Mermaid's Song

My newest finished object is a shawl by Susanna IC. The pattern is Mermaid's Song found in Interweave Knits' special issue The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits. The magazine had some copyright issues and so on but I just had to have it as it had so many beautiful patterns! I am not really so into the Harry Potter books, I mean, they are fine and all but I would not go so far as to call myself a fan. Nevertheless, the designs were wonderful. So far I have knit 5 patterns out of the 32 included and I'm not done yet.

For Mermaid's Song I used leftover Handmaiden Fine Yarn Lace Silk from my Triinu shawl for my mum and "vintage" beads taken from an old purse my mum has crocheted years ago. You may not see clearly from the photos as the beads aren't very big but there is one silver-lined clear bead in each point. They reflect light beautifully, looking just like the water drops they are supposed to represent.

Mittens and Socks

I have been quite afraid of stranded colorwork. Before, it has been really difficult for me to get correct gauge and not have the floats either too long or too short. After I learned to knit inside out while working on the Jesse socks (see the post below) I find colorwork not so frightening after all! (Of course I've yet to conquer intarsia and many other things but those will have their time and place later). For now, I am really happy to be able to knit colorwork mittens and socks without being so afraid of messing up and ending with something I wouldn't be happy with! Here are a few of my recent projects:

First, here are a pair of mittens I knit for my mum's friend. She lives half the year in northern Finland and I used to visit her many summers when I was younger. Now, for the first time in many years, I finally went there again! These mittens ended up pretty big, but they still look really nice. The bigger the mittens, the warmer the hands, I guess. The pattern is free but only in Finnish.

I also knit a pair for myself, and with these I am extremely happy! The pattern is Vega by Clara Falk. I found her mitten book in my local library and really like quite a few of her patterns. This was my first time knitting from a Swedish pattern, of course, I mostly looked at the charts. I used Gjestal Maija which is definitely my go-to yarn when it comes to mittens.

I've also finished two pairs of socks, but these are real finishes, that is, one pair was started earlier this year and the other in 2011! SKA (Sock Knitters Anonymous) on Ravelry always hosts a "finishing month" in August when the objective is to finish as many pairs of socks as you can - and they all need to be started before the beginning of July so no casting on any new pairs!

The pair above I started in April this year, it's the Chrysanthemum Frutescens Socks by Hunter Hammersen. The yarn is dyed by me, it's the yellow onion skin after-bath.

The other pair I've finished is a pair of knee socks that's been on the needles since September 2011. I am so happy to have then done finally! I ran out of yarn at one point which is the main reason they have been sitting for so long. The pattern is from Novita Winter 2010 magazine, only available in print and in Finnish.

Jesse & Oslo Walk Shawl

It's a real summer now and I guess thanks to all my complaining about the cold June, July has been scorching!

However, I still managed to knit a pair of socks, one my boyfriend told me would be suited for a ski cabin, not our hot living room. The pattern is Jesse by Rachel Coopey from her book A Knitted Sock Society which I plan to knit through just like I did her other sock book, Coop Knit Socks. I used Rowan Fine Art which is beautiful and expensive and Colinette Jitterbug of which I had a half a skein bought at a bargain price.

I also finished a lace shawl I am very pleased with. The pattern is Oslo Walk Shawl by Susanna IC, published in Interweave Knits Winter 2010. I love that Interweave is always having some sale or other so you can get their patterns real cheap if you just keep your head up. And the fact that they have so much digital content (all the magazines and many patterns on their own) is really convenient for someone outside the U.S. The yarn I used is Manos del Uruguay Lace which I didn't like at all at first! It's 70 % alpaca, 25 %  silk and 5 % cashmere and the color is just lovely. However, when I tried to knit Swallowtail shawl with it, it broke into little pieces.All the nupps were just too much for this laceweight, I guess. Still, I'd paid good money for it so I refused to not use it. I used the Russian join (I don't like video instructions) to mend all the bits and pieces into usable yarn again. Luckily it worked beautifully and I was able to knit this great shawl in which the beautiful colors really work for their advantage. I love it through and through but I am still not buying any more of this yarn.

Marilinda & Pavilion

So I noticed I had completely not blogged about two pairs of socks I knit! What a catastrophe.

The first pair is Marilinda by Cookie A. I used a self-striping, Zitron Trekking (XXL). I am not usually in love with self-striping yarns but the colors in this one spoke to me. And I think they fit the pattern well, too, even if it really isn't written for stripey yarn. I had to shorten the leg by doing only 1 ½ repeats on the leg and not two as suggested in the pattern. I would have run out of yarn if I hadn't! And the Trekking skein is pretty generous, too, so I wonder if anyone has been able to get by with only 100 g if following the pattern to the letter. Anyway, here they are and pretty cute in my opinion :)

The other pair I've finished was a mystery pattern by Rachel Coopey, Pavilion. I only bought it after I had seen the finished socks, I just like my mystery revealed! The yarn I used for these was Schoeller+stahl Fortissima socka mit bambou and I just have to say I was impressed! The yarn has 60% wool, 25 % bamboo and 15% nylon and I think it must have been the bamboo that did the trick. The socks feature many twisted stitches that I find often fuzz up the yarn so that the result is not quite perfect. But not with this yarn! All the stitches remain crisp and beautiful, I am so happy! But also a little sad for not buying any more, as I got this yarn in a store I'll be unlikely to visit ever again :( At least I'll have these beautiful socks to enjoy!

Dyeing Yarn

I have been dyeing some yarn again, with my beloved Kool-aid. It's just so fun and easy and the colors you can get when mixing are just incredible. Of course, it's pretty expensive here in Finland, as only a few stores carry it. When I finally get to the States on holiday, I wonder what my luggage will be full of when I come back...

Here is Hyacinth Blooms, dyed with Mixed Berry and Grape Kool-aid, mixed in different ways:

Then we have Watermelon sans the seeds, dyed with Watermelon (2 packets) , Cherry Limeade (2) and Black Cherry (1) Kool-aids:

In this one the yarn was originally light green. I wanted to do something with it but wasn't quite sure what. I went into the wrong direction first and was actually pretty sad and thought I might have ruined it forever. But finally with the correct ratio of Mixed Berry and Lemon-Lime I was happy with the result. There are still some purple undertones showing from my "failure" but I think they will blend nicely when knit up.

Seaweed:

Then we have two dyes I couldn't have done without Ghoul aid, the Halloween flavor of Kool-aid which seems to be somewhat difficult to find for even those living in the States sometimes. The first one is  dyed with two packets Orange Kool-aid, ½ packet Peach Mango and ½ Ghoul aid. Ghoul aid is pretty much gray and when you put in the water, you see all different color spots before it fully dissolves. It makes other colors less bright (as Kool-aid is pretty candy-colored) and gives them a kind of deepness that you might not otherwise get.

Saffron:

Okay, this one is my real love. I first dyed it with turmeric (months ago) but was a little unhappy with it. I don't know, yellow just isn't my thing. So it was previously like this:

But I overdyed it with two packets Lemon-Lime, ½ packet orange and 3/4 packets Kool-aid to this beautiful color I call Undergrowth:

Now that is some yarn right there!

Alexandrite Tank

We have been suffering from terribly cold and rainy weather here in Finland! Nevertheless, I just finished a lovely summer top in hopes of things brightening up. It's the Alexandrite Tank from Knitcene Spring 2014 and I knit it with the lovely Sundara Yarn Fingering Silky Merino as mentioned in the previous post. I only needed a few meters of the second skein so I have plenty left to knit other wonderful things with!

Now if it only would get warmer so I could actually wear it! I needed a woolly cardi to wrap myself in after the photo session.

Yesterday I started a shawl adventure, that is, Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda Teague. The pattern is split into five clues (it was originally a mystery KAL) and each clue has two options. With these choices you can actually knit 32 different shawls - with just one pattern! Ravelry already has 3 478 projects made from this pattern and I spent at least an hour yesterday going over them and trying to decide which "path" my shawl would take. Below is partial clue 1A. Fun, fun, fun!

'Tis the Season

I made Christmas cards! Yeah I know, Christmas is about as far away as it ever gets but I can make what I want when I want, right? I got the patterns from CrossStitcher Magazine December 2013. They are just so cute! And the bells and satin bows really give them that special touch :)

I've also knit a pair of socks, Lissajous by Cookie A.

Now I'm finally knitting Alexandrite tank, something I have been eyeing since January from Knitscene Spring 2014. I'm knitting it with a beautiful merino silk blend Sundara yarns fingering silky merino which is heaven to work with and such a luxury yarn I would never buy it for the regular price. However, someone advertised on Ravelry to be stashing down and held a beautiful yarn market at her house yesterday. I made some real finds! Here's the yarn and my swatch:

It's going to be gorgeous!