Viser innlegg med etiketten rauma. Vis alle innlegg
Viser innlegg med etiketten rauma. Vis alle innlegg

søndag 12. februar 2017

Votter, treningsbestikkelser og alpakkabeleggdille

En god stund nå, men spesielt etter jeg blei sjuk i slutten av november, har jeg vært vitne til mitt eget kroppslige forfall. Det kreves ingen medisinsk utdannelse for å forstå at når selv det å stå opp av senga er en utfordring, så blir man ikke akkurat i bedre form. I det siste har i heldigvis den biten falt litt mer på plass - tur med Arya har jeg klart å gå regelmessig, men det går ikke akkurat så fort med en hund som skal snuse på noe hver tredje meter. Pulsen måtte opp, og endelig har jeg klart å finne litt giv til trening.

For å gi meg selv enda mer motivasjon, har jeg gitt meg selv en utfordring - eller en bestikkelse? Den går ut på at hvis jeg greier å trene to ganger i uka i fire uker, skal jeg få kjøpe noe nytt garn. Jeg har selvfølgelig allerede planlagt hva det skal være, så nå er det bare å stå på! Med trening er det her snakk om styrke og utholdenhet på treningssenter. Hvis jeg bare greier å trene én dag, kan jeg gå 10 000 skritt i tre dager i tillegg. Det pleide å være lett som en plett før, men nå er det mildt sagt en utfordring. Fitbiten og garngulrota hjelper på motivasjonen, og selvfølgelig den følelsen jeg får av å trene. Jeg føler meg som en hykler der jeg står i vektløfterskoene mine og tar 30 kg i knebøy, men sånn må det bli!

Jeg synes faktisk jeg er veldig flink til å slanke garnlageret mitt (å slanke kroppen orker jeg ikke å tenke på nå, selv om den er tyngre), men det kom jo mye garn inn i lageret etter jeg var i Kongsvinger og hentet derfra, også er det jo alt som er i kjelleren. Jeg tror det er på rundt 20 kg nå. Jeg har lyst til å lage en bedre oversikt over hvor mye jeg har brukt opp, men da må jeg legge inn absolutt alt på ravelry først! Det er litt av en jobb.

For å fortsette på garnslanketemaet, så ble jeg nylig ferdig med det ultimate restegarnsprosjektet - nemlig Fiddlehead Mittens. Det er en skikkelig klassiker på ravelry!


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Dette er jo kanskje noen av de mest Ingvildete fargene som finnes, i skjønn forening. Og det er sju forskjellige garntyper her! Det som er så genialt med disse vottene er at de er foret, så man kan bruke opp for eksempel de alpakkarestene man ikke veit hva man skal gjøre med. Ellers er det Pickles Merino Tweed (farge løvfall), Brooklyn Tweed Shelter (farge Hayloft) og Loft (farge Barn owl), Malsen og Mor Shetland Soft (fargene grå skumring og basis hvit) og et skotsk tweedgarn som ligner en del på Shetlandsull eller lamullgarnet til Rauma. Alt er holdt dobbelt bortsett fra Shelter. Jeg strikka yttervotten på pinne 3, og den er så tett at den kan brukes som skjold! Det var nesten ubehagelig å strikke så tykt garn med så tynne pinner. I stedet for icord-opplegg gjorde jeg ei latvisk flette. Her må vottene dampes litt bedre, for den synes ikke så godt.

Og inni er det Rauma alpaca silk, et pusegarn, i beige, og Drops alpaca i naturhvitt:


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Og det er så mykt atte hjælp. Vottene er bare helt utrolig varme, og de besto dagens skogstur:


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(Også avbildet: Lancet-lue fra Brooklyn Tweed, og Senjegenser fra Kofteboken)

De ble nesten for varme for dagens tur, og jeg måtte ta dem av flere ganger.
Utrolig artig å strikke dem, og det gikk med en del garn. Den skotske ulla blei strikka helt opp.

Umiddelbart etter at jeg hadde strikka ferdig vottene, tenkte jeg på det geniale som er foret strikk, og i tillegg hadde jeg femten gram igjen av nøstet med Drops Alpaca. Det klarte jeg ikke å legge tilbake i skuffen, og jeg trenger jo ei lue som matcher, gjør jeg ikke? Jeg trenger i hvert fall ei lue jeg kan gå med til den plommerøde kåpa mi. Dermed skjedde dette:


Hat

Deilig foret brem i Drops Alpaca og Rauma Alpaca Silk, og brei ribb i dobbel Shetland Soft (mitt nye favorittgarn, kan man si det? Dobbel Shetland soft?) i fargen lilla plomme. Utrolig vakker lillafarge; den ligner nok litt mer på den fra vottene. På selve lua blir det vel noe mønster etter hvert, vi får se hva det blir til.

Det får være nok for i kveld - resten skal nok brukes på mer strikking(!) mens jeg ser på at mannen spiller Skyrim på Playstation 4. Slik går dagene!

søndag 3. mai 2015

#9, #10, #11 & #12 / 2015... oh my! Sweater bonanza

Last time I updated was almost exactly a month ago, and while the blog has been silent, the knitting needles have click-clacked! Right now, if I am not at university,  I am knitting. In four weeks and one day I am handing in my master's thesis... so I need knitting more than ever, to zone out in the evenings.

Since I last updated, I first finished the Fana sweater for my mum.


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I finished this April 11, not too long after the Easter holidays. The body was knitted at great speed! It is a little wide, but I hope it will be okay for my mother. I will see her in three weeks, so I will give her her cardigan then... I used 15 skeins (I think), 9 of the brown and 6 of the white. Yarn is Peer Gynt from Sandnes, a yarn I really enjoyed knitting with!

The next one I finished the day after, April 12. Wow, I was on fire! I didn't have much left, though. This had been on the needles for a long time, and it is the Winter Song test knit. The pattern is now released! I still haven't taken decent pictures of this sweater because I have yet to add buttons. Bad Me.


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My favourite part of the sweater is all the lovely, intricate cables which pop on the back:


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I still kind of think the colour is a bit too murky for my liking, but it is a colour that suits me. It will probably see more wear in the autumn! I used 3.1 skeins of Hillesvåg Ask for this sweater, that is appproximately 1000 meters.

The next one is the classic Bøvertun from Kofteboken. There are several versions of this; two with a round yoke, and this with the set-in sleeves. I opted for the classic version for this yarn, Rauma 3 ply, a dk weight yarn. I had to adapt the pattern to suit my gauge of 22 sts/10 cm, so I made an even smaller size.

 In the end I cast on 254 stitches for the bottom ribbing, in total 18 of these were set aside for button bands (9 on each band). After the ribbing I decreased from 236 stitches to 225 stitches. The square pattern is divisible by 10(+5), the flowers by 16(+1) and the rest by 4 or so. I only had to adjust number of stitches for one of the patterns, so I didn't have to think too much.

I ended up with about a 102 cm bust size, which fits me well and gives me over 10 cm of ease.

The yarn softened up greatly with washing. I have  been brave lately and washed all my knitted garments, superwash or no, on the wool cycle in the washing machine, with great results!


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I was also brave and cut the front steek which was not reinforced - only by the wool's grabby nature. I like it!

In total I used 8 skeins of purple, and 5 skeins of white.


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Can you see the mistake I made?

And last but not least, my most recently finished sweater that was actually finished yesterday! This is my 7th sweater this year, so it looks like I might make the 15 mark after all...


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This is from the book Vintagestrikk (Vintage Knits) and is called "Med åpne diagonale masker" ("With open, diagonal stitches"). For my birthday I went on a yarn spree, and I decided to try a new yarn, Shetland Soft from Malsen og Mor. This is a light wool yarn with extremely good meterage, and it can be knit at a gauge of 24 sts/10 cm. With 280 meters per 50 grams, this makes for light and airy sweaters, and as a frugal knitter, I do like it! It fluffed up wonderfully when washed, and if the gauge seemed loose the washing plumped the yarn up.


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This sweater is very short, but I used less than 200 grams of yarn.

I also quite like the pattern, it was a very quick knit and it just looks so cute. I have plans to knit another one, a longer version, which can be worn with jeans. But this cream version will look great with high waisted skirts and shorts.


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And that is all I have to say for myself!

Hopefully I will be better at updating now, so I won't have to do everything at once... whew!

onsdag 1. april 2015

WIP Wednesday: Sleeves

Wow... it is Wednesday, and I am actually writing a WIP Wednesday post! Thank you, Easter.

Not too long ago, after having knitted almost two sweaters with no stranded patterns, I could feel the longing to knit a Norwegian kofte again. I could not stay away from them very long, apparently. I reminded myself that I still had a sweater to knit for my mother, whose last gifted sweater turned out too small. (I have later realised that my gauge is NOT the same as in the magazines... oops.)

The sweater she wanted, both this time and last time, is the ever-popular fanakofte. I am not unfamiliar with it...


fana front

My first one, started in 2007 and finished in... 2010. Knitted in Really Thin yarn, though.


fana 2.0

My second one, started in 2010 and finished in... 2010! Knit in alpaca. Ugh, never again...


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Third one and fourth one. The third one was the failed sweater for my mother, which now is with my sister in law. Fourth one for my dear niece. I knit them in 2013 and 2014.

I guess there is nothing special about the one I am knitting now, but I feel like the skills I have in these kinds of cardigans are much higher than my first, second and even third attempt. This time I am also getting gauge (!!), which is always a plus.

I am knitting in a DK weight 100 % non-superwash wool yarn, Peer Gynt by Sandnes Yarn. It's knitting up greatly, with lovely stitch definition and I have a feeling it will wear well. It looks crisp and nice.


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The design is classic. The stripes makes it feel like the knitting just flies by.


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But wait a minute... that is three sleeves! Am I knitting a second sweater? Yes, as a matter of fact... my only regret is that I have startitis. Somehow I decided that knitting a bunch of sleeves would speed up the process, because then I would only have the body left. I always get so excited when finishing the body of a sweater, only to get devastated when finding out I have to knit sleeves. And not just one, I have to knit two! So to not have this problem, I am knitting the sleeves before the body, and to not get tired of one sleeve, I am alternating. Whew.

Hate knitting sleeves? Just knit four!


fanabovertuncuffs

The pattern of the second sweater is called Bøvertun. It is in the book I have previously mentioned, Kofteboken. In the book it is knitted in fingering weight, but I am knitting it in DK weight. I am knitting it in Rauma 3 ply, which I had lying around, and it is much rougher than the Peer Gynt yarn. It looks quite nice in the picture, but I can't help but thinking that Peer Gynt looks even crisper and nicer. I do like the look of it, though.

So right now I'm not knitting just one large sweater, but two! It looks like it's going fast, but then again, I am on Easter break... but I hope to be on my way on the Fana body when it is over.

Happy Easter!

søndag 22. februar 2015

#5 / 2015: Otto mittens

It's Sunday, which seems to be the Great FO Day, and I finally finished the Otto mittens for my boyfriend yesterday. Today they were dry. I guess being ill helped - I finally left the house today for a short walk and now I'm exhausted!

I feel lucky that he agreed to model the mittens, too.


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Knitting for my boyfriend is definitely something I enjoy, and I have slowly introduced more knitted items to him. Of course, they have to be functional. I think I started with the scarf he is wearing in this photo, a bit over a year ago. Then a hat, and another hat... a pair of socks.. and now these mittens.


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I like the simple design of these mittens, and I also think it's very effective. I love geometrical designs, moreso than the traditional Norwegian ones, these days. They have the aforementioned Latvian braid and a nice pop of colour by the cuffs.

On our way home the mittens also got to pet a cat.


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It is not often that one gets to take such candid pictures of mittens!

After I finished them yesterday I promptly cast on for another pair, fingerless mitts this time, from the same book, in worsted weight and cables. Yep. I have finished the first one already... more on that later.

All in all, the Otto mittens were a win-win; I was able to use stash yarn and the result was a great success. I have many other stash mittens and mitts planned, too, so maybe this stash will actually shrink a bit... let's hope!

onsdag 4. februar 2015

WIP Wednesday #1 and yarn diet

So, what's on the needles?

Well, right now I have one project that has been ongoing since December 27th. December 27th because that is the day the shops opened after Christmas and I could buy yarn for my new sweater. 

The pattern is, as my lately finished Veme sweater, from the book Kofteboken. It's taking some time - not only because it's knitted at a gauge of 27sts/10 cm, or because it's patterned all over, but because I have been distracted in the meantime. I had to knit the baby onesies, and then I just "had" to knit the Veme sweater. 


Medaljekofte in progress

This is not the most up-to-date picture, as I am closing in on 30 cm knitted on the body! The sleeves were finished before the body, which is just great (I may need to do that more often). My ravelry page is here, by the way, but the pattern itself is not yet on ravelry. Overall, it's quite a slow going project, but I have learned the pattern now; good thing about these types of patterns is that they are often quite intuitive.

For the interested, this updated version of the cardigan will have raglan sleeves (the earlier version had steeked set-in sleeves). Although I'm thankful I don't have to cut and sew, I can't say I am looking forward to having a trillion pattern stitches. Whew. But that won't be yet...

The yarn I am using is Sisu by Sandnes yarn, a superwash/nylon blend, and it's creating a nice and elastic fabric. I think I bought 13 skeins in total for this, and I still have 8 left, so I'm concerned there might be a lot left...

Which brings me to the next project - the Otto Mittens (link to ravelry pattern page). On Saturday I came across the book "Votter og pulsvanter til alle årstider" or "Mittens and mitts for all seasons". It's a very pretty book that caught my eye, and it had a lot of nice patterns.

The thing is this - I am on a self imposed yarn diet. Compared to many others my stash is probably very cute and little, but to me, there is a lot, and I don't live in the largest place, either. My goal is to knit up as much as possible before the summer, and I have lots and lots of yarn in mitten friendly quantities. So my plan is to always have a little project on the side of a larger project - and this time the choice fell on these mittens.


Otto mitten

There are a lot of other mittens I want to knit from that book, not to mention I can knit hats and other things. If I can knit many small things during the year, maybe I won't be in so much trouble come Christmas? ;) Anyway, these mittens are for my boyfriend, to whom I have not knitted many things. Somehow it feels a bit scary, still, but he really likes these mittens, and I get to reduce my stash by a smidgeon. Win-win.

That's all for today - happy Wednesday to everyone and I hope I have something else to show for next WIP Wednesday!