Icelandic Knitting

I went on a bit of an Icelandic colorwork knitting kick last year. I am now a huge fan of fair isle colorwork because it combines the ease of the knit stitch with the excitement of watching a pattern emerge every row.

I made these two cardigans before we left for Iceland so that we would have them along for photo ops, of course!

(ah, the joy of steeking!)


Jon's cardigan is pretty much my most favorite knit project ever. He picked out the yarn and pattern when we were in Toronto last spring for our anniversary. I love the chunky yoke pattern and the extra detail of the cables on the arms and body. Jon wears this cardigan all the time, so it warms my heart to see my knitting project getting lots of use. It has also insured that I will make him lots more knit sweaters because he is so appreciative! (ravelry link: craftr's Stapi)




I really like the yarn and pattern I chose for my cardigan...but I am so mad at myself for putting a white zipper in instead of a black zipper. Hopefully, one day, I will get up the nerve to rip out the white zipper and sew in a black one. (ravelry link: craftr's Hela cardigan)

I made these two sweaters with the yarn that I bought while we were in Iceland.

This vest more than makes up with my disappointment with the Hela cardigan. I wear this all the time now. Because it is short-sleeved, I never overheat while wearing it. And, I bought a brown turtleneck to wear with it to reduce the neck itchiness (Lopi is so itchy for wool to skin contact). (ravelry link: craftr's Vormorgun Vest)


Jon picked out the yarn for this pullover and it's another sweater that he wears frequently. (I guess wool really helps now that we've been turning down the heat this winter to save money). I'm so glad that Jon likes wearing sweaters that are interesting to knit and is somewhat brave with his color choices and patterns, too. Lopi patterns are so easy and enjoyable to knit! (ravelry link: craftr's Riddari)

2010 Projects in Review

Umm...I really don't think I can top 2010's productivity ever again (nor do I want to). This is definitely proof that shopping for craft supplies and engrossing myself in projects are major stress relievers for me. I'm hoping to remedy this by working with only my stash (for real!) this year.

So, here's to a 2011 filled with relaxation, great books, and a handful of knitting and quilting projects!

For other year end recaps see: 2007 2008 2009

career change!

I've been quiet on this blog lately because of a big change in my life. In November, I started my first official paid(!) job as a librarian. For the first time in my post-college working career, I can say that I actually love going to work! Every day at the library is new and different and my job really keeps me on my toes. I'm surrounded by books and people all day and it's the perfect combination of interests for me.

To top it off, I got a job at my childhood library, which is the library that inspired me to become a librarian in the first place. I'm so honored to have been chosen for the position at such a great library in the area!

Three years ago around this time, I was just starting my library school journey. I stuck with my unfulfilling day job long enough to get my master's degree (debt free!) and make a career change. While the last few years at my job were grueling and stressful, I'm glad that I made a new goal for myself and accomplished what I set out to do. Yay for much needed life changes!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I'll be back soon with some updates...sorry for the long silence!

ornaments

I attended the SE Michigan Crafters Meetup, hosted by Rae of Made-By-Rae last Thursday night. It was so much fun to meet up with other local crafters and work on things with company, rather than in solidtude (I miss my weekly craft nights with Catherine now that she's living in Germany).


Photo by Rae (more photos can be found on her post here)

Every year, around November, I find myself signing up for some sort of holiday ornament/craft swap (2006, 2007, 2009). I always imagine myself having tons of free time to make cute little gifts to swap and it always turns into a time crunch to get everything completed in time. This year, I was determined to have things turn out differently and give myself extra time to prepare.

I brought an ornament project with me to work on for the evening and I spent lots of time with my trusty seam ripper because I could not get sew the ornaments perfectly in line with the template. Trust me...there were lots of very oddly shaped skate boot attempts. Fortunately, I finally got into the groove of things, though, by the end of the night.


After making a trip to Joann to get Pearl Cotton and pom pom trim, I was able to put the finishing touches on these ornaments (pattern and directions here). These little skates are finished ahead of time (yay!) and I'm hoping they reach their destination of the Second Annual Small Fox Ornament Swap safely.

Accessories Roundup & Jon's former hobby

I've been knitting like crazy lately (if you couldn't already tell)! I'm so glad the cool weather has arrived because it's finally the perfect weather for knitting.

Here's what I've been making these past few months.

If I had to pick one favorite yarn, it would definitely be Berocco Pure Alpaca (used previously for my End of May hat and Zig Zag afghan). My favorite yarn store always has tons of beautiful colors in stock and I came up with this color combination during my last visit (mostly chosen to match my rain coat).


I finished the hat before the trip and finished the scarf mid way through our trip. I knit the scarf from side to side and, quite honestly, I think this is the only way I'll knit scarves from now on. Knitting lengthwise goes much faster than knitting short rows back and forth (at least in my head it does!)




Jon picked out the yarn and pattern for this hat last fall and started knitting the band of this hat. The hat sat around for many months before Jon declared that knitting was no longer for him. I don't really blame him because K2P2 brims are fairly tedious to get started with. He decided that I should be the sole knitter in our house and asked me to finish this hat for him to wear in Iceland. This is a replacement for the Koolhaas hat I made him a few years ago that is too big and "too nice" to wear hiking.


you can sort of see my new scarf peeking through my jacket here.


I've been lusting after The Fibre Company Terra yarn after seeing their beautiful ads in Interweave Knits and I finally got around to making a colorwork hat with it a few weeks ago. This is supposed to be an oversized beret, but I didn't do a gauge swatch and used the wrong sized needles so it ended up on the smaller side...now it's just a plain old hat.

Rav link: craftr's opus spicatum

Lapis Yoke Pullover

This was my intended to be my official Iceland knitting project. I had lofty dreams of knitting every day in the car, but I was too enamored with the scenery to bother casting on. Because I didn't get started on it until the very end of our trip, it ended up being my airplane/jet lag recovery project instead.


I was able to finish the yoke, separate for the sleeves and start the body by the time we landed in Detroit. It kept me awake through some very cheesy airplane movies (Chipmunks: The Squeakuel anyone?)


This was such and enjoyable sweater to knit and now I'm totally sold on knitting from the top down. The yarn, Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk Aran, was a dream to use and I was fortunate enough to find a half off sale last winter to acquire it because it's on the pricey side. This sweater is so soft and silky and squishy and I think it will get a lot of use this winter.


Jon says that it's the most normal, store bought looking sweater that I've made so far and I agree. I guess I should make sweaters in this style more often.

Project notes and more info can be seen here: craftr's Lapis Yoke