WIP Wednesday

A small summary of my unfinished projects from my project bag, or like the WIP says Work in Progress, as a part of Tami´s  WIP Wednesday Action. 

Most of these things pictured above are almost finished, just need a little tweeking, like sewing, washing or more material.

First Row (left to right): First two pictures of granny´s waiting to become something ;). The little owlies are Owl Rattles in making, I wasn´t sure if it would be a boy or girl, so I did some variations in the colours, so when I am in need for a baby gift I have some almost finished ;) The black and grey granny is made out of felting wool, I used a large hook, I´m not gonna felt it in the washing machine later though, since this will be a small blankie for my kitty Mia :)

Second Row (left from right): Starts of with a vintage potholder, I ran out of cotton and placed it in my project bag, and it has been a little forgotten about ´til now, I am definately going to finish this one soon, cause it´s beautiful :) Next to it a second TP Owly  I made one for my sister a while back, she picked the eyes with the black lashes, this one I was gonna make for myself, since I had a second pair of eyes already. All I need to do now is sew it up ;) Third picture in this row is another owly thing, a baby security blanket. I really just need to sew the owl on it, but since I am not happy how this cotton came out in the granny, I am thinking of redoing the granny with my favorite cotton from Lana Grosse ( I sadly hadn´t found that one, as I did this piece). But since there is no baby on the way for it to cuddle with, it´s one of those fast finished gifts when needed. Last picture in this row is of my prefelted house slippers. I made one in grey for my BF the turkish slippers, and this pair is for me :) Just needs to be washed and I am thinking about what kind of decoration I will do, or if I will leave them blank.

Third and last row (left from right): First off a picture of a mystery amigurumi CAL I am participating in over on google +, I am a late starter in the project, and I am on clue 3 now, the clue 4 is already out, but I have a hence that we are making amineko. The second picture is my first try to do filet crocheting, I haven´t blocked it yet, so that´s why it´s still a WIP ;). Third picture is the only project knitted, it´s a loop I am doing for my BF on circular needles. I am a slow knitter, but it will be finished before it gets cold ;). Last Picture is the beginning of a brand new project with new wool I just bought last Week in Berlin, it´s from Debbie Bliss called Rialto Lace, I love the colour and this will be a shawl for me ;)

Writing this I remember other WIPs but they will be a tale for another day. ;) 

It´s great to do a WIP Post once in a while, to see what is still left to do. But there is oh so more on my list of things I want to make. Am I the only one with so many unfinished business? I hope not. I tell myself it´s not that bad, at least I don´t have a room full of yarn. My wool stash is really small. But maybe I am just fooling myself, ´cause I didn´t think I had so many WIP´s either. 

I have an Idea for a Blog Post Challenge now called  "Show me Your Stash"  ;-) but shouldn´t that be our dirty little secret? ;)

Come with me over to Tami´s Blog on WIP Wednesday to see what others are working on

Dieser Post ist leider nur auf englisch, da dies ein Teil des WIP Wednesday ist und viel zu lang werden würde, wenn ich es in drei Sprachen schreiben würde. 

Engin íslenska í þetta sinn, en þið skiljið þetta líka alveg held ég :)

Cabled Coffee Cup Cozy

After I did my first knitted cable test piece a while back, I did this coffee cozy, but seem to have forgotten to blog it. It´s been in my purse ever since and oftly used, both for hot and cold drinks. It´s an every day reminder that I can knit and cable knitting is much easier than it looks.

Here is a pattern I made up using a knitting needle nr 4 and some merino wool I had in my stash

K = Knit

P = Purl

[RS] = Right Side, the side facing you

[WS] = Wrong Side, the back side of your work

C8R = slip next 4 stiches to cable needle and hold back; K4, then K4 from cable needle

R = Row

Start with casting on 20 stiches

R1: [RS] K4 - P2 - K8 - P2 - K4

R2, 4, 6, 8: [WS] K6 - P8 - K6

R3: [RS] K4 - P2 - K8 - P2 - K4

R5: [RS] K4 - P2 - C8R - P2 - K4

R7: [Rs]  K4 - P2 - K8 - P2 - K4

Repeat row 1-8 untill your piece is about 9 inch long, ending off after Row 1. It´s about 9 times, you have to repeat the Rows 1-8.

Cast of and leave a long tail, use this one to sew the ends together and snug it then on your coffee cup :) 

A really good way to learn and show off your first knitted cables.

Have fun and feel free to use this for your personal use, link me back please if you do one and leave me a comment with a link so I can see your version too :)

Deutsche Übersetzung

R = rechter Maschen

L = linker Maschen

[VS] = Vorderseite

[RS] = Rückseite

Anschlag: 20 Maschen

Der Zopf selbst umfasst stets 8 Maschen, umgeben von jeweils 6 vor und hinter dem Zopf. 

1. Reihe: [VS] 4R - 2L - 8R - 2L - 4R

2., 4., 6., 8., Reihe: [RS] 6R - 8L - 6R

3. Reihe:  [VS] 4R - 2L - 8R - 2L - 4R

5. Reihe:  [VS] 4R - 2L - [4 Maschen auf die Zopfnadel, (hinter die Arbeit legen) 4 Maschen rechts stricken, die Maschen der Hilfsnadel rechts stricken]* 2L - 4R

7. Reihe:  [VS] 4R - 2L - 8R - 2L - 4R

Wiederhol die Reihen 1 - 8, bis der Zopf etwa 23cm lang ist, oder so lang das er um einen Kaffebecher passt. Die letzte Reihe ist eine 1. Reihe, danach kannst Du die Maschen abketten. Lass etwas von dem Faden übrig, weil Du damit das zusammennähen wirst. 

Viel erfolg. Ich habe Merinowolle verwendet und Nadelstärke 4.

Íslensk þýðing

S = Slétt

B = Brugðið

[FH] = Framhlið

[BH] = Bakhlið

C8R = næstu 4 lykkjum eru settar yfir á kaðalprjón, og settar fyrir aftan stykkið, síðan eru næstu 4 lykkjur prjónaðar slétt, að síðustu lykkjurnar 4 sem þú geymdir á kaðlaprjónsprjóninum. 

Kaðallinn er myndaður úr 8 lykkjum með 6 lykkjur fyrir framan og aftan hann.

Byrjið á að fitja upp 20 lykkjur

1. Röð: [FH] 4S - 2B - 8S - 2B - 4S

2., 4., 6., og 8. Röð: [BH]  6S - 8B - 6S

3. Röð: [FH] 4S - 2B - 8S - 2B - 4S

5. Röð: [FH] 4S - 2B - C8R - 2B - 4S

7. Röð: [FH] 4S - 2B - 8S - 2B - 4S

Þessar 8 raðir eru svo endurteknar, og endað á röð 1, þar til stykkið er ca. 23cm eða nógu stórt til að ná utan um brottfaramál. Fella af og skilja eftir langan enda, sem þú saumar svo fyrstu og síðustu umferð saman með.

Thank you for taking your time to leave me a comment

Danke dass Du Dir Zeit nimmst mir Paar Worte zu schreiben

Takk fyrir að taka nokkrar mínútur í að skilja eftir línu

I can´t believe I´m knitting Cables

My mum tought me this weekend how to knit cables - this is my first attempt. It´s really not that hard as you think it is. All you need is a cable needle I used the so called birds wings or birds beak cable needle (if you click the link, it´s the one in the middle). 

On this small test piece - I repeatet the pattern 3 times. It´s alot of fun kniting this and seeing how your cables are born. It´s a very clever thing - cable knitting - and there are sooo many variations.

It reminds me of a dance - where you step forth and step back. The knitting walz.

For neater edgings, my mum also taught me how to slip the first stich and knit the last, regardless of the pattern you are making. This prevents ugly edgings with bulbs and uneven stiches (beginners problem in stiching). I found a nice video about this you can check it out here.

So I made myself a pattern for this little piece, and always slipped the first stitch and knitting the last, regardless of what the pattern asked for. 

My mum told me it looks prettier if you have 2 purl stiches before and after the cable part, that way the cable pops out nicer. For the edgings I wanted to try a pearl stich (1p, 1k then in the next row the p´s will be k´s and vice versa).

So here we go :)

Cast on 18 stiches and knit them as following:

Left Edging:                   knit - purl - knit - purl - remember to slip the first stich!!

Before Cable:                purl 2 

Cable:                              slip 3 stiches on the cable needle and keep in the back  

                                           knit 3

                                           knit the 3 from the cable needle now

After Cable:                     purl 2 

Right Edging:                 purl - knit - purl - knit

You have successfully finished the first row

CN3= slip 3 loops to Cable needle and put in back, knit 3, then knit 3 from the cable needle

R1 [RS]: k - p - k - p - 2p -    CN3 -   2p - p - k - p - k

R2 [RS]: p - k - p - k - 2p - K3 - K3 - 2p -  k - p - k - p

R3 [RS]: k - p - k - p - 2p - K3 - K3 - 2p - p - k - p - k

R4 [RS]: p - k - p - k - 2p - K3 - K3 - 2p -  k - p - k - p

Complete 4 rows before using your cable needle again. R1 is RS=Right Side and BS=Back Side, back side on row 1 would be p - k - p - k - 2k - 3p - 3p - 2k - k - p - k - p 

Seen on the picture is this pattern repeated 3 times

Knitting away - mistake rib scarf

Finished :)

Day One - My first knitting project

Mistake rib scarf with Debbie Bliss Cashmerino Aran, (55% Merino, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere yarn) colour 300041, and needles nr. 5. Ball weight is 50g, and length 100 yards or 90 meter.

Pattern is from knitfreedom.com, it´s called mistake rib ´cause it is made in easy 2×2 ribbing (2k, 2p), but the secret is to cast on an uneven number of stitches (a multiple of 4 stitches plus 3, to be exact) so that the knit and purl stitches don’t line up. I am also using the tip I got from the nice wool lady at wawawools in Bexhill on sea (East Sussex), where I bought the yarn and needles at, last year (yes I bought it a year ago, and thought I will have to knit this at last, before the next winter is over ;)) I did start it a couple of times, but my boarders always looked so bad, that I ripped it up again. The trick is to go with your needle in the second and third chain and pull them a little looser and then fasten the first chain (that is always sooo loose and ugly for me) that way you get an even boarder at last. I guess this is a common "new to knitting" problem. If you are ever in Bexhill on sea (near Hastings, UK) that is a shop you should definately go see. 

Now the days are getting colder again and soon winter will come and that´s why I told myself to practice knitting and finish this scarf at last. Now my second ball of yarn is nearly finished, so there is hope that I will finish this scarf this month.

I´m using a 27 cast on and out of one ball of yarn I got around 70cm of scarflength. I got a total of 3 balls, so I hope it´s enough yarn.

The yarn is soft and it´s colour changes depending on the sunlight, it´s a greenish-grey and super soft. 

When I have the desired length I will stitch the end and the beginning of it together forming a loop. That´s why my tail is a bit long. Not sure yet if I will make it a straight loop or with a twist.

I will soon add more pictures and ofcourse a final one around the special neck I am making it for ;)

Update:

Almost finished with the seond yarn ball and it fits around the neck twice now. I will knit some more :)

2 balls of yarn aprox 136cm. After fitting, it was decided to kast off :) Now I need to sew it together and take some pictures. It's soft and cozy. 

ready to go out in the cold