B is for BSJ - B haasteneuleet

It keeps snowing more and more. We have probably a half of meter of snow already... Very pretty outside!

I'm participating in alphabet challenge by Finnish Ravelry group Kahelit - and I am a bit behind in showing my projects here. So here come the B-challenge knits that I begun knitting in November (and finished in December... it just has taken some time to take those photos again....)

Lunta vaan satelee - lisää ja lisää. Onhan tuo kauniin näköistä, mutta kyllä pikkuhiljaa alkaisi jo riittämäänkin...

Olen mukana Ravelryn Kahelien aakkoshaasteessa ja hiukan (krhöm...) jäljessä näiden neuleiden esittelyssä täällä blogissa. Eli nyt mennään vasta B-neuleisiin - jotka tosin sain valmiiksi jo viime vuoden puolella, mutta valokuvattua ne on tullut vasta nyt. No parempi myöhään kuin ei milloinkaan?
Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Delight in #01
Needles: 3mm

This is the ultimate baby knit classic! And this is the first one I make to my own offspring.... Decided on the asymmetrical version - as it looks even cooler than the original one (in my humble opinion) Did not modify anything else. The jacket is just the right size now. Will probably fit up to 3months or so. Very happy how this turned out.
Tämä on ehdoton vauvaneuleiden klassikko. Ja silti ensimmäinen kappale jonka neulon omalle lapsoselle - joten pitihän tällainen nyt sitten neuloa. Tein epäsymmetrisen version, koska se vain nyt näyttää paremmalta omaan silmään kuin se originaalimalli. Tuli oikeinkin kiva - koko on just passeli nyt - > varmaan menee 2-3 kuiseksi asti (riippuu tietysti pojan kasvuvauhdistakin..) Ai niin - Drops Delight on todella mukava uusi lankatuttavuus itselleni. Taatusti teen tästä jotain jatkossakin!

Pattern: Baby Sweater on two needles by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Rowan Purelife organic wool in Onion (MC) and Twilleys Freedom spirit (CC)
Needles: 4mm

The original one is knitted in lace but I decided against it once I knew the baby was going to be a boy. So I grabbed some Freedom spirit and used it as contrast colour to the edges and yoke. The yoke has a subtle 2-colour pattern using lifted stitches. This is still too big for the son, but it should fit him by next autumn. Not sure if this is a hit or miss.. Have mixed feelings about the outcome. It looks ok, but I'm not actually jumping in joy here. It is ok - I guess.
Toinen Zimmermann klassikko, jota olenkin sitten modannut enemmän. Originaalihan on pitsineuletta, mutta kun kuulin odottavani poikavauvaa oli selvää, etten mitään pitsejä rupeaisi pikkumiehelle neulomaan. Joten otin Organic woolin kaveriksi ruskeankirjavaa Freedom Spiritiä ja käytin sitä kaarrokkeeseen ja reunuksiin.
Tämä on vielä liian iso, mutta menee luultavasti samalla kuin 68/70senttiset vaatteet alkavat sopia. En oikein tiedä ollako tähän kovinkaan tyytyväinen, sen näkee sitten kun tätä pääsee käyttämään...

Noro Sekku shawl

It's -15 celsius outside. And it's still snowing.
I've been making some progress on my several knitting projects (lacy cardi, highly texturized cardi, gray jacket, a pair of socks & a couple of scarves... and I really think I'm still going to cast on for another pair of socks today..)

So still lots of knitting going on here - maybe it is time to show my Noro Sekku shawl that I knitted some time ago.
Pattern: none/mine - just sort of knitted and the thing just formed by itself.
Yarn: Noro Sekku, #5 - 1 skein exactly (I had maybe a 1 meter of yarn left after bind off)
Needles: 4mm
Basically I used the PI -shaping and increased with K1, YO rows. Also included some K2tog, YO rows in between the increase rows - to keep the shawl a bit more lacy & airy.
The hem is just simple feather & fan lace.
The colours in Sekku are incredible. So bright and saturated. And the feel of the yarn is something completely different to any other yarn I've ever knitted with. I enjoyed knitting this - but now when it is finished it looks like almost too much colour put into one shawl. Makes me think of the rainbow...Or the native american textiles.

BSJ

Here' s my first BSJ ever. It is a very clever design by Elizabeth Zimmermann - as everyone knows. It took Emma to get pregnant with a little baby girl for me to start knitting this pattern for the very first time. (I finished it already in February but didn't want to post it here before having sent it to Emma) I also made little socks to go with it. (because - lets face it, although booties are oh-so-cute - they are unpractical as they won't stay on on a normal baby (I think that they might stay on if the baby is VERY calm, but my girls at least have always moved their feet to the extent that no booties have stayed on for longer than a couple of minutes...) So socks it was...
Pattern: Baby Suprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: Twilleys Freedom spirit in Bliss a bit over 100g for both the jacket and socks
Needles: 3,5mm

I'm thrilled with the design. And it was so fun to knit! I only can hope that Emma likes it as well.

In the meanwhile...

I've been knitting this:

It is a BSJ for a friend's baby girl. She was born on February 17th and I still haven't sent the jacket to her.... At least the jacket is now ready and I also made little socks to go with it. Goal for today: post them to Emma & her baby.

(how many days do I still have to finish my olympic project? I have no idea - please say it is more than two days - otherwise I won't make it!)

Tomten

Finally. Photos of Tomten jacket I made for Amanda some weeks ago.
Vihdoin ja viimein kuvia Tomten-jakusta, joka valmistui jo jokunen viikko sitten...
Pattern: Modular Tomten Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann from The Opinionated Knitter (ravelry link)
Yarns: Colinette Silky Chic in Castagna & Raphael, Wendy Supreme Luxury Cotton DK in Lilac print and Rowan Linen Drape in Olive.
Needles: 4mm
I wanted something easy to wear for Amanda, who just adores this jacket. It has a zip-closure in front and I have added pockets and an i-cord finishing all around the edges. Very simple & functional design. Gotta love EZ:-)

Halusin Amandalle kivan kesäneuletakin, joka olisi helppo ja mukava päällä. Ja tietysti tytön lempiväreissä (kun tarkkaan katsoo löytyy neulepinnasta turkoosia,pinkkiä, liilaa, viehreää jne. Loputtomasti värejä ja sävyjä...) Kiinnityksenä on avovetoketju ja kaikkia reunoja kiertää i-cord-reunus.
....and as you can see, this Tomten handles swing very well indeed...

Ja kuten näkyy - tämä tonttu handlaa keinumisen komeasti:-)

after a hard week - rankan viikon jälkeen

Last week was probably one of the most stressful I've ever experienced. Our youngest daughter (1yr) had her right lung operated on tuesday and I was at the hospital with her until friday when they released her home. Surgery went well and it is hard to believe it was only under a week ago she was in the OR.

Viime viikko oli varmasti yksi rankimmista, mitä olen kokenut. Nuorin tytär (1v) oli keuhkoleikkauksessa tiistaina, ja sen jälkeen viikko perjantaihin asti meni sairaalassa. Piuhat tytössä vähenivät vauhdilla ja toipuminen tapahtui niin nopeasti, että jo perjantaina pääsimme kotiin. Nyt on jo vaikea uskoa, että mitään leikkausta on ollutkaan. (toki arvet ovat mahtavat jne, mutta neiti leikkii normaalisti ja on oma pirteä itsensä)

Then to knitting:
Hat+mittens+scarf set that I've been knitting for a while.
Sitten neulomiseen - valmistunut myssy+lapaset+huivi-setti, jota olen neulonut vaihtelevalla aktiivisuudella vuoden vaihteesta saakka. (ei siis lasketa mukaan lankahamstereihin...)

Patterns: Ganomized hat for me (based on Ganomy by E. Zimmermann) Mitered Mittens also by E. Zimmermann and My so called scarf by Allison Isaacs
Yarn: less than 100g of New Lanark Aran in Natural Black and 200g Araucania Magallanes in #309
Needles: 5mm for hat & mittens , 7mm for scarf

A bit bean-eater, bit rustic, very nice colours - and of course (as always) Zimmermann's designs are a joy to knit (even though I modified them quite a bit this time.) Scarf looks so much more complicated than it is. Very cool.

Hiukan viherpipertäjää ja tosi ihanan värinen setti. Zimmermannin ohjeet on ihan huippuja - vaikkakin modasin niitä tällä kertaa varsin reippaalla kädellä. Huivin mallineule näyttää huomattavasti monimutkaisemmalta kuin mitä se on. Tykkään.

Tomten on needles - Tonttu puikoilla

As I have nothing finished to show you, (due to a fact that all 3 girls caught chickenpox and last 2 weeks have been very unproductive on the knitting front...) here's a wip that I've been working on for sometime now... Tomten jacket for A. Only sleeves are missing:-) and I'll put this knit (and all other knits I have as wips) on hold for a month as tomorrow is the 1st of February and the beginning of Yarn hamster-month! (trying to knit as much as possible from our stash... - should be fun!)

Ei mitään valmista,(lähinnä siitä syystä että kaikki tenavat saivat vesirokon, jota on sitten podettu viimeiset pari viikkoa - eli neulomisaika on ollut kortilla) joten pieni vilaus puikoille - jossa on valmistumassa Tomten-jakku keskimmäiselle neidille. Tosin tämä, kuten muutkin keskeneräiset neuleet jäävät pienelle jäähylle helmikuun ajaksi, sillä olen ensimmäistä kertaa mukana Lankahamstereissa. Tarkoituksena siis neuloa mahdollisimman paljon omasta lankavarastosta- ostamatta lainkaan lisää lankaa. Sopii kyllä! (varsinkin kun olen muutenkin ostamatta lankaa vielä monta kuukautta) Valmiina haasteeseen - huomenna se alkaa!

Thanks Secret Pal! - Kiitos SP!

Last few days have been pretty miserable, as girls have caught a bad cold and so have I , so I'm trying to hold on and manage somehow while having fever myself. .. I'm not worried about me, but seeing my youngest one having burning fever and no strength at all is just sad. (She had her Birthday today - Cannot believe she is already 1! what a birthday - .. but hope she's getting better by Saturday when we've been planning to have a party for her) Fortunately my oldest daughter got better today (as did I) and she's now fine. (I hope) On the other hand the Wild-One is now getting really ill.... I need strength!

But - it is not all misery here - In the afternoon I walked to our postbox and look - a package from my Secret Pal!

I opened it and -

Woaah! Wonderful! I love it! I've wanted to have EZ's Opinionated Knitter for some years - and now I have it. It is a gem. Thank You - thank you my Secret Pal - whoever you are!


Viime päivät täällä on ollut täysi sairastupa päällä. Minä ja vanhin sekä nuorimmainen kaikki kuumeessa... Nuorin neiti täytti tänään 1v kuumeen kourissa - toivottavasti paranee lauantaiksi, jolloin olisi tarkoitus juhlia ensimmäistä täyttä vuotta...
Nyt illalla vanhin on kunnossa mutta Villikko on vuorostaan kuumeessa... Onneksi oma olo on parantunut, jaksaa huomattavasti paremmin kun itse ei ole ihan taju pois, kun koittaa hoitaa muita:-)


Päivän ehdoton kohokohta oli käynti postilaatikolla, jonne oli ilmestynyt postia Secret Paliltani!! Aivan loistavaa! EZ'n Opinionated Knitter, jota olen himoinnut jo useamman vuoden. Kiitos! - Kiitos! kuka sitten oletkin.

Pi-shawl

As the weather is what it is outside (rainy & bloody dark all the time) I cannot take any pictures there. Photo below is taken when I blocked the lovely Pi-shawl. (I got to confess that it is still pinned down to that bed...)

Pattern: Pi-shawl by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Knitters Almanac

Yarn: Lornas Laces Helen's Lace in "get Knitted" (approx. 4/5th of skein)

Needles: 4mm

I'm still thinking that I might dye this shawl. But not now. If I'm not wearing it when it is this strange pink/purple/orange I'll overdye it red. Maybe.

Pi -huivi valmistui ja on aikas kiva. Tykkäsin kovasti mallista, tosin väri nyt ei ole sitä ihan "minua" joten voipi olla että värjään tämän jossain vaiheessa punaisella. Muuten lanka oli aivan ihanaa (50%merino/50%silkki ei tietysti voi muuta ollakaan kuin ihanaa;-) Ja tämän neulominen oli jotensakin terapeuttinen kokemus. Lukuunottamatta reunusta, jonka neulominen tuntui vievän ikuisuuden.

Colour therapy - Väriterapiaa

I'm having so much fun knitting this! Colour is so vibrant (although not really "me") and EZ's pattern is just plain clever. Enjoying every moment of it.

Mahtavan kirkkaat värit ja nerokas Elizabeth Zimmermannin malli = Totaalisen rentouttava ja nautittava neuletyö. Kohta tosin valimis, sillä enää jonkin matkaa reunusta neulomatta...

February Lady Sweater

Finally finished!

Pattern: February Lady Sweater by Pamela Wynne
Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted in Autum Forest, approx 450g
Needles: 5mm

I had to knit left sleeve three times before I was happy with it. Yarn pooled so badly on sleeves... But the outcome is nice. And Malabrigo worsted was a real pleasure to knit with. Will definitely use this yarn again - and again.