As the year is coming to its end, it’s time to blog about the last yarns acquired this year. Without further ado:

Kun vuosi alkaa olla lopuillaan, on hyvä hetki esitellä loppuvuoden lankahankinnat. Suoraan asiaan siis:

Colinette Mohair, colourway Fire. Christmas present at the local knitters’ Christmas party. The colour is just delicious!

Tämä on Colinetten Mohairia, upea väri Fire. Pikkujoululahja. Tämä oli sokkolahja, mutta väri osui kertakaikkisen nappiin!

Knit Picks Gloss, colourway Dusk. Lovely, soft merino & silk yarn. Enough for a sweater. The picture doesn’t do the colour justice - it’s a beautiful, nighttime sky type of blue.

Knit Picksin Glossia, sävy Dusk. Villapaidallisen verran ihanan pehmeää merinovillaa ja silkkiä. Kuva ei tee värille oikeutta - se on todella kaunis yötaivaan sininen.

I also went yarn shopping in Tallinn. It’s a fantastic place to buy yarns - look what I got!

Tallinnassakin tuli käytyä lankaostoksilla:

TitanWool Merinos Extra, 100% merino wool, in two different shades of brown. I have some of this already and thought I might see if it could be used for a sweater, triple stranded, combining different shades of brown.

TitanWoolin Merinos Extraa kahdessa eri ruskean sävyssä. Olen ostanut tätä aiemminkin ja ajattelin kokeilla, saisiko siitä kolminkertaisena neulottuna villapaidan. Lanka on 100-prosenttista merinovillaa.

More brown merino wool! This is TitanWool Winner, also something I’ve used before, in a lovely chocolate brown colour. Again 100% merino wool and enough for a sweater.

Lisää ruskeaa merinovillaa! Tämä on TitanWoolin Winneriä, jota olen käyttänyt aiemminkin. Väri on todella syötävä suklaanruskea. Tämäkin on 100-prosenttista merinovillaa. Mukaan lähti villapaidallisen verran.

Then the real jackpot:

Sitten todellinen jättipotti:

A heap of ultimate Italian luxury yarn - merino wool, silk and cashmere! I saw this at a distance and could barely hold myself back at the sight of this - I could have grabbed it all! Unfortunately (or luckily) this shop only accepts cash and I run out of currency as soon as I started heaping this in my shopping cart. The colours were beautiful, but as you can see I resorted to my usual favourites red and black. What can you do? And besides, my knitting friends have assured me there’s no limit to how many red or black knitted sweaters or cardigans one can have…

Tässä on todellista luksuslankaa - merinoa, silkkiä ja kashmiria! Näin tämän jo jonkin matkan päästä ja pysyin tuskin nahoissani, kun näin tätä laarikaupalla ihanissa väreissä. Olisin voinut ottaa ne kaikki! Pahaksi (tai ehkäpä sittenkin hyväksi) onneksi tämä kauppa hyväksyy vain käteistä, joten rahat loppuivatkin sitten alta aikayksikön, kun rupesin näitä latomaan kärryyni. Kun kaikkia värejä ei voinut ottaa, niin otin sitten taas vakiovärejäni punaista ja mustaa. Minkäs teet? Onneksi kanssaneulojat ovat vakuuttaneet minulle, että ihmisellä ei voi olla liikaa neulepuseroita ja -takkeja, vaikka ne kaikki olisivatkin punaisia tai mustia.

That wasn’t all of it - I bought loads. 30 balls in all. Whoaa!

Tätä on siis paljon. Yhteensä 30 kerää. Nam.

And finally, a bag of black (again) sweater wool, superwash, 100% pure new wool. This is Nordic from Filatura Cervinia. It was cheap, black, pure wool and superwash - so I grabbed it.

Viimeisenä Tallinnan-ostoksena nappasin mukaan pussillisen villapaitalankaa, Filatura Cervinian Nordicia. Se oli halpaa, mustaa, täyttä villaa ja vieläpä konepestävää, joten miksipä ei?

More black wool, this time from Finland. This is from Pirtin Kehräämö, a local manufacturer. This is thick, undyed black wool, 100% wool from black sheep. Somehow I love the thought that this yarn is the colour of the sheep it came from, nothing artificial. A Christmas present.

Lisää mustaa villaa, Pirtin Kehräämön hahtuvalankaa. Väri on luonnonmusta, mustan lampaan villaa. On jotenkin ihana ajatus, että villa on oikeasti lampaan väristä. Tämän sain joululahjaksi.

And finally, a second Christmas arrived in our household with this parcel from the US. It’s Patons SWS, 70% wool and 30% soy, in the fantastic Natural Earth colourway. Just look at those colours! As far as I know this yarn is not available in Europe, so it was a real treat to get this.

Meillä koettiin toinen joulu, kun tämä paketti saapui välipäivinä USA:sta. Lanka on Patonsin SWS:ää, 70 % villaa ja 30 % soijaa, ja väri on upea Natural Earth. Tätä ei tietääkseni saa Euroopasta, joten tämä oli todellista herkkua.

I know have more than enough to knit from next year as well, so… All the best for the coming year, happy knitting, and thanks for reading my blog this year!

Nyt on sitten lankaa ensi vuodenkin tarpeisiin, ainakin vähäksi aikaa. Onnellista uutta vuotta, paljon mukavia neulomishetkiä ja kiitos, että pistäydyitte blogissani tänä vuonna!

She is finally…

…knitting sweaters!

Project: Turtleneck Tunic
Pattern: My own
Yarn: Knit Picks Andean Treasure, Embers Heather, 11 balls (550 g)
Needles: Knit Picks Harmony 3.25 mm circular & Addi Lace 3.25 mm circular

This was probably the simplest thing I’ve knitted for a while. As such it was a perfect project to be knitted in the middle of the moving & renovating hassle: no need to count rows or stitches, knit a few rows at a time when you find a spare moment, put down for a couple of weeks and just pick up from where you left when you find another spare moment.

Kyllä vain, ryhdyin vihdoin neulomaan villapaitoja! Tämä oli yksinkertaisin neuleprojektini aikoihin - eipä tarvinnut pahemmin laskea silmukoita eikä kerroksia. Tämä olikin täydellinen neule muutto- ja remonttihässäkän keskelle: neuloin tätä pienissä pätkissä aina muutaman kerroksen kerrallaan, kun oli hetki aikaa, saatoin laskea käsistäni pariksi viikoksikin, ja kun taas oli aikaa, nappasin neuleen käsiini ja jatkoin sitä sen kummemmin miettimättä.

I had no pattern for this tunic as such. I modelled it after an old sweater that I like but that’s too shabby now to be worn in public. Since I’ve mostly been knitting accessories so far, I read about the basic anatomy of a sweater and took some basic measurements from Ann Budd’s brilliant book The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Every now and then I tried the thing on, and that was more or less it.

En tehnyt tätä varsinaisesti minkään ohjeen mukaan, vaan käytin mallina vanhaa lempivillapaitaa, joka on jo sen verran kulahtanut, ettei sitä enää kehtaa hirveästi ihmisten ilmoilla pitää. Koska olen tähän asti neulonut lähinnä huiveja ja sukkia, tutustuin villapaidan perusanatomiaan ja otin muutamia alustavia mittoja Ann Buddin loistavasta kirjasta The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns. Välillä sovitin, ja se oli suurin piirtein siinä.

I like simple sweaters and didn’t want anything fancy in this one. It’s all stocking stitch, with fitted sleeves and a small turtleneck. I love the fitted sleeves - and I love this sweater! I finished knitting it about 3 weeks ago, then it took a while to block and dry and another while for me to sew it together and weave in the ends - and even longer to find a moment to take the pics. I knitted the entire thing on circs as I don’t particularly like purling and it didn’t make much sense anyway to knit the front and back separately. And now that I know how long it took me just to attach the sleeves to the body, I’m really happy I didn’t have to sew the sides as well!

Pidän yksinkertaisista neuleista, vaikka niitä olisikin tylsempi neuloa. En halunnut tähänkään mitään ylimääräistä. Neule on pelkkää sileää, ja siinä on istutetut hihat ja pieni poolokaulus. Pidän erityisesti noista istutetuista hihoista, sillä ne tosiaan istuvat. Neuleesta tuli muutenkin todella mieleinen.

Sain tämän neulottua ehkä kolmisen viikkoa sitten, mutta pingotus ja kuivuminen kesti aikansa, samoin koko homman kasaaminen, valokuvaamisesta puhumattakaan. Neuloin kaiken mahdollisen pyörönä, koska en erityisemmin pidä nurjan neulomisesta eikä etu- ja takakappaleen neulominen erikseen ja hihan neulominen edestakaisin tuntunut muutenkaan erityisen järkevältä. Kun ryhdyin kiinnittämään hihoja, olin todella iloinen, ettei minun tarvinnut ommella sivusaumojakin. Kyllä siinä hetki vierähti aloittelijalta!

All in all I’m inexplicably proud of this sweater. I can’t believe I’ve knitted it all by myself, with no real pattern even, and that it fits! It’s 100% baby alpaca and warm - just the way I like it - and as you can see from the creases on the sleeves in pic 2, I’ve been wearing it a lot. The yarn was nice to knit, and the colourway is truly beautiful. The weirdest thing, though, is that I still can’t get over the fact that there’s no label on the neck. Every time I put the sweater on I instinctively run my fingers around the inside of the neck to find out which way to put it on. Fellow knitters, please tell me: do you actually get used to this, or should I sew something in there just to keep me from wondering in the early morning darkness, even if it’s just for a split second, where the heck is that label and which way shall I put this on?

Kaiken kaikkiaan olen aivan käsittämättömän ylpeä tästä neuleesta. Tuntuu ihmeelliseltä, että olen tosiaan neulonut sen itse, vieläpä ilman varsinaista ohjetta, ja että se on sopivan kokoinen! Se on 100-prosenttista babyalpakkaa ja juuri sopivan lämmin, ja kuten keskimmäisen kuvan hihoista näkyy, olen pitänyt sitä todella paljon. Lanka oli mukavaa neulottavaa, ja murrettu väri on minusta todella kaunis. Omituista tässä on oikeastaan vain se, että etsin edelleen joka kerta tätä päälle pukiessani käsilläni niskasta sitä kaupan neuleista löytyvää lappua, jotta tietäisin, kummin päin vedän neuleen päälle. Sanokaahan: tottuuko tähän ikinä vai pitäisikö sinne laittaa joku hämäyslappu, jotta en joka aamu joutuisi puoliunissani pähkäilemään, missä se lappu nyt taas on ja kumpi on etu- ja kumpi takapuoli?

While my moving-house project was blocking last week, I thought I’d whip up something quick, and since a new handicraft fair was approaching, it seemed appropriate to get rid of some of the yarns from the previous one. Hence, I grabbed my three hanks of Malabrigo Aquarella.

Muuttoprojektini pingottuessa ajattelin huitaista kasaan jotain nopeaa, ja kun uudet käsityömessut olivat tulossa, olikin sopiva hetki neuloa jotain edellisten messujen annista. Niinpä puikoille pääsi syötävän suklainen Malabrigon Aquarella.

Project: Malabrigo hat
Pattern: none
Yarn: Malabrigo Aquarella, shade Coronilla, 91 g
Needles: Knit Picks Options Harmony 9 mm
Finished size: small

Aquarella is super bulky yarn, and since I didn’t find any suitable patterns, I improvised as I went along. The yarn has huge lumps in it and is very uneven, and to accentuate the bulkiness I placed the decreases asymmetrically yet symmetrically - not aligned but always two stitches off. I think it worked quite well.

Aquarella on paksuudeltaan super bulkya ja erittäin möykkyistä. En löytänyt sopivaa ohjetta, joten improvisoin. Päätin myös korostaa langan epätasaisuutta sijoittamalla kavennukset säännöllisen epäsäännöllisesti siirtämällä niitä aina kahdella silmukalla, ja se toimi minusta hyvin.

Pattern: My So Called Scarf
Yarn: Malabrigo Aquarella, shade Coronilla, 200 g
Needles: Knit Picks Options Harmony 9 mm
Finished size: 16 x 140 cm

The rest of the yarn went into a scarf. I like the pattern - it’s extremely simple, yet intricate, and brings out the subtle colour variations of the yarn beautifully. Since I only had two hanks left, I dropped the number of stitches to 20 and knitted a narrower scarf than in the pattern.

Loput langat päätyivät huiviksi. My So Called Scarfin ohje on yksinkertainen, mutta lopputulos on upean yksityiskohtainen ja korostaa langan vivahteita todella kauniisti. Koska minulla oli vain kaksi vyyhtiä, tein huivista kapeamman kuin ohjeessa ja loin vain 20 silmukkaa.

And the final verdict? I like them both. The hat looks quite big on my head, but the size is just right. The folded edge makes it really warm, which is good in these latitudes. We’ll see if I get to wear it this winter - so far it’s just been raining…

Lopputuloksista tuli miellyttävät. Pipo näyttää isolta päässäni, vaikka se on juuri sopiva. Se on käännetyn reunan ansiosta myös tuplasti lämmin, ja sitähän Suomen talvessa tarvitaan. Saa nähdä, tuleeko sille käyttöä tänä talvena.

This was the first time I used super bulky yarn, and although I thought it would be fast to knit with 9 mm needles, it wasn’t! I like trying out different things and experimenting with different kinds of yarns, but my hands are the size of those of a 6-year-old child, and maneuvering thick, lumpy yarn and drumstick-sized needles took quite a bit of effort. I also had the odd sensation of knitting with kids’ crayons…

This process picture illustrates how much variation there is in this yarn (and how funny the needles look):

Tämä oli ensimmäinen kerta, kun käytin näin paksua lankaa ja näin isoja puikkoja. Vaikka luulisi, että neulominen olisi sujunut nopeasti, niin toisin kävi! Käteni ovat samaa kokoluokkaa kuin 6-vuotiaalla lapsella, ja paksun möykkylangan ja rumpupalikan kokoisten puikkojen pyörittely oli pienillä käsillä työlästä. Minulla oli myös koko ajan outo tunne siitä, että neulon lasten väriliiduilla - tiedättehän ne paksut, värikkäät ja teräväkärkiset…

Tästä kuvasta näkee langan suuren paksuusvaihtelun sekä nuo vinkeät puikot.

And as you can see the colourway is just delicious: dark chocolate, coffee, golden honey, molasses…

Värit ovat todella herkulliset: tummaa suklaata, kahvia, hunajaa, melassisokeria…

Hiya, long time no see! It’s been a while since my last update. We’ve recently bought a new flat and moved, and all the buying, renovating, packing, moving, unpacking, and selling the old flat has left very little time to knit, let alone blog. This is the first time in my (albeit short) knitting history that I’ve actually gone for weeks without touching my needles. I’m also constantly weeks behind in blog reading, but now that things are slowly getting back to normal, it’s time to break the blog silence and try to get back on track.

Syvä hiljaisuus tällä blogirintamalla johtuu hiljattaisesta muutosta. Ostimme isomman asunnon, ja kaupanteon, remontin, pakkaamisen, muuton, uuden asunnon järjestelyn ja vanhan myynnin lomassa neulomiseen, saati bloggaamiseen, jäänyt aika on ollut liki nolla. Olen myös jatkuvasti viikkoja jäljessä muiden blogien seuraamisessa. Onneksi elämä alkaa vähitellen asettua uomiinsa uudessa kämpässä, tavarat alkavat löytää paikkojaan, ja minä olen taas löytänyt television ja sen myötä neulomisen.

Päätin myös kokeilla kahdella kielellä kirjoittamista. Tarkoituksenani oli alun perinkin tehdä tästä kaksikielinen blogi, mutta yhdellä kielellä kirjoittaminen vei jo niin paljon energiaa, että se vain jäi. Kokeillaan nyt ainakin, miten tämä luonnistuu. Saa rohkaista. :-)

As you see I’ve also decided to go bilingual since, by the look of that fun little map on the side there, most of my readers are in Finland.

Anyway, now some Knitting-Related Content, please!

One sign of getting over the whole moving hassle is buying yarn. I bravely resisted the sale at Cucumberpatch until one day I just snapped, and here’s the result. This is Jaeger Extra Fine Merino, both DK and Aran, in Aubergine, Jet and Cream. Rather nice - and at a very nice price. I also got some Debbie Bliss books with neat cable patterns to go with the yarns.

Yksi muutosta toipumisen merkki on langan ostaminen. Vastustin Cucumberpatchin alea urheasti, kunnes eräänä iltana rysähti. Yllä Jaegerin Extra Fine Merinoa sekä DK:na että aranina. Värit ovat Aubergine, Jet ja Cream. Pari Debbie Blissin kirjaakin tarttui mukaan. Kurkkupenkki on muuten käsittämättömän nopea: langat tulivat kotiin tasan kahdessa päivässä. Toisin kuin Seasonstore, josta paketti matkasi Suomeen kolme viikkoa. No, loppu hyvin, kaikki hyvin, sillä siinä niitä herkkuja vasta olikin:

Whereas Cucumberpatch delivered in an amazing two days from the UK to Finland, Seasonstore’s parcel took three weeks to arrive from Germany. Not that it wasn’t worth the wait: folks, here’s a box full of silk, merino wool, mohair and cashmere!

I got quite a bunch of Lana Grossa Tusshena, 55% silk and 45% mohair, enough for a sweater or cardi. The colourway is fabulous!

Ostin Lana Grossan Tusshenaa (55 % silkkiä, 45 % mohairia) aika reippaasti. Väri on tajuttoman kaunis, ja langan pitäisi riittää villapaitaan tai -takkiin, toivottavasti. Samaan syssyyn vetäisin pari kerää luksussukkalankaa, jossa on merinon ja silkin lisäksi myös kashmiria.

While I was at it, I also got some luxury sock yarn that contains not only silk and merino wool but also cashmere. Yum!

And, like the title says, I’m also knitting again, little by little. Pics to follow when I have some results to show.

Neulominenkin edistyy hiljalleen. Kuvia luvassa, kun on jotain näytettävää…

Finally, pictures of Mystery Stole 3, now called Swan Lake, that I finished a while ago. I had put it on hold in July when there was a two-week break in the clues, during which I went on a long holiday and started knitting something else. On top of that, I had to pull out the needles as I only had one pair of 3.25 mm needles (guess how many I have now…) and I needed them for my travel project. The stole did travel with me to the US and back but was on stitch holders the entire time.

The last three clues were all posted while I was away and only got to check my e-mails sporadically. Clue 5 revealed the theme as Swan Lake - and it also revealed that we would be knitting a wing. While I’d knitted the previous clues as soon as they came out, this time I waited until I was back at home, partly because I couldn’t get the clues printed on the road and partly because the idea of a wing sounded so weird that I wanted to see how it turns out before deciding whether to knit it or go for the no-wing option.

I agonised for a while over my decision and knitted other things - the wing looked so out of place, but the symmetrical option seemed too boring a solution, especially as it meant ripping back to the designer-instructed lifeline and knitting clues 1-4 all over again. Or, to be precise, the wing as such looked quite nice but the two halves were too different to my taste. It was like two completely different things stuck together. Like half horse, half armadillo.

Finally I decided to knit the wing, partly because it was the way the designer intended and partly because it actually looked good when worn.

To be honest, had I not knitted half the stole already I would never have started, but it made more sense to finish the stole than rip everything.

Luckily I enjoy knitting as a process and liked knitting the wing. It was also fast, so when I finally picked up my needles again, the stole was finished in no time.

In the end I found myself actually liking the wing better than the rest of the stole.

As a whole I quite like the stole and am glad I knitted the shorter version as the size is just perfect for me. I’m also glad I participated in this Mystery Stole.

Pattern: Mystery Stole 3 / Swan Lake
Designer: Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: Wetterhoff Silvia, black, 61 g
Needles: 3.25 mm bamboo straights / Addi Lace / Knit Picks Options Harmony
Finished size: 55 x 170 cm

Can there be a happier sight than this?

A boxful of goodies from Knit Picks!

This is Alpaca Cloud, laceweight 100% baby alpaca, in both Peppermint and Smoke. I’ll probably make a new Hanami from the Peppermint - this colour is closer to the pinks that I can wear. I gave the first one to someone whom the colour suits really well.

This is Wool of the Andes, 100% Peruvian highland wool, shade Hollyberry. Perfect for Hedgerow Coat!

I also got a bunch of the new wooden Options.

Yes, it seems my prayers have been answered! The Options Harmony wooden needles are made of birch, and despite the Technicolor effect (honestly - why couldn’t they just make natural-coloured wooden needles?), I ordered a bunch of them as soon as they came out. And now they’re here! And to my surprise, they’re not as migraine-triggering as I feared. In fact, they are quite pretty and much less bright than in the pictures.

I switched them on to my then WIP (which is now a FO) immediately, and in action they look mostly like rosewood needles.

They’re also very light and have the lovely warm feel of wooden needles. I love them!

You may recognise that the lace piece in the picture is the Mystery Stole 3 at its last stage. It’s now finished; photos to follow as soon as I get organised.

In between the lacy things, I knitted a sturdier winter scarf for my love.

Pattern: A generic sideways 1 x 1 rib scarf
Yarn: TitanWool Winner, colourways 3, 302 & 305, 47 g each
Needles: Knit Picks Options 3.5 mm
Size: 15 cm x 149 cm, unblocked without fringe

This was a nice and simple project. I knitted it sideways because I wanted long stripes and chose 1 x 1 ribbing to create an even surface that looks the same on both sides. The yarn, 100% merino wool, was not the softest merino I’ve knitted but nice and springy all the same. For some reason the black one seemed fluffier thant the grey ones while knitting, but it doesn’t pop out from the finished scarf.

I’m also on Ravelry now, got my invite last week - just in time for my 6-month knitting anniversary! Nice as it was, it also meant I had to face the daunting task of actually finding out how much yarn I have. It took me two days to go through my yarns and another two to catalogue my needles. Both tasks involved surprise moments as I kept finding stuff I’d completely forgotten about. Luckily they were nice surprises - I still like my yarns, and as if by magic I also seem to have forgotten how much they cost. Handy, isn’t it?

I still haven’t had time to do much there, but if you’re there, do come and visit me. My ID is Midori.

Finally, the stuff from the Finnish Handicraft Fair in Helsinki last week. Yes, she’s been buying yarn again! In fact, she seems to be carrying home more yarn than she has time to blog about! And would you believe it, nothing red. No, this time it’s all brown (and a bit of white):

Malabrigo Aquarella, shade Coronilla, hand painted pure wool. Lovely, rich chocolaty-coffee colours with a hint of gold and honey. It’s super bulky - the recommended needle size is 9 mm! I should have enough for a decent-sized scarf, or I could make a smaller scarf and a hat. Any pattern suggestions? I haven’t knitted anything from bulky yarn before.

Here’s a closeup of the colours:

Mmmmm…

This was so interesting that I just had to grab it, all of it. It’s Handpainted Boutone Pure Wool Yarn from Handpainted Yarn. The name comes from the small bulky bits that can be found here and there, and those along with the individually painted threads that have then been spun into a 3-ply yarn are precisely what makes this yarn so fascinating.

Incidentally, I’ve been toying with an idea for a sweater design for a while now, looking for suitable yarn, and this could just be it! Let’s just hope that 400 g is enough.

This is King Cole Merino Blend, 100% pure new wool. The white ones are for a friend, and the chocolate brown is for me. It’s soft, thin, anti-tickle and superwash, and I think it will make a nice pair of gloves to go with the Malabrigo scarf.

And finally a bunch of Hjertegarn Ribboo, 50% bamboo and 50% soya. For a corset top.

I’ve also bought some books:

Vogue Stitchionaries 1 & 2…

…and some Zimmermanns.

The Book Depository is fantastic! They have books for more or less US retail prices (which is a fraction of what books cost here) and free delivery. And a nice selection of knitting books. Could book shopping get any easier?

Now, amidst all this stash enhancement, I can just hear some of you wondering: is she secretly planning to open a yarn store, or does she still knit? While I do, admittedly, sometimes dream of running a yarn store of my own, no, I’m not opening one just now, and yes, I do still knit.

Here’s proof:

Pattern: Hanami
Designer: Melanie Gibbons
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk lace weight, shade Lady Slipper, 71 g
Beads: Gütermann Rocailles 9/o clear silver-lined
Needles: 3.25 mm bamboo straights & 3.25 mm Addi Lace circular
Finished size: 50 cm x 182 cm

This was a nice pattern to knit, although it seemed to take forever to get it done. It was my travel project and was mainly knitted in a car on various US interstate highways. (The long stretches on the Mojave desert were particularly productive.) Repeating the basketweave section for the umpth time got a bit boring, but other than that I quite enjoyed it.

I followed the pattern exactly except for the very end. There was a ruffle at the cherry blossom end of the stole that nearly doubled the amount of stitches and that I found a bit odd, so I just knitted a garter stitch edge like in the beginning. To balance it a bit, I also added beads to it so that both ends are now beaded alike. You can’t really see the beads unless they catch the light, which makes them look like little silvery rain drops at the end of the stole.

The yarn was lovely to work with, soft and silky, almost frail. So soft even that I can imagine it coming apart if pulled too hard. It’s the same weight as Wetterhoff Silvia, which I’m using for the Mystery Stole, but whereas Silvia is 70% wool and 30% silk, Zephyr is 50/50 and the higher silk content definitely pumps up the lux factor. This is even more evident in the black Zephyr; it has that silky shine that my MS3, knitted with black Silvia, sadly lacks.

Although actual cherry blossoms vary in colour from the palest white to very bright pink, this shade is perhaps a little too pink to portray the frail beauty of them, that passing moment when the whole world is suddenly filled with candyfloss before the fragile petals get blown away by the wind or beaten down by the rain.

I love sakura and the hanami season in Japan. I also like this stole. It’s a little too big and a little too sminky-pinky for me to wear it quite naturally, but I like it.

This part consists of a Knit Picks order that came in while I was away.

This is Shimmer, 70% baby alpaca and 30% silk. The colourway is called Turquoise Splendor, and turquoise splendor it indeed is. Perfect for a Peacock Feathers Shawl, which intrigues me although I fear it will be far too big for me. There’s also enough for a regular winter scarf, just in case I’ll never get to wear the Peacock shawl…

I also got some Andean Treasure, 100% baby alpaca, in the Embers Heather colourway. You may remember that I bought some of this earlier; I suddenly panicked that I didn’t have enough for a sweater. This is for my peace of mind.

Now for the real surprise:

Options and I are back together! Thanks to a very helpful tip from Domesticshorthair about a lotion that makes it all possible. It creates a temporary shield between my hands and anything I touch, protecting the skin from contact allergies. I haven’t tried it with the Options needles yet, because - surprisingly - they lack the size I’ve been using in my recent projects, but I’ve tested it with other metallic items and honestly, it seems to work. A miracle!

I’m really happy about this, as despite fervent re-stocking of my needle stash with state-of-the-art Addi Laces and whatnots I’ve yet to come across anything as good as Options. Addi Laces are nice, especially the tips, but the Knit Picks cables are simply unbeatable, and I love the idea of always being able to pick the right cable length. I do prefer working with wooden and bamboo needles, but I also like circulars and have not yet been able to find wooden or bamboo circs with decent enough cables and joins. My ideal needles would be Knit Picks Options and fixed circulars in rosewood, but until that dream comes true, I’ll be very happy knitting away with these.

This one should actually be titled “Goodies from America, the Prequel” as I got it a while ago. (And as you see, I have actually been knitting as well.) It’s JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk, lace weight, 50% fine grade merino wool and 50% tussah silk. This shade is Lady Slipper, a rather strong pink. I got some in black as well, enough for two scarves or stoles. I have no particular projects in mind for it but it’ll be there when I need it.

Other recent acquisitions include a yarn swift, a wool winder and an electronic kitchen scale, bought for the sole purpose of weighing yarn. It’s all in the tools!

Coming up: goodies from Helsinki, as well as my first piece of lace knitting. Stay tuned.