wiwo wednesday vol. 22

Dang I can't believe summer is halfway over - already! Time is just passing too quickly.
There's a personal update at the end of the post. If you're just interested in crafts - great! Enjoy the short projects update and see you next time. If you're wondering what I've been up to scroll down and I'll tell you :)

A new sweater is on my needles! It's the 'gable' sweater by Hannah Fettig and it's a joy to knit. I'm knitting it out of Wollmeise Lace yarn. Knitting a sweater out of lace weight is a tiny bit crazy but I'm enjoying it. It's a great travel knit because it's lightweight and takes up very little space.

And there's another sweater on the needles. This one is pretty tiny though. It's gonna be either a Christmas ornament or a key fob. Because the world obviously needs tiny sweater, duh!

And last but not least (knitting-wise) is a pair of vanilla socks out of Wollmeise Twin. I'm using up all the leftovers from my exploration station shawl (no worries, I'll share it soon! I just have to find someone in Munich who knows how to operate a DSLR) so this is a 'scrap project', although 90 grams of fingering weight might not qualify as scraps...

On my wheel there is a gorgeous hand-painted combed top by raven ridge. I bought the top in Missoula, MT last summer and it was hand dyed in Montana. Yarn and fiber are the best souvenirs, right? It's 85% polwarth and 15% tussah. It feels very fluffy and luxurious, I can't wait to knit it into something beautiful. I'm halfway through spinning the top and I'm still debating whether to make a two ply yarn for a hat or a single for a shawl...

I'm vending at two big craft fairs this year - the Wollfestival Cologne (August 15-16) and Wollfest Regensburg (September 5-6) so looots of project bags, knitting needle cases, etc. are in the making.
I can't wait to share pictures of my craft fair booth with you - it's gonna be amazing if I may say so :)

That's all that I'm currently working on. I'm reading the first book of the outlander series - it is really addictive! I watched the first season in just two weeks and bought the first book just before I finished watching the last episode.

What are you working on?

So on a more personal level, here's why I've been rather quiet around the internet:
I'm working full time. Well, I should rather say I'm internshipping full time. But working sounds more mature. I'm doing an HRM internship at the global assignments department at BMW Munich. It is amazing, to put it in one sentence. I can't believe I only have one more week (and two weeks of paid vacation) left. At the end of the month I'll be moving back to my hometown to write my Bachelor's thesis and then I'll be done with my undergraduate studies in February. Please don't ask what I'll be doing after graduating because I can't answer that question - yet.

Also, craft fair preparations have kept me quite busy. I've been designing, sewing and packing products and building a proper craft fair booth. A big THANK YOU to my parents who always support me no matter what crazy ideas I come up with. If you're in Germany and looking to buy a new project bag or two (or three... nobody's judging here), I'd love to meet you at Cologne or Regensburg! If you can't make that's a shame, but you can still shop my stuff online. The online shop will be restocked properly in September.

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?

wiwo wednesday vol. 20

As always I have a bunch of projects in the making but not enough time to finish them. I have about 15 craft projects that are waiting to be completed but instead I dream about new projects. The fabrics above are gonna be turned into a triangle quilt as soon as I can decide what kind of triangles and what size I want :)
They're Kona cotton fabrics that I bought in Canada last summer.

Knit-wise I still have have lots of project bags filled with various projects; hats, sweaters, a shawl, socks... I probably have too many projects on my needles but I enjoy having a variety of stuff to work on. Plus, May 22nd - August 14th is Stash Dash so I'm saving some big WIPs to finish them then so I might have a chance at finishing a 3k or maybe even the 5k!
Anyone else who plans on joining?

Sewing-wise I'm trying out some new designs and fabric/leather combinations like the one above. I'm gonna have a biggish shop update at the end of the month but I'll share more details once the date is set.

Last but not least, I have a new apartment to decorate! I'm planning to share a tour of my tiny apartment here in Munich. All my furniture and 95% of my stuff is still in my old apartment so I don't plan to invest too much into this temporary housing. But some cute Swedish pillows (like the one above) and some homemade decor won't hurt, right?

So what are you working on?
You might also want to check this rad wiwo post my talented friend Sam posted last Wednesday, featuring a day in the life of a table!

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?

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.

wiwo wednesday vol. 14

First of all, thank you so much for your feedback on my last post. I really appreciate your comments and you, my dear readers, are the main reason why I enjoy blogging!
But let's not get all cheesy. What I'm Working On this week is a mix of Christmas presents (most of which are not shown here, duh.), organizing my craft supplies, decorating my studio and some mindless knitting (99% of which is done during lectures).

I've been dreading organizing my knitting supplies because I just have so many! When did I accumulate all those needles?? And how come I have hundreds of stitch markers but whenever I need them I can't find any and have to use scrap yarn?
I've been keeping all my knitting notions and empty project bags in a big box in my closet. Whenever I had to find a needle that would mean rummaging through all that stuff for minutes. Naturally, whatever I was looking for seemed to be at the very bottom.

It's kind of embarrassing so sell needle organizers to others yet have a very unorganized needle situation at home. So this morning I emptied the box on my bed (that's how I usually trick myself into cleaning; if I really really want to procrastinate I simply sleep on the couch and clean the stuff up before going to bed the following day.) and organized everything into little piles on my couch table.
Next, I divided everything up into the little pouches, needle organisers etc as followed(from top left):

• big needle organizer: all my DPNs, notions I don't use often
• bird zipper bag: measuring tapes & buttons
• patchwork 'envelope' bag: T-pins and spare stitch markers
• wooden box: tapestry needles, safety pins, etc.
• sheep pouch: most important tools that I take everywhere (row counter, tapestry needle, scissors, stitch markers, ...)
• interchangeable needles organizer: all my gazillion circular needles

And the biiig We Are Knitters needles that are impossible to fit into any organizer / pouch. Whew, so much better than before! I'm gonna come up with a pattern for a knitting needle organiser for all my DPNs that's a little more... portable than the big one I use right now.

Please tell me I'm not the only knitter with so much stuff.

And since most of my knitting projects right now are rather secretive (less than two months until Christmas!) I'm only gonna show you this Halloween-inspired pair of socks I'm knitting for a relative for Christmas. I'm pretty sure he doesn't even know this blog exists so I should be fine showing them on here. I can't wait for Christmas Eve so I can bombard you will all the stuff I'm working on!

What are you working on? Anything Halloween inspired? I really wish it was more of a thing in Germany. The only Halloween stuff I found was red-fleshed apples and purple kohlrabi!

wiwo wednesday vol. 13

Instead of casting on the Wurm hat using my handspun yarn, I've decided to cast on the Bray Cap by Brooklyn Tweed. I'm knitting this hat for my roomie Julia and it's a lovely, soft yarn galled 'calm wool'. It's a much softer orange than in the picture above; let's simply blame the rainy and gray fall weather for this instead of my inability to take true-tone indoor pictures.

I have an IKEA metal bin that I use to keep all my WIPs in one place. Yesterday I was looking through it and found the Elfreide scarf at the very bottom. Naturally I had to get it out and knit a couple of rows. I'm hoping to knit two pattern repeats by next Wednesday. The progress on this scarf is slow but it's so soft and squishy - I hope to finish it by Christmas so I get to wear it this winter.

The next project isn't something I'm working on - yet. But I started preparing for my next sweater project - the Levenwick by Brooklyn Tweed - by winding the yarn into cakes. I'm gonna use Cascade 220 for this one. It's not the softest yarn out there but I hope it brings out the collar details nicely.

And the mandatory pair of socks is always in my handbag, though I didn't make much progress this past week.

Feel free to add me on Ravelry - my username there is FroggedDesigns as well - so I can see what you're up to.

wiwo wednesday vol. 11

The past week flew by and I didn't have as much time to knit as I would've liked to. Alas, there's no progress on the Elfreide scarf. But I'm halfway done with the second sleeve of the Ravello sweater. I hope to finish it by the weekend so I get to adventure out with a friend and take pictures of it.

These socks were knitted in class exclusively. Sadly, my summer class is over now (actually the final is tomorrow) and the socks aren't finished yet. Though I'm not too sad about having more free time again and finishing knitting these socks while catching up on tv series doesn't sound too bad either, right?

I finished the stripe obsession shawl (yay!) but didn't have a chance to take pictures yet. But I didn't want this post to exist of only two pictures and three sentences. The yarn above is the first skein of yarn I spun on my new wheel (which I still haven't introduced to you get... shame on me!). It's far from perfect but I love it and can't stop squishing it whenever I see it. So I'm thinking of using it for a hat. Only problem is that I have no clue how to 'measure' handspun yarn. And even if I did measure it I'd only get an estimate because it's more of a rustic handspun... as in thick & thin. Do you have any suggestions for a hat pattern for this gorgeous yarn?