Born to knit

Pink Orgy

The pink Bohus hat is indeed finished. I spent some time in London knitting on it and I actually got a lot done on the plane. 

It seems as if knitting needles can be brought along without any trouble now. Or maybe I was just lucky.

Yes, I am a walking orgy in pink.

I often work with professional photographers and on this fine day a few weeks ago I happened to be out on town with one of my favourite colleagues, Birgitta Rydbäck. So I asked if she would take som photos of me in my Bohus hat.

See how a great photograhper can make anyone look good.

Birgitta, who was born on the west coast of Sweden, then  told me  that she has an original, old Bohus sweater at home! It belonged to her mother and has been worn a lot. 

I begged her to show it to me sometime. 

Thanks, Birgitta. You did a wonderful job, as always!

See that bit on top of the hat – it´s really supposed to be all one colour and no pattern. But I had a little bit left of all the colours so I decided to ad lib it. 

It might not be as spectacular as the rest of the hat, but I think it looks okay. And being lazy I avoided making any rows with three colours.

Perhaps I don´t need to add that this last amateur photo is mine.

I just love the colours and the more I wear the hat the fluffier it gets. The beauty of angora!

And next blog post will be all about Wollmeise...

 

Happy Birthday Darling Daughter!

Twelve years ago she was new to the world – and I was a new mother. Now she´s nearly as tall as me and still growing fast.

This is Elise eleven years ago in a Strawberry hat that I had made her:

And this is Elise today, in another knitted hat. And dyed red hair.

Elise in Inga Snöflinga

For her birthday she didn´t want things, because Elise isn´t a very material girl. Instead she wanted to go to London (but not to go shopping). So off we went, a couple of weeks ago when it was mid-term break in Swedish schools.

It was a mother-and-daughter trip and we both enjoyed the time together. Next year Elise will be a teenager and who knows if she will want to go anywhere with me?

I had just finished yet another Karin Kurbitshat in a slightly different colourway and it´s my new favourite.

Elise wanted to look at places where scenes from the  Harry Potter-films have been shot, so here we are at the Millennium Bridge. It features in "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince", apparently. I´ve only read the books.

We didn´t go up in the Millennium Wheel this time. But we did survive the "London Bridge Experience" (quite scary actually), went to the Victoria & Albert museum, Spitalfield market, had sushi for dinner and I even got to visit the yarn shop "I Knit" to pick up some of the last, few skeins of Cherry Tree Hill Supersock Solids.

Happy Birthday, Elise!

Last Christmas

It has been a secret for a long time, but now all can be revealed! 

This is what I did last Christmas:

I knitted a pair of socks for my friend Wendy´s new book: Toe-Up Socks for Everybody.

Patterns range from cute to smart.

It was all a big hush-hush at the time and we had a secret knitter´s group where we could share photos of our socks-in-progress.

The socks I made were inspired by traditional Swedish patterns and turned out beautiful, if I may say so myself.

They are called Stjärnblommesockor.

My photo skills are somewhat limited and the picture in the book is so much better.

If you look closely you can see  that my name is actually mentioned in the text. 

Wendy has always threatened to turn me into a sock knitter and now I think she is so close to succeeding that I´m actually teetering on the brink of becoming one. 

At least when I look at a pair like the Wrought Iron socks:

Drool.

I can see myself going Scottish dancing in these socks. They would look extremely good with a kilt.

But my absolute favourites are the Norwegian Rose socks. They are gorgeous. Fabulous colours, too. With these socks Wendy has me down on my knees. I have now seen the error of my ways and I´m begging her to forgive me. Yes, I´ve finally seen the light!

Wendy 1- Johanne 0

There are many, many more designs that I like, so I´m glad that I´ve got a copy (with a dedication from the author herself). Thanks, Wendy!

And I´m honoured that I was asked to knit a pair of socks for this superb sock book. I suspect that it´s going to be a real best seller. Did I say that my name is mentioned on page 101? I´ll be famous! 

 
  

It´s a Miracle!

I had a day off from work today and spent the morning cutting steeks and attaching a sleeve to that old fair isle sweater of mine. Yes, finally.

I was holding my breath as I pulled it over my head for the first time. I hardly dared to look in the mirror. When I did I was shocked and stunned.

Not only did the sweater fit me really well – it also made me look slimmer. It´s a Miracle Sweater!

When Mr B got home I made him take a photo. And he totally agreed. The sweater does make me look slimmer.

Okay, so the bottom edge is still curling and I still haven´t decided exactly what to do about the neckband. But never mind. It´s a fantastic fit. 

Now, I wonder if this pattern could be converted into a bikini in time for Beach 2010?