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.