Failure? No, I'm not

I'm feeling relieved. Relieved that the pressure has gone, that I've gained more time and that I don't need to be afraid. Any more, or at all. What looked like a step backwards might in fact turn out as a leap forward.

To put you in the picture: No, the K_sweater isn't finished yet. It doesn't matter any more, the weather is too warm anyway. Instead, I have started socks for K, even though he might not wear them for a while; but they're still a nice little project, not too large so I can take it with me to knit groups or when I visit my parents next weekend. The baby hat project is postponed till some time later - my ex-coworker's baby is due in April, and I've decided to make him (it's going to be a boy) a hat large enough so he can wear it this fall.
My Masters thesis is not done, and I applied for an extension of 3 more months due to my anxiety. It was pretty much in the last minute that I realized it was too late, there was too much to do and I couldn't handle it. I freaked out, totally, as such a long extension also postpones my other exams (more written and oral), but hey, what's another 6 months? In the very end, this doesn't really matter; the main thing is, I feel good and I get to make my thesis good. If the regular amount of time is not enough for me, then hey, so what? I know that I have a problem, and even though I'm already in therapy because of this, psychoanalysis is not the kind of therapy that takes effect the next day. Plus, it doesn't address the symptoms but their reasons. My anxieties regarding exams and exam-like situations are a symptom for other fears, so I need to find another way to deal with them. Although, knowing that I'm already doing something that helps me in the long run is good to know.


It's now 2,5 weeks ago that I received a packet from Canada. Way back in February, Cynthia had decided to let go some of her stash (for free! how cool is that?), and I secured some of that. The yarn arrived on a really crappy day, and it helped me quite a lot then. Thank you Cynthia! I'll get those squares for Warming Grace in the mail real soon.
The contents of the packet were really yummy: a selection of Jo Sharp Cotton DK in various colors,



and some elann.com Pure Alpaca that I can't wait to try out!



The colors are quite different to the photo above: the blue is not a solid color but contains a lot of speckles,



and the brown has a strong red-ish undertone:



I'm hoping to combine both of those colors in a sweater or a cardigan, but I'll see where the yarn takes me.

K picked some yarn for socks quite a while ago, and just recently I decided to give it a go. I wanted to make manly socks, but with some sort of pattern to make them interesting enough to knit. I came up with a simple cable and rib pattern:



The main green is a rich emerald tone, combined with a lighter green (I'm glad there's not too much of that in the yarn, as I'm not so fond of this shade). The yarn is from Ewa's Sockenwolle, and she called it "Cameron Highlands". The Cameron Highlands are not in Scotland as one might think from the name, but in Malaysia. According to the greens in the picture, Ewa did choose the right name!
Here's a close-up of the cable:



I wanted to make small cables, and I like them a lot! The first sock is done already, and last night I started the second while watching some Twin Peaks. K bought the dvd and got me hooked. Tonight we'll watch the last 3 episodes, and I think the sock will grow a bit more.

Now, I'm off to eat some dinner, or else I'll faint onto my keyboard... which might not be such a good idea.

Casting off, take #2

Yesterday after finishing off the Italian cast-off, when I couldn't get the turtle neck over my head, I thought I knew what the problem was. I thought as I didn't have much yarn leftover that I had sewn the finish too tightly. To explain this a bit further, casting off this way requires you to knit the last 4 rows on a smaller needle size (0.5mm smaller, to be precise) and then to finish off by sewing the remaining stitches. This results in a smooth, rounded edge, unlike the usual cast-off.
Okay, so I un-sew the finish, tinked the last 4 rows and re-knitted them with the ball of yarn I had left (fortunately, there is plenty of yarn left of the ball as I didn't use this color much. For sewing, though, I had to cut the yarn). So far, so good. I was almost done with these 4 rows when I tried stretching the stitches on the needle and it was... not so good. Too tight. Damn! So, even more tinking last night, and hopefully some more relaxed re-knitting tonight. Stay tuned for more Italian adventures!

Italy I like, but casting off in Italian?

Last night I finally finished knitting the K_sweater. Well, for now. I tried the sweater on - oh, why me? You have to know, I have quite a large head. So I thought that would qualify me to test the flexibility and endurance of the turtle neck as I used the Italian cast-off there. The instructions said the yarn I was knitting with should be at least 3 times as long as the piece I was casting off. Okay, that's what I did: 3 times and then some. Guess what!


It wasn't long enough. See the short bit of camel-colored yarn? That's how much I had left!
AND, what is more important, I could not get the turtle neck over my head. I must have sewn too tight... but as I was running out of yarn, this didn't really come as a surprise to me.

So, my plans for tonight are to redo the last bit of the neck, and hopefully get it all done tonight. I still don't feel too great due to my cold, so we're staying in tonight and K is cooking for me. (Yay for K! He's so sweet to me when I'm sick.)
I'll leave you into the weekend with a closeup of the cast-off edge of the turtle neck... hope you can see something!

Randoms

Not much knitting has been going on here at d.knit. The K_sweater is almost finished; the turtle neck needs a few more rows and then there's the Italian cast-off. I haven't tried this one, I just hope it looks as good as the Italian cast-on! And then there's only about half a gazillion ends to weave in... I'm thinking if I should thread them into the seams which makes the seams go stiffer (or at least that's what I think happens) or if I should just weave them in, running the risk of ends of thread peeking through on the right side. Anyways, the sweater isn't so urgent any more as it's getting warmer each day. Sunshine is nice, but this time we've missed out on winter. It had snow for a couple of days which was good, but it wasn't cold for long at all. The seasons in 2006 were messed up anyways: half a meter of snow in March (which is very unusual for Munich), cold until June/July, a heat wave during the whole month of July, a rainy and chilly August, a very warm September and October, well, until Christmas actually. This winter was actually the warmest since they began tracking the temperatures - 400 years ago.

The new Knitty is out! As opposed to the Interweave Knits Spring 07 issue (that issue was a BIG disappointment... why on earth would I want to knit a thong? Or a strange capelet, that doesn't cover shoulders nor boobs?! Or that bandeau top, merely just a boob warmer? And don't get me started on the new layout!), I like quite a few of the patterns. Isabella for example (just not in that color); I think it uses the same yarn as the Victoria Tank (I still need to fix that!). Or Ester, even though I usually go for more classic knits. I think this one has a special something to it though; oh, and I found out that the knitty photos for this one don't show the actual color. The real yarn is a burgundy red, no hint of purple whatsoever. Morestripes is interesting too, even though I'm not too much into this color and I'd make it a bit more figure-hugging. And I wouldn't want to do the steeking. (I think this is the first time that I've seen a pattern and thought "I love you... now change!", like in Debbie Stoller's Stitch'n'Bitch Handbook) Vestee's cute too; I'd have to make it larger for my nephew to fit (he turns a year and a half in May) because I'd want to make it for his birthday in November. I'm picturing a short-sleeve version with a hoodie, so he can wear a longsleeved shirt underneath... would look cool! I'm also tempted to make Clessidra; they'd be "home stockings" though because it would be a shame hiding that pattern in pants. Or maybe I could bring that large cable pattern to the front as well and make a short version... I just noticed that this is actually the first time that I look at patterns (more than one!) and I change them in my mind, to my likings. Before (before what?), erm, earlier, some time ago, until now (I think that fits) I always either liked a pattern, or I didn't. And for the patterns I liked, some of them I just felt like knitting them because they were a challenge but I wouldn't have worn them; and the others I wanted to make for myself, but that was a minority. I'm picky when it comes to clothing. Shoes are even worse, that's why I didn't find winter shoes this winter. As it turned out, I didn't need them anyways, so I was lucky.

Alright... I should get back to work now (meaning I should get started working before it's officially too late). I know it's Sunday, and the weather is just gorgeous outside right now, but I'm running out of time for my thesis so I really must work. Thing is, the later it gets, the more I'm wondering if I'm still able to make it at all. I'm my biggest enemy in this situation, as my inner voice keeps telling me that whatever I do and whatever I want to write about just sucks. Also happens sometimes when I'm blogging. But I'm working hard on tracking down this bloody voice and quieting it! It's just annoying whenever I'm set back, and right now I'm set back a lot. Oh well.

Now I see you - now I don't

The other day I seamed front and back of the K_sweater. I used mattress stitch to do so, because it always gives the smoothest results.
It's funny how the seam is quite visible on one side, like in this picture below,


but not so much in this one (below).


Weird... the "perfect" seam is the one I did first. I don't know what went wrong with the other one.

We had the most beautiful sunset tonight. I don't get to see the actual sunset as my lounge room window goes out west, but I always get the light reflections on the big ugly buildings (there's only one in the photos below) - that's the only time of day that makes these buildings worth looking at.
The light on the apartment building was so golden! It was really beautiful because the sky was dark from the rain in the afternoon... such a beautiful combination of dark blue purple-ish and gold!


Only a short time later it looked like this:


A sky for lovers... pink clouds, so diffuse!

Getting closer

Can you guess what this is?


I'll give you a hint: it's 2 pieces that took 200 pins.

Too many pictureless posts

...that's why you get 2 this time!
K is just on his way back to Munich, he's somewhere over Asia right now. He's also bringing the camera back, so I can start taking pictures real soon again. I'm cleaning out our place a bit today, so he won't be too shocked when he arrives tomorrow morning.

This first picture is from the first weekend of February (time is running, it's incredible how fast it is!) when the Security Conference was on. K and I stumbled in the middle of a rally, and I had the feeling (yet again) that there was more police than demonstrators. What was also striking was the number of young and firm police guys... as if they were fresh from the academy.


Apparently, the whole conference weekend when quite smoothly, no excesses whatsoever.

On the yarn front I have some sort of finished objects. Remember my pot holders made from recycled yarn? I think I had 4 small ones before, and ended up with 3 large ones (the pic shows the latest 2). The crocheting is all done, all I have left is to weave in the ends and I'm not really loving this part. I guess I'll do that when I can't work on the K_sweater any more.


The K_sweater is doing good, the sleeves are all done now! But before I begin putting it all together so I can knit on the turtle neck, I'm ripping out the top parts of both back and front. I'm making the bit between the armpit and the shoulder decreases a bit larger so it doesn't pinch or is too short. I'm sooo close to finishing this one! I can't tell you how excited I am... this would be the first sweater that fits, hopefully! Okay, it's the first sweater at all, if I don't count the baby jumper for my nephew. Stay tuned for more sweater news next week!

I have a problem... I think

Um, I kinda have a problem with the K_sweater. At least I see the possibility of a problem. Now, the pattern - which I'm following, basically - of both front and back calls for a distance from armhole shaping to shoulder decrease of 20cm/7.9in. So far, so nice; that's what I knitted.

However, in order to make sure the sweater fits K in the end, I'm comparing the knit sweater's measurements with a store-bought sweater that fits K quite well. So far everything is going quite well - although there is a little discrepancy and I'm not sure if it will matter or not. The distance between armhole shaping and shoulder decrease on the store-bought sweater is a whopping 24cm/9.4in. Hmmm. Would that result in a great pinch? I don't really want to seam back and front and try it on the living model because that would mean I have to wait for K to come back from his holiday, and I really wanted to finish this sweater as a surprise or at least come as close to finishing as possible. I'm thinking now if I should just go with the pattern, after all the designer put some thought in it. And I really can't remember the exact fit of the store-bought sweater on K, if the armhole area was rather roomy or just normal.

The alternative would be to frog the top parts of front and back and add another 4cm/1.6in... which of course is an extra effort, and I'm not sure if it's necessary. Hmmm... I just had the idea of checking some more of K's sweaters and compare their measurements, to see if there's any difference. Sounds like I came up with a plan! I'll have to do that tomorrow though, as it's in the middle of the night all of a sudden and if I don't go to bed real soon I don't get enough of my beauty sleep (which is much needed). I just hope K didn't take too many of his sweaters with him!

Video Day - Knit Wits

If you like The Godfather, or The Sopranos, you have to watch this one! Even if you don't like them... watch it anyway and turn your speakers on!



Sleeve #1 is almost done, but I won't finish it tonight any more. I'm off to bed now - sleep well y'all!

Sleevey-sleeves

Yeah, I know it's boring, another meaningless progress shot, this time of a sleeve. I took this picture on Sunday already as K left for Melbourne early on Monday morning and he took the camera with him.



In the meantime I've been doing more sleeve-knitting and am almost done with sleeve #1. Right now I'm doing the shoulder shaping and should be done with the sleeve by tonight, or maybe tomorrow. My goal is to be done with sleeve #2 some time on the weekend, I hope I can do that! Then there's the usual blocking and seaming, and then I can knit on the turtle neck.


Okay, this closeup isn't too great, due to the stockinette stitch - you know what I mean. I wanted to do some fancy pictures, but all of a sudden it was Sunday afternoon and the lighting wasn't great any more, and I still hadn't taken my photos. So I thought, what the heck, I'll do it anyway.
On other news, K arrived safe and sound in Melbourne (the one in Australia, yep, that's the one on the other side of the globe. Unless you live there, because then pretty much anything else is on the other side of the world), it's stinking hot there right now (the forecast for the weekend is around 38° C/100°F), and they're on water restrictions - the water storage is 35% full. I so hope they're getting some serious rain real soon! Use your water wisely, folks - no matter where you live.

Fav!

Wow! I made my own favicon! You should be able to see it in the address bar instead of the bright orange Blogger-b (unless you're using Internet Explorer; I heard that the favicon isn't working in IE); and you should be able to see the favicon when you bookmark my blog (I think this applies for new bookmarks only).
I'm so proud I did it!

I also have some knitting news for you: I'm well into the first sleeve of the K_sweater, it's maybe halfway done. I can't wait to finish the sleeve(s) so I can cast on for a baby hat for my ex-coworker; I'd like to make the bunny tail hat in a bear version with some leftover Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. I have to take pictures of my progress on the K_sweater this weekend because K might take the camera to Melbourne. Tomorrow we're doing some souvenir shopping for his family, I hope the weather is nice enough for some decent photos. Munich is (supposedly) the safest place this weekend, as the Conference on Security Policy is in town. They do that every year, and every year it's a pain in the ass again - these "important" people reside at the Hotel Bayrischer Hof which is in the city center. Loads and loads of police in riot gear with machine guns (this is quite exceptional for Germany... most guns we get to see here are in American tv shows) bar the hotel and the area around it - nobody except for residents can get in or out. This leads to detours and delays in traffic, and it's just annoying.

Never enough?

Last night I had an emotional low of quite some depth. I started thinking about how I always think that whatever I do, it's never enough, that I often think when I don't do something perfectly, I fail. I was writing a blog post in my mind, telling you rather open-heartedly about my dreams and fears (mostly about the fears). This is a bit paradoxical, as I don't open up to people for quite some time; but I guess internet communication makes this a bit different. I wanted to tell you that I would like to be a better blog writer, that I would write more frequently and in a better style. That I would like to knit more and faster, so I could present you more. That I would overcome my exam nerves and get my thesis done (if I don't want to extend, the next two months are going to be stressful. Very stressful), because I don't like Uni any more. I just want it to stop, even though I don't have a plan for afterwards. Which freaks me out even more.

I am so glad that K is here to support me, calm me down when I'm angst-ridden again and that he just listens to my never-ending problems. He's going on holiday to visit his friends and family in Melbourne, Australia, soon, and I'll be staying here, thanks to my thesis. I would love to go with him, but I know I have to get things done (and I hope I will); I understand perfectly that he wants to go, as he hasn't seen his folks in over 3 years now. As a surprise when he's back, I plan to finish the K_sweater in the meantime. I started with the sleeves on the weekend, but didn't get much done yet. (Can you see what I'm doing again? I really shouldn't say that; instead, I should say something like "even though I didn't have much knitting time on the weekend at all, I got lots of the sleeve done - almost the whole cuff" to cut out the "I failed"-message)

Why am I telling you this? I guess blogging does make me open up to (complete) strangers. Hey stranger! Say hello! (Or maybe I'm still stuck in the "6 weird things about me"-meme...) I think I should make an intention, not just for 2007, but for... maybe forever. Don't get scared so much. Don't scare myself so much. Start seeing the glass half-full instead of half-empty. Focus - on one thing at a time. Don't annoy people by telling them how you think you're one big failure.

I'd like to finish this post with a picture I took at Schloss Nymphenburg, back in September, so this post has a nice ending. It's a detailed shot of a lamp's foot outside the castle. I like this photo a lot, I had it as a background on my desktop for a while. Hope you like it too!

Something else, for a change

The back and front of the K_sweater are done! I didn't take pictures though, because the sides roll up so much, and I didn't have the time to look for my fixing pins yet.
Before I start the sleeves I wanted to do something else in between though; I promised a colleague of mine who's having a baby in spring that I would make some baby booties and a little hat for her. That's what I wanted to knit in my "sweater break", but then I remembered something that was buried deep down in my stash:


Crochet pot holders! Simple yet efficient, and essential for everybody. Well, if they have a kitchen, or a stove.
When I moved to Munich three and a half years ago, it was K's and my first apartment and although I had collected a few kitchen things, I didn't have pot holders. I didn't see the point of buying some, as I had learned to crochet about a zillion years ago and I thought it couldn't be so hard. I made a few pot holders and an oven glove. However, some of the pot holders turned out to be too small so I frogged them a few months ago and put the yarn in my stash box and closed it. Well, until Saturday. Friends of mine just moved house and I thought an oven glove and some pot holders were quite a nice (and practical) present. Plus, I only have two pot holders left and one of them is in our wok when it's not in use (this place is very small and for the last 3 years I've been the queen of piling things) to keep it from being scratched by the glass baking dish.
I've got some more yellow and orange cotton yarn, leftover from some more frogged pot holders... looks like I'm gonna crochet for a bit.

Raging for nothing

Just before, I talked to my work colleague who's email was cause for all my rage and anger on the weekend. It turns out that everything was just a misunderstanding; she was informed that the babybreak-lady would be coming into the office on Tuesdays, but apparently, she wasn't up to date. Information does not flow freely in this company at all (hence my out-of-the-blue sacking), so this makes perfect sense to me. This means that I can finish my job on the already set dates and don't have to look for a new weekday. It would have been ridiculous anyway, because you can count the remaining Tuesdays I have left in the office on 3 fingers. I really am a patient person, maybe too patient sometimes, but there's a point where my patience ends.

Yesterday, I took pictures of the K_sweater in the bedroom, double-checking with a store-bought sweater that fits him well. The light wasn't so good anymore, but I think you can see enough. Due to the stockinette stitch the sides of the sweater roll in, but the width of the bought sweater and the knitted one are the same. The only difference I noticed was at the arm decrease; here, the knitted sweater is smaller. I need to double-check this with the instruction but I couldn't find my pins and I didn't feel like a long search, so I'll have to do this some other time. Preferrably before I start the arm decreases at the front.

Bad weather

Finally, the weather is bad. It's raining and it's cold.
Why this is good news to me? Well, it's November, and the weather is supposed to be bad. Plus, we had a very warm October (it was more like a mild version of summer than a proper fall), then we had about 3 days in early November when it was like winter, even with snow, and then it got warm again as if it was spring. And I really couldn't cope with the warmth, for my inner season sensor was set on fall/winter.

However, the bad weather brings the disadvantage of not being able to take proper pictures during the day, as the sky is completely overcast and gray. So you'll have to believe me when I tell you that the Wavy scarf grew quite a bit; I can wrap it around my neck twice now, and the ends are somewhere between boob height and belly button height. I was pretty surprised by this, when I tried the scarf on last night because I expected it to be shorter; but I think I might want it even longer. I'm at the end of the 4th ball of yarn now, and I have 2 more left. Originally, I had planned to make matching mittens with the leftover yarn, but I think if I keep on knitting, then there's not enough yarn left. And I'm not sure if I can find the same dye lot again. (Serious problems, I know)

Last night, I finally knit a few more rows on K's sweater. I don't know what I'm doing these days, but I hardly get to knit. My usual evening schedule looks like this: Either K or I make dinner, then we eat; I sometimes do dishes either before or after dinner, then we sit on the couch and watch TV. K usually is on the computer, me sometimes too (we have our own laptops each), because I try not to read blogs during the day. Then, all of a sudden, it's almost 10 o'clock, and I have hardly started knitting. No wonder I only get a few rows done! (Except for K's sweater where I have 128 stitches on the needles, that does take ages just to finish one row) Maybe I should keep track of what I'm doing at night, what keeps me from knitting... it's not that I have to or that I want to knit every night, but that's the only time of the day when I have time to do it, and I'd like to actually finish some of the things I've started.

Oh, and Heather, if you're on the blog, please email me!

Progress and other things

I finally made some progress on K's sweater. I think it's coming along nicely, I like the stripes and absolutely love the yarn. A yay for Alpaka!

K_sweater, originally uploaded by d.knit.

The only disadvantage is that it's curling up, because it's stockinette stitch and it's on a round needle. That's a bit annoying while knitting, but it's not so bad. But as long as I get to touch the alpaka...

siegestor, originally uploaded by d.knit.

This thing above is the Siegestor here in Munich. K's office is near there, and so is the University where I study. So, when we walked past it on the weekend, I took this picture because the weather was just so nice. (It has changed since then, and it's raining constantly now)

oktoberfest_sunday, originally uploaded by d.knit.

Last sunday, at the Oktoberfest... the weather was nice and it was crowded. The second weekend of the Wiesn is called "Italian Weekend"; but not because they start serving pizza and pasta and vino rosso instead of the usual Bavarian Schweinsbraten / Schweinshaxe mit Knödeln und Sauerkraut (roast pork / knuckle of pork with potato dumplings and sauerkraut), no, they call it "Italian Weekend" because lots and lots of Italians come to visit the Oktoberfest. Munich isn't that far away from Italy (some even call it "Italy's most northern city". Some from Munich, not from Italy, that is), so lots of Italians drive across the Alps in camper vans (or mini vans, or in station wagons... or in regular cars), and park somewhere in the city. Then, they party all weekend, and maybe longer, take the train back to Italy, leave the camper van in Munich, and the second shift takes over the van and drive it back once the Oktoberfest ends. Clever, huh? (I'm not saying it's only Italians who are at the Wiesn... you'd still meet loads of Germans, French, Dutch, British, Australians, Americans, Japanese, Koreans, and any other country you can think of. It's just disproportionately many Italians on this second weekend)

Oh, and even Paris Hilton gave Munich and the Oktoberfest the honor! After she had a PR date in a supermarket, opposite the meat counter. She didn't seem to have much fun there though (they did a report on her on TV), not even when she was sipping on a Maß (a liter hump of beer); she only seemed to have fun when riding some roller coasters, listening to her single... "just like in Disneyland" or so, was what she said. (How old is she, ten? I better stop here, or else I'll keep going.)

Laurie asked to show her where her readers knit. Well, I thought I'd share this picture with you too; this is where I knit, next to the lamp, with the blue pillow in my back. This is also where I blog sometimes (like this post for example). I decided not to tidy up before taking the picture, to keep it real. Where's the knitting, you might ask? Hover over the photo with your mouse!

And last but not least, you can congratulate me for completing this bloody mouse over effect-thingy! Carola put a little tutorial on her blog, but it still took me some time until I could adjust it to my blog.

Note to self:

Read the pattern closely before starting to knit (the next patch), so then I might not have had to frog it after noticing that I kept knitting in the Italian cast-on for about 28 rows to far and wondering why the damn ribbing was still not 8cm (3in) long. Knitting can be so simple if you only obey the pattern... (unless, of course, the pattern sucks)


This is what the sweater is supposed to look like when it's grown up. I'm really looking forward to K wearing it! (And me touching the soft alpaka, hehe)

The sweater below is for me, from an old Rebecca magazine. All I've done so far is the gauge swatch; I think I'll get started with this one once I'm done with my summer top.



This little number is from the same magazine as K's sweater. It's one of the very few German knitting magazines that are quite nice (mostly). Usually I don't like boleros because they are something in between, but nothing quite whole. I like this one though, and I'm waiting for the LYSes to get the fall/winter yarns in stock so I can buy some.


I'm out now, off to some knitting and movie watching. Sorry about the picture quality; taking photos out of magazines isn't quite that easy, and I didn't feel like making a big effort when I took them the other night. Better luck next time!

Italian approach

A few weeks ago I bought some new knitting magazines, with fresh and crisp models for fall. K chose a nice stripey sweater with a turtle neck (or should I say, I talked him into wanting it?). Our deal is, he pays for the yarn, and I do the knitting. You see, I don't believe in the boyfriend sweater curse... but I figured, when he pays for the yarn, then I don't jinx it. Clever, huh?
Anyways, this sweater required an Italian cast-on, something that was new to me. It took me two attempts (and I hated it at the start), but then I had it. It was quite easy actually, and I really like the result:


It's not as "cut-off" like it is with a regular cast-on... although, I haven't tried that many types - the way I usually cast-on is the one with the long tail. But I'm already kinda planning on using this cast-on method in something else, because it looks so good! Just like in a bought sweater... as if this would make it any more real. Isn't it strange to consider something which is handknit as not as real, or as not as proper, as something that is store-bought knit? Or is it just me?
The yarn, though, is a pleasure. It's Schachenmayr Alpaka, and I can't stop knitting with it because it's so soft. Yumm!

The other project I'm about to start is a sweater for myself. It's from a magazine from last year's fall, and thought about making it ever since. It has a deep v-neck, both on the front and on the back, and some cables. And I forgot to take a picture of the picture... I'll have to wait until daylight tomorrow.


This time I went for a quite daring color! I've had enough of muted colors, or of blue all the time, so I figured - why not? It's ggh yarn, Solitaire. The softness is nice, but no way near the Alpaka. It's quite light though, and that is a quality I like about it. It's supposed to be a winter sweater after all, and I wouldn't want a heavy piece that drags downwards.

And yes, I still do work on a summer top, although there's not much point doing that any more. My summer holiday has been cancelled, and August here was the complete opposite to July. Where July was the hottest since they started collecting the weather data, August is the coldest/rainiest/windiest in 50 years. Today it was about 13 degrees Celsius (55F), and it was pouring on and off. Not to mention the wind. I had a hard time resisting the urge to turn on the heating, I can tell ya!