The Annual First Bee Day 2017... was three weeks ago!

I knew it! Apparently First Bee of 2017 was waiting for my previous post release... and showed up just one day later - on March 5th.

Ok, this may be considered cheating, because hyacinths were bought in a flower shop. But we have other flowers as well:

I mentioned buying fancy yarn in my previous post. As a 100th post celebration, or simply because I deserve some squishy goodness after this horrible winter! After hours of picking, calculating, terrorizing my husband with countless links I finally found what I was looking for - Mirella by Włóczki Warmii. Fingering weight 100% virgin merino wool, hand painted in Poland. Colorway "Curry". Yummy!

Shipping was really fast. I ordered on Saturday night, and the parcel was delivered on Tuesday afternoon. Luckily  I had a day off after a night shift, when I came back home to this:

Since skeins were a bit too long for traditional one-chair winding I had to create a Wind@tron 2.0. I swear one day I'll try winding my skeins with hand mixer!

It took me about two hours to wind all 1200meters into three neat balls.

Being done with all that I was finally able to start working on the Hitofude Cardigan by Hiroko Fukatsu. I decided not to slip any stitches at the beginning of each row, and I consider it to be a good decision so far.

 

I'm working simultaneously with all three skeins - that forced me to cut thread twice after joining sleeves. No regrets though - yarn is an absolute pleasure to work with, and result is just gorgeous! It has tiny specks of red and green - just like real curry! 

So far I manager to finish sleeves (did 10 instead of 12 repeats), and start body increases. I still have 160g of yarn left, which should be enough to complete the cardi as intended.

I hope that my next post will be one of those "ta-daaaah" posts! Also, my birthday is getting closer, and I might get myself something... nice :)

I'm running back my to knitting! Stupid daylight savings time took away a precious hour of my free weekend!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

Winter is nigh!

I'm sorry it took me so long to start that post! In fact, I started writing it last week when temperature went below 0°C(32°F) for the first time. Today's weather is warm and damp, but not as photogenic.

I got out into the freezing cold of early morning to take those, I hope you appreciate that!

Those spider webs sure looked festive!

Since it was really cold I had to speed things up with hubby's scarf-in-making. And here it is! He loves it and no longer calls it "too colorful" :)

Pattern is called ZickZack Scarf by Christy Kamm, free on Ravelry.
I really enjoyed knitting it! It was easy to memorize, just 12 sts repeat throughout the entire thing. I used Merino Gold II by Oren Brayan for this (the 70% acrylic 30% merino version) - one skein of plain gray and one in grayish batik. I didn't use up it all - I cast off at about 180cm.
My only modification was casting on 60sts and adding 2 extra for edges - 1st slipped purlwise, last knitted.

Currently I'm working on a cardi I intend to use during my night shifts. It's a simple open-front raglan cardi in a very "medical" teal shade. I don't like that color but at least yarn was a freebie!  I need to put some serious effort into that, cause I already had my first night shift... and my cardi is still nowhere near to FO.

Back to knitting then!

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

PS.: Here's a pic from our forest trip three weeks ago. It was fun! :)

Hasiok's new friend.

Hey, look who I found hanging around in my backyard!

Ok, to be honest I found him on Ravelry (where else?). I was lucky enough to join a free KAL for Owen's Opossum. This cutie was designed by my all-time favorite toy designer: Sara Elizabeth Kellner from Rabitt Hole Knits.

I finished knitting my possum in less than 3 days. I used acrylic yarn leftovers from my Purple Cats, and some pretty random scraps. Since I used smaller needles (3mm for magic loop, and 2,5mm dpns) he came out smaller than original.

 I haven't decided how to call him yet, I was thinking Frank - in honor of Fairway Frank from one of  Parks and Recreation episodes.

While outside, Frank tried to make my dog like him. They didn't get along so well.
Sometimes Korek seems just tired of it all:

"Keep your stupid knitting away!!!"

I went back to my attic and look who showed up! Just in time to meet his new pal!

They seem to be enjoying their company, peeking out of my window. I wonder what are those to up to? I just hope it's not related with my yarn stash in any way.

Well I'm definitely up to making a nice milkshake, with red currants! :3
And making some progress on my scarf. The one I'll share with next time.


Have a nice afternoon!
Gosia.

The Annual First Bee Day 2016!

Remember last year's First Bee Day?
This year it's much earlier! I hope this little bee knows what she's doing flying out so soon!

Our garden really starts to look like sprig is just around the corner:

Few days ago I dug one of my unfinished projects - My Wedding Stole:

I started it in 2013 and was planning to wear it on my wedding in July 2014. However when I finally picked my wedding dress it no longer matched. On top of that, it was a really hot summer!

So.. I decided to frog my stole's remains and go for something easy yet gorgeous looking. And I found Banana Leaf Shawl pattern. Unfortunately my lovely husband showed me how to add my card to PayPal account... now I can buy whatever I wish without asking him for help. Clever move, honey! 

It's quite straightforward and easy to do without looking into pattern. I'm using Drops Lace for this in natural white and 4mm needles. Believe it or not but this part took only 7 grams of my 100g skein:

The pattern will surely pop out when it's blocked! Also it's so soft! Almost like Tiny Tina's fur!

I hope this time I will have enough patience to finish this - I need to have it so bad! In fact, I'm getting back to work right now.

Have a nice afternoon! 

Gosia

Creamy Cardi Returns!

In my last post I mentioned my Creamy Cardi as my biggest failure of 2015. I can't see a better way to start a new year, than correcting that mistake, and restarting the whole project.

Here I go (again)!

Since I'm a lazy person, and lately I don't have much time to spare I decided to knit straight from my unfinished sweater.

I know, I know, I should frogg it and let the yarn straighten. But that exceeds my patience!

This time I picked a pattern from Ravelry, one of several I got from Christmas giveaways. 

It's Chance of Snow by Elena Nodel. I love how detailed instructions are! It also covers a wide range of sizes. I chose S2 and am hoping for a comfy, snugly cardi. 

Also, I went down one size using 4mm instead of 5mm needles. My first cardi's fabric felt too loose and therefore uneven. 

Now just look at those cables!

This is how far I got in ten days:

It's really hard to show how it fits around my arms while taking a selfie... Believe me when I say - that's a nice fit!

There's not much going on in my crafter's life right now. Maybe except a funky Twiddlemuff I made for my grandma. You can read more about it in pattern from Warrington Hospital:

In last week temperatures returned to more friendly -2 to +3°C, but before that we had -15°C at night! This of course attracts dozens of birds to our feeder... and one very persistent, but luckily lousy, hunter:

He's been visiting for last three years, but haven't caught a single bird. But just look at this determined face!

I feel a need to add few rows to my cardi. Can't waste that!

Have a nice evening! 

Gosia. 

PS.: Hasiok&Friends is celebrating it's first birthday! I'd like to thank all visitors, especially those who managed to read my post this far. You're the best!

5:38 AM train.

Two weeks ago I needed to attend a course outside my home town. Lectures started at 8AM so I had to hop out of my bed at 4:45 and catch the 5:38 train.
Since I am unable to sleep while traveling I geared up and was ready for my new project!
The Ten Stitch Corner Blanket by Frankie Brown.

In 2014 I made a classic Ten Stitch Blanket (from Frankie Brown as well).

I loved working 10 stitch rounds! But to be honest, long knitting needles were hard to handle with constant turning and turning... so I decided to make myself a set of short knitting needles.   I didn't want to ruin my only set of 4mm DPNs by gluing beads to one end permanently, so I listened to my Mom's advice and.. tadaaaah:

It says "Prestige"!

Yarn I used is called Merino Gold Batik by Madame Tricote, colorway 802. Package arrived just in time for me to start the first corner during weekend. I got through the hardest part of my work and got to a point where I could safely work without making intellectual effort.

I had troubles with joining rounds and decided to go for a different join. I found it in one of original Ten Stitch projects: this one. It goes like this: slip, pick up, knit picked up and slipped st together. I also slipped 1st stitch knitwise after turning.

It produces a bit bumpy, but nice enough edge:

After a week of traveling back and forth I have one complete corner, and started another:

It turned out to be very autumnal! :)
Speaking of autumn, sadly season for garden-grown tomatoes has come to an end.

But we can enjoy our own quince! Nothing tastes quite like a big cup of tea with quince marmalade.

Now I'm off to enjoy my weekend, and my one extra hour of sleep tonight (we're having daylight saving time). 

Have a nice afternoon!

Gosia.

Cream Cardi Struggle.

Now I know... I hate knitting garments in pieces. To be more precise: I hate knitting garments that have more than 2 pieces. 

Like my Cream Cardi:

I like where this is going but I will have to frog the top of the left front AGAIN, so that length matches. I am too close to completing the project to just give up, but I lost most of my enthusiasm.

Maybe I need to take a break? I just hope it won't turn into one of my eternal WIPs

My neighborhood got overrun by hedgehogs lately. Since my dog hates them, we often have to evict them from our premises. Last Tuesday I stopped on my way to work and helped one spiky kiddo get across our street, Young hedgehogs are not as half smart as they are cute!

Next week I will have to travel to Katowice by train every day... which raised a need for a new traveler-friendly project!

I'm still waiting for yarn delivery. What worries me a bit is the fact that my parcel got labeled as XXL by the courier. Huh, maybe they sent 40 instead of 4 skeins? I wouldn't mind, really.

I will share with you my traveler friendly project as soon as I lay my hands on those squishy skeins! :3

Until then, here, feast your eyes on my gorgeous sunflower! Yes, that is a single plant. With over 30 flowers.

Have a nice evening! 

Gosia.