MOONSTITCHES

Loops 'n' Wings

Hi you all! Back again. Mails aren't bounced anymore, it all was a question of treating the Mac the same way as I treat my craft room... luckily a good clean up works wonders. For two days I thought I had wiped out all 31.931 of my photos (you know, once in a mood to really declutter...) but that worry wasn't necessary after all. Hooray. I wonder though if I should slow down and take less pictures, most of the time I don't get around blogging about the things I think I'd like to share with you anyway...

I will make it quick today because it's late and I have a bit of a cold and might want to turn in earlier than my usual 2 am.

I have a weakness for batwinged garments. Always had. So when I discovered Phildar in August (of course via ravelry!) and saw their Autumn/ Winter collection had a few batwing sleeved sweaters in it, I ordered it right away.
It took a while until I could start working on this model. And knitting it went rather slowly as working with the Hamanaka Sonomono Loop (ravelry link) needed some practice... all those loops, not seeing what stitches one has done... but last I finally finished it. Without a front pocket, longer and a collar that turned out looking differently although having the right size... I guess my yarn is just softer. I could redo it but I am fine with how it looks now. Also I have started to work on the Forecast already... no looking back.

The yarn is great. I worried it could be too fancy but it is organic wool which makes being a novelty yarn less scary, I think. Also it is very soft and warm (40 % Alpaca), the knitted fabric has nice drape and is thick and cozy. I love my new, winged sweater! A simple piece to throw on.

Two points I'd like to mention regarding the yarn: The balls, although being of the same lot (no dye lot since the yarn is of natural colour), can vary greatly. Make sure to alter two strands of the yarn over a few rows when changing balls. And last, one ball doesn't take you far. There are only 38 m in one ball and they are pretty quickly eaten up. Boxy batwing sweater... surely not the best choice for a rather pricey yarn. Anyway. A nice sweater.

Hope you are all well!
Take care!

Impulse Purchase

Impulse purchase that turned into impatient knitting because my affection for the yarn decreased quickly.
Fortunately this shawl doesn't take much time because Feather and Fan is really a lovely pattern with a nice rhythm to it and the instructions by Sarah Bradberry are easy to follow. So the shawl got finished in ten days instead of turning into an unhappy unfinished piece.

It looks decent. Like a triangular feather and fan shawl, knitted from Noro Kureyon Sock. The self striping character of the yarn is fine for the pattern, I won't complain about that this time. And I do not complain about everything many others said about the yarn.
There was only one knot in my skein, it didn't break and I love the thin and thick which makes a pretty, rustic looking fabric.
I had no problems with unspinning the yarn while knitting of which I read a lot. What I did experience was the tendency to kink up on itself but I do not know if this is caused by being overspun or by the way the 1 ply yarn is being unwound from the skein. But I wouldn't say the kinking up was of great annoyance, just a little inconvenient. So, no problem with knitting Noro Kureyon Sock.

However... the produced fabric doesn't feel good to me. And I don't complain about itching, which I wouldn't mind, not even on my skin. The shawl in fact doesn't itch, especially not after being washed.
What I don't like is that the fabric feels quite dead. I love natural fibers and think that while the 30 % of nylon might add to the durability of the yarn, they might also take away a lot of liveliness from it. It doesn't even smell! An unsensual knit. Too bad.
But it is over and after all I got a new shawl and I will wear it anyway.

Have a lovely weekend!

PS: There might be a problem with my mail server. A new spam filter was installed recently and it seems mails to me are often being bounced back to the sender. I will try to do something about this.

The Map is Speaking to Me...

... and I am listening.

Post! Go, sit down, get those tons of photos out onto your Flickr stream, show what is inspiring you these days, write a new posting because your visitors definitely would like to see something new here around. Those potatoes from last week start to grow old...

Alright. I am putting my current knitting aside for a moment and say hello to you all! Thank you very, very much for all the great and fun comments on the potato posting. I so much enjoyed each and everyone, loved checking out your locations and getting in contact with you. I haven't been able to get back to all of you yet but I hope to do so during the next days. (Neža, my mail to you was returned, maybe you could contact me via ravelry or Flickr if you happen to have an account there?)
I didn't expect the potato posting causing so much fun - Thank You!

So, I uploaded a bunch of photos from four magazines I have on my desk right now. Liniere and natural & relax. No craft magazines, just fashion. What to wear, how to style, where to buy... I love flipping through those magazines, a lot of inspiration inside.

Something that makes me actually show you my handbag which I finally found this summer after looking for a handbag for so long... curious what I carry around?

The two cozies I made in early summer when I got my new phone. Done in a few minutes. Thick wool, rough edges. As simple and quick as possible.

Larger view here, also a peek inside those boxes.

I always have something to write with me, stitch markers, pins, a ruler, wet tissues, band aids, a pair of chopsticks, the tote from my favourite bakery, in summer oil absorbing tissues... all small things in boxes to keep it neat. The iPod I don't have with me everyday, only when I am on my own, the head phones are too big for my handbag, they go into the large market bag I made some months earlier.

I must confess this is my first "real" handbag, one I did not make myself. I turned let's say sort of old this year and thought I was grown up enough to get one of the real ones ;)

Last week was a week of impatient knitting (of which I will tell you later), but also I happened to try making a warm top to go over blouses and long sleeved shirts. A first attempt. This one clearly is too big. Wearable and of course intended to not be a fitted garment, but a bit less wide would be better. The pattern is from this year's nani Iro book (ISBN 978-4-579-11183-1) which I got in summer (with the intention of making something for summer...). I used some woolen fabric I had at home. The pattern is really simple and even faster to be sewn. I made a few modifications (like adding an inch to the length) and will keep working on this pattern because I quite like it. Even as it turned out this time.

So much for now. Back later with the knitting!

Happy Friday to you!

Edit: A few links I could not add earlier... from the magazines, plus MUJI, just because.

au soleil
evam eva
fog linen work
natural standard
koko-cloth
Sac(389)
PEDAL
Crouka
SM2
JOURNAL STANDARD
MUJI

pommes de terre

Pomme de terre, Erdapfel, aartappel, potato, patata, papa, peruna, patates, patátas, brambor, pateta (to), картопля (kartoplǎ), ilizambane, tartiflo, kartafla, じゃがいも (jaga-imo), petete, potet, batata...

I have installed a counter here on this blog. Discovered on Nicole's Craftapalooza I instantly had to have one, too. And can't stop watching all these little stars appearing on my map... it is so amazing to see where you all are coming from!
So much fun to hop over on Flickr and search for photos of the cities and countries that are popping up on the map. Gosh, I wish I could travel to you! Seriously. Or switch homes with you for a day. The view from my house isn't that great, but I would have to offer some nice craft stores... Fabrics, yarn anybody? Wouldn't it be fantastic to be able to just slip into other people's worlds for a while, just like this? Where would you want to go if you could just beam you to for a day or two?

I see I had a visitor that came from Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island... mmmh... Anne studied there ;) .... then the Fjords and rural landscapes in Norway... and the Printen in Aachen...
and apples and cheese in Normandy... and then... I never really made it to Brittany... and Chile I might never have the chance to visit... This map with all of you on it is truly inspiring. I think I would start with going to Alaska. But actually I am only heading to my kitchen, dishes are waiting. Maybe in your kitchen, too... *sigh*

Have a great day, wherever you are. And thank you very much for visiting my blog!!!

PS: How do you call your potatoes?

Another one... I finally added an About page and a widget to search this blog (see sidebar), I hope this will help you finding some information you might look for. Anything I should add?
No, the pattern for the Rhubarb Scarf is not ready yet... ;)

Bye!