Edit the Hat

 In early dcember, amidst all the sock knitting, work and other stuff, I had the urge to knit some Far Isle. 

Like NOW. Right away. As the New Year, and with that the good luck sweater got pretty close, I did not want to start something big. 

Besides a ball of dark red, tweedy sock yarn kept falling down on me. 

I thought, it will be the perfect time to try out the hat, for which I saved the chart on Pinterest for many years now.

There was just the chart, nothing else, not even the starting stitchnumber, and the rythm of the edge is totally different than the top, but what the heck. I designed and wrote a few hat patterns myself, it can't be that hard to figure out, right? I had a couple of false start though, but at the end...

It also took a bit of getting back to the rythm of fair isle, it was quite bumpy, when it came off the needle, but blocking did wonders to it. 

Yarn: bordeaux tweedy and gray sockyarn of unknown origin. 

Pattern: Edit the hat

Needles: 3mm

Modell photos: Norbert Varga

Leftovers

 And so it happened, that back in 2015 I've knitted a cardigan, from DROPS yarn, based on a DROPS pattern...

And then I had some yarn left over from both the red and the gray I used...

I promptly halved those, and started knitting a striped sock, thinking, how fun it will be wearing with the cardigan and a jeans skirt. I did knit half of the pair, I stuck the needles of the two other balls, put it into the basket I used to keep my WIP's back then and totally forgot about them. 

Sometimes, over the years, when I needed the basket for my table at a festival I poured out the stiff that was in there, then later put back the heap.

Sometimes a vague thought passed about how I should just knit the other half, how fun that would be, but still haven't done much about it. 

And then, something happened... I seemed to be on a sock-knitting kick lately, I've knitted more sock in the last few months, than all toghether before. Well, maybe not more, but pretty close. So much, I wondered where all my sock-knitting needles are. Stuck into old, abandoned projects thats where. 

Besides, I am also in a flat rearranging, and going over old stuff kick. And as I was trying to clean up the living room enough to have a Xmas tree I happened to bump into that basket again. and I just wanted to clean it up and empty it. 

I did throw out a bunch of stuff, but I though I might as well knit that other half, while I was at it. 

Simple toe up socks, short row toes, short row heels, and shaping for the leg.

Gray yarn: DROPS Delight.

Red yarn: DROPS Fabel.

Needles: 2.25 mm

Photos: Norbert Varga

Mis' teacher, I did my homework! (Weekly spinning... or what).

 Whem I was in shcool, I hated to prepare. Prepare for classes, doing homework, whatever, I did not like it. Lately I found, that preparing for things, lengthens the joy. Back, when we had the victorian ball, the months leading up, the anticipation, learning the dances, making the dresses made it an adventure lasted, no only for the six hours or so, while it actually went on, but for months. 

Also, the further I go "back", in making something, the more I feel it is mine. 

Yes, going to a weaving workshop, and grabbing some yarn, is already a lovely way to make something, but weaving something from a yarn that I dyed... or what is more, spun myself, gives an unparalleled deep satisfaction. 

Now, you all know my infatuation with colors, and the my forever love for red, and the new-ish pink period (don't worry, there are more things I want to show you in those colors too), but it is the middle of January, and I hate winter. I don't wear much green as it is, but by now, I have a deep desire for greens and blues, in my wardrobe too, and what colors unifies those better that turqoise and petrol? 

So, when I saw the warp Ági has on one of the loom in her workshop, that is petrol-green to me, pine green to her, I knew I want to work with that color. And not a shawl, but some fabric to sew with. I love the texture of a pink shawl I woven from a single ply handspun yarn (BTW I have new pictures of it, do you wanna see them???). 

So I odered some fiber from England (while I could. In fact I ordered a bunch of other stuff to, to dye, but those are for later) a roving from carded (and not combed) corridale, and a combed top mostly also from corriedale, but has some shiny fibers carded into. , along with some sari silk. 

First I spun the carded roving. Now we all know that one will never spun a perfectly smooth yarn from anything that is carded, my aim was to have a consistent yarn, despite of the actual bumpiness of it. 

Then I spun the combed top...Since this was combed, not carded, it was easier to spin it not only consistenly but more smoothly. I also had the aim, to spin these to more or less to the same thickness, which means they should be similar length. I ended up with 20 meters differece between the two hanks (620 and 600 meters for each 100 grams fiber). I guess that's pretty close, right?

And finally I spun half of the sari silk (I left the other half, so I will have some to card in batts, when I decide to take out my drumcarder again).

I plan to use this as an effect yarn, so nor smoothness, sor consistency was needed, , and I do love the crazy, tweedy effect. 

Corriedale is not the finest, softest wool, so we will see how the fabric, I am planning to weave will turn out. But they do look good together.

Impulsive sock knitting

 And so it happened, that while I was pottering around in Ági's workshop, in a basket that stored leftover bits of yarn, I found some purplish sockyarn (what else) I really, really liked. Yes, I am such a sucker for them. Anyhow, I asked her to gave it to me, with the promise that I will bring her some other sockyarn in exchange. Right, it isn't as I do not have more than enough of it here, I just really loved it. 

At the same time, whenever I dropped my shoes, and was running around at the gallery with only socks on my feet, I felt a slight desire? envy? in Ági's eyes. 

So, while I was digging around in my stash to look for that yarn I was goung to take back to her, an idea popped into my head. 

I am going to give the yarn back in a different form!

Actions floowed the thoughts...

Carried the sock for some tome with me, and knitted on it while driving, and while we were visiting around Xmas. ... 

I guess, N's family thinks I am strange / weird / crazy, but they got me like that. I can't just sit and do nothing, I need something to occupy my hands. Not because I bored or not feeling okay. They know by now, that they have to start to worry if I do NOT have some craft in my hand.

Knitting details: As usual, I did not overcomplicate stuff, just let the colors of the yarn work. Toe up socks, short row toes and heels from solid colors, 2x2 ribbing on the top, and Jenny's surprisingly strechy bind off. 

The yarns are some unidentified sockyarns from the depth of my stash. 

Crappy photoes from my phone-camera. Sorry. I gave it to its owner before we could make more artistic  (lol, lets just say with proper. or ven just "better" photos of them.)

Stripey cardigan

So I had my boots, my socks and mittens... and then I bumped into a dress, I loved the cut of (simple as it was), but they only had in in... you guessed, PINK again. I needed something to make it wearable in somewhat colder weather, so I decided a not to thick cardigan is in order.

I wanted something simple, and wearable for me.

And from what else, but sock-yarn. According to the current state of things, no way I am ever going to knit up my sock-yarn stash anyhow. 

What would work with the pink, gray, right. And so it happens, that gray works well with my silver hair too. 

Dug out some gray yarn, and some pink one, and acording to my Instagram I started knitting this in early July. No pattern, just some regular top down wrap cardigan, with a V neck, straight outta my head. No fuss. 

Of course, there are signature elements, like the long cuffs, and there was one requirement, it should fit with a slightly lagenlook-ish style. 

It was a mainly travel knit for me, as I knitted it mostly in N's car, while we were travelling around (yes, we did managed to put a few kilometers into his car, using the slight easing of virus over the summer). 

 I have knitted one sleeve on the way to Italy, the other one on the way back. In between I did not knit much, just sat in the car open mouthed and wide eyed, pointing out here and there "Do YOU see that???" "Look at THERE!!" and stuff like that. 

At the end, I had to put it away for many weeks (even months), because I misplaced the last couple of balls of yarns. I haunted the second hand shop, hoping that something similar would pop up, and just when I finally resigned to use something else and figure out how finish without them, they popped up. (Just because someone will ask: turned out I left them in one of the side pockets of a bag I used in Italy... however, all is well that ends well).

Yes, because someone will ask this too: there is some rather agressive increase at the sides, after the waistline. I wanted to play on the uneven lines of the lagenlook style, hence the slightly ownward arching waistline, 

And so you thought with this the ink flood ended.... WRONG. There is some more from where all these came, but first, I will show something else. 

Photoes: Norbert Varga

Yarn: Some noname sockyarn from my stash. The gray as well as the pink. 

Needles: 3 mm. 
 

Pink mitts

Back to the PINK stuff, okay?

I had a bit of yarn left over from the pink socks... so what to do with that? 

Mittens of course! I always need mittens in the winter, though I rarely use more than there... how you call them? Most probably would call them dingerless, but they do have fingers... so half fingered? Now that sounds ridicoulus (and right, I do not know how to spell that either LOL).

I divided the yarn what I had exactly and started with the fingers... and by doing that, I could mess with the fingers enough that the majority of the mittens got to be more or less simmetric... ehh, its a fiddly process, shall I write about that too? The pattern is based on the one I've written for the since dead yarnstore's site Barka, and that material dissapeared the in the wasteland of deleted Internet stuff... Maybe I should make another tutorial here, who knows. 

Anyhow, by now I had boots socks and mittens... What should be the next installment of my pink-ish wardrobe? 

Stay tuned to find out. 

Photos: Norbert Varga

Yarn: Noname "Sockenwolle"

Needles: 2.25 mm Knit Pro

My old love... RED.

 Whoever thought, based on my previous note that fronow on there will be only pink stuff posted wwas wrong. Very wrong.  I would not say goodby to my old love, RED either. 

I loved red ever since I was a small girl. I wore red so much, that a friend of my dad called me "Little Red" (much like the little red riding hood,  without the riding I guess). Now, turns out that red suits my silver hair even better than it did the red one. 

And ever since I started weaving, I wanted a red shawl. A real red one, not something "red-ish", but red warp and red weft. 

No wonder, I got really antsy, when I found out that Ági's new workshop there will be a loom with red warp. I have so many plans, I could move in there. 

However, I wanted to start with something simple. I had this hank of yarn dyed in shades of red left from the last day of wool, I knew I will not keep it for the next event, but I will weave something for me from it.

Also, I keep a box full of "strange yarns", or call them effect yarns. I have no idea why, because I do not use such things for knitting... hoewer, there was a small ball of silver thread, with thicker silver and black... parts. 

I really did not want to overcomplicate stuff. All I did is a simple 1x1 weave, and the silver thread thrown in at regular interwalls. 

As a yarn dyer and spinner I like simple weaves, ones that let the yarn take the center stage. 

Not only that, but I feel my life is complicated, and unorganised as it is, I need weaving to be simple and orderly. For now at least.

Just throwing the shuttle from left to right, and right to left gives me joy and satisfaction. 

And so is seeing the simple shawl in a simple surrounding. 

While weaving, I loved seeing, how the tiny differences in the colorshades played up. 

And how evenly did the thicker parts of the effect yarn placed themselves, with very little help from me. 

For once I managed not to overshot for the length. Usually I always make these shawls just a little too long, but I did kept this just the right length.

Not too long, not too short.

And more pictures, just because I can't get enough of them.

Photos: Norbert Varga

Yarn: Peony67 handdyed

Workshop: MintaMókus Szövöde