#9, #10, #11 & #12 / 2015... oh my! Sweater bonanza

Last time I updated was almost exactly a month ago, and while the blog has been silent, the knitting needles have click-clacked! Right now, if I am not at university,  I am knitting. In four weeks and one day I am handing in my master's thesis... so I need knitting more than ever, to zone out in the evenings.

Since I last updated, I first finished the Fana sweater for my mum.




I finished this April 11, not too long after the Easter holidays. The body was knitted at great speed! It is a little wide, but I hope it will be okay for my mother. I will see her in three weeks, so I will give her her cardigan then... I used 15 skeins (I think), 9 of the brown and 6 of the white. Yarn is Peer Gynt from Sandnes, a yarn I really enjoyed knitting with!

The next one I finished the day after, April 12. Wow, I was on fire! I didn't have much left, though. This had been on the needles for a long time, and it is the Winter Song test knit. The pattern is now released! I still haven't taken decent pictures of this sweater because I have yet to add buttons. Bad Me.




My favourite part of the sweater is all the lovely, intricate cables which pop on the back:




I still kind of think the colour is a bit too murky for my liking, but it is a colour that suits me. It will probably see more wear in the autumn! I used 3.1 skeins of Hillesvåg Ask for this sweater, that is appproximately 1000 meters.

The next one is the classic Bøvertun from Kofteboken. There are several versions of this; two with a round yoke, and this with the set-in sleeves. I opted for the classic version for this yarn, Rauma 3 ply, a dk weight yarn. I had to adapt the pattern to suit my gauge of 22 sts/10 cm, so I made an even smaller size.

 In the end I cast on 254 stitches for the bottom ribbing, in total 18 of these were set aside for button bands (9 on each band). After the ribbing I decreased from 236 stitches to 225 stitches. The square pattern is divisible by 10(+5), the flowers by 16(+1) and the rest by 4 or so. I only had to adjust number of stitches for one of the patterns, so I didn't have to think too much.

I ended up with about a 102 cm bust size, which fits me well and gives me over 10 cm of ease.

The yarn softened up greatly with washing. I have  been brave lately and washed all my knitted garments, superwash or no, on the wool cycle in the washing machine, with great results!




I was also brave and cut the front steek which was not reinforced - only by the wool's grabby nature. I like it!

In total I used 8 skeins of purple, and 5 skeins of white.




Can you see the mistake I made?

And last but not least, my most recently finished sweater that was actually finished yesterday! This is my 7th sweater this year, so it looks like I might make the 15 mark after all...




This is from the book Vintagestrikk (Vintage Knits) and is called "Med åpne diagonale masker" ("With open, diagonal stitches"). For my birthday I went on a yarn spree, and I decided to try a new yarn, Shetland Soft from Malsen og Mor. This is a light wool yarn with extremely good meterage, and it can be knit at a gauge of 24 sts/10 cm. With 280 meters per 50 grams, this makes for light and airy sweaters, and as a frugal knitter, I do like it! It fluffed up wonderfully when washed, and if the gauge seemed loose the washing plumped the yarn up.




This sweater is very short, but I used less than 200 grams of yarn.

I also quite like the pattern, it was a very quick knit and it just looks so cute. I have plans to knit another one, a longer version, which can be worn with jeans. But this cream version will look great with high waisted skirts and shorts.




And that is all I have to say for myself!

Hopefully I will be better at updating now, so I won't have to do everything at once... whew!

WIP Wednesday: Sleeves

Wow... it is Wednesday, and I am actually writing a WIP Wednesday post! Thank you, Easter.

Not too long ago, after having knitted almost two sweaters with no stranded patterns, I could feel the longing to knit a Norwegian kofte again. I could not stay away from them very long, apparently. I reminded myself that I still had a sweater to knit for my mother, whose last gifted sweater turned out too small. (I have later realised that my gauge is NOT the same as in the magazines... oops.)

The sweater she wanted, both this time and last time, is the ever-popular fanakofte. I am not unfamiliar with it...




My first one, started in 2007 and finished in... 2010. Knitted in Really Thin yarn, though.




My second one, started in 2010 and finished in... 2010! Knit in alpaca. Ugh, never again...




Third one and fourth one. The third one was the failed sweater for my mother, which now is with my sister in law. Fourth one for my dear niece. I knit them in 2013 and 2014.

I guess there is nothing special about the one I am knitting now, but I feel like the skills I have in these kinds of cardigans are much higher than my first, second and even third attempt. This time I am also getting gauge (!!), which is always a plus.

I am knitting in a DK weight 100 % non-superwash wool yarn, Peer Gynt by Sandnes Yarn. It's knitting up greatly, with lovely stitch definition and I have a feeling it will wear well. It looks crisp and nice.




The design is classic. The stripes makes it feel like the knitting just flies by.




But wait a minute... that is three sleeves! Am I knitting a second sweater? Yes, as a matter of fact... my only regret is that I have startitis. Somehow I decided that knitting a bunch of sleeves would speed up the process, because then I would only have the body left. I always get so excited when finishing the body of a sweater, only to get devastated when finding out I have to knit sleeves. And not just one, I have to knit two! So to not have this problem, I am knitting the sleeves before the body, and to not get tired of one sleeve, I am alternating. Whew.

Hate knitting sleeves? Just knit four!




The pattern of the second sweater is called Bøvertun. It is in the book I have previously mentioned, Kofteboken. In the book it is knitted in fingering weight, but I am knitting it in DK weight. I am knitting it in Rauma 3 ply, which I had lying around, and it is much rougher than the Peer Gynt yarn. It looks quite nice in the picture, but I can't help but thinking that Peer Gynt looks even crisper and nicer. I do like the look of it, though.

So right now I'm not knitting just one large sweater, but two! It looks like it's going fast, but then again, I am on Easter break... but I hope to be on my way on the Fana body when it is over.

Happy Easter!

2014: The Year of the Babies

Last year was the Year of the Babies. The first Year of the Babies I have experienced! Now I am 25 years old, and brothers, brothers-in-laws and friends got new additions to their families.

And when someone in your life is expecting, they must receive knitting. Adorable knitting for tiny persons! I went for the traditional route, knitting the Norwegian patterns we all know and love. Luckily they are trendy as well!

The first baby item I knit was for a friend who had her son in the summer. The cardigan, the Voss Jacket has pattern all over and looks quite advanced, I thought, so knitting it for a baby must be perfect! I knit it in size 6 months but unfortunately I learned by gauge when doing lots of colourwork is quite tighter than it should be, so the real size was probably much smaller.



The second one was for my own, adorable niece who was born in October. When I knit her cardigan I did not know whether she would be a girl or a boy, so I chose what I consider to be unisex colours, namely teal and grey. Should I knit again I would use white instead of grey, but I am very happy with the result anyway.

The pattern of choice was Fanakofta. I had already made three adult versions of this - the baby version was piece of cake! The gift was well received and here is an extra darling picture of it:




Unfortunately, I did not take this picture with a proper camera and I don't have any. Alas! This happens when Instagram is your Media of Choice to share knitting...

The last project was actually two projects, because the recipients are twins. They were born in September but have not yet received their gift - they will this Sunday, for their christening present.

This time, for some reasons, I set my ambitions even higher! Why stop at cardigan, when you can knit a one-piece! And TWO, even! Oh my. I chose the Marius pattern, as that is the most trendy thing you can knit, ever, in Norway right now. They also have a round yoke, which is great, because babies don't really need steeked sleeves.

They were so boring to knit! Four legs, four sleeves, lots of round-and-round knitting in one colour. The problem with that is that it is so difficult to see progress. I measured it after every round, probably. Thankfully the results were so lovely. I have even forgotten my sorrows. My niece needs one of these for sure.




So it looks like baby knitting will be a part of this blog. Not that I mind; there are many advantages! For one, sleeves, my least favourite part, are SO short! And of course, the adorableness of it all.

And I do love a quick knit!