It’s been a while

And for good reason. Life has been super busy. Karítas came home from her summer vacation in the beginning of August, I started school on the 15th of August and work has been really busy also. Oh, and I turned 36 on August 27th. So there has not been much time for anything else. I have done some knitting and crocheting whenever I have had the time and have managed to finish, almost finish and start a few projects.

First, I finished Red Rock Canyon again! This one is for my MIL and I loved working on this design again. Romi Hill designs are extremely well done and easy to follow, not to mention beautiful!

Pattern: Red Rock Canyon by Rosemary (Romi) Hill
Yarn: Juno Fibre Arts Milly Singles in Potpourri & Boudoir
Needle: 3.5mm

As I said, I really enjoyed working on this shawl. I am not a big fan of doing the same design twice, but I did not mind at all this time. The pattern is super well written, the yarn I used is a favorite of mine, and the colors are yummie! Who knows, I might even make another one for myself at some point, I have a few color combos picked out in my head already.

School started again for the girls, Karítas was very excited!

I got new hiking shoes for my birthday from my family! So happy with them!

Sumarrós drew this photo of me and her. It says “You are my favorite mom”

Saturday after spending the entire day in school, I was completely exhausted and spent most of the day snuggling with Karítas on the couch under a blanket. So nice.

Vertices Unite

When I started my vacation I also started a new project. One of my favorite designers, Stephen West released not one, but three new shawls for summer. Off course I bought the ebook with all of them as they are all beautiful and I like adding to my growing SW pattern collection on Ravelry. This shawl, Vertices Unite was the one who called out to me the loudest so I decided to go for it. Garter, colours and stripes, just perfect for easy summer knitting.

I had a very hard time picking the colour combo. First I went through my stash and pulled out everything that was in the right weight and mixed and matched what I had. I took some photos and you can see them here.
None of these really jumped out though. Also, I really wanted to put this skein of of Posh Yarns to good use. I have had it forever and for some reason it was calling out to me to finally use it for something.

I only had one left because I gave one to my friend Rósa so I really wanted to find something that would work with it. The yarn has so many colours in it so picking something to go with it would probably not be that hard. The first colour I picked to go with it was my leftover yellow Geilsk wool&cotton mix that I had left since I knitted my Curry Cardigan. So then I needed 3 other colours. So off to Litla Prjónabúðin I went with my yarns.

I added dark and light purple in Geilsk wool&cotton and then this gorgeous skein of Silkbloom Fino from BC Garn. There, I had my colours and yarns so there was nothing left to do but cast on.

Knitting this shawl was fun and easy. The pattern is well written and garter and stripes is just something that never gets old or boring. I had a lot of fun mixing the colours together and deciding what should go where and with what etc. Yesterday I finished it and me and the man went out late list night to take some shots in the beautiful evening sun.

Pattern: Vertices Unite by Stephen West
Yarn: Geilsk 3 ply Bomuld og uld, BC Garn Silkbloom Fino and Posh Yarn Impress
Needles: 3.5mm
Section 1: Posh Yarns Impress and Geilsk Cotton&Wool in light purple
Section 2: Geilsk Cotton&Wool in light and dark purple
Section 3: Silkbloom Fino in pink
Section 4: Geilsk Cotton&Wool in dark purple
Section 5: Geilsk Cotton&Wool in yellow and Posh Yarns Impress
Section 6: Geilsk Cotton&Wool in light purple and a dash of yellow
i-cord bind off: Silkbloom Fino

Birta

I finished my lopapeysa last week. I have been wanting to make myself a lopapeysa for about 5 years, but I had difficult time picking out the pattern I wanted, the colors I wanted, the fit I wanted and what kind of wool mix I wanted to use. After some thought I was almost decided on using a mix of single ply plötulopi (unspun Icelandic wool) and einband (Icelandic lace wool) as I love that mix and it makes the most light and airy fabric that is still warm and nice. I even thought about substituting the lace wool with some alpaca or something luxurious and soft to go with the unspun wool.

For the last few months, I have been a regular at Litla Prjónabúðin as it is one of my favorite knitting stores and quite a few of my knitting friends are regulars there and there is a great area for sitting down with your WIP and have coffee and chat. It is close both to my office and my home so it is very handy to stop by after work or on my days off and meet with kindred spirits and pet some yarn and do some knitting. Litla Prjónabúðin (The Little Knitting Store) carries great yarn called Snældan. Faroese wool with Falkland wool mixed in it. It is softer than the Icelandic wool and after seeing some items knitted with it, I was sold. I had found the yarn I wanted to use for my lopapeysa. Knit with 5mm needles, I got the same gauge as for léttlopi so substituting Snældan was easy! Perfect!

Pattern: Birta by Bára Þórarinsdóttir
Yarn: Snaeldan Nappað tógv 3tr – grey, brown and yellow
Needles: 4.5mm and 5mm

The pattern is very classic, just what I had imagined. I am very happy with it and now I want more and have plenty of ideas. I am on a sweater  roll and have some lined up in my queue already, both for me, my daughters and some friends and family. If you can get this wool, I do recommend it. It knits up beautifully!

I only have 2 days left at work and then I am on summer holidays until July 4th! Oh the joy! The list of things to do while I am on vacation is long and fun and I am finally going to go through my stash and organize it properly and hopefully get it all photographed and into Ravelry.

I started a new MKAL, this time I am doing socks by Kamilla. The first clue came yesterday and I am almost done with it. I am also participating in Stephen West’s Summer Shawl KAL and am going to start by knitting Vertices Unite in the bigger version. I did some stash diving and picked out some yarns that that could work for the project. Me and the man arranged some color settings and I took some photos of them for me to look at and hopefully make the decision making a little easier. If you want to take a look, the photos are here and I would love to hear what is your favorite color setting!

A new shawl and more

I participated in Romi’s new MKAL. After Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow MKAL, that I had so much fun with, I was on the hunt for a new one and this one popped up in my friend activity on Ravelry, so I decided to join in the fun.

It was challenging, but not difficult at all. What I love the most with MKAL’s is the fact that you only get a small-ish portion of the pattern at a time and with that I do not get overwhelmed with a HUGE pattern that covers many, many pages. And you have a week to do each portion so keeping up is usually not a huge deal. The portions are reasonable and I have learned so much from both of these.

Pattern: It’s a Mystery by Rosemary (Romi) Hill
Yarn: Grey is Design.club.dk Duo Merino – Orange is Isager Strik Tvinni (Wool 2)
Needles: 3.5mm

I have been wearing it pretty much every day since I finished it. It is very light, yet warm and I adore the colours and how well they work together. I got the grey yarn some years ago while traveling in Denmark and the orange I got on sale as it was being discontinued.

I finally picked out a pattern for a Lopapeysa for myself!

I have been wanting to make myself one for a long time (we are talking about years, people!) but I have always been struggling with what design to pick and then what colours would go well with it. After being introduced to Snældan (wool from the Faroe Islands) by my friend Dagga, I absolutely fell in love with it and yesterday after school I went to her store and bought the colours I wanted. I casted on last night and this yarn knits up like a dream! Very excited about this project.

When I got home from school yesterday, my girls were wrapped in in their blankets I made them and watching cartoons. Warmed my heart!

A pile of projects. That green cardigan is now finished, but I haven’t managed to take photos of it yet as it was raining heavily all day yesterday. I’ll share photos as soon as I take them.

School started again yesterday and I am looking forward to finishing this part. It is harder than the previous one, but I am up for the challenge. Then we have an exam in June and the summer off and then it starts back up sometime in August and is ongoing until December. Bring it!

Bits & Pieces – March 23rd, 2014

Another Sunday, another update.

I started another Mystery KAL! This one is by Rosemary (Romi) Hill and is also a shawl. If you want to join, you can find the info here on Ravelry.
I am using the grey (Uno) and orange (Spinni) yarn for my shawl and Karítas helped me wind them up with a huge smile on her face.

Sumarrós went to the yearly school dance in a dress that she designed and my mother sewed for her. She looked so beautiful!

Karítas got new knitted socks.

I have spent most of the weekend relaxing, knitting and today I baked a french chocolate cake and my mom came over for cake and coffee. I am knitting a lopapeysa for Karítas and decided to knit it top down this time and love it. The yoke is done and I am about to set aside the sleeve stitches.

Lopapeysa in the making, the wrong side.

Two new shawls and more

I have been knitting up a storm. The Mystery KAL by Ysolda Teague has really kept me at it and I have also been working on the Happy Street shawl. Both are now finished, blocked and the man was kind enough to take pictures with me yesterday.
First up, the Follow Your Arrow Mystery KAL. I am so happy how it turned out.

Pattern: Follow Your Arrow by Ysolda Teague
Clues: AABAA
Yarn: Juno Fibre Arts Milly Singles in Boudoir and Touch Wood
Needles: 4mm

I am very happy with the outcome and am already considering another shawl with different mix of clues. Each clue has 2 options and they all work together, no matter how you mix them together. And she gives you the option of having one or two colours, but seriously, you can use as many as you want really. And some variegated yarns work very well with this awesome pattern.
The KAL has been a lot of fun and I have learned a whole lot. I set up with picking clues that I found interesting and would include some technique that I had not done before or had done little of, some new shapes and forms etc.

The second shawl, Happy Street by Vera Välimäki, is the exact opposite from the MKAL. Just garter stitch and short rows, the perfect TV knitting project. And even if the rows become veeeery long, it somehow never got boring. I love Vera’s patterns, this is the third one I have done and they have all been perfectly written, and very easy to execute with beautiful results. If you haven’t done any of her patterns, I would recommend that you try them out for a very joyful knitting experience!

Happy Street by Veera Välimäki
Yarn: Hedgehog Fibres Sock in Shamrock and Madelinetosh tosh sock in Jade, grey is dyed by a friend. Also sock yarn.
Needles: 3.5mm

Work has been very busy, but the busy season and the end of year balancing is getting very close to being done, wooohoo! And next week me and my mother and my daughters are going away to my grandfathers cabin in Skorradalur. I can’t wait to get away from the city for a couple of days and just relax with my girls. They are on winter break from school and so is my mom as she works in a school, I have plenty of vacation days so I am taking a few for this.

Sorting through the WIP cabinet

One of the things that I wanted to do in the new year was to go through both my WIP/UFO cabinet and my yarn stash. Today I went through the WIP/UFO cabinet and did some cleaning and organising. It was not as bad as I thought!

I took photos to show you what I have hidden in there. There is just one WIP that I can’t show you as it is top secret until it is done. But here goes, I am airing my whole WIP/UFO collection here.

Here is the cabinet before I organised everything. And my notebook and some zip lock bags for some of the projects.

All the bags are out and on the floor. What is in them? I had some idea, but wasn’t sure of all of it.

Bjarki’s lopapeysa that I made for him needs some mending under the arms and I need to sew the zipper better as it has loosened with all the use it has gotten. This one did not go back into the cabinet as I am going to repair it tonight so that I can give it back to Bjarki next time he comes over.

The bed spread I am crocheting for our bed! It hasn’t gotten much attention lately, mainly because of my very secret WIP, but as soon as that is done, I imagine this will be my next focus piece. So neatly folded with all of the yarn, back into the cabinet it went to be ready for my attention.

A crochet shawl. This is in fact not my project, Helgi is making it! I love the colours and the green is dyed by me. It went into it’s own project bag and back into the cabinet so that Helgi can grab it when he feels like it.

Now, this one is almost done. Just the finishing touches left. But, it also needs a partner that is smaller and has a different colour where the purple one is. It is very high on my priority list to get these finished a.s.a.p.

Various stuff for some yarn graffiti.

Crochet curtains for a pub. Need to know if I should finish these or not.

One sock for Karítas that I did ages ago, too small now so I am either making the other one and giving it to someone, or frogging it or using the yarn for something else, like socks in the right size for her!

The start of a shawl. Frogged as I want to use the yarn for something else.

One sock for myself. Need and want to finish the other one, just have been suffering from ‘second sock syndrome’ since I finished the first one.

A cabled bag that I really want to finish, but I need to buy more yarn for it!

BSJ that I started, then the cat got a hold of it and I couldn’t figure out how much had frogged so I frogged the whole thing and will use the yarn for something else.

I thought that there would be way more in there! And I am very happy that I just frogged the items that I knew I would never ever finish anyway. I put everything in their separate bags or zip locks, depending on the size of the projects and the amount of yarn, and put them in back into the cabinet so that I can grab them easily whenever I feel like working on them.
None of these projects are something that I need to finish very soon, except for the knitted sweaters that I was hoping on finishing before Christmas, but off course things got busy and I just couldn’t.

Then I put my yarn into my yarn cabinet that you can see here. Now, I kind of need to go through it and organise it better. I will do that soon, maybe even tomorrow if I have the time.

2013 – Finishes

It’s been a wonderful year.
Like the years before, I am doing a list of my finished projects.

Stitching
Freebie from TraLaLa – finished as a pin cushion
Total: 1 finished project

Knitting
Cardigan for Pálmi
Curry cardigan for myself
Camomille shawl for myself
Turn a square hat for the man
Grettir for Óli Sindri
Total: 5 finished projects

Crochet
Wave blanket for Karítas
Bugða blanket for Sumarrós
Vintage blanket for my sister, Gyða
Electric Ripple blanket for a friends baby
Granny Stripe blanket for my nephew, Adrían
Viktoría collar for me
Viktoría necklace for Aimee
Viktoría necklace for Karítas
Viktoría necklaces for Þóra and Freyja
Viktoría necklace for Erla, Sumarrós’s sister
Viktoría necklace for Helga Soffía
Viktoría necklace for Steinunn Lóa
Bow Tie for my nephew, Adrían
Bow Tie for Starri, Sumarrós’s brother
Slaufa, for a friends baby
Slaufa, for Karítas’s baby sister
Cardigan for Karítas’s baby sister
Washcloths for me and the man
Washcloth for Karítas
Washcloth for Sumarrós
Mittens for Sumarrós
Mittens for Karítas
Hat for Karítas
Light green jar cover
White jar cover
Purple jar cover
Orange jar cover #1
Orange jar cover #2
Dark green jar cover
Red jar cover
Gray jar cover
White and black jar covers
Crochet stone #1
Crochet stone #2
Lægð, cowl
6 hair elastics for Sóley
Wash cloth
Súld, hat for my cousin Bjarki (here modeled by Karítas)
Lægð, wrapped scarf for Karítas
Bow Tie for my friend Einar. No photo, but one is hopefully coming soon.
Total: 40 finished projects

Yarnstorming
Hlemmur – bus stop in Reykjavík
The sign that marks my grandfathers summer house
Laxá í Kjós
By Hespuhúsið
In a car
Womens Rights
Gay Pride
Total: 7 finished projects

We wish you a very happy 2014 and I hope that you continue to drop by to my little blog.

Bit’s & Pieces and a new shawl

The knitting bug is still with me, please stay for as long as you can old friend.
So I finished this shawl that has been on my needles since the end of January 2012. I love getting projects done that have been with me this long, and I especially love this one. This shawl is huge and warm and I absolutely love it.

Pattern: Camomille by Helga Isager
Yarn: Plötulopi and Drops Alpaca
Needle: 3.5 and 3mm

It is knitted with single strand of un-spun Icelandic wool and the alpaca together and then just the alpaca, that gives it great drape and warmth and a very nice texture. And I love the tassels. I wasn’t sure about adding them, but once I did I was super happy with them.

So as a reward for finishing 2 old projects, I started a new one off course! Safety Scarf by Stephen West. I am finished with parts 1 and 2 out of 6.

I visited my friend Sigurlaug and her beautiful 7 weeks old baby girl.

Bits & Pieces – August 11th

The first week back at work happened without much effort. It is actually good being back, my office was painted while I was gone and everyone welcomed me back. I like my job, I can’t deny that.

My yarngraffiti group got some well earned money support from the Culture Night fund at Landsbankinn. We are doing THIS on Culture Night this year. Please come!

Gay Pride started this week. I love Gay Pride week!

Yesterday we went to the Gay Pride parade. This little girl dressed up accordingly.

And this big girl yarnstormed to support all the LGBT people that I know and love. And for those who are still to this day hurt, beaten up, murdered and silenced for loving whom they love. This needs to stop! Out with hate, in with LOVE!

Yay! More Gay Pride support in the form of yarn!

And Karítas finally met Páll Óskar, her favorite musician and artist. We love him and would like to thank him for everything he has done for the LGBT community in Iceland and all over the world.

Also, check out more Gay Pride yarngraffiti work by my group of talented and loving people at Reykjavík Underground Yarnstormers.

2012 – Finishes

Another year has ended. So weird how time speeds up year after year. Will a year feel like a week when I am 80?
It was over all a very good, but very busy year for me. New job, new challenges, new friends, new appreciations, new food, new goals. And off course, new knitting/crochet finishes. I do not have a single stitching finish though. Oh how the time change.

Knitting finishes:
Olearia by Georgie Hallam
Kalajoki by Tiina Seppälä
Cardigan for Valdi
Órói by Védís Jónsdóttir from Lopi #27
June Bunnies by Inese Andzane

Crochet finishes:
Various pieces for the Statue Yarnstorming
My Gay Pride piece.
Various pieces for the Yarn Bus.
A boob for Breast Cancer Awareness.

And a whoooooooole lot of organizing and brainstorming and other much smaller knitting or crochet projects that have not yet been published in their future form. I have some big ideas for this year, so stay tuned 🙂

Happy new year to you and yours. Thanks for reading in 2012 and I hope you will continue to visit in 2013.

Bits & Pieces

Another busy week! I am knackered, so I will let the pictures speak for now. I am about to curl up on the couch and do a little crochet and writing.

Puffin attack at the office!

Crochet happy dance!
Pattern: Kría by Tinna Þórudóttir Þorvaldsdóttir
Yarn: Einband from my stash, one hand dyed by me.

On Thursday I went to Lunch Beat with a co-worker. Lunch Beat is so great. You go out for your lunch break and dance for an hour. Definitely the best way to spend your lunch hour!

Lunch Beat Reykjavík at Dolly.

The wallpaper at Dolly is awesome! I want it!

Yesterday, my favorite bar, Kaffibarinn, turned 19! Drinks and people and dance and fun!

The Male Choir sang a few songs. Happy Birthday, Kaffibarinn!

Bits & Pieces

This past week was one of the strangest ones in a while. In both a good way and a bad way. I have been very tired, yet energetic, full of ideas but not doing much to get these ideas out of my head. I am sure they will come sooner rather than later.
I finished this week by going to my grandfathers cabin in the country with my parents, daughters and my little nephew Adrían. Here are some pictures.

Karítas on Halloween. They did face paint at school.

On Thursday I went out for lunch and when I was going back to the office I walked by this. Lunch Beat. Once a month between 12 and 13 and you go and dance your ass off and then head back to work. I was only there for about 15 minutes, but it was wonderful! I will definitely not miss it next time!

Iceland Airwaves started Wednesday and finishes tonight. This is the second time since it started that I miss it. I did go to the off venue concerts at Kaffibarinn on Thursday with my daughter Karítas. Her father works for Bedroom Community so we listened to some of their music for a while and met up with some friends.

New crochet start. Shawl called Kría from Þóra, heklbók. I am using Einband from Ístex and the multi colored one is something that I dyed myself a few years ago.

Akrafjall, a mountain on the way to the cabin. So pretty!

My grandfathers cabin in Skorradalur. It’s like paradise!

My newphew Adrían, as Spiderman.

My mom and my daughter Sumarrós. Love them!

My view this morning. Not too bad!

Relaxing can be exhausting! Karítas and Adrían taking a short nap today.

Gifts given

My grandfather and his wife, Ása, both turned 80 years old this summer. They held a huge party for all their friends and families. It was wonderful day. Since I was extremely busy with work, I only finished my grandfathers gift on time and it felt wrong to show up with just his gift and nothing for her so I decided to finish her gift at my own pace, and pay them a visit when it was finished.

I finished her gift last weekend and today, me and my mom and my daughter Karítas went to visit them in their lovely home with their gifts.

My grandfather and his wife Ása.

Pattern: June Bunnies by Inese Andzane.
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Heritage Silk
Needles: 3mm

Pattern: Órói by Védís Jónsdóttir from Lopi #27
Yarn: Ístex Álafoss Lopi
Needles: 4.5mm and 6mm

My grandfather is one of the most incredible humans I know. He is full of patience and kindness and incredible talent. He is a bookbinder and always smells like old books (or, I say old books smell like him, and this is my favorite smell in the world). He loves telling stories and is full of them. He is always willing to help, he loves having his family around, he is always positive and playful. Even at eighty, his spirits are still high and being around him, you don’t notice his age at all. All those things can be said about his wife also. They have been together for 20+ years and are perfect for each other. Visiting them is something that I always enjoy, but never seem to do enough of. I am going to do more of it in the future, that’s for sure.

2011 – Finishes

Happy New Year! I can’t believe another year is here. 2011 was in many ways a very good year and in other ways a pretty crappy one for me. Probably the biggest roller coaster year ever for me. It ended well though and 2012 started out well too so here is hoping for a good one!

Like always I do a list of finishes so here we go.

Knitting finishes:
1) She’s a Rainbow shawl. Pattern based on Simple Things by Mary-Heather Cogar.
2) Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann
3) The Whitney Headband by Jennifer DiMaria
4) Basic Four Needle Mittens – Super Fine by Patons
5) Stockholm Scarf by knittedblissJC
6) Basic Child’s Gradiance Sock in Foot Prints by Laura Lough
7) Pretty basic socks – no real pattern
8) Barnapeysa með hettu by Astrid Ellingsen
9) Still Light by Veera Välimäki
10) Brownstone by Jared Flood
11) Stripe Study Shawl by Veera Välimäki
12) Terra by Jared Flood – finished but need to wash and block it and take new pictures.
13) Butternut Scarf by Anne Hanson – finished but need to take better pictures.
14) Tree of Light by Cordula Surmann-Schmitt
15) Akimbo by Stephen West
16) I Heart Lace by Inese Andzane
17) Parisian Twist Headband Ear Warmer by Elisa McLaughlin
18) Bow Headband by Beth Postelwait
19) Honey Hat by Hannah Fettig
20) Classic Mittens by Bernhard Ulmann
21) Socks for Bjarki – my own design short row heel

Stitching finishes:
1) Antique Hearts Needleroll – Shepherd’s Bush
2) Heart Pinkeep – freebie
3) Strawberry Emery – Blackbird Designs
4) Winter Pinkeep – Just Nan freebie

So happy new year dear friends and readers!