Ebenholz Cables

More Wollmeise. Yes, I do actually knit the stuff, not just hoard it. :-)

Pattern: Improvised
Yarn: Wollmeise 100 % Merino Superwash, Ebenholz, 416 g
Needles: 2.75 mm (body) & 2.25 mm (ribbing)
Size: XS with a fair bit of ease

It’s a regular top-down raglan with a turtleneck, some simple cabling down the sleeves and sides and ribbed cuffs & hem. This being my first custom raglan, I started with EZ’s percentage system but didn’t like the shape, so I frogged it and recalculated everything according to my measurements and the amount of ease I wanted. It worked and I’m really happy with it.

The cables only have the cable crossings – I quite like the simple look of them. The sleeve cables start from the neck and run over the shoulders and down the sleeves.

Wollmeise was, as always, pure joy to knit, and I love the finished sweater. It’s warm, light and lovely – and I used less than 3 skeins of yarn!

Jultomte meets Neptun, Türkis & Karneol

The heading will probably say nothing to anyone but a devoted Wollmeiseholic. Which is what I’ve been since I saw San knitting her gorgeous Ringwood socks in Jultomte, an exclusive Wollmeise sock club colourway that has not been available to the general public until a couple of weeks ago, one year since its first appearance in the sock club. As you may know, my favourite colour is red. And these socks were RED, true, gorgeous, deep, breathtaking RED. My jaw dropped when I saw San’s socks in a knitting meetup and I simply couldn’t take my eyes off them.

I first found Wollmeise as a totally new knitter in the spring of 2007, when I didn’t know much about yarns and though I liked many of her colours, I didn’t know what I could make with them (150 g seemed like a lot for socks since I can make 3 pairs for myself out of one skein) and she also had (and still does) three intensities in most colourways and I couldn’t figure which one I would like best. She also had so many colourways that I really liked that I couldn’t decide between them. Also back then the ordering was done by e-mailing her with a request and she then custom dyed the yarns. All this seemed so complicated that in the end I never ordered anything from her. If only I’d known how difficult it would become to get Wollmeise in just a couple of years!

Fast forward two years and a knitting meetup in Café Ursula where San is knitting her red Ringwood socks. And my jaw drops. I decide right there and then that I must get some of that yarn. Soon realising that random update checking is getting me nowhere, I find out the tricks of the trade and soon hit my first update. And then another, and another, and another. Within a couple of weeks I become a WM collector and can’t make myself to open a skein to start knitting because they’re all more gorgeous than the previous ones, plus I’m test knitting and can’t allow myself to start anything bigger than socks and I still can’t make myself to crack open a whole skein just for socks. Friends to the rescue: San kindly gave me the leftovers of her Jultomte and I was in red Wollmeise heaven.

Pattern: None, basic toe-up socks with French heel, 44 stitches
Yarn: Wollmeise 100 % Merino Superwash, Jultomte, 45 g
Needles: 2.5 mm
Size: About 30

To maximise the yardage and show off the yarn I knitted basic socks – plus I like basic stuff! At 44 stitches the socks are somewhat too loose – I tend to like my socks very snug. I’ve taken to wearing knitted socks in my winter shoes as well for extra warmth and these ones slide and gather in a bunch behind my heel as I put my shoes on. For basic socks in WM 100 % I should probably go down to 40 s or try 2 mm needles.

But I like them. And I love the colour!

I also got half a skein of Türkis und Karneol dark from MevrouwWalvis, leftovers from her socks. It was such a beautiful and complex colourway that it took me a while to decide on the perfect pattern. In the end I decided to combine it with Neptun, a colourway that I’d originally bought to make a scarf but that doesn’t go with my skin tone at all, so I decided to use it for socks.

Pattern: None, basic colourwork socks with short row heel, 49 stitches
Yarn: Wollmeise 100 % Merino Superwash, Neptun, 36 g, and Türkis und Karneol dark, 24 g
Needles: 2.5 mm
Size: 27-29

I’m a little sad that the beautiful shades of the T & K are somewhat lost in Neptun – I probably should have chosen a colourway that’s not as close. I still like the outcome, it’s just more muted than I’d expected. Luckily I have enough T & K left for another pair of socks and I’m thinking of something that will really show the colours off.

The socks turned out perfect for my feet, nice and snug just the way I like them. I’m still not a fan of short row heels and I always manage to leave holes in them, no matter how much I try or which method I use. I only chose it for these socks because I wanted to make the heel a different colour and it wouldn’t have looked as good as a toe-up French version.

Here’s a close-up of the colours. Sorry for the horrid flash photos – I abhor flash photography but it was the only way to bring out the colours.

I knitted both socks at the same time on one circular needle, a technique I hadn’t tried before and found very easy and intuitive. I often make both socks at the same time, but on different needles, which basically means I don’t knit them row by row but work on the first sock for say 5-10 rows and then repeat the same for the second sock, etc. It’s my way of making sure both socks are identical and also of maximising the yardage. Nevertheless, this method seemed even faster and made sense in a lot of ways. Except I was too lazy to wind both colours into two separate balls, so I knitted both colours from the inside as well as the outside of the ball. You can imagine the tangles I had towards the end. I also used Judy’s magic cast on for the first time and liked it a lot.

Two socks, two colourways, four strands of yarn, one needle. It was all very neat at this stage.

Thank you again, San and MevrouwWalvis! <3

Alpaca and Handspun

Pattern: Koivunlehti-shaali (Finnish only)
Designer: Artedaamit / Merja Korhonen, based on her grandmother’s pattern
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Alpaca, shade 3969, 191 grams
Needles: 4 mm
Size: 57 x 190 cm

I have wanted to make this shawl ever since I saw Hanna’s version of it, knitted with Drops Alpaca. It was so big, soft, comfy and warm! And now I have my own version. I made mine a bit more narrow by dropping the stitch count to almost half of the original, from 151 to 79, and it’s definitely wide enough for me. I had four balls of yarn and managed to use almost all of it.

The shawl is long enough to be worn like a regular scarf, tied around the neck for extra warmth:

It turned out just right – it’s big, soft, comfy and warm!

I would also like to show what I got at the Ulla webzine Christmas party last weekend. The deal is that everyone brings a gift and they are distributed randomly, so that you don’t know what you’re getting (and from whom) and you don’t know who’s getting your present. I definitely scored a jackpot: a nice red tin gift box…

…with something very special in it:

A skein of handspun!

As I mentioned, I’ve been hugely interested in spinning recently and I know the amount of time, skills and effort that goes into making something like this. Being a total beginner myself, I have loads of respect for anyone who can produce something this even and soft. And guess who made it: yep, Hanna! Check out her blog, she has way better pics than I do. The colourway is deeper and more blue than in my picture. There’s also a bit of sparkly stuff in it, and while I’m not a big fan of glittery things, I find this yarn totally irresistible. It’s very festive – and totally unique!

I also got a pair of scissors that incidentally matches the yarn really nicely, and Burt’s Bees Hand Salve, an intensive moisturiser for very dry, chapped hands. As it happens, my skin and especially my hands are super dry, and I need extra moisture on my hands when I spin so that the fibre doesn’t get caught in any rough spots. Ever since giving up regular mineral oil based moisturisers and starting to use natural products only, I’ve also had trouble finding a travel size hand cream that I could keep in my handbag and use on the go. And now I have one!

So all in all, this was a perfect surprise Christmas present. Thank you again, Hanna!

Icarus

Pattern: Icarus Shawl, Interweave Knits Summer 2006
Yarn: Handmaiden Fine Yarn Sea Silk (70 % silk, 30 % sea cell), Ebony, 158 g
Needles: 3 mm
Size: XS (modified from pattern)

I love it. I love the design, I love the yarn, I love the finished shawl. I love everything about it! I love it that I can wear it in the summer…

…and winter alike.

It’s lightweight…

…it’s stylish…

…and it goes with my other coat, too:

The pattern comes in three sizes: small, regular and large. I’m a lot shorter than the average woman, so I made mine one repeat smaller than the small – hence, extra small. The size is just right for me – it comes down to my hips if I let the triangle hang down my back, but I prefer to wear it on my shoulder. I must say I never really “got” triangular shawls before this one and didn’t think I’d be able to wear them. Boy, was I wrong: I’ve been wearing this almost non-stop since I finished it last summer. It goes with everything, it’s saved me many times in over-airconditioned restaurants, and the colour is fantastic. A friend of mine calls this colourway mentally black, i.e. black without being black. Since I tend to dress in black and nothing but black, it goes with everything and brings a bit of variation and colour to my everyday look.

The colour is most true in the last pic; the summer pics were taken on a very bright & sunny day, and we had a bit of trouble getting any winter pics done since daylight on these latitudes is so scarce these days. Not that it’s very wintery yet, mostly just dark and rainy; challenging time for taking photos, nevertheless. We caught the last rays of the setting sun on the balcony, hence the mellow glow and distorted colours in the winter pics. The actual colour is a gorgeous blend of steel grey and milk chocolate brown.

The pattern was nice, easy and fast to knit. I like the non-laciness of it, it makes it very versatile. I daresay this will not be my last Icarus.

As for the yarn itself – sheer love again. A true pleasure to knit, from beginning to end. It’s soft, silky, shiny and incredibly beautiful, the kind of yarn that would make even the simplest of designs something special. As soon as I’d finished blocking this in the middle of the night I went online and bought some more, despite the fact that I already had some in my stash. I don’t care – this is one of my “must have more” yarns.

Catching up

Time to revive the good ol’ blog! I did some sooper seekrit test knitting last spring and summer, and since I knew I wouldn’t be able to show any of it until the patterns are published, I started to hold off blogging about my own projects, thinking I’d pop them in the blog at appropriate intervals to eliminate long gaps caused by test knitting. Yeah, bad idea.

So, what have I been doing these past months? Let’s see. I have…

…been learning how to spin…

…developed new yarn addictions…

(Yes, that’s all Wollmeise. Yes, I’m aware that things may have been getting somewhat out of hand.)

…spent a fabulous weekend filled with laughter, knitting, yarn shopping, workshops, chocolate, cakes, wine, making new friends and staying up late at the first ever Finnish knitting retreat…

…hired an entire tram for 2 hrs with fellow knitaholics for a private tour around the city, simply for the purpose of knitting and getting together…

…and been to a couple of wool fests and craft fairs. Isn’t that just the cutest alpaca llama, whatever… you’ve ever seen? <3

Anyway, on to the FOs: here’s something I made last spring but never got to wear before the weather turned too warm. I’ve been wearing them now and they’re great!

Pattern: Kierre
Designer: Niina Hakkarainen
Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Alpaca, colourway 3620, 65 g, yarn held double throughout
Needles: I seem to have left that part out of my notes, but I’d say 3.5 mm is a fair enough guess.

I knitted the pattern as written with a couple of minor changes (narrower thumb, no increases in the wrist) as I wanted to wear these with my regular winter gloves rather than on bare hands. The size is just right to be worn with winter gloves. I like these a lot, and they do make a difference now that the weather’s turning chilly again.

Here’s how they look with my winter wardrobe. (Or, a shot of me trying to button my coat with my thickest gloves on. D’oh.)

I also got a nice little something from San a long time ago.

Thank you San, you’re a true friend!

I shall pass this on to Hanna, Meeri, Niina, Verano, Villasatu and Zeska, just because. :-) Thank you friends, you’re the best!

Double double mittens

I have a new love and it’s called Drops Alpaca! It was so smooth and buttery soft to knit that every stitch was pure, simple enjoyment. Must have more Drops Alpaca!

Anyway, here’s what I made:

Minulla on uusi rakkaus, ja sen nimi on Drops Alpaca. Se oli niin pehmeää ja sileää, että jokainen silmukka oli silkkaa nautintoa. Tätä lisää!

Ja tällaiset siitä syntyi:

Yarn: Drops Alpaca, shades 8903 & 3620, 50 g each, yarn held double throughout
Needles: 3.5 mm
Size: To fit a small child (or a petite adult woman’s ridiculously small hands)

I was inspired by Villapeikko’s beautiful mittens – like her, my hands are always cold. Alpaca, one of the warmest fibres, double stranded and lined with another pair of double stranded alpaca mittens – now that can’t possibly go wrong, can it?

Villapeikko knitted hers for her 8-year-old daughter, and since my hands usually match those of an 8-year-old, I started with her project notes. The resulting mittens were turning out big enough to be worn over my regular winter gloves, so I went down in needle size, checked the tension and turned to The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns – and would you believe, I knitted these in what is described as a 2-4-year old’s size in the book (CO 28)! Now I know my hands are not that small, but hey – the mittens fit perfectly!

I made some modifications later on – I shaped the top differently and made decreases in the thumb ’cause it seemed to fit better that way, and Villapeikko’s notes were useful there, so in the end the pattern was a mix of the book, Villapeikko’s instructions and some that I made up as I went along.

The idea is that you can wear these either way, with either the black or the red side on top.

Inspis näihin tuli Villapeikon ihanista lapasista – minunkin käteni palelevat jatkuvasti. Alpakka on yksi lämpimimmistä kuiduista, ja kun sen neuloo kaksinkertaisena ja tekee alle toiset kaksinkertaisella langalla neulotut lapaset, niin jo luulisi lämmittävän.

Villapeikko neuloi omansa 8-vuotiaalle tyttärelleen, ja koska käteni vastaa yleensä 8-vuotiaan käden kokoa, lähdin samoilla ohjeilla liikkeelle. Tuloksena oli kuitenkin lapanen, joka mahtui normaalin talvihanskani päälle, joten vaihdoin reilusti pienempiin puikkoihin, käännyin The Knitter’s Handy Book of Patternsin puoleen ja valitsin silmukkamäärän tiheyden perusteella. Uskokaa tai älkää, tein nämä kirjan mukaan 2-4-vuotiaan koolla (28 s). Käteni eivät todellakaan ole saman kokoiset kuin sen ikäisellä lapsella, mutta lapaset istuvat täydellisesti!

Poikkesin myöhemmin ohjeista jonkin verran – tein kärkikavennukset eri tavalla ja kavensin myös peukaloa, koska se tuntui istuvan paremmin niin. Näissä Villapeikon muistiinpanoista oli apua. Lopullinen ohje oli siis sekoitus kirjaa, Villapeikon muistiinpanoja ja omia sävellyksiä.

Näitä voi siis käyttää kummin päin tahansa, joko musta tai punainen puoli päällä.

Hey, these were my first mittens! I wore them on our winter holiday in Lapland where it was cold and the double double alpaca really did the trick. Many thanks to Villapeikko for the idea and inspiration!

Nämä olivat ensimmäiset lapaseni! Käytin näitä talvilomalla Lapissa, jossa oli kylmä, ja tupla-tupla-alpakka tosiaan toimi. Monet kiitokset Villapeikolle ideasta ja inspiraatiosta!

Cabled hats

I seem to be getting more and more behind on my blogging, so much so that I’m starting to forget project details. So, without further rambling, a couple of hats from the winter & spring:

Alan jäädä bloggauksessa jälkeen, jopa siinä määrin, että alan unohtaa projektien yksityiskohtia. Pidemmittä jorinoitta siis muutama hattu talvelta ja keväältä:

Pattern: Myssy (Honestly! That’s what it’s called in the book. For the non-Finnish speakers, that’s just Finnish for ‘hat’.), Maskeball i strikking og hekling (Leikkiä langoilla)
Yarn: Gjestal Naturgarn No. 1 (100% wool), shade 727, 78 g
Needles: Now here’s where the time that’s elapsed between the knitting and the blogging starts to show. The ball band calls for 6.5 mm and my Rav needle chart tells me I have that size circ so… shall we say 6.5 mm? Pretty big anyway.
Size: Very small (modified from pattern)
Modifications: Size, plus left out the neck flap & nipple

This was a project that seemed to call my name as soon as I saw it in the book. (Thinking back, that gorgeous cabled coat it was pictured with probably had something to do with it…) I’m not good at wearing hats, never have been – combine that with the latitude I live at and you’ll know it’s not the smartest thing to do, even with the climate change. I just look stupid in hats, period. Plus they’re always too big so I can never find anything that fits (not that I’d buy a ready-made hat now that I can knit one myself). My head is so small that I even had to get my student cap by special order – and it was still too big, so we had to stuff the inside band with extra filling. Needless to say I looked stupid in the stupid thing and still refuse to wear it. For those unfamiliar with Finnish labour day celebrations, it’s a tradition to wear student caps every year on labour day & labour day eve (which by the way, since I’m writing this past midnight, is today! Happy labour day!) regardless of whether you’re a student now or were one 50 years ago. Which means that if you happen to visit Finland on April 30 or May 1, especially in a university town, you’ll see people in white caps everywhere. (Let’s not mention everything else that goes with the celebrations…)

That was a long digression, sorry about that; what I meant to say was that since it would make sense to cover your head in the coldest days of winter, I’m always sort of on the lookout for Hats That I Might Possibly Be Able To Wear Without Looking Stupid. And this was one if I ever saw one!

But. Have I ever worn it? Nope. Will I ever wear it? Most likely… nope. My man said the minute I showed the picture to him, “You’ll never wear that.” And he was right. So it’s been buried in the closet, well hidden behind a mountain of warm scarves and massive shawls that I wrap around my head in lieu of hats, waiting for next winter when I’m another year older and possibly a smudge wiser and may give it a second chance.

Tämä pipo tuntui kutsuvan minua kiihkeästi siitä hetkestä asti, kun näin sen kirjan sivuilla. (Näin jälkikäteen ajatellen se ihana palmikkotakki, jonka kanssa se oli kuvattu, saattoi vaikuttaa asiaan jonkin verran…) Olen huono pitämään pipoja – olen aina ollut (lue: en käytä pipoa koskaan). Näillä leveysasteilla olisi kuitenkin ihan hyvä idea peittää päänsä ainakin kylmimpinä talvipäivinä. Mutta… näytän tyhmältä pipoissa. Lisäksi kaikki hatut ovat minulle aina liian isoja. Pääni on sen verran pieni, että kaupoista ei löydy sopivaa, enkä kyllä nyt neulomaan opeteltuani kaupan pipoa ostaisikaan. Ylioppilaslakkikin piti muinoin tilata erikoistilauksena, ja se oli silti liian iso. Juhlien alla sitten tungettiin hikinauhaan täytettä, jotta lakki pysyisi päässä edes kuvausten ajan. Näytin tietysti tyhmältä. Enkä tosiaan kaiva lakkia esiin joka vappu ja lähde se päässä baanalle! (Myöskään tänään. Hauskaa vappua!)

Olipa pitkä sivujuonne, pahoittelut. Tarkoitus oli sanoa, että koska olen jo siihen ikään päässyt, että tiedän itsekin, että pääkoppaa olisi hyvä suojella kylmältä muullakin kuin jättihuivilla, tutkailen pipo-ohjeita alituiseen sillä silmällä. Ja tämä tipahti välittömästi kategoriaan “pipo, jota jopa saattaisin pystyä pitämään näyttämättä tyhmältä”.

Siltikin. Olenko käyttänyt tätä? En. Aionko käyttää? Todennäköisesti en. Mies sanoi heti, kun näytin kirjan kuvaa hänelle: “Sä et tuu ikinä käyttämään tota.” Oikeassa oli. Niinpä pipo on ollut haudattuna komerossa huivivuoren takana visusti katseilta piilossa odottamassa ensi talvea, jolloin taas vuotta vanhempi ja hyvässä lykyssä hitusen viisaampi neuloja saattaa kaivaa sen esiin ja miettiä asiaa uudestaan.

Pattern: Lina
Yarn: Novita Cloud (65% wool, 35% bamboo), shade 536, 75 g
Needles: 3.5 mm circular
Size: One size
Modifications: None

Now this is another story. My MIL asked for a hat to go with her entrelac scarf. This pattern was so enjoyable to knit that I think I’ll make another one for myself! No wonder the pattern’s been so popular – not only is it a beautiful design, there was also something very addictive about knitting it. I loved the cabling technique! And what surprised me most was that it even fits my head although I didn’t modify the pattern at all. It’s just a bit too tall for me – I’ve pulled it down a bit too deep in the picture to prevent the top from sticking out – but it’s perfect for my MIL who’s also petite.

This was the first time I used Novita yarn, which is a bit of a miracle since it’s the most widely available yarn brand in Finland. So far so good – Cloud was soft and nice to knit. There’s a nice silky sheen to it and it was a perfect match for this pattern. And not a single knot in the 1.5 balls that I used!

Tämä pipo olikin sitten toinen juttu. Anoppi pyysi pipoa, joka sopisi Noro-huivin väreihin. Tätä oli niin ihana neuloa, että saatanpa vielä tehdä itsellenikin tällaisen! En yhtään ihmettele, että ohje on ollut niin suosittu. Paitsi että malli on kaunis, sen neulomisessa oli jotain koukuttavaa. Ehkä se oli se tapa neuloa palmikonkierrot, en tiedä. Joka tapauksessa tykkäsin! Ja hämmästyttävintä oli, että piposta tuli leveyssuunnassa myös itselleni sopiva, vaikka en muokannut ohjetta lainkaan. Ainoastaan korkeussuunnassa pitäisi jättää yksi toisto pois. Pipo on kuvassa vedetty hieman liian syvälle päähän, jotta se ei pussittaisi kärjestä. Anopille, joka myös on pienikokoinen, pipo oli onneksi juuri passeli.

Tämä oli muuten ensimmäinen kerta, kun käytin Novitan lankaa. Melkoinen saavutus! Cloudista ei ainakaan ole valittamista, päinvastoin: lanka oli pehmeää ja mukavaa neuloa. Langassa on kauniin hento silkkinen kiilto, ja se sopi tähän ohjeeseen hyvin. Eikä 1,5 kerässä tullut vastaan solmun solmua.

Noro Craze, Vol. 2

Pattern: Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole, Scarf Style
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden Lite, #2013, 4 balls = 200 g
Needles: 4.5 mm
Modifications: 4 base triangles = 32 s
Size: 28 x 187 cm without fringe

My second Lady Eleanor, this time more of a scarf than stole. This was a gift for my SO’s mother – I immediately thought of her when I saw these colours and bought the yarn with her in mind. I was originally going to make something else, but this pattern just seems to be made for Noro.

She has been wearing it a lot and, says it’s nice and warm and that she receives a lot of compliments for it. She also noticed that people pay attention to it on the street – I got the same feeling with my first Clapotis, I felt like everyone was staring at me and I was wondering if the stole was too gaudy. Nowadays I don’t notice it anymore. But then again I’m a die-hard Noro fan these days, despite my initial dislike of the yarn’s tendency to produce totally random surprise colours mid-knitting. Now I just see it as an added bonus. Who wants to be predictable, anyway?

This was my first time with Silk Garden Lite. Nice.

Tämä oli toinen Lady Eleanorini, tällä kertaa huiviversiona. Tein tämän miehen äidille – hän tuli näistä väreistä heti mieleeni ja ostin langat sillä ajatuksella, että teen niistä hänelle jotain kivaa. Aikomukseni oli alun perin tehdä jotain muuta, mutta tämä malli tuntuu olevan luotu Norolle.

Anoppi on pitänyt huivia paljon, sanoo sitä ihanan lämpimäksi ja on saanut siitä paljon kommentteja. Hän sanoi myös huomanneensa, että ihmiset kiinnittävät siihen kadulla huomiota. Minulla oli sama tunne, kun käytin ensimmäistä Clapotistani ensimmäisiä kertoja – tuntui, että kaikki tuijottivat, ja mietin, tuliko huivista liian räikeä. Sittemmin lakkasin ajattelemasta asiaa. Tosin olenkin nykyään vannoutunut Noro-fani, vaikka aluksi ärsyynnyin siitä putkahtavista ylläriväreistä. Nykyään se on minusta vain plussaa. Kuka sitä paitsi edes haluaa olla ennalta-arvattava?

Tämä oli ensimmäinen kerta, kun neuloin Silk Garden Litea. Nam.

Noro Craze, Vol. 1

Pattern: Noro Striped Scarf
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden, colourway 211, two balls, colourway 234, 2 balls, and colourway 84, about 1/2 ball
Needles: 4.5 mm
Finished Size: 20 x 200 cm
Modifications: CO 51 sts, use of three colourways

He wanted it big, bright and colourful. He got it. And I loved knitting it. Honestly, I think I knitted it slowly on purpose just to be able to enjoy it as long as possible. I loved the feel of the yarn and enjoyed watching new colours emerge.

Surprisingly, the two main colourways were spun quite differently: one of them was mostly thick and lumpy while the other was thin and stringy. This meant that one of them always ran out while there was still plenty of the other one left. I patched it with the leftovers of my first Clapotis, and the red tones of #84 blended in nicely and brought even more colour to the scarf.

Hän halusi siitä ison ja värikkään, ja saamansa piti. Tätä oli ihana neuloa. Neuloin tätä tietoisesti hitaasti, jotta saisin nauttia siitä mahdollisimman pitkään. Oli hauskaa katsoa, miten lanka käyttäytyy ja millaisia väriyhdistelmiä siitä syntyi.

Yllättäen värit 211 ja 234 oli kehrätty hyvin erilaisiksi: toinen oli paksua ja paakkuista, toinen ohutta narua. Niinpä toinen loppui aina ennen toista. Paikkasin vajetta tunkemalla väliin ensimmäisestä Clapotiksestani jäänyttä väri 84:ää. Sen punaiset sävyt sopivat sekaan hyvin ja toivat huiviin vielä enemmän väriä.

Here you can see most of the colours. It looks really bright when you look at it on its own, but much more subtle when worn.

I love this scarf, and so does he. I’ve almost snatched it to myself a couple of times. Hmm, perhaps I should make one for myself, too…

Tässä näkyvät ainakin useimmat värit. Huivi näyttää tosi värikkäältä näin yksinään, mutta paljon hillitymmältä kaulassa.

Tästä tuli ihana. Mies tykkää. Minäkin tykkään. Olen jo pari kertaa meinannut nyysiä tämän omaan käyttööni. Pitäisiköhän tehdä itselle oma…

Hats off to the New Year!

Now that the holidays are over, I should start posting my pre-Christmas knitting. Not all of these were Christmas presents, I just haven’t got round to taking photos (since the winters in southern Finland seem to have become permanently snowless, it seems that there’s even less daylight than there was before…) or in general just getting my act together. But I have been knitting!

As it happened, the man of my life lost his only hat some time before Christmas and asked me to make him a new one! He’s usually not too keen on me knitting him anything, so I felt quite exhilarated. Our conversation went something like this:

Him: I can’t find my hat anywhere, must’ve left it on the bus or something.

Me (sitting at my computer): Mmm.

Him: Hey, you could make me a new one, couldn’t you?

Me (surprised): Why, yes, of course!

Him: OK, thanks! (wanders off)

Me (getting excited): Hey, wait. What kind of hat would you like? What yarn? What colour?

Him: Oh, just take something from your stash.

Me: Oh no no, we need to select the pattern and the yarn and the colour, and if I don’t have suitable yarn I can go and buy some. Just tell me what you’d like.

Him: You decide, I’ll be happy with anything.

Me: No, this is important. Come here, I *cough* happen to be on Ravelry and I’ve got some patterns here…

He liked both the Jacques Cousteau Hat and Koolhaas. Yay, two hats!

Nyt kun juhlapyhät ovat ohi, pitäisi alkaa vähitellen esitellä joulun alla valmistuneita neuleita. Kaikki näistä eivät olleet lahjoja – en vain ole saanut aikaiseksi ottaa kuvia tai muutenkaan ryhdistäytyä. Mutta olen neulonut!

Rakkaani kadotti sattumoisin ainoan piponsa jokin aika ennen joulua ja pyysi minua neulomaan uuden. Tätä kunniaa ei minulle ole aiemmin suotu, joten innostuin tietysti valtavasti. Keskustelumme meni suurin piirtein tätä rataa:

Mies: Mä en löydä mun pipoa mistään. Ehkä se on jääny bussiin tai jotain.

Minä (roikkuu netissä): Mmm.

Mies: Hei, sähän voisit neuloo mulle uuden.

Minä (yllättyneenä): Mitä? Joo, totta kai!

Mies: Okei, kiva.

Minä (innostuu): Hei, oota. Millasen sä haluut? Mitä lankaa? Minkävärisen?

Mies: Ota vaan jotain sun varastosta.

Minä: Ei kun ekaks valitaan malli ja sit lanka ja väri, sehän on tärkeetä. Jos mul ei oo sopivaa lankaa niin mä voin ostaa. Sano vaan mitä sä haluut.

Mies: Päätä sä, kyl sä tiedät.

Minä: Eiku tuu kattoon, mä *köh* oon just Ravelrys ja täs on näit malleja…

Mies piti sekä Jacques Cousteau -piposta että Koolhaasista. Jee, kaksi pipoa!

Pattern: Jacques Cousteau Hat
Yarn: BBB Filati MeRiSetA (70 % merino wool, 30 % silk), shade 6, 74 g
Needles: 3.5 mm
Size: Larger (man’s size)

Personally this pattern has always been my favourite – I just love the way it looks. It’s simple yet different. But for some reason I just didn’t get the pattern. Maybe it’s because I learnt to knit in English and am used to American patterns, which explain everything. I just seem to have a hard time understanding Finnish patterns, which in general seem to be quite a bit shorter. Call me dense but I had to knit the decreases three times before I got them right… The first time I used the original Finnish pattern. Didn’t look right. I then turned to the English translation, which helped a bit but something still didn’t look right. Finally I just eyeballed the pictures long enough to figure out how the decreases go and then just went ahead as I saw best. But I don’t think I modified anything except changed the decreases to ssk.

Since both the yarn and the pattern are very stretchy, the smaller size would probably have been enough. This hat is not very warm so it’s better suited for late autumn / early spring use, but it’s super soft and I looove the way it looks. MeRiSetA is super soft and has that lovely merino sproing (and it didn’t mind the constant frogging at all). Combine that with the silky sheen… Ahhh.

Olen aina pitänyt tästä mallista ihan tajuttomasti. Se on ihanan simppeli ja kuitenkin erilainen. Tykkään tosi paljon!

Jostain syystä en kuitenkaan tajunnut ohjetta. Ehkä syy on siinä, että opettelin neulomaan englanniksi ja käytän lähinnä amerikkalaisia ohjeita, joissa kaikki on selitetty juurta jaksain. Ymmärryksen puutteeni ei siis koske vain tätä ohjetta, vaan ylipäänsä joudun miettimään suomalaisissa ohjeissa enemmän. Saa nauraa, mutta jouduin neulomaan kavennukset kolme kertaa, ennen kuin sain ne oikein… Ensin yritin alkuperäisellä suomenkielisellä ohjeella. Pieleen meni. Sitten kokeilin englanninnosta. Auttoi vähän, mutta edelleen jotain pielessä. Lopulta tuijotin kuvaa sen verran kauan, että onnistuin päättelemään asian itse (luullakseni). Muutin vain kavennukset ssk:ksi.

Koska sekä lanka että malli joustavat reippaasti, pienempikin koko luultavasti olisi riittänyt. Tästä ei tullut superlämmin pipo, mutta se sopinee hyvin loppusyksyn ja alkukevään säihin. Itse tykkään tästä kuin hullu puurosta – minusta se vain näyttää kivalta. Ja se on todella pehmeä! MeRiSetA on unelmanpehmeää lankaa, jossa on merinon ihana kimmoisuus ja joustavuus (ja ekstrabonarina lanka ei ollut moksiskaan lukuisista purkamisista). Kun siihen lisätään vielä silkin himmeä hohto… Aaahhh.

Pattern: Koolhaas Hat, Interweave Knits Holiday 2007
Yarn: Mountain Colors Mountain Goat (55 % mohair, 45 % wool), Blue-green, 61 g
Needles: 4 mm & 5 mm
Size: Smaller (women’s)

This yarn was just so nice to work with. It’s really smooth – you wouldn’t believe that it’s 55 % mohair, it has none of that fuzz. My man loves the colour. And the hat? He wears it every day. :-)

Tätä lankaa oli ilo neuloa. Se on todella sileää – ei uskoisi, että siinä on yli puolet mohairia. Mies rakastaa väriä yli kaiken. Niin, ja se pipo? Jokapäiväisessä käytössä. :-)