Inbetween FO's - Calculations-low

Goodness - I KNEW I shouldnt have done that! I started calculating - and the results are demotivating at best..
Ok - I timed how long it took me to knit 1 cm on the fingering weight yarn babyjacket that I am working on. It took me 20 minutes. Then I started calculating. I already knit 18 cms of it - meaning so far it has taken me around 6 hours at the very least - not counting the time it took me to knit the first 10 cm sample - then realise my gauge was off - then frogging the lot and starting over. Then casting on the sleeve - then realising I cast on the wrong number of sts and frogging again and casting on again. - But well - all that is behind me. The scary path is the one in front of me.
I still have roughly 90 cms left to knit (it is knit from front to sleeve - then over the back - the other sleeve and then to the other front) - meaning I have around 30 hours of knitting still left to do on that jacket. - And that is concentrated knitting - that is not halfhearted knitting while watching telly or chit-chatting or whatever..
So if I knit one hour a day - just on that project - it will take me a month to finish. If I knit - concentrated knitting - 3 hours a day on that project - then it will still take me 10 days - to finish..
Oh and for the curious - then I also calculated that each centimeter consists of around 500 stitches. That means I already knit around 9000 stitches. I still have around 45000 stitches left to knit - and the entire jacket will consist of approximately 54000 stitches..
Can I get dizzy now?

The Alpaca babyrib (the 2nd) is done!

So I admit that fingerprotector was pretty silly.. Sorry about that..
Now I finally have something real to show. I finished the ribbed alpaca babytop. It took me around a week altogether. Here it is - two different pics. Mostly because my son is so darned cute that he deserves an extra pic - but also because the first pic shows the color best, while the second shows the entire top without cutting off the buttom:


And then - well I cant give you the pattern or even a link to it as it is copyrightprotected and not available in English. (well hardly even available online.. sigh..) - but I can give you a detailed pic of the sleeve detail - as well as mention that it is knit flat from the top down until after the sleeve stitches are bound off, then the front and back are knit separate until after the raglan increases - then the rest is knit in the round.

Oh - and the yarn - gotta talk about the yarn. It is Drops Alpaca in color 7323 (it looks blue in that last pic but the first picture shows the color better - it is actually a blend of light and darker dusty green fibres. Lovely wool - available in some really sweet colors. They also have a huge number of patterns available for this wool on their website www.garnstudio.com - free even :D

New "unvention" - a balloon fingerprotector

Yeah - I know - this is silly. But my index got so sore from touching the tip of the needle and from moving and holding the yarn all the time. I tried a piece of band-aid but it kept sticking to the yarn and eventually when i took it off my fingers were filled with yucky sticky stuff that I couldnt wash off. So here it is - the amazing BALLOON FINGERPROTECTOR!
Well actually it is just the tip of a "long" balloon that I cut off - but it works :) Hehe - I wonder if the stash game awards bonuspoints for silly ideas.. Now that I cant seem to knit fast enough to keep up with everyone else..

The stashgame has started - and some thoughts about patterns..

Most of my planned stashgame projects are on the needles and I would like to finish at least some of them before I cast on new stuff.
I am working mainly on two projects right now - a ribbed alpaca babytop and a babyjacket in OPAL. I think a couple of pics are appropriate. Here is my alpaca babytop - using the Baby i Rib pattern from Designclub.dk -a very weird name as they dont even have a website- their patterns are practically impossible to come by. They are only sold by a few shops - and even fewer webshops. And only in a paper version - and only if you buy yarn at the same time - and only in Danish.. Sigh - some people just dont want to make money. No wonder some people feel tempted to violate the copyright law and ask a friend for a copy. Not saying it is a good thing to do - only saying it is very tempting when it takes so much effort and so much money to get hold of the original pattern.. -
Oh - sorry about that.. I was going to show the top I am working on.. here it is:

The second thing I am working on at the moment is a babyjacket from a Drops pattern available (free) here: Drops Babyjacket
Here it is:


As you see I have only knit a few centimeters yet - so still a looong way to go - especially considering it is knit on needles 2,5 mm. - Dont know why but recently I find that I really like working on these small needles. I hate the extra time it takes, but I love the feel of the small needles and the non-bulky look and feel.. Also for babythings it seems more appropriate to use the thinner yarn. Enough - the baby is asleep so I better grab some needles..

Entering stash game - and AN FO!!!

Can you even believe it - I made an FO! I am mighty proud of myself.. I used the recently homedyed yarn to knit my son a pair of Wondershorts to go on top of his cloth diapers. I admit that I had some problems getting the diamondshaped crotch to look even, but I really like the 3-dimensional way it is shaped. Apart from that an easy knit. I plan to make my daughter some too and my oldest son liked them so much that he wants some now too.. We'll see when I ever get around to it..
Anyway - here they are - the finished and homedyed Wondershorties. They are quite big on my baby but he will grow to fit..

My sons - the youngest wearing his new Wondershorties/capris

And then there is the stash game. I entered a game where I am supposed to use up as much as possible from my yarn stash within the next 6 weeks - starting tomorrow. So come and cheer - I really need to finish up some of those UFOs..

Dyed yarn for shorties

Still no FO's. We've been so busy lately I hardly get around to do any knitting. The SKB is progressing though. I am past the waist lace detail and will soon start the sleeves..


To start a completely different project then I dyed some yarn to make Sejer some shorties today. I dont know the first thing about dyeing yarn so it was all pretty random, but I think I like how it came out..

YAY - I finally started my SKB!

Yes I finally started my Simple Knitted Bodice by Stephanie Japel - and it is even going pretty well I dare say..
It is even possible to see that I dyed the yarn to give it a slightly variegated look. It is brown BFL - aran weight. The pattern calls for silk at gauge 5 sts to the inch. Turned out when I started knitting (yes - I did swatch to match gauge, but appearently my swatch was tighter than my actual knitting..) that I knit at 4 sts to the inch.. hrmf..

So - I had to do a whole lot of calculations, but it turns out that if I knit the size small instead of the size large I had planned, then I should meet the same measurements. So I started knitting and it seems to be going fine. I dyed the yarn using salmon jacquards acid dye to get the variegated effect, and I am pretty happy with the result so far.
I tried it on last night see:
Now dont ask me what happened to the Tomten.
It is on the shelf for now. It bugs me big time - especially since I ran out of the organic yarn and appearently dont even have enough of the Sandness yarn either, so for now it is on hold. Such a shame as my daughter really could use a spring sweater..

Stuck again

Once again I am stuck. The Tomten is coming along SO slowly now. I have finished the hood and the body - only the sleeves left, but it looks like I will be out of yarn before I get that far. I will have to get some more - luckily it is possible as I bought the yarn for this project in my LYS.
The shawl is just waiting for me to knit on it - easy peasy, but I would rather finish other stuff as I am in no rush with that one.
I cast on a pullover for my newborn, but once again I did something wrong with the sizing :( I think I made the raglan-increase-part too long, so now it is way too big. I will also be out of yarn for that one so I will have to add some Alpaca-merino as I cant get anymore of the particular handdyed BFL that I used for the yoke :(. I may frog..
I have cast on a swatch for the Simple Knitted Bodice that I am planning. I cant match the smaller gauge so will need to do some serious decreasing around the waist. Have cast on a swatch for the chevron lace so I can do the calculations for waist-decreases right.
Boring boring. I wish I had some FO's to show, but that may take a while yet..

Pics of stuff in progress

Ok - this is just to prove that I am actually knitting stuff even if I am not finishing much these days.. sigh.

Anyway - here are my two current projects. A Tomten jacket that was supposed to keep my youngest one warm this spring - but oh my - it is twice his size.. I guess it will be a fall jacket instead then.. I tried to adjust the sizing while still making it a bit too big so it would fit longer.. Well I guess it will be a LOT too big. The yarn is organic wool from Oehlenshläger. It still has pieces of hay stuck in it and it smells wonderfully sheep-ish.. if there even is such a word.. It is the same wool I used for DPs scarf (scroll down to see). It seems to be a very durable wool - would be great for an outdoor sweater of sorts.. (maybe a future projec??.) Anyway I love this wool :D I have combined it with stripes of "Fritidsgarn" from Sandnes in a variegated green and earth-brown colorway. Unfortunately none of the colors show very well here..

My other project in progress is a shawl with sleeves (or without - havent decided yet) by Jytte Slente from the book "Designstrik". It is a very very simple project so I tend to bring it on carrides and such because it is just plain knitting and knitting.. Hardly any consulting patterns and such. Very simple. The wool is HP Multi Mohair in the Burnt Orange colorway. It is a 9 % wool, 13 % polyamide and 78 % mohair yarn. Very fluffy and soft :)

Ribbed longies and stuff in progress..

Havent been knitting much in the past month, but about time I update.

I have finished one project since Sejer was born - a pair of ribbed longies.
Here he is wearing them - again they are knit in BFL from Natural Dye Studio - a favourite yarn! The top is the "Ugly Alpaca-rib" - it may be ugly but he has been wearing it ever since he was born so it was worth the bother! It is wonderfully soft and it keeps him nice and warm :D I am really happy with it - it wont be my last thing made from 100% alpaca!

Other projects I am currently working on is a shawl with sleeves made from lovely soft mohair. I was out of yarn, but finally found some leftover stock in a webshop - so I bought a bunch and should have enough to finish it. There is still LOTS of knitting left in that one though so wont be done anytime soon..

I also got myself a couple of Elizabeth Zimmermann books and am working on a Tomten jacket in lovely thick organic wool! It will be a really durable and warm jacket once done. Still need to do the upper front and sleeves though. Pics to come.