Moving house

Last blog for a week or so (hopefully) As we are currently packing up to move house again! only two streets away from our current rented Swedish house. That part is lucky but the pack up/up pack part boring!

My son and I worked out this is the 8th move in his 16 years!(average every two years) maybe I was a nomad (I think a traveller! history not so good)
In my previous life as I just never seen to settle. keep on walking!......keep on moving.......
Forgot to mention, the 1st move for the puppy Rasmus
(But so far he seems ok with the packers and commotion)

My top
My free form crochet is now my sleeve, very elaborate! "I here you say".
And then I attached the bust part with crochet then knitted on the round needles 15mm then picked up with crochet 12mm for the waist part and now 6mm.:-0

This week I have been mostlty......

Using a crochet book I almost managed to copy a picture pattern of fan stitch. Today I will try again an actually follow each row of the picture pattern. It's in five steps and I think I almost got it, this took three attempts and alot of time.
Here is my free form crochet that I have turned in to a sleeve. This is the bust part that I have attached to the sleeve, so I am working from the sleeve across.

No1 ladies detective agancie

No1 ladies detective agancy

An extract from the book I’m reading taken from “The no1 detective agency” part 5 I think, titled The full cupboard of life.

By Alexander McCall Smith

Concerning crochet.......

It would be good she thought to be back in Mochudi, to be sitting in front of someone’s house peeling vegetables, or crocheting something perhaps. That’s what she had done when she was a girl, and had sat with her cousin, who was apt at crocheting and they had made place mat after place mat with fine white thread; so many place mats that every table in Botswana could have been covered twice over, but which some-body, some where brought and sold on. These days she had no time for crocheting, and she wondered whether she could even remember how to do it. Of course crocheting was like riding a bicycle, which people said that you never forgot once you learned it.

Surely their where things that with a laps of time one might forget how to do! but this she thought was not one of them;-)

70's top

My 70's top is now completed, at knit lab's Knit cafe yesterday I sat and stitched all my ends in. I still find this a task completely boring but It brings a warm feeling when you stitch the last end in.:-)
Knowing that I have completed yet another project.
Also the added plus that you can get it right with out concentrating to hard. As I have found that knit cafe with detailed projects tend to end up unpicked as chatting and concentrating at the same time tends to bring it's problems.:-(
But as always good fun!
( I have noticed, a lot more lifes lines get put in at knit cafe's)

$ store Fabric

What to knit!
This is the fabric that I will use.
That being the material from a shower curtain, that I purchased from the $ store in New York. I will cut the fabric as if for ragging and then begin to crochet a bag the basket type.
The blue and white reminded me of a "Ming Vase"

Two new knit samples

Crochet
The same sample but two ways.

70's

The neck line now that I have pulled it in using crochet.

70's

This week I have been mostly knitting/crochet my 70's sweater!
(In between clearing up puppy pee)
It's a mix of knit and crochet and this is it so far. I need to work on the neck as I think it is a little wide but I can pull in in with a few rows of crochet.

Hurtigs knit cafe (Gino)

The magazine that will be featuring Tuesday knit cafe meet
Special effects curtsy of my broken digital camera! A full house for Hurtigs knit cafe.
All good fun on an every day evening, the Tuesday group that was "Gino's knit cafe" has now moved to Hurtigs konditori (Drottnininggatan 90) and runs on a Tuesday night from 5 ish!

Hit or miss attendance is a few or many!. But tonight turned into a photo opportunity as the magazine "Amelia" came to do a feature on knitting/crafts.

A big set up with lots of lights and camera equipment and a very funny photographer who was very happy to do Swedish and then English!

Lets hope the magazine got a better camera shot than I did? as we practically over took the huge coffee shop with knitters.

London Marathon

Google Suzie Hewer, for charity she was running the London marathon and knitting a scarf as she jogged.

Howz that for a knit addict with a new knit challenge. I don't think I could manage the marathon and I do knit everywhere but on my few jogs a week, I really don't think that I could manage too!

It would defiantly get the neighbour talking! mind you I go from tram and train knitting or crocheting all the time and if I'm half way through a row. I will continue to knit as I leave one train to bored another.
Of course not at peak time.
And yes as you could imagine I have had many an issue with people getting caught in my yarn, especially my daughter or dropping my balls!

All in the name of a good knit! yes I'am defiantly an addict.

At Knib lab (knit cafe meet) today we talked and laughed about knit therapy, not the sort you use to feel less stressed but the group therapy........ (picture this) Hello my name is Alison and I have been manically knitting/crocheting for 2 year and I cant stop! my husband recommended therapy as I knitted the lettuce leaves for our salad! :-)

This week I have been mostly

It has a crochet bust and back part that I attached and then I picked up on a round needle to make the body part. I have also learnt to knit the continental way. Slow to begin but once I got it, much faster than my self taught way.
The top so far;-)
Funky 70's wool that I brought from the knitting festival at the (Sollentuna Expo)
20:- a ball that's around £1:50. 1 ball for the waist and I have two more for the sleeves that I will knit both at the same time.

New Art sample

I have crocheted up all my odd ends from recent projects, using a 12mm hook and crocheting different stitches going round and round. This should make for an interesting spray sample.
And pay day soon arrives and I can buy some new canvas and paints. My English supply's have fast dried up after two years of living in Sweden. I need to sell some art and restock my cupboard;-)

Orange packaging

I knitted a rectangle on 12mm needle with the orange packaging that I had cut up as if for ragging.
(knitting fabric I think that's the word).
Then I crocheted using a 10 hook the fabric onto Angela(The dress)

I did this whist it was on the mannequin, as the fabric is very fragile and broke quite a few times whist I was making the rectangle. So it has a lot of joins but they blend in with the dress and I like how it looks, plastic yet fragile!.
Another of the outrageous gaps filled, oh what to use use next?.

Me in my angel top

It's very unusual for me to put a picture of my self but on Sunday to knit lab I actually wore one of my tops and I decided to try and take a picture of me to mark the occasion.
And of course technology and me (don't work)
I can't use my camera timer (don't even know if I have one!)

And as you can see it turned out slightly difficult but fun so I posted me in three as that was the best I could do.:-)

Also Im am now learning how to knit the Swedish way, trying is a good word. Karin showed me last week and Karin and Catherine(spelt wrong sorry) this week........still trying but not getting any faster!
It will come apparently.

Skull Candy

Skull Candy (I stole the name from my head phones)
My skull got new head gear. I used a piece of thin plastic and a durable fabric to go inside the visor part of my Union Jack baker boy hat. It can be bent with out breaking so that has worked much better than the original cereal box I had stuffed the visor with.

Orange packaging recycled

Close up on the packaging.
Pre cut and ready to knit, I plan on knitting it into Angela, it make an interesting fabric but is extremely messy.

This week I have been mostly making.....

Sleeves!, Still working on Angela.......... the sleeves are half crochet and half knitted on a round.

Angel Top

I decided to stitch the back with crochet instead of a button. The top can fit over your head and seeing as it could be risky with a button, that being it could come undone I figured that a permanent join would be better than ribbon or a button.
The vintage broach, another from my collection.
(Working at New look for 5 years meant a lot of broaches)
I think it works well to set of the pink stripe off. The top is actually wearable and not too much fantasy which is good for me;-)