All in a days work!

This is a busy time of the year for me because I have so many plants that I want sow from seeds indoors in order to develop a healthy transplant of appropriate size to then be moved outdoors. Today it was red onions (red baron) and yellow onions (Rijnsburger 5), sugar snaps ( Oregon Sugar Pod) and Isop (Hyssopus officinalis).



Sugar snaps planted in containers made of toilet rolls



Red and yellow onions



Sorting out the Isop seeds



I also set my potatoes to chit in egg trays to get good and sturdy sprouts for early planting and harvest.



hopefullu I will have poatoes at midsummers eve



In the next few days I hope to sow Brussels sprouts, Texas Salvie ( Fairy Queen), orange tiny echidnae and white big echidnae, two other kind of Salvie, one arch blue and one white. The Echidnae and the Salvie are all from seeds I collected (“stole”) in a park last year. I have never used seeds that I’ve collected myself before so it will be fun to see how these will turn out.

Last but not least I finally got down to sewing the buttons in my cardigan. The cardigan have been finished for “ages” but sewing buttons bore me to death so I have been putting it of. I think the colored buttons gave the cardigan a cheery look and my button collection came to good use.

Jeanette

My leaf and I

Here I am at the exhibition where all the 87 south Swedish leaves were shown. I look happy don’t I? It’s because it is finally finished, ha-ha. It was great fun seeing how all the artist had made different interpretations of the leaves, not a single one looked the same or even similar. I can’t wait to see the rest, all 1913 of them in Stockholm in June. Although there was a lot of fantastic stuff there the most colorful “thing” to be seen was my dear friend Anna with her amazing knitted shawl.

She made it herself of course. Know wonder she is a constant source of inspiration to me!

Jeanette

Sometime you need to make a list....

I most often have a lot of projects going on at the same time. I like it that way since I am easily bored. But sometimes it feels like nothing ever gets finished and that’s when it’s time to sit down and make a list. So here is the stuff I finished in February.

Socks - finished at last



My embroidery of a field rabbit (hare)

wrist warmers  to go with the socks



The wool hat that looked like a tea cozy



The leaf was sent off to the exhibition

My Noro cardigan- the car knit

Guess I did get a few things finished after all!
Jeanette

Willpower

There I stood with at least 25 packages of seeds in my hand and I wasn’t alone. All of us woken by the spring sun and a deep urge to start growing plants immediately. With an enormous act of willpower I put the packages back on their shelves again and left the shop without buying any. Telling myself with a very firm voice that it’s way too early to start planting seeds anyway if you don’t want tall and thin ones (which I don’t). With an even firmer voice I told myself that I wasn`t allowed to buy anything until I’ve checked out what I had already got...

Which turned out to be a lot! Some bought last year and never planted (guess I was out of willpower then) and others carefully collected (or stolen) in gardens, parks or the country side.

To keep myself busy with other stuff than growing seeds I selected buttons for my black cardigan. Yep, the second car knit is finished.

I also started on a new knitting project; a cardigan no less, but this time a tiny one for a little baby. I fell in love with the spring colors though so I just might knit one for myself too.

Before I had a shawl knitting problem....knitting way too many. Wonder if I have a cardigan knitting problem now....

Take care
Jeanette

Don’t knit in Elk country

Here is the cardigan in Noro yarn! The car knit! I am quite satisfied with the result even though I had to knit one of the sleeves two times…. I blame this on my husband and elks. I always knit both sleeves at the same time you see and as I cast the second one on my husband told me to keep a look out for elks.

So I did….and the second sleeve got 10 stitched less than the other. Unfortunately I didn’t notice that until I was shaping the armhole 46 cm later. Big sigh!

Jeanette

Home sweet home

I am back home again. I left this .....



See how they look like ants? No way, ýou would ever get me up there!



The old church yard in Åre covered in snow. This is where I would end up if I ever put on a pair of skies.



 ....and came home to this.



Spring signs in my garden



That tells you something about how long the country of Sweden is…..I had a good week in the Swedish Alps. We stayed in the village of Åre in a rented cabin and drove up by car. I put up camp in the living room and worked during the days. It’s a good way of getting a lot of work done. No phones ringing, no colleagues dropping by to chat…just you and your computer. In the evenings I had a great and relaxing time with my husband and daughter. So I got the best of both worlds.

While we drove up and back I knitted in the car. You can do a hell of a lot of knitting during a 12 hour drive so on the way up I finished my cardigan in Noro yarn. I’ll show you a photo of it later this week. Luckily for me I also brought my black cotton yarn and started on my second cardigan in the evenings. As we drove up outside our house yesterday I just finished the two front pieces and now I only have the sleeves left. Not bad for a weeks work eh?

Jeanette

The Friday Tutorial

Brooch for a knit-o-holic
What better way to finish my week of knits than by making something that states to the public that you are a knitter - a brooch for a knit-o-holic of course!

You need: Thin yarn and very thin knitting pins. You also need Elephant wire 1,5 mm, two pearls, a brooch needle and maybe some glue.

Start with a bit of knitting. Make it as long and wide as you like.

Cut the wire in two pieces long enough to fit you tiny little knitting.
Add the pearls to the end of the wire. You might need a drop of glue inside the pearl to make them stick.

I also made a tiny ball of yarn as to resemble an on going knitting project.

Transfer the knitting to the wire knitting pins.

Add a brooch needle to the back of the knitting and you are ready to show the world what a great knitter you are :-)

Now I leave you for the weekend. Hope you have a creative one!
Jeanette

Shibori

Books are a great source of inspiration for me when it come to knitting ideas and patterns. I am usually too cheap to go buy them I borrow them at my local library instead. On my last visit I borrowed the book “ Shibori knits, the art of exquisite felted knits by Gina Wilde.

I was intrigued by the title because I had never heard about shibori before and when I did quick browse my heart started beating…. The shibori knits looked absolutely fantastic.

When I read the foreword I knew that this must be something for me

“ Shibori is an empowering tool for knitters; it`s a method for introducing possibility and also asks that a bit of risk be taken – like an adventure where the destination is new personal expression”

Now who can resist a bit of adventure eh? Certainly not me.

The art of shibori knitting has its traditional roots from Japan. So in the same week I have discovered both Noro yarn and shibori. I just might call this the Japanese knitting week instead.

Do you want to learn more about Shibori? Here is a link to the World Shibori Network.

Now I must hurry up and finish my Noro cardigan and then I will give the shibori knits a try.

Jeanette

Noro

Until recently I lived without the knowledge that something as beautiful as Noro yarn existed. Handspun, hand dyed and with fantastic colors….I was probably the only knitter in the world that hadn’t discovered it yet…. But last week I did and now I am in Noro heaven. This is the yarn I bought. A beautiful mix of pink colors and the blend is 50% cotton, 35% silk and 15% wool.

Noro made me want to step out of my comfort zone a bit so I bought yarn to make a cardigan and not a shawl. That might not be a giant leap for mankind but it sure is for me! Since the yarn cost a fortune I really, really wanted to knit something that I felt pleased  with wearing so I borrowed a book at my local Library with Nuro patterns. Noro knitting by Jane Ellison.

This is what I am going for….Yep,  I know it is a pullover but I am going to change the pattern into a cardigan instead.

I have already started. Don`t you just lover the mix of colors?

I think this will be the perfect spring cardigan!

Jeanette

Tag Tuesday & Tea cozy

Here is my Tag for this weeks Tag Tuesday which had Valentine as its theme. I first planned to let the little cupid knit a heart since this week my blog is dedicated to knitting but didn’t have the time. Why? Well I was busy knitting something else….. a hat!

Next Saturday my husband and I are going to the Swedish “Alps” together with our youngest daughter. My husband usually goes away for a week of skiing with both our daughters and I very happily stay at home. I don’t do that skiing stuff and have never really figured out the greatness about it. Why spend time in a scary ski lift just to end up staring down a steep, icy slope wearing a pair of slippery wooden planks? I don’t have that big a death wish…Anyway this year my eldest has to stay home to work and take care of her horse so I volunteered to tag along. I am going to work during the days, sitting in our cozy cabin and writing two big project reports and then I’ll finish the workday with some partying! I might not like skiing you see but have absolutely no problem with taking advantage of the fun stuff that comes with it….like an after ski party with a glass of red and some singing.

So I needed a warm hat and one that was ultra fast to knit at that. I was going for a kind of urban grunge chic kind of thing but I think I ended up with a tea cozy.

Do you want to knit a tea cozy of your own? No? Well you might like to buy some of the beautiful red wool yarn instead. Then you can buy it at my blog friend Marias shop

Have a great day!

Jeanette

A week of knits

I am a yarn-o-holic of great proportions. My collection is huge and varied. My mother taught me how to knit when I was six years old and I have knitted on and off since then. I had a period of almost frantic knitting in the 80: ies when it was high fashion to knit mohair cardigans and pullovers in bright ( we are talking neon here…) colors and with large knitting pins. Large knitting pins suited me very well since I am a woman with very little patience… You could start on a pullover one night and be finished the next.

The sad thing about my knitted stuff over the years is that I am very seldom satisfied with the result. That’s why I mostly knit shawls nowadays because I am almost always pleased with the outcome of those.

Right now I am in a knitting period! My head is spinning  with all kinds of ideas and things I like to try out….like shibori knitting or knitting with scraps…using all those tiny balls or just strings even of my left over yarn… I simply can’t throw any away you see, however tiny yarn there is left.

I am inspired by this fabulous book by the Finnish author Sanna Vatanen. The book was a Christmas gift from me to me!

I am so obsessed with knitting right now that I decided to dedicate this weeks posts entirely to knitting.

So welcome to a week of knits!

Jeanette

Relief

These last two weeks have been filled with pain due to a root canal infection followed by a root filling. Tooth ache may not sound much but I wouldn’t wish my worst enemy to endure the pain I had. I’ve been eating strong painkillers like candy but they didn’t help much. This weekend I finally felt better and the painkillers actually kept me more or less pain free for more than two hours. The relief filled me with such creative energy so in no time I finished the socks I’ve been knitting like forever and I made a pair of wrist warmers from the left over yarn. I also started on an embroidery using the fabric I colored with tea and coffee and finished my leaf for the exhibition. Promise to show you both later this week. Here are the socks and wrist warmers though.

Take care

Jeanette

The Friday Tutorial

Recycled shawl

I have enough cowls and shawls to last me a lifetime but still can’t stop making them. It is easy and fun and I can do it while watching TV. If I pass a shawl on a jumble sale I try to will myself to walk past it but usually end up buying it anyway. If it is a 100 % nature materials that is, no synthetic stuff for me. I often pimp the ones I buy at jumble sales so here is a tutorial on how to do it - fast and easy!

You need: An old shawl made of 100 % wool, maybe one you have knitted yourself ages ago and never wore or one you bought at the jumble sale last winter (....and never wore). You also need some merino wool.

Spread your shawl out on a synthetic piece of fabric. Make a nice pattern using your wool. I went for a flower pattern using merino wool.

Sprinkle hot soap water over the shawl and “fasten” the wool by using circular movements with your hands.



Roll the shawl and the fabric together and secure it with strings in a few places.
Throw it in the spin dryer for between 3-10 minutes. Check it out often by unrolling it and see if the wool has stuck to the shawl. If you let it stay in the spin dryer for too long you risk having made a kettle holder instead. Nothing wrong with kettle holders I collect them too....but maybe not the item you where going for this time.



Tadah! Done! Now you can embellish it with some embroidery if you like!



Now I leave you for the weekend. Hope you have a creative one!
Jeanette

UFO

I have a really short attention span. I start on so many things with great plans of getting them finished but then something more fun comes along ….a new idea….and I just have to try that out instead.

Do you remember these?

They just lack some embroidery and then they would be finished.

Or this?

I got as far as one coat of white paint and then I grew tired of it.

Or my brown linen tunic…..so very boring now!

Or the skirt I started making using a jumble sale finding, a 70: ies pillow cover. Not nearly finished.

…and last but not least - these! I feel ashamed to tell you but I haven’t made that second sock yet. And how I bragged about wanting to knit only socks in the future... until an intriguing pattern for a cabled cowl came along.....

In the past I have tried to be very hard on myself telling me that I can’t buy any new yarn or start on anything new before I have finished what I have already started. But it never worked! I cheated, using yarn that I had already got telling myself that it was okay. Yep, I am a basketcase!

Nowadays I`ve stopped punishing myself thinking that it will probably turn out okay in the end anyway. I will bury my UFO:s in a big basket and if just enough time passes until I find them again  I will look upon them with renewed interest and probably ditch something else to continue with the UFO:s instead. Pretty smart huh?

Jeanette