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November 30, 2006

John's finished mittens

John told me there is a price for receiving a hand knitted item: you have to model it before you're allowed to use it. How right he is. He also thought it was a pretty small price to pay. Look at the happy young man:

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Serious, who, me?

The mittens fit very well, and the thinness of the yarn in combination with the thin needles produced a quite firm fabric. The cuff could have been a bit longer, and could have been knitted on one number smaller needles. The rib is 1 knit, 3 purl, and there is not very much elasticity in the cuff, and I suspect it can even be wider when in use. The top decreases are made as a three stitch band, where the middle stitch is throughout knitted in grey, and the edge stitches in blue. The thumbs are finished with a single stitch band, very much like what I made on the Paistu mittens. The pattern goes up in the thumb, and on the back of the thumb is the same pattern.

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The pattern is from Eeva Haavisto's book, and is according to her notes from Kotka, a city on the coast east of Helsinki. The mitten patterns found in this area are very often in style similar to the Estonian mittens, and it hardly comes as a surprise, taking into consideration the ancient commercial contacts between Estonia and this area. The pattern is also one I think can be found in several other areas around the Baltic see. But I think it is very pretty in it's simple lines, and John is very pleased.

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Project details:
Pattern: Eeva Haavisto's, from the book Sata Kansanomaista kuviokudinmallia.
Yarn: Isager Tvinni, a 100 % 2 ply merino wool.
Needles: 2mm dpn.

November 28, 2006

And my Secret Knit Pal is....Taru!!!!

The Finnish Secret Knit Pal exchange has been going on for four months. In November it was time to send the last parcel and to reveal the identity. I have for four months enjoyed the results of the imagination of Taru from Turku. Taru is keeping her blog at Hatusta vedettyä . Go and take a peak at her works!

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This last parcel was huge, and with a wonderful content. What you can't see on the picture because it's hidden (I didn't see it was hidden when taking the pictures, it's totally unintentional), is a Addi circular needle, 80 cm and 3,5 mm with real gold plating. Wow! And such a useful size and length! And what’s more? Yes, four balls of Sandnes Sisu, a very nice yarn I haven't worked with for some time. The colours go together in the most beautiful way, even if my pic is a bit crappy. Winter light and flash, you know. Vuorelma's Satakieli, a yarn you never can have too much of. Two pairs of straight needles, 3 mm and 2 mm in bamboo. Christmas pampering: tee and cinnamon scented candles. Chocolate: Fazer and lovely Kalev, an Estonian brand I'm totally in love with, thanks to Taru, who has sent a steady supply during this autumn. And sushi paper table napkins. My daughter saw them and tried to get me promise to use them on her birthday*. Well, let’s see. If she’ll behave well until December the 9th…

Taru, you have been a wonderful pal! Thank you for every thing, it has been rays of sunshine in the autumn. All the yarns you have sent have been wonderful, and I’m sure you will see them all feature on this blog in the future! And guess what? I have found I shop in Helsinki specializing in Estonian foodstuffs. It was closed when I drove by, so let’s hope they carry Kalev.


*Just like me she is a real fan of Japanese cooking, and has as Christmas and Birthday gifts asked for dinner at a sushi place or Japanese restaurant... among other things, but still. This is a standard request from her, starting from the year she turned seven. So it has been going on for five years already.

November 24, 2006

Belated update

Okay, time for a belated update. I know I promised this for last weekend, but sometimes are your plans not working out as they should, and, well what do you do. And then when I found the time to sit down and write, well then did the darn net act up, and I couldn’t get the thing posted. Grrr… But her it is. Knitting time has been a bit spare, but I have managed to finish as well the Fifi shawl as my fathers scarf. Both receivers were very pleased, even if Sofia’s shawl was found the next day tied on her big softie dog…

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Project details
Pattern: Fifi shawl by Johanna Pajakoski for Ulla nettineulelehti.
Yarn: Rowan Linen Drape, 100 grams.
Needles: Addi circular needles, 3,5 mm.

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Project details:
Pattern: Sharfik by Grumperina.
Yarn: Jaeger Extrafine Merino, 150 grams.
Needles: Addi circular needles 4 mm.

And here is one more finished pair of mittens. These were actually knitted back in September, but they were intended for my Secret Pal, so I couldn’t post about them. Here they are, together with some yarns that also were sent to my pal. The yarn is Rowan WoolCotton, and chosen with dry skin in mind. It’s fabulously soft on the hands.

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Project details:
Pattern: Cabled mittens from Sarah Dallas’ book Vintage knits.
Yarn: Rowan WoolCotton, a bit more than one ball.
Needles: 3,5 mm.
Alterations: The pattern was knitted on two needles, something I refuse to do, I knitted them on four dpns. The thumb was a new one for me, and was as well easy as giving a nice fit.

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And I have made progress on John’s mittens: both mittens are knitted, and only lacking the thumbs. He is getting impatient. A friend of his had said about the mittens with the hole that he doesn’t believe that John’s mum has knitted them, they must be store bought since they are so great. John was pretty pleased, I can tell you, when he told this story, and eager to get the new mittens to show. And I’m so proud of my 14 years old, who is happy to wear hand-knitted mittens to school.

The rest of the WIPs will have to wait until next post. See you then!

November 18, 2006

Scottish yarn and mitten book!

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Having a blog has brought thing to my life that I couldn't think of before the blog. There are so many nice people leaving comments, and many friendships have begun from comments on the blog. I love exploring the blogs mentioned in the comments, and I have found many blogs that I now regularly read. This entry has to do with the result of comments.

Last week, after having posted about my Bayrische socks I got a comment from Kirsty in Scotland. I followed her link to her blog and her yarns hop and came across the most beautiful yarns. And remember, I'm not the world's hugest fan of variegated yarns, but Kirsty's hand-painted yarns are stunning. I forgot in a blink my promise not to order new yarn before those 300 g were used up, and put in an order for a hank of Robe&Bowl and a set of stitch markers.

The yarn arrived on Wednesday, and was a welcomed piece of beauty and light in a week shadowed by the fact that my daughter's hamster, two years old Nino, died on Tuesday. I liked the furry little animal as much as my daughter, and haven't got very much done this week. The yarn is a 100 % Soft Merinowool Superwash, and I have no idea yet of what to do with it. I'm playing with the thought of Pomatomus socks, but nothing is settled yet. My pictures are not very good, the weather here is so damp and grey that the outside pictures were even worse than those taken inside with flash. Go and take a peak at Kirsty's shop, she has beautiful pictures of this colour way and other colours too.

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Then on Friday did a second parcel arrive.

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I'm now, thanks to the help of a frequent mitten commenter on this blog, Susan who lives in the States, owner of the very interesting mitten book by Inger Gottfridsson, The mitten book (also if I understand right sometimes called The Swedish mitten book). The patterns were collected by Hermanna Stengard (Stengård perhaps?) from the isle of Gotland outside Sweden. She was born in 1861 and did her knitting research while working as a teacher on Gotland. She published a book called Gotländsk sticksöm that is long ago out of print, but some of the patterns are reproduced in this book. Gotland was a trade centre and the influence from the other countries around the Baltic Sea is easily seen in the patterns. In this book you find pattern resembling those from Estonia, Finland, the Swedish mainland, and perhaps other places too, but I don't recognize them. Which way the pattern has travelled is not known to me, but I find it very interesting.

Update on the WIPs and no longer WIPs will follow tomorrow.

November 10, 2006

Finished Bayerische socks alert!

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Yes I finished the Bayerische socks in the beginning of the week, washed them and blocked them. And here they are! It has been a time consuming project, mostly because my inability to memorize chart D, but also because all the cabling and the twisted stitches, one has to pay close attention to what one is doing. But it has been well worth it.


The free pattern by Eunny Jang is well written, and has the most beautiful heel I've even knitted. First, the cables and travelling stitches are all going down in the striping of the heel, it's a beautiful continuum, second the heel in itself. I'm not a big fan of the short row heel, even if I'm perfectly able to make beautiful such, for me is the heel flap/gusset heel the favourite. And Eunny's version of the heel ( Click for close up! ) is the smoothest and best fitting I've ever made.


Project details:
Pattern: Bayerische socks by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Regia Silk in cream (002), about 110 grams.
Needles: 2 mm metal dpns.
More: I made four pattern repeats in the leg part and four and a half in the foot part of the sock.

In order to celebrate being close to the finishing line, and again, when passing the finishing line I did cast on for two new projects. They are both stash empting projects, these and 300 grams more before I can allow myself to order yarn for Eunny's Venezia sweater. First up is Sharfik by Grumperina. The yarn is Jaeger Extrafine Merino dk knit on 4 mm needles. This will be a birthday present for my father, not a father's days present as I first did plan. The time is running out for that (I promise I'll show you the time hog at some other occasion, but it's not a knitting project). I have three balls of the yarn and here is the second ball almost knitted up. This has been my commuter project, and is thus not advancing very fast.

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Number two on the list is Fifi, a triangular shawl designed by Johanna Pajakoski for the Finnish webknitmagazine Ulla. I had two balls of Rowan Linen Drape in this pale lilac colour left, enough for a small shawl thing for my younger daughter. I have knitted the first ball (if one can call the things for balls when they are winded up around the paper things), and has started the second, using 3,5 mm needles. This should be finished soon!

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And a last thing for this entry: Have you seen these lovely socks by Teresa? As one commenter said: Oh, my paws and whiskers!

November 05, 2006

Who needs new mittens?

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Click for a picture of the newly knitted Marko's mittens

The next pair of mittens in the line is for my younger son. John had last winter a pair of Marko’s mittens from Folk knitting in Estonia, but, alas, they need to be replaced as first mittens. And then darned of course!

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Click for close up

When I was I Copenhagen earlier this year I bought some soft Isager Tvinni yarns, a 2 ply 100 % merino wool yarn, with mittens for my sons in mind. But I hadn’t said what intentions I had of the yarn, so you can guess I was surprised when we discussed patterns and colours, and John did pick exactly the two colours of Isager yarn that I had bought with him in mind! He wanted a fairly simple pattern, a choice that also made me pretty happy. Mindless mitten knitting is exactly what I need right now. You almost get a zen feeling out of knitting these mittens, and I have, after two days of not too much mitten knitting already passed the thumb. The cuff is ribbed with 1 knit 3 purls. The colour pattern is again* from Eeva Haavisto’s book, and the mitten construction my basic. The Isager yarn is quite thin, and my tension on 2 mm needles is 42 stitches to 10 cm. But it's soo soft! It's heaven to knit with it, and you forget how many stitches there really are.
The pattern has no name, and I haven't come up with anything good yet. So they will for now be John's unnamed mittens.

* My good intensions of doing lot of research for the mitten project seams to be dream intentions. I have so much to do this autumn that all my Finnish mittens seams to be picked from Eeva Haavisto’s book Sata kansanomaista kuviokudinmallia. Perhaps the spring will be more suited for researching what the museums do have among their knitted treasures, and to try to find more literature about mittens and mitten traditions in Finland. Mittens where given at weddings here too, like in Estonia and Latvia.

November 01, 2006

Quick update on Bayerische socks

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Between reading for an exam and having a class on academic writing, a quick update on the Bayerische socks. The pattern is very well written, but it is asking for concentration, and can be worked on only when there is a possibility to focus on the knitting properly. This is no movie knitting! I have enjoyed it in late evenings before going to bed, when too tired to read, but not tired enough to sleep. And magically, one row after an other has added up to one finished sock, and the second almost halfway down to the heel.
We have our first snow for this season, wet, sticky snow that probably will be gone soon, and a very grey sky. This is the blue season, when taking pictures outside you almost always get this blue hue over everything. But the kids are happy! The first snowballs were done yesterday, and a big heap with wet mittens, hats and scarves was produced.

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Welcome to my blog! My name is Maud, and I spend my free hours grooming Afghan hounds, knitting, cooking, and growing bonsai trees. I am since the summer of 2012 reporting from Stockholm Sweden, entries before that are from Esbo, Finland.

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