Venice Puzzle

Name: Venice by Sam Park
Brand: Schmidt, 1000 pcs
Time to assemble: one day

January 18th, early in the morning

I LOVE Venice!!! Or at least my idea of it, as I still haven't been there. The assembling of this puzzle was such a delight and it constantly reminded me of Lara Croft II, the Venice adventure, which is one of my most favorite Lara Croft locations :)

January 18th, midday

Not only is the puzzle so colorful and pleasant, but it is also only 1000 pcs., so it somehow got assembled in between work only in the course of a day.

January 18th, late in the evening

This is our first Schmidt puzzle and we are very pleased with it. The pieces are cut into all shapes and forms and there is almost no danger of misplacement, everything fits very neatly. And the variety of pictures is also great.
There was a promotion in a local book store, so we bought three 1000 pcs. Schmidt puzzles. It was probably a good thing that half of the items on our wish list were already sold out :)

Borika Gloves

Pattern: Borika Gloves (personal pattern)

Yarn: YarnArt Pure Merino, 100% wool, 50 g

Needle: DPNs 3.5 mm

Time to knit: 4 days

I had more than one ball of yarn left from my Opulent Raglan sweater, so I decided to make a pair of gloves. I've had this idea of the stepwise decreasing mock cables in my head for some time, so instead of following other people's patterns, this time I tried to make my own. I've knitted enough mitts and gloves already and it was actually fairly easy. Of course, some unraveling was also included in the process :)

I've written a very detailed description of the gloves in Bulgarian and I intend to test the pattern in my favorite Cashmira yarn and then write it up in English as well.
Because I really like it :)))

Описанието засега е само за сравнително малък номер ръкавици, каквито пасват на моите ръце :))) - обиколка на дланта 18 см, дължина на дланта 8 см, ластик 7 см. В описанието съм внесла някои корекции на реално оплетените ръкавици, каквито мисля да направя когато плета втори чифт от модела - дясната ръкавица е с обратни псевдоосморки и стъпаловидните плетеници са изместени по-центрирано върху дланта.

ПОДРОБНО ОПИСАНИЕ НА РЪКАВИЦИТЕ

Another Starr

Pattern: Starr by Kim Hargreaves
Yarn: Alize Pure Wool Cashmira, 100% wool, 75 g
Needle: 3 mm, 4 mm
Time to knit: 3 days

This is my second attempt at one of the most popular Kim Hargreaves hat designs - Starr. Two years ago I made one in faded pink and thicker yarn, which came out too big and heavy. I had about 80 g of purple Cashmira left from my Phildar sweater, so I figured I'd make another Starr, as I really like the pattern. IMO Cashmira is just the right weight and thickness for this pattern, this time I'm happy with the result.

The hat still needs blocking, but I've been preoccupied with another project and just set it aside the minute I finished it (which was Friday according to my Ravelry notes). But I couldn't miss the opportunity to take a few pictures of it when miss "I'm a very busy school girl" finally found a few minutes of spare time before school :)
Well, truth be told, the girl is really busy - when she's not studying German, she's preparing for a math contest or taking part in one, or attending zumba classes, or ice skating, or out with friends, and of course most of the time busy at school.
Happy high school years (sigh) :)

Opulent Raglan

Pattern: Opulent Raglan by Wendy Bernard
Yarn: YarnArt Pure Merino 100% wool, 290 g
Needle: 3.5 mm
Time to knit: two weeks

Modifications:
1. Ribbing 1x1 at the hem for 10 rows
2. Made the sleeves long and "romantic".
3. Added 2 sts to each sleeve at the top of the raglan by casting on 4 sts for each sleeve instead of 2.
4. Raised the neckline a few rows by adding the central pattern before the separation of the sleeves.

The pattern is easy to follow, well written, lots of stockinette stitch with a beautiful cabled front to keep things interesting. The hem is supposed to be double folded, but most people on Ravelry wrote that they had issues with that and replaced it with a rib. The sleeves tend to be too narrow, that's why I added a few stitches, knowing my usual sleeve width. I did the sleeves in the round - a slow process, but lately I kind of prefer seamless sleeves.

A few notes on the yarn: a bit splitty, low elasticity, so not the best yarn for cables. The texture felt itchy before wet blocking, but after I let it soak in lukewarm water and softener the sweater feels pleasant to the skin. However the stitches relaxed more than expected and the sleeves are now an inch longer than planned - I don't mind, I did mean them to have that vintage romantic look.

New Year, New Process, New Yarn

Just around Christmas I started a new sweater, which would have been knitted by now, if I hadn't decided to change the sleeves from 3/4 to full length and then some. I had a nagging feeling of déjà vu, when it struck me that I had exactly the same experience with my red sweater last New Year - obviously I fall for winter sweaters with 3/4 sleeves, which I don't like on me - some inconsistency with the full length of the body, the wooly texture, you get it, so I have to unravel some part of the sleeves (here the elaborate cuffs) and redo the sleeves to full length.

I'm almost done, so I guess after wet blocking I'll be able to have a photo session of my new green sweater later this week.

And here's a peek at my new yarn - wool-silk tweed in my most favourite copper color. It's going to be a cardigan, that's for sure, but which design? I really like Glenna C.'s Jurisfiction or maybe Cirilia Rose's Aidez, but with some button bands? I like the yarn so much that I feel a kind of fear not to get it wrong. Silly, I know :)

Everyone by Reint Withaar Puzzle

Puzzle: Everyone by Reint Withaar
Manufacturer: Jumbo 1500 pcs.
Time to assemble: 8 days

This is the second puzzle from Amazon we got last November. We were saving its assembly for the three days off around New Year, so we opened it late in the evening of December 29th.

It was meant to be a family venture, but hubby quickly lost interest, the children busied themselves elsewhere, so it was all left to me. Mine. My precious. Mwahahaha :)
This is how it looked on the morning of December 30th, when still in my pajamas and a fresh cup of coffee in hand, I entered the living room.

Same situation - the day after, December 31 st:

Blissful leisure days ... Until the early afternoon, when I had to put the puzzle aside and start preparing the New Year dinner, it was almost assembled:

In the morning of the first day of the New Year the puzzle was almost done, but for the blue sky part.

And here I hit a rock. This is the first Jumbo puzzle I've assembled and it's definitely of much lower quality than Ravensburger or even Educa. The pieces are a bit thinner, only classic puzzle shapes and too many exactly the same shapes and sizes, so there were many misfitted pieces. This is always a nuisance, but when assembling the almost unidentifiable sky the misfitting turned into a nightmare. In the end I lost interest and left it untouched for a few days. Until last night when I decided it was high time it was done and finished with. I'm fairly certain there are still a few misfitted pieces of the sky, but who cares ...
Not I, anyway :)

The 2012 Mosaic Post

I love these a-year-in-a-glance posts - seeing all of your year's work in a mosaic of colors and textures is so satisfying.
In 2012 I did my share of knitting and also some cross stitching - a passion, which occasionally takes hold of me and then quietly sneaks away, leaving me with ambitious unfinished projects :)

So, what I did in 2012:

- SWEATERS - 

 - HATS -

- OTHER ACCESSORIES - 

- CROSS STITCH - 

I entered 2013 with three unfinished summer projects - the blue cotton cardigan and the linen blouse I'm definitely going to finish this spring/summer. The third project - a black DROPS dress is hibernating and will 99% finish unraveled. I also have a new wooly sweater on my needles, more about it - soon.

On the cross stitch front I have 1/3 of the buttercups done and the chart, canvas and floss for another flower panel, still untouched. Waiting for the cross stitch muse to drop in :)

HAPPY  NEW YEAR 2013!