Birkenwasser knits

In this episode of Birkenwasser knits I talk about test knitting - both as a test knitter and as a designer. I show the Fluting Cowl designed by Whitney Hayward that I test knitted for Quince & co and a hat that I made with the same stitch pattern. Then I talk about my expectations and wishes when I arrange test knits.

Fluting cowl: https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/fluting

Fade it! Sideways test knit: https://www.ravelry.com/discuss/birkenwasser-knits/3838921/

Cold weather front from Siberia has created chaos all around Europe. I understand that when you are not used to see snow, it can make life difficult. However, here in Finland, we have enjoyed perfect winter weather: sun has been shining for two weeks, there's snow on the ground and the temperatures have been between -5 and -15 degrees centigrade. People are skiing, skating, and walking on frozen sea! Of course, cold weather means that you need to dress appropriately.


My little Troll Princess lost the cowl that I made her last year, so I had to make a new one. I also wanted to knit the "deer with little antlers hat" by tiny owl knits, so I started with that. I was thinking that the left overs of the Evanlyn hat would be enough for a small hat, and they were. But not enough to make ears, so I had to change plans and knit a plain hat instead.


I had the same Eden Cottage Yarns Oakworth DK in pink, so we decided to add a pink pom pom and a pink cowl to go with the hat. I had looked at the previous KlompeLompe book, but didn't find anything I wanted to knit. From the second one, "Strikk till hele familien", I found this "Peikkonen" cowl with a lovely texture. Only modification I made was to change the ribbing to match that of the hat.






My model is super happy with her new hat and cowl. And we're off to the skating rink across the street!

My fourth FO in Indie Design Gift-A-Long was Crooked Lines by Karalee Harding. This pretty cowl has instructions for a single loop and a Moebius loop versions. The lace pattern is easy to memorise and it's completely reversible, so you don't have to worry about the wrong side and the right side when wearing it.


Basically, the idea is to start from the middle of the cowl and then work towards both edges at the same time. Sounds complicated, but it's not!


After getting started it's just simple knitting until you're finished, and this one skein project is also easy to carry with you. For me, this project was my "Länsimetro" project. After years and years of waiting, we finally have a western ("Länsi") extension to Helsinki metro line, and I can now take the metro from where I live in Helsinki all the way to where I work in Espoo. That means uninterrupted knitting time for the 18 minutes that my commute now takes. Provided that I don't leave at rush hour when the metro is full at my stop and I have to wait 5 minutes before I get a seat. Still, that leaves me 13 minutes of knitting time! On the way back there's no problem getting a seat as the rush hour traffic goes in the opposite direction (it's way more common for people to work in Helsinki and live in Espoo). Here's one happy Länsimetro customer and a pretty cowl to prove it!


It's RUMS day!

Midsummer Haze was Joji Locatelli's contribution to Jyväskylä Summer Knit Festival: the pattern was a gift in the festival magazine. At first sight, I thought it was a nice pattern, but not my cup of tea. I admired the lovely Midsummer Hazes popping up on my Instagram feed and that was it. Later in July, our family vacation trip took us to the Baltic states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. I have bought several yarn souvenirs from Estonia, so now I wanted to see what Latvia and Lithuania have to offer. A bit of googling, and I knew that I wanted to buy some Lithuanian linen. Unfortunately, we came to Vilnius, the capital, on Saturday afternoon due to my knitting obligations. That meant that the nice yarn shops that I wanted to visit had already closed - and on Monday we had to leave early to visit Trakau castle before heading to the other side of the country to see the Curonian spit. We stayed in Klaipeda, and happened to walk by Siulas linen shop (Lino Namai at Tiltų g. 11), and among all the lovely linen products they also sold linen yarn! So I did managed to get my linen souvenir after all.


The original plan was to knit a summer top with the linen, but it didn't take long before I started thinking about the Midsummer Haze pattern. That would look nice in linen, and a linen cowl would be a summer accessory, wouldn't it? Well, it is!



I was a bit afraid that the rustic linen wouldn't work in a lace cowl, but I was wrong. I think it's lovely, and it has that linen shine. I'm really happy that I changed my mind about this pattern - or just found the perfect yarn for it. I'm also really happy that I found this linen. I have 400 g left, so a summer top might still be doable, and hey, Lithuania is not that far to go and buy more!


Linking up to RUMS.

When I started writing patterns of my knitwear designs I promised myself that I would only write patterns for something that I've knitted for myself. I'm a selfish knitter after all, and I wouldn't want to waste time knitting something that I won't be able to wear. Well, 21 patterns later I've noticed that it doesn't really go that way... At least for me, that is. I used to knit my designs only for myself and I didn't care so much if they were perfect. Now that I've published my designs, I do want them to be perfect. The way I work, experimenting along the way, means that I typically knit a prototype, then write the pattern and knit the sample from my own instructions. This way I get to keep the prototype and still have the sample to show.


With my Circular Reference pattern I did it the other way around: I first knitted the sample (unraveling and re-knitting until perfect) and then noticed that I want one for myself, but in a bigger size. So I checked my stash and found one more skein of Onion Knit Tussah Silk, a purple skein that I bought to make a hat for myself. There were also just enough Madelinetosh Tosh DK leftovers from my Repeating Horizons pullover that I was able to knit the larger hat for myself.



What happened to the original gray Circular Reference samples then? Well, Young Warrior tried them on and said that he needs a hat and a cowl, so what could I say? I did negotiate with him enough to have the samples for my trunk show at Kässäkerho Pom Pom, but after that he took them and let's just say that they are not exactly in show condition anymore... Anyway, after he took them I had one jealous girl telling me that she also wants a hat and a cowl. I managed to negotiate that into just a cowl, as I reminded her that I knitted the Catwoman Returns hat for her last winter.



The cowl is a bit shorter than it's supposed to be, but I used all the yarn that was left from my hat and this is how far I got with it. Troll Princess is super happy with her cowl, though! Oh, and the shawl that I'm wearing, it's my modified Exploration station in Madelinetosh yarns as well, with some of the same Rose colorway.

It's CreaDienstag!

Circular reference hat and cowl are worked in spiraling two-color brioche. The pattern is enhanced by switching the main color and contrast color for each panel. Use high contrast in colors for a more visible pattern or less contrast for a subtle effect. This pattern will keep you interested while knitting and still produces a cool no-frills end result. Make the hat first, and you can adjust the size of the cowl according to how much yarn you have left. This unisex design works for both men and women. The pattern comes in sizes S and L. The stretchy brioche makes it adjustable for anything in between - or even for a child: my 7-year-old Young Warrior announced that he is taking the samples, because a silk-merino cowl is just what he needs as the weather is getting colder.