Friday, August 28, 2009

Sock yarn at Liedl

Could sock yarn from Liedl be any good? The content and yarn weight is the same as in Trekking, Opal, Regia...

I had to buy a Package just to try it out. The yarn was quite popular since they got the yarn in yesterday and there were only one colourway and 3 packages left when I came in today.

For those of you that do not know about Liedl: It is a german low budget chain of stores that get special offers in twice every week. Their plan is that what they get in should leave the shelfes asap so they keep a rather low price and when gone they might not have that product again.

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Garter all over again.

Since last year I have knitted several projects in garter stitch. I used to hate garter stitch so what has happened? Well garter has it's advantages. it is stretchy, and the edges will not roll. I have found many interesting patterns using garter that has been very interesting too me. My garter fever started last summer when I found a jacket on drops pages knitted in their sock yarn. As my sock yarn stash is extensive I fast found some Opal Magic that I purchased a couple of years ago. Two months later I was done and quite happy with the end result.

This July it was time to again start a large Garter stitch project. This time it was a garter stitch skirt that cought my interest. I have however been a bit taken back by the project when the yarn I have used had been used before and the first used ball of yarn gave a completely different gauge so I will have to cut away 30cm from the beginning.

To boost my spirit I decided to try a different angle on making socks. I bought at the knitting symposium in Norway last year a leaflet fo Krija Kongsbak where they had a sock knitted sideways.
Look here is my first sock before I have seamed the sides together:

And here is the first sock after sides was connected:

Next I will have to try sideways knitted gloves in garter and maybe some multidirectional garter garments will sneek in among the WIP's too...

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Yarn diet

This year has been a very productive year, I have knitted and completed more projects than ever before and many far more complex and larger than the years before. One of the goals I have been working toward is to slim down my stash. Do not get me wrong, I love my stash but I feel a bit crowded. I really need to free some space so that the family can move around freely and get some drawers to other stuff.

I have during the spring knitted two dresses, two skirts, one summer cardi, a pair of socks and two hats for me and a cardigan for the little one. I have completed two UFO's one jumper and a pair of gloves.

I have been very good, avoiding the yarnstore and not ordered yarns from online. Pleased with myself I assumed that now I must have been able to at least match the knitting with the speed I aquire yarn. Well one of the dresses I did purchase yarn for and since I had some left I "had" to purchase more of the same dyelot to be able to complete one more project of this. And then summer came and I visited Kampes Spinneri and Daisy Design in Gothenburg and suddenly I had purchased almost the same amount that had been knitted, Ugh!

What we can learn from this is that yarndiet is just as hard as an ordinary diet. You controle yourself for months but then make a few misstakes and most of your efforts are undone. The difference with the yarndiet is however that you have some beatiful FO(Finnished Objects) to make you happier and the added weight will one day also turn in to some beatiful FO that will make you happy both during their creations and after.