Progress?

I´m not sure if I should call this progress, as this has taken me a month to get this far (on 6mm needles).

I sure look forward to finish this and get started with something else.

Can you find the error I made, or should we call it personal touch on the pattern?

Alpacca sweater

My younger daughter needed another sweater, and I already have more planned (please don´t tell my husband).  She needed something now that it is spring and it is to warm to wear the snowsuit, she only has some open sweaters that are partly buttoned and I felt that her tommy would be cold.  And this one fits with a bit of room to grow (maybe not very wise of me how little room there is to grow, and I should maybe give this away but I´m not always rational).

The hat and mittens were blogged about previously here

She seems to like it

Pattern: none, though heavily inspired by several icelandic patterns (part of the chart (bottom, and sleeaves and start of the yoke comes from a free pattern)
Yarn: Sandnes Alpakka (gray and white), Dale royal alpakka (pink)
Needles: 3 and 3.5mm
notes to self:  cast on 108 stitches for body (18 cm), sleeves cast on 32 stitches, increase to 36 before chart, 6 rounds after the chart increase to 38 stithces, then knit 6 rounds and increase to 40 stithces (16.3 cm)

Yarn swap

I just got my package in the mail in the spring-time yarn swap, it came from Anna in Norway

I got 2 skeins Dale baby ull , Japp chockolade (mmm... already halfeaten) and stitch stoppers .I  don´t own stitch stoppers so I look forward to try them, I love to have way to many stitches on circular needles and then I often have the problem that when I next get to my projects some of the stitches have fallen of the needles, hoping that this will be the answer to that. 

Not sure what to do with the yarn yet, I recently exchanged some yarn with my mom so I have several skeins of this yarn in different colors. I really like to knit with it, so now I´m off to ravelry to get inspiration on how to use it. 

Thank you Anna, I specially loved the chockolate, felt like I was back in norway :) I therefore got a bit nostalgic when recieving the chockolate. I have spent some months working in norway 2002 (Asker), and also spent some time there as a kid while my mom worked in Førde sjukehus, she's a nurse. 

Baby gifts - the sequel

My younger girl got this from my dad´s twin sister.

My older daugher wasn´t left out, she got socks and a dress (don´t know where the socks are, so I didn´t photograph them, she started to use them right away).

Knitspiration - lopi3

Looking for something to knit, here is some inspiration that I saw on pinterest.

Pattern: Astrid

Love this color combination, would look great with either black or blue as main color.

This pattern is also from the book , knitting with icelandic wool.

Sring socks

I finished the other sock. They are a bit to big, but will probably fit this fall next winter.  They are however already in use.

Pattern:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/stashbuster-spirals

Yarn: several different types of yarn, dale baby , kambgarn istex, lanett sandnes, navia uno.

Needles: 2.5mm and 2.0mm

Modifications:  see below

16 stitches (8 on each)-  cast on (toe-up  method)

Inrease until 44 stitches

switch to gray-   8 rounds

switch to purple - 8 rounds

switch to gray-   8 rounds

Orange - 5 umferðir

start increases , in total 8 sitches until  52 stitches, after 3 rounds orange change to gray, after 5 rounds you have the 52 stitches and start on the heel 

22 stitches heel 

Knit 11, wrap next stitch, turn, purl 22, wrap next stitch, turn.

slip 1 - knit 20

slip 1 - purl 19

slip 1 - knit 18

slip 1 - purl 17

slip 1 - knit 16

slip 1 - purl 15

slip 1 - knit 14

slip 1 - purl 13

slip 1 - knit 12

slip 1 – purl 11

slip 1 - knit 10

slip 1 - purl 9

slip 1 - knit 8

slip 1, purl 6, p.enc

knit 7, k.enc

purl 8. p enc

knit 9. p enc

purl 10 p.enc

knit 11.k.enc

purl 12 p. enc

knit 13 k.enc

purl 14 p.enc

knit 15 k. enc

purl 16 p. enc

knit 17p. enc

purl 18 p. enc

slip 1 knit 18. k enc. slip 1

After the heel, start again with gray, and do 3 rounds, also start at the same time decraeses so that you will again have 22 stitches.

Switch to light-pink and continue with the decreses - 8 rounds of pink

Switch to gray and 2.0 mm needles, knit one round, and then 26 rounds of 2 knit, 2 purl. 

Cast off - I used this method

  

Springtime yarn swap

I sent this on Wednesday, and it should be arriving soon to the recipient.  I didn´t get a chance to photograph the parcel I put it together in a hurry, my in-laws picked up my older daughter in day-care as my younger one was sick so I decided to let them babysit for the first time and made a quick decision to go to the post-office. You never know when you will get the chance next.  The colors are not to good in this picture (the green and purple are more vivid.

I already gathered together a lot of ideas for pattern´s that this yarn can be used for. When I think of spring I think of big shawls, nice wool socks, mittens and hats. We do have lovely spring-sun here in Iceland, but it is often very cold and to be able to enjoy it you need to cover up.  I therefore sent some lace-weight wool and unspun wool, both can make up very light and airy garments that are extremely warm. 

The unspun wool can be knit double (use one thread from the edge of the plate and one thread from the center) and then it is ca. aran or worsted weight,  the Unspun wool can also be knitted together with the Einband (lace weight) and then it is also ca. aran or worsted weight.  I however recommend experimenting with gauges with the unspun wool as people tend to knit it with very different gauge´s.  If you are knitting with the unspun wool, don´t mind that it breaks easily, you don´t have to weave in ends, you just split the ends spin it together in your hands and the thread has been re-joined. 

Out of all the pattern  Ideas thet I collected  I would probably knit Bitterroot with the 2 gray skeins of the einband, and then I would knit sundagsvotter with the burgender/purple color, then I would knit with 1 strand of green einband and the gray plötulopi the litle garter cardi.

 Or I would knit the modern lace shawl with the Einband, and use the lefover einband for the rubiayat mittens, and then use the plötulopi double and knit giftie slouchie beanie


I´m excited to see if the recipient will find a use for the yarn and hoping to see what she will do with it.