Bedford the Second

The first post after a long break from blogging is always awkward so let's just pretend the 3-month break didn't happen.

I was on a one-week vacation in Washington, DC last week to visit my good friend Sam of Fluffyland  (you probably remember the cute alpaca plush she made for me?!) where I finally had time to finish a sweater that has been on my needles since August.

I knitted another 'Bedford' sweater, designed by Michele Wang and published in the Brooklyn Tweed Fall 11 collection. I finished my first Bedford in autumn 2013 and it's one of my favorite sweaters, thus I wanted a second one. So when I saw this gorgeous yarn ("ultra alpaca" by Berroco, colorway "grapefruit mix") in a cute yarn store in Montana last year I couldn't resist and bought a sweater lot.

The majority of the sweater was knitted when Sam visited me in Munich in the summer (yes, I have awesome friends who fly across half the globe to see me - and drink German beer, of course) so it only seemed logical to finish it in her present.

It is very cozy and soft - the alpaca / wool blend is very comfortable and warm to wear; ideal for cold winter days. Another perk of finishing the sweater during my vacation: I had someone who took photos of me wearing it right away! All these pictures were taken by Sam. Being in front of the camera is always uncomfortable for me but Sam made taking these pictures fun - as in I almost enjoyed it ;)

wiwo wednesday vol. 21

I've been busy these past two weeks with a super secret project that I'm gonna share soon - hopefully. But in the meantime, I have a couple of in-progress shots for you of the major craft projects I have on/under the needle.

Last weekend I finished sewing the quilt top of a triangle quilt. I bought the fabrics in Canada last August so it's been on my to-do list for quite a while. Last Thursday was a public holiday in Germany so I had a four-day weekend to work on this. I finished the entire quilt top - including cutting all the triangles, going to a local quilt shop to buy more fabrics because I needed like 60 more triangles, sewing everything together (quite a challenge in a tiny apartment!) and flooding my IG feed (@froggeddesigns) with pretty pictures of it. Sunday evening I rearranged the furniture in my boyfriend's apartment to baste it. After I was done I realised the backing looked terrible - wrinkles all over! - so I undid everything and I'm sending it off to my mom so she can baste it on her longarm machine.

Over the past 4 years I have accumulated quite a lot of pants that I need to shorten (#shortpeopleproblems). My mom helped me pin them to the correct length three weeks ago when my parents were in town and they've been occupying one of my chairs since then. I'm determined to shorten ALL of them next weekend (another three-day weekend - yay!). Wish me luck.

Good thing I discovered the serial podcast to keep me company. If you haven't listened to the first season yet you totally should; it's been accompanying me on my daily walks and it's so addictive. I can't wait for season two to launch in the fall :)

This wouldn't be a wiwo post if I didn't share my progress on at least one knitting project, right?
Here's the current state of the pair of socks that's on my needles. I'm knitting them using Wollmeise twin yarn and 2.5mm needles. It's hilarious that the second sock looks SO DIFFERENT from the first although I'm using the same skein of yarn and I'm knitting from the same end. I might actually knit another pair after this using the same skeins of yarn so I can match up the two socks that look alike the most. I'm sure my mom won't mind taking a pair off my hands :)
I'm not gonna finish them until the beginning of stash dash though - which is in only two days! I'm so excited. There are lots of WIPs in my project bags that are begging for attention which they shell get.

So what have you been working on? Are you participating in stash dash this year?

project planning

When I moved to Munich last month, I had to leave most of my stash in storage (aka my old apartment's basement) because I have very limited storing capacities at my new apartment. So when I moved I basically had to plan all my sewing and knitting projects for the next half year. Crazy, right?

Here are the knitting projects I have planned for the near future:

An exploration station shawl out of Wollmeise fingering weight yarn. After knitting this one for my mom I knew I'd knit one for myself eventually. When I saw these gorgeous colors of Wollmeise yarn at the spring sale I just couldn't resist buying them.

When I saw the dark pearl cardigan at the Baa Ram Ewe booth at the h+h Cologne in March it was love at first sight. I was lucky enough to buy the yarn right there at a discounted price. The cardigan will be perfect for summer days at the office when it's still cold in the morning on my way to work.

After knitting scrap socks for over a year I rewarded myself with a skein of Wollmeise 80/20 twin yarn to knit a pair of socks for myself. I love the bright colors ('pitahaya' for all those Wollmeise nerds who know each colorway by heart) and it will be nice to only knit from one skein for a change. Having to juggle a dozen small yarn scraps in the subway is no fun.

This beautiful Wollmeise was another spontaneous splurge. I bought enough to knit a sweater but I'm not quite set on the pattern, yet. I'm considering James and Gable. But there are a hundred other patterns I can imagine knitting with this gorgeous yarn so we'll see what I end up using it for.

Last but not least, the only yarn I brought from home: Wollmeise lace yarn that I've had sitting in my stash for over three years. What a shame, right? I'm planning to knit a simple pullover to wear in the summer. I'll probably just come up with my own design because I haven't found anything I really loved online.

Well it's gonna be a pretty busy (knit-wise) summer around here.
Do you have any specific projects planned for the summer?

operation sock yarn // the finale

A little over a year ago I started #operationsockyarn to motivate myself to use up all those bits of fingering weight yarn I had. Today I'm sharing my (for now) last pair of scrap socks.
Is my scrap stash completely used up? Nope. But I turned all those small bits and pieces into scrap socks which only leaves me with 'big' leftovers (we're talking 50 grams plus...) which I'll turn into small toys eventually.
But for now I'm calling this project done because I have other things I want to focus on right now. Of course that doesn't mean I won't be knitting any scrap socks in the future. But I'm focusing my knitting energy on other projects.

So here's the last pair of scrappy socks. You might notice that they are not quite symmetrical. That's because I was working with very, very small scraps and didn't want to throw away any yarn simply because I'd have two more rows than on the other socks.

Is this my favorite pair of socks I made for this challenge? Definitely not. But it's a happy pair nonetheless because a) it got me my creative mojo back and b) it means I get to cast on a new pair of socks using one single skein - this will make knitting in the subway SO much easier.

Check back tomorrow for a 'project planning post' - I have lots of awesome projects in the pipeline that I can't wait to get started on. But first, let's get some sleep.

wiwo wednesday vol. 19

On Wednesdays I like to share 'What I'm Working On' to give you a sneak peak of upcoming projects and stuff that kept me busy. Click here to browse previous wiwo posts or check out what my talented friend Sam is working on. Would you like to join in on the fun? Awesome, leave a link to your wiwo post in the comment section and I'll add you to the list.

As I'm preparing my move to Munich, I'm trying to wrap up some WIPs. But of course I couldn't resist starting at least one new project, so I cast on a Norby hat for Julia. I just finished the brim and I'm curious to see if it fits - for some funny reason my 3.5mm needles are always either in use or broken so I'm knitting the hat with 4mm needles.

The Levenwick cardigan is still in the making - I chose some buttons from my mom's extensive button collection and I'm about to knit the button band. I should be able to finish this on the 4-hour trip to Munich on Saturday :)

This is mini quilt I designed two(?) years ago but never got around to finish. Please remind me to sew on the binding by machine next time I'm making something that requires a binding. Hand sewing is my worst enemy. Closely followed by sewing on buttons. Which also requires hand sewing so maybe it's just one giant beast...

What would a wiwo post be without a pair of socks?
I'm working on a pair of scrap socks. The color combination is not gonna be pretty because there are only a handful of fingering weight scraps left but hand knitted socks are awesome no matter what, right?

Several projects that I'm technically also working on are already in Munich, so not pictures of those. Let's just say there are a couple more than just the four projects pictured above...

What are you working on this week?

exploration station shawl

I'm happy to finally share a finished project. I gave this shawl to my mom for Christmas(though I only finished it  for New Year's... oops!) so you haven't seen this one in any of the 'what I'm working on' posts, yet.

The pattern is called "exploration station" by Stephen West. You can find yarn information etc. on the ravelry project page.

It was a fun pattern to knit. There is one brioche section in there; I've been wanting to give the technique a try for quite some time so I was happy to have such an awesome teacher. (The pattern includes video tutorials that shows special techniques for the different sections.)

The only mod I made is the bind off. I switched to a lighter color for the i-cord bind off so it wouldn't look too dark with a big, dark red/purple/pinkish border.

I finished knitting the shawl during our vacation to Denmark so I had lots of space to blog this beauty. Thankfully because it wouldn't have fit into my small student-sized apartment :D

wiwo wednesday vol. 18

Welcome to this year's first edition of 'What I'm Working On'. January used to be my most productive month of the year; there weren't any exams when I was in high school and it was the beginning of a new term when I studied in Vancouver. Also, January is usually dreadful weather-wise so I didn't feel guilty when I stayed inside to knit instead of spending time outside.
Unfortunately, January is the most stressful month for German university students, because all the research paper deadlines are in January and exams start at the end of January, so the whole month is basically spent in the library studying / paper writing.

There won't be much progress in the next couple of months, but I wanted to share with you what's on my needles (& on my nightstand) anyway.

First, let's talk books. I used to read a lot and I miss it. So I'm determined to start a new habit that involves banning my phone from my nightstand so I can't browse instagram before I go to sleep. Alas, I'm more likely to read in the evening. Depending on my mood I either read in Mindy Kaling's book or the first volume of Rita Falk's Bavarian crime novel series.

I never thought I'd be much of an audiobook person but I started listening to Fall of Giants last year and loved it. So I started listening to Winter of the World the other day and I'm loving it. I especially love listening to it while sewing. Also, John Lee is an amazing narrator.

I spun a roving of alpaca finer. I bought the fiber at a small local store in Idaho and it's so soft and squishy. For now it's still on the bobbin because I can't decide whether to attempt a Navajo ply or to ply it with a commercial yarn. Any thoughts?

Eventually this will be a sleeve for a sweater for my dad. But somehow the yarn doesn't seem to like my style of knitting. The gauge is either off, the stitch definition is awful, or the fabric is too dense. Sigh... Once I'm done with all my finals I'll frog it and re-knit it beautifully, no matter how many attempts it might take!

These 'Christmas socks' have been mocking me for... well, since before Christmas. I'm gonna get them done eventually. Maybe in time for this year's Christmas?

Finally my Elfreide scarf. It's gonna take me approximately two more years if I keep going at the same speed. Maybe I should write 'knit one Elfreide repeat' on my weekly to do list until it's done. If I'd be disciplined it might only take me one more year to finish it...

I have one exciting FO to share on Friday. So until then why don't you tell/show me what you're working on? I'd love to see!

wiwo wednesday vol. 17

I can't wait for Christmas so I can go back to sharing what I'm working on openly. The only knitting I can share with you are two selfish projects:
First, a pair of red socks. Duh, it's Christmas soon. Naturally I need another pair of red socks, right??
I've had the skein in my stash for quite a while now. Originally, I bought it to use it for Julekuler (knitted Christmas balls). But I only used a couple of yards of the yarn so I have plenty left for socks.

Next up is the Levenwick cardigan that I've been knitting on forever. Or so it feels. Progress has been very slow because it's gotten too big to carry. I need the DPNs that I'm using for the sleeve for another project (a Christmas gift), hence I'm in a hurry to finish the sleeve so I can borrow the needles for the next project. Basically that also means that I won't get to knit on this cardigan till after Christmas. Or however long it takes me to finish said Christmas gift - plus all the others I still have on my to knit list.

Also, an alternative title for this post could've been 'daylight abstinence'. I've been putting off taking pictures for this post for days because it's been very gray and rainy around here. Also, it gets dark so early which makes it basically impossible to take pictures using a natural light source. German winter is not the most blogger friendly season ;)

wiwo wednesday vol. 16

I have way too many projects to share for this week's 'what I'm working on' installment. Let's start with the newest project (I only started it today): after getting my scrap sock yarn stash under control, my boxes of fabrics scraps need some attention. I've accumulated so many scraps over the past years. We're talking about several pounds of fabric scraps!
I started by sewing some super simple patchwork coasters to use up some of my pink fabric scraps. I'm quite happy with the result (12 cute coasters that I'll be selling at a local craft fair on Saturday!) but it's gonna take many more coasters before there is any visible reduction of my stash.

Not much progress on the Elfreide scarf but seeing it grow one inch after another motivates me to finish it within the year :)

Some progress on the socks for my uncle... not much, though. I hope to finish them by the end of the month.

Oh and I almost forgot about these socks... the first one ended up being too big so I have to frog the toe and knit it again half an inch smaller. Oh how I love frogging! Not...

Knitting the body of the Levenwick cardigan was rather quickly and mostly done in class. But progress has been slow since I started knitting on the first sleeve, because the cardigan is getting too big and heavy to take to school. Alas, not much knitting over the past week. But I'll take it to a craft fair on Saturday where I should have a decent amount of knitting time.

I found this shawl in my yarn stash the other day. It's a shawl I cast on during a holiday 2(3?) years ago. And I don't even remember the name of the pattern anymore. The only thing I remember is that there was a mistake a couple rows down and I wasn't motivated enough to knit backwards. Of course I didn't put in a lifeline. Which probably means half an evening of knitting backwards. And then another evening of figuring out which pattern I was attempting to knit. #knitterproblems

I'm still going strong on my 'no store-bought candy' challenge. I'm not home often so I don't bake a lot but I made these awesome chocolate almond clusters the other day.

The Christmas quilt is coming along nicely - the quilting is done! And I have four more days to sew on the binding - doable, right?

I finally figured out a border for the 'summer in the park' quilt that I started at a sewing retreat in March. My plan is to finish the quilt by the end of the year - probably around Christmas when there are no more craft fairs to be organised, Christmas gifts to be made and exams to be taken.

One last thing to share is this paper piecing quilt block I made... sometime in the past. I designed it myself and I'm quite happy with the outcome. Now I just need to figure out what to do with it... Maybe a mug rug? I have a slightly bigger version that I'm turning into a mini quilt to be hung in my kitchen.

Oh my, so many projects! I love having a variety of projects but this is seriously getting out of hand. No more project starting until I finish at least three of these!!

Ps: Check out Sam's blog to see what she's currently working on. I'd love for you to join in so if you share what you're working on, please leave the link in the comment section and I'll link you in my post :)

wiwo wednesday vol. 15

It's getting tricky to take daylight pictures since I'm rarely home before 4:30pm. Don't get me wrong, I love fall/winter but my crazy full time student schedule doesn't quite match my blogger schedule, so I actually took the picture above on Monday when I got home early. As you can imagine, I knit a couple of rows in the meantime. Oh well, I'm still knitting the raglan increases on the Levenwick cardigan. It's a joy to knit and I love the Christmas tree green ;)
I hope to finish this cardigan by Christmas so I get to wear it, paired with a red top or skirt.

There hasn't been a whole lot of progress on my latest sock project, but since most of my current projects are gonna be Christmas presents I'm a little restricted in the choice & amount of projects for this week's 'what I'm working on' post.

I finished reading the last Harry Potter instalment earlier this week. It would be mad to attempt reviewing the whole series in a blog appropriate amount so let me just say that I LOVED every single one of the ~3700 pages. Also, I realized that reading books while staying on top of school work, shop orders and having a sufficient amount of free time is totally doable. Thus no more excuses not to read any books 'just for fun' during the term!
A couple of books have accumulated over the past years that I didn't read yet. I started reading 'Demain j'arrête!' by Gilles Legardinier yesterday. I chose this book solely because of the cute cover. That's a completely natural and normal way of choosing literature, right? Anyway, I'm really enjoying the book and I'm having much less trouble reading French than I thought I would. Apparently all those years of French classes in high school and living among Québécois people for ten months was worth it after all.