Zigzag socks and some more yarn testing - Siksaksukat ja lankatestausta

Zigzag socks for Bella have already been in use for a week or so but only now took some photos of them.
Pattern: None/mine - with french heel & grafted toe - zigzag stripes are made randomly - keeping the light violet as a bg colour and pink as a contrast colour.
Yarns: Araucania Ranco solid
Needles: 2,25mm dpns

I'm especially happy about the fit. Socks are snug and fit like a glove (or like socks should). I went for random striping instead of making two identical socks, just to keep myself entertained while knitting the second sock. The colouring was decided by Bella so I cannot take any credit for it. She also stated the exact length socks should be and that there needed to be zigzag stripes. I just knitted what she ordered for and the socks came out real nice. She likes them.
Siksaksukat valmistuivat viikko sitten, mutta kestää aina hetken ennenkuin saan aikaiseksi ottaa kuvitukset. Sukat ovat täysin sellaiset, jotka vanhin tytär tilasi - eli siksak-raitoja, värit niin, että liila on pohjaväri ja raidat pinkkejä. Sukkien pituus kerrottiin myös hyvin tarkasti etukäteen, joten mitään varsinaista suunnittelua en näihin tarvinnut.

Neuloin suoraan tyttären speksien mukaan ja hyvät sukat tuli. Olen etenkin tyytyväinen siihen, että sukat istuvat napakasti eivätkä pyöri jaloissa kuten millä tahansa valmiilla ohjeella tehdyt sukat tekevät, kun hoikkasäärinen Bella on kyseessä. Ja mikä parasta - nämä sai heti tytön hyväksynnän ja on nyt jatkuvassa käytössä. (mikä tietysti on paras palkinto minkä neuloja voi saada - eli että sitä neuletta oikeasti käytetään...)

On the ecoyarn testing front I've been knitting with nettle yarn. Quite an experience! I tried different needle sizes to see how they affect on the knitted fabric and quite like this yarn knitted on larger (6mm & 7mm ) needles. Still - nettle yarn does produce interesting texture also on smaller 4mm needles.
Ekolankatestaus on omalla kohdallani edennyt nokkoslankaan - joka onkin ollut varsin mielenkiintoinen tuttavuus. Kokeilin eri puikkokokoja nähdäkseni millainen vaikutus tällä on neulepintaan. Pidän melkoisesti isohkoilla (6mm & 7mm) puikoilla neulotusta pinnasta. Kuin rouheeta pitsiä. Silti - voisi tätä lankaa helposti neuloa myös pienemmillä 4mm puikoilla. Ei paha niinkään.

All in all the nettle yarn is quite hard to begin with. It resembles coarse linen yarn (handspun kind of variety) and also sheds quite a lot when knitted. (as you can see from the photo... )
Kaiken kaikkiaan nokkoslanka oli melko karkeaa ja kovaa neulottavaa. Ja siitä varisi hurjasti kuidun paloja kun sitä neuloi - kuten kuvastakin näkee. Kuitenkin oikein hauska neulontakokemus. Odotan tämän langan pehmenevän huomattavasti pesuissa.
I'm looking forward to washing this sample a couple of times - I bet it will get seriously softer after being washed.

Banana yarn- banaanilankaa

So here's how banana yarn looks like: I got a tiny amount (21g) for eco yarn test and was pretty surprised by this particular yarn.
It does not look like a eco yarn. (or what I think an eco yarn would look like) . This one is like a plastic novelty yarn. It is very uneven. Has an extremely high shine that resembles viscose and is a total pain in the arse to knit. Not very positive - uh? I just cannot imagine at all what could be done of this yarn - it is so ugly!
Tältä näyttää banaanilanka. Posti toi testiä varten vaivaisen 21g nyssykän - josta sain neulottua 6mm puikoilla 13cm*14,5 cm mallitilkun. Yhtään enempää en sitten olisikaan neulonut, sellaista kammotusta tämä lanka on. Kuten kuvasta näkyy - kiilto on hurja, jopa epätodellinen. Lisäksi lanka on liukasta, epätasaista ja ylikierrettä löytyy rutkasti. Aivan kammottavaa neulottavaa. En ymmärrä mihin tätä lankaa voisi käyttää tai mitä siitä voisi tehdä, sillä silmiin lähes sattuu kun katsoo lankaa - niin rumaa se on.

I have to admit I'm partly relieved that this is all the knitting that I need to do with the banana yarn - so powerful is my dislike for this yarn.Onneksi neulontaosuus on banaanikuidun osalta tässä. Yhtään enempää en olisi halunnutkaan sitä neuloa. Ehkä uskomattominta on , että vihdoin löytyi lanka josta minulla ei ole mitään positiivista sanottavaa. (Toki tilkku käy läpi vielä testin muut vaiheet - parit pesut jne, mutta puikkoja en tämän lähelle enää laita.)

It is "handspun" which must be a code word for "this yarn is badly and unevenly spinned." Even I could not produce a yarn this bad with my drop spindle.
Lisäksi itseäni kovasti vaivaa se, että banaani lanka on "käsinkehrättyä" - eli onko se vain koodisana sille, että lanka on kovalla ylikierteellä, lähes poikki muutamasta kohdasta ja muutenkin niin möykkyistä, että kehräyksen on varmasti suorittanut joku muu kuin ihminen? En kovalla yritykselläkään saisi itse kehrättyä tämän näköistä lankaa.

OK - fumes are out and I'm ready to tackle nettle yarn. I have somewhat more positive ideas about it to begin with. Maybe I have something nicer to say next time I blog...
No niin, jos sitten hengittelisi rauhassa ja aloittaisi tutustumisen nokkoslankaan. Alkufiilikset langan kerinnän jälkeen on ainakin toistaiseksi positiiviset. Tästä tulee takuulla mielenkiintoinen neulontakokemus, josta toivottavasti on banaanilankaa mukavampi raportoida jälkeenpäin....

Ravelry

When I found out about Ravelry some years back I was thrilled. It was like a heaven to a knitter just like me. I still would like to visit there, but for some reason I get in 1/20 times I try to get in there. The pages just won't load correctly and I can see there are messages for me but I am unable to get to them etc. Real frustrating.

However - sometimes Ravelry still is a life saver. I told here about my Rowan Polar jacket that I never finished because I run out of yarn. Then in help came Sigrun - she suggested that I would ask around in Ravelry from people who had that same Polar yarn in right shade in their stash if they would be willing to trade... and last week I finally was able to get a contact with the lovely Claire from the UK - who happily agreed to sell her remains of Rowan Polar to me. A quick paypal action followed and then yesterday the 2+ skeins of Polar arrived! Oh the JOY!!!! Thank you Claire! You saved my jacket! Now I Only have to find time to knit it ... Also thank You to Sigrun who was the mother of the brilliant idea of asking people in Ravelry.
Ravelry on loistokeksintö. Liityin vuonna 2008 ja se tuntui heti omalta. Neuleyhteisö, jossa sai puhua neulomisesta ja ihanista langoista niin paljon kuin halusi - ja samanmielistä seuraa riitti. Samalla sai pääsyn mitä ihanimpiin neuleohjeisiin - ja pääsi katselemaan kanssaneulojien tuotoksia... Taivas! Mutta viimeaikoina Ravelryyn sisällepääsy on ollut aina vain useamman yrityksen takana - jostakin syystä tunnun pääsevän sisälle vain noin joka 20. kerta, kun yritän sinne. JA silloinkin sivut aukeavat milloin minkäkin näköisinä - monesti pelkkänä tekstifilenä - josta ei ole riemua kuin yli-innokkaalle kodarille....

On Ravelrystä hyötyäkin - sen sain huomata, kun neuloessani harmaata Rowan Polar neuletakkia lanka loppuikin kesken. Olin jo epätoivoissani googlannut netin läpi (lanka tietysti mallia "tuotanto lopetettu"...) ilman tulosta, kun Sigrun ehdotti, että hakisin Ravelrystä. Ihmisillä kuulemma oli kyseistä lankaa merkattuna stasheihinsa - ja heistä joku ehkä suostuisi myymään omansa ja postittamaan Suomeen. Eikun kyselemään . Ja löytyihän sieltä ihana Claire, jonka kanssa saimme kaupat aikaiseksi. Nopean ja helpon paypal - maksun jälkeen jäinkin odottelemaan lankoja - jotka saapuivat eilen. Huippua! nyt saan villatakin valmiiksi! Mahtavaa!

On the eco-yarn testing front: I finally received all the rest of the test yarns today. Will start knitting today and also will let you know how those yarns behave on the needles - what happens when they get washed a couple of times etc. Cannot wait to start!.
Here's one of the yarns to be tested: Sirdar Snuggly White Whispers 100% Bamboo, with the amazing shine.

Uuden Mustan Ekolankatestaus pääsi kuin pääsikin alkamaan tänään, kun posti vihdoin toi puuttuvat 3 lankaa. Testissä mukana siis 5 ekolankaa ja 5 testaajaa ja kommenttejamme voi käydä lukemassa ja kommentoimassa Uuden Mustan blogissa.

Bed ridden - Sängyn pohjalla

just a short note here. I've been sick - really sick and hence no knitting has happened in a week. I hope I'm getting slowly better now - but cannot really tell. My oldest daughter is in her 8th consecutive day with a high fever. I have no energy what-so-ever etc.

But I'm not here to whine.
Some changes coming up starting from tomorrow until the end of February -> this blog will be in both languages - English and Finnish. I'm participating yet again (3rd time in a row) to Lankahamsterit (yarn hamsters) where I try to knit as much as humanely possible from my stash alongside with the rest of Finnish knitting community. It's going to be an interesting challenge.

The other thing happening 3 weeks from tomorrow onwards is - that I will be testing ecological yarns for Finnish lifestyle blog Uusi Musta. (along with some other testers) Their blog is brilliant and all Finnish - so I will be reporting there in Finnish and giving some comments here in both Finnish and English. Really looking forward to this! I have already received the 2 / 5 yarns to be tested and am completely smitten by the one of them. already.

Knitting content? ok - I'll let you take a peak of my 2nd Annis shawl - that I'm knitting in Madil Kidsilk and using pearls for the first time in my knitting... and this is how it looks like - like a dew droplets on the morning grass. Love it.
Nyt kun olen ollut viikon totaalisessa blogipimennossa sairastamisen takia (minä, kaikki tytöt vuorotellen ja edelleen minä kuumeen kourissa) niin tämän piti olla nopea päivitys mitä tuleman pitää ensi viikosta alkaen.

Aloitan huomenna Uuden Mustan ekologisten neulelankojen testaajana ja raportoin aiheesta tasaisin väliajoin UudenMustan Blogiin. (kannattaa tutustua -kerrankin lifestyle blogi jossa sisältöä ja sanomaa!) Aion luoda ensimmäiset silmukat huomenna ja testirupeama kestää kolme viikkoa putkeen. Jo nyt malttamattomana odottelen loppuja testattavia lankoja saapuviksi - toistaiseksi posti ja kuriiri ovat toimittaneet 2/5 testattavista... ja toinen niistä on niin ihana - etten voi olla hypistelemättä sitä. Tuntematta lankaa lainkaa voin sanoa, että ainakin houkuttavuus tuolla langalla on kohdillaan...

Toinen jo perinteisempi tapahtuma on tietysti Lankahamsterit - ja helmikuuhan on perinteisesti hamsterikuukausi. Koko Hamsteriajan koitan pitää tätä blogia myös suomeksi jo normiksi tulleen englannin lisäksi - on kanssaneulojien kivampi lueskella taistelusta lankavaraston pienentämisen parissa. Tässäpä ne. Ei tullut lyhyt postaus ei. Nyt takas nukkumaan. Kuume pentele ei osaa sitten lähteä pois.

Girlie hat

...for my oldest daughter. I knitted this a while ago - but only now managed to sew on the flower and pearls.
Pattern: Violet seed by Cathy Carron
Yarns: Araucania Copihue in #PT504, approx. 80g, For flower some Rowan Kidsilk night in Fountain #612
Needles: 6mm dpns

This is a great pattern. Seed stitch gives nice surface to this extremely simple hat. (Copihue feels like a dream. it is amazingly squishy and soft)

Fit came out perfect for Bella and I added a simple knitted flower as a little detail (girls between age 2-7 don't apparently have a limit for pretty things. All that's pink and sparkly is "wonderful")
I sewed a small lilac button to the center of the flower and added also some clear/silver-tone pearls as well.
As for other knitting. It is not going so well. I had been knitting the diagonal front jacket for some days and was on my way to finish the first sleeve when I had to admit my defeat and stop knitting.
Once again I had embarked knitting without really counting how much yarn I had in reality - and had only 2 balls of Jaeger Extra Fine Merino Aran left when I still would have needed to complete the 1/5 of the 1st sleeve, the whole 2nd sleeve and collar. So I ended up frogging the whole thing. Do I ever learn to check how much yarn I have before I start a new project??

(Anyways - I decided that the merino yarn was not the right yarn for that project anyways - as it was not drapy enough... so maybe it was all for the best this way (?) I'm definitely going to knit the Diagonal front jacket out of some other yarn. )

Some sparkle to darkness

So - last time I complained about p7tog for Annis shawl. I'm happy to tell you that after tackling those it was all smooth sailing and the resulting shawl is ready and being blocked to shape as I write this.
I also managed to cast on for another Annis for myself:-) This time from the lovely green Madil Kid Seta. And I won't be knitting those frigging nups again - instead I'm planning on substituting them with clear beads... feeling a bit anxious on how that's going to work out - it is going to be my first knitting project with beads on it!

Other than that there's one more FO for you.
Pattern: Lacy Top/ Lucille by Sarah Hatton from Rowan Studio Knits
Yarn: Rowan Kidsilk Night in Bronze - little less than 4 balls (under 100g!!)
Needles: 3mm & 3,75mm

Sorry about the quality of the photos. It is so d a m n dark here that taking photos is a true challenge + the fact that at the time of photo session it was around -20 celsius (~-4 Fahrenheit) - so I was completely freezing in 2 minutes... (and these photos were taken around 1pm - so it should be the brightest time of the day!)
Anyways - I pretty much like this one. It has sparkle, but not overtly so. Just enough to give some glitz to life. It is very light and when I started knitting this I thought it as a layering piece - which it became. It does look quite festive if worn solo (= just a sleeveless top underneath) but I've been wearing it on top of vintagey blouses and jersey tops - and it is actually amazingly wearable. Like it a lot - pity about the photos. I guess the next time you'll get decent photos in this blog is in a month or so....

btw. I just found (!!!) a finished cardigan from one of my knitting bags! It is Joy by Kim Hargreaves - but it still misses the buttons. I know I picked up buttons for it but cannot find them! should I be concerned that 1. I did not even remember knitting that one and/or 2. I have no clue where the buttons are.... ) Weird!? Or do I just knit too much?

p7tog

The other day the postman brought these lovelies that I ordered some time ago from Die Wollbox. Incredible lace yarns: 100% cashmere (turquoise), a natural coloured50% camel/50% silk and some gorgeously spring- green kid mohair/silk.
The cashmere already jumped on the needles. I'm knitting Annis shawl for my mom as a birthday gift. (I think I can pretty safely mention it here because she never visits this blog)

I love the yarn and the pattern looks great but.... there are 3 rows where you repeatedly purl 7 together, which is a pain in the a**e. I literally through the whole damn thing to the floor as I got so frustrated of p7tog. So here's a free tip : if you want to remain calm and collected ( or even just not going bonkers) do not try to knit 100& lace weight cashmere on standard addi circulars...
Ok, now that I've vented a bit I'm gonna go and take yet another try of those bloody p7togs. I will knit this if it was the last thing I ever did. See you later.

Hoarfrost neckwarmer

Pattern: Hoarfrost neck warmer by Anne Hanson
Yarn: PoshYarn Sadie sock (50%merino, 50%tencel) in Bats in the Belfray
Needles: 2,5mm addi 40cm round needle and 3mm dpns

Knitted size Large but on smaller needles and substantially tighter gauge - it came out wonderfully snug. The crystalline lace pattern is gorgeous. I love how it looks and feels. The bath transformed Sadie sock yarn so soft, without taking away the incredible shine it gets from tencel. Absolutely Fabulous!
Btw. it took maybe 8-9 hours in total to knit this. It is not a fast knit but definitely worth every minute. I have approx half of the skein of Sadie sock yarn still left and I'm thinking of knitting coordinating wristlets of it, with the same lace border that in the Hoarfrost.

(Last photo taken w/flash - really shows the shine)

New year - still the same knitting

Happy New year everyone! I do realise this is the time when many knitting blogs have listings of the projects completed last year - or photos showing best projects..
I'm not gonna do that. Last year is gone. It was a pretty good year. I hope this one is equally good one.

As for knitting - I'm still knitting the Hoarfrost neck warmer. And thinking that either I'm really slow knitter when it comes to this pattern or then I just don't feel a project that takes more than 5 hours especially fast one to make.
In the pattern it says that: " Knit in a crystalline cable-and-lace motif and finished with a knit-on border of lace snowflakes, this piece works up quickly on circular needles, travels well, and makes a beautiful gift."
I do agree it is a beautiful design. It definitely would travel well as it is very compact and small . But works up quickly? I totally disagree. I've been knitting my Hoarfrost more than 7 hours now and That is not Quickly. Nope.
Looks like this pattern and yarn go very well together. What an incredible shine and depth of colour!