let there be flare!

I managed to make it past the 23 rounds of 220 stitches. Now I'm on to 23 rounds of 276 stitches. That's only the beginning of the flare! But it's all worth it. It's looking pretty good. I think I might be able to finish it by the end of the month. I know that I'll have plenty of idle time in my journey back to Canada. So I'll be knitting away like a granny expecting quintuplets for grandchildren.

practice makes perfect

Since I've got 18 rounds of just straight forward knit, I've been practising my continental knitting. At first I had a bit of a cramp in my left hand but after reviewing some instructional videos and reconfiguring what I'm doing, I seem to be doing ok. I'm obviously not knitting as quickly but I'm sure that with practice, I'll be able to knit equally fast using both hands.

164 x 26

The problem with knitting something big and grand is that there are a lot of mundane parts. As exciting as even a cable may be or a colour way, it does get super boring after a while. I would take a break from the knitting but I don't want to get so distracted that I don't end up going back to the project. Maybe I'll wind up the new skein for the Hexacomb cardigan.

Speaking of winding yarn, I was thinking about getting myself a yarn winder. Buying a yarn winder would also mean I would need a swift. The combination purchase of the two does total to almost $100. Then I start wondering if I wind enough yarn to justify such a purchase. This might be gloating but I do wind a mighty good yarn by hand. I guess if I ever plan to knit myself a dress and need to wind a butt load of yarn, I'll reconsider the idea of a yarn winder and swift.

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.

i could not resist

I stopped by Marias Garn last week after I got my pay to get more yarn for the cardigan. I also decided to pick up some yarn for the Good Stripe Dress (from Interweave Knits Spring 2008) I'm planning on knitting for my cousin Natalie.

The linen yarn they carried was a bit too fine for the gauge needed for the dress but after chatting with the lady that was working, I decided to use the cotton yarn I'm using for my Hexacomb Cardigan.

I picked a lovely pink and a dusty rose for the dress. I hope that I can finish it in time so that it would fit her still.

it can be done!

I've made much progress in my Hexacomb Cardigan. I actually think I can finish this before I go back to Canada. Although I might leave the sleeve finishing for Canada because I could use the help my mom who has knitted countless amounts of sweaters.

At the present moment, I'm finished with the body. I've started on the first sleeve.

I took this picture last night before I finished the body.


Fredrik and I are staying home today even though it's his birthday so I'm knitting away like a maniac.

I'm so excited about this cardigan. I'll finally have something nice to wear with my dresses. Not to mention it's my first cardigan.

Just so you know

I've been fiddling with possibly moving this blog to wordpress.com
I'm still working on the kinks and what not but I kind of prefer some of their blog entry editing options. There are still plenty of pros about blogger.com but I'm going to see if it's better with wordpress.
I'll try to keep ya updated.

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.

Ravelry.com

I knew of this fabulous website a while back but I kind of forgot about it until I read about it in my spring issue of Interweave Knits.

So the web address is www.ravelry.com

"What is so special about this??" you might ask.

Well...

It's like a virtual notebook for your knitting and crocheting needs. I don't know about you but I live mostly on my computer and I do have a notebook that I keep information about the yarns and needles that I have but at the present moment I think that notebook is in Canada. Well that's no good to me now is it? I'm living in Sweden and it's a 10+ hour flight to Toronto to get it. Well now when I forget my notebook for knitting/crocheting, I can just log on for stuff like my list of needles and hooks.

There's also a section for "queuing" your future projects. Sometimes I see a pattern that I would like to knit/crochet as soon as I'm finished with the current one but over the time it takes me to finish the project, I've forgotten about where the pattern is from and what it looks like. Now I can keep my plans in track.

I love this site. At the present moment there's a queue to be a member of ravelry but the wait is really short. I just had to wait a couple of days for the invite.

Hexacomb Cardigan

This is my first sweater. It's not a SWEATER. It's a short cardigan with half sleeves. It's the biggest project I've ever knitted so far. I'm so very proud of myself. I'll be even more proud of myself if I actually finish this.

I'm using the cotton yarn I got from Marias Garn. It's a fairly fine yarn so I'm knitting the cardigan double stranded. I've divided the ball that I wound into 2 100g balls. I'm knitting most of the cardigan while I'm on the subway on my way to work. It's quite soothing and calming to knit after 6hrs of hyper active kids.




I've got a ways to go but I'm really happy about what I've done so far.

new project

I've started on a new project and it's very exciting. The combination of excitement and being tired is what prevents me from writing a decent post.

I promise I'll talk about this new project as soon as I can. I also have much to say about Ravelry.com

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.

how quickly life goes into action

I honestly have not had the time to do anything creative in the past 2 weeks.

You see, I got myself a job. I'm currently working at a daycare and it really drains the life out of me even if I am working part time. I started a couple weeks ago so at the present moment I'm still in the adjusting phase.

Exams have also started this week, so that takes up the remaining time I have. I did the oral exam last week and the grammar exam on Saturday. 2 more exams left and then I'm free from school until September... I think.

I've also been feeling a bit rut-ish. I would like to make something but I just don't feel very inspired. Hopefully when I'm back in Canada, I'll be able to get the Euroflax and start on the dress for my cousin.

I suppose I am not completely being uncreative because I do have to think of things for the kids to do. We have these themes for the kids to learn and currently our theme is India. It sounds like it would be loads of fun but it's hard to think of activities who aren't even allowed to paint with paint brushes!

a bit of a delay

I haven't visited the yarn stores here in Sweden but it seems that I will have to wait till I'm back in Toronto to get the Louet Euroflax yarn for the dress.

Luckily one of my favourite yarn store carries it. In fact quite a few shops in Toronto carry it but I have to say that my favourite in Toronto is Lettuce Knit. The staff there are super nice and the selection is just big enough that it's not overwhelming. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE Romni Wool on Queen but the shop is just WAY too big and there's so much stuff to look at that I forget what I'm looking for. Not to mention the fact that Lettuce Knit was right by my work when I worked in Toronto. It was my little sanctuary after hours of sitting in front of the computer.