As the Sunwheel turns…

After 84 continous days of rain, the sun finally came back, almost as celebration of my second Sunwheel shawl which I just finished!

Here are some close ups of the unwashed shawl:

And here it is: washed, blocked, light fluffy and beautiful:

Close ups:

I love this shawl, maybe I have to knit a third shawl and keep it.

PS. For specs, see here, here and here.

 

Two ends

Some time before Christmas I came across the Swedish book Tvåändssticka and some z-plied yarn in a yarn store and of course I bought both the book and a few skeins of the yarn. I have been intrigued by twined knitting for quite some time and really wanted to learn. Seeing what other people have knitted this way made me want to learn even more.

My first attempt at twined knitting was quite successful, I made one mitten!

Twined knitting is very time consuming, at least for someone who like me, does not have the experience. And then you constantly have to untwist the yarn. I know that winding my skein into two separate balls of yarn was not very wise. It would have been smarter to wind it into one center-pull ball and use both ends. I will try that with the next skein.

Twined knitting makes the perfect fabric for mittens. It is so dense and keep your hands nice and warm even in the most windy weather.

I think it is interesting how the knit stitches look like ordinary knit stitches, while the purl stitches look so different from regular purl stitches. In the picture above there are both all purl rows and rows with a combination of knit and purl stitches.

Why haven’t I made the second mitten? Well, I started it, and then one of my needles broke and I found a few mistakes and decided to frog the whole thing. I will start the second mitten as soon as I buy new needles. I used a set of five 2,75 mm double pointed needles which I purchased in England last summer. No LYS close to me carry that size needles. I know I can get them on-line, but I have decided to wait till next time I go abroad. I originally intended these mittens to be a Christmas present for my Mother, now I plan on saving them for the next.

 

Loose ends

I always wish to start off the new year with clean sheets and empty needles. Unfortunately, that never happens and probably never will. So instead of trying and failing, I decided to start the new year by finishing the projects in my knitting basket. My knitting basket takes care of three shawls in progress, a Faroese Sunwheel shawl, a Swallowtail shawl and a Hidcote Garden shawl.

The Faroese Shawl is a gift for my Aunt’s 80th birthday in the middle of next month. I started it in late August to make sure I would finish it in time. Well, after a few rows the shawl has been laying untouched in the knitting basket. When I started thinking about all my loose ends a few weeks ago and pulled it out I was actually quite worried that I wouldn’t have time to finish. I made the same shawl in July so I know the amount of work needed. I am proud to tell you that over the weekend I really pulled myself together and finished the knitting. Here it is:

I still have to weave in the ends, crochet the edging, add fringes, wash and block it. Hopefully, I will be able to get that done by the end of this week. I am using the same yarn as last time, but in a different colour. I really love this yarn. The yarn is unwashed and the colour is the sheep’s own. I love the oily feel of it. I also enjoy its coarseness and the smell of sheep. I have to admit, the shawl isn’t very impressing in its present state, but once it has been washed it completely transforms. It turns into a wonderfully warm and light shawl. The smell of sheep stays on, but not as intense. I don’t mind though, and neither do my old aunts, because we all love sheep!

(More detergent or a scented detergent would make the smell go away completely.)

 

Socks…

I love sock-knitting. It’s the perfect portable project. I have to spend a lot of my time waiting for other people. I am not good at waiting and doing nothing. Knitting keeps me sane and my fingers from tearing sheets of paper into small pieces or playing with candles or flowers that happened to be within reach.

For me knitting is very much about the process, I find it relaxing, interesting and exciting. And I think people who don’t knit like seeing people who knit. A few weeks ago I was knitting in an airport and the elderly lady in seat next to me said that it was so lovely to see someone knitting. I also love the fact that as a knitter I am able to make beautiful, useful things for myself and others. And I don’t think anyone can have too many socks.

I think I must have knit more than twenty pairs of socks this year. Several of them left my house before I could photograph them. I know however that they are greatly appreciated and frequently worn.

The socks in the pictures are Christmas gifts for friends and family. Every year I tell myself to plan ahead, but I never listen . One pair was knit in June, the rest in the last weeks. And there still is an unfinished sock on the needles, I hope I will be able to finish it by Saturday.

From left to right:

Plain stockinette sock in Trekking XXL (I don’t remember the colourway)

Spey Valley from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, in medium weight Socks that Rock, Pink Granite.

A simple ribbed pair of socks (k 6, p 2), in 4 ply Regia color

Traveller’s stocking from Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, 4 ply Opal Uni.

 

Invisible threads

Inspired by Annemor Sundbø’s latest book Usynlege trådar i strikkekunsten (Invisible threads in the art of knitting, - English edition forthcoming), I decided to knit a sweater for one of my friend’s new baby.

I love this book, it has plenty of patterns and at the same time it gives a wonderful insight into the history and traditions of knitting and knitwear. I am especially fond of all the photos of old and worn knitted clothing. In our consumer society we need to be reminded of the real value of things. Today most of us can allow ourselves to throw away perfectly good and even new pieces of clothing just because we don’t like them anymore. Clothes are becoming so cheap that we tend to forget the labour behind even the lousiest of t-shirts. The photos in Annemor Sundbø’s book remind me that not very long ago resources were scarce and clothing and everything else had to be used over and over again. Good parts of worn out clothes would be used to mend other clothes, or perhaps be made into something new like a sock, mitten or a doll for a child.

For my babysweater I chose traditional pattern elements charted in the book. I enjoy making something new based on tradition. I hope this sweater will be worn by the boy I made it for and hopefully by other children as well.

I am particularly pleased with the little deers, I think they look so optimistic and cheerful and they make me smile every time I look at them. It’s the work of a talented, yet forgotten designer.

PS: The yarn for both this sweater and the Setesdal sweater from my last post is Rauma babygarn. For booth sweaters I used 2,5 mm needles for the ribbing and 3mm needles for the rest.

 

Setesdal

I am back after a long blog-hiatus. I never intended for it to be this long. I was busy travelling and working, and when I finally had time to blog, my laptop broke down and sorting out the problem took ages. In the end I had to get a new one. The knitting, however, never ceased.In October I spent a few days in the beautiful valley of Setesdal, home of the famous Setesdal sweaters. I was amazed by the stunning scenery dressed in fantastic autumn colours:

Inspired by the trip and Annemor Sundbø’s book about Setesdal sweaters, I decided that a Setesdal sweater would be the perfect birthday gift for a two year old. I chose to knit a sweater inspired by a photo from 1897. ( Photo and chart are published in Annemor Sundbø’s book.) I knit the sweater in the traditional colours black and white. The only major alteration I made to the sweater was to knit the ribbing with black and start the lice pattern right away. Traditionally the bottom part of the sweater was knit in white and hidden in the trousers, and I don’t think that is very practical for a small child. And I skipped the embroideries. If I ever make an adult version of the sweater I will make an effort do the embroideries myself and to do it right. The sweater turned out quite nice and the little boy was very happy to get the same sweater as his kindergarten buddy.