Sooza's Knitting Stuff

I am beyond happy about the pink Delica. The Delica model is about my favorite Spydie with the only drawback that it's not legal to carry in Germany because it locks and is one hand operated. This one has been a special edition for the Spyderco distributor Midwest Gun Exchange and I secured one via eBay. The other three knives are non-locking folders and therefore legal. The Kiwi is really cool and I particularly like the Wharncliff blade. Unfortunately my husband thought so, too and the knife is now his :-)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
I've got to admit, mountains were never quite my thing. Too high, too much snow, too far away. But this vacation was seriously fun and Austria turned out to be a really great place for a vacation with kids. It's got everything from beautiful lakes to VERY high mountains and on top of that all kinds of cultural and outdoors stuff. I'm looking forward being back in Salzburg this autumn on a trip with the company.

 
Spring is finally here. The Forsythias are in full bloom and those trees with the lovely pink blossoms are cheering things up quite a bit, too. I have no idea what kind of trees those are. Maybe Cherry? They look awfully nice anyway.

 
The scent of lilac in bloom is everywhere right now. It's the most amazing thing. I get home, out of the car and am surrounded by this beautiful spring like scent. And lilac not only grows in gardens but also as hedgerows alongside the street. I love this time of the year.
 

 
Spring has really arrived in our neck in the woods and I am mighty glad for it. It's so lovely to see all those trees in full bloom and the hyacinths, tulips, daffodils and not to forget those pesky dandelions, which are a pain in the neck. Our little vegetable patch seems to do nicely, too. The salad peeks out and we'll hopefully complain about way too many radishes some time in near future.
 

 
Besides spring feeling there is still lots of knitting going on in the house of Sooza. The latest finished shawl I'm mightily proud of. I took the basic construction of Miralda's Triangular Shawl and added in different patterns. The pretty hearts edging is from Nancy Bush's Greta Garbo Shawl which is pictured on page 2 of my copy of "Knitted Lace of Estonia". Unfortunately the shawl pattern isn't included in the book due to space restrictions or something. So I took the photograph and charted the edging by examining it closely. Initially I wanted to fill the inner part of the shawl with the star pattern only. But somehow the Greta Garbo pattern stitch wouldn't leave me alone. So I gave in and took the basic Greta Garbo pattern stitch from Bush's book and incorporated it in the shawl.
 

 
Knitting this shawl has been tremendous fun and a great knitting adventure. Should I ever find the time I actually plan on publishing this pattern. There's been lots of requests on Ravelry. If it just wouldn't be quite as time consuming to make the charts, check the numbers, write some halfway readable instructions and put it all into a nice layout.
 

 
This has been the second time I've worked with this particular yarn and I absolutely love it. It's so different from the over-processed stuff that you can buy in your run of the mill local yarn shop. It has body and loft and blocks so nicely. And the best thing is, the un-dyed heather grey is much, much softer then the dyed yarn I've used for Miralda. Both shawls used only one skein of this light fingering weight yarn. IMO, this is the most fun you can't get out of a measely EUR 6.95.
 

 
Details
Yarn: 1 skein of Filcolana New Zealand Lammeuld, 600 m/100 g, light grey heather
Needles: 4mm
Size: 170 cm wide, 70 cm deep
Pattern: Inspired by Nancy Bush's Greta Garbo Shawl. Construction similar to Miralda's Triangular Shawl. Star pattern for shawl body from Laminaria shawl.
 
More details on the Ravelry project page.

Well, it's snowing up a little storm out there and the wind keeps heaping up snowbanks in the most inconvenient places. Like our door for example. But I won't complain. It's weekend, all the snow looks real pretty and we don't really need to go outside if we don't want to. Gives me the chance to get in some knitting and spinning and blogging and of course some quality time with Little Girl and the best husband of all. So, on to the blogging part.

When KnitPro started to make clear acrylic needle tips (KnitPro Spectra = KnitPicks Zephyr Acrylic) for their interchangeable needle system I was instantly hooked. They looked so stylish and the idea of lightweight, flexible and warm needles appealed to me. I bought a couple of tips to give them a try. Even though some people complained about icky noises and about the needles being too sticky I got along very well with mine. So when KnitPro offered a special needle set in fuchsia I couldn't help but buying the whole set. I'm a sucker for everything pink/fuchsia/purple. The set contains 8 needle tips from size 3.5 to 8 mm and 4 different cables. It's not as if I really needed more knitting needles but who can refuse something that looks like this?
 

 
The Spectras feature the same sharp tips as all the other KnitPro needles. I like the fact that they are less slippery than the metal and wooden needles and that they are more flexible and kinda feel nicer to the touch. Not sure how long the smallest size needle will survive though because it really BENDS quite a bit. But maybe that's the trick. I like the little case the set came in. My other needle tips and cables fit in too so now I finally have a place where to keep them all in one place. Since it's a KnitPro product it has the same quality issues as all their other needles. On one pair of needles the acrylic part of the needle is glued to the metal casing off center so their is this place where the yarn catches. I contacted the seller about a replacement and will see what happens. Personally, I think these needles are great value for your money and a good investment for a beginner or if you want to complete your needle collection. It might not be ideal choice of needle for if you're knitting really tight or if you like to work with acrylic yarns. I shudder at thought of the electrostatic buzz you'd be creating.

The first thing that came from this needles was an airy piece of nothing I dubbed Ice Leaf Scarf. The construction and lace pattern are inspired by a commercially available pattern Cedar Leaf Shawlette.
 


Details
Pattern: Cedar Leaf Shawlette by Alana Dakos
Needles: 4 mm
Yarn: 25 grams of Cascade Baby Alpaca Lace (100% Aplaca, 400 m/50 grams), color: Carribean
Size: 12 cm wide, 190 cm long

 

That's what the world in my little corner of the world looked like this morning. Pics were taken on the way back from play school in the little park/playground right behind our street.


 

 

 

Die Weihnachtszeit rückt näher und es wird im Hause Sooza jetzt so langsam das eine oder andere Geschenkprojekt gestrickt, welches bei Fertigstellung natürlich hier nicht gezeigt werden darf. Sonst wäre ja die Überraschung weg. Daher gibt es an diesem furchtbar dunklen und trüben Tag mal ein paar unstrickige Bilder vom vergangenen Wochenende zu sehen. Wir haben das schöne Herbstwetter am 1. November genutzt und sind ins Berliner Umland gefahren, um ein wenig frische Luft zu schnappen und uns die eine oder andere Wertungsprüfung der Havellandrallye 2008 anzuschauen.

The Holiday season is drawing nearer and with it the usual gift knitting. Hard times for a blogger because these finished things can't be shown here of course or it would spoil the surprises. Instead of something knitting related I'm showing some pictures of last weekend's little trip into Berlin's hinterland. As the weather was just fantastic we used the day to catch a bit of fresh air and watch a couple of special stages of Havelland Rally 2008.

Mit diesem Bild verabschiede ich mich für die nächsten zwei Wochen in den Urlaub. Das Foto wurde letzten Samstag beim Treffen der "Berliner Spinner" aufgenommen. Wer wollte, konnte ein bißchen Wolle oder Garn mitbringen und dann wurde Indigo gefärbt. Der Effekt, wenn diese komisch gelb-grünliche Farbe beim Kontakt mit Sauerstoff zu diesem wunderbaren blau wird war einfach filmreif. Morgen geht es nach Frankreich. Ich freu mich auf leckeres Essen, guten Wein, schöne Städte und Landschaften und hoffentlich nette Leute. Wünscht uns mal schönes Wetter.

With this picture I'm saying 'So long!' for the next two weeks. The photo was taken last Saturday at the monthly meeting of Berlin's spinning group 'Berliner Spinner'. You could bring some yarn or wool with you and try Indigo dyeing. The color change from sick yellow-greenish to wonderful indigo on exposure to oxygen was a sight to behold. Tomorrow we are off to France. I'm looking forward to good food, good wine, picturesque towns, beautiful landscapes and hopefully nice people. Send some nice weather our way, please.

Ein kleiner Ausflug in den Süden, nach Nürnberg, erwies sich als recht unterhaltsam und auch in Sachen Wolle als recht ergiebig. Dank Arlenes ortskundigen Tipps war ein Tag praktisch ganz und gar dem Erkunden von Wollgeschäften zugedacht. In Nürnbergs Innenstadt ist das eine recht dankbare Aufgabe, denn es finden sich immerhin 5 Geschäfte in unmittelbarer Fußreichweite. Welch ein Paradies für den gemeinen Berliner, der daran gewöhnt ist, immer erst mal minestens eine halbe Stunde U-/S-Bahn zu fahren. Erwähnt seien an dieser Stelle die beiden Geschäfte, welche mir besonders gefielen: Treffpunkt Wolle an der Lorenzkirche und Tolle Wolle am Weinmarkt.
Der Treffpunkt führt nur Lana Grossa, ist dafür jedoch gut sortiert, es gab Angebote der auslaufenden Saison, jede Menge Sockengarn und der Herr im Laden war sehr nett. Wir hatten ein sehr angeregtes Gespräch über Trendfarben und den uns beiden unangenehmen Hang der Hersteller zu superdicken Schnellstrickgarnen. In dem Laden gingen jeweils ein Knäuel Meilenweit Cotton und Cotton Stretch sowie das aktuelle Merino-Heft in die Tasche.
Tolle Wolle ist ein bunter, inspirierender, bis unter die Decke mit Wolle vollgestopfter Laden, der neben Garnen auch ausgefallene Klamotten aus natürlichen Materialien führt. Von Noro-Garnen über GGH bis hin zu Sockengarnen diverser namhafter Hersteller ist im Sortiment so einiges vertreten. Der Laden macht einen gemütlichen Eindruck und die Eigentümer scheinen was von ihrem Geschäft zu verstehen und auch ganz nett zu sein. Allerdings war der Laden praktisch leer und trotzdem haben sie sich nicht recht um ein Gespräch bemüht, was ich immer sehr schade finde. Vielleichts liegts an der viel "gerühmten" Maulfaulheit der Franken?! Der Laden war auf jeden Fall der erste, in dem ich Noro Kureyon Sockengarn habe liegen sehen. Irre Farben, irrer Preis, völlig irre (im negativen Sinne) Qualität. Wer bitte kommt auf die Idee, einfädiges Sockengarn herzustellen? Aber egal. Zwei Knäuel mussten allein aus Testgründen mit. Allein, Socken werden das wohl nicht werden.
Nürnberg selbst war sehr nett. Die Stadt war irgendwie größer als ich mir vorgestellt hatte und besonders die riesige Fußgängerzone in der Altstadt ist schon was. Zu sehen gibt es jede Menge. Da das ganze jedoch zu einem erholsamen Ausflug werden sollte, habe ich mir mit Berenike lediglich die Kaiserburg angeschaut und die anderen Museen, Ausstellungen und interessanten Orte für ein andermal aufgehoben.

We took one of husband's business trips to the south as a chance to have a little family short trip on the side, too. Our journey took us to the city of Nuremberg. It's a very picturesque town complete with castle on the hill and impressive, well preserved fortifications around the old city. Thanks to Arlene I knew about the local yarn shops and did a little tour. It's really great to have 5 yarn places within waking distance. I mean from a Berliners point of view this is as close to heaven as it gets ;-) We are pretty much used to spending at least half an hour in public transport no matter where we go. I particularily liked two places: Treffpunkt Wolle at Lorenzkirche and Tolle Wolle at Weinmarkt.
The first one stocks only Lana Grossa but has a nice selection and offers sales on seasonal yarns. The guy in the store was very nice and we had a lively chat about fashion and yarn trends. I took two skeins of sock yarn with me and the latest issue of the Merino pattern book.
Tolle Wolle is packed up to the ceiling with yarn and clothes. It's a very inspiring and creative place. They carry all kinds of brands from Noro to Trekking sock yarn. The owners seemed nice enough albeit a bit taciturn. But maybe this is just the Franconian's standard operating procedure. They were my first shop ever to have Noro Kureyon sock yarn on display. I've been courting this yarn ever since I first heard about on the internet so I couldn't resist temptation and bought two skeins. Crazy colors, crazy price tag, crazy spinning quality. Who in their right mind would think of a single ply sock yarn? Ah, doesn't matter. I had to have some but I'm pretty sure it's not going to become a pair of socks.