Urchin

Pattern by Ysolda Teage to be found on Knitty






Added: List of other urchins

Ysolda Teague (the designer)
Breibeest
Cosymakes
k2sc1
stitching for sanity

And if you've found more of them on the net, please report to me!

And it works, too!

Any mystery of the spinning wheel seems to be solved - Froukje solved the issue. She recognizes the wheel as the one that were produced late 70ies in a anticapitalistic, antiauthority cooperative workshop in Leeuwarden, where she used to work. I cannot believe sometimes the world being so small.


Het spinnewiel mysterie opgelost - zie Froukjes kommentaar op mijn laatste post.


Rokkens mysterium er løst. I en kommentar på min sidste post fortæller Froukje at hun genkender den som den slags, der sidst i 70erne blev fremstillet i et antikapitalistisk, antiautoritet cooperativt værksted, hvor hun også arbejdede. Jeg kan ikke forstå verden nogle gange er så lille.

And so, here you can see what can be done on an anticapitalistic spinning wheel. My first twisted yarn. Just wait, there's more to come!

Kijk hier maar es wat je op een antikapitalisties wiel maken kunt. Mijn eerste meerdradige garen. Meer volgt!

Og her ser man så hvad der kan laves på en antikapitalistisk rok. Mit første garn med flere tråde. Bare vent, der kommer mere!

rainbow and 'where are the votes from the ... jury'?

Look what I did with the handdyed fleece from the knitting cow
took one colour and did a bit of yarn, blended that colour with a bit of the next and spun some more. Then added even more of that second colour, until it was solid. Then started adding the third colour. The whole thing mixed with blue/green specks for interest and unity (not very visible on the photograph, which also shows the colours a bit too bright).
What you get is a rainbow.


I will turn it into a hat.


Now for the next thing, I need your votes, please. It is a rather basic skullcap, made of the malabrigo I bought in Santa Cruz (soft!!!!!) and I am thinking of embellishment. One possiblility is a crocheted flower in the same or some other yarn. One other possibility is small felted balls hanging ca. 5 cm from the top in a crocheted string. Also of the same yarn.
I am giving control out of my hands and to you, my blog readers. Which of these two should it be. The one that gets the most votes, I will make.

second and third yarns - tweede en derde garen - andet og tredje garn

my second yarn turned into a hat
mijn tweede garen werd een muts
mit andet garn blev til en hat





the third yarn is made of blue, turquoise and white fleece, combed together
het derde garen is van blauwe, turquoise and witte wol, door elkaar gekamd
det tredje garn er lavet af blå, turkis og hvid uld, kammet sammen




I'm so amazed at how much fun it is to spin
Ik verbaas me er nog steeds over hoe leuk het is om te spinnen
Jeg er stadig forbavset over hvor sjovt det faktisk er at spinde

Good, better, best

A girl can be lucky in several ways. One good way is having purchased some wonderful yarn as in:




rowan tapestry (wool with soy); malabrigo (wool) & silky sock yarn (wool, silk, nylon)

But better even is having purchased something you have needed and wanted for a long time, from a second hand shop, for less than a fifth of what a new one would cost, as in:



found at 'svalerne' this saturday for dkr 80,- (that's about 15 dollars)

The very very best way in which a girl can be lucky, however, is getting home from a trip to the states, and upon your arrival finding a package send from Finland with an assortment of fleeces in it, as in:



the white and brown is Finnwool, the grey and black Kainuu sheep. At the far right, some tussah silk and on top of it all, handdyed wool in 5 colours. All send to me, by the wonderfully nice internetcompanion Pirkko. Thank you so much Pirkko, it warms my heart.

first, first, second, first

Here are the knucks I made from the first ever handspun.

One other 'first ever' is the way I knitted them: simultaneously on two circulars. There's directions on
knitty for the cast on. The rest is not explained much there, but I figured it out: always knit all the stitches on one circular first, then all of the stitches on the other - and as it actually says in the directions: knit them on the same circular always (i.e. you work with only one of the circulars, and knit the stitches from it onto the other end of it). This way, you'll always know where to go on, for there will be just one yarn end in the neighborhood of needle tips.
Keep an eye on using the right yarn ball each time (although it is actually hard to make a mistake there). There also seems to be a book: Socks soar on two circular needles (Cat Bordhi), but I didn't use it.

Then: I am going to LA to participate in a conference for the second time in my life. Looking forward to it, but the journey is going to be a long one and so I'd like to find out about the rules on knitting on planes nowadays. Is there a way to be able to or are they banned from handluggage? I would hate to sit there for 11+ hours and not be able to make one stitch. (I am flying British Airways).

While being in California I will also visit my sister in Santa Cruz for the first time since she moved there. Anyone know about knitting-related stuff going on there? Recommendations for yarn shops (fiber's good too...) - let me know!

handspun 2

Guess what?
Raad eens?
Prøv at gætte..!




it is addictive.
3 colours of nepalese wool (lavender, kobalt and white) carded together and spun on the drop spindle.

Het is verslavend.
3 kleuren Nepal wol (lavendel, kobalt en wit) door elkaar gekaard en gesponnen op de tol.

Jeg er afhængig.
3 farver nepaluld (lavendel, kobalt og hvidt) blandet sammen på karderne og spundet på tenen.

First try...

I dropped it a lot, it has too much twist in many places, I have a blister on my right middle finger and the wool was not even intended for spinning.
Still - this could very much become an addiction.