The Scottish Lamb

Tone It Down!

I'd mentioned in my last post that my order of Gjestal Naturgarn arrived from Elann.  I bought It's going to be the Hans sweater from Best of Lopi (pg 95).  I bought Primary Red, Indigo and Off-White.  The red and indigo were really bright for the muted red, white and blues I wanted to do.  I'd done tea-staining before on Daniel's patriotic quilt but didn't think that would work on the yarn.  I didn't have that much tea in the house anyway.  I do have a lot of dyes though.  I "tea-stained" them with a little golden brown acid-wash in my dye crockpot.   I'm happy to report that it worked perfectly.  I took some photos but it's really hard to get the true colors to show on a monitor.  The red is pretty close but the blue isn't as dark as it looks.   

The yarn for the Hardangervidda still isn't here (this is killing me) so I needed to start on something else.  The yarn for the Hans was still wet so I cast on Rust Gjestal Naturgarn (can you tell this is another of my faves) for the Lopi Gansey for Joseph.  It's Reynold's Lopi Pattern 402.  I just did a search for it on the web and can't find it.

Dan had the day off yesterday so we went down to the Marktplatz.  This vest needed buttons so we took it with us.  Dan found the perfect edelweiss buttons for it. 

The yarn is a German yarn I bought in Würzburg so it's only fitting the buttons be German too.

The pattern is Cables 101 and can be purchased from Big Sky Knitting.

It's a very good beginner cable pattern and there's a KAL going on here.

How cute are these pj's?!  Germany does flannel jammies well.  Click here to see the ones I bought last year. 

Deep Breath... Ready... Snip

It's a good thing Shelley saw my plea for more gray Gjestal Superwash on the Elann chat site!  Here's how far I got on the 2nd sleeve of the Hardangervidda before running out.  So, so close.  But then there's still the small bit of gray needed for the zipper placket and the neckband.

I figured while I was waiting for the extra gray, I might as well get the scary part over with.  The old sew n' cut.  There's just something not natural about the words knit and cut together.  I think I'm allergic because I just about break out in hives every time I have to do it.

There's also something about trying to get good pictures with a digital in the dark dreary days of winter in Germany.  I did my best.  Here we go...

First the sewing.  I used blue thread so you could see a little easier but you won't be  able to see it when I'm finished.  This is the zipper placket.  It's much easier to see from the bobbin side.  Time for a deep breath....  ready....  snip.....

Here's the finished cut.  You won't see all those little ends when I'm finished.  There's a facing knit into the top of the sleeve that will fold over those cuts and the zipper will cover the placket ones.

I very rarely cast off at the shoulder as most patterns direct you to do.  I almost always put it on a scrap of yarn and when I'm finishing I do a three-needle bind off.  Not only does it make a nice sturdy seam, it looks great too.  You can see both the right and wrong sides here:

Hopefully the gray will arrive tomorrow from it's long journey over the Atlantic and I can finish this up this weekend. 

An order of Gjestal Naturgarn arrived that I ordered from Elann last week.  I bought It's going to be the Hans sweater from Best of Lopi (pg 95).  Why do I do this instead of getting a project from the stash?  I do not know..... 

A Day Late and A Dollar Short

I haven't gotten a lot of knitting done in the past couple of days, but I did finish the shrug (not in time for the concert, but it would have been too hot anyway - I'll have it for the ball next October in Heidelberg).  Not the greatest photo, but you get the idea.  Daniel took it for me.  Not bad for a ten-year old.

So what have I been doing?  I set out do clean my knitting/computer room on Monday morning.  It's actually the size of a large walk-in closet in the States, but beggars can't be choosers so we made do with lots of shelving.  But I digress...  So... I go to pull my sewing cabinet out so I can vacuum and the whole *#&$#& thing falls apart.  We did what any desperate sane people would do.  We headed for Nürnberg and the IKEA store there.  Found a three-drawer pine dresser that will have to wait for summer for a coat of stain.  We added another shelf to the wall o'baskets.  So here's my tiny room:

This room is about 6x10.  Not bad, eh?  Those baskets are mostly filled with yarn all kitted up and ready to be knit up into sweaters.  You can just make out the top of the pine dresser under the baskets.  Top two drawers... yarn kitted up.  There are three 18 gallon Rubbermaid bins upstairs filled with wool and yarn and the baskets around the room.  Oh... and the hutch with the books on it... yarn inside of that too.  Ya.  I think I have enough yarn for a while.  I'm going to stop for a while right after tomorrow.  What's tomorrow?  Can you see the picture of my desktop up there?  No?  Here's a closer shot:

That there is a rare Highland Wool color card.  About 21 of us on Elann got together and did some swapping.  Yee haw.  Of course, not all the colors are coming back out tomorrow, but I'll get by .... somehow.  A few balls of the Alpaca may make it into my shopping basket also.

Still plugging away on the Hardangervidda.  Just about to start the colorwork at the top of the second sleeve.  Not much longer....

Giving Knitters

I don't know about the shrug, people... I didn't get near as much time as I thought I could steal yesterday.  I'm not even half way through it and there's only 11 hours till we leave.  Sometime in that 11 hours I have to go buy the dress (I know exactly which one, but the German stores were closed yesterday - Three Kings Day), make myself pretty and... oh yea... there's the kids.  Funny how as you increase stitches the rows never seem to end.  My bud, Nilda, asked yesterday what size needles.... 3.5 mm.  I've told you before... I'm nuts, so that shouldn't come as a surprise to you by now.  In my defense, I am a very loose knitter.

On the otherhand, great things are happening in the knitting world....

Yarn Harlot has started something huge!  I could never match her mittens or Sandy's, but I do have a little something I can share. You know that little bowl of purple handspun that's been on my sidebar since I started the blog?  Here's a bigger photo. That's 8 ounces of scrumptious handspun Falkland singles in hand-dyed varigated purples that Steph is adding to her names of donators for the giveaway.  What fun!  Thanks for the opportunity to help Steph!

If you haven't yet, jump on the bandwagon and purchased Susan's sock pattern.  All proceeds go to the relief efforts for the Tsunami victims.  So go ahead and click the button and feel good about it!  The button was donated by Beth.  If you use it, be sure to save it to your own server.  Thanks.

Lastly, I'd like to thank Jen and La for listing me in their Best of 2004 list.  Very cool.  Thank you.

Don't expect to check back tomorrow and see the shrug, but you never know.  My hands might go into overdrive and spit out some serious knitting today.....

More Black Yarn

I must be nuts.  Yesterday I started thinking about a shrug I saw in Vogue for a Commander's Call Concert on Friday (yea... that would be tomorrow).  After frantically searching for it all afternoon, the Elann chat site came through for me yet again (thanks Benne!).  Said shrug was in the 98/99 Winter issue as well as the Vogue Very Easy Knits This will be my third project in a row in black yarn.  What's up with that?!

I've had some mohair yarn (Schoeller Geisha from where else?  Elann) in black that is perfect for a shrug.  Wrong gauge though.   Easy to fix with a calculator, paper and pen.  I'm also not doing it in the rib pattern.  Faster to knit in plain stockinette and who the heck could see it in all that fuzz anyway?  So basically, I'm just using the measurements and coming up with my own pattern.

So, here's how far I've gotten in the 1/2 hour that I've been working on it this morning.  Think I can make it in time?  We leave at 6pm tomorrow for the reception line.  I have to volunteer at the school for a couple of hours this afternoon but besides that and normal household stuff, it's all knitting time, baby.  Now... hopefully I can pull off the look without looking like a street walker.  Fingers crossed.  Stay tuned to see if I can make it and then if I do, if I'll actually wear it.

Back To Ye Old Grindstone

Tomorrow marks the first day of normalcy in our home since the boys were off from school two weeks ago.  Dan's back at work full time, the boys are at school, my house is back in order and I'm ready to get back into my blogging again.  I'm so behind in reading blogs that I might as well just start from scratch.

I still haven't gotten a photo of that beaded change purse, but I'll share it as soon as I do.

Here are some of the goodies I've received in the past couple of weeks.  From my long-time knitting pal, Jessica, the knitting note cards and the sheep tape measure (that thing is too cute). 

A couple Elann buds sent gifts with their Highland Wool sample for our color card swap. Daryl sent a Clover yarn cutter on a hand beaded necklace and Cate sent an adorable little flower stitch marker (it's that tiny thing between the keychain and the yarn cutter - I couldn't get a closer shot without it blurring).  The bag of colored wool and the key chain are from my neighbor bud, Michelle.  Here's a close up of the key chain.  Too cute.  This is by the Nici company and they are very popular here in Germany.

Dan bought The Portable Crafter Knitting book by Leanne Bennett for me.  Cute little book with some nice projects.

I didn't get a lot of knitting done because of the flu bug, but I have made some great progress on Dan's Hardangervidda.  The colors are black, light grey and a merlot red.  Lookin' good.

I'm at the facing rows at the top of the first sleeve.  I messed up in estimating the yardage (I'm using a DK weight by Gjestal that I got for a steal from Elann) and am going to come up short on the light grey.  Luckily, another Elanner had a couple of balls she didn't need and has mailed them on to me.  Now it looks like I might have enough, but it'll cut it very close and now, with two extra balls coming, I don't have to dread it.  That would have been a very ugly situation.

Our New Year's Resolution

There are few things as beautiful as Germany at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve.  We live on top of a hill that looks over the city of Ansbach.  There are no fireworks rules here so they are set off by everyone and everywhere.  The view is glorious from up on our hill.  Colorful fireworks for as far as the eye can see.  Beautiful views of the 12th-century Romanesque and 18-century Baroque church towers in the Marktplatz silouetted by dozens of colors.  Stilll, the joy was missing from this New Year's Eve.  Even the drizzly weather seemed to remind us that something isn't right.  It just feels wrong to be so excited and happy when there is a catastrophe on the other side of the world.  The growing numbers are just too overwhelming.  Our usual New Year's resolutions have been replaced this year with the resolution to donate as much as we can to help.  Here is how you can help:

CARE International -  Providing food, clean water, clothing, bedding and medicines to tsunami disaster victims.

Salvation Army - Providing immediate help in the form of water, food, clothing, medical supplies and temporary shelter, and counseling bereaved people.

American Red Cross - International Response Fund

UNICEF - Just $5 can provide an emergency health kit for one person for three months, with medical supplies and drugs to cover basic health needs.

There are many other organizations to choose from here.