StashDiva

FO's

2011-03-18T19:55:00.001Z

I have FO's !! I finished the Stockholm scarf and both the Bella's mittens and hat :) no pices as usual but hopefully that will change.

I started on a little lace shawl called Lazy Katy a cleverly constructed but easy and it shows off the long stripes in my Cranberry Zauberball perfectly. I am using mods that I found on Ravelry to omit the double row of eyelets that are on the shorter end of the shawl edging and it looks good so far. I think this will be finished soon as it is knit on 4.5 mm needles.

I am also looking my stash for other projects and there are a few that I am thinking about, I feel the need for something beaded so probably a shawl of some sort.

Video Podcasts

2011-03-16T20:35:00.002Z

For those of you who know my personally and probably others too, you know that I can't knit or spin without watching or listening to something. Right now I am alternating between watching lots os Scifi TV series and Video Podcasts. I

just finished a watching Firefly again and still trying to figure out why there was only one season it is such a great show. Before that I watched all the Stargate series SG1, Atlantis and now I am watching SGU as it runs.

As for Video Podcasts I try to keep up with them but there are so many new cropping up that I probably don't know about yet. My all time fav and one of the longes running is Round The Twist with Carin. I love her show and it always inspires my to knit, lucky for me she is on a yarn diet so no temptations there as I am on one myself.

If you have not tryed those type of podcasts I highly recommend them as they are fun and you always see some new things and watching what other people are knitting is also alway inspiring.
Most of thoes shows have Ravelry groups and are on Itunes as well for those of you who prefer that. I usually just watch them on the blogsites.

As for knitting I am still working on the Stockholm Scarf but I am at the finishing line, the laceweight of doom is not getting much love but I am almost done with the first strand of the 3. I intend to take a brake between the strands and next up will probably be singles spun from some Falkland top dyed by Feltstudio here in the UK. I got this and 2 others of her tops at Woolfest last year so it is high time for them to be spun. David's fiber club from SCF is on it's way from Australia and I am looking forward to that as usual. My friend Jacqui who runs Spinning a Yarn is also having a fiber update later this month and I snagged one braid of super sorted BFL from ther at the last Spin A Rosie. I loveh her fiber and have a plastic box nearly full of it :)

A new Blogpost!!

2011-03-14T17:25:00.003Z

After 3 years of not blogging I am finally going to revive the blog! mostly for me to keep tally of what I am doing and hopefully get some pictures on. That is not going to happen for a while as my camera is not working :(

I moved to England at the start of last year so now I am much closer to a spinning community witch is great and I have made great friends here and living in England is generally wonderful. I miss my kids of course and my mum and my friends but a change is a good thing and being away from Iceland makes you see what is happening over there in a whole other light than when your sitting in the middle of all the scandals and corruption following the economic crash.

But back to knitting, this is my list of finished objects of the year since I came back from my Christmas holiday in Iceland on the 8th of January:

Lopisweater Hermann	Lopi
Lopisweater Sonja	Lopi
Lopisweater Hulda	Lopi
Lopisweater Abbie 6 years	Lopi
Lopisweater Ben 8 years	Lopi
Merit Beret Kiz	Lopi
Thorpe Chris	Lopi
Hat Ben	Lopi
Hat Abbie	Lopi
Hat Harrison	Lopi
Hat Evie	Lopi
Hat Henri	Lopi
Merit Beret Sonja	Lopi
Merit Beret Hulda	Lopi
Hat Hermann	Lopi
Hat Elli	Lopi
Mittens Ben	misc
Mittens Abbie	misc
Mittens Harrison	misc
Mittens Evie	misc
Mittens Hermann	Lopi
Mittens Elli	Lopi
Shawl Haruni with 16 rows extra repeats	Polwarth Handspun Antartica SCF
Merit Beret Agusta	Handspun
Fair Isle mittens form a kit	Finnish wool
Tea Cosy from Ring A Rosie	Merino and glimmer yarns
Cardigan from Drops bluegreen	Merino Extra Fine Tebe yarn
Cardigan from Drops red	Merino Extra Fine Tebe yarn
Merit Beret for Sonjas mum	Lopi

I have also been spinning a lot and this is my tally for the same period:

My handdyed Shetland in red	Bulky	2 ply	80	yards
My handdyed BFL green and orange	Fingering	Singles	215	yards
SCF Polwarth Antartica blue/greenish	Heavy Lace	2 ply	540	yards
Commercial silk merino rose	Fingering	N plyed	425	yards
Merino Singles multicolored primary colors	Fingering	Singles	382	yards
Lunabudknits BFL Ace green/brown/pink	Worsted	2 ply	170	yards
Downland SAY purple/red/yeallow	Fingering	N plyed	245	yards
Downland SAY green/blues/yellow	Fingering	N plyed	332	yards
Corridale SAY gray/brown/orange	Fingering	N plyed	213	yards
Camel/Silk from Jaquie mother of pearl	DK	2 ply	186	yards
Organic Merino Cosmopolitan SCF	Fingering	Singles	472	yards
Merino/Tensel The Yarn Yard red/pink	Fingering	N plyed	302	yards
Probably Merino Pink/green/brown	DK	2 ply	146	yards
Merino Singles pink browns greens	Fingering	Singles	235	yards
Merino Multicolored	Lace	2 ply	835	yards
Probably Merino Pink/green/brown	Worsted	2 ply	298	yards
Lunabudknits batt with all kinds of fiber	Lace	2 ply	561	yards
BFL and Silk peackoc	DK	2 ply	194	yards
Downland SAY yelow/red/orrange	Fingering	3 ply	284	yards
Superwash merino red yellow orange black	Fingering	3 ply	478	yards
SAY Shetland in blues - blue merino	Bulky	3 ply	388	yards
		Total	6981

On my needles now is a Stockholm Scarf of Sonja my sons Hermann's GF and a Tappan Zee cardi for me in burnt orange. On the wheel is a batt from SCF that I am spinning into 1300 yards single for one of 3 plyes of fingering weight to knit the Galadriels Mirror Shawl in a KAL in the SCF group on Ravelry.

I have now recovered

2008-04-03T17:29:00.010Z

nicely from that nasty case of Romantica and I am now listening to books by James Rollins where the men are manly and the women are deadly. This is the author that wrote the story/script for the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
While recovering I managed to buy a lot of Posh Yarn that is seriously addictive and I also completed the first 10 kilometers in the Eat.Sleep.Knit yarn marathon. This marathon is just my kind of sport so no wonder I am currently in first place and I even got a badge to prove it!

Between shopping sprees I have managed to knit Laminaria from Knitty, and it looks wonderful even unblocked. I knit it with Baby Lucia from Posh Yarn and this yarn is turning out to be one of my absolute favorites.

I am now knitting Mrs. Lamberts stole from Victorian Lace Today while waiting for David I NZ to get his yarn so we can start our mini KAL, knitting the Knitted Veil from VLT.
I am also going to do the Swallowtail KAL with my Posh Yarn group on Ravelry and I have the yarn and the beads picked out.

To enable all this yarn buying I have been destashing like mad on Ravelry, purging my stash of everything that I am never going to use and turn the money from that into yarn I will love and it has been a great success so far.

Love is in the air....

2008-03-21T23:27:00.005Z

or so it seams since it is almost spring, or it might be just the 4 Nora Roberts romances I listened to in a row. Personally I have not even had a whiff of it, so I have been thinking and wondering about those date sites, ma by they have one for farmers in Wales or Scotland, I could work with that I think, and I really, really like to relocate.

I am of course picturing here the dark brooding Heathcliff type strolling along the moors. But then again, I am afraid of sheep's and the brooding types would probably drive me batty in no time.

What I have come up with is a list of things that qualify me as a great catch without interrupting my knitting time too much. The things in the brackets are the things they don't need to know about.

I can have a hot meal on the table every evening ( why do you think they make all those TV dinners, It doesn't take a rocket scientist to push the buttons on the microwave )
I keep a clean house ( just give me the number of the nearest cleaning service and I can knit while they clean )
I am interested in cars ( Is it pretty, is it shiny, is it RED, those kind of questions show a definite interest to me + you can knit while driving around looking at cars.
I adore men who like to watch football every weekend over the season ( as long as it is far, far away from home in a pub somewhere and I can knit in piece and quite at home )
I understand completely that men have to go to the pub and meet their mates a few times a week ( that counts towards lots of quiet evenings with my knitting )
I like men who have hobbies, I am thinking power tools and other expensive things here ( this will kill the Stash discussion in no time )
I am very mild tempered and sweet ( as long as I get things my way and you don't make me mad )
I like macho men ( this is just for the fun factor, I like to see a grown men cry after I give them a piece of my mind about that macho crap.
I like S.E.X ( I don't have to disclose that the sex in question is an acronym for buying more stash.

So what do you think, am I a great marriage material or what.

Meet the Stash

2008-03-20T23:25:00.008Z

Since I have been blogging for a while now I only think it's proper for you all to meet the stash that is the source of my nickname. So here it goes, first I like to introduce the Stash Wall, all the ugly stuff, the average stuff and most of my sweater yarn lives in the Ikea boxes, the plastic ones are reserved for more quality yarns and the one with the top open is where most of my Posh and Yarn Chef stash lives. The bale on the floor is where the FO's go until I decide what to do with them or in the case of lace until I block them.

Next up is the mini stash wall and some of the books, magazines and binders that can also qualify as stash with a little bit of my cross stitch stash spelling out of it's hiding place. There also seams to be a few of my scissors hanging out there with the books and the tiny speck on the floor is a basket with fabric that has the ambition to become project bags when I get the urge to give the sewing machines a whirl.

The next one is the stash that lives in a part of the closet, its very shy and delicate as it is mostly cobweb yarns in silks and cashmere. The stash does take up more closet space but its not housebroken yet so it stays locked up for now.

Last but not the least is the not so tiny wire basket holds all kinds of yummy sock yarn, it stacks 4 balls high so it packs a lot of punch when it is let out of the closet.

Now that you all have been introduced you can safely say hi to the stash in the comments and I will pass it along.

A friendly disclaimer from the Guardian of The Stash:
You may covet The Stash, but if stuff starts to disappear I will be forced to take measures. Since I know who you are and where you life the punishment will be the following, the most horrible yarn in the Stash including the cursed carpet yarn will be sent your way. When you have knitted that up the leftover stock of MCY will appear at your house and we all know how that stuff behaves in the dark, so you will have it on your hands for the rest of your life.

The Garden Party is over

2008-03-18T13:45:00.007Z

and done with except for blocking of course, I finished the shawl this morning and now it is resting with the six other unblocked shawls in my FO basked. I highly recommend this pattern for those who like lace since it is clear and flawlessly written and charted. There are also other bautiful patterns by it's designer Laura of Fiber Dreams and I am planning on knitting some of them soon.

This is a picture of it in its unblocked clory , this will be a big shawl once blocked I am sure and below is a close up of the part where the leaf section and the rest of the shawl meet.

Now I am off to knit Laminaria from Knitty, in fact I have already cast on, so now I am off to knit on it.

Knitting on the edge

2008-03-14T17:40:00.005Z

I like to knit dangerously, this means amongst other things that I sometimes start projects without being sure if I have enough yarn to finish them.

I came very close to disaster this week when I knit the Baby Sweater on Two Needles from Knitter's Almanac. When all knitting was done and the buttons sewed on I only had a tiny, tiny bit left.

I have always wanted to make this sweater but I have found it to be a bit wide especially the sleeves. So when I took into account that I would probably not have enough yarn I fudged a bit. I omitted the second pattern repeat increase on the sleeves and body. I like the outcome and it suited the yarn Emily from Posh Yarn and needles #4.5 fine. I even found buttons in my button jar for the sweater.

I am also knitting on the Garden Party shawl and I finished with the body of the shawl and now I have to knit the edging. This shawl is a fun knit and I highly recommend it since it's constructed a lot differently than most shawls. I have been trying out some things whit the start of the border but have not decided on the final solution.

The perfect pattern

2008-03-11T19:57:00.003Z

has been found for the psychedelic carpet yarn, if this is not a match made in heaven I don't know what is!

The only downside to this beauty is that I don't imagine that it is good for sunbathing since the mesh pattern would give you a very interesting tan to say the least.

For those of you that wish to buy this pattern I am sad to inform you that it is sold out since it was published in Carina a German magazine in 1986.

It might also need some adjustments since it is clearly not geared towards today's fake silicon boobs, but it will certainly showcase any naval piercing the wearer might have.

That said, I have finished the socks from last posting and I have also finished the Baby Sweater on Two Needles from Knitter's Almanac.
So now I can really get the Garden Party shawl going, but as I seam to have a very short attention span something else might take my fancy so stay tuned for the next installment of awful yarns and obscure patterns.

Finally....

2008-03-09T14:20:00.005Z

I have green thumb's, courtesy of the sock yarn I am currently knitting. I wonder if this will make my two remaining plants feel better since I usually possess what can only be described as the "black fingers of death" when it comes to them.

This yarn is a commercially dyed sockyarn that is designed to stripe in alternate colors of greens, blues and yellow and they must use some heavy duty dyes since I can't get it off my hands with anything. I think I will just keep on knitting until I finish the pair since I don't want this to rub of onto my other knitting.

On the never ending stash logging into Ravelry front, I am pleased to say that I only have two more boxes to go. Along the way I have discovered some really strange yarn in my stash and this is a fine example

I have been wondering what sort of drugs the designer was on when he made it, but hey they must have been pretty good :-)
I am not kidding when I say that the colors and texture of this yarn has lead my to the conclusion that somewhere there was a huge stockpile of psychedelic 70' shag carpets and someone had the great idea to cut it into tiny strings and market it as novelty yarn.

Edited for obvious reasons:
After realizing that the yarn above could put my sanity into question since I bought it, I can only say in my defence that it was in a online sale that just said xx$ for xx amount of yarn on cones.

Knitters and Cats

2008-03-03T22:29:00.006Z

Since joining Ravelry I have discovered that lots of knitters have cats, why that is I have no idea, I guess furry purring things appeal to knitters.
Since I have the lofty aspirations to become one of those old lady's that were strange outfits and live in a house full of yarn and cats when I grow up I can totally understand this.

Lots of us have our cats as avatars and I love to see them, but when it became my turn to choose an avatar the choice was simple. I had to choose between my ugly mutt and the Cat and of course the Cat is a lot more photogenic than I am, even my mom says so!

But anyway me and the Cat had a photo beauty contest and the Cat won hands down, especially since his highness usually can be found draped over some of my luxury yarns, like the Mongolian Cashmere and the Silks and Merino lace yarn etc. Somehow I don't think that a picture of me draping myself over a large amount of pure cashmere would beat that, it would probably scare off small children and we don't want that do we.

The only problem with knitting and a Cat is that all my knitting includes cat hair, there is no way around it, it just sneaks into whatever I am knitting. So for the "lucky" recipients of my finished objects please note that they are both knitted with love AND cat hair.

That said I have been spending a lot of time on Ravelry and I have been sucked into reading threads that I could not have imagined that I would be interested in, like the dreaded Copyright issue. Someone would say that this would be a very intellectual debate with lots of legal stuff and boring as hell but it is sooo much more. This is usually the treads where some heavy duty mud slinging takes place, it only takes one member to say something like "if the pattern is out of print I see no harm in copying it for a friend" and off we go, everybody and their brother on their high horses.

Personally I like to buy my patterns and I know a lot about the does and dont's of copyrights but I can also understand that not all people have this knowledge and I am not personally offended if someone is clueless about it, but that just me.

I also spend a good amount of my Ravelry time looking at other peoples projects and some days I just want to hide my needles and yarn I feel so unworthy when looking at all those amazing things knitters have made. But usually I just make a resolution to be a better knitter, someday.....

Baby Knitting

2008-03-02T15:01:00.003Z

I knitted two of those sets and love the yarn, it is Mulligatawny from the Yarn Chef and since the colors of the yarn did all the talking I chose a pattern that would highlight the yarn without taking it over. The sweater pattern is the Seamless Yoked Baby Cardigan from Knitting on The Net and its a free pattern by Carole Barenys

Next up is a Girls sweater in the same yarn but different pattern and color and I have somehow been sucked into join the Garden Party KAL on the Posh Knitters board on Ravelry, this shawl has a very intresting construction and will be fun to knit. I probably will knit it at a snails pace but thats ok by me.

I have also been knitting some socks and here are the lates ones.

Horrible winter

2008-02-24T21:56:00.007Z

I am sick and tired of this horrible winter, I think I was born in the wrong country since I have always hated the dark winters and I am also not too fond of the bright summer nights either. I prefer to have as sharp definition of night and day as in most other countries.
I really can't say what the Vikings where thinking when they settled in this place, but then again there were probably not so many places for them to go to since they were evading taxes and authority of all kinds.

My knitting also suffers from the weather, I am not able to knit lace and it is really hard with all the projects that I have planned and the wonderful yarn I have for them. In the meantime I have been looking for material about Herbert Niebling but have not found much, I wish I could read German so I could do this properly so perhaps I should be studying that instead of grumbling about things that I can not change.

This said I can still knit socks and I have a few knitted up this year and baby clothes, I have some knitted up but lots more planned so that should keep me busy for some time. I am also trying to finish logging my stash on Ravelry, bad pictures and all and I have still a few boxes to do. No pictures this time around, since I can't remember where I put the sock trees but I will find them eventually.

P.S.
After writing this post I felt a lot better, wallowing in self pity is not something I recommend but sometimes it feels good to grumble and then move on to better things :-) on that note take a look at this amazing beauty, I bow to Fleegle and her knitting skills withs never fail to keep me interested in the world of lace and wonderful yarn.

The package is found

2008-02-07T02:04:00.000Z

Since I last wrote complaining about my lost package, they seam to have found it. At least there was someone at the door on Thursday with the package. So here is what was in the package, two wonderful skeins of laceyarn from The Wollemeise

Pósturinn "Allur pakkinn"

2008-01-25T17:22:00.000Z

Ranting mode on:
Here in Iceland the Post Office, Íslandspóstur has this slogan, Pósturinn, allur pakkinn, roughly translated it means the Post Office "All the package" supposedly meaning their very good service. I would like to offer them a new one, Pósturinn "where is the package?"
What happened is this, in October I ordered two skeins of lace yarn from the Wollemeise, one for a Mystery KAL that started late October and another one just to pet :-)
In late October there was no package and I had to use another yarn, I just figured out that there must have been some delay, this often happens with packages from Germany, since they send them more often than not by ground mail.
In November I was getting pretty tired of waiting and still no package, then I got an email from Claudia the Wollemeise asking if I had not wanted the yarn after all because she had just gotten it returned to her.
I told her that I had been waiting and that the Post Office had told me it had not arrived. She gave my the tracking number and armed with that I phoned the Post Office information desk, where I was promptly told that a package with this tracking number hand arrived and since they had not gotten any invoice for the goods they had returned it to sender after the required waiting period.
When asked who was the recipient they told me a name of a person that I have never heard of and was certainly not written on the package. The conclusion was that by some glitch the package had been entered into the computer system wrongly and they were really sorry.
I wrote to Claudia and told her what had happened and she was so kind to offer to send my the package again without me paying additional postage. This was on December 4th, on December 17th I received a request for invoice and send it right away, thinking that I would get the yarn the next day. Not so, after the package was processed for delivery on the 17th of December no one has seen it and it can't be found anywhere.
Now they have given up on looking for the package and are filing it as lost and if I am lucky I will get a dollar or two in compensation.
I wish I could change to another service but oh no, this is the only one here for regular mail so I am stuck with it, their service is going so fast downhill that you have to be on your toes to actually get your package delivered, six times this past two months the delivery people have not bothered to ring the bell and actually deliver the package but have put a notice in the mail box that nobody was at home, witch was not the case.
I would suggest that the overzealous marketing gurus would try to get familiar with the workings of the system they are peddling instead of coming up with empty slogans that promise everything and deliver little.

Ranting mode off:
on the knitting front I have finished clue #4 of the Spring shawl sureprice and it is looking very pretty, the photo is lousy as usual but this gives at least the general idea.

Progress Report and RSC 2008 here I come

2008-01-18T02:25:00.001Z

Regarding my January goals I am managing slowly to work towards them, since they include a lot of lace this is no speed knitting so I am fairly happy about my progress so far. I have started and finished the clues that are up on Spring Shawl sureprice, I have started the Civil War Shawl and I am also current on that one, I have knit more then the riquired sock for January and they where knit from stash.

I am also knitting on the Peacock feathers shawl but not much progress there and I have found both yarn and pattern for an Aran sweater that is going to be either for my brother or my oldest son. I am also knitting a hooded baby sweater for my grand daughter out of Smooshy from Dream in Color and I opted for the 2 year size since she is a big baby ( 10 kilos at 6 months ).

I also managed with the help of one of my best friends to buy the membership for the Rocking Sock Club 2008, she is a great enabler and since I was feeling sorry for myself and my now closed CC she put up the bulk of the money for the club, ( Note to self: Remember to knit her a lot of goody things this year )
No pictures of my knitting this week only of the cat where he demonstrates his excellent taste in yarn by taking up residence in a basket with balls of cashmere and silk yarn.

camouflage socks

2008-01-11T18:32:00.000Z

My oldest son wants a new hunting sweater, he accidentally put his old one that I knit many years ago into the washer at much to high temperature and it now would fit a 10 year old. He was asking about camouflage yarn but I am not going to buy yarn for a sweater so I said that I could knit him socks in such yarn and here they are.

I have also started the Spring shawl sureprice and I am 20 rows into that one using Creme Brulee yarn in Spring grass from the Yarn Chef on Etsy.

Two red monkeys

2008-01-09T22:04:00.000Z

I just finished the red monkey socks I was knitting, so more yardage towards the January knit a mile goal. Now I have to decide on what to do next...

January knit a mile challenge

2008-01-08T22:30:00.000Z

In the Stash Knitdown in 2008 there is a January knit a mile challenge, actually it runs for six weeks ending on February 19th. I started the challenge with Monkey socks and then moved on to Garter Rib socks and now I am off to knit more Monkey socks. When they are done, I am casting on more of the shawls I have in my January coals and I guess I end up with more than a mile in the six weeks of the challenge mixing shawl knitting and sock knitting.

Look who came for a visit

2008-01-06T18:47:00.000Z

Yesterday my son, his wife and my six month old granddaughter came for a visit, since they life in Akureyri in the north of Iceland I don't get to see them too often.

While visiting Dagjört Rós became hungry and was very happy to get some food as you can see.

On the knitting front I have now logged one Ikea box into Ravelry so that part of my January goal is down. I am also knitting a Monkey sock that will take care of my one sock of the month goal.
I have also not bought yarn since the 31 of December, that was pretty hard to resist today as Posh Yarn had their Sunday update and they had some colors and yarn that I really wanted.

A new year and a new post

2008-01-03T00:36:00.000Z

Happy new year to all my friends near and far and I hope that 2008 will be a good one for all of you.
I have been busy knitting and getting my craft room under control and uploading some of my stash into Ravelry. That task is far from done but I have high hopes to finish it before spring :-)
I finished the Mystic Waters shawl today and it was a pleasure to knit, I knit it in Creme Brulee from the Yarn Chef on Etsy and it was amazing to knit with and came out even prettier than I excpected.
I am on the last clue in the Mystery Shawl #6 from Goddess Knits and it is a very simple and elegant pattern, I choose to make that in Icelandic yarn called Kambgarn and it is a fairly heavy shawl but will be warm.
When I am done with that shawl I will try to spend a little time organizing my future knitting and the KALs and Mysteries that I am participating in.
Everything that requires needles below 3.5 mm or there about is out for now because my hands can't handle any smaller except for my sock needles that I have bent into shape to suite my hands and don't hurt me at all, at least if I don't go overboard on sock knitting.
I have made a few new years resulutions regarding my knitting and stitching and hope to stick to at least some of them, so I didn't make them to hard to do :-) So here goes:

Don't buy yarn unless I have to, to finish a project or something like that
Don't buy any cross stitch materials the only exception being the series from SamSarah and Lizzy Kate that have monthly installments.
List my stash on Ravelry and get rid of yarn that I don't want any more. To be able to do this I bought a McMorran scale to be able to estimate the yardage on yarn that has no information about yardage and such on it. This will help me shop my stash as I will know if I have enough for a project or not.
Finish all my mystery knitting and Knit A Longs that I am participating in as far as I am able to.

For January I made a seperate list with smaller goals sort of sub goals

Put at least a one box worth of stash on Ravelry from the Ikea storage boxes that I have, I thought that I had only 14 but I counted them and *blush* they turned out to be 18, and I won't start any project with yarn that has not been put into my stash on Ravelry.
~~Start the Spring Shawl Surprice, I have the yarn ready to go on that one and the first clue is out.~~
~~Start the Secret of the Stole #2 that will start later this month and I am also all set with yarn and needles for that one.~~
Start the January Knit A Long on the Victorian Lace To Day group on Yahoo and its sister group on Ravelry. I am not quite sure what pattern I choose but I have yarn for all four of the patterns that we can choose from
~~Knit a sock in January with my sock a month group on Ravelry, and also use that as the project for the Socks from Stash club KAL on Blogspot.~~
Start the Dem fischer sin fru mystery KAL, I have the yarn ready and I am all set to start later this month.
~~Start the Civil War shawl KAL~~
Start the Pretty as a Peacock KAL that is starting now, I have specially dyed yarn from the Yarn Chef and it is just waiting to be started. I am also on the KAL blog for this shawl so I will post there as well.
~~Find yarn and pattern for an Aran Sweater for my brother and maby start on that a little if I find anything he likes.~~
~~Start the Peacock Feathers shawl from Fiddlestick that has a KAL going on Ravelry~~

Note that I only said start those things, nothing about keeping up even tho the end goal is to finish along the same time as everybody else or as close to as possible.

Hopefully when the weather gets warmer my hands will allow me to start both the Princess shawl and the Lyra by Niebling, but until then the yarn and the needles for that will have to wait.
Well I will keep you posted on how this goes as far as the goals I have set but I have as always high hopes and there is all of January left so I am optimistic.

Book meme

2007-10-23T15:04:00.000Z

I was tagged both by Linda and Sonja so I think it is a sign to do this :-)

1: Hardcover or paperback, and why?

Both, for example craft books that I use a lot I prefer hardcover since they can stand a lot more abuse, but otherwise paperbacks because they are cheaper.

2: If I were to own a book shop, I would call it...

The cabinet of curiosities, where I would stock all kinds of book and have a combo of coffeeshop / knitting and stitching room

3: My favorite quote from a book (mention the title)

I can't remember the exact quote to put in here but it is from the Unbearable lightness of being by Milan Kundera

4: The author (alive or deceased) I would love to have lunch with would be...

Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child (they co author so I put them as one)

5:If I was going to a deserted island and could bring only one book, except for the SAS survival guide, it would be...

The Bible, not because I am a born again Christian or such but it has all kinds of stories and poems in it and would probably last a long time and be an inspiration as well

6: I would love someone to invent a bookish gadget that...

Would clean the house so I could just sit and read or listen to audio books while I stitch or knit.

7: The smell of an old book reminds me of...

Happiness, I am always happy in bookstores and with books

8: If I could be the lead character in a book (mention the title) it would be...

I am not sure

9: The most overestimated book of all times is...

hmm, can't say all books have their merits I think

10: I hate it when a book...

Ends, especially the really good ones.

I tag Hafrún and Ásdís

I did it!

2007-10-19T02:14:00.001Z

Finally I did what I have been wanting to to for more than 10 years, I bought a spinning wheel. A Louet S10 at a very good price, it is used but has has been gone over and everything is tip top. I cant wait to get it and think about all the wonderful rovings and tops that are out there ready to spin *drool*

As for other thing I haven't done much as I have been sick and have been reading a lot and not doing any knitting or stitching.
My stash however has grown and I will post pictures soon of the loot.

Monkey Socks

2007-10-09T21:37:00.001Z

Well one more pair of Monkey socks down. I am still on row 10 of the Madeira Lace in the Shetland Tea Shawl and as it is knitted over nearly 600 stitches it is slow going.

Not Dead just MIA

2007-10-09T01:10:00.001Z

I have been a bad, bad blogger and now it is time to see the error of my ways and start again. There are reasons why I haven't felt up to blogging but I won't go into them here. I have been knitting and cross stitching however and have managed to do a lot of things that I am very satisfied with including finishing the backstitching on three UFO'S that had been waiting for some time. But what else has been happening? I will go over the most important ones in chronological order:

1. My friend Linda gave me this wonderful scissor fob, I stole the pictures from her blog because she is a much better at photographing than I am and I want to do it justice. Since I got it I haven't lost my scissors one time and for those that know my that is saying something, so thank you Linda for this amazingly beautiful thing and for being my friend.

2. I became a grandmother for the very first time, this is one of the best feelings that I have ever had and I thank my oldest son and daughter in law for the wonderful gift of making my a granny at the ripe old age of 45. Dagbjört Rós was born on June 21 and is a healthy and of course a beautiful baby girl.

3. I went to Heidelberg and had a great time and one of the highlights of my trip was to meet Holly of Proseknitic.de and spend an afternoon with her talking and knitting. I thank her for the hospitality and her generosity which has added to my stash and hope I will someday be able to repay her in kind if she ever travels my way. The picture is from her blog as my pictures were somehow lost.

4. I went to Akureyri and visited my son and his family and had a great time getting to know my granddaughter and see their new apartment and left feeling certain that they are happy and healthy and are on to a great start with their new role as parents.
I also met my daughter in laws mother and she is a very accomplished knitter and she showed my photos of some amazing stuff she has done and of course I saw the beautiful things she had made for Dagbjört Rós.

5. I went to a stitching weekend with my Icelandic cross stitching group at a summer cottage in the country and had a great time. Since I am not the most outgoing person I was somewhat reluctant to go but thanks to my friend Guðbjörg who was one step ahead of all my excuses for not going so I went. I am very lucky to have such a great friend and she has been a true friend to my this last months and I just want to say that anyone who has a friend like her is a very lucky person indeed.

5. I finished the 52 pair plunge, that is to say I knitted 52 pairs of socks in 6 months, half the alloted time for the challenge. I am very proud of this although most of the socks are very plain and not at all challenging. But it gave me something to focus on and that has been a very good thing. Here is a link to pictures of the 52 pairs.

So now I have dealt with the highlights of what has been going on as far as I can remember anyway and as for what I am doing now is that I am still knitting socks and have started the Shetland Tea Shawl from a Gathering of Lace and it is coming along nicely, pictures will follow soon.
I am also stitching on a Christmas mystery SAL in my Icelandic stitching group Allt í Kross and that is great fun. I have also listened to many great audio books and am currently listening to Curiosity Killed the Cat sitter by Blaze Clement and enjoying that very much.

I joined Ravelry a few weeks back and have a great task ahead of my putting in projects and getting some of my stash cataloged, this is a great community and I only wish that there was on like that for cross stitcher's as well.
But all "good" things come to an end and I think I have covered every thing in this blog up to now and hopefully I will be better at blogging once I started again.

Needleroll from Guðbjörg

2007-04-20T08:12:00.001Z

Guðbjörg gave me this wonderful needlerool yeserday as the first day of summer present, and because she knew that I needed cheering up.
It is much more beautiful up close, but thanks Guðbjörg for brigthen my day and being such a good friend always.

52 pair plunge, socks # 12

2007-04-20T01:41:00.001Z

Tigerstripes socks for my daughter Hulda Sveindís
Made out of Skacel Tramboline Stretch, that has 70% wool, 7% polyester and 23% nylon in it. Lovely yarn to knit with, probably as good as I have at least three more of those to make
.
Linda I was thinking about naming them Tigershark socks after the jocke on Beauty and the Geek the other day :-)

52 pair plunge, socks # 11

2007-04-18T21:36:00.001Z

Those socks are knit from the new Crystal Palace Panda Cotton, which is a 55% Bamboo, 24% cotton and 21% elastic nylon blend. The pattern is yarn over cables and the size is womans medium and the pair took almost 2 skeins, Hulda is very happy with them and says they feel wonderful.
When knit up this yarn is wonderful but knitting with it is not a pleasure as it splits awfully.

52 pair plunge, socks # 10

2007-04-16T11:41:00.001Z

Regular selfstriping sockyarn, orignin unknown but guess OnLine. Cast on 56 stitches and knit with short row heel.
I am thinking about knitting up two or four more pairs now for the plunge and then move on to other things like shawls and scarfs.
But it is hard to resist knitting socks when you have a stash full of wonderful yarn that you want to know how looks knitted up :-)

52 pair plunge, socks # 9

2007-04-15T21:43:00.001Z

Another pair of Monkey socks, made out of Lisa Souza Berry Poppins colorway. I love her yarn it knits up like a dream.

52 pair plunge, socks # 8

2007-04-15T21:32:00.001Z

Those socks were a gift for my friend Linda, done out of Regia Silk with a simple yarn over cable pattern from Sensational Knitted Socks.
You can also see that I got my sock blockers from Chappy's Fiber Arts and Crafts on Ebay, l got those and a set in men's size and also blockers for knee socks.

I got a package this morning and had to go to customs

2007-04-13T12:33:00.000Z

For those of you that don't know, the customs officials here in Iceland bring out the worst in me. I hate going there if there is something that is not strait forward and I have to deal with them. Usually I just go with my invoice pay the VAT and go home with the newest addition to me stash, but not this morning.
I had been overcharged by a German seller due to a misunderstanding about Iceland being in the EU witch we are not. Therefore we are not required to pay VAT in the EU but pay it in Iceland instead, so he refunded the VAT that he had charged me and this did all go smoothly and I got my next order almost free due to the refund I had.
BUT explaining this to the customs officials even tho I had an invoice and a Credit Note was a whole other matter. I lost it pretty badly and told them that the only thing that I could compare to going there and have to deal with them would be taking a trip to hell.
I told told them that I didn't understand why they assumed that you were lying to them and I didn't like that, I probably said a few other words of wisdom as well ;-)
I also got packages from China and the US and had to explain them, one was a few hooks that had been missing from my order of knitting needles from China and the other was a package of Chinese yarn that I don't have a clue why I was getting as I had gotten all the yarn from this seller previously. I told them that and said that they should just keep it as it was not worth the bother. I also got a present from the US and they found this very suspicious but I guess that I am allowed to have friends because they let me have this package.
Acutally I got the hooks, the present and the Chinese yarn on my first trip to the customs, I guess they didn't like to upset me any further about the Chinese yarn after I hissed at one of them as he sliced open the package and damaged one of the balls.
After sending of 4 emails, 2 phone calls and printing out everything except a report on my love life I went to the customs office again and this time I got the German package, the customs official that I dealt with this time was actually nice and had a humor because he just handed me the package and said that now I could not say that they were not sometimes nice ;-)

52 pair plunge, socks # 7

2007-04-10T05:01:00.001Z

This is my first pair of Monkey socks now completed. I will be making more of those in the future as the pattern is easy and fun to knit.
I am now in the 26th episode of Star Trek TOS so there is still lots of knitting time left while I watch the rest of the series.

52 pair plunge, socks # 6

2007-04-09T00:39:00.001Z

Those are socks for Hulda Sveindis knit out of Regia sock yarn on needles nr. 2.25 mm. I cast on 56 stitches and knit ribbing for 25 rows then 50 rows and made a short row heel. Then knitted 60 rows before starting the toe decreases.
I am watching Star Trek, the orginal series and knitting and this is a fine way to spend the Easter weekend. I am amazed how well the series hold up after 40 years and how much fun they are still to watch.

Inside my Easter egg

2007-04-09T00:35:00.001Z

This was inside my Easter egg, lots of candy and the saying:
"Oft kemur góður þá getið er, svangur þá etið er og illur þá um er rætt"

My Easteregg!

2007-04-08T13:03:00.001Z

I am pretty exited about this, this is the first time in 10 - 15 years that I have gotten an Easteregg. The kids gave me this egg and for those of you not in Iceland it is the custom to give at least kids this kind of eggs for Easter.
The size varies of course but this look is on almost all the eggs, they are chocolate with all sorts of candy inside and a little paper piece with some traditional saying on it. This can be something like "The apple does not fall far from the tree" or such.
Anyways this is the biggest egg you can get I think and it is 750 grams of chocolaty goodness.
So if I don't post anything for a day or two you know what I am doing, pigging out on the chocolate instead of knitting :-)

The birthday boy

2007-04-08T00:53:00.001Z

Well my little baby has turned 16 years old, this photo was taken a few days ago when he was going to the annual school dance. I can't get over how fast time flies as I feel like I it was just yesterday that I brought him home from the hospital.

WIP #2

2007-04-08T00:48:00.003Z

This is how far I have got on the Monkey socks, I have started the heel flap and will probably finish the sock tomorrow and then start the other one. This pattern is super easy and very well written and I plan to knit all of CookieA patterns this year as I really like their constructions and also because they are beautiful.

WIP #1

2007-04-08T00:48:00.001Z

I have already finished one pair from the wip photo from thursday and have just the other sock to finish of this pair.

52 pair plunge, socks # 5

2007-04-08T00:47:00.001Z

Those were meant to be knitted in garter rib but the yarn is far to busy for that. I decided to knit them just plain to do justice to the wonderful yarn. The yarn is Emily sock yarn from Posh yarn, in the tapestry colorway and is 80% wool, 10% cashmere and 10% Angora. It is so wonderful to work with and will be equally wonderful to wear.

New WIP's

2007-04-06T02:21:00.001Z

I went to Guðbjörg this evening and started those three pairs of socks, I hope to finish at least on of the socks of each pair over the Easter. The Regia is a self patterning yarn, not pattern just mindless knitting, the other red yarn is the beginning of a Monkey sock and the multicolored yarn is for a pair with a garter stitch rib from the Sensational Knitted Socks book.

52 pair plunge pair # 4

2007-04-06T02:18:00.001Z

Those are the socks responsible for all the red color on my hands. I had no yardage for this yarn so I knitted them from the toe up. This is the first time I have done that and I really like this method.

Fresh from the kill....

2007-04-06T02:16:00.001Z

or not, but I wont be cross stitching any time soon as I don't dare to risk getting any of this dye on my stitching.

52 pair plunge, socks # 3

2007-04-05T16:25:00.001Z

These are top down, 64 stitches on 2.25 mm needles, k2p2 rib for 30 rows, knit 50 rows, short row heel and then knit 70 rows and start decreasing for the toe.
I have also on the needles, socks from Knitting vintage socks in a lace pattern and I am half way done with a pair of red plain socks for Hulda in Baby Camel yarn. I will probably finish those today and then the lace socks.
On the Cross stitching front nothing much is happening, but I went to Linda last night and she found the mistake I had made in the Angel of Healing so now I have no excuse not to stitch on that.
But wait I have an excuse my hands are looking like I have just murdered someone. This is the fault of the Baby Camel yarn that will get a good socking in Vinegar when they are done because the yarn bleeds allover the place.
So the lesson learned from this is, never knit with bleeding yarn if you want to cross stitch something delicate as I will probably have blood red hands for days.

My Easter project

2007-04-03T23:31:00.001Z

To tackle this mess will be my Easter project, I have books to sort and magazines and in general put things away so they are not literally hanging from every surface.
Hanging it out there for everyone to see will hopefully make my do it, even if I much rather be knitting or stitching :-)

New wip - Lady of the Mist

2007-04-03T23:29:00.001Z

I am just starting this, stitching it on light mocha 32ct . Belfast linen. The best part is that there is not a single strand of metallic thread so I have high hopes of actually finish it someday.

UFO - Angel of Healing

2007-04-03T23:28:00.001Z

I dragged this UFO out, I haven't stitched on it for almost one and a half year but I think I will have to face my fear of metallic threads and just finish it this year.

Sock in progress

2007-04-03T23:27:00.001Z

Why do two of my sons have size 13 feet, this gets very boring after a while, but I am starting the toe decreases now and then I will cast on the second sock.

Sock #2 in the 52 pair plunge

2007-04-03T00:32:00.001Z

I finished this socks tonight and now I am off to a more interesting stuff tho only mildly as I am now knitting Regia Ringel for my 18 year old.

Socks number 1 in the 52 pair plunge

2007-04-02T00:03:00.001Z

Another knee high sock for my daughter in law, womans medium, knit on 4mm needles starting with 52 stitches and decreasing down the calf to 44 stitches. I am almost done with the first sock of a second pair of thees in black for my youngest son in mens M/L

The 52 pair plunge

2007-04-01T00:54:00.002Z

Well here in Iceland it is after midnight so it is officially April 1rst and time to start the 52 pair plunge. I am kinds of exited about this and have been looking over patterns and books and there is only the problem of choosing from all those wonderful socks.
I will finish the red knee highs and then move on to one of the Regia plain socks for starters.

Regia yarn for plain socks

2007-04-01T00:54:00.001Z

This will also be a pair of socks for Hermann the 18 year old, he does not like anything fancy so I will probably get those out of the way before moving onto more exiting stuff.

Regia yarn for plain socks

2007-04-01T00:53:00.001Z

This will be a plain sock for my 18 year old

Wannabe Jaywalkers

2007-04-01T00:52:00.001Z

This yarn is for socks for my daughter and I will knit a pair of Jaywalkers out of it.

Yarn for more Knee high socks

2007-04-01T00:51:00.001Z

Actually one of the red are almost done and he and his mate will be the first pair in the 52 pair plunge.

My special stash

2007-04-01T00:47:00.001Z

This yarn will be used gradually through the year in the 52 pair plunge, there is much yarn goodness in there so I will probably do a boring sock and then treat myself to one of those wonderful skeins.

Pjakkur wanting some attention

2007-04-01T00:45:00.001Z

My cat thought that I had spent far to much time winding yarn and decided to take matter into his own paws.
The picture is blurred but you can see what he did.
He is almost 12 and spoiled rotten.

A sweater knitted top down

2007-04-01T00:44:00.001Z

This is a sweater for my daughter that I will probably finish tomorrow if I can get her to try it on for the correct length.

Sock in progress

2007-04-01T00:43:00.001Z

Since this picture was taken yesterday he is finished and happily residing with his mate in the sock basket.

Another view of my sockbasket

2007-04-01T00:41:00.003Z

My finished socks that I just have to weave in the yarn ends

2007-04-01T00:41:00.001Z

This is my sock basked where all the socks I have finished in sock weight yarn are currently staying until I weave in the ends.

Socks - sport weigth yarn

2007-04-01T00:39:00.003Z

I have knitted about 12 - 14 in different sizes, colors and such to date.

Socks - Worsted weigth yarn

2007-04-01T00:39:00.001Z

I have knitted about 12 - 14 pairs of this type of socks in different colors and sizes to date

Knee high socks

2007-04-01T00:38:00.001Z

I have been knitting those for my kids in, green, red, blue and black yarn like in the pictures and have almost finished my 8th pair.

In the mail yesterday

2007-03-31T21:02:00.000Z

In the mail yesterday were those huge boxes of yarn I had ordered. While I am very happy with it I am sort of wondering where to put it, but I will find someplace . Taking pictures of my new yarn is sort of a beginning of cataloging my stash and I hope to take more pictures soon and upload to my flickr album, to look at the newest addition to my stash click here

And so it begins

2007-03-31T10:38:00.000Z

First I like to say that I am a bad, bad blogger at least I have been in the past. My poor cross stitching blog has not been updated in a long time. In part it was because I didn't have a camera but mostly it was pure laziness.
I aim to do better now, especially since I have joined the 52 pair plunge and want to keep track of my knitting.
I will be uploading a few pictures in a moment of all the goodies that I got yesterday in the mail. I plan also to add pictures of my stash on my flickr and by that get some firm grasp on what lurks in the depths of all the boxes that are stored wherever there is space.