Knitting blue-green diamonds/Gestrickter blauer Diamant

So, I've done a bit more on the blue-green diamonds - it's quite fun to do, and it's a colour combination I don't use very often!



As I have just seen Sara's 'Dragon Shawl' ready, I guess I should post the 'African Impressions' shawl as well! I consider working a fringe - maybe braided - at the short ends ...

(Unfortunately, I'm not so good at taking photos and working with the photoshop program - that's why this shawls looks a bit like a table runner ;-) ... but I guess you'll get the idea!)



(German summary: So, noch ein Stück von dem 'Blauen Diamanten' ist gestrickt, es wächst einfach von selber - und der Schal ist auch fertig, bis auf eventuelle Fransen!)

A chopstick experiment/Ein Experiment mit Eßstäbchen

I've always been convinced that it should be possible to knit with chopsticks - and today I tried it out. I got hold on a pair of those take-away chopsticks, sharpened them with a pencil sharpener and smoothed them with a fine grained sand paper.

When I measured them, I found out that they are about No. 5 needles and that they are light and comfortable to knit with.

And what's more: for this project, they are perfect for using with the normal, thin sock wool!



I'm knitting diagonal squares in garter stitch, which gives the piece a classic patchwork look and makes a very light and elastic knitting, well suitable for a scarf or an indoor poncho - or maybe even a pullover, if I'm patient enough ...



The variegated colours in green and blue form the pattern of light and shadow all by themselves.

This knitting bears many possibilities, and I'm still trying to work out how to use it the best way.



(German summary: Heute habe ich ein paar Eßstäbchen zu Stricknadeln umfunktioniert - mit dem Bleistiftspitzer gespitzt und dann geschmirgelt - sie entsprechen Nr. 5-Nadeln und liegen leicht und gut in der Hand! Ich stricke diagonale Quadrate in Blau- und Grüntönen mit der Sockenwolle und überlege noch, was man alles damit anstellen könnte ...)

African Impression shawl - knitting short rows/Schal mit verkürzten Reihen

There is a German saying something like 'that what your heart is filled with is what you keep talking about' - and I guess not only my heart but also my basket is now filled with so much colourful sock wool, that I just cannot help going on with it just a little bit longer ...

(I even found a few new ones while visiting a nearby village the day before yesterday ... sigh!)

While trying out one of the new balls and searching my mind for a solution on how to get straight coloured areas without having to cut up the wool into small units, I suddenly got the idea of using short rows (this means that you're knitting only over a part of the stitches for a couple of rows, before joining up knitting over all stitches again) - eureka!

The colours on this yarn remind me of Africa ... just the right colour scheme to brighten up a dull European fall and winter!



(German summary: Ich kann diese Sockenwolle doch noch nicht ganz lassen - bei diesem Schal habe ich verkürzte Reihen gestrickt, damit der Farbwechsel größere, einheitliche Farbflächen ergibt.)

Puzzled knitting/Rätselhaftes Stricken

I guess I'm a bit crazy to be inspired by a book which hasn't been published yet - but when I saw the front page presented in a Swedish magazine ("Hemslöjden"), it looked so startling and interesting that I just had to try out an own version of that 'puzzled knitting' ...

Do I need to say that I used some of that variegated sock wool ... ?



Below is the front page of the new Swedish knitting book "Stickning. Ett hantverk att utveckla" by Britt-Marie Christoffersson, which will be available on September 24.



(Both pictures above are from www.svenskslojd.se, photographer: Thomas Harrysson)

(German summary: Ich hab' mich von einem noch nicht erschienenen Buch inspirieren lassen ... aber die Vorderseite war schon so vielversprechend, daß ich etwas Eigenes in dem Stil einfach ausprobieren mußte!)

Sock wool disguised buttons/Sockenwollknöpfe

I'm afraid you are starting to ask yourself if I've been bought by the sock wool industry for product placement (no, unfortunately not!) - so I guess I should stop this series soon.

I just wanted to show you a few more ways to use that colourful, variegated yarn besides knitting socks out of it - plying it with handspun wool, for example:



Or crocheting squares without changing the yarn:



Or disguising - i.e. recycling - ugly buttons (the ones in the middle and upper right):



The first two to the left are actually crocheted and then woven over O-rings - this was tought to me by Sara - and the last three ones I covered with a piece of wool, which I first punched on the embellisher. The flower in the right corner is not a button, of course - just another experiment!

And so - I started with the last two scarves for a while (although you can get addicted to it!) - one in my daughter's favourite colours, one for a friend.



(German summary: Noch ein paar Sockenwolle-Ideen, bevor ich dann mit dem Thema aufhöre: handgesponnene bunte Wolle, verzwirnt mit Sockenwolle; gehäkelte Quadrate ohne Garnwechsel und schließlich umhäkelte und umfilzte Knöpfe, teils auch Dichtungsringe. Und die derweil letzten zwei Schals sind auch angefangen - da könnte man richtig süchtig werden!)