Happy knitting: Finished short row shawl

Tadah - it's finished! And believe it or not, I managed to knit it in just a little more than two days, because it was such a nice and comfortable work - and interesting to see how the colours in the variegated sock wool turned out while knitting those short rows!

I'm already thinking of knitting another one, same pattern but with a different colour scheme ..!

(German summary: Mein Schultertuch ist fertig! Ruckizucki ging das, weil das Muster so angenehm zum Stricken war - und jetzt liebäugele ich schon mit neuen Farbkombinationen ...!)

Happy knitting: Short row shawl

Yes, I'm knitting on a new project again - when I saw this gorgeous short row pattern by Veera Välimäki at Ravelry; I just couldn't resist!

It's a simple, still nifty pattern, teaching you the basics of the short row technique in an easily understandable way - and although there are hundreds of stitches on the needle by now, it does neither bore me nor give me the feeling of endlessness ...

With the beautiful, handpainted sock yarn from Susa and another couple of sunny hours outside in the garden, I think this shawl will be finished in no time!

(German summary: Jawohl, ich stricke schon wieder an einem neuen Projekt - ein geniales Sockenwolle-Tuch mit verkürzten Reihen! Hört sich kompliziert an, ist es aber wirklich nicht!)

Autumn flowers

Some autumn flowers for you for still hanging around, although I'm late again!



We have had - and occasionally still have - warm and sunny Indian summer days here in the south-east of Austria, the mornings and evenings can be chilly, though.

So I decided to crochet a flowery cape shawl, big colourful stars, using three different balls of 6-ply variegated sock yarn and a 6 mm hook, attaching the stars on the go.



I added a couple of rows for a 'neckband' and some flower buttons too, so it stays put while my hands are busy doing other things :-)!



(German summary: Diesmal habe ich einen Schalumhang gehäkelt, denn trotz der wunderbar sonnigen Spätsommertage sind die Abende doch schon ein bißchen kühl. 6-fädiges Sockengarn und eine dicke Häkelnadel (nr 6) - und mit ein paar Blumenknöpfen bleibt der Schal auch fest auf den Schultern!)

Hibernating in a pile of sockwool ...

Oh dear, this year seems to run even faster than the last one ... and although hibernating regarding my postings (and I'm sorry for that!), I haven't been idle at all, but quite industrious -

So where shall I begin?

Well, it started with me finding an on-line provider of high-quality and non-expensive sock wool ... and as you know I love making anything but socks with that interesting, variegated yarn, I was tempted enough to buy a couple of kilos ...

As I had bought packages of unspecified colours, it was an even bigger challenge to find suitable projects - pink/rosé isn't really what I use to wear, but in combination with that green ...



anyway, it turned out to become a vest, a very comfortable one, which I'm already wearing.

The pattern, which is actually a kind of 'granny square' with distinct 'holes' at the corners, not only shows the colour variegation well but also produces a diagonal pattern which I find quite attractive. I found it in 'Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders' by Judith Durant, where it's originally used for a shoulder bag.

Then I had some of that greenish 6-ply wool left - and together with some scraps of Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn from my stash, I decided to crochet a little neck bag, using Lucy's 'Granny Wheel' at Attic24.



My bag is about 14 x 13 cm, and I can use it both sides.

The next thing I want to show you is the second version of the 'Japanese Flower Shawl' - exactly the same pattern as in my previous posting, still very different-looking as I used a 4-ply sock wool with very long colour sequences this time (found at a local shop) and a smaller hook. I also deliberately made a colour change for each round to get a more distinct appearance.



Here you have another picture featuring the Noro shawl to the left, the sock wool shawl to the right, for comparison.



As you can see, I've become really hooked on crocheting with variegated sock yarn - both the 4-ply and the 6-ply yarns are very comfortable for that purpose, and choosing smaller and bigger hooks makes the work pieces sturdy or soft, whatever intended.

And of course I started more projects than these just presented ... but I will show them later on, when accomplished.

Finally just another triangle shawl which I've just finished - knitted with a multi-coloured yarn I spun myself - a dear friend of mine will receive it as a birthday present.



(German summary: Es tut mir leid, daß ich wieder einmal so lange gebraucht habe, um aus dem 'Blog-Winterschlaf' zu finden - gefaulenzt habe ich trotzdem nicht, sondern mich vor allem mit Sockenwolle und verschiedenen Häkelprojekten beschäftigt: eine Weste, eine kleine Häkeltasche und noch eine zweite Version des Blumenschals - ja, und ein gestricktes Tuch aus selbstgesponnener Wolle ist auch noch dabei.)

My Japanese flower shawl

I'm starting my new blog year right away with this Japanese flower shawl, which I have been crocheting during the holidays - the yarn is Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn, which I've been hiding in my stash in search for the very right pattern to use it for ... and as this happens to be a Japanese pattern as well, I thought it would be most suitable indeed for this project.

I first saw this gorgeous shawl at Lucy's great crochet blog 'Attic 24' - and when you read this posting of hers, I guess you will be just as thrilled as I was when reading about it ... When looking at her clear pictures, you might even feel able to pick up your hook and start crocheting right away!

(German summary: Diesen herrlichen japanischen Blumenschal habe ich jetzt während der Feiertage gehäkelt, die Idee fand ich bei Lucy, dort gibt es auch mehr Bilder und Hinweise zum Muster!)

A Millipede Moebius/Ein Tausendfüßler-Möbius

Spring is slowly coming, still the mornings and the evenings are cold enough here ... I felt I needed something warm and cheerful for my neck - and for my mind.

So I decided to crochet a colourful shawl - bright and sunny, almost a bit of a warming necklace - to chase away the last greyish shades of winter.



This turned out to be a fast and funny way to crochet a shawl - using a big No. 10 mm hook, a chunky rainbow coloured yarn which I found in my stash, working 150 crochet chain sts which I connected moebius-wise to a loop - then crocheting two rows of double crochet sts. Now the 50 g ball of this yarn was used up, and I continued with double sock yarn in similar colours, working a row of half double crochet sts all the way round my moebius.

For the last round, I crocheted 10 chain sts, turned, worked a single crochet st in the following 9 sts to produce a 'tail', 1 slip st to the base, 4 single crochet sts inbetween and then again 10 chain sts etc, continuing this way all around.

Very easy and fun to do - and if you don't have that kind of chunky yarn at home, you can easily replace it with two or three strands of sock yarn or other light weights.



(Looks a bit like a millipede, doesn't it :-)?

It's long enough to wear three or even four times around your neck, but of course you can let it hang loosely, like a double necklace, too.

(German summary: Da der Frühling nur sehr zögerlich voranschreitet, habe ich mir doch noch einen neuen, bunten Schal gehäkelt - als Möbius-Variante, mit einer sehr dicken Häkelnadel und dicker, bunter Wolle - wie eine wärmende Halskette!)

Happy Easter!/Frohe Ostern!/Glad påsk!

So this is the Moebius-scarf I told you about in my last posting - I just managed to get it ready in time for our Easter holiday trip to Sweden!

And I've also managed to get the Kauni lace shawl for my mother ready - here it is, all in earthy colours:



Much of the credit must be given to these wonderful yarns, which I found lately: the four bright coloured ones to the left and in the middle are Schoppel yarns ('Zauberball'), then you see a Japanese 'Noro' and to the right a Danish 'Kauni' wool. They are not so easy to find at the normal yarn shops, but there are of course several online-sellers.

They are all mostly or entirely wool and are wonderful to knit with!



I wish you all a very nice and happy Easter, with lots of eggs (and wool :-))!

(German version: So, jetzt habe ich meine Osterschals fertig - mit diesen dollen Knäueln aus Deutschland, Dänemark und Japan - und wünsche Euch allen ein schönes und frohes Osterfest - mit vielen Eiern und auch recht viel Wolle :-))

A Country Lace Shawl/Ein Bauernspitzenschal

Have you experienced this too: You're learning a new technique, practising and working a lot on it, until you reach a certain level of skill - and then there is no forthcoming anymore. Frustrating!

So you put it aside, you do something else, maybe for quite some time - and when you finally return to this earlier project, all of a sudden you discover that your skills have improved all by themselves while you were busy doing other things! Funny, isn't it?



Last year, I tought myself to card and spin and spent a lot of time with it - still, my yarn always turned out worsted, no matter what I tried to change in order to get it soft and delicate instead.

Anyway, at the end of November I stopped spinning, as there were a lot of Christmas preparations to do - I had decided to knit a whole bunch of scarves for Christmas presents for example - so last week was the first time I felt the urge to get back to my spinning wheel again.

I had an idea in mind to spin a very soft and gentle wool for a lace triangle scarf, or wrap - a warming and comforting something out of natural white Norwegian sheep wool and light-brown baby camel wool which I had carded together - using a very basic and plain lace pattern. A kind of rustic country lace shawl, simple and yet delicate.

And it worked! It is just as soft as I wanted it to be, thin but not too thin, some soft bumps and irregularities here and there for the natural look - and lovely to knit with! I'm not an expert, but I think the main difference is that I now tread more slowly and allow the yarn to go faster into the orifice than before, the whorl set to a medium speed.

I found the simple pattern I'd been looking for in 'Victorian Lace Today' by Jane Sowerby - a wonderful lace pattern book covering it all from the very simplest to the quite complicated ones and illustrated with beautiful photos:



The charts make it easy to find your way through the pattern:



I haven't decided on the final size yet, but I think I would like this shawl to be quite big - and I'm planning to work a special border around it afterwards, probably out of one of Nicky Epstein's gorgeous edge-and border knitting books, which I've discovered lately ... but this will deserve a posting for its own!

(German summary:

Ich habe nicht geahnt, daß man auch beim Spinnen Lernstufen/Lernplateaus haben kann - aber nachdem ich eine mehrmonatige Spinnpause gemacht habe, geht's jetzt sogar viel besser als vorher: statt dem üblichen festen, dicht verzwirbeltem Garn bekomme ich jetzt endlich diese luftig-leichte Wolle, die ich mir für meinen Bauernspitzenschal gewünscht habe ...! Und das Buch ist wirklich Klasse, mit leicht verständlichen Charts zum Nacharbeiten!)

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!)

Multicoloured shawl, knitted with variegated sock wool/ Bunter Schal, gestrickt mit Sockenwolle

My shawl is finished!

(Now I can face the chilly autumn evenings soon to come ...)



The squares in detail:



And a little glimpse :-) of my next project with the variegated sock wool - a crocheted version:



(German summary: So, mein bunter Schal aus Sockenwolle ist fertig! Und da mich diese Wolle fasziniert, habe ich gleich ein neues Projekt in Angriff genommen, diesmal gehäkelt ...)

Colourful sock wool/Bunte Sockenwolle

What do girls do when they want to have fun? Right! They go shopping!

(And they visit an Irish pub and watch movies, they spin and knit and talk a lot, exchange ideas, they try out new patterns and techniques ... all that sort of stuff, which we also did when I visited Sara last week!)

Anyway, we finally fell into the local yarn shop and I guess we almost emptied it - this time we were aiming for variegated sock wool -

this was my harvest:



The big advantage of using variegated sock wool is that you can knit or crochet in a patterned and colourful way without having to change the yarn all the time. But I find it very useful for plying with handspun yarns as well - or even to embroider with it, on wool!

Upon my arrival at Sara's, I laid my eyes on a beautiful multi-coloured shawl Sara had knitted for her daughter - and as I just had to have one like that too, I began knitting and still am ...



I made some variations in colour and pattern - hers was entirely done in garter stitch - but the credit of this model goes to Sara, of course!

Returning home, I also found a crocheted bracelet on Etsy, which I thought would look great with my variegated wool - you can buy the original from "Stjärnkraft" - and here is the version I made to wear myself:



Besides knitting on the coloured shawl, I'm also working on a little bag à la Hundertwasser, as the wool corresponds very well with his typical colour scheme ... Hope being able to show you the result before long!

(German summary: Ich war letzte Woche bei Sara und habe mich von ihrer Begeisterung für bunte Sockenwolle anstecken lassen: Der große Vorteil ist, daß sich die Farben und die Musterung von alleine ergeben, auch bei anderen Strickteilen als nur Socken! Und für ein locker gestricktes Stück kann man ruhig auch etwas dickere Nadeln als angegeben verwenden.)