Sunday Walk

 

Sunday was a really gorgeous day. Sunny, dry and above 0°C. So the perfect day for a walk in the forest. The part of Sweden we live in has many many castles and grand houses and some of them are in a wonderful environment as well. So we went to walk in the forests of Häckeberga Slott. The castle itself is used as hotel/ conference center but the forest/lakes around it are a nature reserve. We live quite close to it and have driven many times past it, but for one reason or another we never actually walked around there. So this time we had to do it. And it is just lovely, just wonder why we never did it before. Now one reason is that there are many lovely places to go, but still..

Some of it felt a bit like it came from a game, like Myst. Especially the bridge pictured above, which had that quality of being a bit unreal, but quite real at the same time. There was also a place with a very big tipi. We started to wonder who had built that one, but no clue. It was quite eery in a certain way. There were also all kind of other constructions around which made it even more odd.

This time of year is actually the dullest possible. We had a period of sharp cold, so things are a lot less green. In a couple of weeks, real signs of spring will start to pop up, but not yet…. but we are in a warm spell right now, so tomorrow I will check the garden and look for snow-drops!

 

And talking about spring, I started this:

 

it is a pattern called Same, same but different. I wanted to make it since it is using the contiguous method for shaping a top-down set-in sleeve. I do have to say that I do like this method of making sleeves. So it was a good thing to try, I am not following the pattern though apart from the set-up and the gathered stuff at the shoulders.

Winter Smockie

I finished the winter Smockie today. Last week I had to go to Stockholm for work and on the way back in the plane, I knew that something was amiss…. The new day I was on my way to work but D turned the car around half-way and dropped me of, home again with some miss-mash of influenza and common cold. Not a good week thus. Haven't done a lot and not even knitting a lot.

This week I have been back at work 1 day, but M is not well now, so today I am home again, but as I am still feeling under the weather I am not that unhappy about it.

I'm not the only one that is being not well, at work I am part of a committee of 6 and of those 6, 3 were ill….and that is I think the average at the moment.

Well the snow is gone, it is back to gray and rainy and a nice green winter cardigan to start to think of spring is just what is needed maybe…. M is anyways mightily pleased with it, since it sparkles very discretely :-)

 

Winter Smocky in Dream In Color Stardust "Mountain Moss".

Choice

 

Last summer I knitted a small cardigan in cotton for M: smockie. It had some smocking at the yoke and was short-sleeved. It is well liked and worn quite a bit. But now it is winter and I thought a woolen, long sleeved one would come in handy. Knitting from stash also means to  go through and see what one has and what one can use. So I had three DIC lots that could be used. I lined them up and M could choose her colour. I had expected it to be red, but no she choose green…. Well to be honest this is DIC Stardust (a yarn only made in very small amounts, a forerunner of DIC Starry, bought from somebody selling their stash at Ravelry), so there is this small amount of glitter in it…. And glitter works….

So happily knitting it:

Hats

This was a week for hats. Just having finished a sweater, I wanted to make some small objects. So hats it was… Going through my stash to find appropriate yarn was not hard either. Sock-wool is good and so are leftover amounts of sweaters. The hat above is made with Smooshy "Ruby River". The pattern is Noo, which comes in different sizes and can be knit as a more or less slouchy hat. M wanted of course a slouchy hat and that it became….

The other hat is made from leftover yarn from Lauriel, Artesano Superwash merino. The pattern is the Ruche Beret from Weekend Hats. Loads of nice hats in that book, will be used again

 

 

Repairs

 

Late yesterday evening I finished the Albero Cowl. When I see the finishing line of a project I really like, si start to go faster and faster since I want to wear it. This is definitely the case for this jacket. It is one of those projects were design, yarn and color come together. So I am really pleased. The design is from Connie Chang Chinchio's new book. I didn't do any modifications whatsoever. Plain sailing all the way. The yarn is Madelinetosh Erin in tart. I love tart, this is the 2nd project I knit in this color and it is just such a nice deep red. Just love it.

The jacket can be worn in different ways, so since it is cold here, serious cold, this way is especially useful:

 

 

this however is not that nice:

 

M came hone from school with these holes in her sleeve….

Nothing to do be done so, I took a breath and a cut:

and now I am knitting the last bit again: