Usually I don’t name my socks. But this is the exception. Sergei Rachmaninoff was a composer of classical music. And the one that wrote the piece I spent some time knitting to indoors on a fine saturday afternoon, KIP’ing away. It’s not a great story, but I liked the name (russian and french names always make tongue tie itself into a know when I try to say them, it’s fun )

The special thing about them is that they are, in fact, my first pair of completly vegan socks! made in panda cotton. A yarn so lovely that I’m considering buying enough for 5 more pairs of socks…

For the rest of the details, check them out at ravelry.

As a ps. I’m not knitting as much as I used to these days, I don’t know why, I just dont. So these socks have been with me for a long time, and I’m still not finished with them.

Tags: kip, knitting in public, ravelry, socks, toe-up sock, vegan, yarn

It’s the last day of january today, it seems like a good time to make this years resolutions regarding knitting, and especially one aspect of it has been on my mind the last couple of days.
Stash… (long pause)

In 2006 I had no money, bought next to no new yarn except on a couple of occasions and was really modest about taking in new stuff just because I had no choice.

In 2007 I got my economy somewhat on my feet, and vowed to build myself a stash, just so that I would have a backup plan if I was back in the position from the previous year. I also went vegan in october, and stopped buying animal fibers.

And now it’s 2008. I got my stash, some of it is pretty, some of it isn’t, and most of it isn’t vegan. It might be a little late to have resolutions for the new year now, but I do.

• I will continue to not buy animal fibers, and knit down a lot of what I have
• I will try to use more from the stash than I put into it
• I will learn to knit socks without wool that I can love as much as the ones with wool
• I will make at least one hoodie, that I will wear regularly
• I have joined a stash-turnover group at Ravelry and I will follow it’s lead. By adding new gorgeus yarn to it, and use up the old

Tags: knit, ravelry, socks, stash, vegan, yarn

I love participating in swaps
Rigth now it’s a Vegan post-holiday swap, over at the group Vegan knitters and crocheters at ravelry. The swap was a great idea, and the fact that ravelry exists makes it so much easier to join something like that.

I haven’t sent mine yet, but I hope to do it in a couple of days. I went a bit overboard with yarn shopping for my partner, and tomorrow I’m off to get some cheezly and stuff like that for her. I’m extra motivated to do compose a good package now, after I got mine today *squeee*

When I got home today I checked the mail, a nd the second I opened it, a nice smell started drifting out of the postbox, not strong, but really nice. And in my joy I discovered a package, for ME!
I ran in and tore it open, and inside I found

• Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton (organic) that I’ve wanted to try for a long time, I prefer stroking this yarn over any other I’ve stroked so far
• a bag of loose tea, with bits of fruit in it
• a 101 Vegan book in swedish, with recipes, looks cool/fun/educational
• a bar of Lush soap in peppermint, the thing that smelled so good
• A handmade sock-bag, with the words “I knit socks” embroiderd on it, lined and in a lovely floral fabric
• Small bags of a nutty spread
• a cute pen with fruits on it
• and Blue candy! I love blue candy!
• and a sweet letter

Malinmerino, that sent me this, is awesome. Words fail me when I try to say how much I digg this package, you really hit the spot with this one. It made my week

Tags: ravelry, swap, vegan, yarn

I’ve been a slack knitter this holiday, partly because I decided to not do any christmas knitting this year. I love not having to knit anything, the only problem is that as a result I almost didn’t.

Except: A sweater, in the pattern Ester. Unfortunately I’m not really finished with it yet, it needs a few more inches around. And I forgot to take a picture of it in the hour of daylight we had today… oops.

During my reading for my second exam a couple of weeks ago I cast on some socks (the new knitty had just come out) and I needed some knitting breaks from the world. They are beautiful, but I don’t knit on them constantly, they are a bit too involved for that. It’s the Azure pattern. At first I tried to make them in some Opal Bamboo. a variegated green colour, but seeing as this is textured pattern made up out of increases and decreases (but not lace, genius!) it ate it up too such an extent that I frogged it and restarted in a single colored yarn.

The sock yarn I chose is Fabel, by Garnstudio. It’s a pretty good yarn, wool/nylon blend, much the same as Regia or Opal, but a little bit fatter and a lot cheaper here in Norway, as it’s not import.

The other thing I’m making is Quant. From the newest knitty as well. My first attempt at enterlac, a technique I haven’t really had the need to try. At first glance the pattern didn’t seem to appealing to me, but a knitting a friend made three(?) for christmas gifts, and said the pattern was pretty cool. So I gave it a try.

So far, so good. I had to go down one needle size to get gauge. Not that I really swatched, I just made the beginning and frogged back when it turned out an inche too big, without doing the I-cord again.
I’m a bit disappointed with the yarn though, Noro Kureyon has been raved about so much that I thought it would be… better? None has mentioned as I have seen that it’s not uniform, in the spinning department, it’s almost thick/thin, but not quite. More like the yarn I’m producing as a pretty novice spinner, than what I expected out of Noro.

PS. The fact that I pulled all this yarn out of my stash kinda worries me. 2007 apparently was the year of stashbuilding for me

Tags: christmas, norway, opal, socks, toe-up sock, yarn

As I talked about a couple of days ago I’m knitting Fetchings on the train, they have replaced the socks I’m usually making, I still feel a bit socked-out after this summer.

A few notes on the pair I’m making.

• 3.5mm needles,
• Bamboo by Idéna.
• I’m twisting the cables in the same direction on both, since I’m lazy like that.
• On the finished one I messed up the distance between two cable rows, oops.
• Lengthened the part after the tumb to 8 rows instead of 4 before cable twist
• The yarn is splitty, and has a gazillion plies.

I love them, even though they’re not going to be the warmest fetchings ever (in that respect, bamboo is a bad choice).

Tags: cables, knit, knitting in public, yarn