New Year, New Life?

Yeah, well I guess that’s what they say about the beginning of a new year. I dunno, I didn’t make any new year’s resolutions. Everything feels about the same as last year, which is not bad considering that last year was a good one for me. Don’t fix something that isn’t broken, right?

Christmas time wasn’t the best possible for me. The boyfriend, who is a nursing student, worked night shifts through the holidays, so we stayed home. There was no snow in sight, so it didn’t feel very Christmassy. And last but not least, our little bunny Myntti died after Christmas. He became very ill on Christmas Day and I did my best to keep him alive through the holidays (no emergency bunny doctors in Helsinki) by feeding him and giving him antibiotics and painkillers from the local emergency animal clinic. When I finally got him bunny-savvy care, he died when he was on his way to x-ray. Myntti and Tessa are my first own pets and this was the day I had been afraid of. It wasn’t easy but this is the sad (an inevitable) part of having pets. Myntti’s ashes are now home, waiting for spring when he will be buried at my mom’s garden next to our two cats.

Myntti as a little baby. Awww....

Tessa seems to be quite ok considering that she has lost her lifelong buddy. She is eating and being herself, which makes things easier for me too. At present we are not looking for a new bunny but maybe some day.

That’s about it for now. I haven’t been knitting for a while, which I knew would happen due to really busy times at work, but I am so going to pick up that tyrolean cardigan soon.

D'oh!

Last week I really outdid myself and knitted the Tyrolean Cardigan to the point where the armholes should start. I'm knitting the whole body in one piece, so you can imagine that it takes time to just finish one row, with all the bobbles and such. Well, I start to read the instructions for the armholes and... I notice that, in my knitting frenzy, I have completely ignored the increases in the side seams. D'oh, indeed. Had to frog the whole thing down to the k2p2 part... I guess these things just happen.

FO: Henley Perfected

The famous Henley Perfected is finally mine! And it fits really well. I actually never fell in love with the pattern, just though that it was ok. Yet I decided to make it... and it was totally worth all the effort. Such a wearable sweater, I've worn it several times to work.



The yarn is a bamboo-cotton blend so it's really soft. Bamboo makes this yarn lighter compared to a 100% cotton yarn, so I felt that it was a great substitute to the alpaca-silk blend that was suggested in the pattern. It was a bit of pain to knit with but the texture of the finished garment is so smooth and soft that it's worth trying.



So... what else is happening here? When it comes to knitting, I'm doing some serious multitasking. I have so many things on my knitting list that it's really hard to decide which one to focus on. For example, I've started the Silken Scabbard, a beautiful, new pattern from Stitch Diva, as well as the Tyrolean Cardigan from Sarah Dallas' Vintage Knits book. The Silken Scabbard requires a pretty stretchy yarn, so I'm frogging my Rowan Calmer that was going to be the Foxglove Cardigan from a Rowan magazine. For the Tyrolean Cardigan, I'm using Phildar's Tribord that is a cotton/acrylic blend. I'm also swatching my stash just for the heck of it. In addition to all the knitting craziness, I'm also going to be extremely busy at work so it's interesting to see if I get anything done this fall/winter. I'm not promising anything! :D

FO: Ziggy

I love this hat. The pattern was challenging but not too difficult. And it's free, yay! The picture isn't very good, the pretty lace doesn't really show, sorry. The yarn is Garnstudio Muskat, which is a shiny cotton yarn. That doesn't make a very warm hat but it's perfect for the fall season. Let's see if we even get a real winter... as I recall, last winter wasn't a cold one at all...

No knitting, just hair

New month, new hair. That's about all I have for you today. I should get some knitting done soon, I hope.

so shiny....


my hairdresser is a genius, I tell you....



one more mandatory bunny torturing picture... because what could be worse that hugging!

FO & some mindless summer babbling

Enh.


No, wait.... enh. No.


How about now.... no. Oh, forget about it.


Trying to show you an FO here without my trusted photographer, who is at work. Well, as it might not be clear from these pictures, I finished the Lace Nightie, an IK pattern that's available for free. Had to do some changes to the back piece so that I can actually use it as a top without my bra showing. Turned out really pretty and it fits. The yarn is Finnish Novita Bambu, a soft cotton/bamboo blend.

So, my three-week summer vacation started this week. I don't know what other folks like to do on their vacation, but I have mostly been just relaxing at home, knitting and trying out new vegan recipes. Oh, and I bought a waffle iron today. Fun! My boyfriend doesn't have any vacation so it's just me here alone. But that's fine too. I'm kind of a loner at heart so I'm happy to be by myself sometimes.



Here's a picture of our balcony. It's nice and warm in here, the picture says it all really. The brown blob of knitting there is the Geno cardigan from the spring/summer Rowan magazine. I have various WIPs lying around and I'm trying to finish something before I go back to work at the end of July. Busy, busy busy.... but not in a stressful way at all.

Yowlyy wanted a bunny pic so here's one. I don't have new ones, but here's one of my fave pics of me and Tessa. I'll take some new pics later.

What's going on?

Wow, it’s been a while since I posted. Well, here I am back again. It’s Sunday and I woke up today at 7.00 am for some strange reason. The boyfriend is still asleep so… perfect time to let you in on what I’ve been knitting.

First, I finished the Hexacomb Cardigan from IK Spring 2008, and got loads of positive feedback on it in Ravelry. Thanks guys, you really made my day. J I’ve been wearing it to work and it’s really cute and comfortable.

Then I made the Origami cardigan from IK Summer 2007. I had to do some calculations for this one because the gauge was off. It turned out really well and fits just like I hoped it would, I’m really pleased.

Also, I finished the boyfriend’s socks, yay me! He has been wearing them too, which makes me happy. Haven’t managed to get pictures of these socks, sorry.

About a month before Mothers’ Day, I got the idea that I wanted to make something nice for my mom. She is (or at least used to be) a knitter too, so I was pretty sure that she would appreciate a handmade gift. I decided to make the Muir shawl from Knitty because it’s a very modern shawl, not granny-like at all. And believe me, my mom is no granny yet. I had some laceweight, hand panted cotton in a blue-green colorway so I was able to start immediately. I haven’t knitted lace much but this was a fun project, even though I had to knit basically every day to finish on time. And I did… and mom loved it. I’m pleased.

So… what else has happened here? Not much really, the bunnies are getting really fat and it feels like I’m working all the time. I will take the first week of June off, so that’s something fun to look forward to. The boyfriend will be on holiday too as his summer job starts a bit later in June, so we’ll be able to spend some time together. I’m so ready for summer to start.

I’ve got a couple of things on the needles now. I’m almost finished knitting the Minimalist Cardigan from IK Fall 2007. This time I started with the sleeves and front halves and I’m almost done knitting the back piece. The yarn I’m using is Just Soya from Sirdar and it’s really lovely. I’m also trying to make something of the Gedifra Big Point yarn that I bought a while ago from a yarn shop Tallinn, Estonia.

I’ve also been yarn shopping like a maniac. Here are some of the yarnies that I have recently bought:

I know, that’s a lot of yarn. there’s still one more package on the way, some Bella Colour cotton yarn I bought from DBNY. I can’t decide what to do with this one, so many possibilities. Maybe something from Knitting Nature, there’s so much nice stuff in that book.