Henry and Knitting

Henry has so many clothes from gifts and hand me downs plus all the bargains from the Red Cross...he has a far more extensive wardrobe than I...the knitting I have done is really superfluous to his needs, so I intend to slow down on the making for Henry for the time being anyway.

However, every now and then I do pick up some left over wool from projects and knit little triangles to make bunting for Henry's room.  

I did finish the blanket just before he was born...it was so enjoyable to knit...just plain old garter stitch,  easy to pick up at any time...so different to the dastardly difficult cushion I made earlier.  I enjoyed it so much that I intend to make another as a throw for around the apartment...perhaps I will get it finished for winter.

I finally got around to knitting leggings for the little cardigan and hat I had made earlier.  Learned all about gussets and knitting in a rise for the bottom with these, (my knitting vocabulary is growing) he may get some wear out of them through the winter months. 

He is a sheer delight becoming more alert, making cute baby talk noises, definitely got a double dose of placidity (a dose from each of his parents) and I don't care what anyone says he smiles when I talk to him...it is not always wind!

 He is adorable!

I have a confession...I am addicted!

In between painting and Icelandic classes I knit and on Wednesday evenings I attend a knitting group where about a dozen women get together and knit and chat, whilst I don't understand very much of what is said the group is very welcoming, inclusive and full of laughter. 

Knitting is done differently on this side of the world and is known as the continental method.  I was taught the English style which is the throwing method.  The continental method seems very fast with minimal movement of the hands, the ladies in the group seem to whip up lopapeysas (Icelandic Jumper) within a couple of days.  I thought I would give this method a go and see if I am able to retrain my brain to become accustomed to this style.  I have always been a little ambidextrous, I write and paint with my left hand but use scissors, knives, computer mouse with my right...and writing with my right hand never feels that foreign to me...I am sure if I perservered it would soon become second nature.

However I also decided to complicate the issue by learning how to knit a fancy smancy pattern for a cushion cover,  I was trying to cross two hurdles with one leap as I knew I would eventually need to know how to create these patterns when I finally make myself that lopapeysa.  I also couldn't enlarge the print out and therefore had to use a magnifying glass to count the squares and then mark with dots and crosses so I knew exactly where I was in the pattern (oh so time consuming).

 

As I had two different coloured threads that needed to be woven through on the back as I knitted, I searched the Internet and YouTube for help and came up with the two handed method.    

 My left hand with the brown thread knitted continental style and my right hand with the blue thread knitted the throwing style.  I am sure this must be good for the brain and possibly help delay the onset of Alzheimer's.  After knitting like this for so many weeks it now feels strange only having the thread in one hand.

Degree of difficulty soared with the complexity of the pattern, plus I decided to knit it in the round to  have less seams and knit stripes on the back. All this meant that this ended up being a long and tedious project...no watching TV and knitting with this baby.

So after many frustrating weeks I finally finished the thing. There are several errors where I miss counted when trying to watch TV, drink coffee, talk or do anything else simultaneously but unless you spent time specifically searching you don't notice them.

 

 Front

Back

I have become a little addicted to knitting and purchasing knitting related products.  To the visitor my home looks innocent enough but lurking beneath the surface are secret stashes of all things knitting and this is only after a couple of months...goodness knows what it will be like in a year or so.

There is nothing worse than not having the right size needles when the urge to knit comes upon you.  Ross bought Olga a set similar to this for her Birthday/Christmas gift and I must admit I coveted them...not any more!

 Innocent enough looking coffee side tables which are normally scattered around the room

 But lurking undercover are many many balls of wool

 And this old ammo box of my dad's is perfect for patterns, needles and all other required paraphernalia.

 Now onto the next knitting project which will get me in the grandma mode.

Small Joys...the best kind!

 The last snow fall a couple of weeks ago was pretty intense and it has left quite a layer of ice around.  I often take Freyja for a walk through a secret garden area...in summer it is rolling green but at the moment it is pretty impenetrable heavily covered in ice and snow.  I really like this walk and so ventured out the other day but when we got there the path had completely disappeared under the snow.

Normally there is a path through here

 Even Freyja did not know which way to go

 

The path cuts into the side of this slope so it was a little hair-raising walking along here, fortunately someone had been along before me and I used their footprints to guide us through.

Small Joy #1

The view was well worth the angst of the walk

My life at the moment is full of small joys, one being the Red Cross market days, where you can fill a plastic shopping bag for only1500 Kronas, approx $13 AUD.  So Olga and I had one bag between the two of us and we stuffed it full.  I managed to get a lovely Pashmina, a vintage silk scarf, 6 brand new white cotton dinner napkins, plus a couple of skivies.  Olga snapped up a scarf, jeans, a couple of tops and quite a few baby clothes and all this for only 1500 ISK...bargain...but Ross secured the deal of the day and bought a cool leather Jacket for 1000 ISK approx $9 AUD. 

Small Joy #2

My Red Cross stash.

When we came out from the Red Cross we were greeted by these unusual cloud formations.

 Small Joy #3

Another small joy is the one where you find out how to do something that you thought was pretty unattainable....I think I can now call myself a knitter...as I have added a pair of socks to my growing list of knitting achievments...I had always wondered how you turn a heel and now I know.  So next I think I will try a jumper or cardy or something similiar and see how I go with that...I am sure YouTube will get a bit of a work out.

Small Joy #4

The fab socks made from Lopi which is the very warm Icelandic wool.

 

Ross in the beanie looking a little like a mischievous Christmassy Yuletide lad

but always an absolute joy!

How to knit like an Icelandic man

While I have been playing the waiting game on the outcome of some business negotiations, I have when indoors busied myself with knitting.  I have been teaching myself to knit with the search skills of Google and the very many helpful people who have bothered to take the time to provide YouTube knitting tutorials on many of the queries I happen to come up with.

My skills are vastly improving each day and this weekend I learned how to knit fingerless gloves which involved at different stages up to 5 DPN's (double pointed needles for those of you not in the know), cable stitch and picot bind off, plus how to use waste wool when creating the thumb hole....all very exciting!

Sorry the pic is a little blurry but its a bit hard taking a photo with one hand

Ross has asked for another Beanie as he has been wearing the one I made to work and it has become as he says "a little fished up"....so today I will start another hat for him...they are definitely improving as I go along.

Left to right the 1st one I made with the nipple shape on top, 2nd one was better but the band kept curling up, 3rd is Ross's one that is now a "bit fished up" (and by that we mean smell, which doesn't really go away even after washing).

 This 4th one I made for myself, great for keeping my ears warm when out on my walks.

As I have said previously Iceland is the knitting capital of the world and even men knit, so to prove that here is a little video of an Icelandic man knitting...it is very funny in an Icelandic sort of way (thanks to my sister Kerry for the heads up on this video). 

How to knit like an Icelandic man from Iceland on Vimeo.

First snow fall!

It is getting colder,  the air is fresh and crisp, today is -2c and I absolutely love it.  As a child I always preferred winter over summer, I think in a previous life I must have lived in a cold climate.  Of course, inside the houses are warm and cosy and I have not felt cold at all.

Yesterday I woke up to the ground lightly dusted in snow, my first snow fall since I arrived. My daily walk around the town was as pretty as a picture.

 

Iceland is pretty much the knitting capital of the world, traditionally, men, women and children all knitted and today tourist knitters can find out more by joining a knitting tour around the country.  So I thought I had better try and hone my skills so I don't feel too out of place.  Knitting is probably the one craft/handwork that I have done very little of,  I have been more of a crotcheter (is that a word) having learned that craft in grade 5 primary school.  So...as I needed a hat to keep my ears warm on my walks outside I decided to knit a beany...on circular needles...with the final few rows being knitted with no less than 5 double pointed needles.  Needless (pun intended) to say it has been a struggle...the picture below is of the first attempt, it is a bit small for my big head (the pattern said for medium head, which I thought I was but obviously not!) and also ended up with an unattractive nipple shape at the top.

 So I have begun another one which has already been pulled out and restarted 3 times.  Kristin (Olga's grandmother) eyes my knitting and wonders (I am sure) why on earth it doesn't grow (she would have knitted several jumpers in the time that I have struggled with this one tiny hat).  Knitting needles are rarely out of Kristin's hands as she knits continually children's jumpers and socks for the Red Cross.

However I will persevere, I am determined to master the art and one day be good enough to knit a jumper...stay tuned, however it might take a while!

In the meantime enjoy this 1987 Minneapolis news show on knitting in Iceland. Also have a laugh at the very 80's hairdo of the announcer.