now crocheting my first garment! At the moment it mostly just looks like a giant granny square, but Liz promises me that it turns into a very comfy cardigan once I add sleeves ;-) Almost done with the square - then I get to add shaping! I'd forgotten how much more yarn crochet uses though!!! To follow up on my own private WIP challenge, I picked up an old sweater that's been languishing for more than two years! I cast this on back in October 2019, but the pattern was SO poorly written that I put it down until I could brave 'translating' it. I finally gave it a go and think I'm managing alright? But it is without a doubt the worst written pattern I've tried yet. I also think there are some significant errors in it, but it's so confusing to read, that I'm actually not entirely sure. I'm glad I have significant knitting experience by now, or I'd be totally lost. As it is, I'm wondering how much I'll have to frog.... :-P I'm almost done with the first sleeve, but a tad worried it'll be too long. Also, it's supposed to be oversized, which the body isn't, but the sleeves ARE, so I'm wondering if it'll look too weird, and I'll have to figure out how to adapt it to make it skinnier, while still keeping the armhole decreases even enough to fit into the decreases made on the body... (cue Maria's head exploding). Ah well, we'll see. Fortunately the yarn is AMAZING to work with! SO soft and light. (I redid the neckline after taking this photo. The shoulder straps were WAY too thin). Aaaaand finally, Liz thoroughly tempted me to cast on a year-long mystery knit-along together with her :-D We did a mystery crochet-along together last year (although that was only 6 months) and both really enjoyed participating together, so when she found a MKAL that was just starting, she suggested that we did it again! At first I said no, as I didn't have enough worsted weight yarn in my stash (see goal of knitting from stash!), but then Liz told me that she was knitting hers out of sock yarn held double, and not only did I have heaps of sock yarn in stash that I wouldn't mind giving up for this, I also had some scraps I could finally make good use of, AND I love the way varigated sock yarn looks when held double!!! So in the end she convinced me! We had a long FaceTime session rummaging through my stash to find the perfect combination of skeins, and I finished clue 1 this past Monday. Now to wait (im-)patiently for clue 2 sometime next month!

Review: The Art of Circular Yokes - Kerry Bogert (editor)

Title: The Art of Circular Yokes
Author: Kerry Bogert (Editor)
Genre: Knitting Patterns
Rating: 4.5/5
# Patterns: 15
Skill Level: Intermediate

This is an awesome book! Extremely detailed and useful for knitters no matter if they want to try their hand at designing or not.

The first part is aimed at designers and knitters who need to modify yoked sweaters. Beware, you'll find maths. Loads and loads and LOADS of maths! All very clearly laid out, and with good examples that makes it easier to understand, but you'll definitely want to follow along with paper and pencil next to the book, as you enter in your own measurements. These are NOT formulas you should ever expect to be able to learn off by heart, but it is a brilliant reference guide, and absolutely indispensable for figuring out where and how to include your increase rows.

But don't worry! Just as it all starts to become too much, and your head starts spinning from all the numbers and formulas, you get to the carrot at the end of the maths - because the second (and larger) part is all about the patterns! 15 absolutely gorgeous pullovers and cardigans, ready to be swatched for and cast on. The patterns are clearly written, with nice, large charts and photos both of the details and of the full length garment. I've found at least 5 I want to cast on right away, and can't wait to go stash-diving for yarn for them.

Sprinkled out throughout the book are quotes from the various designers, with small insights into the specific designs themselves, or their approach to designing in general.