Att vara eller icke vara, det är frågan....

 

Hej !

Jag har börjat ana att ingen använde sig av bloggar numera, så jag vill nu här fråga; Hur är det med den saken? läser ni bloggar? Skriver ni bloggar?

Vore trevligt att få svar på detta så jag kan avgöra om jag skall lägga ned det hela eller ej.

Time to come back to see how it goes.

 

I have decided to try to come back to this blog after I no longer can afford to keep my own domain. It's a very hard decision that I have to make after having it for so many years but the time has come to say goodbye to it. So Let's see if anyone are still interested in reading blogs or if it's all down to Facebook, Instagram and Twitter (and some others) to post what we are up to.

Blogs are more friendly that the other platforms just mentioned so I can only hope that some people will follow me here, time will tell. If it doesen't then I have to do what everyone else are doing and do all this on FB and IG mainly.

Feel free to write a reply to this.

Skriv gärna ett svar på detta.

So here we go!!

/Diana

Lots of FO's

 Lots of things has been finished since last time I posted here and I will show them all here and now.

I have managed to finish more things this year that I was expecting so I'm very pleased about that and there will be more before the end of this year.

Project Bags

 

Beautiful gifts from a dear friend.

I can't beleive that I'm so lucky to get these beautiful gifts from a friend in my Facebook group. I was mentioning that I have three sewingmachines and non of them are working properly and I really want to have my mums old Singer from 1960 serviced and fixed, but we don't have any shops in town that does services on sewing machines, so I need to drive some distance to do it so it jut sits there and it's frustrating. I really want to learn how to sew these things for my knitting and then I might be able to sew some cloathes, but I'm not holding my breath.

So then she asked me what size I want them in and modles and I was starting to realize that she was thinking of making me one and she told me to pick fabric and colours from a photo she posted and Wow! it was hard to pick one because there was two colours and fabrics that caughted my eye so I was struggeling picking one so she then told me that she will make me two!!

So when these arraived 3rd of March I was averwhelmed over the bags and how well made they are and the little extra notion bag and all other little lovely things she added to it all just made me stunned.

I really hope that I one day can make these myself and I have already starting using the smaller one with a pair of socks that I have started to knit on.

first project has moved in. Happy days!

Bullfinch Mittens

 

I am a big fan of Bullfinches so when I saw these mittens, I just had to knit them, so I did. But it didn't go as planed, because when it was time to pick up for the thumb, something went horrible wrong and it ended up being ripped up, the whole thing and after that I just lost interest for a year. But this year I picked it up again and learned from my mistake and finished them. I am SO pleased with them and they are so warm.

I never thought that I could knit a pattern like this but I really wanted them so I just went for it, and I'm glad I did. I have learnt so much by making them and that will just help me in the future in the next pair I will make.

Yarn used: Du store Alpakka Sterk
Needle: 2.50 mm
Started: 26th of January 2021
Finished: 5th of February 2022
Pattern: Bullfinch Mittens
Designer: Jorid Linvik

Green buttons

 

I finally got the buttons that I ordered from www.e-slojd.se January 13 but I had to remind them twice before they sent them. Anyway, these buttons are for the Oh-land cardigan that I knitted recently and after seeing these up front I decided on the biggest ones.

The sad thing with this one is that before I blocked it it fitted perfectly but now the yoke is massive and I need to sort it out in one way or another and I think I have come up with a good idea, so I will be trying that out first before I mention it here and show you what I did.

Christmas Eve Cast-On Finished

 

This was a fun and fast knit and I love the colours in this one. It reminds me of old Victorian Christman.

Yarn used: Opal  Glitter mit Silbereffekt, 9670 Shine
Needle: 2.50 mm
Started: 24th of December 2021
Finished: 25th of January 2022
Pattern: Just a Vanilla Sock
Designer: Me ;) 

Christmas Eve Cast -On

 

On Christmas eve I wanted to cast on a pair of socks with this lovely Opal yarn that I bought in Cambridge 2019. It has a silver sparkle in it so it was perfect to use it during Christmas and I was not using any patterns for this one, so just a vanilla sock with a bit of "fun" just after the rib.

I have just cast on the second sock so this pair will soon be finished.

Yarn used: Fingering weight (Opal 9670 Shine)
Needle: 2.50 mm
Started: 24th of December 2021

Lovely Blankets

 

When I have finished a pair of socks, shawl, cowl a.s.o, I can't throw away the leftover yarn, instead, I use it for a scrappy project like blankets or socks even, so here I have four blankets on the go at the same time and as soon as I have finished a project, that yarn goes straight into these blankets.

The two Granny Striped blankets are from a pattern by Atic24 and it's a free pattern. You can see I have two of them on the go and that's because one is wider than the other one and I have only variegated and tonal yarns in that one and only for two rows, whilst in the other one I use even solid coloured yarn and up to 4 rows of the same yarn depending on the yarn itself. 

The top blanket is called "Jelly Roll Blanket" by Kay F Jones from the Bakery Bears Podcast and it's a pay-for pattern and you'll find it at Ravelry. The one on top of the Granny Striped Blankets is another one from Kay F Jones and it's part of a blanket called "Stitch in Time" and that too is a pay-for pattern and can be bought via Ravelry. All these blankets are perfect for getting rid of leftover yarn from projects.

Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022!

 

Oh-land /Öland Cardigan

 

I really wanted to knit this one as soon as I saw it but it did take a bit of time before I had all the yarn and that I felt ready for colourwork. But I did it. Everything went fine but the colourwork was puckering a bit and I was hoping it would flatten out after blocking, and it did but turned it way too big at the top. So I'm a bit upset now over this because it fitted perfectly unblocked and now it's massive. I think I will not use Superwash Merino for these things in the future or just knit one size smaller so it will fit after blocking. A woman in my group on Facebook told me that she always knit just the colourwork in yokes one size smaller and I will try that next time. Now I need to rescue this in some way because I really like it.

Here it is before blocking and it fitted perfectly. I was so pleased over that and all it needed at this time was buttons and blocking to get the puckering of the colourwork flattened/relaxed. 

I need to do something to the neckline at the back I think to tighten it up a bit and I still need buttons.

Jelly Roll Blanket

Another blanket that I started up during May and it's another scrappy blanket made of leftovers and it's so much fun to knit this one. The picture is showing the wrong side of it and here underneath is the front. No seeming just attache as you go. Brilliant.

 

The pattern can be bought via Ravelry. 

September Socks

 

September Socks (Socks with faked Cables)

These socks have a long history with me because I started way back in 2011 or thereabout and I was a new knitter then after a long pause from 1987 when I just had started to learn it back in 1985 with mums help. So when I put this to the side and left it for some time I could not see where in the pattern I was because I was not experienced enough at that time, so I ripped it all up and left it to that, but I had deiced to use this yarn for That sock in the future and that future was now in 2021.

I'm so pleased with them and the pattern is so easy to knit and it looks nice and I managed to make them to match. There will be more socks in this pattern.

If you want to give these a go then you'll find the pattern here at Ravelry.
The pattern is in Swedish and English by Helene Wallin

Yarn Used: Fingering weight
Needle: 2.50 mm

Started: 18th of April 2021

Finished: 28th  of May 2021

Pattern: Sockor med falska flätor / Faux Cables Socks

Designer: Helene Wallin

Granny Stripe Blanket

 

I wanted to crochet this blanket for so many years now that I have forgotten for how long and I never got around to start because there was always something else on the go but now I had so many leftovers from sock knitting and blanket knitting that the time was right. The pattern is free and it's from the Attic24 and the very talented Lucy has made this for us all to make. I chained 300 and the yarn is fingering and the hook I use is 2.50.

This will take the time it takes because I use scraps/leftovers from other projects and I'm in no hurry.

It's on the floor next to my chair and as soon as I have some leftovers from something it goes straight into the blanket.

Bits And Bobs Cowl

 

This knit was a real struggle for me. I never thought I would be able to make it but I didn't give up and I tried at least 15 times before I got the hang of it and managed to finish it. I never thought knits and purls could be so hard and this is the Fishermans' Rib and held with 2 strands of yarn. One was the main one and it was Cascade Yarns Heritage white and the rest was leftovers from sock knitting and shawl knitting.

I have to say that I'm glad that I finished it because it's so soft and squishy and I might make another one in the future, now that I know how to knit it, but I'm not in a hurry.

Yarn used: Fingering weight

Needle: 4.00 mm

Started: 28th of Mars 2021

Finished: 2nd of May 2021

Pattern: Bits and Bobs Cowl

Designer: Kay F Jones

Time to Dye again!

 It was time to dye another colour and this time it was time for the pink-orange version and I was really pleased over how it turned out.

Drying in the sun and this time I dyed 2x50gr as well as 1x100gr. The 2x 50gr is for socks

1st Hand-dyed Yarn

 Finally! I have for some years now (since 2017) wanted to try out to dye my own yarn and now it finally happened. I was very nervous at first but it was so much fun and I want to do more now. I'm a big fan, follower, and patreon of the Bakery Bears Podcast and have been following them from the start, and Kay who is the dyer of the duo (Dan & Kay) has dyed up so many beautiful colourways through the years and I have bought some and won others. Now she has a dying show that's a part of being a patreon can get access to, where she shows her ways of dying some of her beautiful colourways and it's this that got me starting this year. If you want to find out more about this Duo, then jump over to their Webpage for full information and the history of their work with the Podcast.

So here's a few photos of my first ever hand-dyed yarn.

This was so much fun to do but it does take time and planning and I loved every minute of it and will do this again. Planning to make a pinky peachy one next time.

The 2nd Moondust

 

I never showed the second Moondust efter it had been blocked, so here it is!

It didn't turn out as good as I was hoping for and that's probably because of some reason this one turned out to be longer than my first one. The yarn is the same, just another colour, and I used the same size needles but it still turned out longer. I must have knitted this one looser.

Here's my first one, check the size difference between them!

So I might rip it all out or just leave it for a bit and see how I feel about it later.