Reviving and moving the blog!

So. I have decided to revive (and move) the blog. Why?

Because I’m also in the process of reviving (or up-viving) and redesigning ShopONION.com (and perhaps even my professional life!)

The blog will show and reflect my life – including the sewing and knitting stuff!

Finished objects, designs, fashion, styling, work in progress.
Passions, inspirations, difficulties.

I want to inspire you to sew and knit and create. And have fun. This is my mission.

We are moving to http://blog.MariaDenmark.com. Come!

This inspires me today!

Pattern: Mobile Mittens

Så kan mønsteret til sms-vanterne downloades i Engelsk version. Værsgo!

Mønsteret giver opskriften på vanterne i to størrelser: Tween (alså sådan ca 12) og Teen (som svarer til en kvinde hånd). Og så giver jeg også retningslinierne for hvordan man kan lave dem i andre størrelser.

Hvis nogen beder om det, vil jeg da gerne lave det på dansk også – bare sig til!

Now the pattern for the Mobile Mittens is ready for download in the English version. Here you are 🙂

This pattern will give you directions for 2 sizes,(Tween and Teen) but also directions to make them using the measurements of the intended receiver.

The mittens in use 🙂

FO: Mobile Mittens

Jo altså, jeg er jo færdig med Rasmus’ SMS vanter. De er ligesom to vanter i en, pulsvarmere med flap (så de bliver til vanter) og tommelfingeren er med hul så man nemt kan få fingeren frem og bruge den til at sms’e. Ei – det er svært at forklare… Her er et billede:

The mittenwith the flap down - and you can see the thumb-hole.

 

De er strikket fra toppen af fingrene og ned (så er det nemmere at finde den rigtige størrelse + unødvendigt med strikkeprøve) med magic loop metoden. Så har jeg strikket med et stykke garn hen over midten ved bunden af fingrene, og strikket videre til tommelfinger-hullet, hvor jeg har har gjort det samme. Til sidst har jeg taget lidt ind inden jeg lavede ribben, som ikke er så lang på Rasmus’ vanter, fordi han har en lidt mærkelig jakke, så der ikke er plads til mere end 5 cm.

Here you can see one open and one closed mitten. And the texting part..

 

Inspirationen til hvordan jeg skulle lave flappen kommer herfra – bortset fra at jeg ikke har lavet fingre.. Hullet i tommelen er noget Rasmus fandt på – og jeg har også set det f.eks. her hos Drops.

Så det er ikke specielt originalt, men de er edderman’me seje – man ved det når klassekammeraterne (som er ca. 11 år!) spørger om jeg ikke også vil lave sådan nogle til dem (tror jeg ikke lige nu, men skriver opskriften ned – og så kan de tage den med hjem til dem de nu kender der strikker!)

Og så er de dejligt varme. De er lavet af Grønhøj Garn’s Peru uld – som er vældigt billigt ( ca. 13 kr pr. nøgle). Det er100 % uld, og skal vaskes i hånden. Og de er strikket på 5 mm pinde. Mønster kommer nok snart. Flere detaljer kan ses her på Ravelry.

So I’m done with Rasmus’ text – mittens (MobileMittens, CellMittens…don’t know yet..). They are flap top mittens with a hole in the humb, so you can use the thumb when you write a text-message. It’s kind of hard to explain. See the pic 🙂

They were knit tip down (so it’s easier to find the right size, ehich makes gauge swatch unessecary) using the magic loop method. I got the inspiration for the flap  here  – except I made them mitt style without the fingers. Rasmus came up with the idea for the hole in the thumb – but I’ve also seen it at Drops .

So it’s not a new thing – but they are very very cool (you know they are when the son’s classmates (who are 11 yo) ask me to make some for them, too! (I won’t though. But when I’ve written the pattern down, I’ll get them copies so they can pass them on to their personal knitters)..

They are warm! Made in the very inexpensive ( € 1,70) Grønhøj Garn Peru Wool.100 € wool, hand wash.I knit on 5 mm needles. Pattern very soonish! More details at Ravelry!

Kieler week-end (ikke woche!)

Ja, jeg var jo så i Kiel og besøge søde Tini (og Heiko) i week-enden. Det var skønt at se hende igen og at hænge ud og snakke! Vi strikkede og ordnede verdenssituationen og drak lidt vin og så gav Tini mig lige lidt garn med hjem..

The Yarn I got from Tini - The red Incense is already becoming mittens

Og om lørdagen var der så Yarn Crawl i Kiel. Vi mødtes med en masse søde tyske kvinder  (omkring 20, tror jeg) og var i forskellige garnbutikker. Det første sted købte jeg ikke noget, med så tog vi hen til Wollwerkstatt Kiel!

A sign in the garden. If you get to Kiel, go there! Seriously!

Fantastisk sted! Meget lille butik – super super super lækkert garn!  Nøøøj! Så var jeg glad for at jeg ikke havde købt noget det første sted og stadig havde masser af Euro tilbage! farverne, kvaliteterne, jamen altså. Og indkøbskurvene var flade blomster/frugtkurve – super!

See? The happy, crazy look you get when surounded with such nice yarn!

Efter det (vi fik også kaffe og kage og snakkede) tog vi til en café ved kanalen og sad der og strikkede. Over 20 kvinder. Det var et noget usædvanligt syn og mange forbipasserende kiggede da også lige en ekstra gang!!

The Yummy Yarn I bought!

Vi tog hjem ved 4 tiden, så vi havde lidt tid til en hyggelig lørdag aften. Og jeg blev faktisk færdig med Rasmus’ SMS vanter  (Ravelry link)- og de er godkendt og i brug  (hvilket faktisk betyder at han elsker dem!)- mere om dem i en senere post..

..and the next picture is of a snowball flying towards me..

 

So, I went to Kiel to see Tini (and Heiko) and I had a great time. It was great to see her and hang out and talk and knit! And Tini cleared some stuff from her stash and gave me yarn (first pic). 🙂

On saturday it was time for a Kiel Yarn Crawl. We met up with about 20 German women and went yarnshopping. The first place, I didn’t buy any yarn, nothing really appealed to me. But I did get some tiny sheep buttons. And then we went to the most fantastic store:  Wollwerkstatt Kiel! A very small shop with the most faboulous yarns! The colours! The textures! The shopping baskets (flat fruit baskets – no plastic here!) LOVE! I was so happy that I didn’t get anything the other place and still had plenty of yarn money Euro left!

After that wonderful experience we went to a café near the canal and knitted – more than 20 women. A very unusual sight, and a lot of people had a second look at us!

Tini and I left at around 4, so we still had time for a nice Saturday evening, before I had to get an early start home. Oh, and I finished the Text-Mittens for Rasmus (Ravelry link). They are more than approved (=he loves them), he is wearing them and I’ll put a pattern up really  really soon – and write more in the next post.

Iantha loving Evilla yarn…

Iantha loving the Evilla yarn

Originally uploaded by mariafabaech

Jeg er hjemme igen, og fortæller og viser snart en helt masse. Men det her ku’ ikke vente: Da jeg pakkede mit nye garn ud, udsete Iantha sig straks Evilla-ulden og gik helt amok. Hun elsker det. Jeg har aldrig set hende reagere på den måde før (og hun er 10 år!). Har andre oplevet det samme?

I am back at home and I have a lot to show and tell. But this couldn’t wait: When I unpacked my new yarn, Iantha went straight after the Evilla wool and went crazy. She loves it, wants to own it and eat it.. I have never seen her react like this before (and she is 10 year old!). Has anyone else experienced their cats reacting like this??

Projekter

Jeg ville jo lige vise jer de der wellness bukser jeg lavede i week-end’en. Mønsteret er ONION 6011, stoffet er også fra ONION og er det grå Luxury Velour sammen med Lavender Rib.

ONION 6011 - oh, I'm standing weird

 

De er superlækre at have på. Jeg har ikke tilpasset dem noget særligt, for helt ærligt, det er bare afslapningsbukser!  Men linierne på dette billede er nu mest fordi jeg står underligt. Mit hoftemål er 92 cm – hvilket falder ind under XS størrelsen. Men mit taljemål er indenfor størrelse S (men henimod medium!), så i andre tilfælde ville jeg have fundet en middelvej. Men her er hele taljestykket lavet i rib – så det er mere et sprøgsmål om at klippe elastikken i den rigtige længde. 

Og så er jeg i gang med flere strikkeprojekter.. Det her begyndte jeg på i går: SMS-vanter til knægten. Han vil gerne ha’ (eller be’ om, hedder det vist!) et par sorte vanter hvor man kan tage toppen af og også gerne toppen på tommelfingeren, så man kan sms’e uden at skulle tage vanten af. For det er nemlig meget besværligt (??!!). Ja ja da. Det er da sikkert sjovt at lave, så jeg har målt og er gået i gang, og har pillet op og prøvet igen, osv. Mønsteret finder jeg på ehn ad vejen.. Har besluttet mig for hvilken slags flap der skal være over fingrene, men ikke endnu hvilken slags tommel, eller hvilken slags tommel-flap jeg vil lave. Det vil vise sig.

Text mittens for Rasmus The white yarn is where the flap is.

 

 Og så siger Knirke (katten) og mig tak for i dag🙂 I morgen kører jeg til Tyskland og besøger Tini i Kiel et par dage. Mand og børn bliver hjemme, og Tini har arrangeret noget Yarn-crawl noget… Det bliver sjovt!

Bye Bye 🙂

 

I wanted to tell you about the lounge pants (wellness pants) I made. The pattern is ONION 6011, The fabric is from ONION, too. It is grey Luxury Velour  with Lavender Rib.

They are so comfortable to wear. I love them. I didn’t adjust the fit on these at all because, you know, they’re lounge pants! But the wrinkels are mostly because I’m standing weird.. My hip measurement is 92cm – so that is in the XS size, but my waist measurements are nowhere near the XS measurements! So for other projects I probably would have adjusted the pattern for the waist part (and the upper part of the pants) but with this, the waistband being ribbing it really wasn’t necessary at all.

I’m also knitting different projects. This one I started yeasterday – Rasmus asked (demanded, but then asked, when he saw the look on my face) for text-mittens. Mittens he doesn’t have to remove when he’s texting someone (which he is all the time, it seems). It’s in his words so much trouble to remove his mittens that he preferes to have cold fingers and not wear his mittens at all. So these are black (what he wanted) and will have a flap top on the fingers and on the thumb. I’m making them up as I go, measuring, and deciding what to do next (what kind of flap, thumb, etc). Kind of fun – except they’re black…

And finally Knirke (the cat) and I are saying buy for now – I’m going to visit Tini in Germany tomorrow (and over the week-end) and I can’t wait. I haven’t seen her for so long. She’s also arranged for some sort of yarn crawl – that’ll be fun!

Mohair – suk! (Sigh!)

Originally uploaded by mariafabaech

Vinterferien er jo det perfekte tidspunkt at pakke de sidste julegaver væk. Eller noget. Jeg havde næsten glemt denne her. Det er fra Rasmus og det er ikke mindre end 10 nøgler af akryl/mohair (fra Stof og Stil). Det er rigtig rigtig meget mohair. Jeg kan ikke bare gemme det væk og vente på inspiration, for barnet har allerede spurgt mig om hvornår jeg skal strikke med det garn han har givet mig. Så. Igang må jeg.

Jeg ved bare ikke rigtig om jeg kan finde på noget at bruge så meget mohair til. Så indtil videre tænker jeg. Jeg tænker at noget af det kunne blive til et sjal/stola/lille tæppe (sådan et som man kan have om sig om sommeren når man sidder ude om aftenen)- og så tænker jeg at det skal være noget med bølger eller andet der kan minde om havet. Så lige nu sidder jeg og laver forskellige prøver af forskellige mønstre fundet på Ravelry. Hvis du har nogen idé til hvad jeg ellers kan lave – så kom med den:-)

So.. Winter break is the perfect time to put away the Christmas presents. I had almost forgotten about this one:
10 skeins of Acrylic Mohair from Rasmus. The colour is off (it’s a bit less bright – TG) . Since this is from my son I have to make something from it. And soon – he asked when I was going to start on it.
But I don’t know what to make that’ll use up 10 skeins of the stuff.
So right now I’m trying out different lace patterns because I was thinking I maybe could make a really large stole/shawl/wrap thingy. I’m thinking something with waves….If you have any ideas – please let me know! 🙂

Kreativ week-end

Vi har syet!

Rasmus testing the machine

 

Sørme så! Jeg har lavet en ny bunke fleece-sokker (det er godt at have mange af sådan nogle når man bor i et fodkoldt hus – og de fleste gæster er vandte til lejligheder). Rimeligt kedeligt – men meget effektivt – og så kan jeg vente et års tid med at lave en ny portion.

Rasmus (min søn på 11) har håndarbejde i skolen og synes det er lidt kedeligt kun at sy på papir. Så han spurgte om han måtte sy på min maskine. Han fik et lille kort kursus, og så fandt han på at han ville lave en gammel yndlings-t-shirt (der er for lille) om til en sej pude. Han fandt selv ud af hvordan han skulle gøre det og fik kun hjælp med at sy halshullet til sidst (det var svært at styre en fyldt glat t-shirt!). Er meget stolt!

 

Senere gik han i gang med et penalhus og jeg har klippet endnu et par wellness bukser (ONION 6011).

The finished pillow - and the proud maker!

 

Der strikkes også – bestilles frø til haven.. Mere om det senere.

 

We have been sewing! Really!

I’ve made tons of fleece socks (which are great when you live in a house with cold floors and all your guests come from appartments!). They are very practicalbut also very boring to sew. But this batch should last me at least a year 🙂

Rasmus has Textil Craft (sewing/knitting/crocheting/felting) in school but only gets to sew on paper, which he finds a bit boring. So he asked if he could sew something on my machine. A quick introduction later, he was ready to sew what he wanted. And he had a plan: A very cool favorite t-shirt was too small, but could be turned into a very cool favorite pillow. He figured out how to do it himself, and only neededhelp whith closing the neck hole. I’m very proud of him!

Later he started working on a pencilcase and I cut out yet another pair of Wellness pants (ONION 6011).

I’ve also been knitting – and started thinking about ordering seeds for the garden. More about that later…

Pattern: Tip-Down Baby Mittens

I’m done writing the patten. And while the mittens are drying after being blocked, I’ll post it here with a pic of the first mitten:-)

Tip-Down Baby Mittens

 

Before Blocking

Size: Newborn / 3-6 months/ 6-9 months

 Yarn: I’ve used two strands of Drop’s Alpaca (sport weight yarn), but you could use one strand of any worsted weight yarn or two strands of sock yarn.. Anything but bulky yarn. You need about 25 grams.

 

Gauge: Not important. Really. You are knitting these from the tip down and using your measurement tape to decide when you are done. But my gauge was about 22 st. per 10 cm.

 

Needles: I’ve made these using the Magic Loop Method knitting on a circular needle, but you could easily adjust the pattern to using 3 DPN’s or two circs. Mine were made on a 4 mm needle, but you should use the size that is appropriate for your yarn and tension.

 

Abbreviations:

St = Stitches

K = knit, P = purl

Kfb = Increase by knitting in front of back of stitch.

à= until

K2tgt = Knit 2 st together, to decrease 1 st.

 

 

Pattern: Cast on 8 st using Emily Ocker’s Cast On. Distribute the st to make ready for MagicLoop Knitting, 4 st on each side.

Round 1: Kfb in all  stitches, so you  now have 8 st on each side, 16 st total.

Round 2: Knit all stitches.

Round 3: *K1, kfb, kàsecond last stitch, kfb, k1* two times.

Round 4: Knit all stitches

Repeat round 3 and 4 until half of the mitten (one side) measures  app.  6,5cm/7 cm /8cm (13 cm/14cm/16cm total). Pull the cast on thread to close the hole at top.

Continue in stockinette stitch until the mitten measures 8 cm/9cm/9cm from the top.

Next round, decrease 4 st like this: *K1, K2tgt, kàthird last stitch, K2tgt, K1* twice.

Now do a k2,p2  ribbing for 3 cm/4cm/5cm and cast off in pattern.

 

Repeat for second mitten.

 

Weave in ends and block. Then send me a message on Ravelry (I’m MariaDenmark) or on my blog: Wool and Weeds and let me know that you have made these.

 

You may use this pattern for knitting for any purpose you like – including selling items made from it.

 

Have fun (and hey, If you sew, check out my shop: ShopONION.com with Danish design Sewing Patterns)!

 

 

Trying

Well, I haven’t been feeling like blogging for a looong time. I’ve been posting about my knitting/crocheting on Ravelry [Ravelry Link], which I finally discovered in October, and my garden on Danish site Havelyst.dk.
But recently I have been feeling the urge to start blogging again. I miss the feedback and also I need a place to keep track of my sewing projects etc.

Tip-Down Baby Mittens, first one

So I’m having another go. Instead of trying to catch up on all the things I’ve been up to, I’ll rather just jump in where I am right now, and then see if I’ll tell you more about the other stuff at another time:-)

I am going to be an aunt this month. This is a big huge thing, since the last baby that was born in my family was Rasmus (my son) and he turned 11 in November.

I’ve been knitting a lot of baby stuff and right now I’m on the last project for now: Mittens for a newborn baby. This is the first project I’m designing from scratch and I’m having a lot of fun, even though I am also having a lot of ripping going on 🙂 

I’m going to post the pattern here in both English and Danish as soon as I have it ready (wow! My first pattern!)

See you soon 🙂