Baltic Blossoms and some more / Baltic Blossoms y otras cositas

Baltic Blossoms is a shawl that I have had in my mind for quite a while but never found the chance to knit or well, I really hadn't found the person to knit it for... until now.


El chal Baltic Blossoms lo he tenido en mente desde hace ya un buen rato, pero no había tenido la oportunidad de tejerlo... o más bien no había encontrado la persona para quien tejerlo... hasta ahora. 


The person I had in my mind while I was knitting it is the wife of a dear, dear friend, who I don't even know her in person (yet), but I think that my friend talked so much about her that I already like her so much as to knit a shawl for her! It is one of those strange things that happen sometimes...


La persona en quien pensaba mientras lo tejía es la esposa de un queridísimo amigo. La verdad es que a ella ni siquiera la conozco en persona (aún). Mi amigo me habló tanto de su mujer que siento que casi la conozco... ¡tanto como para decidir tejer un chal! Es una de esas cosas raras que pasan a veces, ¿no?


So, while my friend was still in Iceland he helped me to pick up a color that she would like and I was in charge of the rest: choosing the pattern and making the shawl happen.


Mientras mi amigo estaba en Islandia, me ayudó a escoger un color que, de acuerdo a él, le gustaría a su mujer. Del resto me encargaría yo: escoger el patrón y hacer el chal. 


So, no more words. Let's better see the pics:


No más palabras. Mejor ver las fotos:

I think it is always interesting to see the MAGIC that blocking makes... it seems impossible that this wrinkled knitted piece can be something beautiful.
Me parece que siempre es interesante ver la MAGIA que ocurre después del bloqueo... parece imposible pensar que un pedazo de lana tejido, todo arrugado pueda convertirse en algo tan bonito.

Blocking. The bed is the best place for blocking! (Just have to be sure to take all the pins!)
Bloqueando. ¡La cama es el mejor lugar para bloquear! (Aunque no hay que olvidar ni un alfiler, jeje)

Details:
Detalles:

* Pattern: Baltic Blossoms by Evelyn Clark (It is possible to buy it on Ravelry).
* Patrón: Baltic Blossoms por Evelyn Clark (se puede comprar en Ravelry).

* Yarn: Alpaca Lace by Cascade.
* Estambre: Alpaca Lace de Cascade.

* Needles: 3.5mm
* Agujas: 3.5mm

* Weight: 60g
* Peso: 60g

* Nupps: 9 stitches
*Nupps: 9 puntos

* Body repetitions: 13
* Repeticiones del patrón del cuerpo: 13

Detail of the body.
Detalle del cuerpo.

Body and edge
Cuerpo y borde.

Notes:


Notas:

* Alpaca lace by Cascade is an amazing yarn. It is extremely soft  and it comes it wonderful colors. But I must admit that I had some problems making the nupps. It is SO SOFT that it runs too easily between the fingers and the needle so sometimes the loops of the nupps became a bit too small to purl them easily on the purling row. It was nothing terrible though.


* La Alpaca Lace de Cascade es exquisita. Es una lana extremadamente suave y viene además en unos colores preciosos. Debo admitir que tuve algunos problemillas haciendo los nupps. La lana es TAN SUAVE que se desliza fácilmente entre los dedos y la aguja por lo que a veces las lazadas de los nupps se volvían un poco pequeñas lo que hacía un poco difícil tejerlos por el revés. Ahora, no fue nada tan terrible... sólo fue cosa de ser cuidadoso y tener un poco de paciencia.

* I think I should have used bigger needles. 4mm would have worked well in order to make a slightly bigger shawl. Even though I made 13 repeats of the body section (which are supposed to be 9 for a "normal size" shawl) the final result wasn't as big as I wanted.


* Creo que debí haber usado agujas más grandes, quizás de 4mm habría sido perfecto para haber obtenido un chal un poco más grande. Aunque hice 13 repeticiones del patrón del cuerpo (en el patrón proponen 9 para un chal tamaño "normal" y 13 para grande) el resultado final no fue tan grande como hubiera querido.

* For the edge I didn't make DOUBLE YARN OVER. I made just SINGLE YARN OVERS (and the wholes are actually still pretty big).


* Para el borde decidí NO hacer DOBLE LAZADAS. Hice sólo LAZADAS SIMPLES (una sola) y de todas maneras los agujeros del borde resultaron medio grandes.

* About blocking: It was pretty easy to block, even though I didn't do it as it should be. The scalloped edge is in reality not scalloped. Each point is supposed to be opened so in reality they are not pointy but rounded (it is possible to see pics on Ravelry). I didn't do the points rounded because I had the idea that after a while they would become ugly and floppy. So, I went for a safe pointy edge. 


* Sobre el bloqueo: Es un chal bastante fácil de bloquear, aunque en realidad no lo hice como se propone en el patrón. El borde en realidad no tiene puntas como el mío. Se supone que cada punta hay que bloquearla para obtener una onda (algo así como una punta redondeada, que se puede ver en Ravelry, si te interesa). Preferí hacer puntas porque me dio la impresión de que las ondas se pondrían feas después un tiempo.

* In general, I would say that the pattern is very clear, it is very well written. I highly recommend it... especially for those (like me) who love the Estonian lace tradition.


* En general, me pareció un buen patrón, está muy bien escrito y el resultado es muy bonito. Lo recomiendo, especialmente para quienes (como yo) les encanta la tradición de tejido estonio.

The wonderful nupps and the single YOs of the edge.
Nupps and lazadas del borde.

Folded and ready to be sent!
¡Dobladito y listo para ser enviado!

We are so very happy with Dehilos.com!! Over the last two weeks it has been growing and growing! Really cool people is coming and registering and most importantly making Dehilos work!


¡Estamos MUY contentos con Dehilos.com! Durante las últimas semanas ha estado creciendo y creciendo y creciendo. Ha llegado un montón de gente MUY animada y con muchas ganas de hacer cosas. ¡¡Muchas gracias a todos y todas por hacer que Dehilos funcione!!

Mavivi had a wonderful idea... she began a CAL. She proposed a crocheted flower pattern that everybody who decided to participate had to crochet and then show the results to the group. There are lot of beautiful flower on the group's wall now!!


Mavivi tuvo una idea genial... se le ocurrió hacer un GAV (Ganchilleando A la Vez). Propuso un patrón para hacer una flor. Todos los que decidieran apuntarse al GAV tendrían que hacer la misma flor, escogiendo los materiales y colores que desearan, y luego la idea es colgar la foto de la flor terminada. ¡Ya tenemos un montón de flores colgadas!

And... this is my flower:


Y... esta es la mía:

Remember that I mentioned that I was going to have a bobbin lace pupil?

¿Recuerdan que les conté que iba a tener una alumna de encaje de bolillos?

Well, I want to introduce Sayo to you :) She has just return from Germany where she bought a beginner's set with a beautiful bobbin lace cushion, 10 pairs of bobbins, some threads, pins and even a DVD!


Bueno, les quiero presentar a Sayo :) Acaba de volver de un viaje a Alemania, lugar donde compró un set para principiantes bien bonito. El set consiste en un mundillo, 10 pares de bolillos, hilos, alfileres y hasta un DVD.

So, we didn't waste our time and started right away with the exercises!


¡Así es que no perdimos el tiempo y nos pusimos manos a la obra de inmediato!

  First is first: putting thread on the bobbins.
Lo primero es lo primero: devanar los bolillos.

Sayo mastering the Torchon Ground
Sayo haciendo medio punto.

Looking good!

¡Tiene buena pinta!

Sayo in ACTION! She was so confident with the bobbins!

¡Sayo en acción! ¡Se ve tan segura usando los bolillos!

Removing the pins!
Sacando los alfileres.

Happy with her little piece of Torchon Ground!
¡Feliz con su primera pieza hecha a medio punto!

Doesn't it look good? I am HUGELY PROUD OF HER!! It took her nothing to understand the logic behind it! Can't wait to continue working with her!! :)


¿No encuentran que se ve súper bien? ¡¡Estoy TREMENDAMENTE ORGULLOSO de Sayo!! Le tomó sólo un rato entender la lógica y los movimientos del medio punto. ¡No puedo esperar a hacer los siguientes ejercicios con ella!

A very late birthday present: Echo Flower

For a long time I wanted to knit something for my friend Anna María but for some reason or another I never got to do it until now!

At the beginning this shawl was conceived as a KAL with Kristín Hrund and Gummi (we have knitted together already two shawls: Aeolian and Hyrna Herborgar). But the original plan was to knit a Laminaria. We began together and after knitting a few rows we all realized that we didn't like the way it looked so we aborted the mission and took the Echo Flower instead.

The problem was that December came on our way and our KAL fell asleep for a good while. In my case not only because December was terribly busy but also because I had to finish some other projects urgently!

Now, it is finally finished! And most importantly, I finally gave it to Anna... whose birthday was at the beginning of January but anyways!

So, here it is:

Echo Flower Shawlette

Details:

* Pattern: Echo Flower.

* Yarn: Einband.

* Needles: 4.0mm and 5.0 to cast-off

* Flower chart: 9 repeats.

* Nupps: 9 stitches.

* Cast-off: with double thread using the K2Tog method.

Notes:

* This is the second Echo Flower that I knit. The first one was made with Malabrigo lace, which I think was too expensive and nothing extraordinary (except for the color that was really nice, you can see it here).

* I think that Einband is much more nice (and MUCH, MUCH, MUCH cheaper and when it comes to blocking... it blocks BEAUTIFULLY and it holds the shape for a long time (unlike my experience with Malabrigo).

The Border.

* This pattern looks very complicated on paper, especially those 2-into-9 and 3-into-9, which aren't so complicated at all. Those are actually, in my opinion, the most fun part of the whole shawl!.

* For the body I decided to make 9 repeats. Since the beginning I knew I didn't want to make a shawl but a shawlette that would be worn around the neck. I thought that that would suit Anna María's style BEST.

The Body: 9 repeats.

* The nupps. I LOVE nupps. I could knit nupps ALL DAY, EVERYDAY! I made them of 9 stitches because I really like my nupps to stand out and be very visible. Besides, nupps are a great sign of handmade :)

The nupps: 9 stitches. And the bind-off: K2Tog with a double thread.

* The cast-off: I used a double thread, as indicated in the pattern, but I used the K2tog method instead of the P2Tog. I really don't understand why the latter one is proposed as a cast-off for this shawl. For me, K2Tog seems to work perfectly done with a needle one size bigger and very loosely.

* Blocking: I think this is one of the easiest shawls to block that I have made! It took me 10 minutes! I used blocking wires only for the upper section and then pins for every point.

Folded ad ready!

* And finally about the color: Anna María LOVES yellow. I think she is one of the very few persons that I know who loves it, and wears it a lot and what is best: It looks great on her. Actually, the day I went to visit her to give her the shalw she was wearing yellow! As you can see in the picture below! hehe.

Anna María wearing her Echo Flower :)

I have not been taking to many pictures lately... I still have a roll of film at home that I haven't developed and another one in the camera since December! It will be fun to see those pics that I barely remember!

These are some pics I took at the beginning of January. It is at an old cementery that is down town in Reykjavík. It is a really cool place to go for a walk...







I guess that now I will begin to take more pics again... now that days are starting to get longer and longer everyday!!

Today is a Great Day!!!!

Today, exactly right now, as I am writing this post my DEAREST friend Laura is getting married in Asturias, Spain!!

Today I woke up with this nervous feeling as if it was me who was going to get married! My stomach is full of butterflies for them both! I would have loved to be able to come to their wedding but they decided to have this just with their families and throw a party later this year... which of course I am not going to miss!!

So, because of this GREAT occasionI I HAD TO knit something for the bride! I must say that the decision of what to make wasn't difficult at all. It had to be something delicate and beautiful. Anything better than lace?

The pattern choice was also very easy... it had to be a Hyrna Herborgar for several reasons: it is my favorite pattern, it is the most beautiful shawl that I know (yes, I know, I am a bit obsessed with it!) and last but not least it is an icelandic design.

So, here it is:

Blocking

Details:

* Pattern: Hyrna Herborgar (from the book Þríhyrnur og langsjöl).

* Yarn: Cascade Heritage Silk (a mix of silk and merino).

* Needles: 4.0mm and a 4.5mm hook to cast off.

Notes:

* As you many of you know this is not the first Hyrna Herborgar that I knit (if you want to see the other: one and two and three) This is actually the fourth one! So, knitting it was pretty smooth since I already know all the tricks of this pattern... and that helped me a lot because I was knitting against time!

* This was the fist time I was using Cascade Heritage Silk. The yarn is amazing. It is a real pleasure to knit. The only boring thing was that I had to buy a WHOLE new skein just to make the crochet bind off row! And this yarn is not exactly one of the cheapest. Now I have a whole skein that I guess will become something for the baby of a friend that will be born in a few months.

* Blocking this shawl is becoming easier and easier everytime! I was a little worried after blocking it because I found that the yarn had a little bit of "memory" ad it was shrinking a little bit on the borders. I had to use some steam to correct that.

* Finally, I wanted to thank my friend Sif, who gently went out with me in  a very cold (but amazingly beautiful) day to have some cool pics of the shawl.

Fortunately the package arrived on time so Laura received her present!  This morning, she sent me an SMS telling me that she was on the way to the church and that she was wearing the most beautiful shawl in the world!!

I am so happy she liked it and most importantly that she is wearing it on this so very special day! Even though I am not physically there my thoughts are with them!

All the best wished of happiness and prosperity for the newly married couple! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!

Aeolian: Pictures and details.

This weekend I have finished the Aeolian shawl!!

It was a really fun knitting, especially because it was a KAL between Kristín Hrund, Gummi and me. I don't know how far Kristín has gone already, the last time we met (three days ago she was already knitting the chart edge set up and Gummi is now began the same chart last night.

So, now some pics and details:

Just coming out of the needles... not so cute

Details:

* Pattern: Aeolian shoulderette size.

* Yarn: Evilla Artyarn 8/2. In the same color I used to knit this shawl.

* Weight: 140g

* Needles: 4.5mm (5.5 for casting off).

* 6 repeats of the Yucca chart (leaves pattern of the body). I made it a little bigger than what the pattern calls for a shoulderette by adding 2 more reapeats to this section (knitting 6 instead of 4)

* 1 final Agave chart.

* Wide edge.

Blocking on the bed. You can have an idea of how big it is.

Pretty, pretty.

Notes:

* Began knitting with a three stitches garter stitch tab on a provisional crochet cast on.

* Seven loops nupps (Yes, I like nupps to be big and noticeable).

* K2tog through the back loop cast off (with needles one size bigger).

* Bocking: CHALLENGING. This shawl is not a triangle. It has actually an almost rounded base that allows the edge to blossom. For blocking I used two wires that I put on the base of the shawl drawing almost a circle and fixed them with pins. Then I pinned the edge shaping the scallops.

* The shawl has a pretty strange shape (at least that is what I think...). It is very long and rather narrow. I still have to find a girl to try it on and see how it looks like.

* Even though I made the shoulderette the resulting shawl was HUGE. I am just wondering how big Gummi's and Kristín's shawls will be! The decided to go for the shawl size which calls for:

- 12 repeats of the Yucca chart (I made 6).
- 2 repeats of the Agave chart (I made none).
- 1 repeat of the final Agave chart (I made 1).
- 1 repeat of the edge chart (I made 1).

* The pattern is very well written. The only section I would "rewrite" is the description given to begin working the all the edge charts. I wrote a little explanation of it in a previous post.

Against the light.

Agave chart.

Edge: Leaves, nupps and scallops.

Transitions.

Folded.

Over all: 

This is a beautiful shawl. The transitions between section look amazingly pretty and in harmony and the edge is breathtaking!!

Now, I can't wait to see the shawls of Gummi and Kristín to put them all together and check how different they all look! Pics of the three shawls together will come hopefully soon!


I also wanted to thank Kristín Hrund for a wonderful gift that she gave me on our last knitting meeting. When we met in my place  we prepared some cakes and scones and I let them try one of my favourite things in the world: Manjar (o dulce de leche) which is very, very popular in Chile but impossible to find here in Iceland.  I still had some that my sister brought me when she came to visit me last winter.

So, going back to our last meeting... Kristín came with a jar of HOMEMADE manjar made by her!!! How wonderful is that!! Especially because it takes a lot of time to make it! Thank you so much Kristín!!

Homemade manjar.

Scones me manjar. The testure and flavor are perfect!

The other present that I want to show is what Ana (Hiro) gave me when I visited Asturias in May. I already showed the beautiful presents she gave me but until last week I hadn't put in use the needle cases. They are just AMAZING!! It is so easy now to find anything!! She makes them herself and it is possible to find them in her online shop! : )

The case holds everything: double pointed needles, the tips, cables, stitch holders.

Harebell Fichu: Finished!!

 The Fichu is finally finished and blocked!!

After blocking laying flat.

Against the light.

When I started it I thought it was going to be an easy project. Well, I was wrong. It took me a while to get it but once I did... everything went just smooth and fine.

Details:

* Pattern: Harebell Fichu.

* Book: Victorian Lace Today.

* Yarn: Einband (Icelandic lace).

* Weight: 62g (So it was one ball and a little more)

* Needles: 3.5mm

Pattern detail: I would say that these are flowers, aren't they?

Things I learned:

* How to make a picot edge.

Picot edge.

Picot edge detail against the light.

* Attatching the lace section to the band making joins along live stitches that lay perpendicularly to the direction of knitting (wow this sounds weird!). Look at this diagram I draw to (maybe) understand the idea a little bit better. The joins look actually really good. They are very even and somehow invisible.

Section. It is possible to see the joins that are right below the band (where the inverted V is)

Difficulties:

* First of all, to understand the pattern and the construction of the Fichu (Diagram).

* In terms of knitting I HATED making the S1K4togPSSO (Slip one stitch was ok. Knit 4 stitches together was TERRIBLE! And passing the slipped stitched over was a piece of cake :p)

* Blocking: This is the first rounded lace project that I knit and blocking it was a real challenge. The challenge was to have it even and nicely rounded and well proportioned. It took me over an hour to get it done (and a lot of sweating and pain in the knees and back!). I started by pinning the inner circle trying to have as rounded as possible.Then I put one pin in each picot trying to stretch it evenly. After having the outer circumference all pinned I just removed the inner pins... they were no longer necessary.

I think that the time, sweat and pain definetely paid off!

Blocking

Against the light.

Final thoughts: It was really nice to knit this piece even though all the difficulties (from which I learned a few new things :) The Fichu is very light and airy and the lace pattern is just beautiful. If you have the book... definetely give it a try!

The Liliac Leaf Shawl: Finally finished!!!

The Liliac Leaf Shawl is FINALLY finished!!

I love to see the pattern blossom after blocking. It looks so pretty!!

To had to put a little bit of thinking on how to block the stole. I usually use the bed which is normally big enough to hold shawls but this time this stole was way to long. I had to add a little piece to the bed. To do so I used a foam matress and my new Ikea bobbin lace pillow. It worked pretty well.

Blocking: wires and pins make miracles!

Grafting is like magic. It is barely possible to say where the grafting is. Isn't it?

The liliac leaf pattern. The pattern has so much movement  and that is thanks to the garter stitch frame around each leave.

Blocking has become so much easier since I got the blocking wires. Holy blocking wires. They don't only make the hole process easier but also the result is a lot better. The straight borders become really straight and the scallops look a lot more beautiful!

Notes about the shawl:

* Body pattern: Liliac Leaf Pattern 1 from the book The Haapsalu Shawl.

* Edge pattern: Taken from Madli Shawl from Knitted Lace of Estonia.

* 3 1/2  balls of Loðband (icelandic lace yarn) Each ball is 50g.

* Needles: 5.0 for casting on and off and 4.0 for knitting.

* Casted on 100 stitches using the knitted on cast on technique (my favourite for shawls).

* Made 34 repeats  of the 16 rows leaf pattern slipping the first stitch with the yarn in front of every row.

* Made two edges that I grafted to the each end of the body. When grafting watch the tension, it is ver easy to have an extremely tense graft with will be a problem when it comes to blocking.

*Final measurements: 62 x 230cm

The hole thing :)

It is too bright outside but I guess that it is still possible to see the pattern.

Folded, ready to be packed and given :)

I am very, very, very, very happy with the result. It exceeded all my expectations :)