We have a winner!

The winner for the notions bag is Sheila_OKeefe! Congratulations! Please let me know where to send it at koko dot rimbaud at gmail dot com. And you other lovely folks, do check out her design blog here – love the cabled hat!

In other news, I traveled to Ibiza last week. It was my mum’s birthday, and she wanted to go on holiday there, so her husband flew me in as a “surprise present”. And the surprise was great, I might add 😀 I have never seen my mother look quite like that, when I suddenly stood in the doorway at 1am in the morning, lol.

The house

A great time was had by all, and I even got to stand in the Mediterranean:

Mediterranean trying to eat my feet

No time for a proper beach day, I only stayed three days, and they were full with B’day festivities.

We will return to our normally scheduled program soon, with a pair of Jeans (they fit! yay!), another Wiksten Tova (clearly, fitting is the next item on my list to learn, sewing wise), and some other bits and bobs. Till then, stay safe, don’t burn yourself in the sun!

Stay cool!

 

 

 

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Not knitting: Wiksten Tova shirt

If you have followed my blog for a little while, you know that I occasionally sew, too.

Last weekend I wanted to finally tackle my current grand project – a new pair of Jeans. The last attempt (which, to be fair, was only a muslin made from an old bedsheet) didn’t work out too well. I really should know by now that it’s always a size down in sewing patterns, not up … so this is two sizes too big.

Jeans muslin front

And while this is probably the technically best pair of trousers I’ve made so far, doubt settled in. Is this really the pattern I want? Isn’t it a bit high-waisted for my waist-less midriff?

Jeans muslin back

At that point in time, I saw the Jalie Jeans pattern mentioned first, in Amy’s fab sewing blog “Sew well”.

So now I have to cut out a new pattern, and start over. That was too much for me to stomach last week, so instead I made this:

Wiksten Tova

I generally like the pattern, and will make it again, but with a few tiny changes.

As you can see, there’s not a lot in terms of gather under the inset, I’d like that a bit more ruffly. And the arms were a bit tight for me, so I’ll lower the scythes about an inch.

I’m also not too convinced by the the gaping neck … any suggestions? Maybe it’s just the fabric, and I should have put some interfacing (which the pattern doesn’t call for) on the plackets?

New on the needles: yet another triangle garter shawl.

This yarn has been in my stash for a while. It was one of the first “nice” yarns I ordered for myself, it was shipped all the way from the U.S., got stuck in customs and is just gorgeous.

PSFA DeLite Silky Cashmere

So it was a bit of shock to me that, despite the fact that I love it and really, really want to us it, I found it near impossible to find the matching project.

I tried Diantha from SusannaIC. Didn’t like it. I tried The Forever Shawl – nope. There were a couple of other things I tried, and forgot. Nothing seemed to work.

Until I decided to go back to the basics, so to speak.

I pulled out Jane Sowerby’s “Victorian Lace Today”, and after some deliberation settled for a quite simple garter stitch triangle, the “Shoulder Shawl in Syrian pattern”.

Syrian pattern

What can I say? It works really well! I’m finally happy, and hope to make some good progress during this week.

I am really liking how the yarn-overs at the start of each row provide loops for the knit-on border that’s to follow later (and will cover my vow for the “real” lace I made earlier this year).

Loopy border

You haven’t seen the give-away to celebrate my 100th post? Check this out!

Elwing Calafalas – progress

Steady progress is being made, however not as much as I  wanted. Last week turned out to be busy on the social front, and since the incessant rain finally stopped, I was quite happy to spend some time on roof gardens, on the lawn in the square, and walking by the sea.

Elwing Calafalas

I am still in love with the yarn, maybe even a little bit more so then in the beginning. Because the colour is just made up from the natural fiber colour, it’s ever so slightly variegated, and if you look closely, you can even see the two different fibers from the Corriedale and the Hebridean.

CF – up close and personal

My little celebratory give-away is still open, so if you’d like a handmade notions bag from me, just pop over here and leave a comment!

Time flies – give away!

This week, on Monday, my 100th post snuck by. And to celebrate this moment, I’ll be doing a give-away.

Mostly, this here blog tells you about my knitting progress, but occasioanlly, I also sew (as evidenced here and here). And when I made those project bags, I also made few tiny bags for notions and such.  Like this one:

Small bag for notions

This is up for grabs.

The rules are simple – you should be a follower of my blog, and you need to leave a comment to let me know you’re interested.

Small bag – inside

In the comment, please tell us something about your favorite way to store notions, be that knitting or crochet or sewing. Or maybe the worst thing that ever happened to your notions? As long as it’s a story about the little things we need for our crafts, you can choose 🙂

Small bag – long

I will pick a winner in a week from now, on Saturday the 26th of May.

Small bag – short

The give away is open internationally, so no matter where you are, you can take part. Please make sure that you leave me a way to contact you, be it a link to your blog or an email address.

I am looking forward to reading about your notion adventures!

Elwing Calafalas – yarn

Again, I’m using Blacker yarn, this time an organic Corriedale and Hebridean mix, which obviously means the sheep are reared organically.

Source

However, if you check out this breed, you’ll find that the Hebridean are often used for conservation grazing. The Hebridean Sheep Society has some interesting info about what that is and how it works here.

In a nutshell:

Hebridean Sheep have established a reputation as the breed for the management of delicate ecosystems. Their dietary preferences are different from those of other breeds and this, coupled with their ability to thrive on vegetation with poor energy values, makes them a unique management tool.

And look at this badass ram:

Badass Hebridean ram
Source

Doesn’t he look formidable, with the four horns? I wouldn’t wanna mess with this guy! In this breed, the rams and ewes both carry horns, with the rams occasionally having four. Scary shit, I say.

But their fleece are great, and the yarn I’m using is mixed with Corriedale (sadly, it doesn’t say to which percentage on the band).

Corriedales look more like your “normal” sheep, and have been around for quite a while, after being introduced almost at the same time in Australia and New Zealand.

Source

My yarn is a light grey, it’s soft and springy, and it looks like it’s going to wear well, but obviously only time will tell.

Elwing Calafalas

Let me tell you a bit more about my new cardigan, which I have christened “Elwing Calafalas”. According to this handy elven name generator, that means challenging times. It’s an apt description of how my life feels right now.

Elwing Calafalas is going to be a rather simple affair, knitted from the top down with raglan sleeves. I am not following a pattern, but making it up as I go, as I didn’t find anything that really spoke to me – and I have a somewhat clear idea what this sweater should be.

I measured my neck, and made a gauge swatch to determine how many stitches I should cast on for the back (50). Then I added 1/3 of the back stitches to either side (2×16), and then 1 more stitch, so my setup row reads: 1 – 16 – 50 – 16- 1, separated by markers.I rounded down for the arm stitches, not up, because I found that more often than not (sock heels being the great exception) it’s easier towork with even numbers of stitches.

Elwing Calafalas Setup

You can see the markers (if you look closely) in this photo.

Then follow the yoke increase rows, where I made 10 extra stitches every right side row by kf&b every 1st and last stitch, and every stitch before and after a marker.

At ~3 inches down, I closed the front by increasing 2×2 and 1×16 stitches for a lowish crew neck.

And finally, when the diagonal lines along the arm increases measured 10 inches, I put the arm stitches on scrap yarn, cast on an additional 10 stitches to close the sides beneath the arms, and am now set to knit about a mile of stockinette. Yeah.

Elfwin Calafalas yoke done

I get bored by endless rows rows of stockinette just like any other person, but the vision I have for this sweater is a simple, all-day kind of piece.

The edgings will in all likelihood be a picot edging, like this one here. And if I don’t change my mind again, it’ll get a zipper.Oh, and pockets. Definitively pockets.