Tips: Så får du garnet att räcka längre!

Inspirerad efter inspelningen av Nördic Knittings poddavsnitt som handlade om Shetlandsöarna satte jag igång att sticka denna mössa förra helgen.

I torsdags var den i stort sett klar och jag skulle bara prova lite innan det var dags att snörpa ihop toppen.

Den. Var. Jättestor. Bara att repa upp ned till resåren och börja om.
Tur att mönstret var så trevligt att sticka. Och färgerna blev fina tillsammans – grått, rosa och lite rött.

I morse var mössan återigen nästan färdig. Om det inte varit för att den nu knölade sig i toppen av de alldeles för  tätt gjorda ihoptagningarna. Göra om lite kanske?

Men man behöver i alla fall inte ligga vaken på nätterna och oroa sig över att garnlagret ska sina.

Tack från två glada sticknördar!

Igår när vår nya stick-podcast hade premiär kändes det lite så här i magen. Trassligt, typ.

Men nu är vi så glada, så glada, Heléne och jag. Nog anade vi att stickare är ett släkte av synnerligen begåvade människor, men ni är också snälla och uppmuntrande så det förslår! 

Dessutom lyssnar ni tydligen gärna på podcasts. 

Så nu känns det mycket bättre i magen. Mer så här. 

Även om vi har några trådar till att fästa. 

Vi ska fixa volymen på trudelutten vi spelar. Och alla rättelser kommer ni att kunna hitta på bloggen Nördic Knitting. 

Nu vill vi bara säga ett stort TACK till alla er som har kommenterat, recenserat och delat. 

Och det kommer snart ett avsnitt till. 

Nördic Knitting – en ny podcast!

Någon gång förra året började min kompis Heléne och jag prata om att spela in en podcast tillsammans. Vi pratade och pratade och till slut spelade vi faktiskt in det vi pratade om.

Vår inspelningsmanick.

Nördic Knitting heter podcasten, som nu finns på iTunes. Här hittar ni länken.

Vi har också gjort en ny blogg till podden. Den hittar ni här.

Det första avsnittet av podcasten handlar om stickdesignern Alice Starmore. Vi hade kunnat prata hur länge som helst om Alice, men inspelningsmanicken (se bild ovan) har – som tur är – begränsad lagringskapacitet.

Men läs gärna mer om Alice Starmore på Nördic Knitting-bloggen och lyssna på podden!

Vår fina logga har Mikaela Lindholm gjort.

Inga Snöflinga Cowl

I have slowly been knitting on a new cowl. Even though I had promised myself not to make another cowl, because it is so much work. But I love wearing them. So this is the result of two months worth of knitting.

The Inga Snöflinga cowl matches the Inga Snöflinga hat and mittens. It uses up an insane amount of blue background yarn (Zauberball from Schoppelwolle).

Every row on the outside of the cowl has a different snowflake, so it´s impossible to memorize the pattern. But the inside is made up of tiny, identical snowflakes, easy to remember and knit.

These photos were taken by my daughter Elise, who is also the Queen of Photoshop (her words). Though I have to admit that I have never looked this fabulous before. Photoshop is good sh*t.

Och om ni har vägarna förbi Syfestivalen i helgen – kom gärna förbi och säg hej!
Jag finns hos Nysta i monter B10:30.

Back Where It All Started

The first time I saw a folk costume from Dala-Floda in Dalarna I fell in love.
The neatness of the knitting, the combinations of patterns and the colours of the embroidery on the mittens made in the twined knitting technique made a huge and lasting impression on me.

In May I once again attended a long weekend course to learn more about twined knitting and embroidery in Dala-Floda. The first time it was almost too much to be able to take it all in.

This is a jacket with knitted sleeves. The way the patterns are arranged on the sleeve is quite unusual.

While this jacket shows some of the most beautiful embroidery from Dala-Floda.

Some of the patterns I have made have been inspired by the knitted sleeves from the  Dala-Floda costumes, like the Elise mitten.

And this mitten, called Maja, was inspired by the embroidery – even if it´s hard to find an exact likeness.

While this hat was inspired by the typical flower paintings of Dalarna, called kurbits in Sweden and rosmaling in Norway. Incidentally it´s also called rosmålning in Dala-Floda.

Something amazing happened when I was in Dala-Floda – I was invited to have an exhibition in the Dala-Floda Värdshus of my knitted things. The opening is on Saturday – July, 5 at 4 pm. Before the opening I will have a workshop where you can try knitting with colour or create your own patterns. I will also talk a little about traditional knitting patterns and how inspirating they can be.

Do come along if you happen to be near by!

Utställning och stickworkshop på Dala-Floda Värdshus i Dala-Floda, den 5 juli.

Hallå där – kom och lyssna!

På tisdag den 25 mars har jag blivit inbjuden av 2 stickare, Lotta och Madelaine, för att berätta om den skotska stickdesigners Alice Starmore – som gör världens vackraste tröjor i helt fantastiska färger.

De bjuder på morotssoppa och själv tar man med sitt handarbete så att man har något att syssla med medan man lyssnar.

Tillställningen, som kallas Soppslöjd, är på Högalidsgatan på Södermalm. Det börjar klockan sex.
Mer information hittar man här. Det finns fortfarande några platser kvar tror jag.

Sew Much Fun!

The Sewing (and Knitting) Festival was great. And exhausting. So many visitors, lots of yarn. Old friends and new.

I was trying to teach the brioche knitting technique (tvåfärgad patentstickning). It was fairly successful.
Most came away with a small, finished swatch.

Because it was a bit draughty in the big exhibition hall I wore my Britta cowl the whole time.

I didn´t have much time to do any shopping myself, but I spotted a lot of people carrying around this cool bag:

No need to ask what it contained. The bag came from Opalgarn. 

But something really cool happened to me at the fair. I met my predecessor at the magazine where I work.

Maybe I haven´t mentioned this before, but I work for a weekly magaizine for ladies. I used to be a reporter, but last year I got a new job. I am now responsible for picking all the knitting and sewing patterns that we publish, as well as the embroidery. I used to love my job, but now I really love my job!

And this year at the fair I met Ulrika Andersson. She was there to give workshops about a very  old, special and unique crochet technique. She had worked at my magazine from 1969 to 1979.

It was great to talk to Ulrika. In some ways it doesn´t seem as if the job hasn´t changed that much.


After a weekend of resting I have now translated the pattern for the Britta cowl into English– with a lot of help from my friend Wendy. Thanks, Wendy!

The pattern is available in English on Ravelry and if you prefer to have a printed copy in Swedish you can get it from Nysta.

Hope is the Last Thing...

This post could also have the headline "Better Late Than Never" or "Long Time No See".

Oh well.

But guess what?

I have finally – finally! – written up the pattern for the Britta cowl.

So far I have only written it in Swedish, but there will be an English version. Soonish. I had better not promise too much. 

This weekend you will be able to find both the Britta cowl and the pattern at Syfestivalen in Stockholm. I will be there too, giving workshops as usual. You will find me at booth B0729.

This time I am going to talk about colours, how colours behave – and misbehave.  And there will be brioche knitting (patentstickning) in many colours to be tried. Do come by and say hello!

Only a Mad Person...

I started knitting this really big cowl in October and it took me nearly two months to finish it.
Over five hundred stitches in one row on needles 2.5 mm – no one in their right mind would even consider such a project. It also took a lot more yarn than I originally thought.

But in the end it was so worth it.

The Britta Cowl

I have worn it nearly every day since it was finished. It's big and warm and has been perfect this cold and snowy winter. Plus the flower pattern makes it look as if I´m wearing a summer meadow.

The yarn is the new Zauberball 100 in a hundred percent wool. It is very soft and light, which is good because a heavier yarn would have added quite a bit of weight to a big piece of knitting like this.

I surprised myself by finishing it. It's not like me at all. So I'm very happy. About the cowl.

I'm a lot less happy about what happened to my laptop on Christmas Eve. It crashed. It wasn't even that old. I do have a back up, so I hope that all my patterns have been saved. Or  I will have my work cut out for me in 2013...

And this blogpost is courtesy of Teenage daughter who not only lent me her computer, but also took the picture above and photoshopped it. That's true Christmas spirit.
So better late than never – I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! 

Step Back In Time

I love vintage patterns. And I love knitting for my one-year-old niece. And this is the result.

The skirt should have been a little wider maybe, like the original pattern. But I was afraid that it would become too baggy and hard for her to move around in.

 The yarn is eco and handdyed cotton from Huskroken that I bought years ago. Knitted on 2 mm needles (US0). So yeah it took a while.

But it was well worth it.

She must have been the best dressed girl dancing – or perhaps not dancing – around the maypole on Midsummer.

Next year she will probably have outgrown this dress. But not to worry. There are plenty more vintage patterns where this came from.

I also want to thank everyone who left a comment on my last blog post. I still haven´t figured out how to respond to comments, but any day soon. It´s great to be cheered on.

I Solemnly Swear...

I suspect that we all have our UFO´s. And some of us have more than others. I know that I have my fair share.

But I´m still in a severe state of shock after checking on Ravelry when exactly I started knitting this sweater:

 It was in November almost exactly four years ago.
I would have guessed two or possibly three years – but four!

There were a few problems with the design and that is what made me abandon the poor thing.

Firstly, it was the bottom edge. It kept curling. So I unpicked the bottom row, picked up stitches along the edge and knit a facing that was folded up and sewn into place.
The new picot egde looks a lot neater and it solved the problem with the curling.

 

Secondly, I had knit one sleeve and had used it as a kind of swatch so the colours were all over the place. 

It also had a problem with curling, so I decided to knit a new sleeve and make the edge in the same way with a facing that could be folded up and sewn into place.

One sleeve is finished and the second sleeve is half done. This photo was taken a little while ago.

Now I only have to figure out how to knit the neck band.
But  I solemnly swear that this sweater shall be finished before the end of this year.
You will be my witnesses.

Definitely Batty!

I´ve always had a thing about bats. I think they are kind of cute.

A couple of years ago we had a really funny bat on our island in the Stockholm archepelago. It woke up around two every afternoon and joined us on the beach. It flew around in the bright sunshine chasing mosquitos. Definitely batty!

I´m not sure that anyone else would knit a bat hat, but once I had had the idea I couldn´t resist.

 I did plan to have it modelled on a pumpkin, but failing to find a suitable one my head had to do.

There are some matching mittens, too.

I think they were meant to look a bit scary.  However, I don´t think I quite succeeded.

But bats have a lot of attitude. They have that in common with owls. 

Happy Halloween!

Postcard From the Edge

 First, just let me say that it was not my fault that I didn´t post to the blog for the whole summer.
When we changed what we in Sweden call bredbandsleverantör (broadband company?) in the building that I live, I suddenly couldn´t read my emails, upload Facebook and or access my blog.

So a big thank you to Ownit for this long break!

I used the time wisely and went off to Italy to soak up some sun. I had certainly soaked up enough rain on the first two weeks of my holiday that I spent in Sweden...

Italy was fabulous. First we stayed a couple of days in Florence/Firenze and then we rented an apartment in an old farmhouse in the Tuscany hills. We had a little pool and a great view.

 Back then I was knitting on a lace cardigan from Wendy´s book "Wendy Knits Lace" in some lovely silk and seacell yarn from Tilli Tomas, called Voile de la Mer in a burgundy colour named "American Beauty". It is lovely to knit with, even in hot temperatures.

A close up of the first sleeve:

 All the pieces of the cardigan are finished but I did such a bad job of sewing them together that I had to take it apart again. And doing so I cut off the wrong thread, had to rip back a bit of the body an re-knit. I still haven´t had to courage to try again.

The funny thing is that it was I who actually knit the sample cardigan for the book. It´s called Garden Party Cardigan and looks like this. And I didn´t have any problems knitting that at all.
But I tell myself that small disasters like this happen to make me more humble, so it´s all for the best.

To distract you from my knitting failures here is a photo of the farmhouse that we stayed in.

 There might have been a pool party or two with the other family that we holidayed together with.

It was one of the best holidays we´ve ever had and I put it all down to the good company. It was so relaxing and such fun!

Torremozza by night. Photo by Mats Fogeman.

But we also made friends with some of the locals.

 

 If you go to Florence/Firenze looking for yarn shops there is one that I can recommend: Filati Campolmi at Via F. Portinari, at the back of the Dome in the centre of the city. Lots of different yarn and the best of all – big boxes of cheap and luxurious yarn that were mill ends from the local spinnery (I think). I nearly bought some angora, but settled for a skein of black laceweight merino that cost only one Euro.

I noticed that in Italian yarn shops they keep all the yarn in big plastic bags on the shelves and you have to ask before you touch anything. But they are very helpful when you ask – even if you don´t speak any Italian.

Jeg er en heldiggris!

Yes, I am a lucky pig!

I spent last weekend in Skarnes in Norway, invited by May Lis Martinsen who runs the Projo yarn shop to give a talk and a workshop at a weekend retreat for knitters.

One Danish and 34 Norwegian knitters came to listen to me talking about traditional patterns from Sweden, Norway, Scotland and the Baltic countries. Then we all tried to create new patterns with the inspiration from the old and historical.

See what good students I had!

The evening before we started talking about these special Norwegian wafers called krumkaker. They are made in a special krumkake-iron. These old irons  are very beautiful and often have a lovely, swirly pattern.

So May Lis, whose father just happened to have worked in a krumkake-iron factory, brought her own iron to show me. I thought it would make a nice knitting pattern so we all started drawing.

 

Like a piece of art.

But when May Lis opened up her shop all my industrious students just disappeared...

This is May Lis giving Margret some advice.

 There was a whole shelf filled with Koigu – my first love that is still close to my heart.

A couple of skeins found a new home in Sweden.

But it was very hard to pick a color.

May Lis garage had magically been turned into a yarn shop. Somehow it must be bigger on the inside.

May Lis sister Anne-Marie helping out at the till.
















Most of the time was just spent talking and knitting. And eating.

 

Beate started knitting my Peace & Love mittens in a great color combination: orange and deep blue. It started a craze.

Marianne, to the left in the picture, acted color consultant – so successfully she might have found a new career.




















I have always dreamed of visiting Norway, so I was very happy that  I finally got the chance. It´s such a beautiful country. And Norwegian knitters are very kind to us inferior Swedish knitters I´m happy to report.

 I have a nasty habit of going running sometimes and this was the view from the top of the hill. 

But I also got some time to knit and I had brought this old friend along: the fair isle sweater that I started back in 2008 (had to check my Ravelry page because I couldn´t even remember how long ago it was).

I wasn´t happy with how the edges turned out so I decided to knit the sleeves again. This is how far I got. Not very impressive. 

But now the summer holiday starts and I´m about to spend two weeks with the kids on the island of Edö.  This will be one of the projects that I will bring along. And maybe three other. Can´t risk running out of yarn on a remote island now, can I?

Thank you May Lis for a wonderful weekend!