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Above are fingerless mitts that I finished last week. I really love them! Here are the specs:
Pattern: Merletto Mitts by Javajem.
Yarn: Supreme Possum, 4ply, Red - super warm and super soft, merino wool, possum, silk
Needles: size 2.5mm / US 1.5
Mods: used 1 size smaller needles (I have small hands); only 3 lace repeats before starting the thumb gusset; made the thumb 2 stitches bigger; made only 4 rows ribbing to end the top and thumb
Mods I wish I’d made: used a smaller needle for all ribbing; decreased thumb stitches by 2 or 3, 2 rows before starting the ribbing.
I made these specifically because our office has been so cold this winter and no matter what I do, my hands never warm up. They will be perfect for work!
 On Saturday the 30th, 9 of us went to Kortrijk Belgium to the Atelier of Bart & Francis. In the Amsterdam knitting crowd they are known as “The Belgian Boys”. I first saw them at Zwolle last year and bought the Gimp that I used to make my iPhone case. Not only do they sell interesting, not your grandmas knitting yarns, but they also develop and make their own yarns. They make experimental fibers that their clients ask for, like paper yarn, or copper and cotton yarn, or all kinds of silks.
We were hoping to get to see where the magic happens, but as Francis told me, “people steal with their eyes” and they can no longer take the chance of opening up their secret processes to whoever shows up at their door. So, rather than the day being about seeing cool techniques, it was all about the shopping (and the knitting of course).
We left on the train from Amsterdam at 9am and after a train change in Antwerp, arrived in Kortrijk around 12:00. The train ride was of course gezellig with everyone knitting and sharing snacks. The train was PACKED with people, which was kind of surprising to me. Is there never a quiet time on the trains in this country? Here we are….
When we got there, we walked the short 10 minutes to their atelier. It was packed with people too! Where did all these people come from? There was one big room with huge boxes full of cones and skeins of yarn, most of which was “mystery yarn” without a label. Another room consisted of their signature special yarns and threads of silks and camel and kiviut and metals and other types of fibers. There was also a small section of silk fabrics cut into about 1 meter/1 yard sizes that you could buy by weight. I bought 2 pieces to make couch pillows out of.
Then there was the lounge room with free cookies and coffee and even some bottles of booze for those needing a big if help relaxing.  It was incredibly warm in the atelier and crowded, so walking around and shopping took a lot of effort. I really didn’t plan on buying much, but ended up spending enough! I bought several weights of silk yarn (from thread to lace to fingering) in blues and greens. I also bought 2 small cones of blue thread with copper wire boucle running through it. I have no idea what I will do with it, but it just looked so cool! I haven’t taken any photos of all this stuff because the light has been just awful lately (nothing but grey days here). I haven’t got my photo tent up and running either.
Here are a couple of photos from the shop:
During the day Bart worked the cash register and Francis was wandering the floor answering questions from shoppers. We all had lots of questions and you can tell he really enjoys talking about his products.
Here’s a funny photo. We were all sitting in the lounge area, with other knitters, and suddenly one woman asks Nancy if she is the Brioche Lady. Nancy had to admit it. Then she wanted a photo of Nancy, and below is the resulting photo of the two of them together. She was really thrilled to meet Nancy there. Well, we’re all thrilled to know her too!
 Photo by Wollig_Lane from flickr Nancy’s wearing her latest brioche lace design around her neck. Lovely stuff! Actually, Wollig_Lane has better photos of the atelier than I do so check her photos if you are still curious.
And that was pretty much our day out. We missed the train we wanted to get from Kortrijk to Antwerp because some of us were starving and waited for frietjes to be made, just outside the train station. We ran for the train and missed it by about 10 seconds. We had to wait another hour for the next one. No worries. We have knitting.
Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog! Where does the time go? Above is a photo taken in Stockholm, just near the Nordic Museum. This is where I spent my Sunday. It was very cold, but I learned from my Swedish colleagues on the Monday that this was lovely and nice for January. It gets so much colder.
From my hotel there was not easy public transport to the museum. I had to walk more than half the distance there, and ended up walking the whole way back. It was only about 30 minutes of walking (back to the hotel) but with my bum knee it was quite long. That’s one thing about Stockholm, it’s a driving city, unlike Amsterdam which is a biking or public transportation city. The roads in Stockholm are wide and cleared of all snow and ice and are full of Saabs and Volvos.
Above is the Nordic Museum. It’s a beautiful imposing building built in the early 1900’s. It looks huge from the outside, but once you get in you see that most of the space is just open air and the actual display space is not that big. The “open air” consists of this gorgeous central gallery:
On the ground floor is a small shop and cafe and some displays. Most of the museum proper is located in rooms around the perimeter of this gallery 1 and 2 floors above. There are photos of every day Swedish life, dishes and place settings from 1600 to the present, clothing and fabrics and furniture, oh my!
Here are some photos. They aren’t great photos. It was rather dim, especially in the clothing sections as light will slowly break down fibers.
I really like this hat. I wonder if anyone has written up a pattern for it. Maybe I should write to the museum and ask.
After visiting the museum I walked back to my hotel, which was just north of the city center. I walked along the water and watched a ferry boat come in, cracking the ice as it came. That was such a loud sound. It made me smile.
I took a few more photos of Stockholm while walking back, but they didn’t come out very well. It was cold and getting dark so fast - I think I didn’t hold still enough. By 3:30 in the afternoon it’s dusk and cars have their lights on.
I really enjoyed my weekend in Stockholm. I’d love to go back in the summer when the weather is nice and trees are green. Stockholm is so different from Amsterdam. The streets are full of nice shops. I especially liked the glass shops and next time I will have to splurge on some beautiful Swedish glass. Even the H&M had the look of class. Everything is clean in Stockholm. There are no sleazy tourist shops as you exit the central train station. There were just beautiful stately buildings, clean and well kept. Snow and ice were cleared away. I just had the feeling that everything was nice there. I’m sure there are enough troubles and problems in a city of this size, but it’s nice to be an oblivious tourist for a while and just enjoy the scenery. I only wish Amsterdam had the same outlook for tourists coming here. The Damrak is an embarrassment and the constant construction everywhere must be disappointing to tourists who expect to actually SEE buildings (not to mention the eye-sore that is the North-South line).
Ah well, I count my blessings. After all, I could be living in Detroit for example….
This past weekend I was in Stockholm. Man was it cold!
I had to go to a meeting for work on Monday so I decided to go for the weekend and see something of the city. My bum knee (which I will get around to writing about at some point) kept me from walking as much as I wanted to, but I still got around to the main part of the city.
Above is a photo taken at about 2pm on Saturday afternoon. The morning was gloriously sunny with bright sparkling snow everywhere, but by noon the clouds came over and made it a little colder. We had a high of about -7C (20F) that day. This is a city park that is turned in a skating area in winter. Everyone brought their own skates from home. There’s a speaker system playing music for the skaters and there are lights rigged up all around. At one point there was an announcement and everyone left the skating area. It was then that I noticed the Zamboni off to one side waiting for its turn to hit the ice.
You know it really says “Zamboni” on the front of this thing. It’s right between the headlights. That cracked me up for some reason.
C. had given me the address of a yarn shop that she especially liked in Stockholm. That’s the one shop where I spent money on this trip. And I didn’t spend a lot. This shop is called Garnverket. I took the subway to get there. Stockholm has the coolest subway! The walls are covered in art. Every stop has its own style and artist. Very cool.
Anyway, I didn’t buy much at Garnverket. They had a lot of Drops and Rowan yarns, plus another brand that I hadn’t heard of but is made in Turkey. I couldn’t resist these Drops skeins:
You thought they were Noro didn’t you! Nope, Drops. Four times cheaper and without the sticks. These have “Fingerless Mitts for Mandy” written all over them.
Now, THESE are special. They are organic yarn, without even a label or company tag on them. I asked where they came from and she said simply “Swedish yarn from Gotland“.
It’s not terribly soft wool. It feels Shetland-ish. It’s lace weight and will be perfect for some two color lace brioche. I really like these two colors together - like moss on granite.
And that’s it for Stockholm Part I. Part II will be a longer story about the Nordic Museum and photos of Stockholm and boats in ice and my musings on why can’t Amsterdam be more like Stockholm. Don’t miss it!
I’m loving making these little fingerless mitts. Talk about instant gratification! They are knitting up incredibly fast. The pattern is Merletto Mitts. I’ve made them shorter than the pattern calls for and on 1 size smaller needles. I have small hands and arms so they fit perfectly this way.
The yarn is Supreme Merino/Possum. Actually it’s 50% merino, 40% possum and 10% silk. There’s a nice halo to the yarn and it is super warm. Possum is a hollow hair and is actually warmer than wool. I should say “fur” and not “hair”. The ball band says “fur”. We had a discussion at Monday night SnB, trying to decide when to say “hair” and when to say “fur”. We decided it had to do with domestication of the animal. If domesticated, then “hair”. Cat hair. Dog hair. Hamster hair. But mink fur and lion fur and wolf fur. Wolf fur? Maybe it’s not a water tight definition.
Anyway, these will be done before I know it, which will be perfect timing to start my February socks and Olympic mitts.
One week ago I had the day off and decided to try my hand at the madness that is a Wollmeise online shop update. I’d read about it. I wondered if the rumors were true. It was time to find out.
I began stalking the site at around 7.20am Friday morning. I went to the instock page and refreshed the page every couple of minutes. At around 08.00 (while I was reading blogs and the news and generally surfing around), the refresh resulted in a grey screen. AH! According to sources who know, a grey screen means an imminent update. Refresh, refresh, refresh….. And behold! A screen that showed the latest shop updates! Lovely red and green and deep blue skeins of yarn appeared on the page. Click! Click! Click! Add to basket! Quick! See what else is available! The frenzy had started. That’s enough I thought. Four skeins. Let’s not get greedy. Now, go to basket and check out. But wait! HEY! Who stole my skeins??? My basket was suddenly down to 3! Click Click, then down to 2! Down to 1! Now hold on just a darn pickin’ minute! Quick buy that 1 skein before it too disappears! Over to PayPal and done. Phew. Back to the web shop and see if there’s anything left. Just a few, here and there. Click click check out pay for goods over to PayPal. And one more skein is mine.
I had no idea that other people who are faster over to the PayPal end of things could actually steal products from your shopping cart! It was certainly a feeding frenzy. The skein I really wanted, a deep midnight blue, was grabbed out from under me. I’ll have to try again another time. After I get some more energy to face the hoards at that time of the morning.
Here’s what came in the mail late this week (which is some seriously fast shipping).
This is the “Pini” color above, and “Red Hot Chili” below. I don’t know yet what I will do with them, but I WILL use them (unlike some Wollmeise collectors who only use them to taunt the rest of us with their riches in stash).
Tomorrow long before dawn I’m off to Stockholm for the weekend. I have a meeting there on Monday so I decided to take advantage of the company paid ticket to spend the weekend and see something of the city. Saturday I’ll get to at least one yarn shop and Sunday to the Nordic Museum. Watch for photos coming your way!
It’s DONE! YIPPEE! I’m FREEEEEEE!
I start this scarf in September 2008. DB picked out the yarn in New Zealand in 2007. I knit half of it and ripped it all out. But last week, finally finally, I finished it.
I’m very happy with the results. It’s fingering weight yarn and this second try is knit with 2 strands held together, on size 6 (4mm) needles. Knit all the stitches on one side, and K1/P1 on the other side. It’s just stretchy enough and it’s very soft and lovely to wear against the skin. It’s New Zealand Merino after all - the softest wool in the world.
The yarn is dyed in rainbow colors that zigzag back and forth throughout the entire scarf. After knitting, it was very curly and wouldn’t lay flat at all. I soaked it in water and pinned it out to block. After it dried I steamed it gently with my steam iron. It doesn’t curl anymore and it feels even softer. I don’t think he’s going to share it with me.
So, now that I’m FREE, what am I going to knit next? Oh I have a list…..
Starting on February 1, I’m casting on KawKawEsque from Yarnissima. It will be part of yet another SKA KAL (Sock Knitters Anonymous Knit Along) from the Ravelry group.
Starting on the MOMENT of the beginning of the Olympics, also in February, I’ll be casting on some Selbu mittens as part of Team Pootje Over Ravolympics event “Mitten Moguls”.
(Are you digging all the lingo?)
I’m working on a test knit of a new brioche lace shawl that Nancy has designed. That has come to a halt while Nancy is making some updates, so, in the meantime I’ve cast on…
Merletto Mitts by javajem. I need them desperately! It’s so cold at work. I wear big puffy sweaters but my hands are still cold. I need these to wear while I work. Never mind that they could just TURN UP THE HEAT.
I’m making them from some super luscious yarn that deserves a web post all by itself, so I won’t tell you about it just yet. It’s soft and just a little fluffy and warmer than wool. Hmmmm, what do you think it is? Any guesses?
I’ve been working like a fiend, that’s where I’ve been!
Since going back to work 4 Jan, I’ve been working very long hours, coming home late, eating a bite and then falling into bed. It’s the year end and we close the books and create all the reports. I think it’s over now and I can go back to normal (longer than most people) hours.
This is my excuse for not posting and not having any photos to show you. I will say that it has warmed up about 5 degrees C in the past few days and the snow and ice are finally melting. We scooped the last of the snow off the car last night and drove to the grocery store. DB was afraid it might not start but I had no doubts. It wasn’t THAT cold. It’s not like Sweden or Colorado or Vermont after all.
Speaking of Sweden, I’m going there next weekend! I have a meeting in Stockholm a week from Monday and I figured I might as well go for the weekend. The company picks up the flight anyway and it only costs me one night in a hotel. I’ve already picked out yarn stores to visit on Saturday and a museum for Sunday. Should be interesting!
I’ll be back tomorrow with photos and a very exciting (for me anyway) FO to show you. Promise.
This is what our street looked like last night when I finally got home. All that traffic isn’t normal, but everything was backed up with the snow. Tonight when I got home it wasn’t much different. This is far more snow that we are used to having here in NL. This is not normal!
The trains are not running normally these days. Yesterday I wandered around the Haarlem train station for an hour before I got on a train to Amsterdam that was actually going to move. Last night all the trains between Amsterdam and Haarlem were cancelled for several hours. Finally after 7pm there were trains running ONLY between these cities and not going further. It was a mess! When I finally got on a train, our only stop between these central stations was in Sloterdijk. When we cruised up to the platform there I could see people along the platform 3 and 4 deep. They CHEERED when we stopped there! They had been waiting in the cold for a train for 2 hours!
Some kids in our neighborhood made a snow creature.
Lots of people just left their bikes parked in the snow. But actually a lot of people also continued to bike like usual. Slowly, carefully, sometimes with their feet dragging along the ground to keep from slipping. Me, I took the bus.
Last night in the packed train, and then in the packed bus, I listened to all the people talking. They were laughing and shrugging shoulders (”what can you do?”). They were actually talking to each other! Total strangers were sharing stories about how they tried to get home from work, or to get to the grocery store, or how their car got stuck. They were friendly and open.
I started to wonder - is it just that hardship brings people together? Or does snow actually make people more cheerful? Maybe people here are always so aggressive and silent and grumpy in their daily commutes because, strangely, life is just too easy here. Maybe we NEED some universal hardship, like bad weather, to bring us together and allow us to feel united enough to talk and share.
People are strange.
Me, I love the snow. I got off the bus last night and pulled out my camera and started taking photos of the cars crawling by and the trees covered in snow. It makes me smile and makes me feel like a kid again.
Maybe that’s all it was.
Tonight we went to see Avatar at the IMAX theater in 3D and I only have this to say:
GO SEE THIS MOVIE, IN 3D, DO NOT DELAY, DO NOT WAIT FOR THE DVD, GO SEE IT NOW.
This is the best movie I’ve seen in, oh, I don’t know how long. It’s beautiful. It holds you enthralled for the entire 2 hours and 45 minutes. I want to go back and see it again and I NEVER feel like that after a movie. I will even go back and fight the crowds at the IMAX, that’s just how good this movie is.
Up until tonight I always thought that 3D was overrated. All of the previews I’d seen were just full of gratuitous 3D nonsense that added nothing to the story at all. This was different. Once your eyes get used to the 3D glasses and movement, you really lose yourself in the movie and it’s just an all encompassing experience. After seeing it this way I think seeing the movie on DVD at home would be a let down. So take my advice, GO SEE THIS MOVIE ON A BIG SCREEN IN 3D. TODAY.
I think I have to write James Cameron a thank you email. Thank you for this movie.
Oh yeah, the dinner part. We got out of the movie at 8pm and there wasn’t much around for food so we stopped at McDonald’s. We NEVER eat McD’s. But there we were. I think we were still in a daze from the movie. After the delicious dinner we drove back home to sit in our chilly living room. I hope I dream of Pandora tonight.
Above is a mosaic of the 16 finished items from 2009. It seems a fitting post to write on the 31st of December 2009. The year seemed to fly by and I’m happy to have all of this work to show. I think it’s definitely a record for me - I’ve never finished so much knitting in one year before. I credit this prolific work to three things: 1. my knitting friends are so creative and inspiring that I feel constantly energized and encouraged by them; 2. Ravelry has opened my eyes to knitting possibilities I never would have thought of, and has created a world-wide community of knitting friends to draw inspiration and information from; and last but not least, 3. DB, who not only puts up with my obsession but actually encourages me to stretch the boundaries of my hobby and craft. THANK you to all the knitters and non-knitting encouragers in my life.
The above photos are:
1. Mitts to Match 3, 2. Mitts to Match after felting, 3. brioche intarsia, 4. La Digitessa front view, 5. La Digitessa back view, 6. iPhone pouch, front side, 7. iPhone pouch, back side, 8. iPhone pouch with magnets, 9. Sunrise Circle Jacket closeup, 10. Sunrise Circle Jacket front, 11. Primrose Path front, 12. Primrose Path detail, 13. Primrose Path back, 14. Spina di Pesce socks, 15. Spina di Pesce socks, 16. Spina di Pesce socks, 17. lace sock, 18. Lysette socks at the picnic, 19. Lysette socks, 20. Ishbel blocking, 21. Muir shawl is done!, 22. Muir shawl, 23. September mystery socks, 24. September mystery socks done, 25. Ishbel as scarf, 26. Ishbel as shawl, 27. Ishbel finished, 28. manly scarf, 29. plaited tam, 30. Clapotis, 31. Ishbel for Mom, 32. Ishbel in snow
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