My first handspun.

Nearly six months after learning to spin, I finally finished the yarn I started at the German Ravelry meeting. I'm still amazed that it is so easy to make your own yarn, now to actually get good at it. Anyway, my first skein is all you would expect from a first attempt: messy, uneven and way too thick. It's a skein only a mother could love and I sure do.

The colors are actually a bit more vibrant in reality.

I've already started online window shopping for more roving and spindles. The second roving is already 1/3rd done and I have one more after that, so no actual buying until those are spun up. Unless I find a really good spindle...

Socks and socks.

Yep, just that. Plain, colorful socks. All top-down with 80 stitches on 2.0 needles, because I like my socks loose around the leg.

Made from Regia World Ball in Brazil. Already got a bit of wear.


Brand spanking new socks in Opal Rainforest. Next is either zebra or ladybug, methinks.


Ohh, a bit of variation with the arch-shaped socks.

I'm not sure what the yarn for the last pair is. It says Socken-Effekt-Strickgarn on the label and is the usual 72/25 mix, but there's no brand name. I got it as a gift and am pleasantly surprised. These aren't colors I would usually have bought but I adore the finished effect.

Mitts and hats - must still be winter

I’ve been knitting all kinds of stuff this winter, but the only things I seem to be able to finish and make fit properly are small items like socks and mittens. There are two that have gotten the most wear by far. One is a pair of fingerless gloves which were made of recycled yarn I got from a thrift store sweater. I’ve never used recycled yarn before, but I really liked the colour – and the price, obviously. So the thing went from this…

Cute enough sweater, but way too small.

…to a few of these…

Not sure about weight, it’s slightly thinner than sock yarn but knits up nicely on 2.0 needles.

… and finally these:

The 100% cotton makes them wear out a bit, but they are smooth and comfortable.

I love these. They are comfortable and extra long, so my fingers stay nice and toasty while bicycling. As you can see, they are a bit crinkly. But it is cotton and they spent most of their time like this:

Considering, they hold their shape pretty nicely.

Yep, definitely my favourite winter project. Eventually, I’ll have to knit a woolly one for really cold days. But for most days, they are warm enough without making me sweat.

Anyway, I was planning on making a matching hat, but I never really got around to it. Instead, in an act that the fashion police would probably not approve of, I’ve been wearing the mittens with this hat:

Photographing your head is even harder than your feet. Who would have thought.

It’s a slightly modified Lue à la Oleana made from Schoppel Turandot. Ahhh, Turandot… it’s an interesting ribbon yarn and comes in a lot of vibrant colours, but the two of us just didn’t get along. After this hat, I gave the rest of my stash away. I think it would be a great yarn for bags or decorative items. Or those really lacy, lofty summer pullovers. So those are my favourite knits, mittens from a sweater that no one wanted and a hat from a yarn I didn’t want.

Oh, before I forget, I did make one more thing from Turandot:

Reptiles need warm places.

It’s an adorable free pattern by Mochimochi Land, which I’m a big fan of. Amigurumi is one of the most fascinating facets of knitting to me, but I just do not have the patient for all the fiddly bits. So while my baby gator doesn’t have any knitted companions, there’s lots of prey on the shelfes in the jungle:

“I am gator, hear me roar!“

Although he is not very good at choosing his opponents wisely…

“You did what to littly Jimmy?”

I think what we can learn from this knit is that a) reptiles are awesome and cuddly, and b) I apparently have a mental age of nine. Which is also often awesome.

Recycling and Stash Baskets

A long pause in blogging means there have been a ton of finished objects in the last couple of weeks - months in fact. That is another post, however. First I want to talk about what became of my mountain of plastic bags. And if I ever had had all the bags that went into this project in their original state, they would probably actually have made quite an impressive pile.
I first read about plarn on Ravelry (surprise!) and thought the idea was rather interesting and unlike a lot of other interesting ideas quite easily replicated. There are quite a number of tutorials that explain how to make yarn from plastic bags, I picked this one and off I went.
The first thing I learned is that knitting plarn is hard! So hard in fact that I chose to crochet it instead. Even then, it really hurt the hands after a while. Plastic likes to stick to the hooks. So I did what any creative knitter would do and lubed my hook with vaseline. That's a totally normal train of thought, right? Right? I still broke three of them, the first and most sadly missed was one my grandmother gave to me a while back with a very sizeable donation of her scrap yarns. It wasn't an object of dear memory, but still... bugger. It was notable the only one where the handly just broke off, with the new ones the hook and handle just fell apart, and very easily so.

Anyway, after hours of cutting and knotting and crocheting and begging strangers on the internet for more bags, here we are:

This is the nicer side when I still had bags of varying lovely colors.

This is the still reasonably nice side where I grabbed whatever bag I could get.

The box now holds a fair amount of my grandmother's yarn. It's mostly acrylic or acrylic blends with some cotton and the occasional sock yarn scrap. I love it, some of it is really soft. I've had several ideas as to what to do with it, but the different weights make it difficult to use it all in one big project.
I'm admittedly not a very accomplished crocheter, but I did feel it was well within my scope to knit two very basic rectangles. Apparently not:

I should say that this is not just a difference in plarn thickness or that I had to switch hooks so often. There actually where at least 10 more stitches at the end of my work. It's ok though, the rim got folded and then ironed to flatten it a bit. I just turn the crooked side towards the wall.I'll leave you with a close-up, because I've got a theory that all kinds of craft displays are immediately improved with a nice close shot.

Jeans Socks

These are without a doubt the least interesting socks I have ever knit. On the other hand, they will go with almost anything, even in a serious setting, and they were a pretty quick project. I think I'll eventually make a black pair with some sort of lace but that's as far as I'm willing to stray from fancy colors and crazy stitch patterns in my footwear for now.

Basic top-down socks in Regia 4ply modeled on my new very own foot dummy (tutorial found here).

As you can see, it's a bit lopsided. It's probably easier if you don't mold it from your own foot.

Project Bag

Not much going on in the finished object department, but there's been something else on my mind lately: project bags! Now I'm not exactly the greatest seamstress and I don't even own a sewing machine but I did get one done when I visited my mom:

This wasn't my first attempt at a project bag, but the first that I am reasonably happy with. I followed this great tutorial by Steffie. Since it was just a test version I left out any pockets or other details.

I accidentally made the bag a lot flatter and wider than intended, it's pretty much a cube. Funny thing is I actually prefer it like this, because that way when you open the string you see all the contents without rummaging around.
Both fabrics come from Buttinette though I have spent way too much time during the last couple of days looking at other online fabric shops. I'd love to make a few more of these in different sizes, play around with pockets and compartments and maybe try one of those cute Japanese knot bags next. Bonus points because you don't need to make an I-cord.

German Ravelry Meeting 2010

It's been over two weeks, but here are my impressions of the 2nd German Ravelry meeting in Backnang. I only went for a day because I realized it's not a big detour on the way to my mom so I might as well check it out.

So many knitters:It was quite the sight, I don't think I've ever seen so many knitters in one place. It really made me want to visit one of those really huge knitting events in the UK or US. There were a few people who recognized me by my user name which was both surprising and very nice, but mostly people seemed to already know each other and a bit out of character for me, I didn't just randomly start chatting to everyone about all the pretty yarn and stuff.
I went to check out the town, mainly to get provisions for the day. Backnang is a nice little town and my sense of direction being what it is, I got totally lost on my way back. Which would have been annoying BUT suddenly I came across the most amazing patchwork fabric store I've ever seen. Granted, it was the first one I've been in but that doesn't make it any less amazing. Check out the pretty fabrics! The photos really don't do them justice but you get the idea. I'm seriously considering saving up and going back there next year, even if they move the Ravelry meeting. The only reason I didn't go bankrupt right then and there was that I often get a mental block when there are just too many pretty things I want and I can't decided on the spot. Still got some lovely buttons for a vest I need to finish.
After that I was off to my only course, learning to spin on a drop spindle from the amazingly patient Jürgen. We even got to keep our spindles and some pretty fiber. Since we ran a bit late, I missed the beginning of this:

The yarn pool! Which is exactly what the name suggests, a pool filled with yarn. Once each day, a few lucky people got to dive in and fill their bags to the brim. It was fun just watching them. And of course later, after the crowd had cleared, I took my shoes off and jumped in myself. Taking a yarn bath is quite the experience.

Yarnyarnyarnyarn! Honestly, I had to check myself when I got out because I was scared I'd grabbed some of the prettier skeins without thinking.
Of course you could also acquire yarn in a more orderly fashion:

Yeah, I forgot to take photos of most things but there were a lot more stands. I bought some more spinning fiber in pretty colors but other than that, it was decision overload again so it was a pretty cheap afternoon.
Annie from stricknetz.net very patiently explained her knitting machine to me. These things run partially on yarn and partially on magic, I tell you. I kind of want one now, if it weren't for size, price and the sheer amount of yarn those things can knit up in a few days.

I only stayed for a couple of hours but somehow I already had enough. I should probably have made more of an effort to talk to people but on the train to my mom I immediatly fell asleep and was out like a light for the rest of the journey. When I came home I had already come down with a bad cold which kept me mostly asleep for the rest of the weekend. I guess that's my excuse for not being as social as I could have been, but it was still an amazing day. Next time I want to decide on going earlier, book a room and take as many courses as I can, especially if there's another one about lace! And talk to more people, obviously.