hanna birke

Sound of Waves shawl finished

yesterday i finished the Sound of Waves shawl for my mother.

it feels airy and soft but also warm - like a cloud.  the perfect shawl or wrap for keeping my mother's shoulders warm as she reads in bed at night.  the yarn is one strand of Spun Silk 20/2 from Catnip Yarns held together with one strand of Habu Textiles fine merino.  

 

there were a few times when i lost my way with this shawl - you can see one of the pattern repeats is heading off in the wrong direction.  i feel bad about not doing the pattern justice in this section but my mother won't mind and i just didn't have the stamina to start this one 3 times.  

i want to thank everyone for the comments on the photographs in the last post.  i forget to talk about how beautiful it is here.  i should take more photographs of here.  perhaps in the spring. 

sometimes i do end-of-year-posts and talk about my hopes for the new year.  at the moment i feel short of words and plans.  mostly i'm happy to have made it through this year.  i'm also happy to have a few days off to catch my breath. 

my only thought for the new year and creativity is that i'd like to be more experimental this year.  

wishing you all a happy new year and many hours of inspiration and creating in the months to come.  

miura cowl finished

last week i finished the Miura Cowl.

i cast on 133 stitches for 7 pattern repeats.  i like a longer, narrower cowl so could have cast on for 6 pattern repeats instead.

it's been a long time since i've posted a modeled shot - honestly these modeled shots are not my favorite.  i miss the younger, more rested, less stressed me ... but then most of us probably feel this way.  so here's the modeled shot.

happy as i am with this cowl i'm rethinking fiber choices in this milder, damp climate.  i find the merino that i loved in Alberta feels itchy here.  cashmere seems to handle the moisture better.  i'm also looking at cotton, rami, linen and hemp with renewed interest.  

but before i cast on for anything else i must finish the Sound of Waves shawl for my mother.  

will leave you with 2 inspiration links - this one for a great cowl and this one for some endearing sweater mending.  

 

 

 

socks finished

this week i finished the Riff socks i started last spring for my husband.  they're already in use and he says he likes them.  half way through knitting these i read that knitting socks at a tighter gauge helps them last longer so i went down a few needle sizes for the second sock.  i'll report back and let you know if the tighter gauge sock holds out longer until it's mending time.  

 tomorrow i'll package up the sweater for my daughter and mail it off to her - along with some lavender i grew this summer.  if time permits i'll also swatch for the next knit - more about this next time i post.

one of the things i've found with writing down the happy moments is that patterns emerge -  a lot of the happy moments involve water and/or birds.  

here's a moment from last thursday morning when i stopped by the beach before going in to work.

"the sun is coming up and the tide is out.  i follow the path down to the beach, over some logs and on to the smooth beach stones to stand still half way between the tide edge and the logs.  it's cool and a bit windy.  gulls and crows fly over to me and because of the wind hover for a few seconds over my shoulder.  they feel quite close, not quite close enough to touch but close enough that i have a strong sense of their presence.  probably they've come to see if i have food for them and i don't.  but i also feel welcomed back to the beach by these birds."

last weekend we went down island to visit my mother and also to hang out in the bookstores.  i bought THE UNFOLDING NOW by A. H. Almaas.  it wasn't a book i went in looking for but i've read and enjoyed one of his other books.  the first chapter is called Loving The Real - and the chapter title alone sold me on the book.

here's a quote from the first chapter.

"Reality is not what is usually reflected in our minds.  Reality is much cleaner and simpler, and in comparison to the noisy world of our usual inner experience, so much more settled and at ease."

the photograph above was taken 2 weeks ago with a plastic disposable camera.  on my lunch break i try to walk down to the water even when it's raining - as it is here.  i'm 2.5 hours from a photo lab - so if i want to use film cameras i either have to develop my own film or save up exposed rolls of film and get them developed when i go down island every few months.  my plan is to unpack my Zero F pinhole camera tomorrow and load it with a roll of film.  and then order some more color developing chemicals and do the developing myself.  wish me luck.

Ardent Jacket finished

i love it! 

super lightweight but also very warm.

you can see i still can't stand taking photos of myself.

i used 2 strands of Habu merino for this and one strand of Habu bamboo.  that's really pushing it for yarn substitution as Kat designed the sweater for tweed.  says a lot about Kat's design skills that the sweater still translates well with the light weight yarn.  

i'd like to make this in tweed though - perhaps Berroco Blackstone Tweed.  i also think the sweater would look nice in Elizabeth Lavold's Silky Wool.  

styled this with a summer dress as well.  but of course a summer dress looks all wrong on our end-of-March-snowy-day.

one last photo - a close up of the stitch patterns.

if you've been thinking of making this but have wondered how difficult the trellis stitch pattern is let me say if you color code the chart you won't have any problems.  the trellis pattern makes sense as you knit it and it's fun to watch it take shape.

 

a year of knitting

 It's a year and 2 months of knitting because I'm late with this post.

I thought I was having not-the-greatest-knitting-year but when I put it all together for this post it didn't look half bad.

Things look a bit rumpled and not everything shows up very well but there are more photos below.  It was really cold this morning and by the time I got this all organized I could no longer feel my fingers.  

The list from top to bottom:

Mohair Shippo Scarf (purple) - knit with Sweet Georgia Yarn, Snow Day Hat (white) - details and another photo below, Mr. & Mrs. Mouse, Guernsey Skirt, Bobbled Topper and Baby Moccasins - details and another photo below, Wristies or Camera Mitts, Mr. Lagerfeld Enjoys a Beer Jacket, Cotton Gima Cardi Redo, Yoked Cardigan.  

Missing from the pile is the Moorish Diamonds Wrap in grey alpaca that was given to a friend, a pair of socks knit for my husband and the Gossamer Stars Scarf knit for my daughter.  

 The Snow Day Hat was made recently with a strand of Blue Sky Alpacas Brushed Suri and a strand of Habu A-63 Paper Ring.  

I cast 72 stitches on size 6mm (10US) needles and knit it flat sewing up the back when I finished knitting.  I was aiming for an oversized pillbox hat.  It's perfect on snowy days with no wind but not practical for windy days because it blows off.  I have enough yarn though to knit another hat and may go with the Orchids and Fairy Lights hat by Tiny Owl Knits.  If you haven't touched the Blue Sky Alpacas Brushed Suri yarn yet let me say it's the softest yarn I've ever worked with.

The Bobbled Topper is one of Kat's patterns from her book Boho Baby Knits.  This was so much fun to knit!  It along with the Baby Mocs from the Purl Bee blog are for the new grandbaby.  They are knit with a mix of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino and some left over sock yarn.  

 In the end I think I learned a lot this year.  Not so much about techniques but more about my knitting and wearing preferences.  I wanted to knit a Victorian style wrap for ages and found out with the Moorish Diamonds Wrap that while I loved knitting it the finished item was too Victorian for me.  I hope to explore a more contemporary approach to lace knitting soon.  I'm really impressed with Alison's (sixandahalfst) Cobweb Lace Stole.  

I also wanted to knit a yoked cardigan for ages.  And upon doing so discovered - great shoulder shape - not enough chest room for me.

My favorite weight to knit with is lace or thread weight.  Worsted works well for wearability in our climate but I love the delicate feeling that comes with picking up my knitting in these lighter weights.  I predict there's more Habu yarn in my future knits.

My favorite knit in this pile is the Cotton Gima Cardi Redo - I'm really pleased with how this turned out in the end.  The Guernsey skirt is a favorite for wearing - warm and comfortable - a workhorse skirt.  Another well-loved and well-worn knit is the 'camera mitts' - the yarn was sent to my by Luisa in Portugal and I dyed it the perfect color of pale pink with Lac.  

The toys and baby items are perfect for working your way out of knitting slump.  

Another learning - buttons are not for me - I don't mind buttons on my store bought clothes but I don't like them on my handknits - recently I've been searching through my trinket boxes for old pins to use for closures on sweaters.  I should post a photo of the pins sometime. 

I'm not sure what I learned about knitting with variegated yarns - gosh they're fun to knit with - color excitement built into every stitch without the hassle of stranded work - but wow they are also pretty flashy to wear.  Honestly at my age I think wearing too many variegated knit sweaters could come close to the 'dotty auntie' look.  All that color and pattern looks great on the 14 year old Marc Jacobs, Miu Miu and Missoni models in a their towering heels - but a little riskier in your 5th decade with your men's brogues.  

Are you thinking of doing a 'year of knitting' post?  Let us know in the comments below - I'd love to read it.