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Soft and warm…

August 20, 2010 in Knitting | Tags: fo, Knitting, sweater | 11 comments

Blød og varm! Det er lige hvad min nye sweater er. Jeg blev færdig med den i weekenden efter en focuseret indsats på at få strikket ærmerne færdig. De var selvfølgelig hurtige at strikke, da jeg først kom i gang, og ikke mindst da jeg fik skiftet strømpepindene (kan man kalde pind 7mm for sådant?) ud med to rundpinde – så kom der gang i maskerne. Nu er jeg færdig og glad – lad mig bare indrømme at pind 7mm ikke er min yndlingspind at strikke med, mine hænder synes simpelthen, at det er hårdt at strikke på så store pinde. Men sweateren er god, og det er næsten ligefør jeg glæder mig til, at det bliver lidt køligere igen, så jeg kan begynde at bruge den.

Soft and warm! That is just the essence of my new sweater. I finished it this weekend after a spurt of focused knitting attention. I just lacked the sleeves and of course they didn’t take long to knit, once I got going. And once I switched from DPNs to two circular needles it made a huge difference in the knitting tempo. Now I am done and very happy – I’ll readily admit that 7mm is a tad too large to ever become my favorite needle size to knit with. It simply feels hard for my hands to knit with such large needles. But the sweater is good, and I almost look forward to the cooler weather, so that I can get to wear it.

Red Scoop (Ravelry Project link)
Mønster/Pattern: Scoop Pullover (Ravelry link) by Cathy Carron, Interweave Knits, Fall 2009
Garn/Yarn: Malabrigo Worsted, col. Burgundy, 458g
Pinde/Needles: 7mm
Noter/Notes: Den største forskel er, at jeg har stikket med et tyndere garn, på større pinde. Det gjorde jeg bl.a. for at undgå et alt for tykt stof, der ikke ville klæde min bebarmede figur helt så godt. Jeg ændrede også småting i opskriften. Bl.a. tog jeg ind under barmen og ventede lidt længere med at lave udtagningsrækken. Derudover strikkede jeg kroppen en hel del længere og lavede 3/4 ærmer (tog 2 m ind hver 11. omgang på ærmerne 4 gange og strikkede så 20 omg. ren rib) / The biggest change is that I have knitted with a thinner yarn and larger needles. One reason for this is that I wanted to avoid a too thick fabric that wouldn’t suit my large-bussom’ed figure as well. I also changed some smaller things in the pattern. Among these were decreases under the bust and I waited a bit longer before making the increase round. Furthermore, I knitted the whole body longer and gave it 3/4 length sleeves (I decreased 2 sts every 11th row four times and then knitted 20 rounds in plain rib).

Dejligt at have endnu en sweater at kunne trække i til vinter, og da jeg synes den klæder mig rigtig godt, vil den helt sikker blive brugt igen og igen. Så håber jeg bare, at garnet klarer brugen og ikke begynder at fnulre for meget, som jeg har hørt at Malabrigo har en tendens til at gøre.

It is wonderful to have another sweater to use when winter comes around, and as I think it suits me very well, I am certain that it will be my choice again and again. Then I just hope that the yarn holds up to the use and don’t pill too much, which I have heard is one little problem with Malabrigo.

Socks for the Autobahn…

August 15, 2010 in 26 pp I, Knitting | Tags: 26 pp I, fo, Knitting, sock | 3 comments

Mange kilometer i bil gennem Europa giver rig mulighed, når man altså ikke selv er chauffør, til at strikke. Jeg plejer at vælge sokkestrikning, for der er nemt at lægge fra sig hurtigt, hvis chaufføren eller MM på bagsædet trænger til lidt forplejning. Det er blevet til to færdige par sokker på den nys overståede ferie.

Driving many kilometers through Europe gives a knitter plenty of opportunities, when she’s not driving that is, for knitting. I usually choose socks as my car knitting of choice. They are easy to put down if the driver or MM on the back seat needs something. This recent holiday resulted in two finished pairs.

Organic Circuit (ravelry project page)
Mønster/Pattern: mit eget, der forhåbentlig snart bliver færdigt / my own, which hopefully will be written soon.
Garn/Yarn: Pagewood Farm Yukon, col. New Horizon, 80 g = 4% for Sock-Yarn-O-Meter
Pinde/Needles: 3mm
Noter/Notes: par nr. 3 in min 26 par “plunge” / pair no. 3 in my 26 pair plunge

Inspirationen fik jeg fra et mønster i “Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns” af Barbara Walker, men undervejs har jeg lavet så meget om, at jeg ikke tøver ved at kalde det mit helt eget.

I got the inspiration from a stitch pattern in “Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns” by Barbara Walker, but during the trying-out-of-things I have changed so many things that I don’t hesitate to call it my own.

Happy Autobahn (ravelry project page)
Mønster/Pattern: min standardsok / my standard ribbed vanilla sock
Garn/Yarn: Opal Zwerger Feeling, 63 g = 3,15% for Sock-Yarn-O-Meter
Pinde/Needles: 2½ mm
Noter/Notes: par nr. 4 for 26 par plunge / pair no. 4 in my 26 pair plunge

Jeg startede de glade motorvejssokker på vej mod færgen i Rødby og strikkede lystigt på den første sok hele vejen til Slovenien (altså når jeg ikke kørte). Den anden sok blev startet i teltet dernede og blev færdig midtvejs oppe i Tyskland på vejen hjem. Så det har taget 4 lande og vel omkring 1500 km (som passager) at strikke parret.

I started the happy autobahn socks on our way to the ferry going south and knitted happily away on the first sock all the way to Slovenia (that is, when I didn’t drive). The second sock got started in the tent down there and was finished halfway up Germany on the way home. Thus it took 4 countries and I guess around 1500 km (as a passenger) to knit the pair.

I feel sLOVEnia…

August 13, 2010 in General life, Travelling | Tags: camping, life, travel | 9 comments

Årets store ferie gik til Slovenien med bil og telt og hele cirkusset. Det gik rigtig godt, MM fandt sig i både køreture og vores slæben rundt til spændende (for os) steder. Vi kørte afsted hjemmefra i begyndelsen af sidste uge med kurs sydpå og kom hjem i går omkring midnatstid – har nu lært at 1000 km nok er det absolutte max for en enkelt dags kørsel.

The big holiday of the year had Slovenia as the destination. The theme was camping with car, a big tent and all the circus that follows that. We had a wonderful time, MM took the long car trip and all the bustling with rather astonishing calm and had fun most of the places we went. We drove from Denmark Monday morning last week with a southern course and we arrived home yesterday around midnight – we have now learned that 1000 km probably is the absolute max for a single day’s driving.

Det var en skøn ferie. Vi så smukke landskaber og naturscenerier bl.a. søer og smukke vandfald, især oppe nordvest, hvor vores første lejr lå. Længere sydpå var vi i huleland, og jeg fik opfyldt et ønske, som jeg har haft siden jeg var 7 år gammel nemlig at besøge hulerne ved Postojna. Det var spændende at se, om de kunne holde til den forventning jeg havde, men der var ingen tvivl, allerede i toget på vej ind (jep, man kører 2 km i tog ind i et bjerg gennem drypstenshuler før man kommer ud at gå) var min hulelykke gjort! Det var stort, rigtig, rigtig stort. Jeg var helt overvældet, da vi atter så dagslys, og jeg kan kun anbefale alle at tage en tur derind, hvis man er i nærheden. Dagen efter besøgte vi bl.a. Lipica, hvor de originale lipizzaner heste bliver opdrættet. Selv for ikke-heste-mennesker som Magen og jeg var det spændende at høre om stutteriet og historien bag. MM var helt solgt, så måske han bliver en hestedreng?

It was a wonderful holiday. We saw a lot of beautiful landscapes and nature scenery – lakes, mountains and waterfals and such, especially up in the north west corner of the country, where we had our first camp. Further down south we came to cave land, and I got a wish fullfilled that I have had since I was 7 years old – to visit the caves at Postojna. It was rather exciting to see if they could bear up to the long formed expectations, but there were no doubts. Already in the train through the mountain (yup, you drive 2km through natural tunnels and dripstone caves before you are allowed out to walk) my cave happiness was more than secure. It was huge, really really huge. I was (and still am) amazed and dazzled when we saw daylight again. I will advise anybody who visits the area to go to the caves and take the trip. Next day one of our visits was to Lipica, where the original lipizzan horses are bred. Even non-horse-people like the Mate and me were well entertained, and it was exciting to see the stables and to learn about the rather fascinating history. MM was overjoyed, perhaps he’ll turn out to be a horse-boy?

Det var dejligt at være afsted, og det er dejligt at være hjemme igen med en masse gode minder i bagagen. Det er bestemt ikke sidste gang, at familien drager på camping, og det er nok heller ikke sidste gang vi har været i Slovenien.

It was wonderful to be away, and it’s wonderful to be back home with a lot of good memories as souvenirs. It certainly isn’t the last time our family has gone camping, and it is probably not the last time we have been in Slovenia either.

A mini-vacation…

July 27, 2010 in General life, Travelling | Tags: life, travel | 4 comments

Mine bedsteforældre ser jeg ikke nær så ofte, som jeg gerne ville. Derfor påbegyndte Magen, MM og jeg vores ferie ved i weekenden at tage op og besøge dem.

I don’t see my grandparents nearly as often as I could wish for. This was part of the reason why the Mate, MM and I started our holiday by going for a weekend visit at my grandparents’.

DSB kunne rende og hoppe med de priser de ville have for en tur tværs gennem landet, så vi fik afprøvet en af de korte indenrigsruter. Vi lærte vist et par småting, bl.a. hvor højt MM kan skrige, når trykket i ørene gør ondt og hans forældre ikke vil lade ham gå op og ned ad den smalle midtergang – der er jo faktisk ikke engang tid til at løsne selerne efter opturen, førend man skal spænde igen, fordi flyet er på vej til landing.

DSB (the train service) could forget about gaining us as customers with the ridiculus overpricing they apparantly go in for, so instead we tried one of the short domestic flights. We learned much, among other things how loudly MM can scream when the pressure in his ears hurt and his parents won’t let him loose in the narrow middle aile – actually there hardly is time to unbuckle the seat belts after the climb before you have to fasten them again for the landing.

Nå, det gik nu ganske fint, og i modsætning til togturen var tidsforbruget overskueligt. Vi havde et par virkelig skønne dage, bl.a. på besøg i Zoo, hvor MM fik kigget på dyr og jublet over “AAAber”. Jeg fik lært at lave syltetøj af min mormor, og ved Magens hjælp blev over 2 kg ribs plukket, og så kunne jeg jo gå i gang. Det er en skøn fornemmelse at vide at vi nu har en pæn portion syltetøj stående til lysten melder sig…. jeg kunne godt bruge en have med nogle bærbuske i stedet for den lille altan vi har nu.

Actually, it went ok, and at least a lot faster than if we had taken the train journey. We had a couple of really wonderful days where we also made time for a visit in Zoo. MM enjoyed it hugely and got a good look at many animals and talked loudly of “AAAApes”. My grandmother taught me to make jam, and I wheedled the Mate into helping me pick over 2 kg of redcurrants, which I then turned into a lovely jam. It is a special and wonderful thing to know that we now have a nice selection of jam ready for whenever we’d like some… I would really like to trade in our concrete balcony for a garden with some berry bushes in.

Der blev også gået ture, leget på nye legepladser, slappet af, hygget, løst krydsogtværs (hold da op, hvor er jeg ringe til det), strikket (for mit vedkommende), spist dejlig mad, snakket (ganske meget), kigget på skibe ved havnen og meget mere. Tak for en dejlig weekend siger vi!

Other than the animal watching and jam making we went for small walks, played on new playgrounds, relaxed, enjoyed the company, solved cross word puzzles (oh my, am I bad at those), knitted (that is, I did), ate good food, talked (a lot), watched ships down at the habour, and many more things. Thank you for a utterly wonderful weekend.

Tour de Fleece… second and third yarn

July 21, 2010 in Spinning, stash, yarn | Tags: Spinning, Tour de Fleece, yarn | 3 comments

Min Tour går rigtig godt i år. Af en eller anden grund er jeg produktiv, men jeg klager ikke, for når fibrene bliver til garn, så bliver der jo plads til flere fibre, ikke? Det er i de sidste par dage blevet til hele to færdige garner.

My Tour is going really well this year. For some unexplicable reason I seem to have become productive. It’s no reason for complaint, since I figure that when the fibres become yarn, I have room for more fibres, right? In the last couple of days, I’ve finished two new yarns.

Luxury yarn (Ravelry link)
Start: July 15th
Finished: July 20th
Fibre: Den grå tråd er en blanding af merino og cashmere og den hvide er ren silke / The grey single is a mix of merino and cashmere, while the white is pure silk
Vægt/weigth: Garnet vejer 212 gram og løber 348 meter, så det er en worsted tykkelse / The yarn weighs in at 212 grams and runs 348 meters (380 yards), so it’s about worsted weight.

Silk yarn (Ravelry link)
Start: July 15th
Finished: July 20th
Fibre: Ren silke, resten af den tråd, jeg brugte til det ovenstående garn / Pure silk, the rest of the single from the yarn above.
Vægt/weight: 38 g, 2-trådet, og der er 120 meter / 38 g, 2ply and there is 120 m (131 yards)

Mit næste projekt er at spinde noget rimelig brugbart sokkegarn. Jeg er gået i gang, men det tager godt nok lang tid at spinde de tynde, tynde tråde, der skal tvindes til et 4-trådet garn. Selvom jeg ikke når i mål med det sidste projekt, vil jeg sige, at Touren har været en success for mig. Jeg har genopdaget glæden ved at sidde ved rokken, og så har jeg fået noget virkelig skønt garn ud af det, som jeg glæder mig rigtig meget til at strikke med.

My next project is to spin some useable sock yarn. I have started, but oh my, it does take long to spin the fine, fine singles that are destined to be plied into a 4ply yarn. Even though I may not finish this latest project, I’d say that the Tour has been a roaring success for me. I have rediscovered the joy of sitting by my wheel, and furthermore, I’ve managed to spin some really lovelly yarn, which I look forward to knitting with.

Pattern: Six’es

July 19, 2010 in Design, Knitting, pattern | Tags: Design, lykkefanten, pattern | 6 comments

Et af de mønstre, der er blevet færdig for nylig er Six’es. Jeg var “nødt” til at starte endnu et tæppe for at få de sidste detaljer på plads, og det er heldigvis lykkedes rigtig godt, og så er jeg også kommet godt langt på det lille babytæppe.

One of the patterns that I’ve finished recently is Six’es. I “had” to start another little blanket to get the last details worked in, and luckily it worked perfectly. Furthermore, I’ve gotten a good way into the new little baby blanket. But for now, I can present the pattern for the Six’es afghan.

Mønster/Pattern: Six’es (Ravelry link) by Lykkefanten

Størrelser/Sizes: Der er tre forskellige størrelser: et babytæppe, et sofatæppe og et sengetæppe. For hver størrelse er der et diagram, man kan bruge til planlægning af farver, samt en angivelse af hvor mange af de forskellige stykker man skal bruge. Man kan selvfølgelig også bare lave et antal sekskanter og så sy dem sammen. / There are three different sizes: a baby blanket, a lapghan, and a bed spread or afghan. Each size is illustrated with a diagram that can be used to plan the colour scheme, and there are a count of how many of the different pieces you need. Another possibility is of course just to make any number of hexagons and sew them together.

Garn/Yarn: 300 g, 600 g eller 1200 g sokkegarn til de tre forskellige størrelser. / 300 g, 600 g, or 1200 g of Sock yarn for the three different sizes.

Pinde/Needles: 3mm

Sprog/Language: Dansk og engelsk / Danish and English

Pris/Price: 3.95 USD

Tour de Fleece … first yarn

July 17, 2010 in Spinning, stash, yarn | Tags: Spinning, Tour de Fleece, yarn | 1 comment

Tour de Fleece er en god motivationsfaktor. Efter næsten ikke at have rørt min spinderok siden sidste års Tour, har jeg nu færdiggjort et rimelig stort spindeprojekt på under to uger.

Tilbage i august sidste år gik jeg i gang med at spinde den store portion Blue Faced Leicester uld, som jeg havde købt på Fåreavlernes Julemarked i 2007. Jeg var nået knap en spole ind i den før jeg gik i stå, og der blev ikke spundet mere før jeg, motiveret af de herrers cykelløb og gruppen på Ravelry, fik sat mig tilbage ved rokken i begyndelsen af juli. Nu er jeg så færdig og har hjemmespundet garn nok til en sweater (det håber jeg i hvert fald)… det føles lidt som en drøm.

Tour de Fleece is good for motivation. I had hardly touched my spinning wheel since the Tour of last year, and now I have just finished a rather large spinning project in under two weeks.

Back in August last year, I started spinning the large portion Blue Faced Leicester wool that I bought at the “Sheep breeder’s Christmas Fair” in 2007. I had managed to fill a bobbin before the progress halted, and nothing more was spun until I, moved by the sweating men on bikes and the group on Ravelry, again sat down by the wheel at the beginning of July. Now I am finished and have enough home spun yarn for a sweater (at least I hope so)… it feels rather like a dream.

Start: August 2009
Slut/Finished: 15th July, 2010
Fibre: Blue Faced Leicester
Vægt/Weight: 527 g worsted
Længde/Length: 737 m

Jeg har tvundet garnet med 3 tråde for at få et lidt tykkere garn, end jeg normalt spinder. Jeg blandede spolerne med entrådet garn, mens jeg tvandt (hedder det det?) for at blande eventuelle forskelle mest muligt. Efter vask slappede garnet meget af og er blevet blødt og elastisk og meget lækkert. Jeg glæder mig til at strikke med det, men jeg har bestemt mig for at tage lidt til og prøve at finde den helt rigtige opskrift.

Det næste spindeprojekt er allerede godt i gang. Jeg spinder nogle af de fibre, jeg købte på sidste års julemarked, til et rigtigt luksusgarn … en blanding af merino og cashmere, der bliver tvundet sammen med en tyndere tråd ren silke!

I plied a 3 ply yarn to get a slightly thicker yarn than I normally spin. I mixed the bobbins with singles as much as I could while I plied to try to even out eventual differences in the singels. After a washing the yarn relaxed beautifully and has become very soft and elastic and very very yummy. I look forward to knitting with it, but I have decided that I will take some time and carefully search for the “perfect” pattern.

The next spinning project is already going well. I am spinning some of the fibres I bougth on the most recent Christmas fair. They are destined for a pure luxury yarn… a mix of merino and cashmere that is to be plied with a thinner single of pure silk!

Almost knitted…

July 14, 2010 in General life | Tags: jewelry, life, me | Leave a comment

Jeg har længe været fan af Jennie og har set mange af hendes fine ting rundt omkring på diverse blogs. Forleden havde hun en opdatering af sin butik, og jeg var heldig nok til at finde (og købe) et par øreringe, der lige er mig. De kom med posten i dag, og siden har jeg haft “næsten strik” i ørerne… det føles meget godt, og jeg ved bare, at det bliver et par af mine absolutte yndlingssmykker.

Dejligt med lidt selvforkælelse her i sommervarmen (eller i det hele taget).

I have been a fan of Jennie for quite a time and have seen many of her beautiful things on blogs around the internet. She recently had a large update in her shop, and I was lucky enough to find (and buy) a pair of earrings that are perfect for me. They arrived with the mail today, and since I took this picture, I’ve been wearing “almost knitted” dangling from my earlobes… they are perfect and I just know that I’ll wear these with pleasure on many, many occasions.

It’s just the kind of self spoiling one needs on a warm summer day (or any day, really).

It’s raining patterns…

July 11, 2010 in Design, Knitting, pattern | Tags: Design, free pattern, lykkefanten, pattern | 3 comments

Jeg synes at have ramt en stime … lige pludselig bliver flere af mine mønstre færdige og opskrifterne skrevet ned, og så er det jo bare med at få præsenteret dem og sendt dem ud i cyberspace. Så hen over sommeren kommer der nok en del blogposts om disse mønstre ind imellem den almindelige strikning. Allerførst kommer endnu en gratis sokkeopskrift. Denne gang til herrersokker.

I seem to have hit a perfect time for patterns… suddenly a lot of my patterns get written and tested, and then I just have to present them and send them out into cyberspace. Over the course of the next few weeks, I’ll probably do a couple of posts regarding these patterns in between the regular blog posts. First in the line is another free sock pattern. This time for men’s socks.

Mønster/Pattern: D-man Socks (Ravelry link) (pdf-link) by Lykkefanten
Garn/Yarn: 80-100 g Shibui Knit Sock yarn
Pinde/Needles: 3mm
Størrelser/Sizes: (M) L
Sprog/Language: Engelsk – der er ikke umiddelbart planer om en dansk oversættelse / English

D-Man er en sokkeopskrift med et ganske simpelt ret-og-vrang mønster, der ser mere kompliceret ud end det er. Mønsteret er godt til at bryde farvevariationen i håndfarvede garner, og da udtrykket stadig er enkelt passer det godt til strik til mænd. Årsagen til navnet, D-Man, er også simpel. Det står ganske enkelt for “Dear Man” eller “The Man” eftersom jeg designede disse sokker til Magen, manden i mit liv!

D-Man is a sock pattern with a seemingly complex textured pattern, but inreality it is simply knit and purl. The pattern is good at breaking up variegated yarn and with its simple lines is well suited for the men in a knitters life. The reason for the name, D-Man, is simple. It’s shorth for either “Dear Man” or ”The Man” because these socks where first knit for the Mate, who is the man in my life!

New Knitty and a pattern!

July 8, 2010 in Design, Knitting | Tags: Design, fo, Knitting, lykkefanten, pattern | 29 comments

Jeg har været rigtig mange gange inde på Knitty.com’s side i den seneste lille uge for lige at se, om det nye nummer skulle være blevet udgivet. Grunden er såmæn, at jeg har en opskrift i denne udgave “First Fall 2010”, nemlig Lamina, et halstørklæde med et stort bladmotiv og takkede kanter. Det er strikket fra midten og ud, så begge ender er pæne og symmetriske, og der er ingen sammensyninger overhovedet.

Jeg er rigtig, rigtig glad. Tænk at det skulle lykkes at få udgivet et mønster, første gang man sender et ind. Jeg føler mig meget heldig lige nu (og som sagt, meget glad). Nu kan jeg så endelig fortælle om dette færdige stykke strik, for det blev færdig en gang tilbage i november.

I have been visiting Knitty.com’s page a lot this recent week, just to see if the new issue, the “First Fall 2010” was live. The reason is no less than one of the patterns being mine. Lamina is a scarf with a big, bold leaf motif and a wavy, pointy garter stitch edge. It is knit from the middle and out, so both ends are symmetric and there is no seaming at all.

I am very very happy. I can’t believe that I actually got my first attempt published. I feel very lucky at the moment. This of course also means that I can post about a rather old finished object now. After all the scarf was finished some time in November.

Lamina (Ravelry project link)
Mønster/Pattern: Lamina (from Knitty) (Ravelry link) by Lykkefanten
Garn/Yarn: Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, 97 g, købt i Bette Design /bought in Bette Design in Copenhagen
Pinde/Needles: 4½mm
Noter/Notes: 6 gentagelser på den ene “halvdel” og 5 på den anden for at bruge hver en stump af garnet / 6 repeats on one “half” and 5 on the other to use every inch of the yarn.

Uden at komme til at lyde helt prisvinderagtig vil jeg faktisk gerne sige tak til alle jer, der læser med på bloggen og kommenterer på mine forskellige designforsøg. Uden den støtte, som det giver, ville jeg nok ikke have fundet på at sende et mønster ind til udgivelse. Så mange tak for støtten! Også tak til min smukke søster, der lod sig hundse rund med som model.

Nu kan jeg så begynde at overveje, hvem jeg skal give halstørklædet til, eller om jeg skal beholde det og promenere stolt rundt… det vil sige, når det en gang bliver lidt køligere i vejret!

Without sounding too much like the stereotype prize winner, I’d like to thank all of the readers of this blog and all of the commenters. Without your comments on my different design attempts and the support that gives, I’m not sure I would have tried sending in a pattern for publication. So thank you all for that support! Also many big thanks to my beautiful sister, who willingly let herself be bossed around as a model.

Now the only thing lacking is to decide whether to keep the scarf myself or to give it to someone else… no matter what, it will probably not come in handy the next few months anyway!