KolmikMaluka / TriMaluka

Päev enne ärasõitu avastasin, et mu varrastel pole ühtki sõiduks sobivat tegemist. Ees ootas 14 tundi reisimist ja oleks patt kogu see jõude olemise aeg ära raisata. Avasin muude toimetuste vahel ja patuga pooleks Ravelry - patuga pooleks, sest seal läheb alati halastamatult palju aega kaotsi. Leidsin mõned variandid sokke, mõned huvitavad mütsid, väheke kihvte labakuid. Viimaks vaatasin ka pisemaid õlasalle. Ja otseloomulikult leidsin. Maluka. Poolkuukujuline, esmalt ääre"pits", siis lühendatud ridadega sall ise.

Kiusatus oli ootuspäraselt suur ja vardad lõin sisse kohe. Kahe ärasõidueelse päeva jooksul olin pidevalt kimpus kudumishimuga. Nii mõnus muster kududa. Kordused jäid kohe pähe ka.

A day before leaving for holidays I discovered that I had not one single knit on needles suitable for travelling. I opened Ravelry, though it is a pure sin when you are supposed to wash, clean, pack and buy last minute gifts. I found some great socks, some interesting hats and some cool mittens. Then I searched for minishawls. And of course I found a thing to my heart. Maluka. Half circular shape, "lacey" edging, short-row body.

As expected, the lure of a new cast on was inevitable. So I followed that urge. Repetitions were easy to memorize, so the wish to knit and leave all else undone was very hard to resist.

Kollase salli äärepitsi sain valmis lennukis Amsterdami. Jätkulendu oodates kudusin juba lühendatud ridu ning lennukis kodumaale lõpetasin. Amsterdamis tuligi mõte, et salle võiks teha kokku lausa kolm, kuuse alla kingituseks nii mu emale, õele kui ka mulle. Seega sai teine sall alguse kuskil Poola kohal. Õhtuks oli jupike kootud, väsimus murdis küll varakult, aga 25 kordust teise salli äärest oli juba tehtud. Järgmisel päeval ei kudunud ma ridagi :( ja jäin rahuliku tempo kuduplaanis kõvasti maha.

The yellow shawlette's edging I finished on the plane to Amsterdam, during the long wait there I knit almost all the short rows and cast off on the second flight of the day. The blue one got its beginning on the same flight so 20th December found me with one shawl finished and second one on its 26th repeat of the edging. That day though, I didn't knit a row and was severly behind my schedule the next day.

21 detsembril võtsin end kokku ja jõudsin peaagu valmis, uni siiski murdis ja seega jäi töö veel varrastele, hommikul aga kudusin silmad maha ja lõin uue salli silmused varrastele. Sinine sall valmis seega vaid kaks päeva enne pühi. Kogu jõuluaskelduste raames pidin veel kolmanda salli ka valmis saama. Ajsa tegi raskeks see, et õde polnud, kes tavaliselt pühade ettevalmistusi juhib ja me emaga pidime esmakordselt üksi kõigega valmis saama - märksõnaks peataolek. 24. detsembri varahommikul kell kaks küürutasin vaba madratsi kohal ja lükkisin sallide sisse nööpnõelu. Vaid viis tundi hiljem ajasin end suure vaevaga soojast voodist välja, et enne rahva ärkamist kõik teo jäljed peita. Sinine sallike oli veel niiske, selle kuivatasin salaja ahju kõrval paari tunniga. Lõpp hea kõik hea niisiis.

I did manage to finish the second shawl on 22nd morning, leaving me mere 48 hours to knit the third one and block all three in complete secrecy during the night. Let's take into account also the preparations for Christmas that this year me and my mother had to do alone, without the help of my sster whoi usually leads the preparations. It was a mad rush and I used every single moment I had alone. 24th december found me madly blocking the shawls at 2 AM. Only five hours later I was up. I had to hide the shawlettes before everyone got up and about. the blue shawl was still a bit moist, but luckily it dried up quickly once hung. All's well that ends well.

Jõuluhulluseks oli siis seekord Maluka sall. Kudusin kollase ja sinise sallikese vastavalt Dubai Knitsi BFL'ist ning Faith, Hope and Love'ist ning pruunikirju Malabrigo Sock lõngast. Siit saab Ravelry'sse projekti lehele.

So it's Maluka. Yellow shawl is knit out of Dubai Knits BFL and blue one out of Faith, Hope and Love. The brownish one is made aout of Malabrigo Sock. Link to the project In Ravelry is here.

Kui ilmub hea raamat / When a great book is published

Siis tuleb see osta. Kui selles heas raamatus, mis kätkeb endas nii põhjalikku selgitust vastavast teemast kui ka kamaluga kauneid kudumeid, mida kududa, siis ei aita ka abikaasale antud lubadus, et lõnga enam ei osta. Või hullem veel, kui ei võtaks vastu kingitud lõnga.
Ostsin Nancy Bushi "Knitted Lace of Estonia" kohe kui seda Rahva Raamatu riiulil nägin ja sukapüksipood on ju Kaubamajas lõngapoe kõrval, niisiis ei suutnud ma ostmata jätta ühte väikest vihti Titan Wooli Merinos Extra't, et samal õhtul silmad üles luua ühele kaunidusele, mainitud raamatust.

Then it must be bought. If the book has great instructions for the technique it describes and most beautiful designs then it is no wonder that nevertheless of the 2 kilos of lace yarn one has waiting at home, a new skein has to be purchased and new project cast on.
I bought Nancy Bush's "Knitted Lace of Estonia" as soon as I saw it on the shelf in book store and cast on for this beauty:

Hetkel olen teise mustrikorduse juures ja mingisugune koll on sees, ma ei suuda sugugi aru saada, kuidas mul silmuseid kord vähem, kord rohkem on. Kuigi kõik klapib ühel real, ei klapi enam järgmisel real üks pisike nurgake. Interneti errata'd ei ole veel vastust andnud. Ühel hetkel olin enda peale nii kuri, et ostsustasin korraks ämblikuvõrgu pitsi kõrvale panna ja midagi muud teha.
Kuna see sall sai Knitpicks'i Harmony varraste otsa, millega ma ei raatsi pardale minemist proovida, siis oli midagi muud vaja pooleööpäevaseks lennusõiduks tagasi koju. Üle kahe aasta õnnestus mul sättida Milaanos olemine laupäevale, mil toimus kohalik Stitch and Bitch ja sealt lahkusin kingitusega Silvialt. 3 kera Gringasco uut bioloogilist soja-meriino-siidi lõnga Mousse, millel igaühes meetreid kahesaja ligi. Juba samal öösel lõin bambusvarrastele teise projekti samast raamatust.

At this moment I'm at the second row of Lilies and cannot understand where a mistake is hiding, because the chart is faulty - I haven't been able to find an errata on the web so I laid aside the piece for awhile and finish something else I started .
This lacy beauty is knit with Harmony needles, which means I do not risk taking them on board. And since I would go nuts on a 12-hour flight and since Silvia gave me 3 amazingly soft skeins of new yarn from Grignasco I cast on on bamboo needles for Lily of the Valley Scarf from the same book:

Muster on nupuline, aga nii imepehme lõng, kui õige teravusega vardad, kui ka juba tekkinud teatav vilumus ja pikkus aina kasvas. Kokku sai salli 137 cm.

There are lots of nupps in this scarf but I must say that I've gotten them right in my hand and it doesn't take any effort to do them. The scarf is 137 cm long.

Muster: Lily of the Valley Scarf Nancy Bushi poolt
Vardad: 3,5 mm
Lõng: Grignasco Mousse

Pattern: Lily of the Valley Scarf by Nancy Bush
Needles: 3,5 mm
Yarn: Grignasco Mousse (50% soya, 40% new wool, 10% silk; 185 mt for 50 gr)

I used just a tiny bit more that 2 skeins.

Choker

I'm on the scarf-hat-mitten mode right now - like every autumn, even though this year I have 30 degrees Celcius outside and not 13 or 3 (Italy/Estonia). As soon as Christmas is over I start knitting other things, but until you gotta bear with my Christmas gifts.
So this time I present you Bainbridge Scarf. It is a very easy knit, you basically cast-on, knit in round, cast-off, knit two ribbons and then say... ?!?!?!?! buh... Then you open the .pdf again and step in front of mirror and practice putting it on. Simple as that. Takes a few times though before it becomes your absolute favourite. Like in my case.

Technicalities:
Needle: 3,5 mm
Pattern: pepperknits.com Bainbridge Scarf
Yarn: Schoeller+Stahl Merino Soft (100% merino)



Maybe a hat now? A Beret? Ravelry.

Mindless knitting

I have very limited amount of yarn!!!! And the delivery of our household items will not be before 16th of November. It's horrible to live without my stash!!!
Therefore I have been forced to use that little I brought over in my luggage. I think in someways it's good that my yarn isn't around, so that I finally knit the stash that has been around for a while. Like my handpaintedyarn.com Ejido 160.
As part of the Christmas Gifts Project 2007, I've finished two simple scarfs. Everyone, who has been an expatriate, knows that first few weeks, nothing is better than some relaxing mindless knitting, that allows you to keep an eye on things or avoid certain missing necessities.

Earthly scarf

Info
Yarn: Ejido 160 (100% merino, hand dyed)
Needles: 4,5 mm
Pattern: my own

My so called scarf

Info
Yarns: Ejido 160 (100% merino, handdyed)
Needles: 8 mm straight
Patterns: My so called scarf

And as a side-project I'm doing this:

I have to say, it has been and still is the most difficult "knitting project" of all.

Between Pauses

Bloggin vacation for now is over.
It is quite shameful that whenever at the seaside in Puglia I have no urge to knit, it isstrange though that each year I take allmy UFOs and pattern and yarn along and never do anythingh, but I am convinced that the year I'll elave my needles and stash behind will be the Most Eventless Summer of all.
Therefore I have (ashamed) accomplished only 18 nearnothings as seen on photo.
And finished Clapotis.
Mystery Shawl isn't quite finished yet, I'll work on it during the next following weeks. For now I've finished packing my yarn (and it was mopre difficult that anyone can imagine), and I'm emotionally ready to not seeing them for the next 2-3 months while they do their seatrip towards my new home in Singapore. And I guess the next post will come from there as well. Until then, arrivederci!

Quick knit lace

A very quick pattern I got from co-authored Motivi a Maglia (all knitty Italians unite!) blog. I bought some yarn a long time (ha, maybe a year) ago for a pair of stockings from Vogue Knitting, but it wasn't good enough to be knit in black and white (black ate all the bright color) so I had one skein of white and two black. White turned into a relax-knit between many other bigger projects, for it really didn't need much attention, the pattern is very simple, yet effective. the yarn is really a miracally soft, very fine though, so if you want to knit more than lace, make it a double.
Data
Yarn: Ornaghi filati "Real Baby" (100% pure new wool, 50 gr = 280 mt)
Needles: 2,75 mm
Pattern: Typesetter's green scarf
Length/width/weight: 117 cm/16 cm, 43 gr

Now What shall I do with 2 skeins of black?

SKS gift swap in Estonia

Christmas is over and we are back home from Estonia. I've done some necessities and can finally show you what kept me busy and FOless for the months of November and December.
First our gift-swap in Estonia.
I received a very ME-beret from Vikike.


I on the otherhand tried for the first time entrelac and made a gift for Pampel.
Yarn: Filatura di Crosa Zara (100% merino extra fine , 50 gr = 125 m)
Used: ca 280 gr
Needles: 3,75 mm bamboo
Pattern: my own (length blocked 210 cm, width 25 cm. After blocking 195 cm and 20 cm accordingly - the pattern tends to shrink out of blocking that gives it the special texture)
It was fun to knit, but hiding the ends was horrible for if I remember correctly there were 72*2 yarn ends. Since I recieved my pal's questionnaire in October and forests of fall are very colorful - they became my inspiration. I must compliment the yarn which has become my favourite along handspun yarns, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino and Cathay.

Elongated stitches scarf

I ordered some fabulous handspun and dyed yarn from estonian webshop - it is 100% merinos called Eijdo 160 and knit a scarf with elongated stitches for my mom. I used up 100gr and even though I forgot to measure it goes around the neck freely two times at least. I knit it withun wooden needles which are at least 30 years old (recalls my grandmother) and are almost 5 mm.