here's a quick update

It has been a while. Last entry was written in March. Much has happened in the last 3-4 months.

First thing... I got hitched! Fredrik & I tied the knot a day after my 26th birthday. The date was the earliest available at the courthouse and worked for us.

Fredrik left on a 7 week tour about a week afterwards.

So I kept myself busy with school and work.

There's been a few small projects. Mostly involving embroidery.

It started with a card for Fredrik. Then it evolved into thank you cards for Fredrik's family who came to our wedding.

Then I expanded on to pins...

I made a series of pin sets. More cards. If you're interested, they're available at my Etsy store (http://deathbydesign.etsy.com).

something i've always wanted to try

I watched an episode of Martha Stewart Living years ago about shadow boxes and I've always wanted to make at least one. Well I decided that I would make Fredrik a shadow box, a gift (for the wedding?).
Making a shadow box lead to making felted finger puppets. I worked into the night, picked up this morning and finished shortly before noon.

Here it is...

hair sticks & my first instructable

http://www.instructables.com/id/Make_your_own_hair_sticks/

I wanted some nice hair sticks for the wedding (did I mention I'm getting married next week?). Since I couldn't find any I liked, I did what any crafter would do. I made my own.

photo: Kristin Goedert

I was just browsing through Knitty's patterns for winter 2008 and saw these. They are just too adorable. It's a shame that I'm sensitive to wool, otherwise I'd be making them PRONTO.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATToomingmacks.php

more calendars

I was itching for my paints for the whole time I was in Germany.

Denise suggested that I sell my calendars. I might depending on how long my painting craving lasts. Noel already wants a calendar.

Here's the art from the second calendar (I painted on proper watercolour paper this time.):

let us continue

I seriously hate the post editor Blogger has. It's a damn pain in the ass trying to arrange photos. I was tempted to throw my laptop across the room trying to arrange the pictures in the previous post.

Anyways.

I have the last 6 months painted but the pictures are still on my camera and I don't have the cable with me at the present moment.

I actually decided to paint a calendar for my mom. This time using proper water colour paper. It was a bit thick to make a booklet like thing for the calendar bit so I'm gluing the paintings on a calendar booklet made out of regular printer paper. I've finished the paintings from January to August.

been busy but now there is time

With school and Yule, it's been a busy month.

I finally got some time and some will to do something creative. I've been painting like a mad man in the last couple of days. Fredrik was in Germany and I was feeling especially anti social.

This attempt to do some painting didn't get Ull's attention like last time. He tried to eat my brush, drink the brush water and lick the water colour blocks. Guess having Milo around distracted him from what I might be up to.

Anyways.

I saw this really nice and cute calendar by a Swedish artist, Sara Elgeholm at the sci-fi book store in Gamla Stan. I wanted to buy it but then I thought, why not make my own.

So I pulled out my water colours and folded some A4 paper to assemble my own calendar.

Obviously it was not the greatest idea to use water colour on regular paper.

Here are the first 6 months:

out of hibernation

I've taken the time to wind the second skein of black yarn needed for the cardigan. I will resume knitting as soon as I'm ready to take a break from the dress. I'll probably be continuing in Canada. It'll be perfect because I'll have my mom around to help me with any issues I might have with the finishing.

164 stitches

I'm not even close to the end of the dress. I just wanted to point out that 164 stitches in a round is a lot of stitches. It may not be a lot for those of you who are more experienced with knitting but since my previous experiences only included only small items, this is a lot. I'll be making my way towards 500 stitches! That's right, the last round is a whopping 500 stitches!

At the moment I'm at the waist, soon I'll start the flare of the dress. I also found the 3rd colour for the armhole trim, placket and 1 magical stripe on the dress. It's this nice burgundy colour that compliments the other colours perfectly.

finally some time

Today was the last day at the day care. For the next couple of weeks, I plan on taking it easy. I currently have no work and no school.

The dress for Natalie is coming along quite nicely. I've just finished the first bit of contrast colour. It's a fairly fine yarn so progress is slow. I've also been careful to not knit too maniacally. Taking breaks for playing with Ull and doing other things. But I am a bit sore on my right side. I'm going to start practising yoga regularly again and hopefully that will relieve some stress.

Here are a couple progress pics for the dress.






I'm also finished the body portion of the Hexacomb Cardigan. I've started on the first sleeve but I need to wind the new skein.





All that's left from the first skein.

the left side is complete!

I've completed the left side of the cardigan. I had to rip it out once because I was unsure of the decreases and slightly unhappy with how parts of it looked. But it is DONE! I'm almost finished with the right side.

Here is the left side in all it's glory.

I still have quite a bit of yarn left. I don't think I'll be able to finish the cardigan with just 1 skein but I think I can get most of it done.

Marias garn

Yesteryday I decided to take a stroll from Mariatorget to Slussen. There are many places in Stockholm that I have yet to explore. On St:Paulsgatan is a lovely little LYS called Marias garn (translates to Maria's yarn). They carry an assortment of their own yarns and a few brands but I don't really recall any of the big names. Unfortunately yesterday was really hot and since it's not really common to have air conditioning in Sweden, it was really really warm inside the shop. Makes sense since the walls are lined with shelves of yarn.

Anyways.

This shop is filled with an assortment of yarns made from an assortment of materials. The colour selection is fabulous and from the conversation I overheard, the staff is quite knowledgeable. They also have an assortment of already knitted pieces (sweaters and shawls and so forth) so you can touch and see the results of the yarns they have.

It kind of made me miss Lettuce Knit in Kensington back home. How I love that shop.

I couldn't resist temptations, so I bought a 200g hunk of cotton yarn. The plans are to knit some sort of tank top with it. It looks quite fabulous. Here's hoping that it will turn out as great as I imagine it.

They use paper "sandwich" bags for purchases, which I think is pretty cute.

I informed my mom of my plans to knit my cousin a dress from the Interweave Knits spring issue. She informed me that my cousin is 5 now. So now I will have to knit this dress in about 1 years time. But I think it can still be done.

I'm gonna go make myself a swatch out of the cotton I bought.

Amigurumi

I first discovered amigurumi a couple of years ago.

Yesterday I made my first in almost a year. I took a hiatus from crocheting after too much crocheting. It wasn't really a conscious decision, it sorta just happened.

I got an amigurumi booklet from Saucylouise on Etsy sometime last year. She's located in Japan.

It's a great little book. I love Japanese instructions because they're so clear and easy to follow even if you don't understand the language. They're all about using pictures to show you what you're supposed to do. My mother used to use Japanese pattern books to make clothes for me.

Ull kept stealing the body and hiding it in the bathroom. I thought he would be more interested when I finished but he hasn't really expressed and interest. Maybe it's the thrill of knowing that I need the body then and not now anymore. But like all things that belong to me and Fredrik, it now belongs to Ull and he will play with it at his leisure.

I'm not too happy about the way it turned out. The proportions look a bit strange. I think I will get some safety eyes for the next amigurumi I make.

Man I Suck...

I suck at using colours. I prefer things in black and white. Black will always look nice with white.

I attempted at putting some colours together today. I decided to knit a swatch to see if the colours do work out. Well they didn't. It was so horrible that I had to stop right away and throw it out.

For those who don't believe me, here's a picture of it.

Finished Sample

I finished knitting the swatch for my Space Invaders mittens. It looks pretty good. Now I just have to figure out what kind of yarn and colours I want.

Mittens from Space!

I'm testing out a pattern of my own. The theme is Space Invaders. I knitted it with my Red Heart Super Saver and Bernat 100% acrylic yarn. The gauge is a bit bigger than the Lamb's Pride Super Wash. This is just a tester but if and when I do knit a pair of mittens out of these yarns, I'll make a smaller pattern with only 20 stitches instead of 24.

Here's a sampling of what it looks like.



I've also knitted up swatches with the acrylic yarns.

The first one is with Red Heart Super Saver.

Gauge: 4,5 st / inch (18 st / 4")
Needles: sz 9 (3,5mm)

This one is with Bernat 100% acrylic.

Gauge: 5 st/ inch (20 st / 4")
Needles: sz 9 (3,5mm)

They're done!

I finished the mittens today. I must say that they turned out quite nicely. It just needs to be washed and blocked. I tried my best not to knit like a maniac but I can't say that my hands and arms are not sore. I should probably take a break but I've got new ideas for another pair of mittens.

I'll be outfitting these mittens with a flannel lining. But that will require a sewing machine. I'll do that when I go back to Canada for a visit. I want to get a sewing machine except that it's not really THAT high up on my list of priorities. Fredrik has offered a few times but we need more important things like a new vacuum cleaner and we just got a dishwasher in the last month.

Anyways. Here's what they look like.





I made some changes to Hello Yarn's pattern. I didn't think the location of the right thumb should be so far into the mitten. There's a 3 stitch difference. So I relocated the thumb. I also didn't follow the thumb chart. I knitted it so it matches the pattern of the rest of the mitten. It's also slightly shorter because I have small thumbs.

The best thing about knitting your own mittens is that you can adjust it to fit your hands. Most mittens and gloves I've purchased always has thumbs that are too big for my own. There's usually about 1/2 inch of mitten left unfilled. It then causes problems with thumb functions because there's that flappy bit of mitten.

There are some progress shots available for viewing on my flickr.

These are the 3rd pair of mittens, I've knitted.

My first pair of mittens were made from Blue Sky Alpacas' Bulky Naturals. They made my hands itchy and were unfortunately lost in NYC when I went there with Fredrik. I do believe they fell out of my pockets in the cab. My second pair were ones I knitted for Noel. It was my gift to him for his birthday. They were in this lovely bulky blue yarn flecked with other colours.

I'm also thinking about creating my own mitten pattern. I've got some great ideas. Just need to get it down on paper.

I was thinking about knitting mittens for my friends. I want to knit more mittens but don't really have use for 10 pairs of mittens. I'm sure they'd appreciate it even if they are my prototypes.