Fair Isle jacket and show in Stockholm

WIP: Fair Isle Jacket
Originally uploaded by Asplund

What to do when you're eager to knit the main patterns but haven't decided about the edges? I cast on with white cotton yarn (easy to remove) and knitted a row or two.

A good thing about knitting a couple of rows back and forth before knitting in the round is that it's easier to check it's not twisted. I remember clearly the first time I suddenly realised I was knitting a spiral instead of a tube and how stupid I felt. Unfortunately, it wasn't the last time, and guess who felt even more stupid the second time it happened... Etc.

My plan is to knit a jacket; the main reason is that if there is a steek all the way in front I don't have to weave in any threads (there are already quite a few dangling in the middle of the steek) but will simply cut them off when I cut the steek. The sleeves will have lots of threads to take care of, though.

I will felt the steek slightly apart from securing it by sewing, a method that worked well with this sweater. (Actually, the rusty red wool is leftovers from that project.) Perhaps it doesn't make much difference, but it felt safer and so at least had psychological value! Also, I rather like turning it into an advantage that this wool felts if you don't treat it gently.

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Unfortunately, this project won't be finished by Nov. 28, which is the first day some of my knitted sweaters and mittens will be on display at yarn shop Marias garn in Stockholm. Map here.

I'll be there the first day (between 11 am and 2.30 pm) and hopefully some other days too before the show ends on Dec. 19.

WELCOME!

Hats galore

Hats galore
Originally uploaded by Asplund

Hats "Carl" and "Otto" (see previous post) have some woolly company: a green twined hat I knitted late 08/early 09, and two new, blue friends.

I knitted "Alex" with the same yarn and therefore named this hat after Carl-Otto's brother; "Blue Onion" in the upper left corner with beautiful yarn my Kiwi friend James gave me. Kia ora, James!

It's rather fascinating seeing how stripe width affects how the blue yarn looks in the three blue and grey hats. (Yarn: Pälsull, Östergötlands ullspinneri.)

These hats and some of my sweaters and mittens are in a men's clothing store, Carl-Otto in Västervik, where they will be on display for a few days. Map here.

Speaking of hats galore, I'm having fun knitting a hat for a friend. He wanted a soft and warm hat with ear flaps, preferably greenish-brown. It took some time, but at last I managed to figure out how to make the ear flaps the way I want them to look. This is what the "Sea Urchin" hat looks like so far.

In Sigtuna

I'm privileged to get to show some knitting at Kulturgården in Sigtuna, Sweden, for three weeks. There are only a couple of days left now, just as I'm getting used to it! I didn't really know what to expect, and must say it has been a truly wonderful experience.

To begin, Kulturgården is a beautiful building overlooking lake Mälaren - just perfect. And the rooms are amazing. I believe they make my displayed knitting look better than it really is!

Also, it is such an advantage showing knitting: visitors are really interested, asking all sorts of questions. And all these delightful meetings: old friends, new friends, friendly strangers, relatives I don't see often enough, fellow Ravelers I've been in touch with on the internet but never met before... So many interesting people and rewarding meetings. What a treat!

My cousin Cecilia has made the beautiful notebook I use as a guestbook. She asked me if I could knit her a pair of twined mittens in return. She chose the colour and told me what kind of patterns she likes, but the rest is up to me to decide. I don't think she's in a hurry to get them, though, because it seems spring has finally arrived: the ice is gone from the lake, there are all kinds of spring flowers, birds singing everywhere... A glorious day.