Paasbest

 

Somewhere in a photo album is a picture of me as a toddler, wearing a bright new duck-blue coat and it is clearly early spring. Typical "Paasbest", new clothes, clean and shiny, best clothes  for Easter as was the tradition, way back….. When I got this yarn (MadelineTosh  vintage in "well water"), it reminded me of that photo. The coat I was wearing in the photo was a longish A-line coat, so I thought, well maybe I can mimic it and so "Paasbest" was born.

It is only stockinette here, hemmed edges and button bands, pockets with hemmed openings and an I-cord finishing at the neck. And a very gently line of increases giving a slight A-line.  The only "decoration" are real nice BIG buttons I found on Etsy. I love the touch these buttons bring to this coat.

Unfortunately I have only 1 photo of M wearing it for now, she is ill, and really not in the mood for photos and we cannot go outside. It is very gloomy winter weather here, just around 0°C and very monochromatic, since the ground is covered with snow and the sky is overcast and grey… At least this cardigan brings some blue into that….

 

I will make a red version of this soon (DIC classy valentine will be the yarn that time), there some things I want to change just lightly, and then since this time I kept really copious notes, I hope it will make it into a pattern a little bit quicker, maybe before Easter for testing….

A different combination

 

When I knitted a Two-Tone Tam I was really curious how it would look like in a different combination. So when visiting yarn-shops in New York I was looking out for yarn to be used for that. The original tam was just finished, so it was fresh in my mind. M choose the colours for the next one to be. Very different, not tonal at all, but I like them. This one is knitted in Karabella Aurora 4, a real nice merino, it reminds me of Rowan 4-ply soft and that is a very good thing (and why they ever discontinued that one…. well I do question Rowan's decisions quite a bit, Calmer is another one….).

Anyway this is my 2nd two-tone tam, quite different and quite the same…..

But, for now, I think I will leave stranded knitting and colurwork for a while. I do feel stockinette calling to me, a simple very classic A-line cardigan for M is on the menu. An own design, I hope it will work out as I have it in my mind...

After a wait….

 

I finally got my extra wool for Voussoir… In the end I needed two more skeins of the main colour. It has happened to me often that a pattern was this much of, normally I have yarn over, but in this case… Anyways it got finished this week and I hope S will be happy with it. It fits me really well, so it will be big for her, but she wanted a bit of an oversized sweater as it is so comfy… She is away and then I will be travelling on Sunday, so I will have to wait till wednesday to see if she likes it… Such is life.

 

Skåne-geese

It is cold here, with severe frost every night. So a very good moment to put my wool stash outside, just as a precaution. Anything creepy and alive in my stash will not withstand the -15° C treatment. Not that I have a problem with moths, but better be sure than not.

So I was cleaning out my cupboard and found this:

The front and the back of a small sweater I started when I just came to Skåne. I didn't know then (but learned since) that this little sweater is a real Skåne sweater. The geese are the first symbol. In autumn and winter they are very much visible and audible. Nils Holgersson climbed on his goose here in Skåne, and on the 10th of November (the evening before St-Martin's day), traditionally a goose is served for dinner. Red and yellow are the colours of Skåne's flag. The grey represents the weather, as it is dominated by the sea, there are a lot of grey days here. The blocks at the bottom are reminiscent of the old houses in many towns in Skane, like quite a number of houses in Lund.

I bought this at Sländan and I do think the owner of the shop designed this pattern as well. I should ask her one day, as it is a lovely design with all those symbols in its patterns. Why I never finished it? I actually don't completely recall. I knitted this very slowly and I do remember that there was an accident with the yarn, which meant that I had to throw away quite a bit. Then I ran out and I started to knit something else. And now I don't know what the yarn was that was used for this design. It is wool, a nice fingering one too, but other than that… And to make matters worse, I did lose the pattern, I guess I could make it them up. It is a drop-shoulder design after all, but I do recall that there was some nice pattern elements in the sleeves as well.

Technically it is hibernating since 2002 I guess, but now it got its moment anyways….

(not so) Purplish

My 2nd version of Purplish is now finished. It's not that purplish and it gained a pompom, but I do like to knit these. The slipped stitch pattern makes a hie wavy pattern that is really so easy to do. The pattern is now ready too….

This time the yarn is Sublime cashmere merino silk, in dark-blue, tray and white. Another warm hat, and really so much needed at the moment (woke up and it was around -17°C…. just above 0F)….

In the mean time...

I have been waiting the last two weeks for my extra wool for Voussoir, but apart from a notice that it was sent, I have not sen it yet. I'm hesitating to cast on a big project, so instead I have been knitting another hat. I got some The fibre company Terra when I was in New York. Three hanks, with each another purple. A natural that just has hints of purple here and there, a lila and a deep purple. So I wanted to do some colour work with this, but I thought, maybe slipped stitches is it. So this is a very easy pattern and the wavy pattern is coming from the slipped stitches. The yarn is lovely and soft and very warm as well which is a good thing since it is cold here. This year we have a good cold winter. December was cold, and now January is cold too. Well at least it is not raining.

Anyways for the crown I went from the slipped stitch pattern to a normal stripe and I think it gives a nice contrast.

I'm knitting right now another one of these hats, since I am finishing the pattern for this one. So watch this space, since it is nearly there.

Since in the midst of Winter, the thought of spring brings hope, I end with a small shawl I knitted the last weeks. It is a Pimpelliese in See Jayne Knit Supersock "tulips". It is cheerful, fresh green and purple again and it suits M very well, small and cheerful.

Oliebollen

On New Year's eve we use to make oliebollen. It is a  good old dutch tradition to eat these yeasty deep-fried goodies on that night and whenever there is a funfair in town. Not at any other time of the year, mind you as it is really a once a year treat. This year with the jet-leg kicking in, I did the proper shopping for the ingredients, bought sucade, raisins, currents, nice sour apples and yeast, but yes I did forget that one all important ingredient to make oliebollen….the oil to fry them in.

So no oliebollen for us on New Year's eve….

M was very upset by this, she had been looking forward to oliebollen for quite some time. So I thought that yesterday was the evening to have them nevertheless. It was Twelfth Night, which is still an official holiday day here, so it felt sufficiently festive and school and work starts this week as well, so it is good to have a real ending to the winter's holiday season. So frying we did and here are some pictures of the process, not of making the dough, didn't have time then (it is a yeast dough made from flour, milk and lots of fruit and there is rising involved). But otherwise:

Frying

Lots of powdered sugar

Ready to eat…..