LunaKnit

My Socktober socks are ready. All three pairs of them. I used tincanknits' Rye Sock pattern for them, and made a pair for each member of our little family. I would really like to recommend this sock pattern: the fit is great (Magnus thinks these are the best fitting woolen socks he has ever had), they were quite easy and fast to knit, and they look really good. And the pattern is freely available for download via Ravelry. A while back I posted a question asking your help for knitting heels. I had problems with picking the stitches from the sides of the heel flaps because I thought they were loose and little holes appeared at the sides of the gussets because of it. I had tried to pull the stitches at the beginning of each heel flap row really tight and then knit the picked stitches through the back loop (twisting them) to make them even tighter but it didn't give me a satisfactory result. You guys had many great tips and I already tried some of them.  First th

As I've often mentioned on this blog, I never really learned to knit as a child (I did finish the mandatory socks and mittens we were all expected to knit in elementary school, but I hated it and decided never to touch yarn or needles again) and only taught myself to knit after I turned 20. So there are a lot of things I've had to figure out for myself as I've had no one to show me the ropes or help me when I was stuck.  I've made so many mistakes, but (hopefully) learned from every one of them. Some mistakes I had to repeat more than once before figuring out what I was doing wrong. Still I wish I could now go back and tell the beginner version of me a few things I've learned during the past few years - especially after I found Ravelry and a whole new world of knitting. I'm sharing them with you, because some of you might still be in the beginner state and I'm hoping to spare you from the same mistakes I've made. 12 THINGS I WISH I KNEW

Just a quick update to show you what I'm working on at the moment. I already mentioned that I'm participating in a test knit for a maori inspired cowl, a project I'm really excited about. Here's how far I've gotten with it: Fair-isle knitting always looks ugly and a bit wonky before blocking but I'm sure it will look much better when it's all smooth and neat and off the needles. I'm really digging the yarn though, it's super soft and not at all itchy like alpaca yarns usually tend to be.  I'm also still working on the Jackdaw pullover for Magnus. I feel like it's taking forever and I don't see any progress even though I've put hours into it. If it was something for me, I'd put it on hold for a while but since it's a present and already horribly late, I feel like I should be working on it and feel slightly guilty every time I knit something else... One more thing I've been knitting is a onesie for the baby.

I'm taking part in a test knit for ArohaKnits , with the trial for the Tapatoru cowl starting today. I'm so excited about this project! I already have so much stuff that needs to be finished as well as a little baby, but this design was just so pretty that I couldn't help but participate. (I also think it's important to help independent designers and test knitting is a perfect opportunity for that.) I also made my Instagram profile public today, and you can find me under the name sari_n_. I'm still not sure if I'll leave it that way, I have to see how I feel about sharing my life on such a public forum. Even though I share photos and write about my personal life here on this blog I still find it more anonymous than Instagram. 

I was so planning on showing you every Wednesday what I had on my needles and what I was working on, but wait - it's already Friday! Where did this week go? I finally got my yarn order and now my stash is once again over-flowing with pretty skeins. These past few days I've been mostly knitting Magnus's birthday sweater (which is already over a month late) - it's the Jackdaw from Brooklyn Tweed's BT Men Volume 2 collection. I've now finally got the back ready and I've started knitting the front. At this moment I'm just past the bottom ribbing and a few rows in the chart.  I'm anxious to see how it looks when it's blocked and the cables relax a bit. The texture is quite unlike anything else I've ever knitted, and while it's quite easy to memorise, I don't really find it very intuitive so it doesn't make good TV knitting. Even though I'm most certainly not a monogamous knitter (at this moment I think

I've finished my second Dessine-Moi Un Mouton sweater! I'm really happy how it turned out; I especially like the sailor vibes it has.  Modifications I made to the original pattern:  I didn't follow the original striping, but alternated 5 CC rows and 3 CC rows until the end. Only used 2 contrasting colors. Didn't do the hemming or cuffs as instructed, but added a 1x1 tbl ribbing. Also added similar ribbing to the neckline. Didn't increase or decrease at the sides, so no waistline shaping. I also made my sweater a bit longer than the pattern calls for. Dessine-Moi Un Marin Pattern:  Dessine-Moi Un Mouton  by La Maison Rililie Yarns: MC: Drops Baby Merino in #13 Navy blue,  CCs: Drops Alpaca #5565 light maroon  and #100 off white Needles: 3.5mm Thanks for all your help on the heel issue. I'm right now in the middle of knitting the heel for my second sock and this time I skipped the slipped stitches at the beginning and e

I have finished my first Rye sock and started the second one last night. I prefer knitting afterthought heels instead of this kind of heel (with heel flaps) because I never get them to look neat. I just can't seem to get the stitches that I pick from the sides of the flap tight enough (even though I usually knit them through the back loop) so they look sloppy and there's always little holes. Usually I fix this by sewing them close with a piece of scrap yarn once I'm finished but there must be another way! So I'm asking your help. How do you get the heels looking nice and tight? What am I doing wrong? I think my problem is that the slipped stitches at the sides of the heel flap are too loose, especially at the beginning of RS rows, but I don't know how to fix that. Any ideas? P.S. This is what I love about knitting. It doesn't matter how much you knit, there's always a new technique to be learned, and you are never ready or perfect. Keeps t

Time to stock up for winter and knit some lovely woollen socks! Last year I decided that the month of October would be a sock-knitting month (hence Socktober ) and I knitted three pairs of socks for myself ( Stricken , Striped Crew Socks and Neldoreth ). This year I thought I would knit a pair for each member of our little family. Rye socks (photo borrowed from Ravelry ) I'm planning to knit a pair of  Rye socks by tincanknits for each one of us three. I love the idea of having identical socks in different colors and sizes. The pattern is simple enough that I might just be able to finish all three pairs this month even with my limited time for knitting.  I already started my socks tonight. I'm making mine gray because almost all of my woollen socks are of bright colors and I don't actually have gray socks! I was planning on a neutral color for Magnus as well, but the baby will get colorful ones.  P.S. I finished my Dessine-moi un mouton pullover today,