LunaKnit

Lady Stardust Pattern by Reiko Kuwamura Yarns: Novita Wool (shade #443 Light Grey) Drops Baby Merino (shade #13 navy) Needles: 4.0 mm You know sometimes when you start a new project you have a clear view how it's going to look when it's finished. And when it's actually off your needles it's nothing like you envisioned? This is one of those projects but not in a bad way. I wasn't going to knit another blue project. That wasn't my plan when I started. This scarf was supposed to be grey with red stripes. But when it came to adding the contrasting color I decided the red just didn't look good. First of all there was too big a difference between the yarn weights (the grey one is listed as DK even though it's closer to sport weight in my opinion, and the red one felt like very light fingering weight) and the red kind of got lost in the midst of the grey one. Secondly there was not enough contrast between the yarns and I thought it loo

Having just finished the Redford sweater I now have time to concentrate on other projects. I'm still working on the Aurora scarf although it's now on a bit of a hiatus because I ran out of yarn. The scarf is two thirds done so there's not much left to knit, as soon as I just get the missing skeins. I'm still not sure if I will make it into a circular scarf or a straight one, and even though my initial plan was a circular one, I'm starting to think I will make something that incorporates both the options: making a ribbing to the ends but adding buttons to one end and buttonholes to the other one. That way it could be worn either way. I've actually knitted some more after I took these photos and before I ran out of yarn. I started to knit the Lady Stardust scarf on the same evening I finished the Redford. I'm done with the border and next I will start to work on the main part of the scarf. I'm using light grey Novita Wool from my stash. I

Redford for Magnus Pattern: Redford by Julie Hoover Yarns: Garnstudio Drops Karsima shade # 75 petrol-cerise Needles: 3.0mm and 3.5mm This sweater was a birthday present to my darling husband on his 33rd birthday (along with a couple of books he had asked for). His actual birthday was already a few weeks ago, but luckily he's a patient guy and didn't mind waiting. Magnus got to decide the sweater design and the yarn he wanted for it. Since Drops Karisma is thicker than what the pattern called for I decided to make the sweater one size smaller than I otherwise would have. The size seems to be good. I decided I didn't like the exposed seams and also thought they might look bulky because of the heavier yarn choice, so I seamed the pieces together in the normal way (seams inside the fabric). Magnus also wanted me to add a couple of cm extra length and he didn't like the bottom edge rolling up so I added a ribbing. I picked up one stitch per one fro

I take back everything I said about autumn being my favourite time of year. I want the warmth back. It's been so unbelievably cold for the past few days and no clothing seems to be thick enough to stop the icy cold wind. I hate cold weather. But I do love being able to wear thick woollen jumpers once again. And scarfs. And woollen socks. And drinking tea under a blanket. Kildare scarf , Honey Cap , Stonecutter Sweater and   Gloaming Mittens

After what felt like an epic amount of yarn tails to weave in, it's now finally ready. Magnus's birthday was two weeks ago and I only finished the sweater - his birthday present - yesterday late in the evening. I would have finished sooner if I hadn't knitted the Aurora scarf, or the Hutchin hat or needed to redo the first sleeve not once but twice (first too wide, then waaay too long) and add a ribbing to the bottom of the body. Or if I hadn't messed up the seaming on the sides only to laborously take the pieces apart and start again. Did I tell you about the rookie mistake? No? I sewed the other side panel inside out: the first one was right with the purl side showing and seams on the inside, the other had the seams on the outside and knit-side outwards... But it's ready now, so phew! Now I just have to get the mister to pose for some photos :) 

For such a small book this was a really slow one to read. It was written in a way where every word counts and you had to read every sentence really carefully to understand the plot. I often found myself reading and rereading one or two sentences or paragraphs over and over again because I was tired, my mind wandered and I couldn’t keep my thoughts together. I usually read before going to sleep and I seldom could finish more than a few pages of this book before I started to feel too drowsy to concentrate. I’m not a big reader of suspense novels; especially spy thrillers are quite an unfamiliar genre to me. This was actually the first book by John le Carré I’ve ever read, even though the author is well-known. The book belonged to my father but for some reason he had two copies of it, so he gave the other one to me along with some other old books of his, such as the James Bond novel From Russia with Love by Ian Fleming amongst others. All the while reading the book I had the s

I got at least 10 kg of apples from my co-worker. She has 8 apple trees and apparently this has been a good year for apples: she said she's literally drowning in them. I was just happy to get some, since we live in an apartment and don't have our own trees. Another reason why I happily accepted the apples was that a few days earlier Magnus's father (who is usually my source for berries, rhubarb, plums and other home-grown produce) called and said he didn't really have apples to offer this year: they had been infected with monilinia which makes the apples rot in the trees.  This weekend has been apples galore at our place and I've been cooking apple mush by jarfuls. I also made three (yes you read correctly, THREE) different apple pies. And no, we won't eat them all at once (even though I would like to). I've been slicing them into smaller portions and putting them into the freezer to take out and warm whenever we feel like having a sweet treat with

Hutchin cap Pattern: Hutchin by Jared Flood Yarn: Garnstudio Drops Safran shade #09 navy Needles: 2.5 mm (for tubular cast on), 3.0 mm for the ribbing and 4.0 mm for the cabled section I hope you all caught the irony in this post's title. Instead of finishing the Redford sweater I finished this hat. However I have also finished the first sleeve of the sweater and seamed the parts of the body together so there's not much left to knit either. It won't be long before it's ready as well. I really liked this cap design and since I needed something else than the Redford sweater to knit; I thought this would be small and quick enough a project to distract me when needed. The cable design has a lot happening with all kinds of twisting and separating and twining again. It certainly is something to keep your mind occupied; a good project for when you don’t want to think anything else than what is on your needles. And Otto being sick as

You need: 150 m (160 yards) DK weight yarn, such as Garnstudio Drops Cotton Merino (120 m or 131 yards per 50g) Photographed in the color #15 Mustard . Needles: For ribbing: size 3.5 mm (US 4) circular needles, 40 cm (16”) long For the pattern: size 4.0 mm (US 6) circular needles, 40 cm (16”) long + DPNs in the same size. Also one extra DPN in the same size to use as a cable needle (CN) Gauge: 22 stitches and 30 rows = 10 cm (2”) in stockinette stitch with 4.0 mm needles Sizes: To comfortably fit average adult head sizes (50-60 cm or 20-24”). Length from bottom to top 21 cm (8 ⅟ 4 “) The hat is knitted circularly from the bottom up. Ribbed brim: Cast on 112 stitches on the smaller needles (3.5mm) using the long-tail CO method. Join in round placing a marker to indicate the beginning of the round (BOR). Be careful not to twist the stitches. Ribbing round : *k 1 tbl, p 1* to the end of the round. Continue as established until t