The Bolero

There was a deadline for finishing this. It had to be done before oldest daughter left for a holiday to Turkey.
So I knitted like crazy to finish it, and just made it in time. Pffff, I'm still wiping the sweat of my brows..

Pattern: Bolero from the book Feminin Strik ( a Danish book ) by Lene Holme Samsoe

Yarn: Lima from HP Gruppen, a linen/cotton/viscose blend.

Needles: 2,5 mm and 3,5 mm .

After not having made a cardigan or sweater in a adult size for , well let's say 20 years, I am quite pleased with the result. It actually fits, and that was more than I had hoped for. I had a hard time following the minimal directions given in the book. There are no diagrams, no measurements given so there was some frogging. Finding the right color ribbon also turned out quite difficult, there was not a single one that matched the color of the yarn. So I had to be a little creative, I dyed it in tea. Normal teablends didn't give the right color, still too brownish. BUT I had a little teabag that was a gift with something in a Cherryblend which was just right. The tea looked a lot like blood, so if you have any Vampire feelings I will gladly give you the brand. Not my cup of tea ...

I didn't block it, it didn't need it but there also was no time.

A close-up of the ribbon closure.

After she had left, with the bolero, I took some time to relax ( an hour or so ) and cast on for the Tangled Yoke Cardigan. But somehow I only managed to knit a couple of rows so there isn't really something to show yet. Instead I will show something else that I made and designed a while ago. A little bear. I used to make bears a couple of years ago but I haven't made one for a while now. I don't know why, because they are really fun to make. But this one seemed in need of a scarf and hat so I made hime some.

I thing he looks quite pleased with them.

Yes, I know he has big feet !

Clowning around.

It's so much fun to watch our goats, they're always clowning around. Always up to something, like stealing apples from the tree.

This is Hubert in action, mommy Fleur is watching and encouraging her son. "Come on boy, you can do it ! Oh, and pick me one too !"

Hubert is 5 years old now and we all loved him since the day he was born. He loved to jump on your lap and take a nap there. Now, you really don't want him to do that anymore because he is HUGE !. We had him neutered so he could stay with us as we were very attached to him. And believe me a non neutered male goats really smells so poor Huub had to undergo this to be able to stay. Yeah, I know, I felt sorry for him too !
When they are neutered they grow a lot bigger than normal , see what I mean ?


You really don't want this on your lap do you ?


Always in for a little snack ! Hubert is on the right, Fleur his mommy in the middle and Daisy on the left. She is their niece, her mom passed away a couple of years ago.

Hubert, trying to eat my Crocs.

The grass is always greener on the other side !


And there are also times to relax, that is when they are not trying to brake through the fence, or try to molest the trees or..... you name it.

The little bolero is almost finished, a half sleeve to go and then the edging has to be done. I would like to have this finished by tomorrow before she leaves for a holiday to Turkey.

These lovely yarns came a little while ago and I hadn't showed them yet. Some more Plucky goodnesses. Merino/silk laceweight in Patinum Blonde from Sarah. you can find her Etsy Shop here http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=106560

This is Platinum Blonde.

And some more in Wuthering Heights, a deep red crimson color. Just lovely !

An update on my last post : I called the lady in question yesterday and she promised to send them ASAP. Keeping my fingers crossed !

I did ask her for a refund in my emails but she never responded to any of them lately so I decided to call her. She said she didn't check her emails regularly, can you believe that with a yarn business ? She was all apologisies and she had been sick and very busy and kept talking abut how sorry she was. I just wasn't tough enough to ask her for a refund on the phone. Coward !

What to do ?

Over the last year I have done business with several yarn dyers in the US, and they never ever let me down ! I have experienced only good things and the people I contacted were always very kind. Judy from Smatterings, Sarah from the Plucky Knitter and Deb from Fearless Fibers to name a few. Kim from the Woolen Rabbit, Chris from Briar Rose Fibers, oh my this list is growing fast ! Always helpful and ready to answer any questions.
Untill now ! I am in the middle of a very bad experience with one of the well known yarn designers in the US. I won't mention her name (yet) where I placed an order in February , yes FEBRUARY, for quite an amount of money. I STILL haven't received my yarns, while she charged my creditcard more than two months ago. I send her numerous mails to inquire about my yarn, she either doesn't answer them or tells me she has been away, sick or is working on it. I really don't know what to do anymore. Threaten her to publish her name in blogland ? I really could use some advice here.
So please, if you have any ideas let me know.
I don't like to nag about things and am always polite, too polite sometimes, to people but she has reached my limits over here. Let me tell you that.
Hey, feel better already now that I could get this of my chest.

Time is slipping through my hands

The last two weeks have flown by, I feel like I don't have that much time left before summer is over. Let's just hope there are some nice weeks left so we can spend some more time outside. I really missed that this summer, for me that's the ultimate summer feeling. Eat dinner outside and then sit and relax untill the sun goes down. There were only a few nights when the weather was nice enough to do that.

Very little knitting has been done, MS3 has been on a hold because I wasn't sure if I liked the way the pattern was turning out. The last clue has been posted today and I finally made my mind up. I am going to knit it in the alternative version because this appeals to me more. I also really like the version as given in the clues but I'm afraid I won't wear it when it's finished. It's expensive yarn I am using and I don't want to waste it. So know I made my mind up I can continue with it.

I have been doing some translations in the meantime I wasn't blogging. Danish to Dutch translations to be precise. I saw this book, Feminin Strik, on a blog somewhere and I really liked the patterns that were in there. I figured that if I could find a good translation site I could give it a go and buy it. I found some here http://www.heirloomknits.com/translations1.shtml and this was very helpful too http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Danish&to=English

The book came and I was really charmed by it, translating it however was far more diffult than I thought. It took so much time ! There were no diagrams with measures in it to follow, only written instructions. Where needed there are charts , but only small ones for the lace and cable patterns. I found a pattern I would like to knit but then oldest daughter saw the book and begged me to make her something first. How could I refuse ?

She picked the Bolero ( so totally her ) and then came the quest for the yarn. I really wanted to make this in the yarn described because it was diffult enough to translate plus it has been really AGES ago since I last knitted a sweater. Like 12 years or so ? And that was only a small, very simple childs sweater. And why was I so stupid to start something like this in Danish ?

Well the back is finished now, after I had to rip it out once because it was too big. I have now started on the two fronts, I am making them at the same time so they end up the same way. Hopefully.....

Here are some pictures I took from the pages of the book. The photographs in it are just beautiful as are the patterns in it. I want to make them all.....

The one pictured underneath has some lovely lace panels on the front that continue up in the hood.

They all have a romatic touch to them.

But before I start one of these I want make the Tangled Yoke Cardigan from the new IK. English is far more easier to understand than Danish and I really want to make it somewhat easier for me. I already bought Rowan Felted Tweed in Cocoa for it yesterday. It has blue speckles in it, and is really soft..

A detail picture I took from the magazine ( I love my camera ! ) such lovely cables.

The Kauni cardigan is also something I would like to make one day but I never knitted Fair Isle before. A steek ? Never done that before either. The nice lady at the yarn store in Nieuwpoort told me she would be very hapy to help me with that, I can just come to the shop and she'll help me with it. And guess what, they even sell Kauni yarn over there too ! They only have one color in stock for now but more is coming soon . I bought the rainbow yarn online a while ago and it is now waiting patiently for me to start with it. But I'll be satisfied with looking at the colors in the meantime. They're happy colors !

Rip back...

40 rows to be exact ! I had to rip back the MS3 from row 227 to row 187 because I made a very noticable mistake. At least to me it was ! The point of the needle is showing the point where I went wrong. Well it shows clearly without the needle too :-(
I was happily knitting my way into clue 4 when I noticed something was wrong. I tried to ignore it, showed it to husband and children who said it didn't show and I would be crazy to rip it back. Knitted a few rows more, went to bed and checked again this morning. I decided I couldn't live with it so rip back it was......

I'm almost to the point where I was before, not quite but still close. Well what are a couple of hours of knitting compared to the fact that you have to look at your own mistake for who knows how long ?

This is what I started....

Thank you all for your kind comments on previous posts, I appreciate them SO much !
If I don't reply on a comment you gave me, please do forgive me. I receive them through my e-mail and Blogger doesn't always allow me to respond to them. But they do mean a lot to me !

During the holiday I managed do to some knitting in the early hours while everyone was still asleep. I always wake up early, yes EVEN on my holiday ! I just can't seem to get used to the idea of being allowed to sleep as long as I want then........ The others didn't seem to have any problems with that ! The youth slept untill we called them for breakfast ( more like brunch to me ) with fresh baked bread from the bakery. Mmmm, that's what I love most about those holidays, go to the shop every morning where there is that wonderful smell of bread in the oven !

This seemed like a good mindless knitting project to take with me, the chevron scarf everyone in blogland seems to be knitting lately. I really the look of this, with the two variegated yarns that seem to clash when you hold them side by side but then work up really nice when knitted. I even ordered the yarns for it I liked most: Blue Moon Fiber Arts in Lucy and Foofaraw.

And I took enough yarn with me to start the Wool Peddler Shawl. I bought this lovely yarn from Judy (from Smatterings) and started it with that, but I soon realized I most likely wouldn't have enough yarn for this. I saw this beautiful shawl knit by the Woolen Rabbit, if you scroll a bit down the page you'll see it http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/thewoolenrabbit/2007/06/index.html She knit this out of two skeins ! I bought three and still don't have enough ! I don't know how she did it but I can't for sure. So, I ripped it and started again with some other yarn I brought too. You never can take along too much can you ? It's a merino/tencel fingering weight yarn called December Beaches. Appropriate don't you think ?

A nice reminder of the North Sea, with some of the shells found at the beach. There is also a shawl in the book called North Sea, maybe next time ?

The Mystery Stole stayed at home but I could have taken it along after all. Still have to do some catching up on it, I just finished clue 3.

I took these pictures with my new camera, A Canon Eos 400-D. In the US known under the name Digital Rebel I believe. Not a very portable camera to take along in a small handbag but I really like to learn to work with a camera like this. I already wanted to buy one a couple of years back when my previous camera was stolen from my house ( along with the jewelry my mother and grandmother left me after they passed away, makes me sad every time I think of it) but the price was huge then, so I chose something else. This camera was used so much by everyone that it shows signs of use, the lens is not working properly any more. Besides that it always seemed to be gone whenever I wanted to use it. So this one will be mine, and mine only !!!!! Just in case certain people are reading this too, you knever know !