Crafty Tuesday

I never use stitch markers. They seem fiddly and not worth the hassle, but I have to admit that sometimes they're great for making knits just a bit more mindless. Because I only have a few plastic ones, I decided to spend this (way to hot) day making some. Luckily, there's a lovely bead store (Coppenhagen) only a few minutes away from the house I'm currently taking care of.

I was amazed at how quick these were put together. I think I spent more time choosing the beads than making the markers. This disappointed me a little, because I had looked forward to spending an afternoon fiddling with beads. I guess that means I'll have to get a load more soon! The little tulips are my favourites, but the others are lovely too:



Because the first two sets are fairly big (they are shown on a 5,5 mm needle) I also made a set of tiny markers. They're not as pretty and neat as the others because I simply bent the wire into a loop, but they will do their job just as well. Many more of these will follow, as I have gotten a bit addicted...

Bad Ass Knitting

Together with the amazing people of Idle Hands, I spent my Saturday in sunny Amsterdam. A table full of icky acrylics and huge needles made for a great day. We were part of the American Book Center's Urban Cultural Event and had a great time knitting and crocheting anything from tree-cozies to handlebar covers. Even some people who were just passing by stopped and knitted with us. I always thought I was too scared to do graffiti of any kind, but now I feel totally bad ass for decorating a few trees in the city centre.

I am so excited to be doing a workshop for Idle Hands in a few weeks. It will be lace class for beginners. I am already trying to find the perfect stitch patterns to begin with. I hope it won't be too easy or too difficult.

Tea time

Well, I haven't been updating much because my camera's charger is gone and I don't like posts without pictures... Today I'm going to buy a new one, so prepare for an overload of photos the coming days. I have an FO and some guerilla knitting coming up.

I just want to say I am so excited that I found one of the most awesome knitting groups in the Netherlands (Idle Hands - there's not much on the website yet, but believe me when I say it's great.) Further, a group on Ravelry is hosting a Percy KAL. Thank you so much.

For now I'll just leave you with a taste of the lovely tea I received in a LSG RAK. The peach is wonderful.

Percy - Free Pattern

Remember I was swatching for a shawl? Well, it's all done now and without any further delays, I present you with Percy. A modular lace shawl made up from gorgeous Estonian stitch patterns (all adapted from Ptsilised Koekirjad). The version made for the pattern is fairly small, but with the included notes you can make it as large as you want.

The original version is knitted in Fyberspates Nef Lace (which everyone should use because it is gorgeous), but any lace or fingering weight yarn would work great.

Click the link below for a pretty 3-page PDF with instructions and charts.

download Percy now

For the love of nupps

There, I said it. I love nupps. They are pretty, easy to work, break the dreadful boredom of a long purl row, and did I mention they are fucking gorgeous? Together with my addi lace needles, I feel like I can tackle any nupp in the world (or at least Estonia). I truly cannot imagine why anyone would replace nupps by beads. It seems so much more of a hassle.

Anyway, I can nupp all I want for quite a while, because THE BOOK arrived. Last week I spent a little too much money to buy Pitsilised Koekirjad, but it is worth every penny! I already knit up a swatch for a shawl, and my mind is racing with a million ideas!

Dita - or why I want a corset.

It is a not-so-well-kept secret that I have an enormous celebrity/girl crush on Dita von Teese. She embodies all the style, allure and guts I wish I had. If I had even the slightest dancing and stripping skills, I'd go out of my way to become a burlesque star. (I have been told I have the figure, so that's one less hurdle to take.)

After reading her book, which fuelled my long-lasting obsession with corsets and stockings, I am about to make my first corset. The pattern arrived yesterday and is fortunately accompanied by extremely detailed instructions. I am not a complete sewing novice, but this seems a few steps beyond dresses and blouses. As soon as the semester ends I'll go on a fabric shopping spree!

FO: Aeolian

Obligatory introductions are not my strongest point, so I'll go ahead and jump right to the knitting. I have a deep love for lace weight yarns and knitted lace, so I didn't think twice when I found enough money to sign up for the Fyberspates Lace Club. The first installment (from back in March already) was 100 grams of pure cashmere in purple. Imagine my delight when I opened the package! Although I would have been perfectly happy just looking at the skein and petting it, something had to be knit. I wanted a lace shawl that would be interesting enough and absolutely stunning. I succeeded.


Aeolian, from the latest Knitty, was just perfect. I had so much fun knitting it that I finished it in less than a week. I loved it to pieces, but decided to give it to my mother. She recently went in for her first round of chemo and needed something soft and luxurious. Luckily, the shawl took less than 50 grams. I will be casting on another one for ME soon!



Details:

• Pattern: Aeolian
• Yarn: Fyberspates 100% Mongolian cashmere, 50 grams