bohusian fun

I was hoping this would be a FO post, but alas. Life has been busy.

At least this is further along than last time I mentioned it. And it is extremely fun to work on for many reasons. Ever since I stumbled upon Poems of Color by Wendy Keele at my local library last year I have been interested in the Bohus Stickning era in Sweden. From 1939-1969 it was a cottage industry led by Emma Jacobsson to assist knitters and their families. They developed many beautiful designs for mitts, hats, pullovers and cardigans that involved intricate colourwork on very small needles.

Solveig Gustafsson now dyes gorgeous merino/angora yarns and sells kits for many of the original designs. There is also a Bohus group on Ravelry who help share information about this rather unique knitting genre.

This hat has several subtly different shades of green and a wonderful halo to the finished fabric. This makes it really hard to photograph well. I will try to do better when it's done.

owls

Pattern: Kid Owlet by Kate Davies

Yarn: Lamb's Pride bulky in Grey Heather

We're having unusually hot weather for this time of year, so we waited until the cool early morning to quickly throw this on for a photo. I felt a bit goofy knitting a bulky wool sweater in 30 degree celsius but I've had a huge urge lately to "nest" and try to prepare for the bitter cold I know is to come. Nesting naturally led me to owls.

This will be great over a twirly skirt for skating lessons this winter.

bike hat

Pattern: Bicycle Boy by Ann Weaver

Yarn: Mission Falls 136 merino superwash in charcoal and a sort of yellow-green-which-sounds-hideous-but-is-actually-quite-subtle-and-lovely

Here's one of the hats from the last post. I knew if I shamed myself by posting WIP pics I would sit down and finally finish something. This was fast and easy. It should serve its purpose of keeping him warm whilst cycling.

So, I often have insomnia and I find myself up (too) late knitting. I am thoroughly enjoying these podcasts while I do this. I had heard about this amazing crochet project about global warming and the coral reef, but watching Margaret Wertheim speak about it here is completely riveting.

Brenda Dayne, who started the Cast On site, is also taking part in a really interesting public art project by Antony Gormley called One and Other in which for each hour of a 100 day period someone different does something atop a plinth in Trafalgar Square. She will be knitting.

circling but not landing

Sometimes I'm bothered by the fact that because I tend to work on many things at once I see slower progress with any given project. It means I go through occasional periods, like right now, when everything is a WIP with no clear FO winner in sight. But it never gets boring.

The weird thing I just noticed about my "top 4" projects right now (cause there are more underway I'm not showing here) is they are all circular. That is where their similarities end. The bottom photo is an icelandic yoke pullover I'm making for myself. I'm enjoying every little piece of hay I'm pulling off of this as I go. I'm really looking forward to working on this one.

Above that is an under-the-helmet bike hat I'm making for my sweetie. It's going to get cold here soon before it actually snows (and he stops riding) and this is the 3rd or 4th DK-weight hat I've made him for this purpose. Super handy. But easy to lose, apparently.

Above that is a second grey sweater, circular, bottom up. An Owls sweater for the girl. Bulky yarn in a childsize sweater means it's going super FAST. Body + 1 sleeve = about 3 hours.

The one above that is not going to be anywhere near so fast and is proving to be an amusing counterpoint in yarn scale to the Owls sweater. It's a Bohus hat. In fingering weight wool on US 0 needles. I'm very excited about this one, too.

More details on each when I actually have them finished to show you. I'm feeling very unproductive and very productive at the same time.

stopgap

Pattern: #10 Cabled Cap by Suvi Simola

published in Vogue Knitting Fall 2009

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in Verde adriana (117)

I am so in love with Suvi's designs and want to make Everything. Right. Now. Especially this. But I can't at this very moment because I have WAY too many things under construction or planned to be shortly. So I grabbed the squooshiest stuff I had and quickly made this. I love these cables.

Now we're off for a last frolic at the beach before school starts, music lessons, soccer playoffs, hockey season, cold weather.......have a great long weekend!

veste jonas

Pattern: Veste Everest by Veronik Avery
Yarn: Cascade 220 superwash

One day I asked my son if there was anything he felt like having me knit for him. He said "Yah! Actually...." and pulled out this picture of the Jonas Brothers. I searched for something similar with cables and remembered this pattern. Then I looked for blue yarn. I tried to persuade him into a tweed, but he insisted on straight-up plain baby blue. I have to say, nice as this pattern is, it's boring to knit and a bit more going on with the yarn would have helped. Oh well.

He likes it. He may even wear it.