Joint venture: Cell phone cover

A little while ago, my friend Gabi was visiting me for the weekend - and while sitting out in the garden talking, we made a colourful cover for her new cell phone together.



First, she knitted a double overlapping strip in garter stitch, with some red crochet cotton and some variegated sock yarn, decreasing the number of stitches in the end - and then I showed her how to punch the knitting with the embellisher to densify the wool and make the cover stiffer.

At this point, we both saw the face of the snake taking form - Gabi embroidered the eyes, I punched the tongue and added a strip of punched glitzy neon fabric to the back, decorating it with a black zig-zag free-motion embroidery - she sew the cover together with the sockwool and added the glasses, which she made out of a piece of wire and some button hole stitches. Finally, we found a bit of red Velcro-tape in my stash and sew it on for closure.

It was ready in no time and we had quite some fun with this joint-venture!

(German summary: Ein kleines, buntes Handytascherl, daß meine Freundin Gabi und ich beim Plaudern im Garten eigentlich so nebenbei gemeinsam gemacht haben - witzig, oder?)

Blue mohair wrist warmers

When I stumbled upon this beautiful handpainted blue mohair roving at Etsy, I just couldn't resist it ... I had never spun mohair before, but it's so silky and long-fibered that it almost span itself into a very thin and shiny yarn.

To make the luxury complete, I plied it with a hand-dyed royal baby alpaca lace yarn (from Susa) and decided to knit myself a pair of super-soft - and very warm! - wrist warmers. Yes, I know, spring is here, but my wrists still do ache for a lot of warmth.

As this gorgeous yarn reminds me so much of water and of the sea, I crocheted a row of 'shells' with the thin alpaca as a side border. And what would be more suitable for decoration than a couple of those miniature shells, which Elizabeth/Landanna had collected on her Danish seashore and sent to me as a gift last Christmas?



I'm so happy with these, they warm up my wrists and my heart!

(German summary: Ich habe zum ersten mal wunderbar weiche, handgefärbte Mohairwolle versponnen und mir daraus sehr luxuriöse Handgelenkswärmer gestrickt. Als Krönung habe ich noch - mit Hilfe einer Drahtschlinge - einige der winzigen Muscheln draufgenäht, die mir meine Blogfreundin Elizabeth/Landanna zu Weihnachten geschickt hat.)

Blue batts and a 'denim' yarn

One of the best things about our blogworld is the mutual inspiration - how one idea leads to another, like in a relay ...

My dear blog friend Elizabeth/Landanna is working on a big jeans project, where she is unseaming piles of worn jeans and then handsewing them together for new shapes with a bright red thread. This combination of faded blue shades and the red stitches is really awesome, and I just adore the fresh and beautiful look of it.

Having had these pictures in mind, I've been pondering over how to integrate these colours in a project of my own.

And a few days ago I found what I've been searching for - the 'Shizuku' scarf pattern by Angela Tong (free Ravelry download). Shizuku means drops of water, I've learned, and so I think these shades of blue will be a perfect match.

(I admit I'm not really the only one loving this pattern - if you go visit Lavendelblau or MelinoLiesl f.e., you will see other beautiful versions of it.)



To create the feeling of worn jeans, I carded the different blues I had stashed - a little green and white too - together with some red sheep locks I've dyed myself.

I carded the wool quite roughly and only once, then spun the batts into an irregular and a bit bumpy worsted yarn. I decided to ply with a ball of the new Noro Sekku (yes, also stashed!), a very thin cotton/wool/nylon/silk blend, which emphazises the casual denim look quite well, I think.

(German summary: Seit einiger Zeit folge ich meiner Freundin Elizabeth's Jeansprojekt und überlege, wie ich die schöne Kombination ihrer blauen Jeanstöne mit leuchtendem Rot auf ein Strickprojekt übertragen kann. Das nette 'Shizuku'-Muster von Angela Tong gab mir dann den Anstoß zum Kardieren, Spinnen und Stricken ...)

Mongolian Warrior Pullover/Mongolischer Kriegerpullover

At last, at last - I've finally managed to finish that Mongolian Warrior Pullover, which I promised my daughter more than a year (shame, shame!) ago ...



When she saw the design in Nicki Epstein's book 'Knitting On Top of the World', she asked me to knit one for her too - but in black, with just a bit of olive green - and if possible, with detachable sleeves (which is of course not in the pattern), so that she can wear it both as a pullover and as a sleeveless vest/waistcoat.

As I had already knitted a red vest for myself using this pattern, I wasn't that eager to make another one (I hate knitting the same pattern twice!) - but nevertheless I bought some nice wool & bamboo yarn and started on it -



Well, now it's finished, at last! (And when I finally started, it didn't even take that long ...)

For the detachable sleeves, I crocheted a row of single crochet along the outer strips, working some short chains as 'buttonholes' on the shoulders - which you would hardly notice when the sleeves are off. The buttons themselves were spread onto the top of the sleeves.

The buttons on the hips are just for decoration - I thought it would look nice to repeat the brass buttons there, giving it a slightly 'military' touch - well, it is after all a warrior pullover, isn't it?

And - I've got a big parcel from Susa again - wonderful handdyed wool, to knit and to spin -

this one makes me think of an old fisherboat, lying on the shore:



- and the spinning wool (I've already begun spinning it!) - which Susa dyed upon my request, on Wensleydale sheep wool - will become a wonderful, soft 'deep lake in the forest'-sweater ...



(German summary: Endlich habe ich den 'Mongolischen Krieger'-Pullover fertig, den sich meine Tochter schon seit einem Jahr wünscht - wir haben ihn mit abknöpfbaren Ärmeln abgeändert. Und dann habe ich noch wieder wunderschöne, handgefärbte Strick- und Spinnwolle von Susa bekommen - und natürlich schon angefangen zu spinnen ...)

Spinning a rainbow/Regenbogen spinnen

I'm spinning again - enjoing the very, very last late summer days with the spinnig wheel outside in the garden - spinning more of that beautiful handdyed wool from Susa (earlier posting here).



It's funny how different a yarn can turn out, depending on the plying thread used. For the rainbow roving, I first used a thin matching thread for plying - and wasn't convinced at all:



So I searched my stash and found a ball of lace yarn (Schoppel Crazy Ball) and plied my rainbow Masham wool once more with that (ah yes, I mixed in some dark blue wool at an end too) - and suddenly, I could really see the rainbow coming through!

Due to the different colour sequences in the plying yarn, there were exciting new colour combinations - made me think of the Hundertwasser colour scheme here and there -



The next is a very light-coloured Cheviot roving, which I'm planning to use for a plain Victorian lace shawl - I'm plying it with a vintage rosé silk thread (one more of those rayon silk threads dated 1936 which I found in my mother's cellar a couple of years ago!) It will be a gift for a friend of mine.



And for the last one, a Falkland wool - the colours are deeper and more 'cloudy' in real! - I've spun it in a soft thick & thin manner, plying it with two skinny wool threads.

I'm not sure what to knit out of this yet - it's very fluffy and delicate, so it would be quite suitable for some kind of shoulder shawl too - and even if I already have some, I still adore those kind of wraps now that the nights are getting colder ...



Of course, I'm not a spinning artist like Jana, who I admire very much indeed - but at least I'm beginning to feel that I'm getting closer to controlling the spinning wheel (and not vice versa :-) - and that I can at least roughly make it produce the yarn I'm aiming at. I'm so glad I bought that wheel and just kept on trying until it worked out!

(German summary: Ich spinne wieder - wunderbar gefärbte Wolle von Susa - und freue mich, daß ich damals das Spinnrad gekauft und einfach so lange herumprobiert habe, bis ich annehmbar spinnen konnte - es ist so eine Freude!)

Have a nice summer holiday!/Schöne Ferien!

Did you know that a yarn can almost make you feel the sea shore nearby? Well, I think these yarns do:



When wandering through the net, I discovered Susa's shop and her beautiful handdyed yarns - this is a 30/70 silk/wool blend ... as you can see, I just couldn't resist ...

I have started knitting already, but as I'm still experimenting with it, you'll have to wait a little bit yet.

School's out and the kids are at home, my mother is here to visit - so I'm a bit busy right now - but I will be back in a while :-).

Enjoy your summer too!

A queer deer/Verfilztes Reh

And: having fun is surely the most important condition above all! Allowing yourself to be playful, curious, experimenting - without intention of achieving anything - helps a lot. I know, not every day gives birth to this kind of mood - but if you feel it coming, give it a chance to prosper.

At first, I just wanted to try punching bits of novelty yarns onto the fabric - and as I saw these awkward colours filling up the cloth, I realized it would never end up looking very natural anyway.

It looked queer, somehow - and when the rhyme struck me, it was obvious that this deer needed a pair - no, two pairs, of course - of red high-heels as well ... and some lipstick ...

I positioned the lengths of yarn and the wool with a hand felting needle, then punched it once more with the embellisher. The material for the antlers is glossy, hand-dyed thread.

(German summary: Und was am allerwichtigsten ist, ist die Freude - daß man einfach Spaß hat, an dem, was man macht! Daß man sich traut, zu spielen, herumzuexperimentieren, auszuprobieren - ohne unbedingt ein Ergebnis als Ziel vor Augen zu haben ... Hier habe ich verschiedene Effektgarne erst mit der Filznadel befestigt, dann mit dem Embellisher gepuncht.)

It's foggy, deer!/Hirsch im Nebel

Having a bit of time is another item needed for attracting the flow of creativity.

As time constantly seems to be scarce, I'm stealing it from household/garden chores in the mornings, when the kids have left for school. And sometimes a bit in the evenings too - if at least one kid happens to go to bed before I do ...

But then, again - sometimes I manage to get a glimpse of new ideas in my mind, while my hands are busy doing everyday duties ... nowadays, however, I have to get hold on a piece of paper and jot down at least a few lines, to ensure I'll remember it later on ...

This deer has a soft surface - almost like fur. It's pencil roving and carded wool which I punched onto the cloth with my embellisher.

(German summary: Ein bißchen Zeit braucht man einfach auch, für die neuen Ideen - ich stehle sie mir frühmorgens, wenn die Kinder außer Haus sind, manchmal auch abends. Und manchmal kommen die Ideen auch so, während die Hände mit irgendeiner anderen Arbeit beschäftigt sind,

Dieser Hirsch ist streichelweich, aus kardierter Wolle im Strang, trockengefilzt mit dem Embellisher direkt auf dem Stoff.)

Oh deer! Fabric Wildlife/Rotwild im Musterwald

A friend sent me some scraps of a cotton fabric, which had the outlines of different deers printed on it.

And like in a drawing book, these outlines just asked to be filled in with colour ...

I chose strands of cotton threads and some light weight fabrics from my stash palette - the pictures show work in progress, of course.





Furthermore, these gorgeous linen-blended wool strands are hand-dyed by Dornröschen and now waiting for me in a basket beneath my spinning wheel ...



And - I've bought myself a new pair of shoes ... running gear, almost like walking barefoot!



(German summary: Die Konturen dieses Stoffes haben richtiggehend nach Farbe und Inhalt gerufen - ich verwende Moulinégarn und dünne Stoffreste dazu. - Spinnfutter von Dornröschen - diesmal eine neue Mischung, mit Leinen! Und dann habe ich mir noch ein paar neue Schuhe gekauft ... fast wie barfuß laufen!)

The treasure of colour/Mein Farbenschatz!

Finally I'm done with the dyeing and rinsing, and most of the yarns and rovings are dry by now - it was quite a bit of work, and now I'm happy being able to sit down in the shadow, enjoying this huge colour treasure, making plans for all new projects I have in mind ...

This is mainly Tussah-silk and bamboo - it's funny how the fibers stick together due to the dyeing process and look dull, like paper - and then again recover and regain their shiny look when being slightly pulled and drafted ...



I love this one! I spun and plied the wool into a soft thick+thin yarn before dyeing, and although it was one of the first tries I had, the autumn colours are just what I was looking for ... I'm only sorry I don't have more of this!



These are some of the cotton threads I dyed for embroidering with - maybe brighter colours would come better for the picture - but believe me, these somewhat faded and blurred colours are just wonderful when you work with them!



Wool-with-silk rovings, providing spinning material for the long winter nights to come ;-) ...



... more spinning material - this is New Zealand-wool (yes, the colours spots are made purposely!):



- and sheep locks, of course! (The colours turned out very bright, but I will soften them down when carding and spinning ...)



And finally, some of the silk yarns - I do look forward to knitting with these!



(German summary: Ich glaube, die Bilder sprechen für sich selbst - Garne, Fäden, Spinnfutter - alles, was mein Herz begehrt - und der Lohn für die Färbemühe!)

First harvest/Die erste Ernte

Look, our first harvest!

These are some of the woolen yarns I dyed with the Ashford dyes - I was surprised that even the mohair wool survived the tough heat in the microwave ...



... some rainbow colours ...



... some more yarns and bright wool rovings for spinning ...



... and when I went out into the garden in the morning, two butterflies had come along to inspect what they must have thought to be flowers!



Our working conditions are hard at the moment - it's so excessively hot even in the shadow - and in the evenings there are so many mosquitos that we just have to quit our work outdoors within minutes! And this afternoon we had a heavy rain with flash and thunder going down on us ...

I do hope that we'll manage to continue with the cotton dyeing tomorrow - that'll be the embroidery threads and some mesh fabric.

(German summary: So, ein paar Bilder der ersten Ernte von unserem Färbevorhaben! Es ist nur so irre heiß, und heute Nachmittag wurden wir von heftigem Regen und Wärmegewittern unterbrochen. Ich hoffe sehr, daß wir morgen die Baumwollfärberei mit den Reaktivfarben schaffen können ...)

It's been a hard day's night .../Uff!

It's been a hard day - real tough, actually.

It's one o'clock in the morning, I'm exhausted - and we only did the wool part and the Ashford dyes today ...

All I can say is that now I'm really impressed by those people who do this kind of dyeing regularly and even sell their wool ... the price isn't exaggerated at all!

Sara 'died' into bed at 10-ish and didn't even want any dinner - I've been doing some more rinsing and tidying up - but the mosquitos almost ate me for supper and I'm happy to crawl into bed now too - hopefully there will be some beautiful results tomorrow!

(German summary: Meine Hochachtung für alle, die das Färben regelmäßig und professionell betreiben ... ich bin fixfoxfertig, und dabei haben wir 'nur' den Woll- und Ashford-anteil bis jetzt gemacht ...!)

D-day for dyeing!/Morgen geht's ans Färben!

Tomorrow is D-day! D for 'dyeing', of course!

Sara is here, and we're busy making preparations for our first dyeing session together. We are both excited and a little nervous, as we have tons of wool and cotton and silk and ramie, as yarn, roving, fabric, threads and locks ...



We'll be dyeing both with Ashford and Procion colours, partly with a microwave - and it is my first experience ever.

Hoping for the weather to be stable - the amounts of colour, vinegar, salt, jars, plastic foil, buckets, beer (oops!) etc being sufficient - our energy and nerves to be on top - we will finally face this challenge!



(German summary: Morgen ist es soweit - nach langem Abwarten und einigen Vorbereitungen werden wir jetzt endlich färben - wir haben Tonnen von Wolle als Garn, Fasern, Fäden und Locken und sind schon etwas nervös, ob wir das alles auch schaffen werden ...)

Spinning and knitting hand-dyed silk and wool/Handgefärbte Seide und Wolle spinnen und stricken

I have a new passion.
I've put all other projects aside for spinning the hand-dyed silk & wool rovings from Dornröschen.



I found the link to Christine/Dornröschen and her hand-dyed rovings and yarns on Jana's wonderful blog - 'Anaj's kreatives Tagebuch'. Jana is a most talented master spinner, dyer and felter, and her beautiful artyarns seduced me to trying out this hand-dyed silk wool as well.

Feeling the soft silk running through my fingers while spinning, plying and knitting makes me happy. The colours come out so rich in the spun yarn, shining warm and precious when hit by the light.

I've started knitting two shoulder shawls, one in green and purple, which remind me of crocus, lilacs, hyacinths, asparagus, bulbs and sprouts ...



... the other one in oriental reds, resembling herbs and spices in an exotic bazaar - or maybe the red, ripe fruits and berries in the midst of the summer heat:



The classic feather & fan pattern which I've used looks intricate but is yet quite simple, one row changing between 6 times k2tog and 6 yok1, one row knitted, one row purled inbetween. You can find the complete pattern in "Beautiful Knits" by Alison Dupernex, which holds several easy patterns.



Though this yarn was a new purchase - which I just couldn't resist - I've promised myself not to start another project without incorporating recycling or stash material. Even for this 'precious' silk I was glad to use the - almost antique! - rayon silk thread bobbins for plying, which I found in my mother's cellar about a year ago.

And I'm sure my stash will provide some beads and maybe some of that Indian recycled Sari silk for the finishing as well ...

Speaking about other projects - look what I received from Elizabeth at Landanna last week: driftwood!



This lucky girl lives on an island in Denmark with the beach nearby, thus being able to collect wonderful driftwood on her daily walk ... At the moment, she is taking us on a virtual walk with her in her blog.

And this is what Carolyn is doing with her beach finds - so beautiful! - another lucky girl, living close to the sea ...

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!)

Rhapsody in Blue - Whatiffing 121-126

These blue samples mainly consist of wool and yarn, some of them punched to a base like silk fabric or organza:

121 - wool punched on printed silk fabric

122 - wool and yarn punched on organza

123 - wool fibers

124 - wool and yarn punched on an organza ribbon

125 - wool on organza

126 - yarn and wool

And then I just have to show you this:

Spring is on its way - at last ...!