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Greetings from the Mouse Factory!
Well, not quite, but I have been making lots of mice lately, as I was trying to get as many as possible done for Ompelukerho (a Finnish women's action group I am a member of) stand at the Christmas market. The market is today, and I hope they sell well! They did last year, anyway, and because these mice are smaller than the ones last year, they might even sell better (as last year's mice were more like rats...)
Now I've had these done for a good while now, but haven't gotten round to posting them. I made a bunch of finbgerless mittens for my local animal shelter open doors day and fair.
They are knit using various yarns from my stash - the pink/white one is dyed by myself with Kool Aid! They're all knit on 4mm needles (except for the blue-green ones, which are smaller and knit on 3mms) and have the same simple thumb construction (a hole with live stitches which you then pick up).
As much as I like making fingerless mittens, I won't be making any in the near future. Enough is enough! I do hope they brought some money for the animals though.
I proudly present to you my second sweater this year! Well, ok, it's a vest, but it'll do for a sweater for me (I set a goal to knit two sweaters in 2009).
It's really red and absolutely gorgeous. The pattern is called Bramblewood vest from the Knotions knitting web-magazine (free!). The yarn I used is called Novita Anni, a aran weight yarn with 40% wool, 35% acrylic and 25% polyamide. Cheap, machine washable and pretty. What else do you need! I used less than 300 grams of it.
I knit it on 4mm circular needles, and due to my loose hand the size 41 in became more like 43... so the vest is kind of loose now. It's ok though, it's for winter anyway, and now I can layer up all kinds of shirts underneath it.
Ok, it's the middle of November, so not really growth season. But tell that to our chili plant, which just grew and grew in size during the summer, and started growing chilis in the autumn! I've harvested one chili already, and five more are still growing! I guess it'll be a spicy hot winter for us (at least the one I already harvested was h-o-t!)
My October Small Item is finished! I present to you, the Huge Urchin!
After my last book review about child prostitution I decided to present a book that doesn't have anything to do with the darker sides of our society. It's another book currently only available in German, but I would suggest it will be translated at some point. It's a new book, published in 2008 and it's called "Greenomics".
This is a book for marketing professionals and anyone interested in market trends (for the record: I studied marketing.) It talks about a new group of consumers - the LOHAS. These are people who follow the Lifestyle of Health and Sustainability, which according to the book now over 30% of consumers belong to.
The LOHAS are interested in sustainability and "green lifestyle" and they buy accordingly. However, these are not the "hippies" from past days - they want the best design, the best quality and the best enjoyment out of their purchases.
Last week a few of regular Essen knitting group "members" met at one knitter's home for some knitting (obviously), chatting and ball winding! One of us has a swift and a ball winder and she was kind enough to bring them with her. I brought half my skeins with me and wound them all to pretty center-pull balls!
Here's a little film I took from the process. Just German audio, but you'll get the point just by looking (and notice the interested cat!)
I was making more fingerless mittens for sale for my local animal shelter autumn market and came up with this little pattern. Hope you like it!
I'm calling them Lacey Bubblegum Punk Mitts, as the bubblegum punk style is "girly as well as black". The mittens also remind me of the punky 80's style, so there we have it. You could make these mittens in hot pink as well!
I offer his fingerless mitten pattern for no fee for your own personal use - you may not sell this pattern or the mittens you knit using it (please ask me about charity). Please consider my stitch markers and yarns or Worsted Knitt's Shirts and Bags when planning on getting some knitting t-shirts!
What you'll need:
Happy World Vegan Day! It starts the World Vegan Month, a perfect time to critically look at our eating habits and their effects on our health, our fellow earthlings as well as the environment. I will be cooking a great, vegan pumpkin soup tonight. Here's the recepie if you'd like to join me:
1 kg Hokkaido pumpkin
1 biggish onion
1-2 garlic cloves
4 biggish potatoes
A bit of oil (olive, raps... doesn't matter)
Ca. 1 liter water
Black pepper
A chili shoot (you can use less or more depending on how hot you want the soup to be)
Ground nutmeg
100 ml soy cream
I've knit some small things last month and I thought I'd show them to you, as they came out nicely, I think!
First we have the Grown-up bootees. The pattern is by Ysolda Teague, and it's a part of the Whimsical Little Knits 1 collection. I've knit them with vintage superwash wool held double on 5mm needles. This pair fits me, so the size is ca. European 39. They took approximately 100 grams of yarn. I'll be making more as Christmas presents!
Next I have two more pairs of preemie socks for the Sukkasato-KAL. Again 28 stitches around, made on 2,5mm dpns. The yarn is of unknown quality, but I did dye it myself (except for the toe of one sock, as I ran out of the self-dyed yarn). The KAL is finished now, my total: five pairs of preemie socks, and the grown-up bootees. Not bad!
