First up are the Snicket socks. The socks are knitted on 2,5 mm dpns, with VillaMokka's yarn Mokkasukka (75 % wool, 25 % nylon) in the colourway Viimeinen kejsari (Finnish for The last Emperor). The yarn is a hand painted one, and beautiful. You can look at more of Villamokka's yarns at her blog. The Snicket socks pattern is a nice one, well written, and as I mentioned the short row heel I so far like the best of all I've tried. It was first published in MagKnits, but is now available as a free download in Ravelry. In the smallest size they are perfect for my younger daughter, with a shoe size 37.

The Snicket pictures are from the east terrace of the house on the island, but it started to rain before I finished the Latvian socks, and we pictured them here at home.

The pattern for the Latvian socks is to be found in Nancy Bush's book Folk socks. I have again used Mokkasukka yarn, this time in the colourway Iris. The picot cuff is knitted on 2,5 mm dp needles, the rest on 2 mm needles. I used almost all of the 100 gram hank of yarn, and I must admit I had a slightly scary feeling when knitting the toe of the socks. It looked like so little left. The socks were intended for my mother, and she will get them as a thank you for taking care of Ludde while we were on the archipelago holidays. But they suits me very well too, and I have 38 in shoe size. A very nice pattern this too, as Nancy's usually are, they fit my foot very well.

I couldn't decide which pictures from the archipelago to post, so I a put them all in
an album, so you can have a look at more than a couple, click here! These pictures are all taken in the archipelago of Turku, in southwest Finland. It's a beautiful place, and you can see my love for stones and rock formations, I can't stop taking pictures of them. The house on the island is very primitive, with some solar energy, but no running water, and with a nice vegetable plot. It's easy to forget about the troubles at home when over there!

I have been away for a while, spending holiday days in the archipelago with the family. There are no possibilities to blog from there, but there has been plenty of knitting time. The Snicket socks are finished, as are the Latvian socks, and a new project is started. I'll upload pictures of them all, and some beautiful shots from the archipelago tomorrow. Here is a sneak peak, the beautiful short rows on the Snicket sock heel (the best short row heel I've ever managed to make):

I started a pair of socks, with the intention to give them to my mother as birthday present. I managed to finish the first sock in May, but since Mum's birthday is on May 28th, I had to come up with something else for that, and the second sock is still not even started. The pattern is Latvian socks by Nancy Bush from Folk socks, and they are knitted on 2 mm dpns in a yarn by Villamokka called Mokkasukka in the colourway Iris. The yarn is a German Zitron yarn that is handpainted by Villamokka in Hämeenlinna.

The second Latvian sock has been suffering from the second sock syndrome, and when I finally had more time to think about knitting, I decided that instead of casting on for sock number 2 I would start a new sock. One reason was the weather, we have had a lot of rain, and the yarn I chose is the perfect antidote for rain: an other Mokkasukka yarn, this time in the colourway Viimeinen kejasari, Finnish for The Last Emperor. My girls are fighting over this yarn, but I think the younger one will end up as winner, the Snicket sock will be too small for her sister.

The pattern is the Snicket sock, a design by Sabine Riefler, previously published in MagKnits, but now available as free pattern in Ravelry. I'm knitting size one with 54 stitches on 2,5 mm dpns. And the heel. As you know I'm not a fan of short row heels. All ways now and then I test a new way to knit them, but so far, I haven't found a winner. But this heel is almost perfect, and I think the second sock will be even better, since now I really know what I'm doing. The stitches continue over the heel in a column not broken by the direction change of the heel, simply beautiful. Here is a close up of the heel.

And do not feel sorry over my older daughter, I bought two skeins of this beautiful yarn, she will get a pair of her own, but in an other pattern. I also bought two skeins of a blueish colourway, perfect for my boys. Or for Marina Piccola by Kate Gilberts, a design that reminds me so much of Italy that I'll knit it, sooner or later.

And while knitting these socks I dream of what to knit next. I long for a sweater project, but not a multicolour one, perhaps even something as opposite as charcoal or black... I absolutely need something in those colours. I love the colour of the socks I'm knitting right now, but for myself I feel for something more simple and serene.

But over to knitting. First of all, a little bit more than a month ago I got a beautiful gift from the very talented Leslie Wind. Leslie makes shawl pins and closures, and other types of jewelery too. She blogs together with Maureen McMahon at Folly Cove Fiber Freaks. It's a shawl closure made of sterling silver, light, but still with clasps long enough to keep the shawl in place. Thank you Leslie! Here is the closure attached to a shawl:

and here with the clasps free:

In the middle of April I also finished Autumn Rose. I haven't got modeled pictures yet, but here is a sneak peak, evidence of really having finished it. I hope to get modeled pictures soon.

I have started a new pair of socks, in a beautiful hand-dyed yarn by VillaMokka. The pattern is Latvian socks from Nancy Bush's Folk socks.

And then, the content of this entry. Last summer I got new bookcases. They are a bit smaller than the old ones, and I have pushed forward sorting out my books for a very long time. This Easter holiday I finally got around to do something about the piles of books I have that I no longer use. Some of the craft books are books I of different reasons have got doubles of, but most are books I have knitted one or two items from, and most likely will not use again. There are also some books by Tasha Tudor or illustrated by her that I have got doubles of. Due to the less space I have for my books now I have decided to try to find new loving homes for the books. The prices mentioned are all without the cost for mailing, the actual cost for mailing depends on where the book goes, and will be added to the cost of the book.

So, the following books are up for sale:

- Knitted toys by Fiona McTague. Hardcover 2004. Condition slight wear on the dustjacket, otherwise as new,10 euro.

- Knits for Barbie dolls, 75 fabulous fashions for knitting, by Nicky Epstein. Hardcover 2001. Condition slight wear on the dustjacket, oterwise as new, 10 euro.

- Charmed knits, projects for fans of Harry Potter, by Alison Hansel. Paperback, 2007. Condition very good, 10 euro.

- Miniature needlepoint carpets, by Janet Granger (dollhouse sized carpets). Paperback 1996. Condition very good, 10 euro.

- Bloomsbury needlepoint, from the tapestries at Charleston farmhouse, by Melinda Coss. Hardcopver 1992. Condition very good, dustjacket shows slight wear, 10 euro.

- The handmade soap book, by Melinda Coss. Hardcover, 1998. Condition very good, 10 euro.

- Making your own teddy bear, by Peggy and Alan Bialosky and Robert Tynes. Paperback 1982. Condition wear on covers, otherwise in good condition, 5 euro.

- Kauneimmat kanavatyöt, by Kaffe Fassett. Paperback 1993. Condition very good, 10 euro.

- Vantar, mössor, sockor och sjalar, by Anita Gummerus. Hardcover, 2001. Condition very good, 10 euro.

- Sy små dockor till dockskåp och lek, by Karin Neuschütz. Hardcover, 2000. Condition very good, 10 euro.

If you are interested, email me at mfast @ welho . com (omit the blank spaces), and ask for mailing prices and details about the books. As soon as a book is gone I'll take it off the list. Payment with PayPal or directly to my bank account.

There will be some magazines on sale later on!

I finally got something close to good pictures of the finished Chuck's cabled socks. Hanna has used the socks several times and she is very pleased with the fit, and claims them to be very warm too. Being knitted with two strands all over it's quite understandable that they are warm, and the cables add too to the thickness. The fit is perfect for Hanna, so we are all in all very pleased with the project's. A common problem people seems to have had with Chucks's is that they want go over the heel. I decided to use grotesque thick needles in order to overcome the problem, and it payed out well. It also slowed down the knitting speed since I still ha to try to knit the knitted stitches a bit looser and the purled stitches a bit tighter than what would have been natural with this needle size.

Project details:
Pattern: Chuck's Cabled socks by Eunny Jang
Yarn: Scoeller+Stahl Fortissima socka in colours 1093 (pink, 2 balls) and 1053 (grey, one ball)
Needles:2,5 mm and 3mm dpns
Alterations: I patterned the heel instead of knitting it in just one colour. Cuff, heel and toes knitted on 2,5 mm needles, all cabling on 3 mm.

*Now, almost one month after cast on it doesn't feel like a new project anymore ;-)

Hello! No, I haven't dropped off the planet, I have just had my hands filled with a lot of other things. There has, as usual, been knitting going on, but my time by the computer has been used solely for none knitting purposes. This is the way the spring will continue, so I'll stop apologizing for not having time. I'll blog, but it won't be on a regular basis.

Back in February, after finishing the friendship shawl, I started knitting on the Autumn Rose pullover by Eunny Jang. The pullover is knitted in Shetland wool, Shetland Spindrift by Jamieson's. The pattern is to be found in their book Simply Shetland 4: At Tomales Bay. I use needles in size 3 mm, and I'm knitting the smallest size. The pattern is much easier than Venezia, since it's more regular, and there for is this a very fast knit. I think I knitted the body in less than two weeks, and the first sleeve in about a week. And I haven't had that much knitting time, perhaps a little more than one hour every evening. I'll start the neck opening a bit higher than in the pattern, as those familiar with the pattern already can see from my picture. I have also decided to knit the sleeves longer than the pattern, a fact you can't see from the picture, since the sleeve there is the length the pattern states. I'll knit a new cuff and both pattern parts once more, take off the old cuff and graft the new beginning to the knitted sleeve. I'll have much more use for the pullover in my climate with long sleeves, and I do already have Venezia with 3/4 sleeves. The second sleeve will of course be knitted as a long one from the beginning.

And here, a close up of the pattern. I love the colour combinations, this is simply beautiful pullover!

P.S. Chuck's cabled socks are finished, and have been waiting for a modeled socks picture session, but the weather has been grey and terrible, and I haven't got anything done. But there will be pictures!

The Swallowtail shawl, renamed to the Friendship shawl, got finished almost exact one year after I finished my first Swallowtail shawl, a present for a dear friend’s birthday. It’s a tad bit bigger than the original, knitted with five more rows of buds. The Lily of the valley pattern matched exact with the extended bud pattern part, but the border pattern didn’t match. I simply left out the last decrease on the first row before the mid stitch and the first after the mid stitch, and after that did everything work out right. This bigger version used two hanks of Wetterhoff Sivilla, while the original version used one and a half.

I had serious problems with the nupps on the original Swallowtail shawl, and I'm happy to report I managed better this time. The pointier bamboo needles grabbed the yarn, and even if it wasn't fast working, it worked much better than what it did with metal needles. I'm still waiting for the lace needles I ordered eons ago, so I don't know if it would have worked even better with them.

Project details:
Pattern: Swallowtail shawl by Evelyn Clark in Interweave Knits Fall 2006.
Yarn: Wetterhoff Sivilla, two hanks in colour 916.
Needles: 3.5 mm Addi bamboo circulars.
Alterations: Shawl made bigger by knitting five more pattern repeats of the bud pattern.

I have a new wip to present, one that is simply flying off the needles (in spite of all the colour changes), and new pictures of Chuck's Cabled socks. The second sock has already reached the heel, and will soon be finished. It's amazing how fast the knitting will advance when you have only half the amount of cables left!

A quick update on my Chuck’s cabled socks: the first sock is almost finished. I have knitted the cuff and the heel on 2,5 mm needles, and the rest on 3 mm needles, much bigger needles than what I usually use for this yarn. But the cables drag the stitches together, and this way will the socks be wide enough. The pink toes will most likely be knitted on 2,5 mm. The yarn is Schoeller+Stahl’s Fortissima socka, in grey and pink. The socks will be for my older daughter, but the size would fit me too.

The fit of this cardigan is perfect. I freely admit I was a bit nervous before washing the cardigan for the first time, since I had measured the gauge after washing, and Felted Tweed is always growing in the wash for me. The sleeves of the unwashed cardigan ended halfway between my elbows and hands, and it was alarmingly short. But, all calculations were done right and the finished fit is just perfect. I have worn this cardigan for several days already, and it is absolutely one of the sweaters I’m most pleased with of all I have ever made.

Project details:
Pattern: Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang from IK Fall 2007.
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed in colour 152 Watery (thank you Paulina for wise advises on choosing colour!), 7 balls (didn’t use much of the seventh).
Needles: 3,5 mm and 3 mm bamboo circular needles and 3,5 mm dpns.
Size: Smallest (34").

Eunny’s pattern is a very good one, as hers usually are. It was a joy to knit with Felted Tweed, and I didn’t mind the stockinette parts at all. I used bamboo needles in size 3,5 mm for the body of the cardigan, and a cabling needle for the pattern. I usually cable without a cable needle, but the irregular stretches on this cable were easier to manage with a cable needle, I discovered. The button bands were knitted with 3 mm bamboo needles, and the button side reinforced with a cotton ribbon on the wrong side. The only change I made to the pattern was to start the short rows for the neckline a couple of centimeters earlier than what the pattern stated, in order to lower the neck opening somewhat. < ahref="http://reunasilmukka.net/">Kamicha did this on her Tangled Yoke last year, and I liked the way her cardigan looked a lot.

If you like cardigans with a tight fit, then this is a pattern for you. The yoke construction is very good, and the cable looks far more difficult than what it in reality is. But if you are using Felted Tweed, take into consideration how the yarn behaves after a wet wash. There are several good looking but too big Tangled yokes out there in blog land. But besides that, I’m all for recommending this pattern, and I had no problems with knitting the cardigan.

I have got the You make my day award from several people during this week. Thank you KaisaKaisa, Francesca, Kathy and Mel!

I must pass on the You Make My Day award to ten other bloggers who bring me happiness and inspiration. The four people giving the award to me are all people I would have put on the list, if they hadn't given it to me already. You won't get it back, but just so you know. Here we go:

Cosmopolitan purls, Craftoholic, Nature Knitter, Fluffa, Knititude, ZebraKnits, My fashionable life, Peacock Chic, Reunasilmukka and Sweetgeorgia . Some of you don't post so often, but I still enjoy your blogs! I tried to pick blogs that haven't got the award from before, but if you've got it and I just haven't noticed you blogging about it, just ignore. You still make my day.

Next up will be pictures of the finished Tangled Yoke Cardigan, the first of Chuck's cabled socks and the Friendship shawl. Stay tuned for actual knitting content!

Someone said in the comments that knitting is good medicine for colds (thank you for all the lovely comments, they really cheared me up). Indeed it is, and especially stockinette knitting is good. Mindless knitting with a steady rhythm, and no thinking involved. My brains were not up to par during this cold, and when it took me two days to knit one and a half sleeve and the stockinette portion of the yoke of the Tangled Yoke Cardigan, it took me two more days to knit the cabled portion of the yoke. That is not many rows a day, considering that the cabled part is less than 20 rows high. Any way, I finished the yoke yesterday and picked up the stitches for the first button band in the morning today. The fit of the cardi looks very promising, and I much look forward to finish it. I’ll visit Helsinki on Thursday, and I’ll look for buttons then.

I have promised pictures of the mittens I years ago knitted from yarn made out of Afghan hound hairs. This yarn was one of the first I spun after learning to spin, and it is not a very even yarn. Nor is the carding of the Afghan hairs and the wool anything to brag about. But the mittens are very, very warm. The fairer part is knitted out 50% wool 50% dog hair, the darker only dog hair. I think the pattern is taken from Anna Zilboorg’s book Magnificent mittens, started from the tip and ended with the pompoms in the cuff. Click here for a detailed pictureof the cuff. The pictures are a bit dark, and I guess you have a hard time believing me when I say they were taken on Friday, at twelve o'clock daytime, outside. Yes, the weather is lousy again.

I’ll be back tomorrow (I hope) with answers to Romi’s meme, and my candidates for the You make my day award I got from KaisaKaisa. Both need quite a lot of thinking about, and I think this entry is long enough as it is.

Eunny Gallery

I hope to be back in the weekend with knitting pictures, pictures of the mittens I knitted from Afghan hound hair and a thank you to KaisaKaisa.

Project details:
Pattern: Endpaper mitts by Eunny Jang.
Yarn: Vuorelma’s Satakieli.
Needles: 3mm dpns.
Alterations: None. Again a superb pattern by Eunny. I especially like the tubular cast on and cast off.

WIP update: The Tangled Yoke body is almost done, and the friendship shawl has reached bud row number sixteen. I would have knitted more, but I have been occupied with making own home pages for Ludde, this time working from scratch, and coding the pages with css and html myself. The blog (only in Swedish, sorry) is based on Movable Type. You’ll have the address when they’re done.