Nachbarin Geschenken, Kurbis und Erdberren

Using inspiration from a couple of knitting patterns, I modified them to make 2 small hats and dresses for our adorable neighbours in Berlin.  Of course, they also needed a beanie each for themselves for those cold Berlin Winter's.  Naturally they had to be matching!!

Pattern for Erdberren and Kurbis Hat:  Pumpkin Hat by Simply Knitting, Leaf pattern by Alison Hogg
Needles: 4mm

Fergus/Hiccup helped a little bit.

The pitter patter of tiny feet

There is knitting happening, not much computer time.
Here is the latest addition to our family.....at this stage we do not know if it is a boy or a girl, unknown until they are about 8 months old.  So currently we are trialing names... a bearded dragon, very cute!

Pumpkin knitting

Fergus supervises knitting dolls clothes for Josefine's doll, and a pumpkin hat for Josefine.

Market Bags

When I got my Rowan subscription a few years ago, my free gift was 6 balls of Rowan Denim yarn and a pattern for a bag.

Blue...the only thing in my wardrobe that is blue is my jeans, so I was never going to make the cute little bag that came with the wool.  But, market bags were not out of the question. 

Earth-Friendly Shopper's Tote by Ellen Harvey.

Yarn: Rowan Denim

Needles: 4mm & 5.5mm

A really simple bag to knit, but it is a bit narrow.  So I think it is better for spring onions, bread, celery, and other long things.

Montavilla Market Tote by Kerin Dimeler-Laurence.

Yarn: Rowan Denim

Needles: 6.5mm, 5.5mm

I love the woven stitch for the base of this bag, and the double handles.
  Next time I make it I would make the lace pattern only about 9"..it stretches a lot!

The String Bag by Erin Vaughan.

Yarn: Rowan Denim

Needles: 4mm

This is my favourite bag of all of them. 
I love the circular base and the stitch is easy to knit up. I may adapt this bag with the handles of the Montavilla Bag for my next Market bag.

Aim: To use up 6 balls of Rowan Denim.

Outcome: Success, and 3 Market Bags for my fruit and vegies!

Vest Med Stor Krage

Vest Med Stor Krage
Pattern from  Sandes Garn Mix Dame 0711
Wool : Kauni Wool/Acrylic 8/2
Needles: 3mm and 3.5mm
I bought this wool from the top of Denmark, and loved the vest that was on a model in the store.  I bought the wool, and the lady gave me the pattern for the vest for free.
The only problem was that the pattern was in Danish, so a friend from Ravelry helped with the translation for me!
Not entirely happy with the collar, and I think I will remove the collar and try it again.

I adore the colours

Dishcloth Frenzy.

These are easy to knit on a hot Summer Day.

Tweed Mock Rib Dishcloths by Rainy Kimbrough

Yarn: Heirloom Cotton 8 ply

Needles 4 mm

Diagonal Ripple Dishcloth by Leanne (To Knit is Devine)

(pattern available through Ravelry.com)

Yarn: Heirloom Cotton 4 ply

Needles: 3.5mm

Historical Dishcloth by Knitting Magic Girl

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)

Yarn: Heirloom Cotton 8 ply 

Needles: 4mm

Swirl Cloth by Lara Neel

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)
Yarn: Heirloom Cotton 8 ply

Needles: 3.5mm

My favourite pattern so far to knit!!!

Chinese Waves Dishcloth by Margaret K. K. Radcliffe

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)

Yarn: Sirdar Pure Cotton DK
Needles: 4mm

Grandmother's Favourite by Traditional Design

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)

Yarn: Anchor Magicline

Needles: 4mm

Waffle Knit Dishcloth by Debbie Andriulli

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)

Yarn: Anchor Magicline

Needles: 4mm

Double Bump Dishcloth by Missy Angus

(see Ravelry.com for pattern download)

Yarn: Anchor Magicline

Needles: 4mm

Now having a break from dishcloths for a little while (I seem to have got that out of my system).

I want to try and make 52 dishcloths this year.  So far I have knit 18..so well on the way.

With the weather starting to cool down a little bit (although it hasn't really been a hot Summer), I can knit with wool again and not be so hot.

Olga Brolga Moscow Hat

This hat was knit before Christams 2010, but I had to wait until Olga recieved it in Moscow to put it up to share.
I LOVE this hat, it is the most fun to knit!!
Doublemassa by Charlene Schurch, from "Hats On" book.

 Yarn: Moda Vera Merino
Needles:3.5mm

Durable Dishcloths

More dishcloths, this time theTwist Dishcloth pattern

Yarn: Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Sincere Organic Cotton DK

Needles: 4mm

Who's doing the dishes tonight?

 Pattern : Ballband Dishcloth by Pisgah Yarn & Dyeing Co., Inc.
Seen in Mason-Dixon Knitting Book.

Yarn: Moda Vera Sombre,100% organic cotton
Needles: 4.5mm

Wanting to really work hard at recycling, and using what I have, I was inspired by the Mason-Dixon Knitting book (borrowed from the library), about dishcloths.
I am hoping to be able to use these until they are well worn, then cut them up and put into the compost heap or worm farm. (Not sure which option is better at this stage)

These are so not my colours, but the only colours available at Spotlight at the time when I wanted cotton “right now”

If these work well, I will try and source brighter colours to use next time.
I can knit one up in an evening watching some rubbish on TV…..now I am ready to try some different patterns (only first I must knit a few more until I use up all the cotton yarn from these 4 balls.
I am trying so hard not to end up with small left overs of anything!

The leftover ends of yarn that I am not using get rolled up into a ball...when the ball is big enough I will throw it in the washing machine with the next load of towels or bedding to felt...they make great balls for Eros the cat to play with (I just have to send it in a postpack to England)

Sock Blankets

Sock Blankets (patterns by Frankie Brown) are looking fantastic, but have run out of left over sock wool to continue these ones.
So they have been put on hold until I knit some more socks and have left over wool.

 Ohh, my poor boys, they are getting cold feet!!!!!  What to do????

Letzte Strickttreffung....fur jetzt

 It was with great sadness that I attended my last Berlin Knit meet up on a Friday.

I will miss you all, and hope that we will be able to meet up again in the near future, whether that is in Berlin, or hopefully you will come and visit me in Melbourne, Australia.

My wonderful friends surprised me with an adorable present, a game of memory, so I won't forget them, and our fun Friday's together!  There are 2 of each card!  You all made me teary! I love them and look at them often!

I miss you all already!

xxx

Tropical Breeze Socks, Toe Up...FAIL!

Pattern: Tropical Breeze, from Toe Up Techniques for Hand Knit Socks, by Janet Rehfeldt
Wool: Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle
Needles: 2.5mm

URGH...TOTAL FAIL

too big (suit larger feet than mine)

colour, too lairy 

cast off. too tight!

I think they will be unravelled and turn into something else, it was worth a try.

We are back in Melbourne now, after flying out of Berlin and spending 2 weeks in Africa, and a week in Mauritus. We are now hanging out in self contained apartments waiting for our furniture to arrive.

Lacy Baktus for Mrs Keil

Pattern:  Lacy Baktus, by Terhi Montonen
Wool: Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle Merino/Nylon
Needles: 4mm

Made for Mrs Keil, our school administrator who has put up with endless stupid requests and questions from me for the past 6 years.

This scarf should have been finished before the kids finished school, however the weather turned against me, and was +30 every day for 2 weeks...not great knitting weather when you do not have air conditioning or fans in our apartment!

So, the week before school started again, I managed to give this to Mrs Keil, hopefully she will get lots of wear out of this in the cool Autumns and freezing Winter months ahead....I think it will look fabulous with her gorgeous hair!

Thanks for putting up with me!!!

Trail Handwarmers

Trial Hand Warmers
Pattern: made up.
Wool: Zwerger Garn Opal Hundertwasser.
Needles: 2.5mm

An attempt at hand warmers, just to see how they work.

Cast on 60 stitches, knit 4, purl 1, and keep going.

Once you get to where you want to start your thumbs, go back and forth, to make an opening large enough for your thumb, then start knitting in the round again.

A bit small for my hands, so I gave them to Antje.

 Hopefully they will keep her hands warm in the Berlin Winter

Knotty Gloves, my first ever knitted gloves!

Pattern: Knotty Gloves by Julia Mueller
Wool: Mondial Ciao
Needles: 2.5mm

I love these gloves!  I have put off trying gloves for awhile, but was determined to knit a pair before I left Berlin.  I finished them around Norway and Sweden.

2 Hats for Wimps.

Pattern: Cable & Lace Hat by Kirstie McLeod
From: Simply Knitting Magazine 63, February 2010
Needles: 5 mm
Wool: Wolle Rödel Soft-Merino

A great pattern for an easy hat that is simple to knit in the car around windy roads of Sweden and Norway.

Made for Kelli and Lisa who swear that it is cold enough in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, to actually wear a beanie..

Personally I can't understand, but hope they will like them!

Adaption of the Wurm hat

Wurm by Katushika

3.0 mm needles
Yarn: Zitron Trekking Hand Art  - Karibik
This one has been done for awhile as well, but it had to wait to be shown as it is a gift for Cameron's teacher, Mr Shillitoe.  It is made from the same wool as his scarf that we gave him for Christmas.  Not to be worn at the moment in 35+ degrees, but the weather in Berlin will start to cool down soon.

Wavy Feathers Wimple

Wavy Feathers Wimple by Caryll McConnell

4.0 mm  needles

Yarn: Tausendschön Handgefärbte Sockenwolle Merino/Nylon 1 skein, 100 grams.

This wimple is a gift for Miss Beves, Alexander's teacher.  It's been finished for awhile, but had to hold on to it until the gift was given.

She won't be wearing it soon (currently tempretures over 35 degrees), but it won't be long before it starts to get cold again in Berlin.

Left over sock yarn blankets

Lots of things happening outside my crafty endeavours at the moment, so much going on, that doing anything that requires too much pattern reading or charts has had to be put aside for the time being.  At least until the end of May, then things will hopefully pick up again.

In the meantime, I have been working through the stash of left over sock wool and working on my 2 blankets.  These are now almost too big to take on the train and bus (well I could, but they won't fit into my handbag anymore).  Still they grow, and I am amazed at how big these blankets are getting, even though lots of this wool is left over from previous projects.

We have been watching the series of Underbelly 2, and now we are watching a BBC series called Hustle, which requires a lot of actual watching of the TV, otherwise you miss out on the fine details of the scam. It's a great show to watch in the evenings when the kids have gone to bed.  The blankets are slowly increasing, although they are taking longer to do each row.

Icelandic Knitting & a Sock Blanket

During our trip around Iceland I was amazed at how many supermarkets stocked wool, needles and patterns. I couldn't resist buying enough wool for a cardigan, and a great pattern. I will just have to learn a bit of Icelandic to read the pattern.

KnitPick needles are the chosen weapon of Icelandic, and you can buy then where ever you buy wool. Remarkably, they were a reasonable price in Iceland, cheaper than I can get in Germany, and I got a tax refund at the airport on the way out.

While I was in the shop choosing a pattern Cameron had the camera. So here a few of the appropriate photos he took. This is some of the colours of the Lopi wool. Me, looking through patterns books to find just the right souvenir. We found this pattern for a horse jumper. It gets cold in Iceland! However I am not knitting anyone a jumper for their horse!! I also bought wool for mittens as well, the patterns we saw in the stores were fantastic. A lovely lady in one of the wool stores gave me this link to Istex, and this pattern will find its way onto my needles in the very near future as well. I see on the website, the pattern book I bought comes in English, but where is the fun in that? The breadth of my Icelandic is Takk and Bless Bless...so I have a lot of work to do! Meanwhile, I have been using up left over sock wool to increase the size of this sock wool blanket. We have been watching a DVD series called Dead like Me. This show has been hilarious to watch and this blanket is easy knitting while we laugh! I am amazed at how these little balls of left over sock wool are making these 2 sock blankets! So, in the meantime, I will finish the 2 cardigans on the needles, add to the sock wool blankets, study, write as essay and then learn some Icelandic!