Olga knits

Murray: progress

2010-12-08T11:16:00.000+01:00

Murray is almost finished, I just need to attach his back legs and stuff him.

But because I always make it difficult for myself, I consider making a wire carcass (is this a right word?), because I would like Murray to be able to stand and not only sit. Wonder if it will work or if it's just waste of time.

Murray the Reindeer

2010-12-02T00:21:00.002+01:00

It's been snowing the whole day today. Slowly falling snowflakes, crispy snow under your feet, I love winters like this. Even if it's only 1st of December, I'm already in a Christmas mood. And what do you make, when its almost Christmas? A reindeer of course! But because Rudolf is so passé, meet Murray!

Murray is the newest pattern of Dawn Toussaint, my favourite amigurumi designer on Ravelry. Dawn has wonderful toys' patterns and she has been spoiling us with several CALs this year for which she released several free patterns. And now, as an early Christmas present, she presented us Murray the Reindeer

The picture is courtesy of Dawn Toussaint

One if the reasons why I like Dawn's amis is because they are assembled "on the go": pieces are joined together as you work, which eliminates seaming. And this is good, because seaming an ami is not my favourite thing.

If you want to join the CAL, it's here (you will need an account on Ravelry). Thanks to Dawn for sharing the pattern with us!

I've casted on today and finished one arm already. I like how the rim formed when you switch colors looks. It's like Murray wears shoes.

I use Annell Super Extra held double and a 3.5 mm crochet hook. I have all colors except white, but I'll surely find a substitute.

Winter has come.

2010-11-29T14:40:00.000+01:00

Jane Eyre shawl

2010-01-27T23:21:00.001+01:00

A precious parcel...

2010-01-26T22:46:00.003+01:00

... has arrived today. My very own copy of a book which is on a wish list of every lace knitter. "Haapsalu sall" - "A shawl from Haapsalu" - is a collection of traditional Estonian lace patterns and borders, which can be used separately or in combination with each other to create an unique piece of knitted lace. There are also several shawl designs dedicated to famous people, e.g. Greta Garbo.

Re-styling

2010-01-16T00:26:00.000+01:00

I absolutely didn't like how the standard layout looked like. I liked the dots, but there was too much unused space on the sides. So I've changed the appearance a little bit. On my laptop it looks OK, but I know that its colors differ from those on "normal" screens.
I'll probably continue looking for perfect background, in the meantime, I'd like to know what you think.

Everyday happiness

2010-01-14T21:30:00.001+01:00

... is in a bunch of fragrant freesias on the table...

Undine

2010-01-13T23:08:00.001+01:00

" (...) an Undine is a water nymph. They are usually found in forest pools and waterfalls. They have beautiful voices, which are sometimes heard over the sound of water. According to some legends, undines cannot get a soul unless they marry a man and bear him a child (...) "

Art: "Undine" by moonmomma and "Undine" by Arthur Rackham

Fibrex

2009-12-12T15:09:00.003+01:00

Today I've finally visited the shop which was on top of my to-visit list for a while. I've learned about it on Ravelry, it was described as a shop where they sell cheap "fin de séries" yarns. Of course I couldn't miss it. :)
In short, it's one of the most unusual craft stores I've even seen. The entrance is very easy to miss, there are no signs whatsoever, only a sheet of paper on the door asking visitors to call if they want to enter. Luckily for me, the door was open. :)

The owner of the shop is an elderly Flemish lady, she speaks both Dutch (very happy I've found it out before going there) and French and is very friendly. And she has the biggest collection of yarns I've ever seen in one place.

If you're used to "posh" yarn stores with lots of light and where everything is nicely displayed, this shop is anything but. Don't tell I haven't warned you. :) This is what it looks like from the entrance:

As you see, she carries fabrics too. I saw some Christmas-y stuff, also very nice tweed and something I'd love to make a skirt from. :) Possibly some quilting stuff, I haven't looked closer.

Room number 2:

See, on the right? Bags and bags and bags full of yarn. Some are open, some still closed, 4-5 packs of the same dye lot.

You think it's all? Nope, there's room number 3:

More fabrics, more yarn, and even more fabrics at the end of the shop, in the room number 4. I haven't seen the last room, was a bit overwhelmed by the yarnie goodiness. :) But I think there are only fabrics there.

So, if you don't mind digging and have lots of time, you'll find:

Cotton:

Acrylic:

and wool/wool blends:

It's mostly solids, but there are couple of shelves with glittery and multicoloured yarns and I've also seen "bobbeltjes" yarn, you know, the one you knit scarves with.

Brands. The most present are Annell and Malmedy, I've also spotted some 3Suisses and La Filanderie. And dozens of unknown to me (old) brands. There was a skein of yarn which carried nothing on it's label except of "Zultse". Was there a factory in Zulte where they made yarn?

Prices. Oh My God. I've got 25 skeins in total: 15 skeins of Annell Fjord, 6 skeins of Annell Super Extra, 3 skeins of Kid Mohair Super (unknown brand from Torino) and a skein of glittery novelty yarn. All for 29€. Do the math. :)

All this said, this shop is very likely to become my LYS. It's far from posh, but I'm not a LYS snob. The most important for me is that it's cheap, has lots of choice and is 20 minutes from my place. And I think the lady can use some new customers with a stashing disorder. :)

Fibrex
Rue du Crombion 2
7700 Luingne (Mouscron)
056 33 22 09

Update 1/12/2010
Opening hours:
Monday till Friday 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-19:00
Saturday 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00

The shop is closed on Sunday.

Cookies!

2009-12-08T23:44:00.001+01:00

I've found this recipe today on one of my favourite blogs: Delicious Days, and it made my evening in the most delicious way. The cookies just melt away, the perfected version of sand cookies.

Sunday afternoon tea

2009-12-06T16:40:00.000+01:00

Nothing is more relaxing for me than a lazy Sunday with a cup (or three) of tea.

New project?

2009-09-24T10:39:00.001+02:00

Saw this in Esprit online shop.

Must be very easy. It's just a top-down raglan in stockinette with provisional cast-on, ribbing on sleeves and collar. Pretty mindless knitting.

A lot of pretty yummy knitted stuff there, actually

Like this:

Or this:

More Aeolian

2009-09-22T21:31:00.000+02:00

Some more pictures of the shawl.

Aeolian

2009-09-22T13:16:00.002+02:00

It's been quite a while since I've finished this shawl, but I couldn't find time to make photos and post them here.

The pattern is Aeolian from knitty.com and it's extremely popular among knitters on Ravelry. Must say, I wasn't that much into shawls until I saw it in person. I had no choise, I had to have it. So I bought a skein of laceweight alpaca and cast on.

It wasn't as difficult as I expected, but it took me 2 months as I had to put it aside couple of times.

OK, enough words, here come the pictures. :)

Fresh from the needles, with a magazine for scale

After 2.5 hours of pinning, unpinnig and repinning, with the same magazine

Some close-up photos:

I wore it to the Ravelry-meetup in Brussels, Wollig took this picture:

This weekend I photographed it in my garden:

Other aspects of knitting

2009-09-17T11:24:00.018+02:00

Sometimes before you can actually cast on for a project, you have to deal with some unexpected problems. I was planning to knit a Muir to match a dress I'm going to wear to a friend's wedding. After spending hours looking for yarn of the perfect color, I've found this:

70% Baby Alpaca, 20% Silk and 10% Cashmere. 1200 meters in 100 grams, it's almost as thin as cobwebweight. Unfortunately, when I decided to wind it into a ball, a catastrophe happened. It was completely my own fault as I've never dealt with a hank before.

Here's what I've got:

This took me 7 hours. I didn't go to sleep and spent the whole night detangling, hoping that I'd finish it. No way. I had to add another 3 hours to it.

But the story has a happy end. The huge mess became this:And, finally, after 10 hours in total, this:

Esprit cardi

2009-08-06T20:31:00.003+02:00

A close-up of an Esprit-cardi I hope to knit one day.

New arrival!

2009-07-12T00:48:00.003+02:00

I've finally picked up a package from post which was waiting for me since Wednesday. Inside the package was this:

It has already told me what it wants to become. It has chosen the Leaf and Nupp Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia A beautiful example is here

But first I have to finish Aeolian which gets bigger and bigger with every row...

Stitch markers

2009-07-12T00:32:00.005+02:00

I'm knitting quite complicated lace shawl at the moment and I just have to use stitch markers there, at least 2. Until now I did perfectly fine with earrings, but lace yarn is so thin that earrings are totally unpractical. So i went to Etsy and bought myself this yummy stuff:

Quite expensive actually, around 7 euros, but oh so beautiful. But then I thought that the idea is quite simple and they're really not difficult to make. So I went to Veritas today and for bit more than 1 euro I made myself these babies:

OK, they're not as nicely made as the Etsy ones, but it's my very first attempt, so I think it'll get better. In the meantime, I fear another obsession is on its way: stitch markers! :)

Wondering how it will turn out...

2009-06-18T23:30:00.003+02:00

I'm currently knitting this cardigan from russian edition of Sabrina Magazine (01/2009). I love it, it's not too "busy" pattern and the yarn I'm using for it is really nice, but I'm seriously worried whether it will work. I'm knitting it with much thinner yarn and smaller needles than the ones the pattern calls for. I had to recalculate the whole thing and I really hope my gauge won't change in the middle of the project...

Joys of gardening

2009-06-18T22:57:00.004+02:00

Unfortunately I don't have much time to take care of my garden. It's especially nice to see that some plants don't really mind it and grow and blossom all on their own, to my greatest pleasure.

Thinking of winter

2009-06-18T22:29:00.009+02:00

I've just found some pictures on the camera I made months ago. They really made me looking forward to winter, pity that the days like that are rare.

Stash

2009-06-03T00:57:00.001+02:00

Once you start, there's no way back :)))

New yarn!

2009-01-13T14:53:00.003+01:00

Checked out the "L'atelier de la Passion" in Kraainem today. Very close to my language school, so why not? ;)
Turned out they have 40% discount on wool! I definitely will go back. Today I restrained myself to two skeins of lovely sock yarn. People say knitting socks is addictive, we'll see. :)

Shops in Belgium

2009-01-03T19:20:00.004+01:00

Just some addresses of wool shops. Little papers I normally use to write them down always dissappear as if by magic. ;)

1. Bergère de France
    Noordstraat 26, Gent
    www.woolboetiek.be
    tue-fri 8.00-12.00 13.30-18.00
        sat 8.00-12.00 13.30-17.00

2. Stoffenidee
    Hoogpoort 8, Gent

Finally some pics of The Cardigan

2009-01-03T19:20:00.003+01:00

Yeehaa, I've started the armhole decreases! Think the back will be finished next week. Isn't it supposed to be the biggest part? :)

Useful links

2009-01-03T19:10:00.000+01:00

The same story as with addresses. :)

1. Knitting socks on 2 circular needles:
http://www.cometosilver.com/socks/

My first serious project

2008-12-29T23:30:00.000+01:00

As the name suggests, this blog was created with knitting in mind*. I don't care that most consider it "old-fashioned" and "for grandmas" (and I do have proof for that, every day on the train :) ), but whatever people think - I just love it. Love the way yarn feels in my hands, love counting stitches, love following pattern, hope I'll also love this cardigan when it's finished. :)
Mine is going to be taupe, not black. Have too much black in my closet, time for a change. The back is almost halfway, despite all the cables, it knits very quickly. And I only knit for about 2 hours a day.

* Breisterretje = breister + sterretje = a woman who knits + a little star

Happy holidays!!!

2008-12-23T14:56:00.000+01:00

The blog era has begun :)

2008-12-23T10:20:00.000+01:00

Nowadays one almost has to have a blog. Together with Livejournal, Facebook, Netlog, Linkedin, Vkontakte and God knows which other 'social networks' blogs are just another way to let others peek in our lives. Some will see blogs as another reason for frustration: if no one reads it, that means that nobody cares about you.
I will keep this blog in English because this is the only language my friends have in common. There will be mistakes, spelling and grammatical, but I hope it'll get better. And I also sincerely hope there will be readers. Otherwise it means that nobody cares. ;)