Hurra ... tror jeg?

Yikes! I'm really not feeling very inspired to blog. There are a lot of things to fret about these days (mostly work-related), and very few of them are things that are appropriate for a lightweight public knitting blog. But here's a quick round up of the non-fret-inducing things going on.

1. I've had to discipline myself sternly not to wear the Obsessory scarf every single day since finishing it. It is my favorite knitted object ever (see picture in the previous post, where I look like a cat who just ate a mouse. I'm that thrilled with it).

2. I started a smaller version with two-row stripes. It doesn't look all that great, but I think I'll forge ahead with it and see if blocking helps, or if I end up liking the unclear striping after all:

I suppose it would have worked better to do four-row striping, but I wanted narrow stripes. There are some solutions (like doing an all-purl row on the second row), which I suppose I could experiment with if I weren't feeling the need to just stick with something absolutely idiot-proof. I really can't bear any frustrations or challenges beyond what's already going on in my life right now!

3. We had a lovely Constitution Day yesterday. E wore his bunad with great enthusiasm. Here are both of the males I live with, trudging in their new togs up to the school where the parade started:

Like father, like son, eh? Or is it just me who thinks they have the same build? At any rate, it was a really lovely day, with the parade, festivities at school, a long nap in the middle of the day, then a very mellow and fun party with our neighbors. They invite us every year, and since this is the fourth year we've been at their house we're getting to know their extended families and other friends pretty well too. Plus the food is great and the kids all have a great time with virtually no parental supervision. Yay on all counts!

4. My current form of escapism is massive contemplation of yarn purchases and potential projects on line. Thankfully I'm not actually buying all the yarn I've been ogling, because I do understand the mechanisms involved. It's not like buying a whole bunch of yarn or casting on for a whole bunch of half-baked and incredibly ambitious knitting projects is actually going to, you know, get me a permanent job or anything like that. But for now I look, so as to avoid thinking about other things.

I'm not quite sure exactly why I'm feeling so much more protective of my privacy right now. Part of it may just be the logistics coming from Blogspot; I need to change the settings of the blog for an upcoming migration to Google, and I'm trying to figure out if I should just exert slightly more effort and go ahead and migrate this blog over to Wordpress, which is where I keep my academic blog. I guess you can consider this a heads up regarding a potential migration by the end of this month. I'll let you know for sure once I've taken the time to figure it out.

Obsessory

I realized that I sould probably write up a draft of the striped stole I'm knitting, since I am so thrilled with how it's coming along. I'm calling it Obsessory, since it takes a special mind set to dive into such a big project with such fine yarn and needles. Here it is, with instructions for a narrower striped scarf too...

Inspired by both the French Nautical Shawl and the Noro Striped Scarf, this very easy pattern offers hours of knitting meditation. There are two sizes, one a scarf and one a stole. Both are knitted in knit one-purl one ribbing using lace weight yarn on fine needles. Merino, alpaca, cashmere, silk or linen yarns, as well as blends of these fibers, will all work well. You determine the width of the stripes.

Materials for scarf:
50 grams of lace weight yarn in color A
50 grams of lace weight yarn in color B
2.5 mm needles (circular or straight)

Materials for stole:
100 grams of lace weight yarn in color A
100 grams of lace weight yarn in color B
2.5 mm needles (circular or straight)

Size: 25(50) cm/10(20) inches by 150 cm/60 inches pre-blocking
Gauge: 42 stitches over 10 cm/4 inches in knit one-purl one ribbing unstretched

Instructions: 
Cast on 80(200) stitches using whichever method you prefer (I use the backward loop). 1st and every following row: *K1P1* repeat to end of row. Stripe pattern: For narrow stripes alternate color A and B after every two rows, carrying the unused color up the side. For wider stripes, alternate color A and B after every sixth row. Be sure to twist the unused color after every two rows as you carry it along to avoid loops along the side. It is a very good idea to spit splice our yarn if there are any breaks along the way. When you reach the desired length cast off using whicheve method you prefer.

Links: French Nautical Scarf from the Knit Café in Toronto: http://torontoknitcafe.wordpress.com/2011/05/21/stripes/
Noro Striped Scarf from Jared Flood/Brooklyn Tweed: http://brooklyntweed.blogspot.com/2007/04/noro-scarf.html

Black & Blue

Had to give this post an English title, since the Norwegian equivalent (mørkbanket) doesn't have the appropriate color associations. As you'll see from the pictures, there was a definite color trend today...

First off, I'm going great guns on the French Nautical Scarf:

I'm really excited about how it's turning out, and how I'll finally be able to get this yarn from 2008 out of my stash. Despite the small needles and fine yarn it's going pretty fast. Though I have to admit, that big ball of black yarn really doesn't look like it's getting any smaller.

One of the reasons I'm feeling wiped out today is actually a good thing; while KE was in Drammen today getting a new motor for our little yellow boat, E and I walked up to the local grade school to go to the flea market there in support of the marching band. We had fun looking around, and we were both really excited to find a (fake) bunad for E to wear on Constitution Day:

The set consists of the knickers and vest pictured here, plus a white cotton shirt with lace at the wrists and neck. The shirt is size 152 (way big for E, who is 135 cm tall) but the rest is size 140 and fits him surprisingly well. He'll need a pair of suspenders to keep the knickers up (lean kid that he is) and I'll need to get him some knee socks and black shoes (and maybe a silk scarf?), but this is a big step in the right direction! He was really pleased too, and definitely wanted it. This evening he said that a bunad is much cooler than a "president drakt" ("president outfit," his phrase for a suit) since a bunad is "more old fashioned." He especially liked the fake watch chain (not pictured here) that goes on the vest, though he thought it would be cooler on the pants (?!). I had to sew one button back into place and fix one of the hooks that the watch chain attaches too, and then I gave the set a good wash in the machine (the material is some kind of synthetic blend). So stinkin' cute!

Fredag

So I thought I should document the last little corner of organization that I have left to do. Given what I've been seeing on all those episodes of Hoarders that I've been watching, this is nothing:

Heck, it's even fairly organized, for being a junk pile. It's a combination of yarn, quilts, plastic bags, wall hangings, holiday decorations, photo albums, and other craft supplies. I can live with this until the perfect storage unit comes along.

Today I stopped by Hekla, the yarn shop near Bislett that I recently discovered, in order to pick up the yarn I ordered for KE's next sweater. I  thought it might be worth writing up a review of the place, since I don't think it's very well known. Here's its rather unassuming exterior:

The easiest way to get there is to take the number 17 or 18 tram and get off at the Dalsbergstien stop. I had fully intended to take a covert picture of the interior, since the last time I was there the owner was hidden away in the back. This time, however, she had company and was at the craft table in the middle of the store, so I didn't dare.

The store has the mild but distinct odor of cigarette smoke (thankfully the yarn I ordered doesn't smell). It's kind of dreary and overstuffed inside, with all kinds of notions, fabrics, and yarns on every surface flanking the narrow aisles. The yarn is of surprising good quality (based on appearances, I was expecting a lot more acrylics...) and the prices are okay. Over all, this isn't a place I would seek out, though it is conveniently located midway between my work and downtown. It's useful as a reliable supplier of the particular yarn I was after, and the owner was very helpful with special ordering. She had the color card and placed the order right away. The yarn ended up being quite a bit more expensive than what she had in the store (75 NOK instead of 50)--she thought they must have raised their prices at the supplier--so that was a disappointment. All in all, if you're a tourist looking for a charming LYS experience in Oslo, this wouldn't be my first recommendation.

The yarn I bought is 700 grams of Hifagarn 2 Ask in the color Gulbrun (yellow brown), which totally lives up to its name:

The color is actually quite a bit sharper than this in real life. KE was a little aghast when I brought it home, but I actually think it's going to look great on him, especially with blue jeans and his blue eyes. The project will have to wait for a while, as I'm still working on all my stripes--both the striped pullover for E and the laceweight striped stole for me.

This is the start of a four-day weekend. I'm hoping to do as little as possible (besides knitting). I'll try to finish reading a biography of Kjell Inge Røkke that I started today, and do a little reading for an article I'm working on, but other than that it's R&R for this little lady...

Alpakka

I seem to be deep into an alpaca phase. Last weekend I finished up the Lightweight pullover:

I've been wearing it almost nonstop since it finished blocking. It's a little tighter than I would have liked, but everyone says alpaca sags, so I knitted it tightly and am hoping that the yarn starts to relax with wear.

Since there was so much of the charcoal gray left, I started a sweater for E with the leftovers. It's the Gathering Stripes pullover from 100% Rain. Here's a WIP shot:

Even thought I'm knitting the size 10 (E is 7), I'm worried that it's going to be too small. I love the combination of charcoal gray and apple green, though.

I also finally figured out to do with all that laceweight alpaca yarn I bought when I first discovered the world of Ravelry back in the fall of 2008. After buying it, I quickly determined that I am not a fan of knitting lace. I can do it, but I don't really enjoy it and I don't really see myself wearing lace shawls. And the color I (rather inexplicably) bought, a rather intense medium blue, doesn't work on me at all in most cases. The yarn has languished for nearly four years, after having been tried out in a couple of projects that were rejected.

To my delight, I came across a pattern on Ravelry called the French Nautical Scarf (Ravelry link), which consists of endless rows of narrow stripes knitted in laceweight yarn on small needles. In other words, the perfect project for someone like me who likes mindless, but obsessive and endless knitting projects. The pattern calls for plain stockinette bordered with garter stitch, but I didn't love the look of that, so I decided to modify and knit the entire thing in 1x1 ribbing (the same principle as the Noro Stripe scarf). I found a skein of plain black alpaca/silk laceweight at Tjorven in Oslo for the contrasting color, and away I went:

This is one seriously addicting knitting project. E knew that I was ostensibly knitting a sweater for him, but he kept seeing me working on this and asking innocently how his sweater was coming along. Oops. I've managed to stash it away for the time being, and am saving it to work on when  I travel to Bergen next month. The sweater for E is fun too, just not quite as addictive as this scarf. It's going to be huge, fully 60 inches/150 cm long.

There's been a lot of ups and downs at work recently (I got a major rejection, but also got called in for a job interview), so I've been feeling very unsettled and unfocused. Yesterday I finally just threw in the towel and took a few hours off from research to go to IKEA to stock up on some things that will help me sort out my stuff. This house has almost no built in storage, and there just hasn't been anywhere to put things. We finally got wardrobes up for our clothes, but until yesterday mine was still missing a few shelves and doorknobs to open them with. Our huge laser printer was on the floor in my office/wardrobe gathering dust along with the piles of sweaters and the suitcase that didn't yet have spots in the wardrobe. Ugh. IKEA saved the day, and I found the perfect unit to store the printer, got my shelves and doorknobs, and am delighted with the improvements:

Obviously I'm still struggling with book and paper storage. I actually have enough bookshelf space in our spare bedroom, but much of that is filled with yarn at the moment. I've decided I need a separate unit for storing my yarn, and probably also a small bookcase for this room where I can temporarily store whatever books I'm using in my current project at any given time. I didn't want to just buy some random IKEA thing for the yarn though. I'm thinking it would be great to find some kind of antique cabinet with glass doors. I'd also like to get a better chair (this red one is literally falling apart), preferably something that I can paint green. Those things (especially the cabinet) may take some time to find, but at least now I have a plan, and a much more workable office space.

Ivrig!

I finally got a round "tuit" and have a picture of the Lightweight Pullover in progress just after splitting for the arms and rejoining for the body. Here's what it looks like:

It's not much to look at, but boy-oh-boy am I excited about the project! This has the potential to be the most wearable of sweaters. I love that the yarn is undyed. I love the fine gauge (24 stitches over 10 cm on 3 mm needles--pretty much my ideal!). I love that it will have a large (but not too large) unstructured cowl. I'm glad it's going to have a little waist shaping. I love that it's just round after round after round of plain stockinette. I know that drives a lot of people crazy, but for me it's what knitting is supposed to be.

I'm pretty sure that I'll have lots of the gray alpaca yarn left over, most likely enough for a sweater for E too. I'm thinking of making Gathering Stripes with apple green stripes to contrast with the charcoal gray. It looks like a really fun and easy project that I think E would get a lot of use out of. So there's yet another project I want to have finished now. This is getting silly! But for now I'm going to stick with the Lightweight pullover and see if I can't get it finished by the end of easter break...

Påskeferie!

We're on easter break now, and although the sun is shining like crazy the wind has picked up and it's quite cold outside. So, as a consequence we're trying to come up with fun indoor activities.

I finally unravelled most of the charcoal gray Garnstudio Drops Alpaca yarn that I've tried knitting up no fewer than three times now. I decided that the perfect project for it (really! I'm serious this time!) has just to be Hannah Fettig's Lightweight Pullover, so I bought (!) the pattern and have started in on it. I'm a ways into the raglan increases now, and it seems to be going fine. I had to go down to a size 3mm needle (the pattern calls for 4mm) to get gauge, but other than that I'm following the (very easy) pattern slavishly.

In other knitting news, Webs (www.yarn.com) is having its annual sale starting today. I had heard that the coveted Louet Euroflax linen yarn was going to be on sale, so I haunted the website until the sale prices were posted, and put in an order. I ordered five skeins of the fantastic Pewter color. The regular Webs price is $23.95 and it's now marked down to $16.79, which is a solid 30% discount if my math is right. I've been wanting to buy enough of this to knit a sweater for years but could never find that color on sale, so I'm thrilled! I'm thinking of doing a longish version of the Amiga cardigan from the Knitty website. I've seen a couple of linen ones on Ravelry that are much longer than the pattern calls for, and they look great.

I also really want to knit KE a sweater. He's been wearing the same three sweaters to work all year, and really needs something A) lighter weight and B) different. I forced him to scroll through a Ravelry search of mens' sweaters in appropriate yarn weights, and he almost immediately picked out a really handsome design. It turns out it's designed by Norwegian blogger Tora Frøseth, and I think the sweater is going to be perfect for KE. The pattern calls for the Norwegian yarn, Ask Hifa 2 ullgarn, and KE zeroed in on a really cool color from their website almost immediately. He wants the color "Gulbrun" (6093, a kind of mustardy brown). Personally, I think it's going to be gorgeous. It's always a huge project to knit something for him because the arms and body are so long, but on the positive side, as a tall, trim guy he always looks great in the end result.

So, needless to say, I'm whipping myself up into a regular knitting frenzy right now. I wonder if it's seasonal?