All the best for 2015!

I wish you a Happy New Year with these quotes from Elizabeth Zimmermann:

“Really, all you need to become a good knitter are wool, needles, hands and slightly below-average intelligence. Of course, superior intelligence, such as yours and mine, is an advantage.” – Knitting Without Tears

“Properly practised, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.” – Knitting Without Tears

“I deliberately keep my knitting notes vague, because tastes vary, and your brains are as good as mine anyway.” – The Opinionated Knitter

“When times are tough I sit down to spin during the news-broadcasts, with therapeutic results. Knitting, as you well know, is therapy too.”
– Knitter’s Almanac

“My kind of character enjoys work best when work is fun, and progress can be noted and gloated over. When I have a long plain piece of knitting ahead I put a safety-pin at each day’s beginning to show me how I am coming.”
– Knitter’s Almanac

“...there are few knitting problems that will not yield to a blend of common sense, ingenuity and resourcefulness...” – The Opinionated Knitter

“A swatch is not wasted labour by any means; it makes an excellent pocket...”
– The Opinionated Knitter

“For people allergic to wool, one’s heart can only bleed. Synthetics are a marvellous substitute, but a substitute is all they are.” – Knitting Without Tears

One final pair of socks for 2014

Here is a final pair of socks for 2014. Nothing special, just sturdy ones. The cold came on Christmas Eve so the weather is back to normal. We got a nice sunset.

"Gotländska stickmönster" av Inger och Ingrid Gottfridsson

Gammal (till vänster) och ny (till höger) utgåva av "Gotländska stickmönster"

När jag i september skrev om nyutgåvan av Hermanna Stensgårds bok "Gotländsk sticksöm" skrev jag att det fanns efterföljare som skrivit böcker om stickning från Gotland men att dessa böcker numera är svåra att få tag på. Därför är det glädjande att Inger och Ingrid Gottfridssons bok "Gotländska stickmönster" nu finns i en omarbetad nyutgåva på Gotlandica förlag. Mitt ex. av den gamla utgåvan är från 1981 så det är väl inte en dag för tidigt.

Färgbild från nyutgåvan på
Gotlandica förlag

Boken innehåller mönster för gotländska vantar. Ett diagram och en bild på den färdiga vanten per uppslag. Grundmönster för hur man stickar vantar finns presenterat i början av boken. Som många andra böcker är det nödvändigt att kunna räkna ut sin egen vantstorlek utifrån garn och stickfasthet för att fullt kunna utnyttja diagrammen.

Färgbild från nyutgåvan på
Gotlandica förlag

En fördel med den omarbetade nyutgåvan är att alla vantar är presenterade med färgfoton. Papperet är av god kvalitet och boken är inbunden. I den äldre utgåvan är de flesta foton  i svart/vitt. När jag jämförde den nya boken med min gamla utgåva såg jag att det var tre diagram som saknades i den nya utgåvan. Självklart trodde jag att det skett ett misstag så jag kontaktade förlaget. Där fick jag informationen att det var korrekt att det var tre vantmönster som inte kommit med i den nya utgåvan, och att det berodde på "trycktekniskt ekonomiska skäl". Lite tråkigt tycker jag som trodde att "omarbetad nyutgåva" kanske skulle innehålla fler mönster än den ursprungliga.

Färgbild från nyutgåvan på
Gotlandica förlag

Trots det måste jag ändå säga att jag tycker att det är en bra bok för alla vantstickare som gillar den gotländska traditionen. Nu väntar jag bara på att något förlag ska komma med en nyutgåva av Violet Bergdahl och Ella Skoglunds bok "Gotländsk sticksöm" som gavs ut på LT´s förlag 1983. Den har tydliga beskrivningar och innehåller även andra plagg än vantar, t.ex. mössor, tröjor, halsdukar mm.

Violet Bergdahl och Ella Skoglunds bok
"Gotländsk sticksöm"

English summary:

"Gotländska stickmönster" by Inger och Ingrid Gottfridsson is now available in print again. It is one of the books that I referred to in my post on Hermanna Stengårds "Gotländsk sticksöm" in September, as difficult to find nowadays. There is an English translation of this book on Lark Books, published in 1984 under the title "The Swedish Mitten Book", I have also seen the title "The Mitten Book" on the pocket version.

"The Mitten Book", pocket version by Lark Books

The book contains about 40 patterns for mittens from Gotland, Sweden. Each mitten is presented with the charted pattern and a photo of the finished mitten, in the new edition they are all in colour. A description on how to knit a mitten is given in the beginning of the book. To be able to use the book I think that you should know how to adapt your knitting depending on the size of your hands or the yarn and needles you are using when knitting. The new Swedish edition has omitted three of the designs available in the original edition of this book due to technical  printing issues.

At the end of the post I write about another good book on the knitting traditions of Gotland, Violet Bergdahl och Ella Skoglunds book "Gotländsk sticksöm". It was published in 1983 and it is a very good book with many patterns from Gotland. It has more detailed pattern descriptions and features not only mittens but also hats, scarfs, socks and sweaters.

K2, P2 Hat

A simple hat. Knitted [k2,p2] all the way, with improvised decreases at the top. I used a rather thin 2-ply yarn (Bergå stickgarn) and needles 2,50 mm.

Socks in December

Sock knitting continues. These are socks that will be gifted later this month. I used a pattern from the book "Varmt och stickat" by Eva Trotzig and Erika Åberg for the cuff. Even if this pattern is intended for a thinner yarn I think it works just fine here.

Söderängskrage

Söderängskrage is a very nice design by Erika Åberg that cleverly makes use of your left over yarns. You can use as many (or few) colours as you wish, and it is knitted in garter stitch. Since the knitting is very uncomplicated it is a perfect project for calming down or if you need something to do while watching TV or meeting friends.

I used an old 2-ply wool from my stash. The quality is not good enough for mittens but I think it works well in this project. I often say that grey is my favourite colour and I decided to use dark and light greys as main colours in this project. I used brown (another favourite) as a contrast colour and I am pleased with the result.

The design is from the book "Varmt och stickat" by Eva Trotzig and Erika Åberg. I followed the principles of the design when knitting my Söderängskrage. I added more stitches to get more width and used fewer colours. I also made it a bit longer. The design is easily adjusted to any wishes/demands you may have.

Winter is coming - I have knitted a sweater!

 

This is rare. The last time I knitted a sweater was in 1988 when I was working in Germany and had lots of spare time on my hands during periods of performances and no rehearsals. I find sweaters a bit daunting since they are big projects. I avoid knitting them, but I really like wearing them.

I started this sweater a couple of years ago but did not find "the flow" in the knitting. It all started as an exercise in making sweater patterns (measuring, counting stitches, making swatches, finding technical solutions and hopefully also giving it my own "twist"). I had a lot of old 4-ply wool that I thought I cold make use of (grey - my favourite colour). It is knitted in the round with steeks. I knitted about half of the body and them I just stopped .... About a year ago I decided to finish it because I somehow knew that I would like it when it was finished, but it has been slow progress until a couple of weeks ago. Then I decided that this was it - now or never.

Since I am very partial to twined knitting I incorporated that technique in my design. The cast-on and "hem" is in twined knitting, as well as the shoulders, neck and the finish of the sleeves. The sleeves are knitted in the round from the shoulders down. It is a thick and sturdy sweater (1250 grams) and it sure is warm enough if we get a cold winter this year. Having finished it I am very pleased, and have decided that I will not wait 26 more years before I knit another sweater.

Showing steek for arm hole

Cutting the steek open after securing stitches by crocheting both sides of the steek

Very neat

Lekker warm! Twijnend breien / So warm! Twined knitting

This is a book on twined knitting by Carla Meijsen at The Dutch Knitters. The book is a very ambitious project  and all the texts are in Dutch and English. Literature in English on Twined knitting is not easy to find. I am sure this will be a welcome addition for many knitters.

Since I am very interested in the many local traditional patterns and techniques of twined knitting in Sweden I am glad to see that the author has visited Sweden and studied some of the old traditions and techniques here. The book starts with a background and telling of the trips to Sweden, the history and characteristics of twined knitting. There are also chapters on different kind of stitches, increases, decreases, colour-work etc.

The major part of the book consists of patterns (texts and charts) for more than 30 mittens, mitts, gloves, hats, socks, leg warmers. Most designs are by the author. 

In many of the patterns in this book you can see the influence from the traditional twined knitting in Sweden, but I would not call this a book on traditional twined knitting. As Carla Meijsen writes: "Living in a time when the internet is making the world smaller, the pace of life is faster and modern knitters set less store by local practices and customs, I have decided to unite the best of both worlds. Both traditional and innovative techniques and designs have found a place in this book."