Loveable mittens

Ohje: Peruslapasten ohje, omani on 70-luvun Me Naiset-lehdestä

Lanka: Novita 7 veljestä, sydämet Naturwolle "Peru"

Puikot: 3,5

Kun aikoinaan tein Emmalle Naturwollen ihanasta Peru-langasta myssyn ja kaulahuivin, jäi lankaa ikävän kokoinen kerä jäljelle. Ikävä siksi, että lanka oli tyyristä ja halusin keksiä jotain hyödyllistä käyttöä sille. Emma käytti osan virkkausharjoituksiinsa, mutta lopulta pyysin kerän takaisin,kun halusin kokeilla näitä sydänlapasia. Yleensä nämä kai tehdään huovutusvillasta, mutta kai tämäkin lanka huopua osaa! Kuljetin siis lankaa mukana ja tein sillä muistaakseni joka viidennen silmukan. Söpöt tuli, ja tyttären mielestä ihanan pehmoiset sisältä.No varmasti ja ovat kyllä lämpöisetkin. Lankaa jäi kyllä vielä toisiinkin lapasiin, mutta nyt ei tuo kaunis kerä enää häiritse lankalaatikossa. Tiedän, että lopullekin löytyy varmasti käyttöä, vaikka sitten uusiin lapasiin.

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I made Emma a hat and a scarf a few years ago from this lovely yarn by Naturwolle and had a lot of leftovers. The yarn was a bit expensive, so I really wanted to use all of it. Emma confiscated the leftovers to practise crocheting but in the end I reclaimed it to try to make these heart mittens. The mittens are very soft inside, and very warm. They are also very cute and Emma loves them! I did not manage to use all of the yarn, though - I still have enough yarn to make another pair, or something else.

 

Panda tunic

Pattern: Panda-tunika by Novita (in Finnish)

Yarns: Novita Teddy (010) luonnonvalkoinen, Novita Kaiku (010) luonnonvalkoinen, Novita Nalle (044) grafiitti

Needles: circular knitting needles, sizes 6 and 7, crochet hook size 3.5

Tästä tuli täydellinen! Hiukan mietitytti nuo Novitan langat, kun olisin halunnut tehdä tämän jostain ihanasta, pehmoisesta villalangasta, mutta eipä nuo tekokuidut tässä haittaa. Malli on täydellinen Emmalle, mokoma kuumakalle kun ei todellakaan suostu talvella pitämään villapaitoja päällä, joten lyhyet hihat toimivat. Alle vaan ohut pitkähihainen sitten pakkasilla. Helmasta pidän erityisesti, se on kaunis ja käytännöllinen. Ihana, ihana, ihana! Ja Emmakin tykkäsi, mikä taitaa olla se pääasia.

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I love this tunic! I was planning to change the suggested yarns to something more luxurious but I am happy that I didn't. The yarns are just right for this project. The shape of this tunic is perfect for my girl, since she is always hot and refuses to wear anything too warm in the winter. Now she can just put a long sleeve tee underneath when it gets really cold. I especially like the hemline, it is pretty and practical at the same time. Did I already mention that I LOVE this tunic? I do, I do, I do! And so does Emma.

Stripy kneehighs

Pattern: Novita sukkalehti 2011, pattern z (in Finnish, as usual)

Yarn: Novita 7 veljestä (fuchsia & white), pink yarn is vintage 7 veljestä or Nalle, mustard yarn is Finnish lamb wool, bought from a farm

Needles: 3 dpns

I got my inspiration from these colours, they just had to be used together. The pink yarn is from my grandmother's stash, leftovers from a sweater she made for me when I was Emma's age, so it is very old. I have just as old turquoise yarn as well, just have to figure out where to use it :)

The socks were almost impossible to photograph, Emma could not keep still. Oh well, I needed only one shot that was not blurry and I got three!

After all that jumping, she finally had to lie still.

My girl :)

Rebecca, again

Just wanted to show you this hat again, I finally persuaded (read: bribed) Emma to model it for me. I'm sorry to say but this hat, or the colours I used, is not my favourite. Perhaps in different colours, solids, not stripes? Oh, and the buttons, they are not perfectly aligned, even though I thought so before...

Rebecca

Pattern: Rebecca by Drops Design

Yarn: Drops Fabel in Candy (901p), Drops Baby Merino in Cherise (08)

Needles: 3 dpns (could have used 3.5 dpns...)

This was an easy knit. I made this for myself but it is a bit small, or actually it is not as loose as I would like it to be, so I added this to Emma's hat stash. The buttons are aligned ok IRL, despite the evidence in the picture...

Gloves

I made these ages ago. I think I showed you a glimpse of these before they were finished but then something happened and I never remembered to show the end result. The yarn in 7 veljestä by Novita but the pattern I have lost. Might have been Novita pattern, cannot remember. I like these! No holes between the fingers! Next time I need to use some nicer yarn for these, 7 veljestä itches so much. If there is a next time, I need to find the pattern first...

Christmas presents

Pattern: Darrin by Drops Design

Yarn: Drops Alpaca in Dark Grey eco (0506m)

Needles: 3 dpns (forgot to use smaller needles for the ribbing)

I had to force him to pose! I made this simple hat for my husband as a Christmas present, and he has actually been wearing it ever since. I like the shape of the hat, a bit slouchy but not too much. Alpaca yarn is so soft and nice, and I am so happy that he likes it (even though it does not look like that in the picture...).

I also made hats for my mother and mother-in-law for Christmas but forgot to take photos. Hope I'll get a chance to do that later.

Happy New Year to everyone! I am planning to make some kind of overview of all the crafts I made last year but first I have to organise my photos - tough job!

Waiting for the real winter...

Pattern: Knitted accessories by Novita (in Finnish)
Yarn: Donegal Luxury Tweed Aran by Debbie Bliss
Needles: 3,5 dpns (should have used smaller needles...)

Wow. It has been a while since I posted anything here. Sorry about that. I have been too busy to photograph anything even though I have made all sorts of crafts. And then when I finally managed to photograph something (over a month ago...) it took me quite a while to blog about it. Sorry again :)

Enough apologies, I hope! It is over midnight and I am exhausted, so I'll just let these pictures show off my work. One thing I have to mention, though: The whole set is a bit big for Emma, but that does not matter. I am planning to add a lining to the hat, it would make the hat warmer and tighter.

A month ago, there was at least some promise of a white Christmas, since the ground was frozen in these pics. Now, it's just hopelessly wet everywhere. I'll try to post once more before Christmas and after the holidays are over I can hopefully start posting about all the Christmas presents I knitted.

One more picture of my darling girl!

 

Black!

Pattern: Mario beret
Yarn: Peru Wool by Grønhøj Garn
Needles: 5 dpns

Last year I made my mum this Mario beret and thought the pattern was excellent. I wanted one for myself as well and bought black wool to make it. I finally made it this week and to my disappointment, it is too small for me! Or it does fit, but it is not as slouchy as I would want it to be. Perhaps it will stretch when used. Also, I do not think black hats suit me! Perhaps I need to buy some grey yarn and try again. Also, I do not recommend this yarn, it is quite coarse and the surface of the finished hat is not nice and smooth. Serves me right, it was very very cheap...

My lovely girl promised to model for me so I could get at least a few decent outdoor pictures of it. As you can see, the hat fits her perfectly. Just guess whether she likes it or not? Yep, she hates it (and she's playing tigers, LOL).

Fall socks

Basic socks, cannot even remember the yarn. Like the colours separately but the combination of these yarns is not working IRL for some reason. And the ribbing is not long enough, I like longer sock cuffs.

Sorry for these long absences from my blog, somehow this year it seems that I am just too busy. Or actually, I don't have time to take photos of my creations, since I am never home when there would be enough light! Don't go away, I'll figure something out and start posting more regularly sometime soon(ish).

More unfinished knits

More blurry pictures of unfinished knits, LOL. Can you guess what this is?

Time flies...

Sorry for the long absense! It was not planned but somehow life got in the way of blogging which is not so bad, I guess. I have been making all kinds of crafts but I have not touched my camera for ages, and now it seems so dark and gloomy all the time that it is impossible to take nice photos. Never mind, Ill try my best to take pictures of my crafts some day soon, when I have time and light.

As you can probably see from the blurry picture above, I have winter in my mind already. The linens are folded back to closet, waiting for next summer... I did manage to sew something from the pastel linens, I'll show you later.

Something for the ballerina

Emma loves ballet. And I love it too, since apparently she learns languages there as well :) She can now count to ten in Swedish, English, German, French and Russian. Surprised me quite a bit! Except she does not like English words "nine" and "ten" but changes those always to French equivalents "neuf" and "dix". Funny girl.

One day she came from ballet and was very upset. ALL the other girls have leg warmers, she needed to have a pair as well. The girls had all the same pale pink polyester leg warmers and since I did not like those, (natural fibres are better) I decided to knit her some nicer ones. Luckily Emma loves colours so she was happy with these. Pattern is my own - or actually I did not use any pattern just knitted away through trial and error. I managed to use up the leftover yarns from my knee-high socks which was an added bonus :)

Now some ballet moves, courtesy of Emma.

Mario beret

Pattern: Mario beret
Yarn: Lana Cervinia Le Fibre Nobili Mambo, pink (2838)
Needles: 5 dpns

It does not look much like anything in the picture but trust me, it is a very good hat. The shape is just slouchy enough from back and it is a comfortable fit all over. I loved the yarn as well, so nice and soft, a very good purchase. Thanks, Satu!

I gave the hat to my mother who loved it but refused to pose for a picture. What a bore... Luckily I have enough yarn to make me another, perhaps that will be featured in my head. We'll see :)

Colour therapy

Pattern: Novita magazine, spring 2011

Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä Raita (822)

Needles: 3,5 dpns

I love the colours in this yarn! And the knee-high socks make me very happy - colour therapy at its best :)

There are cables in the back as well.Very annoying to knit since I had to count the rows all the way, AND keep decreasing the stitches at the same time - very challenging for me. But totally worth it, I love the end result :)

My new hat

 Pattern:  Kaitaliina's pattern (in Finnish)

Yarn: Gedifra Diandra (colour:02605)

Needles:6 and 8

I am stuck with this pattern, sorry for the repetition! This time I made an improved version with slightly bigger needles and it worked! Now I have a hat that is not too tight. I knit the cables with size 8 needles. I still have enough yarn for another hat - or perhaps I should knit a scarf or wrist warmers or something else? Remains to be seen...

Edit. Wow. Completely forgot that today is Valentine's Day. I guess you cannot call me exactly a hopeless romantic :)

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone!

Another pompom hat

 Pattern:  Kaitaliina's pattern (in Finnish)

Yarn: 7 veljestä (colour 553)

Needles: 4

In case you were wondering where I have been, the answer is that I have just been too busy with work to make anything. Well, actually I have made something but I have had no time to take pictures and blog about them. Besides, the weather has been amazing: not too cold and not too wet either, lots of snow and sun, so we have been out a lot. Yep, sun has returned, yay! Evidence is in the picture :)

The hat looks like it's neon pink but in reality it is a lovely shade of fuchsia. Loved the colour but unfortunately the colour does not love my pale complexion. Luckily this hat is not for me! This time I followed the pattern faithfully and the end result is much better than the first one I made.

Pompom hat

Pattern: Adapted from Kaitaliina's pattern (in Finnish)

Yarn: Gedifra Diandra (colour:02605)

Needles: 6

Isn't she lovely? She is Emma's godmother Paula and I made her a hat as a Christmas present. I had a lot of problems at first adjusting the needle sizes, needed stitches and what not,  and I ended up using too small needles anyway. The hat required 150gr of yarn (because of the needle size, right?) and is really thick  and warm, and a bit tight. I am hoping that it loosens a bit, though. But I like the hat and I am going to make another one with the same pattern and yarn. This time I am adjusting the needle size a bit...

Hello Kitty hat

Pattern: My own, inspiration from this book.

Yarn: Some old pink wool yarn (Novita Nalle?) from my mother's stash, Novita Nalle white, other colours random yarns from my stash

Needles: 2.5

I am still struggling with fair isle knitting, most probably I should have used intarsia technique. I just learned those terms and had to google the differences - so many things to learn! Oh well, perhaps the next time my technique is better, this time the end result is nice enough. Emma likes it even though I need to sew a lining to the hat since it itches a bit too much. 

I got inspiration from my Hello Kitty Pompom Mascot & Knit Goods. There were quite many Hello Kitty knitting motifs and I combined a few to get a suitable Kitty face. I crocheted the red bow.

Baa Baa Black Sheep

Pattern: Novita

Yarn: 7 Veljestä by Novita (black, white and grey)

Needles: 2,5

These are finally ready! It took me surprisingly long, even though I used thicker yarn than what the instructions suggested. After finishing one row of sheep to the first sock I decided that even though the pattern had three rows of sheep, I would only be making two, it was too tiresome! Plus changing the yarn was more difficult than I thought and the first sock is considerably tighter around my calf than the second. Well, next pair will be better - if I ever feel like making anything like this anymore!