I've taken up knitting for the Handknitting association of Iceland. It's probably the most rewarding job I've ever had (not that it's a full time job or anything, although that would be sweet). Mostly because it gives me the freedom to knit stuff I never would knit for myself, and so I get to try out these new techniques and materials and stuff.
Also, I can receive my payment in yarn. Which is clearly the best idea ever.
I've always hated knitting for others, but it turns out that I just hate to knit for people I know. I appear to be fine with knitting for complete strangers and never seeing my knitted artifacts ever again. Odd.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Sunday, August 31, 2008
On the needles
This has been a summer of starting a lot of stuff, but less of finishing. I have so many projects on the needles right now, I've lost count. What kind of unites them all is that they are mostly lace projects; with lace, I like both the process and the outcome, so it's clearly my favorite kind of knitting. With cables and fair isle knitting, I like the outcome just fine, but usually I'm not so excited about the actual process of knitting using those techniques.
I just recently got back from Berlin where I had a tremendous vacation. It was in no way knitting related; I just went with my family and saw the sights. I had, however, decided before I got there that I was going to buy some german sock yarn. I ended up buying the yarn in a department store, since I didn't stumble upon any yarnshops when walking around and I certainly didn't want to drag my family on some kind of demented yarnshop search, especially since I didn't know if it would yield any worthwhile results. Anyways, I bought two huge skeins of Opal sock yarn that were quite a bit cheaper than what they go for here in Iceland. One is a cotton/wool blend and the other is just regular sock wool, but what charmed me about it is that its colors are based on a painting by Hundertwasser. Excellent cultural reference.
I expect that such nice sock yarn will help me with my ever-unsuccessful quest to stop knitting all these damn cardigans and start working on some other projects for a change. Like socks.
I just recently got back from Berlin where I had a tremendous vacation. It was in no way knitting related; I just went with my family and saw the sights. I had, however, decided before I got there that I was going to buy some german sock yarn. I ended up buying the yarn in a department store, since I didn't stumble upon any yarnshops when walking around and I certainly didn't want to drag my family on some kind of demented yarnshop search, especially since I didn't know if it would yield any worthwhile results. Anyways, I bought two huge skeins of Opal sock yarn that were quite a bit cheaper than what they go for here in Iceland. One is a cotton/wool blend and the other is just regular sock wool, but what charmed me about it is that its colors are based on a painting by Hundertwasser. Excellent cultural reference.
I expect that such nice sock yarn will help me with my ever-unsuccessful quest to stop knitting all these damn cardigans and start working on some other projects for a change. Like socks.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Knitting covered butt
I knit a dress. I wear it all the time; it´s perfect for the Icelandic weather. Finally my butt is covered in wool!
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Recent stuff
It's a cardigan. Of course. Made with létt-lopi. I love it and wear it all the time, even though I've not yet had a chance to go to the button store and get me some buttons.
This I also wear all the time. I believe it's called the Lotus blossom shawl, or something like that. I found the free pattern on elann.com. I made it with slightly scratchy norwegian wool. I am a big believer in scratchy wool.
This is what I've got on the needles right now. It's another cardigan. Of course. Made with létt-lopi.
Saturday, March 15, 2008
March knitting
My knitting is actually crochet.
Hopefully, one day in the near future, this will look like a cardigan(!) rather than something from a swamp. I stumbled upon a crochet pattern book called Sensual Crochet, and while I'm not so fond of the books title, it's probably the best collection of crochet patterns I've ever seen. I like almost all the patterns in this book and will probably end up making a whole bunch of them.
Crochet has a downside: it uses up a lot of yarn. But it has an upside as well: it goes really fast, which is a nice change of pace when you've been working on the same stupid knitted sweater for ever and ever.
So, onwards and upwards.
Hopefully, one day in the near future, this will look like a cardigan(!) rather than something from a swamp. I stumbled upon a crochet pattern book called Sensual Crochet, and while I'm not so fond of the books title, it's probably the best collection of crochet patterns I've ever seen. I like almost all the patterns in this book and will probably end up making a whole bunch of them.
Crochet has a downside: it uses up a lot of yarn. But it has an upside as well: it goes really fast, which is a nice change of pace when you've been working on the same stupid knitted sweater for ever and ever.
So, onwards and upwards.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Beer and knitting
I'd just like to say this. A can of beer and knitting needles should never be kept in a handbag at one and the same time. I learned this the hard way.
The smell of beer is surprisingly difficult to get out of knitwear.
The smell of beer is surprisingly difficult to get out of knitwear.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
A sleeve for Mom
Look!
I love the pattern, but working with cotton (in this case, Dalegarn Svale) is irksome.
I love the pattern, but working with cotton (in this case, Dalegarn Svale) is irksome.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Finished object
Just to show you that I have been knitting during September, even though I haven't been posting about it. It's foliage from the latest knitty. I loved this pattern. Here's another view:
This is the less bulky version of this pattern, made with one skein and just a little bit of a second of Létt-lopi. I enjoyed this pattern so much that I think I want to try to knit the bulkier version too. We'll see.
I recently got a very helpful email from an unnamed fellow blogger who encouraged me to get over my obsession with knitting the same damn cardigan (in this case, my beloved Callie. I've known forever that my cardigan obsession borders on the ridiculous, but somehow, I've always managed to convince myself that I really do need to knit one more. My boyfriend has occasionally asked: "Do you really need another cardigan?" but I've never really listened to him. He's not a knitter, and so, in my warped mind, he simply doesn't understand the urge to knit cardigan after cardigan after cardigan.
But having a fellow knitter sweetly point out to me that perhaps it's time for me to move on really got to me. Probably because I know that she understands the urge one has to knit a certain project. But it's also important coming from her because she knows that there's a whole world of wonderful patterns that I'm missing out on if I just keep knitting the same one over and over again.
So. I'm going to try to cut down on the cardigans. Even though I find this one rather enticing. But I'm really going to try, very hard, to do other stuff. I'm thinking mittens.
Oh, I probably should tell you, though, that I do have a cardigan on the needles at present. Well, make that two. But they are neither of them Callie. And one isn't even for me. But more on that later.
I don't think I've ever said this, and maybe it doesn't really need saying, but thank you for your comments. I really suck at getting back to you guys, but I appreciate every single one. So thanks, and keep'em coming!
Monday, October 8, 2007
Springsteen was right:
I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help
I so know how this guy feels. I'm just tired all the time. Working really takes it out of you. I had no idea.
But I knit to forget. Recently I finished this:
It's clapotis. It took me a while to get around to knitting this pattern, but it's been on my to-do list for a while.
I've decided to express my feelings about the knitting of this piece in a poem, both because I was feeling particularly lyrical today, and also to pay homage to the third annual Nýhil international poetry festival which starts this friday and I'm sure will be very fun. Fun fun. Good fun. If anyone should find themselves in the Reykjavík area this weekend, I recommend it.
Anyhoo, here goes:
Red Wrap
Stitches march
down
leaving in their wake a ladder
unused
cat burglar
opportunity
I will never return to
this voluptuous pattern
I get up in the evening
and I ain't got nothing to say
I come home in the morning
I go to bed feeling the same way
I ain't nothing but tired
Man, I'm just tired and bored with myself
Hey there baby, I could use just a little help
I so know how this guy feels. I'm just tired all the time. Working really takes it out of you. I had no idea.
But I knit to forget. Recently I finished this:
It's clapotis. It took me a while to get around to knitting this pattern, but it's been on my to-do list for a while.
I've decided to express my feelings about the knitting of this piece in a poem, both because I was feeling particularly lyrical today, and also to pay homage to the third annual Nýhil international poetry festival which starts this friday and I'm sure will be very fun. Fun fun. Good fun. If anyone should find themselves in the Reykjavík area this weekend, I recommend it.
Anyhoo, here goes:
Red Wrap
Stitches march
down
leaving in their wake a ladder
unused
cat burglar
opportunity
I will never return to
this voluptuous pattern
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Working girl
Ah, jeeez, no sooner had I recovered from the flu than another occurrance put a huge dent in my plans to be the most prolific knitter, ever.
I was offered a job. A real job, with good pay, nice colleagues my own desk and direct line and everything. A grown-up job. Not only that, this job combines two of my biggest interests (apart from the whole yarn thing, obviously): culture and the media. People, I tell you, I am now a fully employed cultural journalist. Writing articles about literature, ballet, theatre and opera is now what I do all day, from 9 to 5.
I´ve only been working for little over a week, but it so far it seems like the perfect job for me. It's just thoroughly interesting beginning to end. But I think it says something about my priorities that when I was offered the job the first thought that popped into my head was "Darn! Now I won't have as much time to knit!" Then the second thing I thought was "But this means I'll have more money, which means I'll finally be able to try out some yarns other than only the cheapest ones!" So clearly, this situation has its pros and cons.
However, I have managed to finish a knit recently, believe it or not. I proclaim the following:
Callie by Cosmicpluto is the fastest knit and the nicest fit I've knit in a long time. Look!
(I realize I´m reverting to my old and wicked photobooth ways, but to get a picture of the sweater on my camera I'd first have to stand up and get the camera. Then I'd have to get someone to photograph me or try to do it myself with the timer and fail miserably. Then I'd have to find the cable to attatch the camera to the computer and...you know, photobooth may be inferior when it comes to picture quality but it's a godsend for people like me who don't like it when they have to get up).
Well, as you see I've made a few modifications. For one thing, I tried the three-quarter length sleeve and didn't like it, so I just went for a full length sleeve which I like. I also tried out the picot trim, but I felt it made the bottom of the cardigan kind of bulky, so I just went with seed stitch. Lastly, I totally hate picking up large numbers of stitches, like buttonbands, so in patterns that require this of me I usually just crochet a buttonband instead. I did that here. It kind of looks like seedstitch anyways, so it doesn't bother me.
All in all, I heartily recommend this pattern. It 's simple but still has a few interesting features, so it never gets boring. It's a quick knit and, best of all, it's a really flattering sweater.
I liked it so much that as soon as I'd bound off the final stitches I used the same needles to cast on for this:
It's another Callie. I need help.
I was offered a job. A real job, with good pay, nice colleagues my own desk and direct line and everything. A grown-up job. Not only that, this job combines two of my biggest interests (apart from the whole yarn thing, obviously): culture and the media. People, I tell you, I am now a fully employed cultural journalist. Writing articles about literature, ballet, theatre and opera is now what I do all day, from 9 to 5.
I´ve only been working for little over a week, but it so far it seems like the perfect job for me. It's just thoroughly interesting beginning to end. But I think it says something about my priorities that when I was offered the job the first thought that popped into my head was "Darn! Now I won't have as much time to knit!" Then the second thing I thought was "But this means I'll have more money, which means I'll finally be able to try out some yarns other than only the cheapest ones!" So clearly, this situation has its pros and cons.
However, I have managed to finish a knit recently, believe it or not. I proclaim the following:
Callie by Cosmicpluto is the fastest knit and the nicest fit I've knit in a long time. Look!
(I realize I´m reverting to my old and wicked photobooth ways, but to get a picture of the sweater on my camera I'd first have to stand up and get the camera. Then I'd have to get someone to photograph me or try to do it myself with the timer and fail miserably. Then I'd have to find the cable to attatch the camera to the computer and...you know, photobooth may be inferior when it comes to picture quality but it's a godsend for people like me who don't like it when they have to get up).
Well, as you see I've made a few modifications. For one thing, I tried the three-quarter length sleeve and didn't like it, so I just went for a full length sleeve which I like. I also tried out the picot trim, but I felt it made the bottom of the cardigan kind of bulky, so I just went with seed stitch. Lastly, I totally hate picking up large numbers of stitches, like buttonbands, so in patterns that require this of me I usually just crochet a buttonband instead. I did that here. It kind of looks like seedstitch anyways, so it doesn't bother me.
All in all, I heartily recommend this pattern. It 's simple but still has a few interesting features, so it never gets boring. It's a quick knit and, best of all, it's a really flattering sweater.
I liked it so much that as soon as I'd bound off the final stitches I used the same needles to cast on for this:
It's another Callie. I need help.
Friday, August 24, 2007
Arise from the muck
Yuk. Not a very pleasant headline, but kind of accurate, as arising from muck is pretty much what I've been doing for the past couple of days. Just as I had handed in my thesis and was excited about all the knitting and relaxing I was about to embark on, I was struck down with a very nasty flu bug. So for the past week or so I've just lain around like a slug, watching DVDs, blowing my nose and feeling like a small fire was burning inside my head. I was too sick to knit, if anyone can fathom that level of sickness. The mere idea of knitting repulsed me, so weakened and delusional was my state.
Yesterday, however, I knew that the flu was receding because the urge to knit had returned. I knit a few rows on the sleeve of the treeline striped cardigan as I watched The Bourne Identity (refreshing my memory of Bourne's previous adventures before I go see The Bourne Ultimatum). Then last night I finished the cardigan's sleeve and began to work on the body. This morning I woke up and, although my nose was still runny, I had an unrelenting urge to keep knitting. Clearly I'm recovering at a steady rate.
Anyhoo, aside from the striped cardigan, I really want to begin working on the Callie cardigan. Although I didn't have that much luck with the other cardigan pattern I've tried from Cosmicpluto, I accept that it was completely my own stupid fault. The Callie pattern is top-down, and so it should be easier for me to see early on if something catastrophic is going on with the sizing or fit. Mostly I want to knit Callie because I love V-neck cardigans. I think they make the wearer look smart. I imagine myself sauntering about Downtown Reykjavik in my Callie, and everyone I meet will assume I have read the entire works of Proust because of my cardigan's fetching V-neck. So, in fact, I imagine that knitting this cardigan will save me the trouble of reading all kinds of books. Hooray for that!
Yesterday, however, I knew that the flu was receding because the urge to knit had returned. I knit a few rows on the sleeve of the treeline striped cardigan as I watched The Bourne Identity (refreshing my memory of Bourne's previous adventures before I go see The Bourne Ultimatum). Then last night I finished the cardigan's sleeve and began to work on the body. This morning I woke up and, although my nose was still runny, I had an unrelenting urge to keep knitting. Clearly I'm recovering at a steady rate.
Anyhoo, aside from the striped cardigan, I really want to begin working on the Callie cardigan. Although I didn't have that much luck with the other cardigan pattern I've tried from Cosmicpluto, I accept that it was completely my own stupid fault. The Callie pattern is top-down, and so it should be easier for me to see early on if something catastrophic is going on with the sizing or fit. Mostly I want to knit Callie because I love V-neck cardigans. I think they make the wearer look smart. I imagine myself sauntering about Downtown Reykjavik in my Callie, and everyone I meet will assume I have read the entire works of Proust because of my cardigan's fetching V-neck. So, in fact, I imagine that knitting this cardigan will save me the trouble of reading all kinds of books. Hooray for that!
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Sweet Freedom!
Well, well, well. It's been a while.
I apologize for the monstorously long absence, but I've been writing my thesis for the past month and a half. I mailed it off yesterday and experienced a rush of freedom like you wouldn't believe. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and to celebrate the end of my toils I spent all of yesterday hanging around downtown Reykjavík, going to bookstores and cafes with my knitting, my brother and my boyfriend. All without my camera, of course (I took it to a repair shop, and it works! I can finally post decent pictures! If I can be bothered to take them, that is.)
It is amazing how time-consuming something like thesis-writing can be. For me at least. I couldn't bring myself to blog because I spent 10 hours a day at the computer working on my paper. Spending additional time writing something that isn't mandatory somehow lost its appeal. But I did manage to get some knitting done, although I mainly worked on small projects. Such as these:
These are Thuja socks, knit in Sandnesgarn Smart for my brother's birthday. He liked them alot.
Then there are these:
These are the Dashing armwarmers, knit in Trysil Garn Arctic for my boyfriend's grandfather. I haven't given them to him yet, so I can't tell you if he likes them or not. But I sure hope he does.
I did some more knitting that I haven't photographed yet, but I'll get around to it soon. As is to be expected, a lot of knitting features in my immediate future since I now have until the end of August to just hang around and relax. Two whole weeks of just knitting, reading whatever I want to, watching movies, spending time with friends and family. I think I may be in heaven! The bad news is that all the project I want to work on in the immediate future are cardigans. And I think I want to try my hand at that Clapotis that everyone was knitting back in the days. I didn't catch the fever then, but am becoming more and more interested in the pattern. And it will be really cold here in Iceland in just a month or so. So clearly I need more cardigans and shawls...
I apologize for the monstorously long absence, but I've been writing my thesis for the past month and a half. I mailed it off yesterday and experienced a rush of freedom like you wouldn't believe. The weather was beautiful, the sun was shining and to celebrate the end of my toils I spent all of yesterday hanging around downtown Reykjavík, going to bookstores and cafes with my knitting, my brother and my boyfriend. All without my camera, of course (I took it to a repair shop, and it works! I can finally post decent pictures! If I can be bothered to take them, that is.)
It is amazing how time-consuming something like thesis-writing can be. For me at least. I couldn't bring myself to blog because I spent 10 hours a day at the computer working on my paper. Spending additional time writing something that isn't mandatory somehow lost its appeal. But I did manage to get some knitting done, although I mainly worked on small projects. Such as these:
These are Thuja socks, knit in Sandnesgarn Smart for my brother's birthday. He liked them alot.
Then there are these:
These are the Dashing armwarmers, knit in Trysil Garn Arctic for my boyfriend's grandfather. I haven't given them to him yet, so I can't tell you if he likes them or not. But I sure hope he does.
I did some more knitting that I haven't photographed yet, but I'll get around to it soon. As is to be expected, a lot of knitting features in my immediate future since I now have until the end of August to just hang around and relax. Two whole weeks of just knitting, reading whatever I want to, watching movies, spending time with friends and family. I think I may be in heaven! The bad news is that all the project I want to work on in the immediate future are cardigans. And I think I want to try my hand at that Clapotis that everyone was knitting back in the days. I didn't catch the fever then, but am becoming more and more interested in the pattern. And it will be really cold here in Iceland in just a month or so. So clearly I need more cardigans and shawls...
Wednesday, July 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
No knitting, but cookies.
Absolutely no knitting content today, I'm too busy doing other stuff, like writing to bother much with knitting. But no matter how much I write I still have to eat, right? So today I bring you: My snacks: A photojournal.
My grandparents brought me this yesterday:
They ran into it in some store, and since they know how much I love Moomintrolls they bought it for me. This is an appropriate snack for me since I am about to start a Ph.D. in literature, and these cookies are based on some of my favorite book characters. Let me introduce you to the family:
Meet Moominpapa. He is a philosopher and the author of his most excellent autobiography "The Exploits of Moominpapa." I highly recommend it.
This lady is the love of Moominpapa's life. His account, in his autobiography, of how they first met is very dramatic. She is, serendipitously enough, called Moominmama. Do you see her handbag? Well, let me inform you that she is a serious knitter, and she carries her knitting with her wherever she goes in that handbag. I would love to be able to peek into it.
This fellow is their son, Moomintroll. He is a good soul, but sometimes he gets into trouble by accident.
This girl is the Snorkmaiden, and she is Moomintroll's girlfriend. Well, I don't really know how serious they are about each other. We'll see, they're young still. Her hobbies mostly revolve around her looks; she enjoys combing her hair and being admired for her taste in jewlery.
I don't know what this guy is called in English, but here in Iceland we call him Snúður. He is Moomintroll's best friend, but he has a wandering spirit and cannot stay in the same place for very long. This troubles Moomintroll, because it means that his best friend is seldom with him. I have a friend who's like that; it's kind of difficult.
Finally, my favorite (characterwise that is; they all tasted the same). This is Mía Litla (in Icelandic). She is a close friend of the Moominfamily, so close, in fact, that she lives with them. She's not really a burden because she's so small. She likes to take naps in the yarn in Moominmama's handbag. She has a mean streak, and can be kind of snippy, but she has a great sense of humor. Because she's so small, she often gets misplaced and the Moominfamily has to spend alot of time looking for her, but they don't mind.
Not only are these characters entertaining, they make a great vanilla-flavored snack.
My grandparents brought me this yesterday:
They ran into it in some store, and since they know how much I love Moomintrolls they bought it for me. This is an appropriate snack for me since I am about to start a Ph.D. in literature, and these cookies are based on some of my favorite book characters. Let me introduce you to the family:
Meet Moominpapa. He is a philosopher and the author of his most excellent autobiography "The Exploits of Moominpapa." I highly recommend it.
This lady is the love of Moominpapa's life. His account, in his autobiography, of how they first met is very dramatic. She is, serendipitously enough, called Moominmama. Do you see her handbag? Well, let me inform you that she is a serious knitter, and she carries her knitting with her wherever she goes in that handbag. I would love to be able to peek into it.
This fellow is their son, Moomintroll. He is a good soul, but sometimes he gets into trouble by accident.
This girl is the Snorkmaiden, and she is Moomintroll's girlfriend. Well, I don't really know how serious they are about each other. We'll see, they're young still. Her hobbies mostly revolve around her looks; she enjoys combing her hair and being admired for her taste in jewlery.
I don't know what this guy is called in English, but here in Iceland we call him Snúður. He is Moomintroll's best friend, but he has a wandering spirit and cannot stay in the same place for very long. This troubles Moomintroll, because it means that his best friend is seldom with him. I have a friend who's like that; it's kind of difficult.
Finally, my favorite (characterwise that is; they all tasted the same). This is Mía Litla (in Icelandic). She is a close friend of the Moominfamily, so close, in fact, that she lives with them. She's not really a burden because she's so small. She likes to take naps in the yarn in Moominmama's handbag. She has a mean streak, and can be kind of snippy, but she has a great sense of humor. Because she's so small, she often gets misplaced and the Moominfamily has to spend alot of time looking for her, but they don't mind.
Not only are these characters entertaining, they make a great vanilla-flavored snack.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Infernal Internet!
I came here to the National Book Barn (Iceland's national library, I have no idea why it's called a barn) to escape from all the distractions at home that are keeping me from working on my thesis, not least among them knitting projects and the wonder that is the internet. But of course they have wireless intenet access here at the barn, so there is no escape. Blasted technology! A pox on modernity.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Procrastinating...
It's noon here on the calm little island we call Iceland. I've been up since early this morning, busily picking at my computer's keyboard and mousepad. The closest I've come to doing any actual work on my thesis, though, is opening the Word program. Then I instantly went back to Ravelry!
Oh, Ravelry, what a delightfully useful tool for procrastinators who want to look and sound as if they're working, but are really just salivating over pictures of knitted goods produced by othersI It's addictive and inspiring and fun, and I'm really going to have to summon all my willpower and stay away from it if I want to finish my thesis by August 15, as planned. If I'm good I'm going to allow myself all of August 16 to knit and lounge around the internet. Oh, but the pull of Ravelry is strong when faced with the prospect of writing about television history all day.
Despite all this working and pretending to work, I've managed to get some knitting and finishing done. Does anyone remember a gray Létt Lopi cardigan I began back in March? Well, I finished the actual knitting and end-weaving back then, but then I had to go to Denmark for a month, and I sensibly left the cardigan in Iceland. Upon my return to my native land, all I had left to do was blocking and sewing on some buttons. I've done that now, and so I give you:
The great thing about Iceland is that it's totally cold enough to wear this in June. All knitters should live here, wool is useful year round.
I've also finished a shawl called Hálfskák from the book Þríhyrnur og Langsjöl. Here it is:
It's unblocked so it will become much nicer. I'm a little worried about the blocking, because the shawl has a very nice frilly edging at the moment that I don't want to lose. How can I stretch out the shawl without killing the frill? Any ideas?
I apologize for the bad photo lighting, the Icelandic midday sun is blaring into the room. But look at my nifty new haircut. No more tangled, messy, felted clumps of hair for me.
Oh, Ravelry, what a delightfully useful tool for procrastinators who want to look and sound as if they're working, but are really just salivating over pictures of knitted goods produced by othersI It's addictive and inspiring and fun, and I'm really going to have to summon all my willpower and stay away from it if I want to finish my thesis by August 15, as planned. If I'm good I'm going to allow myself all of August 16 to knit and lounge around the internet. Oh, but the pull of Ravelry is strong when faced with the prospect of writing about television history all day.
Despite all this working and pretending to work, I've managed to get some knitting and finishing done. Does anyone remember a gray Létt Lopi cardigan I began back in March? Well, I finished the actual knitting and end-weaving back then, but then I had to go to Denmark for a month, and I sensibly left the cardigan in Iceland. Upon my return to my native land, all I had left to do was blocking and sewing on some buttons. I've done that now, and so I give you:
The great thing about Iceland is that it's totally cold enough to wear this in June. All knitters should live here, wool is useful year round.
I've also finished a shawl called Hálfskák from the book Þríhyrnur og Langsjöl. Here it is:
It's unblocked so it will become much nicer. I'm a little worried about the blocking, because the shawl has a very nice frilly edging at the moment that I don't want to lose. How can I stretch out the shawl without killing the frill? Any ideas?
I apologize for the bad photo lighting, the Icelandic midday sun is blaring into the room. But look at my nifty new haircut. No more tangled, messy, felted clumps of hair for me.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Happy 17. june!
Today is Iceland's independence day. Although a joyous occasion for Icelanders everywhere, my attention today has, so far, been totally focused on Ravelry. That's right, I opened my email this morning and there it was, a shiny invite to join this exciting community. I promptly responded and can proudly say that Ravelry has only sucked up three hours of my day so far. Any moment now I'm going to stand up and walk away from the computer. It's just hard, because Ravelry is superfun and, I suspect, addictive in an inspiring kind of way. My profile there still looks kind of crappy, but I'm working on it. I'll just view this as added incentive to get my camera fixed. Yeah, tomorrow I'll stroll on down to the Sony Center and say: "Hey you guys, I'm having really annoying problems with my camera and I've been to lazy to do anything about it for six months." And they'll say: "For your laziness and lack of incentive we're gonna make you pay double the price of a standard camera-fixing." That oughta learn me.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
On a cultural note...
I was just listening to Shellac, starring my beloved Steve Albini in the leading role. Does anyone know that song Prayer to God?
Well, I've always thought it was pretty good, and kind of funny in a way, but I've only just now grasped the full implications of the lyrics. Steve Albini must have written this text after being dumped! What foolish woman made the grave mistake of dumping him? He sounds like such a catch, in a geeky-sensitive-artist kind of way. Although, it must be said, he does appear, judging by the lyrical contents of this song, to have some issues with rejection and anger management. In fact, he kind of strikes me as rather vengeful, which is not really a quality I look for in a man. I wouldn't want to be the one who arouses his anger, that's for sure.
Still, as long as he doesn't take the killing spree any further than into his songs, I guess he and his works can still be appreciated.
Amen.
Well, I've always thought it was pretty good, and kind of funny in a way, but I've only just now grasped the full implications of the lyrics. Steve Albini must have written this text after being dumped! What foolish woman made the grave mistake of dumping him? He sounds like such a catch, in a geeky-sensitive-artist kind of way. Although, it must be said, he does appear, judging by the lyrical contents of this song, to have some issues with rejection and anger management. In fact, he kind of strikes me as rather vengeful, which is not really a quality I look for in a man. I wouldn't want to be the one who arouses his anger, that's for sure.
Still, as long as he doesn't take the killing spree any further than into his songs, I guess he and his works can still be appreciated.
Amen.
New stuff I learned
Hi!
Pardon the long absence. I´ve been travelling and working like a maniac, and when I've had free time I've simply been way too lazy to blog. I appear to consider blogging to be more akin to work than play. I need to adjust my attitude regarding this whole issue.
Anyways, I was in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago to visit the boyfriend. It rained the whole time, so I didn't really do alot of touristy stuff, but then, I really didn't need to since I used to live in Cambridge and had seen it all before. The real purpose of my trip, though, was to give him the secret socks (not so secret anymore!) for his birthday (I gave him some other stuff too, I'm not a total scrooge). To make a long story short, he liked them and that made me happy. Good.
Now I'm back in Iceland and working hard on my thesis which is due in two months. I've kindof finished the sausage arms cardigan, although blocking remains, and I've started yet another cardigan that is going along swimmingly. Photobooth will, in good time, bring pictures of all these wonders, but what I wanted to talk about today was this:
This weekend I attended the annual Viking Festival in Hafnarfjörður. I try to go every year, mostly because I think vikings are cool, and entertaining to boot. I'm also a little obsessed with my nordic heritage and want to keep it alive through educating myself about the ways of my ancestors. So, there I was enjoying the usual viking festivities (drinking mead, fighting with swords and axes, grilling whole sheep over an open fire) when I noticed that all the viking ladies were engaged in some kind of wooly craft. I asked one of them what they were doing, and it turns our they were nalbinding. I'd read about this technique before, and seen pictures of garments made with it, but never had I seen it in action. The lady viking was nice enough to show me the basics of the technique and sell me a needle to do it with. I want to try to find some more permanent instructions somewhere, though, because I'm not sure I remember correctly how she did it.
Nalbinding strikes me as more related to crochet than knitting. The only downside I can see to nalbinding is that you can only work with short lengths of yarn at a time, which means lots of ends to weave in. But I really liked the garments that I saw at the festival, they had a kind of freestyle look to them, not as structured and orderly as knitted garments.
Man, the world is just full of interesting stuff I want to learn, when will I have the time?
Pardon the long absence. I´ve been travelling and working like a maniac, and when I've had free time I've simply been way too lazy to blog. I appear to consider blogging to be more akin to work than play. I need to adjust my attitude regarding this whole issue.
Anyways, I was in Cambridge a couple of weeks ago to visit the boyfriend. It rained the whole time, so I didn't really do alot of touristy stuff, but then, I really didn't need to since I used to live in Cambridge and had seen it all before. The real purpose of my trip, though, was to give him the secret socks (not so secret anymore!) for his birthday (I gave him some other stuff too, I'm not a total scrooge). To make a long story short, he liked them and that made me happy. Good.
Now I'm back in Iceland and working hard on my thesis which is due in two months. I've kindof finished the sausage arms cardigan, although blocking remains, and I've started yet another cardigan that is going along swimmingly. Photobooth will, in good time, bring pictures of all these wonders, but what I wanted to talk about today was this:
This weekend I attended the annual Viking Festival in Hafnarfjörður. I try to go every year, mostly because I think vikings are cool, and entertaining to boot. I'm also a little obsessed with my nordic heritage and want to keep it alive through educating myself about the ways of my ancestors. So, there I was enjoying the usual viking festivities (drinking mead, fighting with swords and axes, grilling whole sheep over an open fire) when I noticed that all the viking ladies were engaged in some kind of wooly craft. I asked one of them what they were doing, and it turns our they were nalbinding. I'd read about this technique before, and seen pictures of garments made with it, but never had I seen it in action. The lady viking was nice enough to show me the basics of the technique and sell me a needle to do it with. I want to try to find some more permanent instructions somewhere, though, because I'm not sure I remember correctly how she did it.
Nalbinding strikes me as more related to crochet than knitting. The only downside I can see to nalbinding is that you can only work with short lengths of yarn at a time, which means lots of ends to weave in. But I really liked the garments that I saw at the festival, they had a kind of freestyle look to them, not as structured and orderly as knitted garments.
Man, the world is just full of interesting stuff I want to learn, when will I have the time?
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