When mending holes isn't enough ....

These holes just weren't worth mending, they were to big and the yarn was of a really bad quality (don't buy yarn without information about what kind of fibres it is made of). 

But since I have been told not to waste yarn I did as my mother often did.

I cut off the part with the useless yarn and frogged the remaining material back until I reached the point where I wanted to start the new foot.

I picked up stitches and used a yarn of better quality for the foot.

I also checked with myproject book regarding needle size, amount of stitches and other particulars regarding the sock.

After some knitting I had a pair of socks almost as good as new.

morbror_lars at Instagram

I have recently started an Instagram account - It is just a try out, my blog will still be my focus-point. The Instagram account does not have textile as its main subject. 
My account is morbror_lars.

Please feel free to visit!

Cowl in nalbinding

I have been nalbinding and this is the result - a cowl. I used some old 2-ply wool yarn and bound a fairly loose fabric in the shape of a tube. Circumference 80 cm (about 32 inches) and 40 cm in length (about 16 inches). A total of 140 grams of yarn was used.
After washing and a light fulling the finished cowl measures 75 cm (30 inches) in circumference and 37 cm (about 15 inches) in lenght. I used the Brodén stitch.

"STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer" av Ulla Engquist

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

(English summary at the bottom of this post.)
För ett par månader sedan var jag på boksläpp för Ulla Engquists bok "STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer", utgiven av Hemslöjdens Förlag. Det är uppföljningen till Ulla Engquists bok "STICKA - Detaljer som gör skillnad" som kom förra året. I denna bok fortsätter Ulla att ösa kunskap över oss och behandlar områden som:

• garn (olika typer, olika fibrer, spinning och tvinning skrivet av Gunnel Axelsson)
• konstruera en tröja efter personliga mått, anpassa storlek, beräkna maskor och antal varv, garnåtgång
• kragar, sprund, ärmar
• knapphål och knapphålsslåar
• fickor
• kilar av olika slag
• mönsterstickning

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

Liksom den förra boken är detta en lärobok i stickning. Det är en bok att rådfråga när man stöter på problem. En bok att gå till när man vill se alternativ till hur man t ex stickar fickor. För att få ut det mesta bör man nog också investera i den första boken då det ibland refereras till tekniker som finns beskrivna i den. 

STICKA - Egna modeller och fler detaljer

English Summary:
The above post is a presentation of "STICKA -  Egna modeller och fler detaljer" (a rough translation would be "KNITTING - Your own models and more details"), the second book written by Ulla Engquist. This book deals with different yarns and fibres, different kinds of collars, button holes, sleeves etc. There are also instructions on how ta make a sweater based on your own measurements. I think this is as good and as useful as her first book "STICKA - Detaljer som gör skillnad" (a rough translation would be "KNITTING - Details that make a difference"). That book, we were told at the book release this autumn, will be published in the USA in 2017.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser was published by Heimilisiđnađarfělag Íslands, 1981. When I saw this title the first time I thought it was about twined knitting, due to that the word "Tvi̕bandađir" resembled "tveband", the Norwegian word for twined knitting. Both words refer to knitting with two yarns, but in different ways. I soon discovered that the book was about Icelandic patterned mittens.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

Many mittens in this book have a strong resemblance with mittens from northern Europe. We know that there was a lot of contact between the North Atlantic countries (in the form of commerce) and that through these contacts many things, including patterns, have spread.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

There are also mittens with patterns that I think are not as common. Very interesting. The book is in Icelandic, but the mittens are presented with both photos and charts.

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser

If you are interested in Icelandic textile pattern traditions (not only knitting) I can recommend the book "Íslensk sjónabók - Ornaments and patterns found in Iceland".

"Tvi̕bandađir vettlingar" by Kristinu Jonsdottur Schmidhauser