Knitty Nerd

This is so nice. Over at Miss Marple's Knitting Club, they have written a good explanation of what intarsia knitting is, and at the same time they have featured one of my cowls. Now other people is writing about my knitting, too.

In other news I am looking for input on colors for a dragon over at my facebook page, and I am contemplating what to do with the skein below.





























Any suggestions?

As you may have already seen here on the blog, there is a plan to have an evening of slow TV about knitting this winter. I talked to one of the local yarn stores here in Bergen today, and there may be a plan to make a happening out of this day at the store, or rather nearby the store. Bring your knitting and watch along, kind of thing. But it is quite uncertain yet. Really hope this happens, it would be so much fun.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I have now tried my hand at miniature knitting. My first attempt is this knitting project for a doll living in a dollhouse with what I think is an Edwardian style (but I might be totally wrong about that). The dollhouse is 1:12 scale (compared to our regular sized houses), and very impressive.

The knitting was made with a 1 ply cotton yarn and 1 mm needles. I used two pins with round metal heads as knitting needles for the doll, and I made an additional skein of yarn to put next to it in the basket. And yes, it was very fiddly and time consuming to make.

The masks became a little loose with the cotton yarn, it was a little stiff, so maybe I should try with softer woolen yarn to get a tighter finished fabric.

And here is a picture of the knitting in the room where it will live.






































Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I've made a new bow pattern, and this time I made it in purple. Like the previous bow pattern, this one also has beads on it, but this time there is a hole-pattern as well. It isn't easy to see in the pictures, but maybe you can spot it in the one below.







































Download the free pattern in english or norwegian.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I continue to be inspired by Doctor Who and his cool bow tie, and this time it has lead me to make coffee cozies that are somewhat formal, and yet, cool.

The pattern is modular and the cozy itself can be knit plain, as in the picture above, or double as in the picture below.


Otherwise I recommend making the pocket, if you take up this project. It is very handy for a packet of sugar or a teabag. And it is quite decorative.

Download the free pattern in English or Norwegian.

If you make one of these, please let me know how it went.

I tried to make one of the beaded bows with a lovely cotton yarn, but the whole thing came out all flopsy and droopy. It kind of looked like a sad clown bow.

So, instead I had to find a pattern that fit a cotton yarn, and Drops provided again. This lovely set of socks and bonnet for a baby was made in a jiffy and came out quite well, I think. The yarn would be soothing and cool on a summer day, and provide warmth on cold days.

The free patterns from Drops is now making it on to my useful links for knitting, as a fledgeling pattern designer, I've found it very helpful to have a large resource for looking up solutions that others have had.

And I'm learning from my red experiment, now I know that a cotton yarn is not very firm and can not provide a shape on its own. If I want to make something that isn't clothing and should stay in a particular shape on it's own, choose something else. Although, cotton yarn is definitely nice for clothing.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

So, I've knitted my red bow in several red yarns now, but needed a break so I tried a new pattern for baby booties. I found the pattern at Drops and knitted it in a cotton yarn using 3 mm needles. It was a very simple pattern and definitely suitable for beginners, and they turned out quite cute.

I didn't add the crochet edges, and now they kind of look like doll booties, but they are in baby size.

So, back to testing out yarns and trying to come up with another pattern.
































Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I have made a pattern. I think. It is quite simple, a little bow. But it's a start and we all know it: bow ties are cool.

Apparently the plan of using red yarns worked. I just sat down and forced myself to come up with something to make with one of my red skeins and this is what happened.

I'm a little surprised that it worked and that I came up with something so different from what I've made before. I've never knit a bow before, and I've never knit with beads. So, at least for me it's quite original. (Someone else has probably come up with something similar before, though.)

After making the first one, I made another with another yarn.




I used light wool yarns to make both bows, and all the other details are in the pattern. It's a quick little project, if you should want to make one.

And my little monster does look cool with a bow tie.






































Download the pattern in English or Norwegian. (It's completely free.)

Please tell me how the pattern works, if you make one of these bows.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I knit a few baby booties. They are made from a traditional nordic pattern. Well, not that traditional, probably from the time just after the war. Most knitters at that time probably knew the pattern by heart, at least it seems to have been very popular.

I used this Danish pattern (free) from 1945, but if you don't read Danish, not to worry it's been typed up in lots of languages at ravelry.com. It's a quick and easy knit, and lots of yarns can be used. A nice project for leftovers.

I also made a blue set with a hat.





























The hat is just a standard pattern for baby hats, don't know where I learned it. I just added a top that can be tied.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I have decided how to begin my journey towards writing my own patterns.

One of the skills I lack is choosing yarn. Usually I just use the yarn recommended in the pattern.

So now I have bought a whole heap of different yarns, all approximately sport or sock weight and all in dark red. I have chosen all sorts of materials in the yarns, all sorts of brands, and both the discount stores and fine yarn shops were visited. In the picture above are some of the skeins I bought. I wanted all of them in same or same-ish color so I would not get distracted by color when I looked at the results and evaluated qualities.

Next, I will try to make the same things with different yarns, and try to learn about their qualities and what they are best used for.

Hopefully this will be the first leg of my journey, maybe it will get me from Hobbiton to the Old Forest, or if I'm lucky, all the way to Bree. Or maybe it's just a little adventure before the journey begins for real.  Either way, the yarn looks tempting and I can't wait to begin.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

Vacation time is coming up for most people, but I have already come back from mine.

I went to Cambridge, and filled my time with pubs, colleges, punting, museums, crumpets, tea and all the other things you'd imagine doing in there.

But the reason for my post, is the yarn shop in Cambridge, The Sheep Shop. It is a little out of the way, but, as it turns out, well worth the trip. The staff was simply the friendliest, and most service minded I have seen in a long time. After browsing the yarns for a bit I was offered a cup of tea (how British, right?) and a seat where me and some other customers sat and talked for a bit about knitting, yarn and England. It was just lovely. Don't you wish every yarn shop was like that?

They stoked quite a few types of yarn, both the larger brands and some locally made. I found a brand called Sparkleduck, and chose a skein of some type of dark red in the yarn called Galaxy.

The staff at The Sheep Shop told me it was hand dyed right there in Cambridge, witch made me like it even more. There is something special about a yarn made just where you are, somehow. Well, at least it's that way for me. And hand dyed is also an attraction.

The yarn is fingering weight and made of 75% wool, 20% nylon and 5% stellina. (See more at their website.) As you can se in the picture above, there is a little sparkle in the yarn, but is's quite subtle. Most glitter-type yarns are so overdone I don't know what to make with them, but this can be knit into quite a few things without becoming too gaudy.

Now I just have to find the time to use it...








Isn't it tempting? Don't you just want to knit when you see it?

Until next time,
Happy Knitting

One of my absolute favorite knitting designers is Alan Dart, and a few years back he made a series of designs with the Beatrix Potter characters. (Almost all of them, I think.) I am the lucky owner of some of these patterns, who can no longer be sold due to something, something copyright. (Although you can get them used from amazon: Jemima Puddle-Duck (Knitting Pattern)). And now I have made my very own Jemima Puddle-Duck.

I made her almost as the pattern is written, the only exception being the scarf.

She was made with Silja yarn in the colors white nr. 302, black nr. 301, yellow nr. 358, blue nr. 307 and pink nr. 323. I used 3 mm needles and ordinary toy stuffing. The pattern says to use "washable toy stuffing", but I've never been able to find something that dries up properly after a wash. Maybe it's something they have in England, and not here.

As with all Of Alan Dart's creations, the pattern gives a nice facial expression.






































The bonnet is put together from quite a few flat pieces, so the sewing takes a bit of time, but is really does look like the Jemima Puddle-Duck drawings in the Beatrix Potter books.






































The feet are put on a little crocked, by mistake originally, but it turned out to be quite pretty and gave the figure a sense of being in motion, just like in all the images from the books.





























Often Alan Dart patterns call for swiss darning, witch I hate, with a vengeance. So I knitted the pattern on the scarf. I took a long time to chart, but was well worth it to not have to swiss darn.























The only thing I would have done differently if I were to do it again, was to put a little lead or heavy stuffing in the tail to give the figure a bit more balance. Now she is a little wobbly.
































So from me and Jemima,

Until next time,
Happy Knitting

Outside the sun is shining, a bee is buzzing and a cat is chasing something unseen through the grass; in short, summer is here. But every summer is a sign of what is to come next, and so, even though I don't live in the same world as the Starks of Winterfell, winter is coming.

In a few months a cold breeze will caress my neck, a leaf will turn to more earthly tones and the weekend music of lawnmowers and hegdeklippers will no longer flow through the neighborhood.

And so I prepare.

The wify wanted something to warm her head and neck, and I knitted a hat and a cowl.

They are knit from this free pattern, with drops eskimo yarn in the shade chili. I used 8 mm needles. It was a nice project and I liked the pattern, and the yarn. I made a small change to the cowl, and used stocking stitch in stead of garter stitch.

I also made this one for her.






















This one is also knit from a free pattern, with the yarn drops eskimo, this time with two threads, one in the color purple, and one in plum. I used 10 mm needles for the hat, and 12 mm for the scarf. It came out well, but if I were to make one more, I would have made the scarf longer.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I wanted something to hold my water bottle as I went for walks and found this brilliant pattern on ravelry. I worked the pattern just as written, and it came out very well. It holds a full water bottle without stretching too far and fits people of most sizes, just vary the length of the strap.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

Thursday NRK, a Norwegian broadcasting company, announced that there would be a full evening of slow TV about knitting.

According to Wikipedia slow TV is "a term used for a genre of live "marathon" television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length".

NRK has covered ordinary events in this manner before, like in February when they had a focus on firewood which was written about by The New York Times. How much we Norwegians are actually split by firewood issues is debatable, but otherwise the article is accurate, and the pun probably justifies the headline; "Bark Up or Down? Firewood Splits Norwegians".

Now, their next slow TV project will be about knitting. The date has yet to be set, but it will be sometime in November.

According to project manager, Rune Møklebust, the content is still under development, but he also mentions the thousands of unfinished projects laying around Norwegian homes, that maybe should be addressed.

I'll be back with more later.

And if you read Norwegian, here is the announcement from NRK.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I wanted some reusable lunch bags and found this brilliant pattern on ravelry.

I made two just as the pattern is written. One in the smallest size.






































And one medium sized.



I also made two with a slight alteration. I did not make the buttonholes on the lid, and in stead I made small holes around the top of the bag, and thread a cord through. It worked quite well.

Again I made one small.

And one medium sized.






































And here they all are, ready to go.






































The pattern was a quick knit and a great stash buster. I used some old yarn I had in my stash and the smaller ones took less than half the skein, while the medium ones took a bit less than one skein.

In addition these little bags have so many uses. The small one with buttons is, for instance, a practical skein holder, for those who have the tendency to walk and knit. I just love all multipurpose things, it makes me feel so practical and space saving. Ok, so these little things wouldn't take up to much space anyway, but in general, multipurpose is great for space saving. Not to mention environmentally friendly.

Until next time,

Happy knitting.

In my language this kitchen utensil is sometimes called a mother-in-law. It is sharp, dangerous and can bite your fingers off, but still it has it's uses. Luckily, my mother-in-law does not bite, and is actually very nice, so I made her this cowl.



She wanted a new one in the same size as her old one, so the pattern gave itself.

It is knit in a "thick and thin" yarn using stockinette stitch (right side rows knit and wrong side purl). This yarn is discontinued, I think, 'cause I could not find it on the net or on ravelry, but I did find a yarn of about the same yardage and thickness. It is called Lumpy Bumpy Yarn by Charlene and comes in semi-solid and variegated color ways.  And it is really beautiful.

I made the cowl 30 cm (about 12 inches) wide and 170 cm (about 67 inches) long, but if I made it for myself I would have made it about 20 cm (about 8 inches) shorter. However, give people what they want, and this is the length my mother-in-law wanted. Then I sewed it together to make it a cowl. And that is it.











Download the almost cowl patten, if you can somehow use it.

Until next time,

Happy knitting.

So, I´ve been an avid knitter for thirty odd years, and now it is time for me to start making my own patterns. When I want to knit something specific I usually end up finding a pattern that is similar, and alter it to fit my needs. Still that does not help in all cases, and I miss being able to knit what I imagine. And this blog will be about my journey towards making the patterns that I want.

In this blog I will share what I learn, useful links, helpful hints and patterns that I make.

As most other nordic knitters I am pretty ok with color work, and over the years I have made countless of those nordic stars. So I started by testing my own color work and think it came out ok.

I took this image and uploaded it to knitPro 2.0 and created a knitting chart.

knitPro 2.0 is an online chart maker that takes images and creates knitting, crocheting and needlework charts. It is the best one that I've found. Luckily it is also free. Many of the other ones do not take into account that a knitting stitch is taller than it is wide.

Then I knitted the chart.



And finally I blocked it.



Download the almost knitty nerd chart, if you want for some reason.

Until next time,

Happy knitting.