and then a new year started

Hello my lovelies,

long time no see, right?
well to make a long story short, last summer I was bored of the internet, then I was busy applying for new position within my company, and whohhoooo I got the job! :)
In January I started the new job, better money, better evening times, but completely different schedule. I was working as a med rep and now I'm working from desk again, so completely different, but I love it!
And the real big bonus, I have free evenings again. As a med rep your day is quite nice when out and about and visiting your clients, but when you come home there's still a lot of work waiting at your "home office". I loved the fee spirit of my former position but OMG I so enjoy my evenings and sundays now. Nothing to do than cooking, family, friends and knitting.
And I can tell you there has been a lot of knitting happening this year already. I'm about to finish my second cardigan this year. Two knitted cardigans in just two month. That's an awful lot of knitting in my world!

But first let me show you a few impressions from the last couple of month, in case you don't follow my instagram (which you should, Tee-hee!)

-- Hallo ihr Zuckerschnuten

ganz schön lange ausser Sicht, was?

ja, da gab's so einiges in den letzten Monaten was mich vom Rechner ferngehalten hat:
zuerstmal keine Lust auf Internet, ja sowas passiert. Dann wurde es aber spannend. Ich hab mich für eine neue Stelle innerhalb meiner Firma beworben, aufreibende und aufregende Phase. Und, ja, ich hab die Stelle :)

Im Januar ging es los. Komplett neuer "Stundenplan". Vorher war ich im Aussendienst, jetzt wieder am Schreibtisch. Die freien Abende jetzt sind toll. Im Aussendienst kann man sich zwar seinen Tag super frei einteilen, aber abends sitzt man dann meist am Rechner und macht noch sein Büro. Jetzt sind meine Abende und Sonntags plötzlich wieder frei und das ist großartig. Zeit für kochen, Familie, Freunde und stricken.
Und da gab's schon ne ganze Menge stricken dieses Jahr. Ich hab doch echt schon zwei Strickjacken fertig, also fast, die zweite ist praktisch auch fertig, noch knapp 10cm Ärmel. Und das in zwei Monaten, verdammt viel stricken in meiner Welt :)

aber zuerst einpaar Eindrücke aus den letzten Monaten, auf Instagram war ich nach wie vor recht fleißig, ihr solltet mir da echt folgen, hihi

I made a hat for myself -- eine Mütze für mich

I went a little crazy with washi tape for my journaling -- ein bisschen arg wishi-washi ;) bei meiner Art des Project Life

I made a "pinterest made me do it cake", looked fantastic, tasted good, was my birthday cake, somehow -- mein erster Blumenkuchen, frei nach pinterest, toll geworden ist er, und sowas wie mein Geburtstagskuchen

I went stash busting and came home with these beauties (they're going to be a cardigan too, desk people can wear a lot of cardigans, right?) -- beim Wollwechsel war ich auch, aus gefühlt 20 Teilen wurden diese drei Schönheiten, sie sollen auch eine Strickjacke werden, am Schreibtisch kann man doch bestens Strickjacken anziehen, oder?

made a hat for my man and enjoyed autumn: -- eine Mütze für ihn gab es auch

enjoyed the "Lichtgrenze", marking 25 years of a united Germany, with light balls all along the former wall of Berlin -- und wir haben die Lichtgrenze abgelaufen, schon beeindruckend war das

started my first cardigan, and went all happy over my first vertical buttonhole -- die erste Jacke, mit vertikalem Knopfloch, ich war so stolz auch mich

showed a few of my journal pages -- ein kleiner Einblick in meine Tagebücher

finished the first cardigan (of a few more to come) -- die erste Strickjacke ist fertig

ate a weird egg for breakfast -- ein äusserst komisches Ei zum Frühstück

started the next cardigan -- und die zweite geht los

bought him some flowers for Valentines Day -- ich hab ihm Blumen zum Valentinstag mitgebracht

ate "a bit" of sushi -- ein klein wenig Sushi gab es auch

and

last but not least caught the cold so I had some time with TV on the sofa. -- und zu guter Letzt hat mich ne dicke Erkältung vor den Fernseher auf die Couch gebannt

I hope you had a nice last six month as well and read you soon :) -- ich hoffe eure letzten Monate waren toll, bis bald

hugs, Diana

WIP Wednesday

today with two projects:

first of, my baltic blanket grows :) and the testers have started as well :)

right now I'm starting to hope my yarn will last me long enough. I hope to at least triple the length I have so far and I do think my yarn might last, but I'm not sure. when I've finished this color repeat I will weigh my blanket and the yarn I have left and hope for the best. I mean in case my yarn won't last I have two options, another trip to Hamburg and hope they still carry both colors or finding an alternative (I can think of adding "grass" and "beach" colors in wave shapes, but I'm not there yet. I just hope I can finish this in the pattern and yarn I have)

the second project has had its appearance before. Although it's been wordless and I frogged everything, I wanted to make a short sleeved shirt with stripes and then I came across a finished Coachella on my instagram stream. And I remembered I always wanted to make one for myself.

and now here I go, starting over. I doubled the yarn I have so now I can use 3mm needle (before I used 2.25mm) and now look at the pattern and wonder which size to choose. I have a different gauge as I'm working with significantly smaller needles and normally I would just calculate all the measurements but this shirt gives me headaches. The construction is so different I don't really know where to start. If you ever made this maybe you can give me a tip?

now let's "enjoy" the heatwave together, Diana

______

heute gibt's gleich zwei Projekte im WIP Mittwoch

zum einen wächst meine Ostseewellendecke immer weiter :) und die Tester haben auch angefangen :)

ich bin grade sehr zufrieden mit ihr und hoffe grade nur, dass mir das Garn nicht vorher ausgeht. Ich glaube schon, dass die Wolle reichen wird, bin mir aber nicht sicher. ich möchte die Decke gern etwa dreimal so lang machen, wie sie jetzt ist. Naja da werde ich wohl einfach mal wiegen wenn ich den aktuellen Farbwechsel fertig hab und mal grob ausrechnen wie weit ich noch kommen könnte.
Plan B wären entweder Strandsandwellen oder gar Graswellen am Rand, aber auch nur falls ich die Wolle nicht nochmal nachkaufen kann, FALLS sie tatsächllich nicht reichen sollte.

und als zweites Projekt ist oben Wolle zu sehen. Sie war hier schon mal zu sehen, aber ich hab wieder aufgeribbelt. Eigentlich sollte es ein selbstentworfenes Shirt werden, aber ich bin vor kurzem in meinem instagram Feed über einen fertigen Coachella getsolpert. Nunja, das wollte ich schon ewig machen und nun fang ich an.
Maschenprobe ist gemacht und ich grübel grade welche Größe ich machen soll, da ich ne andere Nadel nehme als im Muster (ne 3mm statt 4.5mm). Normalerweise würde ichs mir einfach ausrechnen, aber die eigenwillige Kontruktion dieses Shirts lässt mich etwas stottern. Falls ihr es schon mal gemacht habt, vielleicht habt ihr ja einen Tip für mich?

und jetzt "juchu" Hitze und bald Wochenende, Diana

wordless WIP Wednesday

about being a knitter

Welcome to my bedroom. It's where the magic happens, as they say ...

"Luckily" my boyfriend isn't in town this month so I can use his side of the bed blocking knitwear.

Have a lovely week ahead my dears, Diana

_____

Herzlich Willkommen in meinem Schlafzimmer, hier passiert ja angeblich die "Magie", und heut Nacht wohl auch. Heute Nacht wird hier geblockt.

"glücklicherweise" ist der Liebste diesen Monat unterwegs, so dass ich seine Hälfte des Bettes dazu nutzen kann mein neues Tuch zu trocknen.

Habt eine schöne Woche, Diana

wordless WIP Wednesday

it's in the mess .. somewhere

as you can see I did it

I need your input here

Hi everyone, today I need your input on my latest project. the brownish shawl makes me wonder if I like it as it is or not.

so above you can see at what stage I am right now. and in this post you can see my first two stages. Now my dilemma: I just don't know if I like the texture. I mean I now like the new needle size and the feel of the fabric BUT I'm not sure whether I like the alternating ribbing. I might like a pure ribbing a lot better. And I think the thinner lighter stripes would pop a lot more. If you take a look at the stripes in the stockinette version you can see that these thinner stripes show off better. What do you think???


also I feel like the finished shawl would lay and drape a bit nicer with a clean ribbing. Do you know any shawls that use ribbing throughout? I'm not afraid of frogging and re-knitting everything so that's not an issue but I'm unsure whether I like it or not. What do you think? Please give me your input.

so long, happy Good Friday, Diana

_____

edit: I think a close up of the pattern will be quite helpful. You can see the "alternating ribbing" here a lot better. With alternating I mean to change from purl-knit ribbing to knit-purl ribbing between each color section. I think if I just stuck to one ribbing it might look cleaner and drape better. I've also started to widen the lighter sections to four rows instead of two as I wanted to show this lighter color more.

stripes and stuff

hmm, no internet for me this last month, or nearly no internet at all. What did I do instead? I moved! or sorta like that, I moved all the furniture around im my flat which was quite an adventure. I looked through so much stuff, I didn't even knew I had. The result of that was a very serious clean out. A lot of books went on amazon, a lot of yarn to my friends and on ravelry, some of my shelf to goodwill and so on. The planing and actual doing took a lot of time and there still is some things left to do. I'm still waiting for my new bed and need to sew a few curtains for my bookshelves, now that they moved within the room they're more in view and make things a little restless for the eyes. Well a few things to go. Also I got sick, plus on this I had a few more days to sort things around at home and look through my stuff, downside, I was sick.

also I started a new shawl. Three times. It's the stripe study shawl by Veera Välimäki. I choose a cotton/silk blend, which feels lovely and will make an awesome spring/summer shawl. I started three times though as the garter stitch the pattern originally went for just doesn't look good with my yarn (upper left in the pic below). Learned, checked, frogged and re-started with stockinette. A lot better, buuut, yes there's a but, my needle size was too small. The stockinette looked alright but after a few repeats I calculated a bit and my shawl would have been tiny, maybe only one length of my arm. Also looking at the stockinette I wished for more texture and I figured I could try a ribbing. Which is what I'm doing right now.



and here a little peek at my current try, so far I really like it, ribbing and a bigger needle size make this a lot more pleasing:



what's going in your lives right now? anyone moving as well?

have a lovely sunday, Diana

window #17

yabbadabbaduuuh, don't know where this is coming from, but it needed to find its way out ^__^

it's probably the joy of finishing the first of the knit/crochet alongs for this years calendar. Today we will add the finishing tough to our new hat. I call it Sylvi Pixi for a reason, and this reason is the flower that will be sewn on with a few stitches to on side. But before we continue with the pattern for the flower: the first part of Sylvie Pixi and the second part as well.

now hush onto your favorite place to sit and knit, grab your needles and yarn (same as for your hat) and go like this:

flower appliqué:
1 - cast on 5 sts using Judy's magic cast on [5]
2 - hold both strands together, knit 5 sts and therefore create 10 loops [10]
3 - k1, (m1, k2) x4, m1, k1 [15]
4 - (k3, m1) x5 [20]
5 - k1, (m1, k4) x4, m1, k3 [25]
now start the leaves, I found it easiest to use magic loop technique because I could leave all sts I wouldn't use for a leave on the needle. Of course DPNs will work perfectly fine as well. Just leave all sts you won't knit on a spare needle
6 - k2, m1, k1, m1, k2
7 - turn / WS - p7
8 - RS - k3, m1, k1, m1, k3
9 - WS - p9
10 - RS - k4, m1, k1, m1, k4
11 - WS - p11
12 & 14 - RS - k11
13 & 15 - WS - p11
16 - RS - k2tog, k7, ssk
17 - WS - p9
18 - RS - k2tog, k5, ssk
19 - WS - p7
20 - RS - k2tog, k3, ssk
21 - WS - p5
22 - RS - k2tog, k1, ssk
23 - WS - p3
24 - RS - slip 2 sts together knitwise, k1, pull both slipped sts over the knitted st
25 - WS - p1
Bind off

now pick up the next five sts that you left on your needle and repeat rows 6-25.
Do this again for the next three leaves as well until you have made 5 leaves.
wash and wet block your hat and flower (just leave to dry on a towel and pull in place. Then go ahead and sew the flower onto your hat. You can use all the yarn ends of the flower, this way you sew the ends in and sew the flower to the hat at once.

my hat looks like this:

yabbadabbaduuuh once more and a happy holiday hug, Diana

window #12

sooo, the 12th window of my advent calendar opens today. Do you like the experience so far? How is Klara doing? Did you make any cookies so far? or tree ornaments? Like Santa, or last years tree or maybe snowman and gingerbread man?

today window 12 will reveal the next part of my mystery KAL. I wear mine proud and happily :) and I hope you will too.

the first part of the KAL can be found here

and now let's continue:

31 - k17, wt, p17, sM, p17, wt, k11, m1, k6 [76]
32 - k6, m1, k70 [77]
33 - k9, (m1, k15) x2, (m1, k14) x2, m1, k10 [82]
34 - k82 [82]
35 - k3, (m1, k19) x4, m1, k3 [87]
36 - k20, wt, p20, sM, p20, wt, k13, m1, k7 [88]
37 - k7, m1, k81 [89]
38 - k9, (m1, k17) x2, (m1, k18) x2, m1, k10 [94]
39 - k94 [94]
40 - k4, (m1, k21) x2, (m1, k22) x2, m1, k4 [99]
41 - k23, wt, p23, sM, p23, wt, k23 [99]

by now you probably guessed we are making a pointed hat. The Pixi. This version is the Sylvi Pixi as I call it. For the next couple of rounds please always k99 until your hat is long enough to cover the upper third of your ears. When you try it on, the marker should be at the back of your neck.
When your hat is long enough to easily cover the tops of your ears we'll start the ribbing. And don't pull too much, the pixi point will form better when you don't pull the hat, just make it fit nicely.

ribbing:

special methods
I use another short row technique here. you pull the stitch across your needle to create a firmer stitch, that won't leave holes. This pdf on socks shows you how to do the methods I'm referring to on a sock heel. I like this method a lot as I found it never leaves any holes for me. The pdf is in german and english.
As the turning point here will be in the last round you can switch to a short row technique of your choice.

but the ribbing goes like this:
1 - k1, *(p1, k2)* until 2 stitches before the marker, p1, k1
2 - [knit in established pattern till 4 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method (see link above)] x2
3 - [knit in established pattern till 6 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method (take care here, the wrapped stitch appears with two loops on your needle, only count as one)] x2
4 - [knit in established pattern till 8 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method] x2
5 - [knit in established pattern till 10 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method] x2
6 - [knit in established pattern till 12 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method] x2
7 - [knit in established pattern till 14 stitches before the marker, turn with yoyo-method] x2
8 - now knit 1 round in pattern and knit all the wraps together, sM
9 - knit another round and knit the rest of the wraps together, I find these will be a little harder to identify, but if you count them, you'll never forget one
10 - bind off round - I like the italian bind off very much and would recommend this method. If you prefer another bind off, please feel free to do that method. In case you want to do the italian bind off, do like follows:
10a - go down one needle size to 4 mm - knit all the knit stitches and slip all the purl stitches with yarn n front
10b - (slip 1 knit stitch with yarn in back [=skwyb], p1 into the bar between the two knit stitches [= increase], skwyb, p1) repeat til end
now you basically created a k1/p1 ribbing from the former k2/p1 ribbing, this will make it easier to finish the bind off
please watch this video on the bind off itself, it will help explain the sewing technique a lot and this one was actually the first one that made me understand grafting. Cut yarn approx 4 times longer than the circumference of your hat and start grafting after you put the purl and knit stitches on two separate DPNs.

Now let's take a break for today, this was exhausting! don't you think?
Next time we will add the Sylvi touch to this hat ^__^

see you tomorrow, meanwhile I'm eating cookies and wait for snow

oh btw this KAL has a pattern page on ravelry now too :)

window #7

Oh the weather outside is frightful, but the fire is so delightful, and since we've no place to go, Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let's make a hat!
doesn't rhyme very well, but hey, let's knit anyways.

Do we want a mystery knit? well I want to - so we will want to as well ^__^

what do we need?
worsted weight yarn and 4.5 mm needles, preferably circulars, or if you prefer them DPNs will do as well.

Gauge?
19sts - 4 inches / 10 cm
(just for your final check, if that helps you, at the end we want to have a circumference which is about 1 inch smaller than your head, as I think a hat should fit close/snugly and not be too loose)

Any special stitches?
well, yes

for cast on: I've used Judy's magic Cast On for small circles to start

for short rows: wrap and turn, with one extra trick here, I couldn't find a video on how I do them exactly, but the trick is actually quite simple, after you wrapped and turned instead of knitting the next stitch, knit into the stitch below that stitch, so you knit the next stitch and the stitch below that one together. This will make the transition a lot smoother and therfore less visible

for increases: use the make1 increase (click here for a video how to; I prefer the left lean one as I find it is easier and therefore quicker to do. If you do the right or left leaning one doesn't matter, as long as you keep doing one of either throughout the whole hat)

besides that: k (knit), p (purl), wt (wrap and turn), sM (slip Marker)

_________

P A T T E R N:
1 - cast on 5 sts with Judy's Magic cast on
2 - with both ends together knit 5 sts (you will have 10 loops on your needles now, just like in the link of Judy's)
3 - now k10
4 - k10 again
5 - k1, (m1, k2) x4, m1, k1 [15]
6 - k4, wt, p4, sM, p4, wt, k2, m1, m2, sM [15]
7 - k2, m1, k til end (k14) [17]
8 - k1, (m1, k3) x4, m1 [22]
9 - k22
10 - k3, (m1, k4) x4, m1, k3 [27]
11 - k7, wt, p7, sM, p7, wt, k5, m1, k2 [28]
12 - k2, m1, k26 [29]
13 - k4, m1, k3, m1, k7, m1, k7, m1, k3, m1, k5 [34]
14 - k34 [34]
15 - k3, (m1, k7) x2, m1, k8, m1, k6, m1, k3 [39]
16 - k9, wt, p9, sM, p9, wt, k7, m1, k2 [40]
17 - k2, m1, k38 [41]
18 - k5, (m1, k8) x4, m1, k4[46]
19 - k46 [46]
20 - k3, m1, k10, m1, k9, m1, k9, m1, k12, m1, k3 [51]
21 - k12, wt, p12, sM, p12, wt, k10, m1, k2 [52]
22 - k2, m1, k50 [53]
23 - k6, (m1, k10) x4, m1, k7 [58]
24 - k58 [58]
25 - k3, (m1, k13) x4, m1, k3 [63]
26 - k15, wt, p15, sM, p15, wt, k8, m1, k7 [64]
27 - k7, m1, k til end [65]
28 - k6, m1, k14, m1, k13, m1, k13, m1, k14, m1, k5 [70]
29 - k70 [70]
30 - k3, m1, k16, m1, k15, m1, k17, m1, k16, m1, k3 [75]

let's put the needles aside for today and have a cup of hot chocolate together, it's time to enjoy the holiday season

picture source

instead of WIP wedneday

today I want to share a finished object, yay!

Ginkgo is off the needles and blocked and already wearing super lovely.

pattern: Ginkgo shoulderette shawl is written super lovely, worked up beautifully

started: October, 1st, this year

finished: November, 10th, also this year ^__^

yarn: 100% merino, bought from a local manufactory called Hamburger Wollfabrik. I've used a 4ply, which is my favorite. I've also tried 2, 3, 6, 8 and 12 ply (on other projects) as you can ask for any number of strands together you want. And the honey color is just beautiful, I find it really makes my eyes pop

modifications: quite a few actually. First I worked this into a cowl instead of the classic triangular shawl it comes. I will write up some detailed "instructions" in a separate post. I also elongated the lace part a few repeats and skipped the yo's in favor of increases made from the stitch below in the middle rip. I wouldn't like a lacy "bone" right in front of my neck. I'd be afraid of wind blowing in and making me freeze.

overall it came out a lot smaller than my first "shawl into cowl" transformation but it's still a very decent size and warms wonderfully.

knitting hugs - Sunday will be the first December and the start of my Advent Calendar - I'm already a little excited, Diana

drop drop

yarn bleeding, wow, I didn't see this in ages. I don't mind though, copper red on my coppery red hair will not damage anything ^__^ and I believe it's just because this merino was standing next to the window for a while. So a little vinegar will do the trick.

on the other hand some info on my CCCAL (I can't believe how many C's I squeezed in here) and the CCKAL. The crochet project will be an amigurumi, so if you already know your favorite yarn/hook combo go for that. I use catania with a E hook (3.5mm). For colors I recommend something green and something skin colored. If you want to go a little extra snazzy, catch some red as well.
Knittingwise, well for colors I would say fetch something that suits you, maybe a lovely cream with your dark brown hair? or a blue if your blond? you choose. Which weight and needle? I used a worsted and a 4.5mm needle. My gauge was 9.5sts/2inches. In the end I went for 99sts/21inches.

I hope this helps, prepare your holiday spirits, we'll start soon

Diana

WIP Wednesday

Ginkgo grows on and on. I finished the first half and bound off, now I'm working on the second part of my shawl. So far I really like it. Unblocked as it is right now I think it could be a bit longer, but nonetheless I like it a lot. Progress percentage I'd say is 60%.

On other news, I didn't start any new WIPs. Yeah me! But, I'm pretty excited. Just a few hours ago I had the idea for my next hat. A few posts back I was wondering whether I needed a new winter hat or not. Whether a new rusty red hat would fit my life, and you probably guessed it right .. OFCOURSE I will need a new hat, winter will come and it will be cold, my ears would want warmth. But the exciting idea I'm having is a "Sylvi Pixie" hat. You might remember my sylvi cardigan and this hat will match it perfectly. The seed stitch and cable pattern I was wondering to add to my hat turned into vines and leaves I'm happy ^__^

WIP Wedn ... uhm Friday?

no. don't judge me, don't laugh at me. I found another one.

Yesterday night while cleaning I found a bag, a bag which said "hi, I include knitting" and grinned at me. I hide this stuff from myself. I swear. I wonder if hiding these from myself is some form of self protection? do I not want to finish these things deep down in my soul? Why am I hiding them from myself? is it the ever existing wish to always have something left to do? like some sort of goal in life to always look forward? deep thoughts..

anyways I found a stole. it's not bound off yet and I always intended to sew some fancy fabric to the wrong side. The fabric is there too, but no sewing. Now I don't see any event to wear a stole like this and think about frogging and re-use the yarn. Maybe knit some sort of blanket? A small one maybe for a baby or I could use it to schmancy up some of my amigurumis. I guess I will see, so far it might keep sleeping in its bag

have a lovely weekend y'all

WIP Wednesday 2

shame on me! I need to admit something. I found even more WIPs. Do you believe me when I say I wasn't aware these things even existed? Please do so, I hid them so well I couldn't remember they were there. But the minute I posted my last WIP Wednesday I saw them. Sleeping in one of my boxes. In a project bag. A project bag which you could call a WIP by it self - I never finished the seams:

And this bag I found:

the victim of sss - second sock syndrome. Green Fishnet stockings almost finished, but only almost. Pattern was from vogue knitting. I remember I liked the knit but didn't liked the non-ease of the resulting fabric. Maybe that's why I never finished my very first pair of socks. Started in August 2007. whoosh that's so much time that passed.

a summer top that never happened to be. Started in 2008. Left to be forgotten. Makes me sad. The pattern was lovely. I made some changes to this as I wanted real straps instead of the i-cord ones that the pattern came with. One important modification was knitting the pattern back and forth instead of in the round which was giving me severe headaches back in the days. I guess nowadays changing a simple stitch pattern such as this one would be so much easier for me. I've learned so much during the last years.

and then there is something I don't even remember what it was intended to be. I believe I wanted to make gaiters to wear during winter as I never could find proper boots but obviously these were never finished.

And already frogged as well. And a little magic happened while frogging, I found a needle I've been searching for for ages. Literally ages!

In another box I stored the front of a vest. Blossom. It was my first really big fair-isle knit and one that was making me practice weaving in the strands as I go, even when knitting on the wrong side. I don't like steeking and never ever ever will do so. Cutting knitting equals killing it for me, so I found a way to knit fair-isle both ways. I knew there was a way and I found one. I still like the pattern I created back then but the color combination and even more important the need for a vest just disappeared. I don't wear vests and guess I won't in the future.

All of the WIPs above will be frogged sooner or later so I guess they don't count as WIPs per se but I wanted to give a little credit to them anyways.

_______

now let's move on to the WIPs I wrote about last time.

Ginkgo grew quite a bit. I'm almost done with the first half and love the yarn/color/stitch combination so far. This will be a well loved shawl/cowl when done.

Also I made some progress on Klara. The mermaid got a new head. A smaller - better fitting/proportioned one. And a new nose too! The first one was reminding me of a witch and mermaids are too cute to have witch noses. Now I'm thinking about ears or no ears and the idea for her hair that I have in my mind is a little challenging.

hugs, Diana

oh, and even worse I have a hat in my head that wants to be knitted. Do I need a new hat? a rusty red one? with a cable and some seed stitch?

casting on

it's not like I wouldn't have enough projects that would love my attention but when going to our weekly knit meetups I don't want to crochet every single time. I was crocheting on my sunflower blanket/granny squares for every single meeting through the last months. And I find myself observing all the others who use two needles with a little sentimental emotions. Soooo it was time for a new knit, one that could be easily transported and would be appropriate for a chitchat group like ours.

The yarn will be a pain in the ass I already can tell, it's super slippery. Maybe that's normal with bamboo. It's the first time I use bamboo, so we will see. I want to knit a little vest/cardigan to wear during summer over dresses. My first idea was to knit goodale, but I checked the projects on this one and even though I will make it (maybe even this summer) I won't be using the yarn I want to use at the moment. Which btw is Alize Bamboo Fine Batik Design. It's sooooo gorgeous!!! A friend at our meetings has made a small shawl with it and it's the softest thing I ever ever ever felt!

so which pattern will I make? good question. I considered using some small needles (2.5mm) and couldn't find anything that I liked, that's why I started designing my own little vest. I will knit up and down to get some lengthwise stripes instead of .. well around the body. I have no idea how that will turn out but I'm in a good mood for this so I started swatching..

knitted hugs, Diana

finally a finished object - revival dress

so I finally managed to get some decent pictures of me wearing my first knitted dress. Last year I was knitting on and off on this dress from August 2011 till October 2012 - and only now I got to wear it, the weather is finally springy!

Pattern: revival by Ankestrick .. the original pattern is for a pullover using the contiguous method. I enjoyed this new method very much. No sewing is always something that catches me. I would change a few little bits when using this yarn again with this method, like not making the arms as wide as I did here. The overall shape though is lovely. The yarn is gorgeous too! it's a cotton/linen/silk blend and I have more than enough to make another dress, so I think I will make a cardigan from the leftovers. The quality feels perfect on the skin with the warmer weather.

Changes to the original pattern: basically I followed the pattern. It's top down which made it a lot easier to turn it into a dress. I added some short rows to create more room for the boobs and I also added waist shaping. The waist shaping also was the base for the increases that I simply continued to create an A-line to the skirt. Turned out great!

I simply love this dress although a knitted garment doesn't hide any curve, if you know what I mean ;)

have a lovely knitting weekend,
Diana

also big xoxo to the photographer