Currently knitting: Little socks

Pattern: Little Sock Ornaments by Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Lang Yarn Merino + superwash
Colour: lots of leftovers from various projects
Needles: 3.5 mm DPS
Start of project: October 11, 2014

On Ravelry

I've been in a sock fever these last few days.

I started knitting them on Saturday and since then the pile of finished little socks has been growing. They are just so much fun to knit. They are very easy to do, I can binge-watch TV series -  it takes about one episode per sock and they are an excellent way to use up all my left over yarn. They use so little yarn that I can use even the shortest bit of yarn.

I knit them in two different sizes. The smaller ones start with 16 stitches, the bigger ones with 20 stitches. I actually prefer the bigger ones, they turn out more even and I think, they will be better suited for what I am making them for.


On the whole I plan to knit 48 socks and I have about 50 days left to get them done. I want to use them for two new advent's calendars. On the first of December, I will put them on a washing line and fill them with little treats and chocolate.

Dreams of Vancouver Island

Yesterday I met with two friends who had been to Canada this summer. They told me about their road trip, what they liked and what they wouldn't recommend. I think I am starting to see our own trip more clearly.

We have 15 nights and I will have to drive everything myself. I don't want to drive more than 150 km per day on average, preferably less and the biggest distance for one day shouldn't be much more than 250 km.

I would love to see both the Pacific and the Rockies, but I think that's just too ambitious. We do have great mountains in Switzerland and while they are probably much smaller and much more populated, that seems to be the part that I can live without. So I want to concentrate on the sea.

We will start in Vancouver, but I'd like to go to Vancouver Island soon after our arrival. At least half of the time I would like to spend on Vancouver Island. I am not sure yet if it would be better to stay in the same spot (Tofino or Ucluelet) and drive around from that starting point or to change location every two to four nights.

I'd also like to see the American islands (maybe San Juan Island) and go back to Vancouver via the National parks along the American-Canadian border. I am pretty sure our passports are still good to go into the USA without problems, I think, the ESTA is valid for two years.

At the end of our trip, I'd love to spend maybe two nights in Vancouver before going home again.

So next I'll have to read my new travel guide, have a look at the distances and just try to find out as much as possible ;-)

Perseverance: Estuary shawl

Pattern: Estuary by Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Madelinetosh Merino Light
Colour: Jade
Needles: 4mm Circular
Start of project: September 30, 2014

On Ravelry

Knitting this shawl is such a struggle. The pattern is incredibly difficult. Each time I picking it up again after a break I get lost. I need total concentration and quietness and every little thing bothers and distracts me. Normally I can talk, watch TV or even read while I am knitting but here nothing goes. I need to count every stitch because it's just never apparent where I am.

I also use every procastrinaton possible, just like right now when I'd rather write this blog than knit more than the first two lines I've done today so far...

Why not give up? Pride maybe, because others have done it as well. Stringiness, because the yarn was expensive and I actually like it even though it's quite a pain to knit with. I don't know ;-)

I guess I'll just keep trying and hope that it will grow at least slowly...

Looking back: 10th of October

My friend Sunneschii did a blog entry a few days ago (on the 5th) about looking at old photos in her archives on flickr. I really liked the idea and decided to copy it. So for the next few months I want to look back too. And because October is the 10th month, I will start with the 10th of October...

My first photo is from 2006:

These were Y&As dummies. They exchanged them for a toy at the toystore that day and I remember how hard it was for them to fall asleep without them the first night, there were a lot of tears and some swearing too. In the morning they didn't want to go back to exchange their present anymore and by the evening the dummies wrere mostly forgotten. This photo is part of my first year of A Picture a Day, it was day 16.

In 2007 there were a few pictures to choose from... Here is one of them...

Trini and Sandra, two  German women I'd met online via flickr came to Zürich for the day. We took selfies (of course), had a glass of bubbly (broseggo actually ;-) and did some sightseeing. It has been far too long since I've seen these two in real life but thanks to facebook and flickr I still keep up with them.

While there was no photo for 2008, I could choose between a spider and fall in 2009.

You get a leaf, raindrops on a car and a definite feeling of the end of summer and warmth. But the important thing is to see beauty in all seasons!

In 2010 we were on holidays in Engi / GL.

 

We had a beautiful, surprisingly warm week in the mountains. We stayed in an old farmhouse where we had to cook with wood and fire. In the evenings we huddled around the tile stove, even though it was barely cool enough to light it. We got friends with Idefix, the farmer's dog, who protected us from every stranger that dared to come close.

There are no pictures from 2011 nor 2012, but in 2013 we were on our road trip through Canada and the USA.

Exactly a year ago we climbed Mt. Washington with our rental car. Even though we have lots of mountains in Switzerland it was a fantastic experience to climb that mountain and to see the landscape change with every meter. At the top, we had a fantastic view and we were lucky because there was barely any wind. Looking at these photos makes me want to go on tour again right now!

Hiking in Braunwald

Antonia and I went hiking with my parents again. We went to Braunwald / GL. It took much longer than I expected, especially because there was so much traffic through the little villages and Glarus.

When we arrived at the bottom of the cable railway up to Braunwald we had just enough time to park the car and squeeze into one of the compartements, there were so many people in there already. Beautiful weather, summery temperatures and fall holidays attracted many people to go hiking.

Once outside again people spread quite quickly and we were able to enjoy the wonderful scenery. We hiked for a bit more than an hour, then we ate an excellent Rösti at Restaurant Nussbühl. On our way back, the Föhn had really picked up speed, Antonia and I sometimes were almost blinded by our own hair.

We had a great time and I felt sad to go back home again, especially because Zürich was already quite cloudy. We might go back to the mountains again tomorrow, maybe we'll be lucky again with the weather.

Currently knitting: Estuary shawl

Pattern: Estuary by Tin Can Knits
Yarn: Madelinetosh Merino Light
Colour: Jade
Needles: 4mm Circular
Start of project: September 30, 2014

On Ravelry

This beautiful shawl has been on my wishlist for quite some time. I ordered the yarn a few weeks ago but somehow I needed to be done with all my other projects before I could think of starting it.

Two days ago I decided the time was right and I cast on the two necessary stitches. Fastest cast on ever.

But that's it with the easy knitting because, believe me, this pattern needs a lot of concentration. Every line is full of ssks, yarn overs and in between stitches that constantly change, so my progress is very very slow. Somehow that is perfect for now.

So on the first evening I knit 20 rows (10 pattern rows and 10 faster WS rows) and today I did another 20.

My shawl is really just a tiny little arrow right now (about twice as big as on the photo, that was after 20 rows) but already it looks very pretty.

The yarn is so delicate that it feels like knitting a spiderweb and it's quite mesmerising to see how the pattern develops. I will really try to take this very slowly and enjoy the meditative knitting.

I will share this with Auf den Nadeln im Oktober as well, because here I will hopefully be able to share some progress during the month of October.

Reknitted: Trench Hat

... my poor hat in yarn balls ...

Pattern: Trench Hat by Tanis Lavallee
Yarn: Rico Design Essentials Merino DK (about 1 ball for the fuchsia, less for the other colours)
Needles: 4 / 4.5 mm Double Point
Start of project: April 17, 2014
End of project: October 1, 2014
On Ravelry

This was the first hat I ever knit. I made it from leftover yarn and I loved it from the first moment. I've worn it all over spring and summer, whenever it was slightly chillier. It was loose from the start and most of the time I just ignored that, but secretly I wished I could make it a bit tighter.

Today I wore it again and it really moved around on my head with every move I made. So I decided to frog and reknit it. It took a while to rip it apart and it felt quite terrible to see it unravel. I started again with 8 stitches less. The knitting was kind of akward in the beginning because the yarn was very wavy and it didn't move through my fingers very well. After a while I got used to it and I was hopeful that I might be able to redo my lovely hat.

what it looked like in April

Thanks to the sunshine, A.'s company on the balcony, an Aperol Spritz and a yummie dinner which I didn't have to cook myself, the hat grew back into shape quite fast. So once we were home again, I was ready to commit and finish it tonight (of course I remember that I swore I wouldn't do that anymore only two nights ago, but you know...)

At about 11:15 pm it was done, all the ends woven in. It is definitely tighter and kind of wavy. At the moment it's blocking which will hopefully flatten it out some and then I'll be able to wear it again soon.


This blog entry will be linked to Auf den Nadeln im Oktober on Marisa's maschenfein blog.