knits

Today's theme of the Knitting & Crochet Blog Week is an inspirational pattern or what I still want to aspire to do as a knitter.

I'm not an advanced knitter. Intermediate, maybe. But somehow I have understood how to read a pattern, and would not be afraid to try something advanced if I had a good pattern to follow. There are beautiful, advanced knits out there I won't most likely ever knit - but not because I would believe I'm not up to it, but because they're just too time-consuming and fiddly (thinking of very fine lace with beads here).

Today is the first day of Knitting Crochet Blog Week, and this is my first post in that series. The theme today is how I started knitting in the first place.

Like most kids in Finland, I first learned in school. Or I can't really say learned, I tried and Mum finished the items! I really didn't like knitting at all, and forgot it for years.

Eskimimiknits is hosting a blog-along for knitters and crocheters next week, starting on Monday 26th of April. The idea is that individual bloggers can day by day post about the same topics, so that readers can read different viewpoints on the same theme from blog to blog, bloggers and readers alike can enjoy a creative community talking about their craft.

I notice again and again that I hardly ever show WIPs on my blog. Is it because I find WIPs so difficult to photograph in a pretty way, or that I usually finish my small knits so quickly that I don't have the time to blog them while they're still WIPs, I don't know. But I do know I probably won't be finishing these in the next few days, so why not show them to you already.

I came home today and had three packets waiting for me! In one were a rice cooker and the complete Absolutely Fabulous series which I had ordered a few days back.

Now, do you want to see what I knit during my Japan honeymoon? Here it is. A Zauberball and the pattern for the Twilight Gloaming shawl. Progress during holiday: 0 stitches! Concidering I knit on my wedding day, that gives a strong sign that I found our holiday super interesting!

Like promised in my first post about this shawl, here are some better pictures of it, and some stats.

The sad sweater you read about a while back is sad no more - it's done and gorgeous!

Now this is a truly modular sweater. Part top-down, part bottom-up, part both: one sleeve is top-down, one bottom-up and still I had to rip and reknit both cuffs as they were too short (like the hem, too). I'm so proud of myself not giving up on this project; I didn't even want to at any point!

I made a Rinsessa hat for myself last winter, and am loving it still! So this winter I decided to knit myself a thick, wide scarf with the same rinsessa-mock-cable stitch. So I took the Rinsessa scarf pattern (in Finnish), modified it a bit for thicker yarn and started knitting.

Last autumn I suddenly remembered my love for the band Green Day and went to see them in concert even. For a while I felt like the fangirl I used to be 10 years ago - it felt fantastic! So when I learned that Billie Joe's wife Adrienne Armstrong is a knitter and has made a book with Vickie Howell, and learned that the book will be concentrating on ecologically conscious knitting (something very close to my heart), I just had to get the book!