Birkenwasser knits

Repeating Horizons pattern was published in January, and I showed woolen version of the pullover, knitted in Madelinetosh DK, in my post at that time. I've been wearing it all winter, but it's starting to look like spring even here in Helsinki and the woolen pullover is getting a bit too warm. So it's time to share a silky version of the pullover with you. This is actually the first prototype version of the pullover. I knitted it last summer and I love the feel of the silk yarn: Katia rustic silk.




Participating in RUMS again.

Tallinn has plenty to offer for knitters. Several small yarn shops and plenty of traditional hand knitted items for sale. We traveled to Tallinn to see Zemfira live, but while you are there, why not visit a couple of yarn shops also? On the first evening in Tallinn we were in Kalamaja neighborhood. We visited Telliskivi Loomelinnak hipster center in an old electrical engineering factory (with history going as far back as 1869 Baltic Railway factories) and found two lovely little shops: Rohelinevihmavari yarn shop and Minu väike maailm children's clothing shop. Roheline is a shop that sells ecological products and training. Their yarn selection is mostly Drops yarns, and they have KnitPro needles and tools. Next to Roheline is Minu väike maailm, a shop that sells kids' clothing. They have hand knitted alpaca and wool hats, mittens, socks, cardigans, etc. for little kids, as well as other clothes that have been designed and made in Estonia. Great place for souvenir shopping, that is! There's also a cool restaurant at Telliskivi Loomelinnak: F-hoone.



How to get there? Take tram 2 from the center (there's a tram stop in front of the harbor if you're arriving by boat from Finland): in one direction you come to Telliskivi, and in the opposite direction get off at Autobussijaam for Wool & Woollen (it's on the other side of Tartu mnt from Karnaluks, for those of you who are heading to the biggest yarn store in Tallinn). Buy a smarcard at any R-kiosk for 2 euros and a day ticket to public transportation for 3 euros. Alternatively you can take a cab that doesn't cost much, and both places are also within a walking distance if you are used to walking around.

Easter provided a good excuse to pick up my crochet hook again. After the success with my amigurumi fruits and vegetables I wanted to make some Easter decorations with left over yarns. I also wanted to make something for my sister, as we were going to visit her during Easter. I found a lovely pattern for a decorated Easter egg, and then I found this self-striping yarn in my stash and tried that with a simple egg pattern. I like them both, and so does Troll Princess, who actually threw a fit when she discovered that these amigurumi were not made for her and she explicitly told me that I wasn't allowed to give the little eggs to my sister. I might have to make a couple more of these.

Heute ist wieder RUMS Tag.

This month I have finished so many projects, that it made me feel uncomfortable already: what if I suddenly don't have the right project to knit when I need it? It's always good to be on the safe side and work on 10+ projects at any given time. So I've started some new things:


I had an idea about a shawl design long time ago already, but didn't like the way it turned out with the yarn that I used for the first version. Now that I found these lovely Malabrigo sock colors from Stockholm, I thought I'd give the idea another try. I can already say that it looks a lot better than my first try! The book is "Lasteni farina" (Story of my children) by Essi Kummu. It's a book about the early years of her prematurely born twins and how she was traumatized by everything that happened. Actually, the book is more about her trauma than about her children.


Easter is coming, so it's time to make some Easter decorations. I like the occasional crochet project, and making vegetables was so much fun that I wanted to continue with amigurumi and decided to make some Easter eggs this time. Getting rid of some old scrap yarn while at it! The book is "Viimeinen sana" (Last word) by Pärttyli Rinne, story of a school shooting. Pretty heavy stuff here to go with the pastel colored eggs, huh?


After knitting the Brassy bling bling hat I thought that I would frog the whole pullover I had made of the bling bling yarn earlier. It would be easier to use the yarn for other projects if it was unraveled and ready for use, right? Well, it's such a pain to unravel that yarn, that I gave up after half an hour or so. I was listening to a book while doing it, "Snabba cash" (Easy money) by Jens Lapidus. It's a crime story of Stockholm underground: drug dealers, trafficking in women, Yugoslav mafia. Definitely not my type of reading, but I do like to read these best sellers every now and then to know what people are talking about. Of course, the fact that it was a gift from an e-book service provider played a role in the choice of the book. I can see why it's been so popular, and I have to say that I have learned a lot of organized crime and money laundering by listening to it. Lapidus is a criminal defense lawyer, so I guess there's some truth to what his writing.


I'm still working on this dress for Troll princess. It hasn't been number one on my knitting queue, and I'm afraid the winter is going to be over before I finish it. I have to make it big enough so it will fit her next winter! In the kids' classics series we have started with "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by L. Frank Baum. The kids are loving it: yesterday Troll princess asked for a second chapter of Oz even if there was a choice of Frozen princess stories on the table! (They both get to choose one book/chapter/story every night.)

What about last month's projects? Well, I finished the tunic I was working on, and didn't even have to unravel anymore. I read the short stories by Katja Kettu, and started listening to the other book. We loved Ruby's adventures in coding and I'm hoping that my friend liked the cardi that I knit for his baby boy. I read the book about Ukraine, but I'm not sure if I really understand more about the situation there, except that it's a mess. The yarn for a second tunic is still waiting for its turn, even if the tunic turned out great. I have to knit something else for a change.

Joining Ginny's Yarn along.

Knitty Spring+Summer 2016 issue is live! Full of beautiful designs, including one of mine: Dubrovnik cardigan.

This cardigan got its inspiration on a journey along the Adriatic coast of Croatia, Montenegro and Albania in Southeastern Europe. It’s a perfect accessory for an evening by the sea as the sun is setting and a slight breeze makes you want to cover your shoulders.

For the past decade or two I've had this brassy bling bling yarn, Novita Byzantine, in my stash. A true retro yarn! For the first decade or so, I had no idea what to do with the yarn. Then at some point, most likely when I was a student and short on cash, I decided to knit a sweater with the yarn. After seeing the result, the thing stayed unfinished in my stash for another decade or so. And then one morning in the subway I saw someone with a hat knitted in similar bling bling yarn! Now the only problem was that the yarn is pretty thick (77m/50g), but the fiber content doesn't make it that warm (28% mohair, 27% polyamide, 24% polyester, 14% acryl, 7% wool). I had to get some warm fibers to make the hat as warm as it looks like, so I added some alpaca and wool to the mix. I think the result is pretty cool, but I'm afraid that we are almost done with the winter here so testing in freezing temperatures will have to wait until next winter. We did get some nice wet snow for the photo shoot, though!


As I had some yarn left after knitting the hat, I decided to knit something from my knitting queue: The Wham Bam Thank You Lamb Neckwarmer by Susan Chang. For this one I combined all three yarns to get (almost) the gauge required. Of course, half way through, I ran out of the alpaca wool. As I didn't want to buy more yarn for this project I simply picked a similar weight black yarn from my stash. It's either a wool/polyamide mix or 100% wool - no clue of yarn name to be found.



These two made a nice little retroyarn stash busting project in between other things. And now I only have about 7 skeins worth of the lovely bling bling yarn left - in sweater format. Anyone in need of some bling bling? You are welcome to come and rip all you need. Take my word for it, this yarn doesn't unravel easily.



Instructions

The hat is knitted with wrong side facing you. After finishing, turn the hat to have purl side out.

Cast on 70 sts on smaller needles in Byzantine. Knit 4 rows in garter stitch. Switch to larger needles and join in the round. Knit every other row with Byzantine, every other row with Alpaca Wool and Alpaca Superlight combined.

Continue until the entire piece measures 18 cm (or desired length). Decrease 7 sts evenly. Knit 4 rows, decrease 7 sts evenly, knit 2 rows, decrease 7 sts evenly, knit 1 row. Last row: *k1, k2tog*, repeat. Break yarn, pull the yarn through sts, tighten. Sew garter stitch edge seam. Weave in the ends.