Mittenmittens

I don't know how many mittens I made in 2015, 

but these were the last pair I finished.

Pattern: Mittenmittens (Vottevotter) by Wenche Roald

Yarn: Handdyed Bluefaced Leicester by Ninapetrina, 

kindly given to me to try. 

It's really lovely and soft!

I used needles 2,5 mm, and got a size small mittens. For the gift box. 

Next pair of mittens will be another pattern from Wenche, a mystery knitting in the I make mittens group on Ravelry. An enchanting mystery! I have test knitted the pattern, so it's not a mystery to me, but truly enchanting! Come on, join the fun!

I have a bad feeling about this

We're looking forwards to Star Wars Episode VII. 

In the meantime, how about a new hat?

The pattern is The Force Awakens Hat, 

a free download from Hannah L's Ravelry store.

I chose to change the words. 

Feel free to borrow it!

May the Force be with you!

Buachaille vest and knotted steek!

When Kate Davies launched her new yarn Buachaille, I was too curious not to join the Sevenskeinsclub to get hold of the loveliness. The club also gives you several patterns for small accessories, but I wanted to fit all the colours into one garment, so I opted for a vest. An am quite happy with the result.

The yarn is soft and the colours play well together, I think. I still have some left, there might be a hat or mitts, or a cowl - we'll see. 

I tried a new steeking technique for the vest, the knotted steek, as explained by Tomofholland. The weaving in of ends took forever, but I still think it was a good choice for the yarn. I also did a latvian braid instead of a ribbing at the neck opening and the armholes. 

The Sevenskeinsclub is sold out, but the yarn will be available for sale in January. I have also seen somewhere that there will be three more colours! Wonder what they might be... I would love some golden yellow, some purple, and mayby brown. 

Hurramegrundt! - Baby blanket - now in English

I'm not sure how to translate the name of this blanket, Hurramegrundt. 

But it's s fun knit, where you can use your stash yarn mix all the colours you want. 

I've had some amazing test knitters help me, Vatkugle, bedofroses, besto and eloja22! 

Thanks again, super knitters!

The pattern is now avaiable both in English and Norwegian.

Whose is the knitting heritage?

Who has the right to use our traditional patterns? Is it the yarn industry, or is it our common heritage that we can all use?

One of our talented Norwegian designers had to settle with a large yarn company that demanded exclusive rights to over 100 years old knitting patterns. Me and some other indie designers are making patterns in solidarity with her, offering new patterns that are inspired by traditional Norwegian patterns.

My contribution is the hat Marjusmonster. It has now been translated to English, so feel free to dowload it from Ravelry. 

The hat is worked in Rauma Mitu, in red, white and blue. I needed a little more than one skein of the blue colour, so if you work the striped garter stitch brim in only red and white, you can perhaps do with only one skein of each color. You don’t need more than about 25-30 g of the red and white.

The pattern is not test knitted, so if you encounter anything strange, please tell me.

Summer!

Summer is finally here! Keep knitting and enjoy!

Gorra Otavalo - in English

In spite of the Spanish name, the pattern is not available in Spanish, but in Norwegian, and now also in English!

Pattern sale

Boring part: Because of the EU VAT, Ravelry fees will go up after June 1st. Hence pattern prices will increase too.
Fun part: Last week of May you can get 2 patterns for the price of 1. You need to put both patterns in your cart to get the discount.

Mini Tuin in English

Mini Tuin Sweater

now in English

Four sizes: 3-6 months, 1 , 2 and 4 years

Sjølingstad hat - from me to you!

Inspired by the Shetland Wool Week hats, I have made a hat pattern for a knitting event at Sjølingstad Uldvarefabrik (Mandal, Norway) in September.

Free beret pattern here, beanie pattern here.

Enjoy!!

Hat love at first sight

It's not that I needed a hat

nor am I going to Shetland Wool Week 2015.

But I just could not resist this hat, 

the oficial Shetland Wool Week hat 2015 

- the Baa-ble hat by Donnasmithsdesigns. 

I started it on the train to Trondheim on Friday. 

Continued at breakfast on Saturday

Finished the knitting in the "Koftetog" 

- Colourwork cardigan parade on Saturday. 

Details on Ravelry.

New hat pattern - Tuintje

This cute little hat - beanie or beret depending on your taste - is a quick knit in worsted weight yarn (or fingering yarn held double as with the pickles merino tweed). It features a ribbed brim, a flower wreath and if you wish, a contrast coloured crown. 

The price is 25 NOK, just over 3 USD.
Today, and till noon tomorrow (Norwegian time)
you can get 50% off using the coupon code valentine. 
You find the pattern here.

"Eventyrlua" - Fairy Tale Hat in English

   The hat "Eventyrlua" has been available in Norwegian for a little while, you can see the Ravelry projects here.

The pattern was inspired by the Fairy Tale Flower mittens, "Eventyrblomster" from the mitten e-book, "Mittens from the Fairy Forest".

It was fun to figure out how to make the brim. 

Using slip stitches, you only work with one colour at a time. 

(Don't look too closely, though, I see a mistake in the colourwork.)

Here's the hat test knitted by Wenche. She chose not to swap main and contrasting colour in the different panels. She even has matching mittens!

Like it? You find it on Ravelry, or you can click the buy now button. 

Holiday shawl knitting #2

I was able to finish a 2nd shawl during the holidays. This is the pattern 

Roma shawl by Kirsten Kapur - finished at Christmas, as you can see.

I have made it once before. I love the contrast between the lace and the garter stitch stripes. 

Details on Ravelry.

I wrote in the last post that I don't knit shawls. Obviously, that is not entirely true, when I look at my Ravelry page, I find that I've actually make four of Kirsten Kapur's shawls before. Her patterns are very well written, and many (the ones I have chosen among others) do not have very complicated lace. 

Holiday shawl knitting

As you might have noticed, I don't knit many shawls. 

And I don't knit socks. But still I tend to buy sock yarn....

So, this Christmas holiday, since we've been travelling, 

I brought sock yarn, long circulars and three shawl patterns. 

First out was Pebble Beach Shawlette by Curioushandmade. 

I have been listening to her podcast for a while, 

almost since the beginning last year, I believe,

 but hadn't knit any of her patterns yet. 

It was about time. (Do check out her podcast, if you haven't already!)

The pattern was easy to follow, easy to memorize 

(I don't like complicatede lace) 

and I loved the percentage system, 

that told med how far I had come at every point 

(every 5%, to be exact).

Still, my visual brain would have liked a little chart too. 

When on holiday, you can block your shawl between two closet doors.

And you can knit everywhere!

Details on Ravelry. 

And I did finish in time for Christmas.