Socks for my mother

My mother has had a minor operation and just to cheer her up a bit I knitted her a pair of socks. The design is by Heléne Wallin and available as a free pattern for the members of "Sticka", a Swedish association for knitters.

I recommend this pattern. It is easy knitting and the result is a pair of nice socks.

Josef Frank Exhibition at Millesgården

I can't think of a better way to spend a grey, cloudy Saturday in  September than visiting Millesgården to see the Josef Frank Exhibition. Josef Frank was an architect. But I think, that in Sweden, he is most known for his textiles. His patterns are now Swedish classics. 

A day when the rain threatens to soak you if you dare go outside, these textiles are the perfect antidote. Joyful, positive and a bit mad in the nicest possible way.

But leaving Millesgården without looking at the sculptures of Carl Milles is not an option. They all make such a strong impact seen close up.

Wool market 2016 - Ullmarknad 2016, Stallbacken, Österbybruk

Last years visit to Österbybruk was a very nice experience. So, of course, we had to visit this year too.

Lots of yarn, wool and fleece - as it should be. There were lots of visitors this year and we were very content with our decision to visit the market early on the fist day - despite the threatening skies. No rain and not to warm - a perfect day to spend strolling around.

We met so many friends - a real bonus. Some of them live in other parts of Sweden and we were very glad to get a chance to meet them.
We bought a new drum carder since our old one has stopped functioning. More about that in a coming post.
A post about last years visit: 
Wool market - Ullmarknad, Stallbacken, Österbybruk

Socks from the 1950's

Stickat Nummer 1, 1952

I stumbled over this old issue of the Swedish knitting magazine "Stickat" from 1952. Since it is very worn the price was very reasonable. These old magazines are interesting to read. Even if the patterns often have to be recalculated and sometimes also "translated" into modern knitting descriptions, they can be very inspirational.

Stickat - Pattern for men's socks knitted with nylon yarn

This issue had a pattern for men's socks knitted with nylon yarn, Very "chic" in the 1950's, I guess. Well I don't fancy knitting socks with 100 % nylon yarn, but I thought it would be fun to knit these socks with a modern sock yarn.

Finished socks

I made some changes (e.g. I used another heel turn and I reinforced the heel flap) but otherwise pretty much followed the pattern. The amount of stitches given suited my size so I didn't have to do much recalculating. I am happy with the vintage appearance and will probably use the pattern again.

Washing the fleece

Washing the fleece

I have spent days washing the fleece from the Roslags-sheep that we sorted in June. It is very time consuming and I must admit that we were given a large amount of fleece. I have washed the fleece in batches. The most time-consuming is the drying of the fleece. Since it has to be done outdoors we have been depending on the weather. Fortunately, this summer has been rather dry in our part of Sweden. I have rinsed the fleece in buckets to be able to reuse the rinsing water for our fruit trees and flower beds.

Drying the fleece

Next step will be sorting and mixing the fleece. I am considering mixing some of it with fleece from other breeds.