On moderation

This blog entry is about moderation or rather my lack of it.

I knit a hat yesterday. A whole hat. The first 90 percent went by really fast, no troubles at all, just straight forward knitting. Then I was almost done. Which is when the problems started and when I just couldn't do what would have been the right thing to do. Have a break, call it a day, just let it be. Instead I went on and on. With tense shoulders, hurting back and fingers that were starting to blister. I decided I didn't like the finishing of the hat and ripped it out again at 10pm. I picked up stitches all around the hat again and fought my way through it. At 11pm. I had to block it as well, it couldn't wait another day.

The result is an ok hat that might or might not be too small even for a newborn. And a feeling that I am again where I shouldn't be - in exaggeration mode. This is not fun, this is pushing myself to go on long after it was fun and I don't know why I always end up here. I guess I have to make myself take a break and find a healthier way to knit.

Canada 2015

OMG, I just booked three plane tickets to Vancouver from the 19th of July to the 3rd of August.

I didn't really think a lot about this, I just did it...

Finished Object: Lace and Cable Wrist Warmers

Pattern: Cable and Lace Wrist Warmers by Lisa Vienneau
Yarn: 1 skein (and a bit of left over) of Lang Yarns, Merino 120 Colour superwash  #011
Needles: 3.5 mm Double Point
Start of project: September 24, 2014
End of project: September 26, 2014
On Ravelry

I knit this same pattern a while ago as a present and ever since I knew I wanted a pair of wrist warmers for myself. When I planned my round shawl I already thought that the same yarn might be good for this project, so I ordered an extra skein.

Before I was able to start, I had to figure out the colours. The yarn is a gradient yarn which goes from yellow to a very dark grey and back to yellow again. I wanted the yellow for the top of the wrist warmers, so I had to start in the middle of the skein. The only way to find that was to wind the yarn into two parts, always 40 wrappings around each ball from both sides. I ended up with two slightly different sized balls, it seems that the middle wasn't exactly in the middle. But I started with the two balls of yarn anyway.

This time I wanted to knit 6 rows of ribbing instead of 4, because I found the ribbing to be very slim on my first time. Then I just fell back into the rhythm of the pattern, which is quite easy once you get the hang of it but looks really nice. I knit the wrist warmers again in the round and I also did the cables mirror-inverted like last time (but this time I managed not to mix any of them up ;-)

When I was almost finished with the first one I got really scared about the remains of the yarn. I had used the bigger ball which was very small when I reached the top. So before I did the final ribbing I started the second one and knit that one to the same row. In the end I was able to finish the first one and used the left over from that one to finish the second one. By necessity I used the dark leftover yarn from the round shawl for the thumbs. Now I am acutally glad I did, because I think it looks just right like that.

I am really happy with how they turned out and they were great to wear on my bikeride to school this morning. After lunch today, my lovely friend A. took all these lovely photos in the school garden. Just for fun and without actually looking in the viewfinder I shot this photo of her which I just love because it's so full of laughter...

Finished Object: Round Shawl

Pattern: Round shawl by Lang Yarns, Fatto a Mano #211, pattern 6
Yarn: 5 skeins of Lang Yarns, Merino 120 Colour superwash  #011
Needles: 4mm Circulars
Start of project: September 14, 2014
End of project: September 24, 2014
On Ravelry

My round shawl is done!

I had a good start with this pattern (and I liked that it came to Tschiertschen with me) but then it seemed to take forever, especially when I had to go back 22 rows yesterday because I realised that I had done one of the cables two rows too early. At first I pretended not to be bothered by it, but then I just couldn't ignore it anymore. The unravelling was painful and the picking up of 202 stitches was very slow. It took me a while to get all the stitches fully and facing in the right direction back on the needle. But I am very glad that I did it, because I know otherwise I'd always remember.

I liked knitting this shawl because while the pattern wasn't very difficult at all once I got into it, it was still interesting enough to keep me focused. It was my first magazine pattern and I am sure I'll knit more patterns by Fatto a Mano.

I liked seeing the colours change, they are just perfect for my taste. The yarn is soft and warm and I am looking forward to wearing it around my neck. I will also knit myself a pair of mitts with the same yarn soon, I think the cable and lace wrist warmers I did a few weeks ago will look really pretty with this yarn.

The only thing I didn't like about this yarn were the knots in the middle of at least three skeins. They were annoying because I had to cut out the knots, start over and then had many more ends to weave in but they were even more annoying because twice the yarn continued in a very different part of the colour gradient and I had to cut out a long part.

Family

Spending a weekend together with my kids AND my parents somewhere else was a first for all of us. I knew it was going to be an experiment but I wanted to try it.





And I am glad I did, even though there were some rocky bumps as is to be expected with five people - two almost teenagers who'd rather sit in front of their iPads than go hiking and can keep fighting forever, my dad who often finds fault with everything and almost never can show when he likes something, my mom and me who tend to get into silly arguments because we are similar yet so different.





But nevertheless it worked. We spent almost three days together and there were no major arguments and lots of great moments to remember.

Hiking down from Scalottas

On Saturday we drove from Tschiertschen to Lenzerheide. There we left the car and took the two chairlifts up to Piz Scalottas on 2323 metres above sea. Because of the dark clouds and the upcoming wind it was much colder up there than we expected and we were glad for all the jumpers and soft shell coats we had brought along.

only staying on the top long enough for a photo

 Once we got walking the cold wasn't so bad. We had to concentrate to find our way down and so we got warm quickly. The clouds looked rather threatening but there was no rain at all and the further down we got, the sunnier it was.

We met a few friendly creatures like a squirrel, a family of marmots, goats and cows but apart from them we were pretty much by ourselves.

In the last third of the descent it got nice and sunny again. We took a little break next to a water reservoir which is used to make artificial snow in the winter. It looks really inviting, but I am not sure if it is even possible to go swimming in there and right now it must be quite cold already.

At the bottom we could all feel our knees, going down for more than 900 meters of altitude sure made an impact. We were looking forward for a hot shower and some time on the balcony ;-)

Back in Tschiertschen

This weekend we went to Tschiertschen / GR. It was my birthday present for my dad who had turned 70 on the 18th of September.

Going back to Tschiertschen but not going back to Hotel Alpina felt weird but Anna and Tobias truly managed to move the soul of Alpina along to their new hotel, Hotel Gürgaletsch. It's smaller but very cosy with an amazing view on all sides...

 ...to the east...

... and to the south...

We went hiking on both days (more pictures maybe later) and even though the weather wasn't perfect, we were lucky, it only rained while we were inside.

I also progressed a bit on my shawl, which felt really good because Tschiertschen was were my knitting passion started this February.

... about 25 cm are done...

Now we are back in Zürich and have to go back to school tomorrow, but I hope we can conserve a bit of the mountain feeling for the next two weeks. Then we will have two weeks of fall holidays...

Currently knitting: Round Shawl

Pattern: Round shawl by Lang Yarns, Fatto a Mano #211, pattern 6
Yarn: Lang Yarns, Merino 120 Colour Superwash #011
Needles: 4mm Circulars
Start of the project: September 14, 2014

I got the Fatto a Mano magazine as a present when I ordered wool from Strickcafé in August, though I am not sure if it really was a present, because it was like giving a free sample to an addict ;-)

I liked a few patterns in the magazine but right from the start I knew that I wanted to knit this round shawl. I love the three different parts in it - there's a cable section, a striped-ladder section and a section that looks a bit like a honey comb. And I totally love the colour gradient of the yarn, from an intense, almost golden yellow to a dark grey that is close to green.

Do I need a blog?

Do I need a blog?
What should I write about?
Which language should I write in anyway?

Questions that I can't really answer for sure but I can say that I've been thinking about starting a new blog for a while now. I've been reading so many blogs every day and I felt it would be nice to share stuff of my own.

I have no idea if anybody will ever read it, I only have a faint idea what I want to write about, but I guess I'll just have to write and see.

And for the third question - I guess it will be in English. It's good practice and it feels more open for potential readers ;-)