Sooza's Knitting Stuff

* from the lyrics of 'Wake me up when September ends' by Green Day

After a short but very hot summer it already feels very much like autumn in our neck of the woods right now. Although the sun is still shining brightly in a brilliantly blue sky it's already pretty nippy in the shadows and the nights are getting quite cool. The days are getting noticeably shorter, too. Now starts this magical time of year when most knitters turn back to their needles and tackle old unfinished knitting projects and start planning new projects with renewed energy. Finally the hot days that turned even the lovliest linen yarn into a sticky, icky affair that is best left in the knitting basket are over. And I couldn't quite believe my eyes when I saw the supermarket already had all those yummy Christmas sweets stocked. Jeesh, time's flying. Let's have a look back then at some of my summer knits.

Clothilde


 
This is a wonderful little shawl that works wonderful with slightly variegated or semi-solid yarns. It was so much fun to work up this quick small shawl. The dovetail lace pattern is entertaining and just when you might start to be bored the lace edging starts. And if you want to you can knit this in ANY yarn and to ANY size. Perfect.



 
Pattern: Clothilde by Kristen Hanley Cardozo
Yarn: Saffron Dyeworks Wasabi Sock, Butterfly Bush (100% Merino 365 m/100 g)
Needle: 4 mm

There's been more lace shawl knitting this summer but I'll put this in a post of its own since it turned out downright spectacular.

Linen Dress


 
This one is an improvised design. It's a basic top down raglan construction with an equal number of stitches for front, back and arms to create shoulder straps instead of sleeves. The gauge is very open and see through since the yarn is a very skinny weaving yarn. Even though this is a summer knit I'm hoping this will make a nice layering piece with long-sleeved shirts all winter long.


 
Yarn: Bockens Lingarn 16/2, lavender (690 m/125 g)
Needle: 2.75 mm

The Skirt

I've never knitted a skirt before. I always REFUSED to knit a skirt because I wasn't conviced it would wear all the well. The usually look very flattering on skinny models posing for a magazine but I'm by no means a skinny person and I just couldn't imagine a wool skirt looking good after a day of sitting around in an office chair for a day. But then I saw this wonderful swingy summer skirt on Ravelry. I could instantly imagine wearing something like this. So off I went to buy some sturdy DK weight linen/cotton yarn to to purchase the download pattern.

The beginning with casting on over 400 sts was pretty strenuous. They hardly fit on my 80 cm Addi Turbo needle. But things got easier and faster with every decrease row. The construction is very clever and typical of Nora Gaughan. The pattern itself isn't very clear written and could have been explained easier, imp. But after some extreme knitting the skirt was done in under 3 weeks. And I love it!


 
Pattern: #12 Skirt by Nora Gaughan, Knit.1 Spring/Summer 2008, also available at Vogue Knitting Online Store
Yarn: Schachenmayr nomotta Cotton Linen, black (78%/22% Cotton/Linen100 m/50 g), 12 skeins
Needle: 4 mm

Fluttery Linen Top


 
This linen top was also a spur of the moment thing. I'd seen some very nice projects in this pretty linen yarn and when I found this yarn in a store I had to take two skeins with me. Now what to do with 520 meters of dk weight linen yarn?! Then I found this top in my Ravelry queue and off I went. Knitting with Karen Noe Linea has been a real pleasure. And the mindles stockinette in the round provided good carn and on the road knitting.


 
Pattern: Rosa's Sleeveless Cardi -Jumper by Emma Fassio
Yarn: Karen Noe Design Linea Hør (75%/25% Linen/Cotton 260 m/100 g), 2 skeins
Needle: 6 mm

 
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.

 
It might not always seem that way if my recent blog posts are anything to go by but I've indeed been knitting away on all kinds of things and managed to complete a few of them. My latest infatuation has been a shawl pattern from the book "Knitted Lace of Estonia" - Miralda's Triangular Shawl. It's one of those bottom-up constructions that has you cast-on a bazillion stitches that are gradually decreased on the course of your knitting to form a triangle in the end. Not my preferred shawl construction but this one looked so pretty, with the diamonds and the nupps, I knew I would succumb one of these days. It finally happened when I took a closer look at this pretty dark blue lace yarn that had found its way into my stash not so long ago. A nice 2-ply yarn with a bit of a rustic charm to it. I knew it would work fantastic with the lace pattern. Only problem was I had only 600 meters whereas the pattern asked for 750 meters of yarn. Mhm, bummer. But I'm not easily deterred. A closer look in Ravelry showed lots of projects in similar yarns with similar yardages and needle size combinations that had gotten away with 400 to 500 meters of yarn. Still not totally convinced but I cast on anyway. No risk. no fun.


 
All worked out in the end. This shawl has been knitted in record time because the ever decreasing rows have been a real motivation. The pattern was well written and I loved knitting with this rustic wool yarn. Instantly went and ordered a few more colors. The shawl itself turned out lovely, too. It's just the right size between scarf and shawl. Wasn't sure about the nupps at first but like the overall look of lace, nupps and solid areas.


 
What's a nupp, you might ask?! Well, it's those special kind of bobble Estionian lace knitting is well known for. On a right side row you increase 5, 7 or even 9 stitches from just one single stitch just to purl all those stitches back together in the following row. It's kinda tedious at first but once you've gotten into the rhythm of things it get easier. The nupps give a nice, three-dimensional effect and sometimes even look like little pearls worked into your knitting. Strange but neat.

Details
Pattern: Miralda's Triangular Shawl by Nancy Bush from Knitted Lace of Estonia
Material: 1 skein of Filcolana New Zealand Lammeuld, 100% wool, 600 meters/100 grams
Needles: 4 mm
Finished Size: 160 cm wide, 80 cm deep

There's been a few other projects that got completed in the last weeks, like my first pair of Socks out of Wollmeise Twin yarn for example. They belong to the best husband of all now and I'm really curious about how well the yarn will stand up to wear. My last Wollmeise socks were still out of 100% superwash and they were worn through in record time. The Twin yarn consists of 20% nylon so it's supposed to wear better. Yeah, well, seeing is believing.


 
Details
Pattern: Earl Grey by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Yarn: 2/3rds of a Wollmeise Twin skein, 80% Merino/20% Nylon, 466 meters/150 grams; color 'We're different Tant Grön...'
Needles: 2.5 mm
Size: EUR 41/42

And then there is this small shawl knitted from only one 50 grams skein of Malabrigo Lace yarn in the funky and intense 'Gernanio' colorway.


 
Details
Pattern: Birch Leaf Shawl sideways, my own pattern
Yarn: Malabrigo Lace Merino, 100% Merino, 400 meters/50 grams, color 'Geranio'
Needles: 4 mm
Size: 140 cm wide

And knitting continues, of course. I'm bit on a shawl binge right now so there is already the next one on the needles. It's Evelyn A. Clarks Prairie Rose Lace Shawl from The Knitter's Book of Wool.

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

This little shawl is obviously the most knitted project from the newest Knitty issue. As of today Ravelry lists 379 projects and counting. When I first browsed this issue it was this pattern that instantly caught my eyes. And I was totally set to knit it in the original yarn - Malabrigo Lace Merino. Alas, I kinda got side-tracked by one of my older hand-spun yarns though. “Bewitch” is something about a lace to light fingering yarn which I spun back in April 2009. Somehow I thought stripes or color transitions would suit this little scarf/shawl well. As it turned out, pattern and yarn fit each other remarkably well.



And here's how the yarn came to be.






 
Details
 
Pattern: Citron by Hilary Smith Callis, Knitty.com Winter 2009
Yarn: hand-spun yarn, 100 grams/400-500 meters, Slushie's Special Blend from FatCatKnits in colorway "Bewitch"
Needles: 4.00 and 4.5 mm
Size: 120 cm wide

It's not as if I wouldn't own a sizable stash of yarn and fiber to choose from. How does one choose fiber for the next project anyway? Well, this nice and soft Merino/Nylon top in the tempting colorway 'Magnolia' was calling to be spun as soon I had opened the parcel it came in from Zauberwiese. I divided the combed top in two halves and spun up each half on one of my two latest Kevin Rhodes spindles. Since I had 130 grams of this fiber in total I didn't dare using my wheel for plying because I was afraid the bobbin might be too small for the whole finished yarn and I was really not keen on breaking this lovely yarn. Alas, what's all those lovely spindles for? I knew I could easily fit 130 grams of a fingering weight 2-ply yarn on one of the larger spindles in my collection. The Quad from Tom Forrester did its job beautifully and my appreciation for spindles as a powerful fiber tool even grew, if that's at all possible.

The finished yarn was very beautiful but I wasn't really sure about the color distribution and the barber-pole effect in lots of places. Yet somehow my mind kept coming up with possible projects for this hand-spun. One pattern came up again and again. I took it for a sign and just went with it. Ishbel is a cute little shawl pattern by Ysolda Teague that everyone and their aunt has already knitted if Ravelry is anything to go by. Currently it has 3553 projects and counting. But you know, what can I say, it's what the yarn wanted to become. The kitting was done in about a week and was a delightful and addicting process. I used my new KnitPro Spectra needles in the 4 mm size. The more I knitted with my own hand-spun yarn the more beautiful it became. What a heady feeling to know that you've made this item nearly from scratch. Can only be beaten by knowing the name of the sheep the wool came from

Here's the story of my Magnolia Ishbel in pictures:


 

 

 

 

 

 

 
In einem Anflug von Tuchwahnsinn MUSSTE ich die Anleitung für den Herbivore scarf einfach kaufen und praktisch SOFORT anstricken. Ich bin für alles zu haben, das lediglich 100 g Sockenwolle verbraucht und außerdem, Schals/Tücher kann man immer brauchen. Aus dem Anstricken ist dann kurzerhand ein "kann ich nicht aus der Hand legen"-Projekt geworden und das Tuch wurde innerhalb von nur vier Tagen fertig.
 

 
Do I need more shawls? Mhm, probably not. Then again, can you ever have enough shawls? Probably not. I knew I had to buy and knit this small shawl as soon as I saw the pictures of test knits popping up on Ravelry. I'm a sucker for shawls and patterns that call for only one 100 grams skein of sock yarn. I hit the buy button as soon as the pattern was released and cast on in a matter of hours after that. The whole thing knitted up really fast in a matter of days.

Details
Pattern: Herbivore by Steven West
Yarn: Uschi Strumpfwolle Universal (75% wool, 25% nylon; 410 m/100 grams)
Needle: 3.75 mm

 

Die kleine Maus will ständig Socken anprobieren, die ich noch auf den Nadeln habe und lässt sich nur schwer überzeugen, dass Größe 42 vielleicht ein ganz klein wenig zu groß für ihre Füße sein könnte. Da dachte ich, stricke ich doch wieder mal kleine Socken. Außerdem wird es ja jetzt bald wieder Winter und kann man Wollsocken schon mal brauchen.

Little Girl seems totally fascinated by my sock knitting and is constantly trying on my half-finished socks. Can't convince her that a size 11 might be a tad too big for her. So I took the chance and knitted pair of wee little Noro socks. Can't hurt to have nice and warm wooly socks when the cold season is about to draw in.

Während des Umzugs habe ich mir extra eine recht einfache Anleitung ausgesucht, die man auch im größten Stress ohne viele Gehirnzellen einzusetzen stricken kann. Ein Featherweight Cardigan schien da genau richtig. Ich stricke ihn aus dem Origianl Garn, dem wunderbar weichen Malabrigo Lace. Das Jäckchen soll länger werden als von der Designerin vorgesehen, d.h. es sind noch viel mehr Reihen schmucklos glatt rechts zu stricken. Aber es macht trotzdem noch Spaß. Hier mal eine Detailaufnahme vom sehr schönen Garn in der Farbe "Pearl Ten".

While managing the moving adventure I totally needed a plain knitting pattern that would not require much brain or concentration. A Featherweight Cardigan seemed the perfect choice. I love my Whisper Cardigan/Shrug/Thingie and find that another very lightweight cardigan would really come in handy. I knitting this one out of the original yarn Malabrigo Lace. It's such a delight to handle and even though I'll knit even more plain stockinette than the designer intended (because I want my Featherweight considerably longer) it's still such a fun project. Here's a detail shot of the wonderful yarn in the "Pearl Ten" colorway.


 
Allerdings brauchte ich mal eine kleine Abwechslung von all dem glatt rechts Gestricke, und so wurde dieses kleine Tüchlein gestern fertig. Es ist nach langer Zeit das erste Strickprojekt aus handgesponnenem Garn und ich bin sehr begeistert. Ich werde mal mein Archiv abgrasen, ob sich noch mehr so nette Anleitungen für den Verbrauch einiger der Garne finden, die ich in den letzten Monaten von Hand gesponnen habe.

As much as I enjoy all this stockinette knitting I still needed a bit of a change. This little shawl/scarf pattern had been in my Ravely Queue for ages and it struck me as perfect for using up some of the hand-spun yarn that's been accumulating in my stash. I totally adore the finished project and am already thinking of other lace patterns that might work nicely in hand-spun.

 
Details

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl/Scarf by Sivia Harding
Yarn: hand-spun yarn from Pink Lady batts by Fiber Monster
Needles: 4.5 mm
Size: 140 cm wide, 70 cm from tip to neck

Wenn man sich die letzten Einträge im Blog so anschaut, dann könnte man meinen, gestrickt wird im Hause Sooza gerade nicht mehr sonderlich viel. Das stimmt so allerdings gar nicht. Ich hatte einfach nur keine Zeit und Lust, Fotos von irgendwelchen schrumpeligen, halbfertigen Sachen zu veröffentlichen. Aber jetzt gibt es wieder was schönes zu sehen. Das letzte Wochenende mit den zahlreichen Rennsport-Übertragungen im Fernsehen war absolut ideal um endlich den letzten Teil meines Laminaria Shawls fertig zu stricken. Es hat viel Spaß gemacht, trotz oder vielleicht auch gerade wegen der teilweise echt verrückten Maschenmuster. Nicht so spaßig war des letzte Knäuel Wolle. Nach vier Knäulen ohne großartige Knoten oder Fehler waren in diesem fünften Knäuel dann bestimmt 5 Knoten drin und mindestens 3 dünne Stellen, an denen aus einem ansonsten dreifädigen Garn plötzlich ein zweifädiges wurde. Sehr ätzend. Die Farben des Garns gefallen mir gut und nach dem Waschen fühlt es sich auch ganz gut an, allerdings war ich froh, dass ich es nicht mehr stricken muss. Vielleicht lags an der Superwash-Ausrüstung aber mir war es zu glatt und es fühlte sich irgendwie zu künstlich an, obwohl es reine Wolle ist.

Ich war bis zum Schluss skeptisch, ob das selbstmusternde Garn so eine gute Idee war, da sich in dem schrumpeligen Etwas, das da von den Nadeln hing das Muster total verlor. Wie immer jedoch passierte nach dem Waschen beim Spannen das Wunder von der Raupe zum Schmetterling oder besser gesagt vom schrumpeligen Etwas in ein schönes, filigranes Tuch. Und die sanften Farbübergänge im Garn stören das Muster überhaupt nicht, sondern bringen die dreieckige Konstruktion des Tuches schön zur Geltung.



If you're looking through the last entries of this blog you might come to the conclusion that there's not much knitting going on right now around here. Well, that's not true actually. I just wasn't in the mood to post pictures of crumply, only half-finished things. But finally there is something nice to show again. Last weekend was perfect for knitting the final 1.5 charts of my Laminaria shawl while there were all these motor sports transmissions on tv. It was a fun project with all those funky stitch patterns and strange maneuvers. But the charts were clear and easy enough to follow. Only the yarn stopped being fun on the fifth skein. The first four balls were fine but in the last one I had to discover like five knots and two or three thin spots where an otherwise 3-ply yarn suddenly turned into a 2-ply. Not funny at all. The colors and the subtle color transitions are very pretty but I'm still glad this is done and over with. It feels fine after washing but it felt strange and artificial - even though it's pure wool - while knitting with it not to mention the slipperiness. Might be due to super-wash treatment or something.

All the way through this shawl I've been a bit skeptical about my choice in wool and whether the variegated yarn might possibly obscure the pattern too much or not. You couldn't really tell from the squishy, crumpled lump that's been hanging from the needles. But alas, the wonderful magic of proper blocking did its thing and I could witness another from caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation. The crumpled heap became a wonderful, filigree lace shawl. And the soft color transitions in the yarn don't disturb the pattern in the least but kind of accentuate the triangular construction of the shawl.


 

Details
Pattern: Laminaria by Elizabeth Freeman, Knitty.com Spring 2008, large version
Yarn: Jojoland Melody Superwash (100% wool, 200m/50g)
Needles: 4 mm
Size: came out 2 meters wide and 1 meter deep

Die liebe Patentante des besten Ehemannes von allen wurde 80 und wir waren zur großen Feier geladen. Da stellt sich natürlich die leidige Frage, was schenkt man einer rüstigen, alten Dame, die natürlich behauptet, bereits alles zu haben, was man je brauchen kann. Ein kleines Tuch/ein Schal machen sich bestimmt gut zum Mantel oder einfach nur wenns um den Hals rum etwas zugig wird. Das handgefärbte Garn ist zwar etwas sehr belebt was die Farben angeht, funktioniert aber trotzdem halbwegs mit dem einfachen, geometrischen Lochmuster. Und das Tuch strickt sich schnell und unkompliziert, da es sehr einprägsam ist. Ursprünglich hatte ich das wertvolle Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Garn ja tatsächlich für Socken aufgehoben. Bei näherer Betrachtung schien mir 100% Wolle allerdings nicht so praktisch für Socken des täglichen Gebrauchs. Meine Füße sind ziemlich rabiat zu meinen Socken und reines Wollgarn ist zu schnell durchgelaufen.

DH’s godmother just turned 80 years and we were invited to her party. And what do give to nice, old lacy that claims to already have anything they will ever need? A nice little shawl might be just the thing. The busy hand-dyed sock yarn went okay with the geometrical pattern. And it knit up fast because it was easy to memorize. Originally I had saved to Cherry Tree Hill Supersock yarn for an actual pair of socks but on second thought the idea of 100% wool for socks put me off. I’m really hard on my socks and wool-only yarn usually isn’t up to the task.




Details
Pattern: Adamas Shawl by Miriam L. Felton, free pattern
Gauge: Don't know. Not important.
Yarn: Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Potluck, colorway 'Water' (100% wool, 384 m/100 g)
Needles: 4 mm
Size: 120 cm wide, 70 cm deep
Modifications: Knitted until I ran out of yarn which resulted in a small shawl/scarf instead of a fully grown shawl.

Bei einem Stricktreffen vor einiger Zeit brachte Dryadknits ein Projekt mit, welches sie "Baktus" nannte. Ich hatte - mal wieder - KEINE Ahnung worum es ging. Einige Zeit später strickte auch Tammina fleißig Baktus-Schals. Heißen die in der Mehzahl dann Bakti? Oder vielleicht Baktusse? Naja, eine Suche bei Ravelry jedenfalls enthüllte in der Zwischenzeit, dass es sich um eine Idee aus Norwegen handelt. Der krausrechts gestrickte Baktus-Schal und sein glattrechtes Equivalent der Karius-Schal geistern dort wohl schon eine Weile durch die Blogwelt. Strikkelise hat das sehr einfache Muster mal aufgeschrieben. Nette Idee, wie ich finde. Simpel aber effektiv. Und es ist das perfekte Muster für meine Schalkrankheit, die mich jeden Schal nach mindestens der Hälfte der Wegstrecke entnervt in die Ecke schmeißen lässt. Da ich keine Lust auf krausrechts hatte, habe ich meinen Baktus mit einem kleinen Karomuster gestrickt. Er ist quasi ein halb Karius, halb Baktus - ein KariuBaktus eben . Das Muster lässt sich endlos variieren. Diesen Schal habe ich mit einseitigen Zunahmen in jeder 4. Reihe gestrickt. Man könnte auch jede 6. Reihe Zunahmen machen. Anstatt einfach nur krausrechts ließen sich bestimmt auch das kleine oder das große Perlmuster gut einarbeiten. Oder vielleicht ein einfaches Lochmuster. Hach, welche Fundgrube.

A couple of weeks ago Dryadknits brought a project called 'Baktus' to one of our biweekly knitting meetings. I did not have the slightest idea what she was talking about, of course. Two weeks later Tammina also industriously knitted away on Baktus scarfs. Okay, I had to find out more about it. In the meantime even Ravelry knew about it and as it turns out, the garter stitch Baktus and its stockinette based brother Karius have made the rounds on Norwegian blogs lately. Strikkelise has published her variation on the simple yet effective pattern on her blog an in Ravelry. It's really neat and the peferct cure for my scarf syndrome. I am usually bored out of my mind halfway through any scarf project. Can't help it. It's just the way it is. Give me intricate lace, many cables, stripes of any kind any day but no plain scarf, PLEASE. I varied the Baktus pattern switching simple garter stitch for a small checkered pattern. This scarf is practically half Baktus, half Karius - therefore a KariuBaktus . You could vary the pattern endlessly, I guess. Moss stitch, simple or double. Maybe even incorporate a small lace pattern. You just gotta love these kind of patterns.

Details
Yarn: 94 g of Wollmeise Superwash Sockenwolle (100% Wolle, 350m/100), colorway Veilchen/Violets
Needles: 3 mm
Size: about 1.50 meters long
Pattern: Baktus as seen at Strikkelise's Blog

Puh, endlich ist es geschafft. Ich kann gar nicht sagen, wie froh ich bin, dieses Strickstück nach fast einem Jahr endlich von den Nadeln zu haben. Das meiste davon ist denn auch in einem Endspurt in den vergangenen zwei Monaten fertig geworden. Das Tuch kam mit ins Reisegepäck nach Frankreich und sorgte für Kurzweil auf den langen Autobahnetappen. Ich war ein wenig panisch wegen etwaiger Fallmaschen oder sonstiger Strickunfälle aber wie man sieht haben wir es alle heil überstanden. Das Endresultat ist wirklich von ungeheurer Schönheit.
Die Anleitung ist sehr klar und deutlich und meines Eindrucks nach fehlerfrei geschrieben. Ich denke, mir fiel das Stricken anfangs so schwer, weil es dem Muster bis zu einem gewissen Punkt an Wiederholung fehlt. Die Wiederholungen, der Rhytmus eines Spitzenmusters, sind normalerweise das, was mich hindurch trägt und das Stricken noch so großer Spitzenstrickereien für mich zum Spaß machen. Mit wachsendem Muster kamen bestimmte Mustersätze und Maschen dann doch endlich bekannt vor und die Arbeit ging flüssiger voran. Hinzu kamen die für mich viel zu groß geratenen Strickschriften, welche mir erst nach einer Verkleinerung das große Ganze vor Augen führten. Das Garn war sehr angenehm zu verstricken und ich bin insgesamt sehr glücklich mit dem Endresultat. So bald das Werk gespannt ist, gibt es noch mal ein Foto.

Wew, I really made it. I cannot emphazise enough how glad I am to see this shawl off the needles. It took me nearly one year to get here but to be truthful most of it was knitted over the last couple of months. The shawl came with me on our trip to France so I could knit away the hours spent on the Autobahn even though I was scared as hell of dropped stitches and other knitting related accidents. As you can see, we all came through unharmed.
It is a very clearly and thoroughly written pattern and the result is stunning in its beauty. I think I found the first half of this shawl so hard because it lacked somewhat in repetitiveness. That's what usually gets me through any lace pattern. As the project grew certain parts and stitches finally started to feel familiar and work progressed more fluently. In addition the overly large charts made it hard for me to see the whole picture. Scaling them down also helped matters along. The yarn was lovely th work with and I am very pleased with the result. As soon as I get it blocked I'll post another picture.

Pattern: Peacock Feathers Shawl by Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 Lace Weight Yarn, color chanel
Needles: 80 cm Addi Lace Knitting Needles 3.5 mm
Size: After blocking the shawl has a wingspan of 2 m and measures 1m from neck to tip.

A - now kind of rare - round through my fiber related blog bookmarks turned up Kim from The Giving Flower had finished her Peacock Feathers Shawl just a few days ago. It turned out beautiful and is really a sight. Check it out! Seriously! We both loved the pattern so much and talked about having a knitalong. She was so kind to bring me the pattern and original yarn from a trip to the U.S. last Summer. Well, my baby being born last August got in between me and this wonderful shawl. I did cast on November 2007 but progress was slow. I just couldn't get a grip on the pattern, kept loosing my place, couldn't envision the whole pattern at all like I usually am able to with lace knitting. Maybe it had something to do with nursing the baby. Anyway, the shawl wandered deep down into the UFO pile. Seeing Kim's wonderdul shawl this week got me motivated to dig it out again and try my luck a second time.
After just a couple of rows I got totally fed up with the huge charts. Again, they did not let me see the whole picture. I could not get a grip on the pattern. Incorporating the pattern into the growing triangular shape is a bit trickier on this one than on other patterns but it surely is not rocket science. So what was my problem?! I figured the problem to lie within the charts. They where precise, sure, very clear but also very large spanning the width of an entire A3 page. I felt like back in school when I couldn't see the wood for the trees, meaning I could not learn details without having them in the big picture. Copying the charts and scaling them down to 71% seemed to resolve my problem. Yay! They actually made sense now. Knitting flows much easier now and I can actually see myself finishing this shawl sometime this year.
The Addi needles are a relatively sharp example of their breed for once but are still only barely workable for lace. I just ordered a pair of Addi Lace needles just to help me staying in the knitting mood. And to be on the safe side I threw in a pair of Harmony Wood Interchangeables, too. Can't be too careful now, can't we

Pattern: Peacock Feathers Shawl by Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting
Yarn: JaggerSpun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18 Lace Weight Yarn, color chanel
Needles: 80 cm Addi Turbo circulars 3.5 mm although I ordered a pair of Addi Lace Knitting Circs in the same size for their superior tips

Vor ein paar Tagen habe ich ein kleines Tuch fertiggestellt - mein Simple Fircone Triangle. Das Muster ist meinem eigenen Kopf entsprungen. Es ist gar nicht so einfach das Fircone Grundmuster in die Dreieckskonstruktion einzupassen. Das Garn ist vom Secret Pal 8 Tausch und ich gestehe, ich habe keine Ahnung, welche Zusammensetzung oder Lauflänge es hat. Dem Gefühl und Aussehen nach zu urteilen ist nicht nur Wolle drin sondern noch andere Fasern. Es glänzt sehr und fällt schön. Der Shawl ist mit 4,5 mm Nadeln gestrickt und misst 150 cm in der Breite und 75 cm in der Höhe.

A couple of days ago I finished this little shawl - a Simple Fircone Triangle. The pattern is of my own making. It's actually not that easy to fit the Fircone pattern into the triangular construction but in the end I managed. The nice variegated yarn is from my partner of the Secret Pal 8 exchange although I have no idea about fiber content and yardage. I'm suspecting that there is not only wool but something else thrown in the mix. The shawl is very shiny and drapey. I used 4.5 mm needles with this yarn and got a shawl measuring 150 cm in width and 75 cm in height.



Nachdem ich wochenlang nur mit Sockenstricken beschäftigt war hatte ich das starke Bedürfnis nach ein bißchen was Schwierigerem. Also, nichts wie rein ins riesige Archiv meiner Kunststrickmuster und es fand sich schnell eine niedliche Anleitung für ein Deckchen namens "Schleuderblatt". I benutze Baumwollgarn in 20er Stärke und 2 mm Nadeln. Die Kombination aus Garn und Nadeln macht sich sehr gut, wie ich finde. Ich bin in immerhin schon in Runde 70 und es verbleiben nur noch 29 Reihen.

After knitting only socks for the longest time I was in the mood for something a bit more involved so I dug into my involved lace knitting pattern stash and fished out a cute little doily pattern called "Schleuderblatt". I'm using #20 cotton thread and 2 mm needles. So far the pattern is working up very nicely with this particular yarn/needle combination. I'm in round 70 by now and it's only 29 round to go.