Born to knit

Diamonds and Purls

Outside today: cold, damp and gray...
But indoors: warm, cozy and pink!

First I have this: a Ragdoll Diva hat for Elise.
She thinks that I should have finished it already and last week she asked for it
every morning before leaving for school.

Now it´s nearly done. On the top I´m doing a star pattern in silver lurex yarn.
Yes, this is definitely a hat you could take disco dancing.

And secondly I have this:

I´m a testknitter for Wendy´s own pattern called
"Kays Diamonds and Purls Shawl".
In this picture I had only done the first repeat and now I´ve started on the second.

So far I´ve found nothing wrong with your pattern, Wendy.
Well, except maybe that I liked the first name better:
"Diamonds with a Bunch of Crap in the Middle".

But it´s actually easier to knit than I thought it would be.
The only difficulty is hiding it from Elise. When she finds out that I´m making
a shawl in pink Koigu she´s going to claim it for herself.

I once had a Koigu shawl in brown and green. But Elise tried it on
and realized how soft it was and that was the last I saw of it.

And if you´re thinking of asking how it´s going with Elizabeth I – don´t.

But okay, this is the current state of affairs:
the shoulders now fit much better, but the neckband that I finished last night was much too wide.
Even though I made it a lot smaller than the small size in the pattern, and the rest of the sweater is a medium size. So that had to go. But not without much cursing and swearing.

Now I´ve taken some time out to retreat and regroup. The next attack will be launched some time next week,but I´m not saying when. Without the surprise factor I´m not sure of the outcome.

Shawl Surprise

This is my sister Filippa. It´s her birthday today.
Grattis på födelsedagen, syrran!

I only have younger sisters. And I still think of Filippa as being only
22 years old.
At least she is still as pretty as she was at 22.

A little while ago Filippa said she wanted a poncho to keep
her shoulders warm in the office where she works.
The only problem was that I didn´t have enough time to knit
her a whole poncho. Instead I made her this shawl.

It´s a Flowerbasket in handpainted merino yarn given to me by Wendy.
The edge is some Louet Gems that was left over from a pair of wristlets I made for myself.
I quite like adding an edge in a different colour to the lace shawls I make and I was
dead chuffed to find a perfect match!

Troublesome top

This is Starmore´s Elizabeth I that I started knitting ages ago. Long before I began blogging.
It´s a beautiful and very elegant sweater and I don´t want to lay any blame on the designer.

No, the failure is all mine.
I substituted the wool yarn with a cotton-viscose blend that has a lovely shine to it
because I wanted to be able to wear it in the summer.

That turned out to be a BIG mistake.
The yarn was pretty horrible to knit with – it split very easily.
And when I tried it on it was way too big on top.

There aren´t any pictures because I looked truly awful.
These days I need to wear things that flatter my figure –
the sack of potatoes-look I can manage without an extra help, thank you very much.

Elizabeth I has since been hiding at the back of my warderobe, but after more than a year I´ve
decided to let bygones be bygones.

So I´ve taken it apart at the seams, frogged back quite a bit and reknit the top of both the
body and sleeves.
Now I´m just trying to block this stubborn piece of knit into shape.

Then I´ve just got to sew it up again and knit the neck – on very, very tiny needles (1,5 mm)
to make sure it won´t be too wide this time.
Perhaps now you can understand why I´ve just been making mittens lately...

Please do wish me luck, I think I need it.

PS. I´ll be back with more pink pictures soon.

Tickled Pink!

See this yarn? Ever seen anything so beautiful before?

Okay, maybe you have if you read Wendy´s blog. That´s where I saw it first. And I was besotted.
But I was clearly not the only one who fell in love with this handpainted yarn called "Ragdoll Diva".
Because when I went looking for it in the online yarn shops had all sold out.

Well, what can you expect – not only is it pink, red and black merino-silk,
it also has some silver content to add that extra glitter.

So imagine my surprise when I got a notice from the post office that there was a parcel waiting for me.
And when I opened it I found this:

Yes, it was indeed the elusive Ragdoll Diva yarn from Tempted Glam Grrl.

Aaah, isn´t it wonderful to have your own "Fairy Godmother" to grant your innermost wishes!
And mine is called Wendy, but you might already have guessed that.

I put the yarn on the window sill so the sunlight would bring out the glitter.

But the next time I looked it was gone!

Though it didn´t get very far...

Maybe matching mother-and-daughter hats would be the right solution to this delicate dilemma,
or what do you think?

Easter Egg-stra!

Oh look, the Easter bunny came!
And I got yarn in my egg. Cherry Tree Hill yarn.

Now, rumour has it that this might be the biggest CTH stash in Stockholm.
Maybe in all of Sweden?
But if you – or someone you know – have a bigger CTH stash than this
why don´t you let me know...
And maybe I can invite myself over to check it out. Hehe.

Do I need to mention that it´s darn good yarn? It makes great mittens.
Like this one:

This is Märta Majblomma. A new kid on the block.
She is made with black and burgundy Cherry Tree Hill yarn.

The mitten exhibition at Maria´s garn is now over and all the mittens are back home with mummy.

Over Easter we all made a trip together to a small island in the archepelago to relax.
Participating in a mitten exhibition is hard work for small mittens, you know.
(But they have asked me to tell you, Maria, that they had a great time in your shop window!)

Here is Hjördis enjoying the bright, but cold weather and the beautiful view.

Though this winter has sure been funny here in Stockholm. No snow – until now.
I don´t know about you, but I never heard Bing sing "I´m dreaming of a white Easter"...

The Right Model

Today is my sister Emelie´s birthday. She turns 26.

GRATTIS PÅ FÖDELSEDAGEN EMELIE!

Here she is modelling her Christmas present – the Cat hat.

I did mean to knit something for your birthday, too, Emelie.
But I didn´t manage to finish it in time.

Hope you have a great birthday anyway.

I should also take this opportunity to congratulate myself
on having such a wonderful and kind sister as you!

Silly Socks

Lately I´ve had this kind of hunch that I might need to knit a new pair of socks.
Whatever could have given me that idea? Well, your guess is as good as mine...

Now, knitting socks is not a favourite pastime here at Born to knit,
but the old socks – made last year – had truly had it.
Even I had to admit that they were beyond saving,
and besides darning socks is possibly even more boring than knitting socks.

So last week I reluctantly got out some fairly chunky yarn from my stash
and a set of dpns (3,5 mm) and cast about for inspiration.

And this is the result.
Cat socks!

At least the yarn was pink. Very pink.

Yes, they are definitely too naff for a grown woman of 42.
Yes, I am ashamed of myself. And no, I have no dignity.

Miaouw!

I actually have NOTHING to say in my defence. I love these socks.
I´ll be wearing them every day.
I am, in fact, wearing them now.

Those paw prints are simply too cute for words.

If anyone should hear anything about a silly sock competition,
please send me an email or leave a comment on this blog.
I think the first prize has my name on it. Hehe.

Vantvernissage!

What fun it was to be at the opening of the mitten exhibition at Marias garn yesterday.
It was well worth it staying up until midnight all week to finish those last thumbs and
weave in the loose ends.

This is Maria´s shop window from the inside.

There were about 22 mittens on display. Mum had made the most, she contributed twelve
different patterns.
I had made six mittens in six different patterns and still have one on the needles.
Poor Märta Majblomma is going to be late to the party, but she´s promised she´ll join the rest of the gang as soon as she is finished.

This is one of my mittens hanging in the window.

Inga Snöflinga – the only snowflake in Stockholm, for the time being.

And Signe now has her own fanclub.

Would you like to see some of mum´s mittens?

Beautiful Bladrad, in mum´s own handpainted yarn.

The little goat is a real cutie, isn´t he?

Nejlikros – Carnation Rose – a new flower inspired by an old traditional pattern.

Åke had picked his own personal favourites – they are called "Högs i Långhed".

"Baah-by, it´s cold outside".

Friends made their way across town to visit the vantutställning.

My friend Nicole, to the right, with knitting patron Maria, to the left.

Thank you, Maria for hosting the exhibition!
Walking by the shop today I could see lots of people stopping in front of the window to
admire the display. The mittens will be there until the middle of March.

And today is mum´s birthday!
I bet she would have been really surprised if I´d made her a pair of mittens, hehe.
But I made her a pair of beaded wristlets instead.

Grattis på födelsedagen, mamma!

Til Death Do Us Part!

These last few weeks Johanne has been knitting constantly.
In sickness and in health.

Here she is, knitting another Signe mitten.

Despite the green colour in the photo above Johanne, herself,
has been pretty healthy most of the time.
It´s her children who have been suffering, poor little mites.

And sitting at their bedsides Johanne´s been busy knitting mittens.
Four mittens in six days is something of a record for this Born to knit-blogger.
(Hurra! Hurra! Hurra! Hurra!)

She´s aiming to finish a fifth mitten before Friday.
It ought to make the deadline even though Johanne now unfortunately
can go back to work because the kids are fully recovered.

While making the new mittens Johanne has been trying out some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn that she´s
bought from the Woolly Workshop in England.
And she´s happy to report that it works well for mittens too!

This is the flip side of a new Signe mitten.
(Pssst Wendy, look! This is how I make most of my thumb gussets).

Something missing?

Signe now sports a new and improved thumb!

Some of the mittens that Johanne has been knitting are completely new patterns.
Because on Saturday her and her mother´s mitten exhibition "Fyrhändigt" opens at Marias garn.

Would you like a sneak preview?
Here´s a half finished Inga Snöflinga
If you wish to see the finished version, you´re welcome to drop by on Saturday.

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

Många maskor små

"Många maskor små" is the title of Johanne´s mother´s new exhibition at the museum in Edsbyn.
It means "Many small stitches" and yes, it´s all about knitting.
Some of the knitted garments on display are at least a 150 years old!

Exhibit A

The exhibition opened last Sunday and will stay open until the 23rd of March.
Or longer if it proves popular.

Exhibit B

If you have the chance to visit Edsbyn´s museum, don´t miss the opportunity
to have a closer look at the knitted sweaters that are part of the old folk costumes
from Hälsingland. They are usually kept in closed archives to be protected.

But all of the knitting is not quite that old.
Some of the stuff was actually made quite recently by yours truly (blushing).
A couple of sweaters (one Solveig Hisdal design and one Alice Starmore design),
Johanne´s own beaded legwarmers and mitten Signe.

Can you spot Signe?

Johanne´s mother Barbro hopes that the exhibition will inspire all the knitters
who come to see it.
And the message she wants to put across is:
Don´t throw away your old knitted garments.
They might one day be looked upon as real treasures!

Which, of course, they are.