LUL´s blog

Flower Power Vest

2011-08-03T09:47:00.018+01:00

I finished the Flower Power Vest. And made a second one too :-). I'm really happy about how it turned out and its fun and pretty simple to make.
I can be downloaded for free (in danish and american) here:

download now

More Flower Power

2011-07-14T11:53:00.012+01:00

Flower power

2011-07-14T11:22:00.002+01:00

I saw this crochet vest, but couldn't find a pattern. So decided to design one myself.

Almost finished.

Better late than never

2011-07-10T10:32:00.002+01:00

The final result of my squares project :-)

No more squares!!!

2010-01-28T21:14:00.009+01:00

A total of 80 squares!!! Now I just have to put them together, and to weave in all the ends (sigh)

Whisper Cardigan

2009-08-03T21:25:00.003+01:00

Whisper Cardigan

Summertime

2009-08-03T21:07:00.004+01:00

Holiday in Austria

Spring scarf

2009-05-31T22:55:00.004+01:00

Finally got around to design another scarf. And get it online!

It can be downloaded for free here

More pictures at LUL design

Giggle giggle

2009-02-04T20:00:00.003+01:00

What can I say! I laughed constantly while making it :-D

Made in mohair it's really...soft....ROFL

Pattern her

It has chickpeas in the scrotom...good to keep the papers from flying all over the place...

Gave it to a friend....

It's not allabout knitting

2009-01-18T22:20:00.003+01:00

Swimming in these waves was FUN!!

...and cold ;-)

Fun crochet

2009-01-04T22:41:00.000+01:00

Crochet doesn't have to be boring

Look

and laugh.

Finito

2009-01-02T22:33:00.004+01:00

Ok...I knit instead of updating my blog!!

One more Mother Earth Scarf. Which I finished ages ago but didn't block until I had to wrap it up for christmas. Have another new lace scarf design that I havn't blocked....

Finished Sexy Vesty

And all of a sudden I love to knit socks!

Practised on a baby boy pattern....which I might get around to write down the pattern for.

A finally found a use for the Hundertwasser yarn I got way back from Jen. They were a christmas gift for a friend.

Mikado

2008-12-14T23:15:00.004+01:00

And because I am lousy at blogging I managed to finish a sweater for Albert without a single post about the proces. So here it is. Mikado by Falkenberg. Way too big -but that's better than being too small!

I have another pile of squares too....I'll save those for another day.

Sexy vesty

2008-12-14T23:04:00.002+01:00

Have been wanting to make a vest for a while. After ages at Ravelry I finally came across Sexy Vesty by Canaryknits. Also liked Orford from Rowan and Talia from knitty.com. The latter is a free pattern too. Migth make it next time but with a few modifucation. Like no buttons!

A zillion squares...

2008-11-06T19:02:00.007+01:00

Well...almost :-) Here is another bunch of squares. I have made 52 by now.

Square time!

2008-10-14T10:30:00.005+01:00

All of a sudden the urge for making squares hit me again. So here are square no 28 to 34.

Square 1 to 27 are here.

Still lots of flowers...

2008-09-28T10:04:00.001+01:00

Though it is getting colder everything is still blooming like crazy!

Flowers and Leafs progress

2008-09-28T09:56:00.002+01:00

The Flowers and Leafs Scarf is still growing. It's a fun knit that takes a little longer than usual due to the wrong side pattern. As the center and border repeats don't have the same number of rows I have had to chart almost every single row.

I am using Jaggerspun heather on 3 mm needles which seems to be quite appropriate. The yarn is very elastic and when not pinned out it looks a mess. Pinned out like this it's only sligthly messy :-). I am sure the wet blocking will do wonders.

Jennies Radiant Scarf

2008-09-25T21:10:00.003+01:00

Jennies Radiant Scarf finally arrived safely at Jennie ;-) And here it is...in all its redness, spicing up the days that are getting shorter and darker.

You can purchase the pattern at LUL design where you can read more about it too.

Flowers and Leafs Scarf

2008-09-21T21:35:00.003+01:00

With lots of Dahlias in the garden what is more obsious than to make a flower scarf?

Here's the beginning.

In a few days The Radiant Scarf will be published. I am just waiting for the receiver to get it ;-)

What happens if you forget the doug...

2008-09-21T21:32:00.001+01:00

A mess!!

And eventually...

Lots of buns for the lunch box.

Swatching for a new lace scarf

2008-09-20T13:51:00.002+01:00

Working on a new design...

Summer went by...

2008-09-15T08:11:00.004+01:00

This has not been a summer with lots of knitting -nor blogging. But this morning I took a brand new design of the blocking wires.....a secret one, which will be revealed within the next week. It will also be possible to purchase the pattern at LULdesign , so come back for a peak.

Summer 2008 included:

Congress on Iceland

Skt Hans Bonfire

Congress in Chicago

Lots of flowers

-and lots of work!!!

still here

2008-08-02T18:47:00.004+01:00

Okey, so I am not in a "blog every day" mood these days ;-)
I have been busy with this and this (which took a looot of time) and with my garden!

Which back in June looked like this

And now have evovled into these fantastic beautiful flowers!

No knitting -lots of flowers

2008-06-07T10:56:00.001+01:00

Another Clematis is blooming

The last Aguilera

Cucumbers in the green house

The Dahlias are gwowing fast because of the warm whether.

More flowers...

2008-05-27T20:32:00.004+01:00

Because it's this time of the year....

Wild strawberries

Dahlias are popping up

Clematis

Lupins and aguileras

Flowers flowers flowers

2008-05-18T21:57:00.004+01:00

If only the colour was different I'd like this Azalea.

My homemade trellis and a new Clematis to cover up the ugly green house

what are you doing????

2008-05-10T19:55:00.003+01:00

Well, not blogging! That's for sure! But I have made a sweater using a drops pattern. I wanted to be able to unbottun the hut so I invented some crochet buttons.

And I am working on a second copy of the Mother Earth Scarf.

But to be honest I don't do much knitting these days with the weather being wonderfull and work being busy and so on....

Mother Earth pattern release

2008-05-03T13:02:00.004+01:00

The pattern for the Mother Earth Shawl and Mother Earth Scarf has been released. You can find it at http://www.luldesign.blogspot.com/.

Until July 4th 50% of the sale goes to Unicef. so hurry up and bye it straight away :-)

Swallowtail -life after SSS

2008-04-02T20:16:00.004+01:00

After so many weeks with SSS aka the Mother Earth shawl It is kind of hard to get back in the old routine -with several things on the needles and most important -more blogging!!!

But I managed to finish my swallowtail -which has been forwarded to my sister in law.

Comments (!!! sorry)

2008-04-02T20:06:00.003+01:00

A while ago I started to have spam in my comments and decided to switch on the function where I have to accept comments before the are posted(apparently it isn't possible to delete comments once they have been posted -or it's me being blind and stupid)
Anyway, I forgot about it!! And just discoverd a pile of comments!! So sorry about that to those of you who wrote a comment and please don't stop. I really enjoy getting comments!

More Mother Earth pictures

2008-03-30T10:33:00.003+01:00

Finally got around to do some outdoor pictures :-)

SSS revelation

2008-03-19T17:11:00.002+01:00

I have been thinking quite a bit about how to reveal the theme, as I over the course of the kal have realized how different we all read the pattern. This is actually one of the great things about lace knitting, you can see as much or as little as you wish and your imagination lets you.
Anyway, my main thought about the design was to bring out circles and curves (which I pretty soon realized isn’t easy in lace knitting).
Circles to represent how almost everything in life is repeating itself again and again, the changing of the seasons, being born –growing up-getting old-dying and a new human born again, sunrise-daytime-sun set and night. It all moves in circles and we are all just part of a bigger event “Life” , let it be human or nature.
Curves to represent the curves of a woman –the main image of the stole being a rather modernistic shape of a pregnant woman. She is standing on the bigger circle that represents the Earth, with the tree of life in the center to remind us that we are all part of the world and we all live important lifes. We may look differently, but we are all the same –man or woman.

The name of the stole is

“Mother Earth”.

You can think of it as a tribute to life and growth, but it is also a reminder to us all that we are responsible to the earth we live on, to the people living on it and to the nature we all share. This is the reason for me wanting as many countries as possible to join the kal and for making it a charity kal aswell.
Thanks to all of you for joining and making this a wonderful knit along! Within the next couple of weeks it will be possible to buy the pattern for the Mother Earth stole & Mother Earth scarf. As mentioned before 50% of whatever raised the first two months after the release will be forwarded to Unicef.

SSS Clue 10

2008-03-09T17:44:00.003+01:00

Only two clues left.

My own SSS made its first public appearance saturday at Great Grandmothers funeral.

SSS Clue 9

2008-03-02T09:16:00.000+01:00

Clue 9. Only three to go. Notice what I have done -it's a hint ;-)

SSS Clue 8

2008-02-23T08:49:00.003+01:00

Four to go. Next week will not be too complicated either, but for those knitting the long version this is where you will have to catch up.

And guess what...I have finished my own SSS and it's now blocking. I managed to pin it out to 75 by 195 cm (29.5" by 76.8")

SSS scarf

2008-02-19T22:12:00.004+01:00

By the end of the kal and afterwards it will be possible to purchase a pdf file with the pattern for the Spring Shawl Surprise.

As an extra treat it will include the pattern for the SSS scarf. A scarf where you start out with the center pattern (the birds eye pattern), knit on the ends by using the live stitches from each end of the birds eye pattern (you have to cast on using a provisional cast on) and finally add the end borders as a knitted on border.

I just have to write down the pattern (why didn't I do that while knitting??) and have a testknitter to check it.

But at least I finally got around to blocking it the other day.

You can click the pictures for a bigger version.

SSS Clue 7

2008-02-16T09:35:00.002+01:00

Clue 7! This is where it starts to get possible to guess the theme -or so I thought. There is one thing I could say to help out....but I am not going to...yet ;-) We still have 5 clues left, but the next couple of weeks will be quite easy before I throw people into the most complicated part of the shawl (which is as far as I am on my SSS -and I spend a looong time yesterday trikking back!)

Size: 108 x 66 cm / 42.5" x 25.9

And I'm still using Jaggerspun Superfine merino Ruby colorway on 3 mm needles

Spring is in the air...

2008-02-15T14:57:00.003+01:00

Though it's freezing cold! But the sun is shining from a blue sky

SSS Clue 6

2008-02-09T17:29:00.000+01:00

Halfway through, just about. On Ravelry Spring Shawl Surprise is number one in the most active recently published designs. Think that's kind of fun and I am honoured that so many are working on it. Thanks to all of you!

This weeks clue has been a nightmare because it turned out to have lots of mistakes, especially around the beginning of the circle in the center. I am really really sorry about this! In the future I'll go through the clues before sending them out, to make sure this doesn't happen again. I can't guarantee no mistakes, but as many as in clue 6 is a no no!

SSS Clue 5

2008-02-01T18:13:00.000+01:00

I wonder what is going to happen next.... ;-) I don't think anyone has been close to guessing the theme yet.....

SSS Clue 4

2008-01-24T17:40:00.000+01:00

So far so good. Good to see so many are now confident with the Bird's Eye pattern. No need to dwell then :-)

Clue 3 and a bit

2008-01-22T17:30:00.000+01:00

62 by 58 cm /24.4" by 22.8"

Oops, Janice was right. It's only clue 3 and a bit! ;-) She is making a solid come back after messing up the clue versions ;-) *lol

Knitting is a lot of fun

2008-01-16T22:01:00.001+01:00

If I need to be cheered up a bit I pop by youknitwhat. Not only are the pictures and comment hilarious, hundreds of people are commenting.....

I'm just thinking the handles let it down a little bit.

A checkered bag with single testicles dangling off of it. Just wow.

What the... Who ever came.... Why would any... Someone find the person who designed that thing and get them some help. Now.

I always wondered what they did with the testicles of neutered dogs.

And here I thought it was a staging area for sperm...

We call it: "Bumble Bee Testicle Bag" Catchy, no?

Alien scrota!

Balls ! said the Queen.If I had them, I'd be KING!

A purse inspired by Bobby Fischer's colonoscopy. Why, yes, those are polyps!

"Excuse me miss, but I was just admiring your balls."

uh.. it has polyps...

I think you are suppose to milk itMellykins

OMG that is _shite_! It lookos like the bag is vomiting yarn. Blech.

Someone told this designer to "grow some balls," and sadly, she did....

And have a look at this....is it for breast feeding?

20 countries in SSS

2008-01-15T20:47:00.000+01:00

20 countries are represented in the Spring Shawl Surprise. Isn't that amazing?

What art movement are you?

2008-01-12T22:39:00.000+01:00

Is this good or bad?

You Are Modernism

You tend to be oriented toward the future and technology.
You like art that signals how the world might change in radical ways.
As far as art goes, everything in the past is obsolete - and it's time to carve a new path.
You prefer art that doesn't follow any rules - even if the art doesn't make much sense.

What Art Movement Are You?

SSS Clue 2

2008-01-11T07:58:00.000+01:00

It sure isn't easy to keep up with the group ;-) Even though I am cheating and started clue 3 yesterday as I want to double check the clues before I send it out.

I am using Jaggersoun Superfine merino 5040 yards/lb (1000m/100g). 3 mm Addi Lace circulars 80 cm long and so far, dryblocked, it measures 29 by 61 cm (24" by 11.4"). I am doing the short version which means it will end up being just below 2 meters long (78.7")

1891

2008-01-09T20:52:00.000+01:00

1981

No it isn't the year I was born (unfortunately). It's the number of members in The Spring Shawl Surprise group.

Lots of them have casted on and a few even finished Clue 2 that was releashed yesterday.

The group has been closed to sign-ups but will reopen by the end of March when the knit-a-long ends and the secret is revealed. At that time it will also be possible to purchase the pattern.

I will post pictures of the clues here so some back for a peek if you missed the sign-up. If you are a member of Ravelry you can see lots of SSSs in there. My ravelry id is lul.

Happy Knitting!

Me too

2008-01-04T23:24:00.001+01:00

I wonder if it's bad behaviour to knit-a-long your own secret....

This is what it looks like if you forget (!!) to knit row 15+16.

The Rising Sun

2008-01-02T20:56:00.000+01:00

The Rising Sun

by: Sri Chinmoy

The rising sun

Blesses my mind

With joy.

The setting sun

Blesses my heart

With peace.

Measures 108 by 50 cm (42.5" by 19.7")

People are busy knitting the SSS and a few have already finished Clue 1. Well done, it's looking great! Have a look.

When Clue 2 is released next Tuesday I will close the group to new members.

The Loop Stitch

2007-12-31T16:32:00.001+01:00

Happy New Year to you all

Below is a video of how to do The Loop Stitch. You need this for the SSS.

I hope everybody in the Spring Shawl Surprise will enjoy starting 2008 with this surprise knit. I I also hope you will like what it turns into!

Sun

2007-12-30T22:30:00.000+01:00

This time of the year you can never get too many suns!

Winter sunshine

2007-12-28T21:59:00.000+01:00

I finished something secret and suddenly found myself with nothing to knit! No project on the go! (well, apart from the zillion things that have gone from WIP to UFO. The list is much longer now)

Anyway, no lace projects on the needles ;-) I have knitted SSS several times -but not in one piece and figured I, like everybody else, will start Jan 1st. Well, honestly, I would have started all ready if only I had some lace weight yarn. I got a big cone of merino for christmas, but of course in the only colour that doesn't work with the theme -black. I have a lot of kidmohair too, but the shawl would turn out huge with that.

So while waiting for my order from Sarah's Yarn I was inspired by another christmas present, three books by Barbara Walker -and started a new project that I still don't know what will look like in the end.

And this is how far I've gotten in between teaching (ahem) my children to play on their new Nintedo NS Lites.

So far I just call it "Sun"

It sure feels good finally to have something to blog about!

Addiction

2007-12-24T14:03:00.000+01:00

Watch out you addicted lace knitters!

Merry christmas

2007-12-24T11:09:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas to all of you. May all your wishes come true.

One week left to Spring Shawl Surprise so go ahead and sign up

Release of clue 1

2007-12-21T17:24:00.000+01:00

On the image below you can see what time the first clue of the SSS is released.

Click for larger version. Man= monday 1st. Tir= tuesday 2nd.

SSS swatch 2

2007-12-21T16:38:00.000+01:00

A second swatch was recently released in the Spring Shawl Surprise group. It was designed by Purplejen and included a surprise. -The letters SSS :-)

I know a few have been struggeling with it but don't worry, the both sided patterns used in SSS are simpler and faster to get a hang of than this one.

My swatch is knit with Jaggerspun Zephyr, Basil colourway. I used 2.75mm needles and it measures 12.5 by 5.5 cm (4.9" by 2.2")

If you haven't signed up for the group yet go ahead. The group will be closed to new members jan 8th 2008.

Yarn Garland Scarf

2007-12-18T22:04:00.000+01:00

Look at this wonderful scarf. You can get the pattern for free at Red Corset Designs

Santa came by

2007-12-18T20:25:00.000+01:00

Santa came by dressed up like Purplejen with a wonderful christmas surprise.

Thank you Jen!

You are the best. Look at all these goodies she send me

Yummy delicate mohair. I have never seen kidmohair at this weight before 400m/25 g. And the colour is gorgeous!

And not only has she dyes her own yarn she also SPUN it!! It will be so fun to use! And the colours are great too!

A body care kit, perfect for the cold frosty whether we have these days.

My favourite scent and look at that calendar. Isn't it just SO much fun!? And a box of beautiful green pearls and delicious chocolate (already ate half of it, am working on my xmas belly)

Thanks Jen. I didn't even open all of them. Will save some for tomorrow night.

I luuuuv getting spoiled :-D

SSS ploo re no. of clues

2007-12-15T09:01:00.000+01:00

A total 447 persons placed a vote regarding the number of clues in Spring Shawl Surprise. The result is

12 weeks

Which is just perfect for the pattern. This will give people time to other things than knitting SSS and hopefully the newbies can keep up too.

Hey, there's only a few weeks left before the first clue is out! I hope you like it!

Oh so soft

2007-12-07T22:33:00.000+01:00

For a long time I have been wanting to make a big soft scarf of the kidmohair/silk yarn Purplejen gave me in the final SP10 parcel. Now was the time, while listening to the final cds of Dean Koontz' The Face. Plain and simple which bring out the best of the variegated yarn. And it is SO soft!

Swatch One -again

2007-12-02T18:01:00.000+01:00

One more swatch in Zephyr, this time with 2,75 mm needles. I also tried to knit a little tighter.

Measurements: 12,5 by 10,5 cm (4.9" by 4.1")

Book 'n Needles

2007-12-02T09:01:00.000+01:00

My knitPicks circular 2,75 and 2,5mm arrived the other day from Get Knitted. Now I can make swatch one for Spring Shawl Surprise on smaller needles and hopefully get a more appropriate gauge. And a book arrived too-'cos one can never get too many books about lace knitting right?

Which reminds me...which books should I put on my wish list for christmas? Any suggestions? Foreign books are welcome too as long as they are charted!

They even included a pen and some sweets (eaten :-)). I luv surprises ;-)

Crownprincess Mary

2007-11-30T18:08:00.000+01:00

Yesterday Crownprincess Mary visited sons kindgarten. He had a blast and managed to get himself on national news asking the princess funny questions that only 5 yo can come up with!

Secret of the Stole -dyed and blocked.

2007-11-26T18:49:00.000+01:00

I was just about to moan about my felted (!) uneven dyed (!) SotS when Purplejen saved my day! She wrote : "I won't worry about the uneven colour, I think that's the appeal of hand dyeing"

Thanks Jen!!

I don't mind the felting this time as it was enourmous -but it will be a while before I felt anything after it has been knitted!!!

Sorry about the lousy pictures. I'll take some outside on a sunny day asap (who am I kidding, it's winter!)

More surprises

2007-11-23T13:22:00.000+01:00

Yesterday there was a slip in my mailbox about a package waiting for me at the postofice. I was very surprised and puzzled because I wasn't expecting anything!

At the postoffice today I ripped the box up right away (by then I could see it was from Amazon and admitted, I was out of patience). Gosh. Reb has spoiled me again and sent me a copy of her favourite indian cooking book! We are both very fond of indian cooking :-)

Reb, thanks a million! I am totally overwhelmed and in lack of words. It is so sweet of you!!

Swatch One again in Zephyr

2007-11-23T12:04:00.000+01:00

Here is a picture of my Zephyr swatch. It ended out measuring 12,5 by 12 cm (4,9" by 4,7") which is a little too large, so if I had smaller needles I would use 2,75mm instead of 3mm. From this swatch you can also see how much you are able to change the width and height just by blocking.

Purplejen has posted pictures of her Swatch One in her blog. Please remember the yarn estimate is based on her swatch (which is smaller than mine), so if you decide for a bigger swatch than hers you will need more yarn (estimate so far is 1650m). With her gauge the shawl will be app. 65 cm wide.

SotS all finished!!

2007-11-23T11:04:00.000+01:00

I was hardly awake when i started knitting this morning :-) Now I just have to dye it (no felting this time please) and block it (it's going to be huge).

Apart from that it's Spring Shawl Surprise time!! Still have some swatching to do.

SotS 7

2007-11-22T22:30:00.000+01:00

Just in time for clue 8 -the final one.

More Melon

2007-11-22T20:45:00.000+01:00

Now that I finally have something to show I sure am doing it all the way! :-) My 5 yo took the pictures so they might be a bit out of focus.

Pattern: The Melon Shawl from Victorian Lace Today

Yarn: Fonty Laines Kidopale (70% Superkid mohair, 30% polyamide)225m/25g. 80 g used.

Needles: Addi Lace needles 4mm

Started: August 24, 2007. Finished: November 21, 2007.

Size: 70 by 200 cm

Swatching and blocking

2007-11-21T21:00:00.000+01:00

Blocking is essential in lace knitting and it's always amazing to see the huge change it causes.

Ofcourse some people like to block their lace more than others just as some patterns call for a lot of blocking and some less.

The Spring Shawl Surprise needs quite a bit of blocking and you will actually use it to mould parts of the pattern. Once you start knitting you will all see what I mean.

Below is my Swatch One before and after blocking. Notice how the blocking has flattened the knitting and opened and streched the yarn overs to different sizes. This is what you should aim for when you block your swatch. If you find the swatch gets too big with this much blocking you may consider going down in needle size -or accept a bigger shawl (you will then need more yarn).

Dimensions after blocking: 14 x 12 cm (4,7" x 5,5"). Yarn: Knit Picks bare merino 800m/100g (880yards/100g). Needles: 3½mm. I am a pretty loose knitter.

The end of The Melon -finally

2007-11-21T20:41:00.001+01:00

Finally I have a FO to show!! Now that see it on the pictures I realise the blocking could have been better though :-) Guess I need something with straight lines or squares on to put underneath.

I ended out pretty big. 70 by 200 cm. Partly because I like to block it as much as possible without breaking it.

More pictures to come.

Today..

2007-11-16T23:04:00.000+01:00

Today is the day where I should be showing SotS clue 7.

But I can't...am too busy with SSS.

Instead a couple of pictures from this very funny site

Leafy scarf

2007-11-14T09:05:00.001+01:00

A couple of repeats of the pattern "Leafy scarf" that members of the Spring Shawl Surprise gets for free. It's easy lace and is good for those who has never tried lace knitting before -or if you want a quick project. You need no more than 200 meter of yarn no matter the weight.

I think it will look better in a a colour not as dark as mine.

Have you made it/are you making it? Then put a link to a picture under comments.

Secrets of the Stole

2007-11-10T18:35:00.000+01:00

With husband in Boston and kids at grandparents I had plenty of time for knitting today.

So here we go, SotS clue 6. Only two to go.

There was quite a change in the pattern this time which was nice .

1000 members!

2007-11-07T22:36:00.000+01:00

Yesterday member number 1000 signed up for the Spring Shawl Surprice! Pretty amazing! Most of the world is represented and so far there should be translations into German, French Spanish, Finnish, Dutch, danish and Italian.

So spread the word!!!

Nemesis and SotS

2007-11-03T23:00:00.000+01:00

Here I was, happily knitting my way through Sots 5, listening to an audiobook and enjoying the easy going knit.

Shouldn't we have been warned about the change in the pattern ;-) ?

A little delayed I finished hint 5 after all.

Back to Spring Shawl Surprise. I think it time to try out that Zephyr on another swatch :-)

Spoiled rotten

2007-11-02T23:56:00.000+01:00

Just have a look at this! All kind of goodies ....

AND....yes....it's Jaggerspun Zephyr!!!

My moanings in the Spring Shawl Surprice group about not having ever tried nor seen Zephyr was read by Reb and she asked if she could send me a little skein enough for a scarf so I could try it out. How could I resist???

And then what does she do! She spoils me with a wonderful surprise and skeins of Zephyr i three different colours! Do I like it? YES! Is it suitable for SSS? YES!

And it is so much fun and extremely interessting to get to know someone so far away!

Thanks a million Reb, you really made my day.

I already have plans for the yarn...but it's a secret ;-)

SSS testknitter

2007-10-30T21:16:00.000+01:00

It's time to introduce my Spring Shawl Surprise testknitter Purplejen.

She has had the lace bug since childhood and it's all because of her I am infected too. I think it sneaked into one of the Secret Pal 10 surprises!!

Throughout the Spring Shawl Surprise (and afterwards aswell) you can find all kind of advice about lace knitting at her blog. What yarn to use, which cast on is best, how can you do the side edge, how to use a lifeline and so on.

Check her out (and her beautiful Thistle Shawl too)

http://purplejenknits.blogspot.com/

She might even drop a few hints about the SSS -she is a great teaser, belive me, I know!

Meet her cat Kenny :-)

All posts about SSS

SSS synopsis and a little Melon

2007-10-28T11:50:00.001+01:00

The Spring Shawl Surprice group is still growing and there are now close to 800 members. I am very excited and honoured about so many joining.

I am trying to get as many nationalities as possible to join the group. It's all part of the theme but you will not know why until the of the knit-along when the theme and name of the shawl is revealed.

If you would like to translate the pattern and notes into another language it would be wonderful. Just send me a mail : lul1971 at yahoo dot com

Des modèles et les notes seront traduits en Français.

Muster und Anmerkungen werden ins Deutsche übersetzt.

After a long break I continued on the Melon border last night while at a 95 yo birthday. Someone in the Victorain Lace Today group had finished hers and that made me want to finish mine too.

Spring Shawl Surprise theme poll

2007-10-26T22:47:00.001+01:00

Spring Shawl Surprise Theme Poll

255 votes

and the winner is

Secret theme

who got 41% of the votes

A total of 29% would have liked to know the theme, I'm afraid you just have to wait :-)

And 8% don't really like secrets at all (you are welcome anyway)

Thanks to everybody for the help!

Want to sign up? Go ahead

SotS hint 4

2007-10-26T19:13:00.000+01:00

In this clue you had the opportunity to shorten or lengthen the stole and I desided to shorten it as much as possible as it is already getting huge. So I only had around 16 rows to knit.

Someone in the group suggested Fireworks as the theme. I quite like the thought of that and even if it ends out to be something else Fireworks is way better than earwigs ;-) No matter what it motivated me and somewhere there will always be alittle bit of fireworks in it to me :-)

Pwew

2007-10-21T21:26:00.000+01:00

Spring Shawl Surprise sure is keeping me busy. So far 250 have signed in, welcome to you all!

To get some knitting done (swatching a small detail on the shawl -now it looks just perfect) I had to close down my computer -I kept getting distracted by e-mails (and that is the best way to mess up your lace knitting)

So far it seems like you are all a bunch of secret loving knitters -and that I have to keep the theme to my self (he he he).

I came by this old tree the other day -the roots reminded me of lace knitting. But I guess right now I could see lace designs in a cat's behind!

Spring Shawl Surprise

2007-10-20T20:36:00.000+01:00

I hereby officially announce the group:

Spring Shawl Surprise

open for sign ups.

You can find the Yahoo group

HERE

Don't forget to vote...right hand side :-)

Secret of The Stole #3

2007-10-20T20:28:00.001+01:00

This stole is going to be looong. I finally remembered to take measurements while it was pinned out.

53 x 110cm.

110cm!!!

If someone has finished hint 3 I would love to know how big theirs is!

My secret for the spring

2007-10-20T12:37:00.000+01:00

A few notes about the stole I am designing!

The secret KAL will start January 1st 2008

Depending on the results from the vote (right hand side) I'll make it a secret KAL or publish the theme of the stole.

The pattern will be suitable for those who would like a bit of challenge. I am using quite a few different stitch types and there will only be very few repeats with plain knitting. Parts of the stole wil have pattern on the wrong side rows as well as on the right side rows.

Everybody are welcome to join no matter if you are new to lace or very experienced -we will all help each other and with a bit of patience (and lifelines) anyone can participate.

The stole will be rectangular with no fancy addings but the two ends will be different (so you don't know the rest of the pattern halfway through)

I don't know the exact size yet -nor the amount of yarn needed.

I suggest lace weight yarn (800m/100g) in a solid colour.

Lidt om det sjal jeg er ved at designe.

KAL'en starter d. 1. januar.

Afhængig af resultatet af afstemningen til højre bliver sjalets tema holdt hemmeligt eller oplyst ved KAL'ens start.

Mønsteret er velegnet til folk som gerne vil udfordres lidt. Jeg bruger en del forskellige masketyper og der er kun få områder med ren glatstrik. Dele af sjalet vil have mønster på både vrang- og ret -siderækkerne.

Alle er velkomen til at deltage hvadenten man er nybegynder eller erfaren indenfor lace strik. Vi hjælper hinanden og med en smule tålmodighed (og livlinier) kan alle deltage.

Sjalet bliver rektangulært uden sære påhæftninger, men de 2 ender vil være forskellige, så du kender ikke resten af mønsteret når du er nået halvvejs.

Jeg kender endnu ikke den præcise størrelse på sjalet -eller den nødvendige mængde garn.

Jeg anbefaler ensfarvet garn med et løbelængde på 800m/100g.

200 rows of SotS

2007-10-19T21:03:00.001+01:00

A picture to celebrate the first 200 rows of Secret of the Stole.

For the last couple of days I have been so busy with my own mystery design that I feared I might give up on SotS. But as soon as hint 3 was out I was hooked again :-)

PS Take the vote on the right hand side!

Swatching for stole

2007-10-18T21:41:00.000+01:00

Trying out various patterns for my so far secret stole

Designing

2007-10-17T16:39:00.000+01:00

I haven't touched my knitting projects for several days! Why? I am in the middle of designing a stole.

I wanted to make something very lacy and a little more complicated than usual. Maybe, in the end it will end up as a KAL, but not for a while, right now there seem to be plenty of KALs that have just started or are about to start. Or maybe I will just make it available for everyone who wants to do stole that involves several stitch types (not just the usual yo an k2tog) and parts with pattern on the wrong rows too.

I meant to post a picture of some of my swatches but blogspot is playing tricks on me.

Calorimetry

2007-10-14T23:47:00.000+01:00

Todays accomplishment, Calorimetry from Knitty. "Slightly" huge!

I meant to make a headband with cables but frogged the whole thing halfway through. I still have over 1 skein left of this gorgeous baby lama wool that was a present from Purple Jen. I'll make something that matches the headband. Maybe a scarf or fingerless gloves.

Secret of the Stole -clue 2 finished

2007-10-14T12:20:00.001+01:00

May I present, Secret of the Stole Hint 2. Once again I forgot to measure how wide it is!

Theme guess. Well, earwig!!! ;-)

SotS -hint 2

2007-10-13T23:50:00.000+01:00

I just finished Hint 2. It late, so I'll not pin it out until tomorrow!

Secret of the Stole -halfway through hint 2

2007-10-12T16:26:00.000+01:00

So far so good!

Swallowtail

2007-10-11T20:31:00.000+01:00

Offcourse I wasn't able to control myself but casted on for the Swallowtail Shawl the other day. I kind of felt it was ok after I had finished Anne's Garden Stole -ignoring the fact that I still havn't finished The Melon Shawl and still have 7 hints left of Secret of the Stole.

Tomorrow it is SotS-day. I am very much looking forward to the next hint!

Anne's Garden Stole - The final result

2007-10-10T18:09:00.000+01:00

Now that everything has settled I feel much better about the final result of Anne's Garden Stole. Maybe I have just gotten used to how it looks (slightly felted), besides, I have nothing to campare it with.

So here she is, in all of her glory

Anne's Garden Stole

Yarn: Knit Picks Bare merino wool -lace weight

90 grams. 880yards (805m)/100g

Dye: app 9:3 Navel blue:Moss Omega dyes

Pattern: My own inspired by A gathering of Lace

Started: Sep 7th Finished: Oct 8th 2007

Now I just have to give it to Anne!

Anne's Garden Stole -The Rescue Mission

2007-10-08T16:15:00.000+01:00

So, here she is. I guess that on these pictures it doesn't look that bad, but the stitch definition just isn't perfect. Oh well, maybe I feel better about it tomorrow. At least I got the colour right;-) though it doens't come up right on these pictures. It's petrol.

@#&&&¤X¤&

2007-10-08T14:43:00.000+01:00

Shit!

Left the wool + dye on the stove for a second and when I returned it was boiling like crazy.

It had started to felt!

Sigh!

Sigh cry sigh moan shit

Anne's Garden Stole -done -almost

2007-10-08T11:00:00.000+01:00

Almost done.l There's just dying and blocking left!

Anne's Garden Stole -welding wire

2007-10-06T20:35:00.000+01:00

One good thing about finishing clue 1 in a hurry -I have time for finishing Anne' Garden Stole within a week or two.

I have been looking for blocking wires for ages but it just doesn't seem to be possible to get it here in Denmark. I bought these huge cobber poles for The Cap Shawl -they worked jusy fine but can only be used through large holes. Then someone told me to use welding wire! So today I went shopping at the local DIY market and bought a huge amount of it. And it works!!! Makes blocking a whole lot easier

Secret of the Stole -clue 1 finished

2007-10-05T23:49:00.001+01:00

Clue 1 finished!

Too crazy to do this in one day, that won't happen again (I hope)

Perhaps I should mention I am using Knit Picks Bare 100% merino lace weight and 3,75mm needles.