Carmela Biscuit's Spot

Mystic River

2012-02-23T18:54:00.013+02:00

Pattern: Mystic River by DROPS Design
Yarn: Lanoso Alara 50% cotton 50% acrylic, 220 g
Needle: 3.5 mm
Time to knit: 6 days, incl. sewing and buttons

Perfect little summer cardi, I'm extremely happy with it. Knit without modifications and almost no unraveling (but for those unfortunate 13-15 rows after I had made a mistake).
TIPS from second thoughts (if I were to make it again or for those of you, who might want to knit it):
1) Use crochet cast on for the fronts. This will match the knitted cast off of the back.
2) Cast on the new sts for the sleeves with provisional cast on and additional yarn on the row marked with an arrow in diagram M.1.
Then, when you have again reached that row marked with the arrow and it is time to bind off the stitches for the sleeves, graft the sleeves.

It's Friday and so many people are showing their finished work - visit Linda's Creative Friday and Tami's Amis FO Friday

Find the Differences

2012-02-21T15:17:00.003+02:00

Or why knitting in a sleepy mode while watching Miss Marple solve the next complicated crime is not recommendable :)

Mystery

2012-02-18T16:01:00.005+02:00

It's a mystery to me how it happened, but instead of attaching the zipper to the CPH, a zipper, which I still haven't bought, I find myself today blogging about my new summer cardigan, half of which is already done in less than two days.
Probably because I've had too much work lately, and the winter is so cold and long and tiresome, but for two days I felt too tired and unenthused about knitting. I just didn't feel like finishing any of my other projects or starting another small cold weather project. And then I got it - I was tired of winter, I needed to knit something to remind me of warmer and greener days. I like snow and at first was very happy with everything being covered in white, but now I long for color, I'm tired of white and grey.
And after two whole days without knitting, just browsing through my stash and queues on Ravelry, on Thursday night I spontaneously cast on the last on my queue - this little cardi from the latest DROPS collection - Mystic River. I had just the yarn for the project in my stash - a soft cotton-acrylic blend in green. The pattern is very well written and easy, I really hope it would make a wearable little cardi.

Done!

2012-02-15T13:02:00.005+02:00

Last night I finished the Central Park Hoodie. I still have to buy and place the zipper, but all the knitting is done - and these meager 2 m of yarn are all I'm left with! In the end I brought the kitchen scales with me and measured the yarn every couple of rows. When I had 10 g left, I started the I-cord, and half way through it measured the actual meters of yarn left and how much I would need (with approximation :). But I squeezed within the 500 g I had. And the fit is so perfect, yey, yey ...
Upcoming notes on the finishing of the cardigan - probably tonight ...

The Hood

2012-02-12T18:31:00.014+02:00

Slowly, but steadily I'm making progress on my Central Park Hoodie, and though I had some issues with the pattern and even some significant unraveling, I still like it immensely and enjoy the process. This morning I finished the hood and thought I'd share my modifications for anyone who might want to try them.
Like many others, I decided to continue the cables from the center of the back into the hood. Because cables make knitting narrow, and I read on Ravelry that the hood runs narrow anyway, I picked up a total of 86 stitches as for the large sizes, though I'm knitting a customized 32 size. I also started picking stitches from the left front and on the WS, after transferring the live stitches from the left front on the needles without knitting them, to make the fronts even (I don't know why the pattern doesn't take into consideration that when stitches are left live on the fronts, the right front is one row shorter than the left).
I knit the hood for 28 cm and then began decreases on the central cable panel of 18 sts.
The first decrease row is the 3rd cable row of the fronts and the 9th cable row of the back.
Here's what's going on with the central 18 stitches:
1 row (RS): p2 ssk k4 p2 k4 k2tog p2 (two stitches decreased)
2 row (WS): k2 p5 k2 p5 k2 (no decreases)
3 row (RS): p2, right cable: k1 k2tog, k2 from cable needle, p2, left cable: k2, k1 k2tog from cable needle (two stitches decreased)
4 row (WS) k2 p4 k2 p4 k2 (no decreases)
5 row (RS): p2 k2 k2tog p2 ssk k2 p2 (two stitches decreased)
6 row (WS) k2 p3 k2 p3 k2 (no decreases)
7 row (RS): p2 k2 ssk k2tog k2 p2 (two stitches decreased)
8 row (WS) k2 p2tog p1 p1 p2togtbl k2 (two stitches decreased)
9 row (RS): p2 ssk k2tog p2 (two stitches decreased)
10 row (WS): k1 p2togtbl p2tog k1 (two stitches decreased)
11 row (RS): k3togtbl k3tog (four stitches decreased)
All of the 18 stitches of the cable pattern are decreased.
Continue to decrease the two central stitches symmetrically on the next row:
12 row (WS): p2tog, p2togtbl
The next row is the last row of the hood and the 5th row of the cable pattern of the fronts. Knit this row until two stitches before the center of the hood, ssk, fold the knitting in half with the two needles side by side and graft the stitches, grafting the first two stitches of the front needle together. The graft row acts as the second half of the 5th row and evens the two halves of the hood.

On the last picture my daughter is demonstrating the hood from behind and you might even notice that I still haven't sewn the second sleeve (but I will this evening, I promise :)

And another project I started just to test the pattern. I think this might make a nice cowl, and I even like it in mohair, but I think I hate the color of my yarn (raw meat gone bad - pinkish beige) and I am currently considering throwing it away for good - something I've never done before, actually. Do you ever throw away yarn you hate?

Rotonda

2012-02-05T08:31:00.013+02:00

After the heavy snow and arctic temperatures (-22C), yesterday we had a break from the cold and managed to take pictures of my latest finished sweater. While knitting it, it constantly reminded me of the St. George Rotunda and the Roman ruins next to it - probably my most favorite place in town, my secret garden. Hidden in the inner court between the Presidency and the Sheraton Hotel, the beautiful church is the oldest preserved building in Sofia, built at the beginning of the IV century, when Sofia (then Serdica) was part of the vast Roman empire. Behind the church are the ruins of the residency of the emperor Constantine the Great. I just had to photo shoot this sweater there!

Pattern: Rotonda (rotunda in Bulgarian)
Yarn: Alize Missisipi 2 skeins
Needle: 3 mm
Time to knit: seems eternity (I think, considering all the unraveling and re-knitting, I actually knitted this at least twice)

It's such fun to share your FO with other knitters! Check Tami's Amis FO Friday!

Pouch Hat

2012-02-02T17:00:00.011+02:00

Pattern: Pouch Hat
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Batik, the light colors from two skeins
Needle: 3.5 mm rib, 4 mm body
Time to knit: less than two days (with some serious unraveling and re-knitting)

This is the first of my "recycled" hats this year. As I promised earlier, this winter I'll unravel some of the old hats and reuse the yarn in a new style.
This new hat, which can be also a neck warmer, used to be part of a set of an entrelac hat, scarf and gloves. I unraveled the scarf and the hat and re-knit only the light colors this time. I have an idea next year to make the hat double, using this pattern and the darker colors as well.

Linked to Tami's Amis FO Friday!

Snow

2012-01-26T18:41:00.011+02:00

Snow white winter is a rarity in the city, and today I spent quite a lot of time gazing in awe and quiet satisfaction at the snow covered street, trees and cars outside my window. It snowed the whole night and day yesterday and today and the city was absolutely transformed into a snowy fairytale scenery, if only for a few days.

And on the knitting front, this simple stockinette raglan sweater will be the end of me. I changed the second ball of yarn and knit the two sleeves - so far, so good. But the yoke bothered me. First I unraveled and redid only the upper third, but it bulged around the armpits. Then I unraveled and redid again the entire yoke (that hurt :)), but this time it is too narrow at the shoulders. I'm definitely unraveling the upper half tomorrow, but to ease the pain, I cast on a sock today.

Ripple Effect Tunic

2012-01-21T14:58:00.015+02:00

Pre-blog FO

I knit this tunic last winter and still consider it one of my best knits for my daughter. She wears it this year too (not as many times as the tunic actually deserves, IMO :) ), but as she grew more than 10 cm in height since last winter, the tunic is now shorter.
It is knit in the round up to the armholes, no waist shaping. I learned some new techniques with this tunic last year, which I now employ on a regular basis - tubular cast on, tubular cast off, double based neckpiece (cowl in this case).
As we hadn't taken any decent pictures of it, it was high time to do so before she outgrew it completely.
So today we decided to take advantage of the beautiful snow for a photo shoot.
It was a rather short session though, as just when she began posing, a gust of cold wind blew tons of snow upon us from the trees around and we hurried back home.

Pattern: Ripple Effect Tunic
Yarn: Alize cashmira 100% wool
Needle: 4 mm

Sweaters Undone

2012-01-18T13:03:00.008+02:00

I used to think of myself as a one thing at a time person, but that's what Ravelry, and other knitters' blogs, and knitters discussion boards make to you - I'm a multy-WIP knitter now.

So, today I took stock of my sweaters in progress:

1. A crochet cardi, the fruit of my short summer flirtation with the hook. I should finish this for summer 2012 or unravel and put the yarn into better use.

2. My husband's sweater. It's too fitting and he doesn't like it like that. Two paths ahead - finish it and give it to somebody else (it might fit my father?) or unravel and start over, preferably another pattern (Norah Gaughan's Devon?):

3. A spontaneously cast on stockinette raglan in the Hourglass sweater style and self-striping yarn. I love the yarn and the look so far, but the light beige color in the second skein is much darker (though the color batch is the same) and this bugs me. I plan to go check the yarn store for a matching skein tomorrow:

4. Meanwhile yesterday I cast on this - the back of my Central Park Hoodie. The color and the yarn are yummy, but I might have to buy more yarn, 400 g now seem to be not enough:

So, I believe a small pledge is in order - I will not buy more yarn (other than needed for the above sweaters) and start new big projects (well, I leave the door open for socks, hats and gloves, otherwise I might not keep my pledge :), I'm such a cheater (blushing)), until I clear out one way or the other these WIPs!

For other knitters' work in progress check Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday

Skull & Bones

2012-01-15T13:42:00.011+02:00

Pattern: Skull Hat
Yarn: Alize Superlana Classic black and white
Needle: 3 mm
Time to knit: 2 days

Though I've been knitting for years now, I had always avoided fair isle. I've done some colorwork knitting, sure, striping and supercomplicated intarsia with 17 or more balls running simultaneously (teenage madness!), but no fair isle so far. Well, the time has come to grow up and enter the world of mature knitters.
It's a good thing that for my first fair isle project I chose a hat with only 13 rows of actual stranded knitting - I found it messy and slow. The final result is interesting and hubby and son are fighting whose the hat is actually :). I suppose the big boy will get the hat and the small boy - the wrist warmer, into which I turned the sample of the pattern I knit initially.
This is also my first double hat - first I knit the internal simple hat (with provisional cast on) bottom-up, and then the stranded twin, again bottom-up. I could have opted for a continuous process top-bottom-top, but I don't like knitting hats top to bottom.

Celtic Knots

2012-01-05T19:24:00.012+02:00

Pattern: Celtic Knots
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Classic 320 g
Needle: 4 mm
Time to knit: over three weeks in between three hats and a pair of mittens

Celtic Knots is a Japanese pattern, but as 1) I don't speak Japanese and 2) I rarely follow strictly a pattern, I took the general idea and the pattern of the knot and then calculated everything to fit me according to my gauge. The sweater was ready and sewn around Christmas, but I didn't like the sleeves, which were first knit 3/4 long, as in the original pattern. I unraveled more than two-thirds of the sleeves and redid them as a bit extra long, IMO this length is more consistent with the rest of the pattern. I also decided not to sew the neck-piece folded in half, but to leave it roll inward.

For more finished objects this week please visit Tami's Amis FO Friday 68 and Linda's Creative Friday

Twilight Mittens

2012-01-03T12:58:00.010+02:00

Pattern: Bella's Mittens
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Classic 60 g
Needle: DPNS 4 mm
Time to knit: 2 days

When my daughter told me that she would prefer if I'd knit her mittens instead of gloves I was quite taken aback, as I've never liked mittens. Her argument was that gloves with their separated fingers made her small hands freeze, while mittens would allow her to keep her fingers clenched together in the freeze cold winter mornings on her way to school.
And then I saw these Bella Mittens on Ravelry and I instantly knew that I had found the ultimate mittens for Gaby. Not only is she a huge fan of the Twilight books and films, but the mittens are the first and only (so far) mittens that I actually like a lot.
And they also turned out to be THE BEST written mittens ever! The description is flawless and clear. The horseshoe cable pattern produces a perfect elegant form and a beautiful round finish at the fingertips. I had almost a full skein left from my red sweater, so I made them full arms length to keep her warm.

No matter how hard I tried (and I did) I couldn't get the right color of the mittens on these pictures - it's a beautiful deep blood red and not this tomato red that you see (so you'll have to use your imagination a bit :)

Linked to Tami's Amis WIP 74

2011 in Finished Objects

2011-12-30T22:23:00.005+02:00

As I look back, it seems I've done quite a lot of knitting in 2011 - 40 (forty!) finished objects - more than 15 km of yarn! I end the year with three WIPs: an almost done red sweater (it was done actually, but I didn't like the sleeves and I'm redoing them now), a ribbed man's sweater, which I've put aside and feel no desire to finish and a crocheted cardigan, which is totally frozen as of present.

I did a lot of hats in 2011 - some were and are still worn a lot, others were complete failures. I love hats and I plan to knit many more. But nobody needs that many hats, so I'm going to unravel at least 3 or 4 of the 2011 hats to reuse the yarn in a new style and pattern.

I did a lot of summer sweaters too - though I like them, they were not worn that much. I found out that of my knitted garments I much prefer the cardigans, so I'm planning a few cotton and wool cardigans for 2012.

And there were some other small things, holiday knitting and other accessories. Of these bags and pouches are practical and maybe I might knit or crochet a bag next year, I also might try socks and probably a shawl:

Alpacana

2011-12-29T17:05:00.010+02:00

Project: Aesderina / Wurm Hybrid
Yarn: Lanoso Alpacana 35% wool 40% acrylic 25% alpaca
Needle: 5 mm
Time to knit: 1 day

Everything about this hat is a murky blend - the color from grey through blue to brown, the yarn from wool through acrylic to alpaca, the pattern from Aesderina through Slouchy Hat to Wurm. The pattern has the potential for a nice slouchy hat and I might give it a try with some other yarn, but the 130 m of this ball sufficed only for a beanie - but a warm and comfortable one.

This was a very quick knit - only a few hours of film watching and knitting yesterday, and today was its field test - an hour and a half stay outside by the skate ring, while the children where skating; and my head was kept warm the whole time - so it's definitely a keeper. Maybe I should make myself some socks out of this yarn too - because my feet were freezing in the end :)

Waffle

2011-12-26T13:51:00.008+02:00

Two new hats in Alize Lanagold Solids for my father and my son.
Actually, my son's hat is an exact replica of his grey snowflake, which was lost/stolen in a cinema last month. He liked it so much and wouldn't hear of another pattern - so I made him another snowflake. And the other ribbed hat is probably my favorite so far. It's modeled by me today (just a little bit big for my head) before being parceled and sent to its recipient.

Pattern: Grey Snowflake
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Solids 60 g
Needle: 3.5 mm
Time to knit: 2 days

Pattern: Waffle Hat
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Solids 70 g
Needle: 4 mm
Time to knit: 2 days

And a simple cowl in decorative yarn, which I made a few years ago:

Eggless Cake

2011-12-14T10:32:00.005+02:00

An easy and simple recipe I found on a culinary forum.

Ingredients:
2 cups of yogurt
1 tea spoon of baking soda
1 1/2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 cups of flour
2 vanillas

Mix all ingredients in a bowl. Spread in a baking tin and decorate with a grid of jam or chocolate cream. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 C for 30 min. Leave to cool and enjoy with your morning coffee :)

Sheepish

2011-12-08T11:45:00.016+02:00

Project: Ba, Ba, Sheep
Design: When Sampson Met Lila, Knitty, Deep Fall 2011
Yarn: YarnArt Pure Merino, 4 balls of brown and 2 ball of cream, 300 g total
Needle: 3 mm hem, 3.5 mm body and cowl
Time to knit, correct the length (added 8 rows of st st with grafting) and sew: two weeks

The pattern is interesting and the first to catch my eye when Knitty Deep Fall came out. I've done some modifications - the hem is jagged and I like it this way a lot, I knit it in the round up to the armholes, also lifted the neckline to the height of the armholes and it is still a bit low for my liking. I wish I had listened to my gut and made the neckline higher and narrower and the cowl with more stitches (this is 132 st) by picking 1 st for every knitted row and not 2 st for every 3 rows. I would also extend the final part of the cowl by changing the needles to 4 mm (which I also thought of as a possibility while knitting, but didn't dare to try it). Now the cowl does not fall as freely as I wished it to and hardly covers the neckline, so I decided to sew it folded in half, as seen on the pictures.
Because I never wear short sleeved wool sweaters, I made mine with 7/8 sleeves, no pattern here, just following my general idea of a sleeve.
The yarn is virgin wool and a bit itchy at first, until the skin adjusts to it. I like it, but I wouldn't knit another sweater out of it soon. Surprisingly, it didn't stretch at all in length or width after wet blocking and the sweater is probably a tiny bit too fitting. As a whole, though my gauge was exactly as needed, probably due to the different yarn (and knitter :) my sweater came out smaller than expected (thus the 8 rows of elongation).
The trinity stitch cowl makes this simple stockinette sweater look festive and just the thing I needed for the coming holiday season.

PS: Can you tell how cold I am while taking these pictures :)? Frost had fallen in the morning and I hurried to shoot the sweater before it began to snow. Now I'm sitting next to the heater, while a heavy snow outside falls on the trees and fields.

For other finished objects don't miss Linda's Creative Friday and Tami's Amis FO Friday

Diagonalley

2011-11-24T15:19:00.008+02:00

Name: Diagonalley
Pattern: Staggered rib scarf
Yarn: Alize Lanagold 140 g
Needle: 4 mm

Sherlock

2011-11-19T19:36:00.008+02:00

Pattern: Sherlock
Yarn: Linate Multi Color 100 g 200 m
Needle: 4 mm

The idea of the brim came to me last year and I finally got to try it. I think it's a success and I intend to make also a beret brimmed this way.
Lately my daughter wears her hair gathered in a ponytail and you know how silly a ponytail looks under an ordinary hat! So I came with this idea of an opening, hidden in the cable of the beanie. The hat can be worn with loose hair too, the opening is almost invisible.
And why Sherlock - it's simple - when I was trying the hat on me, my husband said I looked like Sherlock Holmes minus the pipe :)

It's Raining Hats and ... Frogs

2011-11-19T18:20:00.018+02:00

The frog curse has come upon me.
It all started with my three color summer sweater Frenchy, which I knit twice.
The Yosemite sweater was a disaster - frogged and turned into a short cardigan.
A lucky misfit was the first ribbed hat, intended for my husband - it turned out too small, so it went to our son, and I knit another one for hubby.
Then the fingerless gloves were too big - and I knit them twice - again.

And the story goes on with my latest two hats:
Robin seemed a simple enough project - but the pattern is totally unbecoming me. The yarn is going elsewhere ...

Followed Sherlock - a brimmed beanie with a ponytail opening. First the brim was too big, then the hat too short and narrow. So I ripped it out and did it again, and again.

The series is to be continued, I expect ... :)

Autumn Berries

2011-11-09T12:39:00.014+02:00

Pattern: Nalu Mitts
Yarn: YarnArt Pure Merino, hand dyed, 50 g
Needle: 3.25 mm DPN

The yarn is hand dyed with instant drinks, the process is described here.
Knit the first mitt as per pattern instructions, size medium, and as should have been expected, the mitt was too big for my small hands, especially in the wrist area. And I do love my gloves to fit like a glove.
Actually I was on the brim of abandoning the project altogether, but the design is beautiful, so I unraveled the mitt and knit it again with some alterations.
I cast on only 40 sts, knit rib for 10 rows, then started the chart on 11 st, but continued the rib on the other stitches for a full repeat of the chart (14 rows) and only then switched to st st. I also replaced the moss stitch with reverse stockinette stitch, as it suited the color of my yarn better.
Now the mitts fit just perfectly and I am very pleased with this project.
The mitts took 40 g of this delicious yarn, so I also made a brooch and a GSM trinket - knit to the last thread!

Linked to Creative Friday and Tami's Amis FO Friday
It's such fun to check out other people's amazing finished items, don't miss it!

Step by Step Yarn Dyeing

2011-11-03T11:08:00.016+02:00

There comes a time, when a knitter feels fed up with the yarn color range available in her local yarn stores and is tempted to customize her yarn. So I've felt that urge to dye yarn for some time now, I read all about coffee, tea and Kool-Aid yarn dyeing and finally I was ready to go. I used STEP sugar free instant drink, available on our market.
But first a quick word about artificial sweeteners. Kool-Aid, as I gather, is sold sugar and artificial sweetener free, but it's not sold in my country and I couldn't find an instant drink that does not contain artificial sweeteners. Most bloggers on the Internet claim that sugar AND artificial sweeteners are bad for your yarn (for your health, yes, sure, but for your yarn??). So, I gathered all of my school days chemistry knowledge and started thinking. Sugar is carbohydrates. Carbs plus water mean starch and that is glue on your yarn - well, you do not want that for sure. BUT artificial sweeteners are NOT carbohydrates, but chemicals, which give that (artificially, ghrr) sweet taste to your drink and should not make starch with water - ERGO, no problem.
So, I bought four sachets of STEP - Berry Punch and Red Grapes, as I wanted my yarn to be slightly variegated, but not many-colored. My colors are E122 (carmoisine - deep pink red), the basic color of both drinks, E150d (caramel), E155 (chocolate brown), E133 (brilliant blue).
For my 50 g of yarn I used two STEP red grape and one STEP Berry Punch.

Here's my step-by-step process.

1. You'll get best results with 100% animal fibers - merino or other wool, alpaca, etc.
I bought two balls of 50g white pure merino (virgin wool). The first thing to do is to unwind the yarn into a hank. You don't have a niddy-noddly - ha, who has! - just use the four legs of an upturned small table or the backs of two of your kitchen chairs (as I did). Tie the hank at several places with a thread (I used 100% cotton theard to see if cotton would dye too - it didn't at all!)

2. Soak the yarn for 30 min into warm water and liquid soap. This is done to remove all dust particles and grease, that has stuck to your yarn from handling it here and there.

3. Gently rinse the yarn to remove the soap and then soak for another 30 min into a solution of 4 cups of warm water and 1 cup of white vinegar. True, instant drinks contain citric and malic acid, but to be on the safe side - you do need acid to open the fibers of your yarn and fix the color, and I'm not sure if the acid in the drinks is enough.

4. In the meantime prepare the dye (drinks), dissolving the powder with water. The amount of water doesn't matter, the amount of dye does!

5. Gently remove the water from the yarn (do not rinse it, do not twist) - it should be wet, but not dripping. Place it in a microwave-safe vessel. Because these drinks are supposedly health-hazard free (not that our family would drink such artificial s..t), I was not worried to use my cooking casserole. Now is the interesting part. Use your imagination and pour the dyes as you wish them to appear on your yarn. Gently press the yarn to distribute the dye. Cover with enough water (I used the same vinegar-water solution, in which the yarn had soaked before).

6. Cover with the lid and place it in the microwave oven, set it to the max heat and cook the yarn for 2 min, let it rest for 2 min. Repeat these 2 min sessions 3-4 more times (I did a total of 4 repeats, 8 min total heating time). Do not exceed 15 min and be careful not to boil the water, otherwise the yarn will felt.

7. Leave the yarn in the casserole to cool. The water should be clear and all the dye should be in the yarn.

8. After the yarn has cooled enough (for at least 2 hours), wash it with warm water (the same temperature as the yarn) and liquid soap (Perwoll in my case). I soaked it afterward in warm water with a softener too.

9. Place the hank on a hanger and leave it to dry.

10. Wind it into a ball. I found a method, using a toilet paper roll and it's miraculously comfortable to use. Knit something nice and wear it!

ПОДРОБНИ УКАЗАНИЯ НА БЪЛГАРСКИ ЕЗИК ЦЪК

Halloween Galore

2011-10-31T22:05:00.014+02:00

For a forth year in a row the children are preparing costumes and attending a party for Halloween, held by one of their best friends. It's become a tradition for their circle of friends to gather on the 31th of October, dress up and have fun. Gaby, who is definitely the more creative of the two, usually designs her own costumes and the jack-o'-lantern (and wins the first prize :):

Halloween 2008:

Halloween 2009:

Halloween 2010:

Halloween 2011:

Another Ribbed Hat

2011-10-29T20:46:00.009+03:00

Name: Starfish Ribbed hat
Pattern: Cashmere Ribbed Hat
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Classic 50% wool 50% acrylic
Needle: 4 mm

This is the second of (at least) four ribbed hats I've planned so far, a slightly bigger version for my husband. I know a ribbed hat sounds like the simplest hat ever, but my men prefer these simple hats with folded over brims to any other hat pattern. This yarn is very soft and warm and the hats are really very cozy and pleasant to wear.

And guess who borrowed her son's cosy hat for this walk in the park (me blushing, but it's so comfortable, and I haven't done my ribbed version yet :)

Grey Snowflake

2011-10-27T16:05:00.010+03:00

Name: Grey Snowflake
Pattern: Snowflakes on Mulberries Hat
Yarn: Alize Lanagold Classic 240 m / 100 g
Needle: 3.5 mm

120 st turned out too many, so I reduced the snowflake to 5 branches of 20 st each, 100 st total. Tubular cast on with waste yarn, modified from Dropsdesign video. My son wears it pulled a bit too much over his eyes, but that's his custom.
The small label - probably it's wrong, but I cannot stand those small labels on my shirts and sweaters, touching the back of my neck - my skin is too sensitive. Before I just unpicked them and threw them away, but last year it came to me to sew them back on hats as a nice touch of decoration.

Check out many more finished knitwear projects on Tami's Amis and
WISDOM BEGINS IN WONDER!

On second thoughts

2011-10-27T10:39:00.007+03:00

Being a Libra by (astrological) nature, I rarely come to a straightforward decision right away. More often, I waver between options all the way through a process, never sure if the choice (for one has always to make a choice at some point) has been right and having second thoughts ... Which in terms of knitting equals lots of unraveling :)
When I started my husband's sweater, I reduced my pattern choices to these three: this German pattern, this Japanese pattern and this simple ribbed sweater. And the compromiser that I am, I decided to try a mixture of the last two - a rib formed of 4 knit st, 2 moss st. 10 cm into the sweater in the round I found that I disliked the graphics of the sweater as it was, so I unraveled it and started again a simpler ribbed design - 5 knit st, 1 purl st. So far so not so good. There seems to be a certain ratio between purl and knit stitches in a rib, beyond which a rib stops being a rib and starts to behave like stockinette and I suppose I crossed that line, because the end of the sweater curled unpleasantly. Ergo, I had another second thought and (being too far into knitting this time and not wishing to unravel again), I decided to add a rib to the rib by grafting. Now, grafting all purls or all knits is easy, but a rib ? I tried following a colored thread, but that's not for me. So, after many tries and fails, I just found how to imitate the path of the thread on knits and purls and after a while I got the knack of it and grafting became easy (and the grafting thread shorter, which makes all the difference, I can tell you :).

And for the tubular (machine) cast on of the rib I found this DROPS tutorial, which is ingenious, only I adapted it for my needs - only two knit rows of the rib color before starting the ribbing and alternating two purl stitches from the left needle with two knit picks from the bumps of first row of the rib color.

Linked to Tami's Amis WIP Wednesday. Check out this place!

Lizzy Dog Sweater

2011-10-18T15:25:00.016+03:00

My daughter's friend has a mini Yorkshire terrier, who finds autumn and winter temperatures very disagreeable. Lizzy (the dog) is a very small creature and knitting a sweater for such a tiny dog is a super easy and rewarding task. Here's the pattern I came up with - total length including rib 35 cm, spread width 30 cm:

Instructions:
Cut a 40 cm piece of the yarn to be used for mattress stitch later.
Cast on 54 st with DK yarn on 4 mm needle and work 15 rows of rib 2k 2p, starting on the WS with 2p and ending with 2p stitches. Row 16 (RS): Knit 18, work 18 stitches in pattern, knit 18. You can work the 2 stitch cable (cl1) traditionally or as suggested by Andee Steinman: K2tog, but do not drop sts from left needle; insert right needle between sts just worked together and k into first st again; drop both sts from left needle.
Row 18 (RS): k18, p2, cl1, p2, slip 3 st to cable needle in front of work, work 3 st, place the 3 st from the cable needle back on the left needle and turn. Work only this half of the sweater (27 st) for further 5 rows, ending with a WS. This creates the hole for the lead, hidden in the cable.
Row 24 (RS): work 27 stitches in pattern, then with a crochet hook slip stitch the thread along the edge of the half cable (thus avoiding cutting the yarn and weaving in ends) and continue to work the other 27 stitches. Work further 5 rows in pattern only over this half of the sweater.
Row 25 (WS): Work all 54 stitches in pattern.
Continue to work in pattern for further 8 rows.
Row 34 (RS): K8, k2tog and turn work.
Row 35 (WS): p2tog, p to the end. Work on the remaining 7 stitches for 10 more rows.
Row 46 (RS): k7, make 1, then with a crochet hook slip stitch the thread along the edge of the leg opening, ssk, work in pattern for 34 st, k2tog, turn work.
Row 35 of central part (WS): p2tog, work in pattern to the last two st, p2togtbl
Work further 10 rows over these central 32 st.
Row 46 (RS): m1, work in pattern 32 st, m1, then with a crochet hook slip stitch the thread along the edge of the leg opening, ssk, work in pattern for 8 st, turn work.
Row 35 of the left part (WS): work 7 st, p2togtbl.
Work further 10 rows over these 7 st.
Row 46 (RS): m1, work 7 st.
Row 47 (WS): connecting the three parts of the leg openings: work 8 st, m1, m1 from the first st of the central part, continue to the end of the central part, m1, m1 from the first st of the right part, work to the end.
Continue to work in pattern over all stitches for 14 more rows.
Row 62 (RS): Shape the opening for the hind legs: Decrease every other row 3 st 1 time, 2 st x 2 times, 1 st x 2 times, work 6 rows, then continue to decrease 1 st x 2 times, 2 st x 2 times and 3 st x 1 time.
Do not break the yarn! Using the 40 cm piece of yarn, connect the sides with mattress stitch, forming a tube-like sweater.
Row 86 (RS): central 18 st of pattern - starting the rib of the hind legs opening. If you are using a circular needle, check the magic loop method, or use double-point needles:
p2, k2, p2, place 3 st on cable holder in front of the knitwork, k2, p1, p1 from the cable holder, k2, p2, k2, p2. Pick up 29 st. round the left part of the opening, cont to pick up 29 st round the right side of the opening = a total of 18 + 29 + 29 = 76 st. Work 9 rows of p2 k2 rib and cast off (or 18 rows of p2 k2 rib, cast off, fold the rib in half and sew the end to the inside for double rib).
Pick up 24 st around the front leg openings and work 9 rows of p2 k2 rib and cast off (or 18 rows of p2 k2 rib, cast off, fold the rib in half and sew the end to the inside for double rib).

Brick Shorty

2011-10-13T15:49:00.007+03:00

Finally - an FO! It's been a while since my last cardigan - Gaby's Joy. Here's what came out of the yarn, recycled from Yosemite - a comfortable cropped cardigan. Puffy Fine is so soft, when knit with two threads of yarn - the knitted texture is very pleasant and supple. This cable pattern was a novelty to me, very ingenious.

Name: Brick Shorty
Pattern: Short Cardigan by DROPS Design
Yarn: Alize Puffy Fine 260 g
Needle: 3.5 mm (moss stitch) and 4 mm

Cheese Cupcakes

2011-10-07T20:01:00.005+03:00

Fresh from the Silicon valley :)

This is an old recipe of mine, which I usually bake in a small round baking dish and which my family adores under the name "Salty cake". I have a cupcake baking pan, but no matter how well I prepare it, the cupcakes always stick to it and are difficult to get out without deforming the shape. But today we tried our new silicon forms - they are a miracle, really. I'll have to buy more ...
And now the recipe (though I suspect I haven't invented the hot water and it's probably no different than any other cheese cupcake recipe, but nevertheless):
2 eggs
2 cups (260 g) flour
appr. 1/2 cup (100 g) vegetable oil
400 g yogurt
10 g baking powder
150 g white cheese

Beat the eggs. Add the oil. Add the baking powder to the yogurt, stir and add to the eggs and oil. Gradually add the flour, while stirring. In the end add the crumbled white cheese. Fill the cups (4/5) with the mix, arrange them in a baking tin and place them in the warmed up oven (180 C). Bake until the crust is golden brownish.
Optional: sprinkle on top with ground yellow cheese or caraway seeds.
A great snack for the school lunchboxes. Enjoy!

Happy Birthday ... To Me! :)

2011-10-06T17:42:00.006+03:00

My birthday present arrived home today - a new sewing machine.

Lots of decorative stitches, which I still don't know when and where to use,
one-step automatic button holes, so far smooth and quiet operation,
me happy :)
Elna 2300

Frog Season

2011-10-06T08:08:00.018+03:00

Throughout the month of September I slogged on 2.5 mm and ALIZE Puffy Fine (440 m per 100 g super fine viscose thread) to make Yosemite sweater (all rib and cables). And when I had finally almost reached the end (the body plus one sleeve, picture taken before I started on the sleeves) I realized I just hated it. The shoulders came out too narrow (my mistake, of course) and though I had hoped the added sleeve would make things OK, it made them worse - pulling and distorting the collar, so, after much agony, I knew it had to be done - enter the frog.

The yarn is very soft and I like the color a lot, so now I'm knitting it with two threads held together and I'm making a short cardigan, DROPS design, on 4 mm needle. It's as easy as a pie, I've finished the body and starting the sleeves. I was lucky to find another skein of the same color lot and I have enough yarn to make them long, but should I, or should I preserve the original 3/4 sleeves?
What do you think?

A Month of Self-Stitched Clothes

2011-10-01T15:14:00.003+03:00

I've enjoyed my first web challenge immensely, and though not having to think so carefully of what to wear, and how to make some family member (in the end I had to beg and bribe :) to take a photo of me, I feel a bit of emptiness too.
So, what did I gain from this challenge (apart from a huge amount of pictures of myself). I found some articles in my wardrobe, which I had discarded as old and uninteresting, I got to wear more of my self-made clothes than I would have, or at least other than the two or three, that I would have worn. But most importantly, now I know that I've done it all wrong this past year. Summer sweaters may look nice, but are unpractical, while summer cardigans are needed all the time. I also need one or two practical hooded winter cardigans and more 3/4 sleeved and long sleeved bamboo, cotton and wool sweaters. I might also try a crocheted cotton skirt next year.
Then I want to try my hand at sewing again, I need more summer dresses and skirts.
At least I know what I want for my upcoming birthday - a new sewing machine :)
A kaleidoscope of the sss'11:

sss'11 - Final Days

2011-10-01T13:13:00.012+03:00

Days 25 to 30

Day 25: This I didn't upload to Flickr, as my daughter thought I'd embarrass myself, showing a house shawl, that I've been using for many many years, as opposed to the haute couture outfits other participants displayed. I kind of think she was right. But this is what I donned on Sunday - a triangular shawl, knit by me in my high school girl years. I did knit some not bad items then, but this is the only one in use, so I believe this makes it the oldest ever item in my wardrobe still in use:

Day 26: The cashmere-bamboo sweater. I love everything about this item and I do wear it a lot:

Day 27: Three or maybe four years ago while on vacation in Turkey I used to wear this combination of linen top and orange cardigan a lot and I loved it. So for this day I thought I'd try it again, in combination with my knitted beaded purse. Well, I think I shouldn't wear waist cut tops any longer :(

Day 28: This was the day with the night photo challenge. I uploaded the picture from the parking lot, and this is the one we took in the shop, and I think it's more lively. I thought this cardigan was the tops when I made it last year, but now - isn't it kind of simple?

Day 29: Back to Breeze. I think the color becomes me, so I've bought a few more skeins of the yarn and I'm planning on knitting Kim Hargreaves's Anaiis with it:

Day 30: Ironic. I hoped to be able at least to finish the month with a new item. No go. I've been in a ditch for the whole summer, so for the last day of September (still comfortably warm, hurray) I resurrected this cotton top (Verena pattern) I knit some time ago. It's a nice pattern though, probably I might do it again, a bit differently?

SSS'11 - Autumn is Coming

2011-09-29T08:39:00.010+03:00

Days 19 to 24

Day 19: If it weren't for SSS'11, this is one of the two items I would have worn all summer long. Soft, comfy and though I am not very fond of gray colors, I should admit, that they are so easy to combine:

Day 20: Cold and rain all day, a bit of a shock wave after the hot weeks. I love these warm autumn colors, this combination of tunic and skirt seems promising for the autumn (that is, if I can make myself wear skirts and not jeans :)

Day 21: The refashioned top quickly became a permanent in my wardrobe. And cross-stitching - I feel the urge to go back to it, but knitting is still occupying most of my free time, and I plan on sewing too ... If only days were longer ...

Day 22: The notorious Vogue Capecho by Norah Gaughan. I wonder where I went wrong with this bolero, would a different yarn (cotton-viscose or cotton-acrylic comes to mind immediately) been more suitable? But I LOVE the color:

Day 23: Fun day, I blogged about it earlier. Frenchy is just the sweater for such fun activities:

Day 24: The linen shrug. Yes, this is the second item I could wear to death, so versatile and comfy. Last year this was almost the only thing I wore all summer long :)

SSS'11 - Hot September Days

2011-09-29T07:55:00.008+03:00

Days 13 to 18

Day 13: The Old Gold Crocheted Top from Lion Brand Yarn free patterns.
I should really wear this top more often, I don't know why I didn't take it to Greece, it seems quite appropriate for seaside walks:

Day 14: I sew this top for the evening after the wedding of my best friend Elly (that's 15 years ago), sort of in a hurry and the sewing work is not very neat. The buttons, however, were a lucky inspiration - the bosom of the top (Burda pattern) turned too big for me and I decided to make a small inside pleat with buttons in front. I like it like that and as I find tailored blouses to be my favorite, I wear it a lot. The pants are Italian Motivi, sadly a bit too tight and almost never worn, I believe next summer they'll be my daughter's:

Day 15: The first day of the school year - a kind of holiday for parents all over Bulgaria. Both of our children this year study at the Sofia High School of Mathematics, one of the most prestigious schools in the country. I'm so proud of them both! For the morning I put on my Quanun cardigan, but I had to take it off during the opening ceremony, as the day turned out quite hot:

Day 16: Kim Hargreaves and Simply Red - a comfortable everyday sweater, probably a tiny bit too simple:

Day 17: Kim Hargreaves again and Arielle - this one I love more:

Day 18: My oldest self-sewn dress - made some 18 years ago and worn quite a lot. I still like it as a house dress, as I find it flattering :)

Postcards from Greece

2011-09-27T08:36:00.016+03:00

The Northern Aegean seaside, with the mountain slopes running into the sea, is sooo beautiful, that being there felt like living within a postcard. I just couldn't stop myself from taking pictures.
This is my current wallpaper:

Ancient Argilos

2011-09-25T16:08:00.014+03:00

Some 6 km after the Lion of Amphipolis, which is part of 4th century BC funerary sculpture in honor of one of the generals of Alexander the Great and 10 km before Asprovalta a sign indicates the ongoing excavations of the ancient city of Argilos.
The site is still not open for public viewing, no guides or information, other than that available on the internet is provided and the access is not easy, which made our excursion to the ruins quite exciting. Armed with a printing of pictures and descriptions of what is to be seen there, we stopped the car by the side of the road and roamed the hill of Palaiokastro. The place is so picturesque - a green hill with slopes, reaching the sea, that no wonder the ancients chose it for their city. I would gladly live there too.
The excavations have revealed the basis of several buildings, cobbled streets and a major agricultural building on the top of the hill, which was quite impressive. What struck me most about these ancient folks, however, was their sewage system. Medieval Europeans were in the habit of emptying their night pots on the streets, while the old Greeks had pipes to every house, all of which connected to a bigger pipe along the main street and down to the sea. Here's some more I found on the Internet:

The literary tradition dates the foundation of Argilos to 655/654 B.C. which makes Argilos the earliest Greek colony on the Thracian coast. Argilos occupied a privileged area and thus benefited from the trading activities along the Strymona and probably also from the gold mines of the Pangeion. The city enjoyed economic prosperity, at least until the foundation of Amphipolis in 437 B.C. Herodotus says that in 480, after crossing the Strymona, the Persian king Xerxès stopped at Argilos and forced its inhabitants into his army. After the Persian defeat, Argilos became member of the first Athenian confederation, paying 1,5 talents, a sum that proves that it was a rich city. But the foundation of Amphipolis, which took control of the trade along the Strymona, brought an end to this. Thucydides tells us that some Argilians took part in this foundation but that the relations between the two cities quickly deteriorated and, during the Peloponnesian war, the Argilians joined with the Spartan general Brasidas to attack Amphipolis. An inscription from the temple of Asklepios in Epidauros attests that Argilos was an independent city during the 4th century. Like other colonies in the area, the city was conquered by the Macedonian king Philip II in 357 B.C. Historians thought that the city was then abandoned, but excavations have brought to light an important agricultural settlement on the acropolis, which dates to the years 350-200 B.C. No roman or byzantine ruins have been uncovered.

The Colors of Greece

2011-09-25T10:53:00.012+03:00

Golden yellow and olive green - a gorgeous combination -
as seen from the window of our car.
Northern Greece in early September:

SSS'11 - The Greek Days

2011-09-25T08:21:00.019+03:00

Day 7 to Day 12

For our vacation in Greece I packed only a few knit items - Gaby's Joy, three of my cardigans, my Arielle sweater and the black hat. The weather was hot, for the greater part of our time we bathed in the sun and wore our cardigans extensively in the evenings.

The Lily Pond

2011-09-23T15:42:00.015+03:00

A phrase has stuck in my mind from my first year of studying English "Soon I shall be too old to travel, but I will see Rome before I die". The idea (obviously) was the different use of I shall and I will. But I digress ...
Said phrase popped up in my mind today, on the threshold of my 42-nd birthday. Soon I shall be too old to roller skate, but ... I will at least give it a try :)
And here I am today, skating like a Pinocchio around the lily pond.
And because it is still Self-Stitched September, I'm wearing my Frenchy and three of my knit beaded bracelets:

Self Stitched September '11

2011-09-06T22:45:00.010+03:00

Days 1 to 6

Day 1 was the day for climbing Cherny Vrah:
Me - shirt - sewn by me (some end of the century Burda pattern).
Daughter - BPT cardigan (Knitty 2003)
Son - generic ribbed cardigan, my own design

Day 2
On my way to do some errands downtown
Self stitched - Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda Teague

Day 3
Wearing the Bordeaux top

Day 4
My favorite linen shrug

Day 5
A bit unusual - dug out this self-sewn and once beloved dress.

Day 6
Refashioned black combat trousers and Breeze (my replica of Green Gables):

I'm feeling too tired to elaborate on my choices for the SSS'11 challenge, as I'm only half way through preparing the luggage for our sea vacation in Greece. We are staring early tomorrow and I'll continue to wear self-made clothes and take pictures, but whether and when I'll be able to post - we'll see :)

Cherni Vrah (2290 m)

2011-09-02T07:27:00.005+03:00

It was the perfect day for mountain climbing - warm, but not hot with a cool breeze, so - up we went from Aleko Hut to Cherni Vrah and back. Vitosha is the mountain near Sofia (where we live) and Cherni Vrah is its summit, height 2290 m. Because of the height the wild raspberries were still ripe, and we ate loads of these :) Parallel with the climbing the scenery changed from pine and spruce woods to pine-scrubs and raspberry and blueberry bushes to rivers of moraines, covered with yellow-green lichen. The panorama from the top was almost surrealistic - barren, as if martian fields. On the way back we had some light drizzle for a while - just to test our new emergency raincoats - and the sun appeared again through the white clouds. We saw up close a flock of medium size birds, a falcon and ... a chopper.
A great day to mark the end of the summer.

Gaby's Joy

2011-08-21T19:02:00.009+03:00

Pattern: Joy
Design: Kim Hargreaves from Nectar
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans 220 g
Needle: 2.5 mm, 3 mm

I love this cardigan! The design is all Kim Hargreaves - elegant simplicity. I knit it with smaller needles and xs instructions and the fit turned out just perfect for my daughter. The only mods I made - lowered a bit the neckline and knit it in the round - definitely the way to go with this kind of knit texture. I'm already looking for a suitable colour of YarnArt Jeans for another Joy - I want one of these for me too :)

The Black Floppy Brim Hat

2011-08-07T11:52:00.025+03:00

Pattern: The Black Floppy Brim Hat
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans 55% cotton 45% acrylic 50 g / 160 m; two skeins
Additional materials (optional): millinery wire, various wooden beads
Hook: 3 mm

Crown
0) chain 4, sl st to close the ring
1) 1 hdc, 11 dc in ring, do not join, continue spirally, mark the beginning of the round and move marker to each next round.
2) 2 dc in every st of the first round = 24 dc
3) *2 dc in the same stitch, 1 dc* = 36 dc
4) *1 dc, 2 dc in the same stitch, 1 dc* = 48 dc
5) *2 dc in the same stitch, 3 dc* = 60 dc
6) *2 dc, 2 dc in the same st, 2 dc* = 72 dc
7) *2 dc in the same stitch, 5 dc* = 84 dc
8) *3 dc, 2 dc in the same st, 3 dc* = 96 dc
9) - 14) 1 dc in each stitch in the round = 96 dc
15) 1 dc in 95 stitches in the round, 1 hdc = 96 st
16) - 20) 1 sc in each stitch in the round = 96 sc, a total of five rounds of sc

Brim

Note: To make it easy, before the beginning of each round, I mark the places of the increases.
21) *1 sc in each of 7 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 108 sc
22) *1 sc in each of 4 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 4 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 120 sc
23) *1 sc in each of 9 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 132 sc
24) *1 sc in each of 5 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 5 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 144 sc
25) 1 sc in each st = 144 sc
26) *1 sc in each of 11 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 156 sc
27) *1 sc in each of 6 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 6 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 168 sc
28) 1 sc in each st = 168 sc
29) *1 sc in each of 13 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 180 sc
30) *1 sc in each of 7 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 7 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 192 sc
31) 1 sc in each st = 192 sc
32) *1 sc in each of 15 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 204 sc
33) *1 sc in each of 8 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 8 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 216 sc
34) 1 sc in each st = 216 sc
35) *1 sc in each of 17 stitches, 2 sc in the same st* = 228 sc
36) *1 sc in each of 10 stitches, 2 sc in the same st, 10 sc in each of 5 stitches* = 240 sc
37) - 42) 1 sc in each st = 240 sc
43) {optional} 1 sc in each stitch, inserting a millinery wire
44) 1 sc in each stitch

Decoration - a string of wooden beads, intertwined with a simple string, evenly running through the hat.

I'm In!

2011-08-07T08:35:00.002+03:00

I'm so thrilled! I've just joined my first web challenge:

and here's my pledge:

'I, Carmela of http://carmelabiscuit.blogspot.com/, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-Sept '11. I endeavour to wear at least one item knit or crocheted by me each day for the duration of September 2011'

That should be exciting! And a good way to check the wearability of my handmade items. I also intend to join the Flickr group and post images of my outfits. As I knit not only for myself, but also for my daughter, son and husband, some days I might include photos of them as well.
I plan it as a Monday review of my outfits throughout the previous week and I really hope to be able to stick to the end.

You can also join in this month-long challenge created by Zoe of http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com here.

Time For Something Frenchy

2011-08-04T11:19:00.006+03:00

Pattern: Frenchy
Personal design, based on Betty Mouat by Kate (Ravelry name wazz)
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans 150 g in blue, red and off white
Needle: 3 mm, 2.5 mm, 2 mm

A raglan blouse with chevron lace body and stockinette stitch upper part, knit in the round. The chevron lace is knit over 24 stitches, a total of 8 rapports. The transition from the chevron to the stockinette - k2tog eight times per rapport, but yo only three (instead of 8). The sleeves are knit separately for the garter stitch part (2.5 mm needle), then inserted into the body, with raglan decreases every other row. Tried something new - left live the stitches under the arms and grafted them afterwords - neat! The garter stitch neckband is knit with 2.5 mm and then 2 mm needles for the last 6 rows.

Summer Flower Branches

2011-07-28T16:43:00.019+03:00

An whimsical decoration for the bedroom, inspired by this sakura motif

How to make the flower (this is my interpretation of the motif, not the pattern by Yoko Johnston):
chain 4, close the chain with a slip stitch:

Chain 2, *sc, ch1* 4 times, change the color, sl st, chain 4, 2 tr in one stitch:

Chain 3, sl st. The first petal is ready. Make 4 more petals. Transfer the last sl st behind the flower:

Chain 3, sl st to connect with the opposite petal. Try to tug in the ends in the process of crocheting the flower and thus save time and effort to weave in four ends after the flower is ready:

I'm not an experienced crocheter, so making a flower took me about 6-7 min. Make as many flowers as you want:

I made about 30 and arranged them on lime-tree branches:

Light Yogurt Cake

2011-07-24T15:07:00.010+03:00

The recipe originated in the blog of Sladka Hapka and I saw it recently as a raspberry variation here.
Well, I had to give it a try, more so that I had the biscuits and muesli.
So, all you need:

biscuits,
muesli, raisins (I used muesli with 40% fruit content),
yogurt (three 400 g containers),
powdered sugar (optional, but my husband won't eat it unsweetened),
soft fruit (berries would be best, but these sweet soft and ripe pears did just fine).

Place the first row of biscuits in a large dish and spread the sweetened yogurt.

Cover with fruit and muesli, spread yogurt.

Follows the next row of biscuits. I poured some jam too (the children had eaten the plums and only the jelly was left, so it was the perfect opportunity to get rid of this jar :)

Again spread the yogurt, arrange the fruit and muesli on top and leave it to rest in the fridge for at least a day.

Bonn appétit!

On the Road - Day 3 - Basarbovo Monastery

2011-07-21T13:14:00.010+03:00

After Tryavna we visited Arbanasi - a historical village near Veliko Tarnovo, the old capital of Bulgaria, and Russe, where we celebrated the 70th anniversary of my father. The next day we went to the rock monastery in the village of Basarbovo, built in the caves in the valley of the river Russenski Lom in XII-XIV century.

On the Road - Day 2 - Tryavna

2011-07-21T10:41:00.010+03:00

After a nice rest at the Sokolsky Monastery we are heading to Tryavna - another small town in the Central Balkan Mountains, best known for its preserved National Revival architecture and wood carving traditions:

On the Road - Day 1 - Gabrovo and Sokolsky Monastery

2011-07-20T20:47:00.009+03:00

After Bozhentzi we passed through Gabrovo on our way to the Sokolsky Monastery, where we spent the night. Gabrovo is a town at the foot of the central Balkan mountains, on the Yantra River. As we visited Gabrovo last year, this time I took only a few pictures in the center of the town, the famous statue of the the founder of Gabrovo - Racho the Blacksmith, raised on a rock in the river, the Aprilov Gymnasium - the first secular school in Bulgaria.

On the Road - Day 1 - Bozhentzi

2011-07-20T19:34:00.013+03:00

I've been away for a while, traveling with my family. I heart traveling!
Our first stop on the road was Saeva dupka - a 3 mln. years old cave with beautiful cave formations. I took some pictures, but due to bad camera and cameraman abilities all of them are of poor quality :)
Then we visited Bozhentzi - an architectural reserve in the Balkan mountains and so far my most favorite old village in Bulgaria.

Beach Hat

2011-07-09T22:50:00.019+03:00

Pattern: Beach Hat
Yarn: Karginlar Synthetic Macrame yarn
Hook: 3.5 mm
Time to crochet: 2 days
Brimmed with copper wire
Quick and comparatively easy pattern,
only it turned out a bit too big for my head

My Latest Craze

2011-07-05T19:39:00.006+03:00

is crochet.
I've spent the last week roaming through blogs, magazines and Ravelry, looking, planning, dreaming of crochet patterns. I know I'll need some three or four lives and no work and children to distract me in order to finish all I've planned, but as they say, every long journey starts with a first step - so here's my first step: a simple easy breezy cardigan, made of five rectangles (I intend to skip the silk band).
The yarn I've chosen is new to me - Alize Diva 100% microfiber acrylic with silk effect and the colour is a beautiful beige with a pinkish heart.

Green Pastures

2011-06-28T13:30:00.012+03:00

Name: Green Pastures
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans, 120 g
Hook: 3.5 mm
Pattern: Inspired by Blue eyes
(bg-mamma username)

This is almost an exact replica of Blue eyes' shrug. Truth be told, I sampled at least a dozen patterns from this precious site, but my daughter liked so much the original, that I gave up and crocheted the shrug as requested :)
The pattern is easy yet intricate enough and beautiful, and I find the final result quite pleasing:

Linked to Natural Suburbia, a place for creative people and ideas

What's New

2011-06-17T15:15:00.004+03:00

Some post-Breeze thoughts ...
It amazes me lately, after a year of active, somewhat hectic knitting, how sometimes I drudge over a pattern, knit and unravel, study others' experiences on Ravelry and Osinka and various blogs and I finally get a fine and even perfectly fitting garment which I almost never get to wear. And then there comes something quick and unpretentious, a blouse, or a hat, or a shrug, and one might begin to wonder if I have been walking naked/hatless theretofore, as I seem never to take the new item off my back/head. Yes, this is exactly the current situation with Breeze. I simply love this sweater :).

And what's new - a three-color blouse, which painfully slow is growing out of otherwise worth for nothing single ball remnants from Blue Jeans, Simply red and Quanun, all knitted in YarnArt Jeans. I've dubbed the blouse Frenchy for obvious reasons, though in the beginning it looked more like an elections ribbon :).
The idea is an improvised version of this blouse, which I loved the moment I saw it on needled, but the pattern is a combination of the ripple effect from this winter tunic for my daughter and probably some sort of raglan sleeves, as in Simply Red and Breeze.

Breeze

2011-06-11T14:00:00.021+03:00

Name: Breeze
Pattern: Green Gable by Rachel Bishop
Yarn: Nako Breeze 70% cotton 30% viscose
Needle: 3.00 mm (US 2 1/2)

Technically speaking, this isn't Rachel Bishop's Green Gable. First, it is knit from down to top in the round, the rib is ridged rib, the sleeves feature some short rows. Still, it's a short sleeved summer raglan sweater with meshed front, inspired by the look of said Green Gable pattern.
The yarn - lovely, for a viscose blend. The colour is such a rich sea blue green that I fell in love with the moment I saw it. Sadly, the camera fails to capture the nuances of green in the blue. I have a skein and a half left and I plan to buy some more of the same for this Filati short jacket.
It's a bleak rainy day outside, so I've been playing with my Micrografx and producing such funny photo-montages:

Visit this place for crafty ideas and achievements: Natural Suburbia

Sea Gray Vines

2011-06-02T19:39:00.019+03:00

BTW, my geranium is in full blossom now :)

Name: Sea Gray Vines
Pattern: Vine Yoke Cardigan by Ysolda Teague
Yarn: Lanoso Alara, 50% cotton 50% acrylic
Needle: US 4 (3.5 mm)

This is a bit tricky and very original pattern by Ysolda Teague. Tricky, because it is knit sideways and with a latent length. I wish I had listened to my guts and added a few stitches to the body - now the cardigan is almost short. When it came to casting on for the sleeves I knew better and added 12 stitches (could have added a couple more). For the short rows I followed the modifications suggested by knittingfan:
Modification for Neckline Decreases:
* rows 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 as instructed
* row 4 knitted all the way to the end (same as row 8)
* row 6 - same as row 2
For the grafting I used two youtube videos for grafting in stockinette stitch and in garter stitch.

It took me about 10 days to knit the cardigan and another 10 days to find some buttons. Alas, not THE buttons. From the very beginning, when I bought the gray yarn, I knew I wanted this cardigan with tomato red buttons. I found the perfect ones on an old dress of mine, but they were only 6. Nevertheless, I made the 9 buttonholes, certain that eventually I'll find either three more of the same or 9 similar buttons. Well, I reckoned wrong. All the round red buttons available nowadays in Sofia are either pinkish or brownish, and the tomato red ones are too large, or square, or elliptic. So, having rummaged through all button-selling shops known to me in Sofia, I settled for these simple unobtrusive gray buttons.

But button issues set aside, this is a nice pattern and I like the final result.

Boyana Waterfall

2011-05-23T19:38:00.009+03:00

Today we went to the Boyana Waterfall (height 15 m ) - a 4 hour walk through the woods up and down the mountain with a delicious picnic on the grass. Vitosha mountain is so-o-o beautiful in May. The woods looked like some rain forests from a Lara Croft adventure. I don't know why, but I find green grass, moss and forest flowers and trees absolutely fascinating. I couldn't stop myself from taking pictures all the time.
On the way back from the waterfall we decided to take our adventure to the extreme and to climb down the steep path along the riverbed. It was STEEP!, muddy, slippery and a thunderstorm accompanied us all the way down - luckily just thunders, no rain. The children are big fans of Bear Grill's Ultimate Survival and we joked that this was a sort of a first hand experience, though so close to the big city and civilization :)

Poncho

2011-05-23T18:44:00.011+03:00

Pattern: Green Poncho
Yarn: Lory 60% wool 40% acrylic
Needle: 6 mm

I made this poncho for my daughter a couple of years ago, after I saw a picture of two girls in ponchos on the Internet. The pattern is as simple as ponchos go - two identical rectangles, sewn together. I knit it in fisherman's rib and self-striping yarn, adding a neckband for structure and fringes.

Arielle Outdoors

2011-05-21T12:40:00.006+03:00

Just a couple of shots of Arielle in the park. The weather is warm enough these days and finally I get to wear my knit summer blouses. Arielle is such a comfortable and versatile pattern, nice and feminine both with skirts or jeans, casual or under a jacket.

In The Making

2011-05-19T18:36:00.013+03:00

The fruit trees under our windows -
the peaches,

the cherries,

the wild plums,

the geranium on the kitchen sill

are all in the making. And so is my Sea Gray Vine Cardigan:

Can't wait to get it finished. The pattern is very ingenious, knit sideways in garter stitch with a beautiful lace border. It is a fairly quick knit too - it took me almost three days to get into the mood of the pattern, but thence it's been a breeze!

Beading in Higher Doses

2011-05-16T10:42:00.015+03:00

Beaded bracelets turned out to be great fun and an instantly gratifying project. One bracelet takes no longer than an hour to make, the materials are inexpensive, the possibilities - limitless. The bracelets make not only nice summer accessories, but also sweet little gifts for your friends and coworkers.

Based on the beaded knit bracelet pattern in the previous post, I've been experimenting with some charted beading. The idea is to create a stack of beads on the yarn - first in, last out. The most convenient bracelet size turned out to be 9 rows of beads and 49 stitches, which gives us 24 beads per row. 24 is a very nice number, as it is divisible by 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12 and therefore provides flexibility for bead charting.

So, the first step is to create the chart. Here is a very simple one:

The crude lines on the sides show the path of the yarn. When threading the beads it is essential to follow these two basic rules:
1. Thread the beads, starting from the upper left corner of the chart, that is the last bead to be knit.
2. Follow carefully the path of the yarn through the rows of beads, otherwise you'll get a messed up picture.
This is what you might actually expect to get and some other ideas:

These I've knit so far:

Beaded Knitted Bracelet

2011-05-12T09:57:00.001+03:00

For a bracelet 7" (approx. 18 cm) in circumference, 1/2" (1.4 cm) width:
Cotton or cotton blend yarn (I'm demonstrating YarnArt Jeans 55% cotton, 45% acrylic), 320 m / 100 g; 3-4 mm beads; 2 mm (US 0) size needles
Thread 5 x 25 beads = 125 beads.

Cast on (preferably crochet cast on) 51 stitches.

Place bead means slide the bead along the yarn closely next to the stitch on the right needle, which has been just purled or knitted.
PB = place bead
P = purl one stitch
K = knit one stitch
()* = repeat this sequence
For the first row of the bracelet:
P, (PB, P, P)* to the last stitch

Second row - knit
K, (PB, K, K)* to the last stitch
The beads appear always on the same RS (right) side of the bracelet and in a chess-board order.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 once more, then row 1 again, for a total of 5 rows.
Cast off on the WS knitwise. Cut the yarn, leaving 8" (20 cm) for sewing.

Connect the edges with mattress stitch, weave in ends. The bracelet is ready.

You can make them wider by adding more rows (don't forget to thread the respective number of beads in the beginning). If you need your bracelet larger, increase the number of stitches (always an odd number) and calculate the number of beads you need per row: (number of stitches - 1) : 2

This post has been linked to Natural Suburbia, a place for creativity ideas

Simply Red

2011-05-10T19:33:00.012+03:00

Name: Simply Red
Pattern: Jasmine from Nectar by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans 26, 150 g
Needle: 3.00 mm

The key word for this pattern is simplicity. Simple design, simple yarn, simple elegance. And the result - simply comfortable, soft and wearable.
Lots of modifications to the pattern to fit my figure and style - less stitches, no seams, no short rows for the neckline. Knitted all in the round up to the raglan decreases, knitted the two sleeves separately in the round to their respective raglan decreases, then connected the sleeves to the body with 3-needle stitch, separated the neck for the buttonbands and continued back and forth, decreasing for the raglan the back, the fronts and the sleeves simultaneously.

St. George's Day

2011-05-07T22:42:00.030+03:00

St. George's Day is a big holiday in Bulgaria. So, my daughter made us a traditional
St. George's Day bread, the recipe of which she dug out from the Internet :)

Today we made a little outing near Sofia - the Pancharevo lake,
which is also a rowing base for training rowers.

We examined an old frigate and then hired a boat.
The children tried their hands at the oars too :)

Then we continued along the road in search of the old Medieval fortress Urvich.
It was the last of the Bulgarian fortresses to fall under the Ottoman army.
We stopped by this memorial and went down the path to the river Iskar.

The place was breathtakingly beautiful. (Can you see the duck floating along the river? :) However the path took us to the river and obviously continued across, but there was only a sort of a ford, no bridge. Still, it was shallow, so we crossed.

Only to find some 100 m further that we were actually on a peninsular, formed by the river and we had to cross again. But this time it was not crossable (for us :)

Still, we enjoyed immensely our adventure amidst this magnificent place.
Next time we'll find the fortress (according to Googlemap we should have continued some 100 m down the road and crossed the river by a stone bridge :)

In the evening our little cook made us a Tropical Paradise Cake:

Bibi Beaded Purse

2011-05-02T09:10:00.009+03:00

Pattern: Bibi from HEBE by Louisa Harding
Yarn: YarnArt Jeans 50 g
Needle: 3.00 mm
Size: 20 x 23 cm

Quanun

2011-04-28T18:17:00.023+03:00

So, here's Verena 01 /2011 front page cardigan Quanun. As the weather is rather cold these days, but I'm too impatient to show it, just a preview indoor photo session. I do hope to be able to take some decent photos outdoor this weekend. Anyway, I'm really pleased with the final result and I believe the cardigan will see lots of wear this summer.

Бележки по жилетката на български ТУК:

Easter Picnic in Pics

2011-04-27T18:30:00.016+03:00

A picnic at the skirts of the Vitosha mountains, still covered in snow.
An over a hundred years old tree. A black bird in the branches.
A peaceful clearing, covered with wild violets, flowers and singing birds

Reading Matters

2011-04-26T12:18:00.017+03:00

to me.
A lot. I learnt to read when I was 3.5 years old - or so I've been told, my first reading memories date back to reading stories to my fellow kindergarteners :) I've always read a lot, no matter where or when. My latest obsession with cross stitching and knitting however presents a real challenge to my reading cravings, as it keeps my eyes and hands occupied. And as an accomplished multitasker I might consider myself :), I have found it totally unsatisfying to do reading and knitting, not to mention reading and cross-stitching simultaneously. That is, until I found audiobooks! For the last four years I've read with my ears hundreds (I mean it, hundreds!) of audiobooks. And as my mind dislikes staying idle, I also take language audiocourses (Spanish and Italian, I also tried Greek but - ugh, I'm too old for such a difficult language :) and audiolectures from The Teaching Company - so far I've covered two courses on the History of the World, I especially enjoyed the one on Ancient Greece and Rome and two of their courses on linguistics (presently I'm listening for the second time to The Story of Human Language by John McWhorter - he's such a brilliant lecturer).

Some of my latest readings -

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. Actually this was my second reading of the book, as I read it in its paper version in Bulgarian some years before. An absolutely brilliant book, I believe I might want to read it again. Given that there are so many books worth reading, re-reading a book might be considered a waist of time, but I love it. Sometimes I get tired of experimenting and new things and want something pleasant for sure - then I grab a favourite book. (I've read Pride and Prejudice more times than might be considered healthy :). Besides, every time is a new experience. When I first read The Curious Incident, I felt so much for the boy and was almost furious with his mother, but this time ... well, I saw things more clearly from her perspective.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson. Another first-person narrative, constructed like a puzzle with tiny pieces of information, which gradually build the whole story. I loved the first two thirds of the book immensely, but it somehow lost momentum towards the end, probably because I figured out the secret halfway through the first 10 minutes and then expected something bigger to happen, but the end was somewhat flat. Still a good read.

The Hidden Reality by Brian Greene is quite a mouthful for me, so I take it in small bites - some 30-40 min a day max. It's lots of heavy physics and cosmology (Brian Greene is a theoretical physicist) on the origin of the Cosmos, the Big Bang theory, Einstein's Relativity, parallel universes and such.

And these arrived today in paperback:

The third volume of The Hunger Games has been eagerly expected by husband, daughter and me, we'll see who'll get it first :)

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T10:30:00.015+03:00

Happy Easter to you all!

I've dressed three of the eggs with the beaded egg shells by closing the second circle around the egg. When the holiday is over, I'll cut this new thread of the second circle, free the egg and save the shell for next year.

This year one of the Easter cakes was made by my 12 year old daughter. She's been pretty much into cooking lately, and though the cake is somewhat on the far side of being edible :), she put several hours of mixing ingredients and kneading, so kudos to her!

Beaded Easter Egg Shell

2011-04-20T22:18:00.046+03:00

Photo Tutorial

A couple of years ago I found an excellent tutorial on how to make a beaded egg shell - and I made this one. I've lost the tutorial, but I have the old egg shell, so I decided to reconstruct it in this new photo tutorial.
I bought several kinds of beads and I chose these four to make the shell:

Cut 2.5 m thread, run it through the first round bead and make a knot. Thread three more round beads, then alternate 9 long with round beads, finish the row with four round beads. Run the thread back through the three but last beads and start the second row. Every second round bead is the bead from the previous row. Continue in this manner until the shell is big enough (11 diamond rows):

Close the last row without round beads - thread through the beads from the previous rows. Finish with a circle of round beads. Leave the other end of the shell open to put in the colored Easter egg, or use a wooden decorative egg.

And another one:

A Bag On My Mind

2011-04-17T15:23:00.009+03:00

The fronts and back of my Quanun are ready to take a bath. The shoulder seams were done with 3-needle technique, no side seams as yet (just pinned).

I bought two more skeins of the yarn, as I've been thinking of a knitted (or rather crocheted) bag to go with the cardigan. So far I've short-listed these three patterns, however none gives me the feel as being "THE BAG" :(

Happy Birthday!

2011-04-14T10:23:00.014+03:00

Yesterday was my son's 11th birthday! As the kids are too busy all day at school, the children's party will be on Saturday, but of course, there was a small family party at home, with some delicious homemade cake:

Boyana

2011-04-09T15:44:00.014+03:00

The Boyana Lake

A sleepy frog

Sofia from above

A robin

The Boyana Church

Cadence in Red

2011-04-07T17:31:00.002+03:00

This is the first bamboo mix that I've knitted and it's pure joy. Soft, soft, soft. Tender to the skin, easy to knit. I was warned that it tends to lengthen after blocking and I had a terrible day yesterday, when the sweater grew enormous in length and width, but as it turned out, only while the yarn was still wet. As it dried, it shrank to its pre-blocking dimensions (actually, I did hope it would lengthen a bit, but it's OK). I had only 250 g, so I decided to make the sweater tight and short and I think I like it this way, as it is intended as a spring / early summer attire.
About the pattern: easy but for the diamond part, where I tried to watch tv and knit and ergo unraveled it twice :). The pattern is written for 6 mm needles, but I am definitely a loose knitter, as I made it size S on 4 mm and it fits.

Name: Cadence in Red
Pattern: Cadence by Jordana Paige
Yarn: Nako Bambu 65% cashmere 35% bamboo
Needle: 4 mm

The Great Expectations

2011-04-06T12:41:00.020+03:00

As year 2012 is just around the corner (you know, global catastrophe, end of the Earth, etc :) my expectations are kind of very short-termed.
Plans for Spring / Summer 2011:

1. Cadence - a free pattern by Jordana Paige from knitty.com. My interpretation is in red bamboo, I hope 250 g would suffice. Actually this is my current WIP:

2. Quanun from Verena 03 2011, planned in cream YarnArt Jeans 350 g

3. Jasmine by Kim Hargreaves from Nectar, planned in lilac YarnArt Jeans 250 g

4. Petal by Kim Hargreaves from Misty, planned in red YarnArt jeans 200 g
(won't suffice, probably)

A Walk In The Park

2011-04-02T17:28:00.013+03:00

This raglan cardigan was the second big project I knitted last summer and it got quite a lot of wear this school year, but I hadn't taken pictures of it modeled until today. This is a very well written pattern by Rebecca Hatcher, which I modified a bit to get a size xs for my daughter.

Name: Hooded Raglan Cardigan
Pattern: BTP by Rebecca Hatcher
Yarn: Rainbow Ram 350 g
Needle: 4 mm

XOXO

2011-03-30T10:53:00.011+03:00

This was definitely a quick knit - only one week, as planned, almost no unraveling. The pattern was comparatively easy to memorize and follow and to keep me interested. I had some issues with the yarn (what's new :) - the two skeins had a very slight hue difference, hope it's not visible to the untrained eye, and then - I had only 200 g and I had to make it suffice. So, after I knitted the body, I weighed the remaining yarn, then knitted one of the sleeves up to bind off, weighed again, found out that I'll manage only just, so I started knitting the second sleeve from the other end of the skein without breaking the yarn. And for some obscure reason I knitted it so fast, as if trying to outrun the yarn. I was lucky (or perhaps it's due to my excellent maths skills - I'm so modest :), but 200 g were just enough.

Name: Hugs and Kisses for Mony
Pattern: Tea for Two Sweater by Louisa Harding
From: Miss Bea's Rainy Day
Needle: 3 mm, 3.5 mm
Yarn: YarnArt Merino de Luxe 200 g

Кратък преразказ на пуловерчето на български тук:

EQUILIBRIUM

2011-03-22T12:11:00.015+02:00

So, finally it's springtime and the peach under my window is flaunting its first blossoms.

Today is the equilibrium day and my qualms about Mony's sweater are finally settled - the monster sweater is ready.
Three times is a charm was the motto of this sweater - so I've knitted, and unraveled, and knitted, and unraveled, and knitted again - until every part of it - color combination, neckband, sleeves, wristbands, were done to satisfy my compulsion to perfection.

And if the sweater fits Mony eventually - that'll be a feast! :)

Pattern: Chocolate, Cinnamon, Cream
Size: 3-4 years
Yarn: YarnArt Merino De Luxe, 50% wool 50% acrylic
Needle: 3 mm, 3.5 mm

Colors Around the City

2011-03-16T13:43:00.012+02:00