that's better!

it works again! I can upload directly from my files, which is a great relief, as it only takes seconds to do... I hope it stays that way! was that just a hiccup - or did somebody at blogger actually listen to my complaint?:)

I have to finish some more gift projects before I can start my next bigger project (but I know which one it's going to be - have a look at this: Fia). I might just start a small sample to check out how it looks, but I can't start it yet, because I have to finish these socks, among other things. I've bought two balls of 6ply sock yarn, which I've never used before. I had to check out the difference in stitches, but it knits up nicely - and faster than 4ply:) which is good, because I have to hurry up a bit..... the colours are nothing to write home about, but you know - men and sock colours.....

I also took the chance to get my hands on more "normal" (aka 4ply) sock wool in lovely colours, when I was asked if I "needed" something from wollknoll in germany. what a question:) the two balls on the left are singles with a lovely blend of colours (stronger in reality). I tried the yarn before, it knits up nicely, though it has a very slight tendency to bias. works well with some patterns though! the hank on the left is a 4ply, can't go wrong with a bit of purple....the dye behind is purple, too - for dyeing in the machine. I have some terry fabric in white, that I'd like to dye with this.

and this is my second project on the needles (apart from some stuff I am spinning of course). it's done with dpn 2mm and silk blend sock yarn. it started to look like a small sock. then a heel.... and then what? no, I didn't make a mistake - it won't be a sock! the skin colour might be a hint.... and I can tell you that the very narrow bit on the needles - is a neck! no more clues - but all will be revealed in time:) it's a bit fiddly, but at least the 24 pages of instructions are very detailed and knit up pretty fast!

 

I am also getting together my seed orders and gardening stuff. it's february very soon - and this means that over here at least the gardening season won't be far away! plenty of stuff already peaking out, even though we had miserable, monsoon like weather the last few days. but I can see the first fat crocus buds and the daffodil leaves are nearly full size! my tulips from last year are halfway out - only the freshly planted bulbs need a bit more time to show. it's time - I don't want winter anymore and hope for a nice spring this year (seems to be all we're  getting now, the summers are so ugly that they don't qualify for that name anymore....)

 

I also had plans to show you a few of the books that made it onto my shelves over christmas, but I think I'll push it into the next entry....

not again!

I don't know why, but somehow we seem to be irresistable to dogs, when we cycle to town or back. last week DH was followed by this fellow. her name is Dobby (like our dog) and we know the owner, so we were able to ring them. 15 min. later he picked her up. she is a lovely dog, very well behaved and friendly. just a bit wet that day:)

 

do you remember her? yep, that's Moggy... when DS came home from school today, he was very late and we thought he had a flat tyre - again. not so, he had to walk, because as friendly as Moggy is - she has no manners at all:( she jumps in front of the bike or even tries to get up on it (delighted to see us:) - even when the cyclist tries to get away! have you ever tried to outcycle a very large dog like that? better don't try, it doesn't work! by the time you could be up and rolling - she has jumped on top of you and pulled you down (yes, I tried, I had to walk halfway into town 2 weeks ago because of her.) the owners let her roam freely it seems - I am just waiting to find her killed at the side of the road - or shot, because she was caught chasing cattle:( what annoys me most is that she is still young and trainable - and such a lovely dog! now DS will have to walk to school tomorrow - with Moggy in tow to hand her back to her owners! and she's soaked wet - the whole house is wet with her (luckily we have tiles in most rooms, and she isn't allowed into the rooms with timber flooring until she's dried off)! and you can't just put her outside, because she wants company and in search of that she starts scratching on doors!

 

I haven't blogged for a while now - and when I tried just now, I found that apparently I cannot upload pix directly from my computer anymore:( who's crappy idea has this been? I had to open a picasa album, load the pix I want into that to put them on the blog. if that isn't changed again soon, I might stop blogging altogether, because it takes even more steps now!:( why is hardly anything changed for the better???                                   anyway, of course I did finish a few things since my last blog entry. and started even more:) this is a bookmark I found in one of the interweave Jane Austen mags. I changed it slightly - the original features a heart, where I put in the diamond. and I didn't use beads, because I didn't have any that would have fitted the colour of the yarn or its size! it's half silk, half wool, handspun and dyed with the leaves of red-leaved elder... I added a bluish ceramic button - it's not an easy colour to match!

 

 

 I also finished the Fletta cardigan to give to my mother-in-law. in hindsight I should have left out the green; I don't think it does much for the pattern. this photo is awful, but it shows the colours reasonably well.

the photo below shows the pattern better - but for some reason it doesn't let me write text beside it (what's wrong with blogger now?) I still have quite a lot of old rose left, but only one skein of the darker cardinal. not sure what I'll do with the leftovers.......

 

I ordered some felt squares from the uk in mid november, which I wanted to use for some christmas decos. didn't work out quite like that, my sterling draft was apparently lost in the mail and it took some time to sort it all out. a few days back I received my 20 ordered squares, so now I can make easter decos with them instead:) there is a great choice of colours here - but unfortunately it was either no proper light at all or strong sunlight - which makes the colours look a bit garish, which they aren't at all. plenty to do - but first I'll have to clean all the floors tomorrow, when hopefully Moggy has gone back home:)

Merry Christmas .....

.... or season's greetings, or happy holidays - whichever you prefer:)

 

the year is nearly gone, I can't believe that 2012 rushed by so fast! and I only just managed to make my traditional door wreath yesterday - usually it's hanging by mid-december at the latest. but never mind, I made it, though this time I didn't collect all kinds of greenery; I only used variegated holly and the reason for this is that all the variegated ones grow like mad - while the pure green one doesn't exactly rush into things here! we planted two (boy and girl) on the day we married, and they've been unstoppable ever since:) there are red berries on it, but the large leaves hide them rather well... the bow is a very old one I literally made decades back....

 

same for the christmas cookies. when I still lived in germany, I made loads of different ones; bit by bit I cut back over here, because with only three people and the occasional visitor there aren't enough mouths around to finish all of them. I did do most of them during the last weekend, so at least they are very fresh:) nobody likes to eat old cookies around easter! not even the dog....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and now I am off to dig through all the books I received:) the next few days will be spent on reading, knitting and spinning, only occasionally disturbed by a bout of cooking (and eating)! I've been looking forward to this for weeks - so here I come! btw - I received the very first handmade christmas gift from my son - who has been working on a lathe in school and took the opportunity to make a "needle holder" for me.... happy days during the rest of the year to everybody!

bits and pieces

there's not much to show here just now! I finally finished the fletta cardigan, but I didn't upload the pictures - yet. it was late at night and with a flash, so I think I might have to adjust the pix a lot to show the true colours (or at least as true as I can make them....). the finished cardigan was packed up and sent away only a few hours after I added the last touches and there was no time to wait for sunshine or even just daylight:) talking about last minute gifts....

 

I also finished two other knitted gifts - which I can't show before christmas. and I did another project - which has to wait after the pattern is published, because it was a test crochet.

 

I did however change the header picture - this is what the last few mornings looked like! below zero temperatures meant that everything was white with rime, but it all melted away quickly during the day. today we woke up with rain - but at least it meant that the roads had no icy patches! it looks nice - but can be rather dangerous for bicycle riders! the weather forecasters are funny guys (and girls) - some of them predict more of the same, some colder spells, but a lot of rain and no real snow etc. for some time to come. others however predict a very cold, icy and snowy spell for all of us for a prolonged time - actually it should already be here and last until the new year! what to believe now?

 

at least I have plenty of materials to do the christmas baking - and it's high time now! I made two sorts, peanut butter cookies - one of our absolute favourites (recipe on page above). and mocca-hazelnut macaroons - which are ok, but won't make it on our list, because they flattened out a bit and don't really taste very special. and now I am off to do more - not sure which ones, but I have to do coconut macaroons at least!:) and I started a new knitting project - to be enjoyed this evening. it's the best stage of knitting - when you are still full of enthusiasm about the project and can't wait to get your hands on those needles:) best of all - when it's a project that will be finished before the absolute boredom sets in that usually befalls me, when I am working on a larger project!

not much to show....

it's been a while.... by now the leaves are off the trees (Elke - it didn't look half as nice today, or rather it was so foggy that you could barely see the tree in the header, never mind the other side of the valley....), the nights are often frosty - but the day temperatures are still in the plus grades, so that we do have icy patches after dark, but during the day the roads are ok... I hope that it stays that way; at the back of my mind I have the niggling worry that very soon we might have snow and ice again and problems with shopping etc.. and I am talking about shopping for food, not for elaborate christmas gifts etc.!

which brings me right on to the reason why there was so little blogging done here. several larger projects as christmas gifts mean very little time for anything else I could show here! but - it's looking good, I am making progress and hope to be finished in time (without night shifts, if possible:).

this is a small project I used to test out a bigger pattern. the first time round I chose a needle size too small and ended up with a piece of cardboard (Lagerfeld might have worn it instead of one of his ubiquitious stiff collars:). after ribbing and going up in needle size I ended up with a wearable cowl. which could be improved on, it's far from perfect. if you wear it like this it rolls up to the outside, which is alright. if you try to wear the purlside out, you end up with a ring around your neck that feels uncomfortable and looks.... a bit like a rodon cake tin! the yarn is darker in real life, handspun superwash merino, dyed with food dyes, plied with a fine cotton thread. I am not sure if I leave it like this and wear it - maybe. or I'll just pull it all apart and use the yarn for something else.... I don't think I'd buy superwash fibres again - they have an odd feel to them, a bit like cotton balls, nothing like wool at all:(

 

 

 I also spun some honey coloured mohair I had in stash for some time, but I only managed 200 of the 300 g, the rest is still in the corner, waiting for a quiet moment. I miss the spinning, but if I start doing it right now, I loose too much of the time I need for finishing christmas stuff! but I am looking forward to lots of spinning time during the holidays:) no plans for the mohair yet. I think it's too scratchy for a scarf, no idea what I'll use it for or even if I should ply it or not.

 to make sure I don't run out of work during the holidays I stashed up from Suzie during the last spinner's meeting:) there are some small balls of merino in purple, red and green. also two bags full (100 g each) in different shades of blue. I got two 1 kg balls of teeswater (I think I might have bought most of what was in store by now:) plus a small bag of a few gaywool dyes. a small booklet with christmas deco ideas in knitting. and for creative times two bags full of sari silk strips, in the pic on the right, pink and purple tones....

I had also planned to knit the "licorne" socks by J. Laidman.  I looked around for some sock yarn in the right colour, which isn't easy (the original yarn isn't available anymore and was from overseas anyway), because it has to be one with very subtle colour flecks, nothing with stripes or other patterns. I thought I found what I wanted on Beata's hedgehog fibres page, but when the yarn came it was too pinkish blue to fit the pattern. luckily the yarn found a new owner immediately! that's what the gaywool dyes are for - I think I stop hunting and just dye my own:) I also orderd some corriedale fibres in purple from Beata - and I can't get enough of it, have to keep myself from running to the wheel to start spinning it:) I only have 250 g, so it won't be enough for a large project. but I think if I spin it into a fine singles I should have enough for a nice shawl or maybe a shrug.

when a friend asked if I wanted to order some sock charms - I couldn't resist! it was fun to unpack the little bag they came in and lay out my collection:) some of them I wanted for a friend, who cannot resist anything "mousy".... I'll add them to the christmas gift, without socks, just as a small something to unpack.

the hands I want to put on handmade larger projects. the elephants and hippos (below the elephants) will go to new owners soon - and the rest will go into my stash for now - to be added to later projects... but in my mind I am already working on dragon and witch socks:) or maybe something with teapots in the design?

 

at the last spinner's meeting we also took apart the CTC exhibition in the museum in Castlebar. my picture socks are back home now as are my bobbin lace pieces - and the jacobs wool socks, which I'll send to their intended owner this week - after the poor man had to wait for so long to receive his "thank you" for the milksheep and jacobs fleeces he gave us for nothing!

as I said, nothing much to show apart from materials... but while I am knitting away on the christmas stuff (I still have to write all the cards, too:() my head is whirling with new ideas, projects I'd like to start in the new year and techniques I want to try out soon... right now the garden is so dripping wet and cold, that I don't even make it down to the tunnel or dome. most days I just put bird food out and that's that:) it's too tempting right now to sit in front of the warm oven and do "inside stuff" after the long months of taking every opportunity to do jobs outside!

happy "1st advent" to all those, who celebrate it - and a nice time before christmas for those, who don't! I am finally going to put up my deco around the candle holder - to light the first candle, if rather belatedly....

forgot those

I nearly forgot to show my mermaids socks! one was knitted  very quickly, because I needed it for a demo on sock knitting a year ago. the other ball.... matured in a shoebox, together with another started pair!:) the dark red I started with a ball of schoppel zauberball is still in there; it's only done to the beginning of the first leg of a toe-up. but the handdyed mermaid was already finished halfway, so I decided to free it - and here it is:

 unfortunately the pumpkins are not home grown; I've never had much success with them, not even in the polytunnel:( the footlasts I bought are too small for my shoesize "violin case", that's why the socks look a bit "empty"... but they fit me very well:) I dyed the flat balls of sockyarn whole in a dyebath with food dyes. when the yarn was dry, I thought there's way too much white (of course, the yarn only took the green on the outside and the inner core. I wound it in the other direction and put it first into some blue and then into some leftover purple, which resulted in this blend of colours. I call them mermaid because of the colours, but the pattern is traveler from Janel Laidman's book "the enchanted sole", one of my favourite sock books. I changed it slightly, because I don't need a pocket on my socks, and the star toe was just to show them at the demo.

the cable pattern is nice to knit and not difficult. I added a glass drop bead in the last cable - the original shows more, but smaller beads!

I missed my chance for sunny pix yesterday - today it was rather grey and a bit hazy, but the asters are out and I couldn't resist them:)            (I would like a few more colours, but didn't find any nice ones at the local garden center:()

this sorbus has lovely autumn colour, too - I forgot to take one of the witch hazel, which has the most brilliant yellow leaves just now, with a rusty tinge along the edges.... apparently the birds prefer my ripe rhamnus berries to those of the sorbus, because those stay on the small tree well into winter! unfortunately they seem to have discovered this source last year - because in the years before they never fed on them, but this is the 2nd year in a row that I can barely pick a bowl full for my dyeing....

 

a few things do get finished!

I am in the early stages of christmas present production.... which means that I start a lot of different things and don't have much to show for it - yet. today I finally sent off several finished projects - some of which should have been with their recipient weeks ago:( but at least I have slightly less stuff flying all over the place:) and my conscience is clean(er), too!
I did however finish my (until I decide otherwise) revontuli:

 the pattern is slightly more than a half circle and it stays up nicely over the shoulders. it's very soft and warm - the only thing that I don't like so much is the jump from white to grey. I am pretty sure I'll do another one at some stage and when I do I plan to use intuition more than mathematics on the colour blends! with this one it would look better if I had added another grey, mostly white with just a small amount of grey blended it - to smoothen the colour progress a bit. the pattern (free on ravelry, thank you to the designer!) is very simple to knit, though I have to say that close to 600 sts for each row towards the end - tend to be a bit boring to knit. I worked about 80 more rows than the original design shows, because my yarn was much finer and I wanted to use up all my yarn. in the end I had to spin a bit more of the white, for the last back row and the attached i-cord edge (not in the o-pattern either). when I saw a lovely petrol blend here (next to last pic), I decided that I should try this colour flow out myself soon. or maybe some nice purple tones?

this "knubbelchen" (transl. = small knob, not a nice name for a little doll:) pattern is free on ravelry, too - even in english, if you're interested. I liked the simple make-up of it. I was looking for something cuddly for a baby or very small child - always a bit iffy, because things can be chewed off or unraveled - which can be very dangerous at that age! the hands and feet of this doll are just knots in the knitted fabric; nothing can fall off (the only sewn thing is the hat - and I think that is too large to be swallowed), everything but the hat is worked in one piece. no eyes to attach and the cotton/wool sock wool is machine washable and doesn't pill. it went into the mail today, together with the baby cardie, but I'll make some more, because we have more babies in the extended family:)

I can't show you anything else I am working on just now, because all projects are intended gifts... I can show you a find from the garden though:



 

strawbs gone loony - some are flowering, some are laden with green fruits - and some even ripen, though they just don't get enough sun and warmth to taste like real strawberries. still, it's nice to eat a few at this time of the year; together with some blueberries they made a nice addition to my granola:)

off to do a bit of knitting -or crochet? or maybe some ironing - what a choice:)