Icelandic Fixation

What do you do when you've discovered your new favourite yarn? Mostly soft, a little scratchy, REALLY warm, deliciously airy. Well, sounds like you're describing icelandic yarn.

As I inch my time through life towards becoming an old lady, I thought why not speed up the process a little. Being a little old lady at heart in my early 20s is cool, right? Right.

Anyhow, winter serving as an excuse - ahem, WinterLikeOnlyNorthernCanadaKnowsHowToMake (and possibly Siberia, but that's far) - I decided to undertake a rather large knitting project. Large by my standards. It's not yet another giant scarf, those are actually quite easy, they're simply time exhaustive. It is a lovely sweater. After knitting a rather funny elfish hat with bells and using the leftovers for hand-warmers, I wanted an excuse to use the lettlopi yarn again. It's such a breeze to knit with; it has a wonderful, fuzzy texture, it's light and airy, and it's 100% pure icelandic sheep wool. And the Gods only know how much I love working with completely natural fibres. Acrylic can't compete with this stuff. From personal experience, pure synthetic fibres can't hold a candle to the natural ones. Even though technically acrylic is slightly warmer than wool (exact citation in a textile textbook somewhere in a box, packed away), it doesn't breathe as well, it's not as comfortable, and it doesn't retain as nice an appearance once a garment is knitted.

The pattern I used is found here: www.ravelry.com veurfringurinn/weatherman
Available in both English and Icelandic, nominal cost of $6 US dollars. It's a simple pattern, excellent for a first time sweater project.

It seems typical for icelandic sweaters to be done in this sequence: knit the body from the hem up, knit the sleeves from the cuffs, join the body and sleeves in the round, work the pattern and the decreases in the yoke, knit the collar. And bam: wearable coziness. Don't skip over the blocking step. It's important if you want the sweater to fall properly. Plus, it smells like lanolin (wet sheep) while you steam it and it's great. Yes, trust me.

When you think about it, hand knitting is definitely not the right craft if you want to make a buck or two. It took about two and a half months of work - evenings and weekend-free time - to complete this piece. Cost for the balls of yarn came to about $65-70 CAD. So now you know, if someone ever gifts you a handmade sweater, it's worth gold. Seriously. There are no other pieces like it, and so much time and effort went into it, you better treasure it until the end of eternity.

As per usual, my efforts to document this project have been concentrated at the end of the process, hence there are only pictures of an almost completed, and completed sweater.

Colour work

Kitty helps

Done knittng

Blocking

Tah-Dah

Toastie-toes, or at least that's the hope

What is dreadful?
Spiders, Milk forgotten in the fridge, dog puke on the carpet, wet cat food... Many things, indeed.
Frozen toes though, they deserve a golden award. Frozen toes five minutes after a shower. Frozen toes that keep you from falling asleep for three hours until they warm up. Someone else's frozen toes in the back of your knees keeping you from falling asleep until they warm up.
So, in an effort to curb this dreaded thing, I decided to make myself some shmancy-shnice-shlippers. I vote we add this word to the Oxford Dictionary. Anyone to second the motion? Anyways, here's how I made these lovelies.

A while back - about a year or so - I came across this picture.

The pattern is just so attractive, and they look so playful. They became the inspiration for my newest pair of warm-feet-envelopes.

From previous experience, I knew that knitting slippers fully out of yarn - especially nice (read expensive) yarn, such as soft wool or other animal fibers - would deteriorate quite quickly on the pressure points under the feet. And require darning just a few short months after being completed. And since I refuse to use phentex, had to come up with a way to reinforce the bottoms. The lady at the yarn store suggested adding a soft leather sole - brilliant. But I thought I'd save myself the effort by dispensing altogether having a knit sole. In the end, I decided to knit an upper, and use suede for the sole. Quite like a simplified version of a mukluk really, which fits really well since I now live in Northern Canada.

And because I don't like doing anything the easy way, decided to come up with my own pattern and everything. I started by knitting a swatch in my chosen yarn, a fine, but not quite sock-weight baby llama yarn, to get my gauge. Once that was established and I measured my foot, I came up with a pattern that would fit nicely. And had fun coming up with a simple design, using two colours and somewhat fair-isle-esque technique.

After spending a few evenings knitting and binge watching documentaries, I had my uppers all done. You know what's really satisfying? Blocking the knitting once it's completed. Getting it to unfurl with the steam, and then lay flat and happy.

Once those had cooled, I seamed them at the back, and knitted a cuff in a bulkier yarn.

Then, while wearing one, I traced around my foot on a piece of paper and came up with an acceptable sole pattern. Which I then cut out of the suede. I'm not sure which animal it is, I'll venture and guess deer?

With an awl, I poked holes about every centimeter along the perimeter of the sole, then whip-stitched the upper to it. With any luck, they should last for a while and keep me toesies warm.
And if not, then I'll add a layer of rabbit fur on the inside.

 And voilà!

The Ambitious Fool

- I hereby declare myself an ambitious fool!
Claimed she in a high and clear voice. Her ambitions had nothing to do with advancement within the societal model she loathed, the gain of power, or the amassment of riches. Grinning widely, she had a silent chuckle and thought about how much of a fool she really was. In short, she liked the idea of undertaking projects devised by her devilish mind. They promised growth of knowledge and sense of accomplishment, as well as a welcome new addition to her portfolio. The only problem she could think of was regarding her might-as-well-call-it-masochistic mind which rejoiced at throwing too much at once into the project pile, and then sitting back to enjoy the chaos that ensued. From experience, she knew that it would always come down to a tug-of-war between the desire need to keep busy and work on fulfilling  tasks and the primal need for quietness and regenerative sleep.

Alas, what could she do but try her best to reach a state of equilibrium between these two, which were demanded so voraciously by her inner self? And so, between the grind of day to day activities such as employment, house chores and a pinch of socializing, she aims to get through her latest list of projects and still get enough rest to not feel like a zombie on a daily basis.

The first step towards the realization of this goal is to limit the amount of time wasted on distractions that actually don't matter. For instance, aimlessly browsing the internet too often.

The second step is to keep a list of the projects that demand to be accomplished, and then arrange them by priority. Hence, here is the list of projects for the month (or two months? It might very well be too much, she is a fool after all, and has a sly keenness to overfill her plate):

- Class plan
- Class display material
- Actual class material
- Chart of scene breakdown for the opera
- Costume list for the opera
- Costume renderings for the opera
- The new scarf project which is, as usual, way too complicated
- Feather-fabric dress
- Two flower crowns for Spring
- High-waisted corduroy pants
- Using up some fabric from the stash for its intended purpose

Nothing is highlighted in red - yet. Orange means that it needs to be completed by the end of March. Yellow indicates that it must be completed sometime in April, possibly. Green denotes mostly personal projects, the ones that would be nice to get to, but if not, it's not a tragedy.
That is a good way to linger in a sane state of mind.

Finally a new project!

I know, I know. I have neglected to update this since last February. My bad, I'll blame it on being too busy for anything outside of school and work, and work, and work.

Buuuuut, now I'm in Germany. I just started a new job, which affords me loads of free time, so I'll be able to finally do some creative work. Oh creative work, how I have missed you these past months. I can't wait until I find a sewing machine here (hopefully), otherwise I'll have to sew everything by hand. Which is fine, but I can't say that my handsewing skills are quite as good as some other people I know... *cough* *Peryn* *cough*. :)

Soooo! New country, new projects. Let's start from the beginning. I arrived in Weimar two days ago, and a few hours later, the lady who has been in touch with me all summer came over to my apartment to give me some goodies, namely: a blanket, a pillow, a towel, chocolate, and a handy little book called "Wie man deutscher wird." Or, how to be German. Exciting!

The absolute first point in the book is about wearing slippers. Or house shoes. Oh German, I love you. Great, I didn't bring any slippers. Let's fix that.

Now, I can't just go out and buy a pair of slippers. That would just be too easy/logical/straightforward.

Naahhh, I like a challenge. Seeing that aside from two giant scarves, all I've ever really knit were a mitten and a half, half a sock, and some funky shaped dishcloths. This is going to be fun. Or will it?

Also, while I'm at it, might as well go all out. Not just slippers, oh no, ELF SLIPPERS!!

                                           

Something like this. I found the pattern online here:

http://web.archive.org/web/20101121072753/http://caron.com/projects/ss_chunky/ssc_elf_slippers.html

I couldn't have picked something easier, eh? Oh well, let's see how it goes.

So, having brought only the most minimal of sewing kit with me, I needed to gather the raw materials to be used for this future creation of mine.

I found a bastelladen (craft store) in town and went in. Bought three skeins of wool yarn (they didn't have any acrylic, it's a really nice store). In hindsight, I see that I chose green and yellow like my hair. I swear it wasn't on purpose, it just happened. There were so many pretty colours to choose from: navy, dark red, a nice pink, they were out of purple though. I hope those three skeins are enough, I don't really want to buy more. Pure wool like this isn't exaclty cheap. Also needed to get knitting needles and yarn needles. I want to get the pack of five straight knitting needles, but I wasn't sure they were going to be quite long enough for the width of the work in the first stage. So I got a circular one.

Note to self: next time I travel, I should bring my knitting needles and stitch markers with me. They take virtually no space, and I wouldn't have had to buy new needles, and now I have to get creative with the stitch markers, because the store didn't have any. Also, I would have saved about 10€.

Well, now I know. And now I have even more knitting needle. Almost all of them in this exact size. 

I'll start these right now! In progress pictures will be posted as the slippers come to life, if all goes according to plan.

Update 21. September, 2014

There, my houseshoes are done!

Just in time for me to get a huge cold. Now I can wear my slippers, drink all of the tea, and be ultra lasy while my cold wanes away, hopefully soon.

 

First picture is the basic knitted shape, done in mosaic pattern. See how it's knitted flat, rather than in the round. I thought it was strange at first, until I realized that in order to get the toe to curl, you have to sew it together while pulling
tightly on the yarn.

Second picture is one slipper just sewed up, next to an already finished slipper with the cuff done in ribbed stitching. The cuff is also extra long so that it can be folded over.












This one shows the cuff being knit in the round.

And the finished pictures, with the cuff folded over. SO COMFY!

Also, according to my German book, tip #50 tells me that I need to do an exaggerated bye.

Tssssssssssssschüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüü-hhhüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüüsssssssssssssssssssssssssss!

Doctor Who Obsession

I get a little obsessed sometimes, about different things.. Like Game of Thrones and Doctor Who. They literally have cults following them, so I don't think I'm being weird, just really, really dragged in.

After I finished my big LotR scarf, I decided I wanted a big scarf for myself. The easiest and most obvious place to look is to the 4th Doctor. So here I am, knitting along again.

Now, I'm doing the original scarf, the one from season 12, because between season 12 and 18, there are a number of different scarves. Most of them are similar, length changes here and there amongst them, some are shorter, some are wayyyyy longer. I went for the original. Straightforward, not too wide nor too long. Good.

I'm already more than a quarter of the way, it's really knitting itself. :P
Garter stitch from start to finish, I barely have to look at it, I just watch episodes of Doctor Who. Classic episodes with Tom Baker, the original wearer of this scarf, or the new series with David Tennant, because he's a cutie! Matt Smith is not bad either, but David Tennant is a big nerd crush.

Depending on the light, it looks more or less saturated. I'm using fairly bright colours. It's so snuggly!!! RAAAAAAAHHH snuggles!

Tom Baker as the Doctor is really great. He was the doctor from 1974 until 1981, He's the actor who incarnated the doctor for the longest time. Seven seasons in total, any Doctor Who fan ought to watch him, he's really great. Did I mention special effects from the 70's? Those are hilarious, they make me super happy!

Now look at this beauty! The scarf at midway point! Soon enough it will be finished, and then I'll wear it proudly all the time. And I'll dress up as the 4th Doctor for Halloween. :)

Lord of the Rings scarf

Oh yea! This one is cool. I've actually started this scarf last October, and was planning on being done by Christmas. Ha! Was I ever wrong. Now it's July, and I really, really want to finish it before September rolls around, so that I can wear it when it gets chilly outside. This picture here shows the pattern for it. It's six pages long. I'm almost done the second page, go me! It says one ring to rule them all in elvish, it's great.

 Now, you can see what it actually looks like in yarn. Purple and light beige, so pretty together. This thing is huge. I'm using acrylic yarns that I bought at walmart, it was fairly cheap, and not as thin as the recommended size. Results: it is over a foot wide, and will be at least ten feet in length once I'm done. Cozy and badass, yes please!

 Oh! It's also double-sided. One side is purple with beige inscription, the other is beige with purple inscription. I did a bit of math, and estimated that when I'm done, I will have spent about 88 hours working on this monster. Yes, that many. It takes 10 minutes to fully knit a row, and there are 539 rows. So far, I've spent about 28 hours on it. I'm almost a third done, that's a comfort. If I want to finish it in seven weeks though, I have to knit for at least an hour every single day. It's not hard while I'm watching a movie or a TV series. It feels like I'm multitasking too.

I'm very proud of this thing, and I will only be prouder once I'm done, but I still have a LOT of work to put into it.

This is where I got the pattern, for all knitters and Lord of the Rings enthusiasts:
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/one-ring-scarf

I've done quite a bit of work on the scarf since I first posted. I'm a little further than halfway done, I'm very pleased with the way it looks. I'm really excited to get it finished. Truly, it's going to be the first time that I finish a scarf, I usually give up and never finished a single one before. :p Go me!

August 13

Oh yeah! Oh yeah! *kitsch dance moves*

I'm done, and two weeks earlier than I planned!!!!!! This glorious monster clocks in at a grand total of 2m80. It is soooooo fluffy, I'm gonna die.

PICTURES! :

Why did I finish it two weeks early? Oh, just because I started another gianormous one.........

I'm incorrigible.. :P

LotR Scarf: DONE!