New purchase

I ought to be getting rid of my yarn stash, well most of it, and yet I couldn't stop myself when last week a natural products market took place for a day. And of course I just happened to pass by. And of course I bought yarn, some natural wool from Puglia (Southern Italy) and some Argentian handspun wool in darker natural colors. Of course I'm knitting it already.
And today, right below my house there is another market and this yarn swift was calling out my name, I swear. Now it's mine for only 15 Euros. I used it to wind a ball from one of the skeins of that courgeous wool.

Belle & epoque

Selgitus:
Kõik kiidavad seelikut, ega vist pane tähele, et neid on ju KAKS! :P Modell on ainuses, aga seelikuid topelt. Tõestus:
Muuseas on need kootud sama arvu silmustega. Belle näeb välja kitsamana, aga süüdi selles on äärepits.
****
Kahandan oma lõngavarusid kududes kiiremini (khm khm väiksemaid asju).
Mullu ostsin 2x400 grammi Katia Jamaica puuvillast lõnga. Türkiis-roosa-oranžist sai Clapotis number 2, kuid rohe-beeži-puna-oranži kirju istus kapis ja ootas mustrit või ideed.
Eelmisel nädalal tuli Leenuke koju ja küsis luba sõbranna poole ööseks minna. Muidugi ma lubasin, nad on nagu õed (sukk ja saabas).
Samal päeval olin just oma lõngavarusid sorteerinud ning suur otsustamine, mis võtta, mis jätta käis. Ja tuligi nagu välk ja pauk mõte, 2 päeva hiljem olid nunnud valmis:
Belle

... ja E'poque
Satsidest lähivõtted (Nicky Epsteini raamatust "Knitting on the edge")
Belle Epoque

...ja knit fluted edge
Satsi nimest tulid ka seelikute nimed, sest Belle èpoque tähendab prantsuse keeles "ilusad ajad", lapsepõlvest paremat aega ma ei tea, seega on satsi nimi igati sobiv.

Info:
Lõng: Katia Jamiaca, 100% puuvill, värv 4002 (Suzanne) , kaks kokku 320 grammi
Vardad: 4 mm Addi Turbo ringvardad
Muster: omalooming

Ennustus - Forecast

Tadaa! Mu Ennustus ehk Forecast on valmis:Tegelikult sai see valmis juba kaks nädalat tagasi, aga kuigi ma olen kiire kuduja, siis piltidega läheb mul alati üle mõistuse kaua aega.
Viie-päevast valmimisaega selgitan laheda juhisega :)

Ja nööbid tegin ka ise :P

Muudatused:

• Ei kudunud pahempidiste silmuste ridu, vaid muutsin need hoobilt parempidiseks.
  
• Lõnga ning vardasuuruse muutuse tõttu tuli nupukesi palju rohkem, aga ei väsinud ära.
  
• Ei võtnud vaevaks nuppude kudumisel tööd koguaeg keerata. Kudusin 1 silmusest vajaliku arvu välja, tõstsin tagasi vasakule vardale, kudusin läbi, ning tõstsin silmad ükshaaval üle esimese silmuse.
  

Mis oleks võinud teistmoodi teha: kududa sooniku pikemaks (teistkordne venitamine ehk aitab, või siis tuleb kaalust alla võtta) ning oleks ikka võinud iga rea esimese silmuse läbikududa - mul on lõtv kudum ning nüüd on nööbihõlma ja kehaosa vahel rististe silmuste rida. Aga ma nimetan seda disainielemendiks.

Info:
Lõng: tundmatu mark, 100% meriino, kreem, 350 grammi
Vardad: 4 mm ja 3,25 mm Addi Turbo ringvardad
Muster: Forecast
Aeg: 5 päeva

Forecast done!

Tadaa! My Forecast is done.Actually it was done quite a while ago, I just didn't get to taking the pictures.
I like the design a lot and it was really fun to knit, which explains how it got ready in only 5 days.

And I did sew on the self-made buttons.

Modifications:

• I didn't purl, I knit the garter stitch part, which meant changing the pattern a wee little in the beginning.
• Different kind of yarn. I went down on needle size, that meant more bobbles (iiiik), but I got them done.
  
• I didn't turn my work while knitting bobbles, I just slipped stitches back to left needle and knit them through then just passing stitches over the last stitch.

What I wish had done differently: knit the ribbing part longer (blocking again will help I hope, or losing weight :P) and knit the first stitch of every row. I trusted the pattern, but should have trusted my experience, now I have this strange cross-stitch row between body and button bands (It's because my stitches are quite loose). But I guess you can call it DESIGN element.

Info:
Yarn: Unknown producer, 100% merino, cream, 350 grams
Needles: 4 mm and 3,25 mm Addi Turbo circulars
Pattern: Forecast
Time: 5 days

Belle & epoque

I am licquidating my stash by knitting faster (khm... smaller projects)
Last year I purchased 2x400 grams of Katia Jamaica cotton yarn, the turqoise-pink-orange one became Clapotis nr. 2, but green-beige-red-orange mix hid in the closet and didn't find a pattern.
Then one day last week my daughter came home and asked whether she could stay over for a night at a friend's place upcoming week. Of course I said yes, last time they had great fun together.
And it just happened that I was cleaning the closet and deciding the fate of my stash, so I instantly got an idea to knit some playful skirts. I pulled out Nicky Epstein's Knitting on the Edge and picked out two ruffles.
2 days later I had these beauties ready:
Belle

...and E'poque

Close-ups of ruffles, they are:
Belle Epoque

...and knit fluted edge
Why such a name... Well, Belle èpoque means in french "good/beautiful times" and I guess childhood can be considered the best of times, so it wasn't difficult to name the skirts after ruffles :)

Info:
Yarn: Katia Jamiaca, 100% cotton, color 4002 (Suzanne) , used for both 320 grams
Needles: 4 mm Addi Turbo circular
Pattern: my own

Polymer clay

I've made my first shy steps in the polymer clay world. With a little help from my daughter.
And I have some urgent questions:
1. I can make the beads round between my hands, but when I start making holes they deform (pressure of hands and needle). How do you get nice round beads?
2. How do you avoid/remove finger tip prints? Polish with what?
3. When covering a bead with gloss, on what do you dry them? I imagine you cannot lay them on a piece of paper without them sticking to it.

I'd appreciate all the help out there for it is quite enchanting craft and I'd like to continue.

Baby Girl Set

A little pat on my head - a baby set for a girl due in June:

Photos: future mum Mari
Did I mention that these adorable matching duckling buttons I got from the market... again!?! :)

Info:
Pattern: my own
Needles: booties 2mm, jacket 2,75 mm
Yarn: GRM Filati Super Baby (100% virgin wool) (used 100 gr)

Knitting with both hands

Some of you define themselves Continental Knitters, some English Knitters some Italian knitters, some knit like Portugese do. I was continental knitter, still am as a matter of fact, but now I could say I am expanded continental knitter.
I like learning new things, I find great pleasure trying out different designs, always keeping an eye on, that they have some new techinques to teach me. I do not like knitting items where I cannot play with new skills, so when I saw Equinox Yoke Pullover I knew I wanted to do it. But knitting with colors is such a dull thing, all that stranding and yarn balls getting all tangled up (even if you are careful and follow yarn dominance principles... you know, the thing about which yarn always comes from under and which from top), and the tightness-looseness of stitches which is difficult to control... so I let it be at first and while surfing in internet one day I found a website which had a video about circular knitting with both hands (I can't find it anymore though). I flared up! I had to learn it. And of course I'm just not going to make a simple swatch and try it, I just started the Equinox Yoke pullover straight away. (Okay I opened Knitting Help site and looked how you gotta knit english way, tryed it out on few rows and off I was). The sleeves I knit continental way, working real fast for I was eager to start knititng in the round. And yes, girls, I did it. The first few rows were slow, but the more I knit the faster I got (logical, huh), and I'm hooked. My next goal is to start flat color knititng also with both hands. So I'm in lookout for a project to do that.

Viljakusperiood

Rasedusega pole pealkirjal midagi pistmist.
Mu käed on usinalt küll tootnud mitmesuguseid kuduvõtteid hiljuti, aga midagi täiesti valmis nagu polegi näidata.
Esiteks "proovin" ma juba tükk aega lõpetada Interweave Knits Fall 2006 numbrist Equinox Yoke pulloveri, mis oleks umbes täpselt selline:
Aga selle asemel on selline (alustasin peale jõule, aga siis tuli igalt poolt palju titeuudiseid ja oli vaja kiiresti piduliku ettevõtmise tarbeks kehasoojendajaid jne; nii ta pooleli jäi):
Need pärisvärvid:
Equinox ootab vaba-õhtu-tuhande-otsa-peitmise-ja-kampsi-kokkuõmblemise-motivatsiooni. Näete mu probleemi?
Teiseks, kardan ma selle suure töö tegemist, sest ta juba tundub mulle natuke lühike ja mis siis kui ka venitamine ei aita?

Taaskord langesin ma Norah Gaughani kavalasse mustrilõksu. Kui minu koju saabus tema "Knitting Nature" raamat, siis ma vaimustusin hoobilt, otsisin välja Debbie Bliss Cathay lõnga ja asusin hoogsalt vardaId klõbistma, lootuses enne pikka nädalavahetust seljakate valmis saada ning sellega uhkelt Pescaras ringi käia.
Selle asemel leidsin end laupäeva hommikul rannas fakti eest, et tegu on taaskord-nutmajava-Gaughani-sans-néné-mudeliga. On ehk kellelgi aimu, kuidas parndada lohvakaid kaenlaaluse kohti, mis on tingitud vormikusest selles piirkonnas ning mustris sellepoolse tõiga vältimisest. Lühikesed read? Harutamine?

Kuna mind tabas kaks motivatsioonitust järjest, siis ma pidin kohe uue projekti leidma: Knitty Forecast.
Millest ma mulisesin ka siin
Ja kasutades ära siinset tasuta reklaampinda tahaks natuke kiita kohalikku turgu, mis hiilgab lõngaletis parema kvaliteedi ja hindadega kui kohalikud lõngapoed. Pole nii pehmet meriinot varem poes näinud. Ainus probleem on see lõngalett muidugi teistkordselt üles leida.

Pescaras leidsin lõgapoe. Ilmne viga. Ostsin lõnga:
Filatura di Crosa Millefini Fine 100% puuvillOn ju ilusad värvid?
Transformeerub too uueks Clapotis'ks:

Lõpetuseks siiski patsutan ennast - väikese juuni beebi tervituskomplekt:

Fotod: tulevane ema Mari
Kas ma juba mainisin, et need armastusväärsed pardinööbid leidsin ma ka turult!?! :)

Info:
Muster: minu oma
Vardad: papud 2mm, jakike 2,75 mm
Lõng: GRM Filati Super Baby (100% tallevilla) (kulus 100 gr)

WIPs

I've been moving my hands a lot lately.
As well as trying to finish Equinox Yoke Pullover from Interweave Knits Fall 2006, Which should become something like this:
And instead is like this (I strated it right after Christmas, but got caught up by other projects and now picked it up, for in the light of possible translocation I need to get UFOs finished and as mucha s yarn possible used up):
And the true colors:
It now has been waiting for that free evening of weave-the-million ends-sew-up-garment-motivation. I think you see my problem.
Plus I am afraid to sew it up and re-block for it is obviously too short now, and maybe it won't "stretch" :(

I also have once again fallen into the Norah Gaughan entrapment skills and followed by the glorious arrival of the book called "Knitting Nature" which made me dig out my Debbie Bliss Cathay and start knitting franctically hoping to finish it before Ponte...
instead it made a blister on my finger and made me realize that this is yet-another-to-cry-about-Gaughan-sans-néné-design. Does anyone have an idea how to make the floppy "ears" below armpits go away. Blocking doesn't help. I have hope in placing straps differently or maybe.... I just have to rip.

In the mean time, for I was saddened by my 2-in-a-row instantunsuccessfulnesses I started yet another project: Forecast from Knitty.
About which I blabbed a little here
And would like to emphasize at this point the importance of local markets, specially when they carry better yarns than local yarn shops do. And cheaper prices, for the yarn is produced in small farms and sold exclusevely on local markets, you just have to find the right stall.
In these occasions you are truly reminded that largely the best and most beautiful yarns from Europe are made in Italy.

And while celebrating the long weekend il Ponte (28th April - 1st May) in Pescara I found a yarn shop and bought, guess what, of course, yarn. This time the shiny and soft and elegant Filatura di Crosa Millefini Fine 100% cotton:Aren't the colors just great?
It is turning into another Clapotis, one of my favourtie patterns: