Schlagwort: mitaines

Some Knitting

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Lately, I didn’t do much with regard to knitting or hooking as my hand still hurts and is slowing me down. However, when obtaining a German copy of „More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts“ by Joelle Hoverson (sent to me by the publisher) I could not resist. I had to knit the beautiful baby hat and those wrist warmers.

Joelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comThe first hat turned out to be way bigger than I wanted it to be (very cute nonetheless), the second one – made of schoenstricken llama yarn with a little glitter – will be just perfect for my baby goddaughter.

Joelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comJoelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comThe wrist warmers are knitted in Wolkenspiel Abendrot (= sunset) hand dyed merino. I fell for the red when I saw it. The pattern was easy to follow – I changed the top and bottom though as I am not a huge fan of k2/p2.

IMG_4030In case you’d like to see more of the book and its patterns: A detailed (German) review with more pictures is on schoenstricken.de.

I am really tempted to knit the elf’s hat from the book cover now 🙂

A week in Poland

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We went to Poland for a week and only got back tonight. I am way too tired to write a blog post but fortunately, my pictures speak for themselves. Look at those seagulls – can you tell they’re slightly irritated? No wonder with J performing upfront 🙂

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Most of the time it was windy and grey, at times even rainy but – suprisingly enough – no one would care. We would still spend most of our time at the seaside. Maybe I should add that we love going to this place in either spring or fall. Always the same house, almost like coming home. So we knew what to expect.

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As every year, I have extended my collection of stones, beautiful palm stones, so pleasant to the touch. M spent hours walking up and down the beach, thinking about life in general and in particular. And J? Well, J would run and jump. And jump and run. Until his rubber boots were full to the brim with sand and water. Fortunately, we had a wood stove in the cottage …

And as every year, we would buy honey along the street: acacia, erica, buckweed, and canola. One glass of each.

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Whenever they could, whenever the weather would allow for it, J and his friend (we had taken the friend and his mother along) would fly the kite together and M would detangle the strands at night (no one is as patient as he is. No one. Period).

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And in between I would knit wrist warmers, basically using one ball of Opal sock yarn, its colors ranging from pale blue to olive green and hence imitating the colors of the sea – combined with little bits of green, dark blue, and off white. Only when knitting the fourth pair, the ball would finally come to an end. Whoever dropped that ball at the YarnCamp’s „yarn swap“ – THANK YOU! I love those colors!

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And I love fall! At least when we’re at the seaside. Coming home was sort of sad with most of the leaves being gone. Only last week they were bright and red, covering our house and reflecting the sun. None of that is left and apparently it has been pouring rain those last days. I really need to go to bed now – hoping to see some sun tomorrow!

The YarnCamp 2013

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Last weekend I almost didn’t make it to YarnCamp 2013. Work had been insane. I was tired, stressed, and honestly, not in the mood to travel at all. But isn’t it true that the things you dread the most often turn out the best? Case in point: the 5-hour train ride to Frankfurt was already amazing. I sat by the window, alternately daydreaming, knitting, or doing both – and by the time I arrived, I was relaxed and ready for whatever the weekend would throw at me.

And wow… YarnCamp totally delivered!

Do you ever knit or crochet in public? I don’t. Somehow it embarrasses me. Now imagine being in a room with about 80 people – mostly women, a few brave men – with almost everyone click-clacking away at needles (I LOVE that sound) or crocheting while chatting, discussing, or just admiring each other’s work. Some people even carried entire suitcases full of their projects from room to room. It took me a while to dive in, but eventually I managed to work on a pair of wrist warmers while soaking in the buzz.

And get this – I’m basically a yarn dinosaur. No smartphone for me, which apparently made me the only one at YarnCamp. Everyone else was glued to Twitter, Instagram, Ravelry, Facebook… or just taking pictures of their latest creations. If they weren’t knitting, they were online. If they weren’t online… well, they were definitely knitting.

From the get-go, we were encouraged to contribute, run a session, or just share ideas. In no time, 18 sessions were up on the board, led by participants who had never done a BarCamp before. I was seriously impressed – people were turning their passion into mini-lectures, and the discussions were lively and inspiring.

During the day, I got to geek out over Kaffe Fassett’s knitting (blog post coming soon!), learned how to start thinking like an author, finally wrapped my head around Twitter, and even joined a spirited debate about writing the perfect pattern.

Between sessions, we admired each other’s work, swapped patterns, and shared tips. I loved meeting Mienchen, Claudia, and Pia (keep an eye on her site Akizu – it’s coming soon!), finally meeting Frau Elise in person after following her blog forever, and participating in David’s session, which made me want to write a post about him and his work. The folks at Dye for Yarn are absolute wizards – not only do they dye yarn beautifully, but their lace shawls and that ocean-colored patchwork blanket? Total stash-inspiration.

And let’s not forget the spoiling: generous sponsors handed out yarn, needles, magazines, and books like candy. The buffet was fabulous, the coffee top-notch, and the smoothies… well, delicious doesn’t even begin to cover it. YarnCamp completely blew my expectations out of the water.

Huge shoutout to the organizers – Rebekka, Sara, Romy, and Lutz – who nailed everything from concept to execution. You guys are incredible. I can’t wait to do it all again in 2014!

wrist warmers

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This year’s wrist warmers are decked out in classic Christmas colors – rich red, deep green, and soft light grey. With the temperatures as low as they are, it’s definitely cold enough to wear them. I spent the morning carefully packing them all up, and now I’m off to the post office to send them on their way.

There’s so much snow in Berlin at the moment that it actually feels like Christmas! The kind of scene you dream about in holiday stories… if only I had a sleigh to ride through it or a long white beard to complete the festive look 😉

wrist warmers häkelmonster

wrist warmers häkelmonsterAnd the very warm ones:

wrist warmers häkelmonsterBe that as it may, I’ve already started thinking about New Year’s resolutions – do you? One in particular keeps popping into my mind: I really want to learn how to knit Fair Isle properly. There’s something so appealing about the clean, even colorwork it creates. I know it would make wrist warmers (and other projects) so much nicer, without all those pesky loops and tangles on the inside.

I’d love any advice or recommendations – whether it’s a book, a video tutorial, or even a course. Anything that could help me get started and actually understand the technique. Has anyone tried it and fallen in love like I think I will? I’m all ears!