The other week I finished the book ‘Knitting Circle’ by Ann Hood. It is a well written book that’s about griev of a child and other losses in life. The story really hit me though I’ve never lost anyone in my life to death.
However, the book is not really about knitting as such. It is more about what knitting means to a person and how it can be a tool to overcome troubles in life. Thus, if you are looking for a more informative book this one might not be for you.
// Knitting Dahlia

As noted, I took a pause from the blog and enjoyed the summer! The weather has been really nice and I have read a whole bunch of books! Right now I’m sitting at a cafe on Skeppsholmen in Stockholm and the sun feels really good now after a day at work! My latest knitting project is a green scarf for my mom. But it takes time, I have been working on it for a month and I’m not even half-way through. So I figure I’ll finish in time for winter!
Have a great weekend!

Handed in my dissertation yesterday. I don’t know if it because I have worked and thought of it for nearly a year, but it feels rather empty somehow. I have loved working with it but I am also proud of myself that I actually completed such a big assessment. It is not up to me now, so I hope that my supervisor like it as well.

Yesterday when I came home from uni I casted on for another scarf. This time it will be Branching Out from Knitty spring 2005. It is not an easy pattern, there is varying stitches on every row in the lace and there is decreases and increases everywhere so I can’t really learn the the chart. I am going to knit a little bit on it tonight when I finally can relax and listen on a book, without feeling guilt for not studying.

It is time for coffee now but since there isn’t any milk in the fridge and I can’t have my morning coffee without milk, I have to go to the grocer’s shop.

Since I became a member of Ravelry I have been browsing around on Ravelry’s pattern database and there is so many things that I want to knit. My queue is so long that I need at least the rest of the year to finish everything. But that is not the end, I have downloaded lots of free patterns on my computer and everything looks really fun to do. I think “that will be perfet for this yarn” when I see something that I like, but in the next minute find something else that I like as much. Gaghhh…. I’m going crazy! It is just impossible to chose which one I want to do now when my Candle Flame Scarf is finished.

My passion for books has always been with me. I remember my mom reading for me and my sister when we were children and the strongest memory was when she read ”The Brothers Lionheart” by Astrid Lindgren for us. I think my mom tried to read it four or five times to us but it always ended the same, when Jonathan dies she starts to cry so much that is was impossible for her to continue reading for us.

As soon as I learned to read, books have been my best friends. We have cried, laughed, explored countries and cities and much more together. There is always a book in my bag or by my bed that I am reading. I read on the bus, in the café, in my bed and about everywhere else where there is enough light. Sometimes I am so involved with the book that I forget to get off the bus and end up having to walk back and sometimes I stay up all night because I need to know how it ends.

However, knitting and reading does not go so well together. At least not now when I still have to stay concentrated and look at the pattern chart every so often to make sure that I did not miss an ssk or k2tog. So how is it possible to combine my passion for books and my new found love for knitting? Mp3 books!

I bought my very first mp3 book a couple of days ago and it is so relaxing to listen and take in every word of the book and still keep track of the pattern chart.

At the moment I am listening to Roslund and Hellström’s book “Flickan under gatan” (English: “The girl underground”). I think they are my favourite Swedish crime writers right now and all their books have touched me one way or another.

But now I have to give some attention to my dissertation if I want to be finished in time!

Have a great weekend!

(picture from http://www.roslund-hellstrom.se)

Whilst I’m sitting here and writing my essay about the most boring thing, terrorism and the law and thoghts about how Bush and Blair handled the whole 9/11 situation, I am enjoying these pictures. But, this blog is not a forum for my political views, it is about knitting and to do that you need yarn.

This is my latest purchase from http://nimu.etsy.com and it looks gorgeous and yummy!

(Picture from http://nimu.etsy.com)

This is me doing lace for the first time, not bad huh? I like the final result eventhough I was a bit sceptical about the choice of colour. But the colour, yarn and pattern turned out to work really well together.

Here is a close up shot of one of the mistakes (not as many as I thought there should be when I casted on for this project), the two strings aren’t twisted correct. I have no idea how that happened but it did. Isn’t that the charm with handicraft though, that everything does not have to look perfect, because you know in the end that it is made by you and therefore it is better than perfect?

It will be quiet here for some time now since university takes priority. As always, I want to be a good student and focus the essays that I have to hand in this week and next week.

But I won’t stop knitting. In the meantime I will be working on my Candle Flame Scarf in green Rowan Magpie Tweed. I know it is a bit silly to start a project like this, with thick wool, when it is near summer. But I just loved the pattern and I want to have some practise before I start the shawl.

Yesterday Ulrika emailed me and told me that she will be my swap partner in the Mix and Match Swap. I am really happy with that since this is the first time I’m swapping. When I got the email I started thinking about the gift and I hope that you’ll like it! I just have to figure out something extra to send with it.

I am trying to insert a button from the Mix and Match thing, but I just can’t get my head around how to insert pictures to the left side column.

Is there anyone who might want to help me?

Thanks!!!

I am finally finished with it! My first thing that went beyond knitting and purling and I think it turned out very well. I had some problems in the beginning and I think I frogged it numerous times before I finally got the pattern right. But hey, learning by doing it is!

There are no pictures yet because I am blocking it right now, but I will definitely post pictures when it is ready. However, I have some doubts about the colour of the yarn, don’t really know if blue-greenisch was the right choice for it since I don’t really look good in blue colours. But I will still try it and be proud of what I’ve achieved! Instead of pictures of the scarf I do have pictures of the yarn I’ve used. It has a beautiful shine and is really nice to knit with.

Yesterday I signed up for a Mix & Match Swap at www.knitmore.com. This will be my very first swap and I hope it turnes out alright and nothing get lost in the mail. As a formed employee at the post office (not in the UK though but in Sweden) I don’t have much trust in the company.

I got an email yesterday with an invitation for Ravelry, I registered immedialely after I recieved the email and spent a long time just surfing around! It was great fun and I found alot of things I wanna make now and alot of ideas.

I have to find out what to do with my silk yarn that I have and I just boought some more yarn from ebay. I might turn into one of those ebayoholics! I havn’t dropped the idea of the shawl from LK mag but it really looks comlicated when I look at the pattern. I have to think about it long and hard.

My Lace Ribbon Scarf is going well, I really like the pattern and the Bamboo Yarn is so lovely and smooth and easy to knit with. But I think it will be even better if I had some wooden needles instead of the platsic ones I got.