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Tag Archives: Germany

Rotational – knitting round and round

06 Sun Nov 2016

Posted by soknitsome in Projects

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

baby, clothing, dress, family, Germany, stripes, yarn

When our daughter shared a photo of our granddaughter pulling herself up to a standing position I just knew I had to knit her a little dress. We were a bit surprised to see her doing it already as she was six-and-a-half months old at the time. In the picture she had on a little dress and you could see frilly nappy peeping out below. Very cute!

After a bit of virtual consultation (sending Ravelry links via WhatsApp gives you a decent-sized photo in the message with the link below) we decided on Rotational in grey. Younger Soknitsome Daughter has a fondness for black and grey and likes grey clothes for Soknitsome Granddaughter, too. grey striped baby dressI knitted the dress in dark and very pale grey stripes. The pattern was easy to follow although I must have miscounted somewhere before joining the back and front as I had to add two stitches to get the slip-stitch colour change row to work out properly.

The yarn is Australian Superfine Merino from Cleckheaton. I bought it at a yarn-tasting hosted by the Knitters’ Guild NSW.  Since it’s a superwash yarn,  I was good and knitted and washed quite a large tension square. I then went down a needle size for the dress because I was also aiming for a garment that wouldn’t look too huge on a slim nine-month old baby (this is more a dress for the winter months). The dress actually works well as a tunic later, too so I did knit towards a 12-month size for length as our granddaughter is not short.

You can imagine my alarm when on giving the dress a bath, I could feel it relaxing beneath my fingers! Fortunately, after being laid out flat to dry, it shrank back to the expected dimensions. Mr Soknitsome got to visit them during his business trip to Germany and promptly sent pictures. Although little Soknitsome Granddaughter did pull herself up to stand while he was there, it was never while wearing the dress!

baby girl in grey striped dress

baby girl in grey striped dress

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Last but one

05 Tue Apr 2016

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Travel

≈ 6 Comments

Tags

blanket, cardigan, Germany, knitting, Lana Grossa, socks, yarn

Since I arrived back in Sydney last month I’ve been working very hard to complete the Final Secret Project. It’s finished but still a secret for now.

striped blanket square

When the light’s not been good enough to work on that I’ve been knitting some more pieces for the Lizard Ridge blanket I started almost 18 months ago. The end is in sight. I have one more piece to finish and then comes the major job of sewing them all together…

I’ve been really good and haven’t worked on anything else at the same time. Not the socks I started in Germany, not the cardigan I want to make for me.

yarn and patternHowever, it’s almost time to head off to the airport for another long-haul flight back to Germany. (That really makes me sound like I’m some kind of jet-setter when it’s just been how family events have turned out). I’m looking forward to some serious knitting time. I have that sock I started and I have a new cardigan to cast on! The sock is a Magic Zauberball Stripe sock but I’m using a Lana Grossa yarn that also has long colour stripes.

The cardigan will be my third and final attempt project with this lovely black yarn with flecks of red and blue in it.  The cardigan is knitted seamlessly but from the bottom-up. It’s an ideal travel project if you want something a bit more substantial since the sleeves are knitted separately and then joined to the body. Once you’re manoeuvring the whole garment in your lap you’ve only got a short way to go. There’s more to this story but I’ll cast on first!

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A Sunnyside for Easter

30 Wed Mar 2016

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Travel

≈ 11 Comments

Tags

baby, cardigan, Germany, gift, Ravelry

When I flew to Germany late February, my travel knitting project was, surprisingly not a sock.

I thought I’d knit a cardigan instead. Well, a small cardigan. Having recently learnt how to cable without using a cable needle, this was the perfect opportunity to put my skills to the test. Sunnyside has cables down the fronts as well as at the raglan shaping. The yarn was an impulse buy in the first flush of ‘I’m going to be a Granny-ness’. It’s an acrylic-nylon blend, similar to Patons Big Baby but not as good. It was a bit splitty at times. However, the colour is just right for a baby in summertime and the cables show up nicely.

Cardigan in progressThe cardigan was easy to knit once I’d read a few helpful hints from other Ravellers and colour-coded my shaping markers. Red rings for Right-leaning increases and bLack rings for Left-leaning increases. After the set-up I could knit huge chunks without referring to the pattern. Just perfect when travelling.

Cardigan in progressThis is how far I’d got after two long-haul flights  (Sydney to Tokyo and Tokyo to Vienna).

I also followed what some other Ravellers have done and altered the direction of some of the cables (the pattern has them all going the same way) to make the cardigan symmetrical. 

Baby cardigan with cables and little pink buttons

The buttons were bought in Germany and  the cardigan was given a quick wash and laid flat to dry before handing over as an early Easter ‘egg’.

This project is here on Ravelry

 

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European Knitting – The Socks

02 Thu Jul 2015

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Yarn

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Germany, Pattern, Regia, socks, stripes, travel, yarn

What would a holiday that involved a lot of travelling be without socks? Socks on needles, to be knitted, of course!

There have been peeks of them already. These grey ones are the third pair I’ve made following Regina Satta’s pattern Jeck. Stripey socks on feetI really like it as it has a bit of pattern on alternate rows. The purl stitches each side of the slipped stitches help those slipped ones stand out. This pair were made from one 100g ball of Regia sock yarn (the colour design is Vermont) and I just started the second sock as soon as the first one was finished. They don’t need to be identical as you can see here on the heels.

 Stripey socks on feet and right heel     Stripey socks on feet and left heel

I was very keen to try out Geek Socks by Wei Siew Leong (aka KiwiPurler who blogs here).  I thought that this stripy yarn would work perfectly … until I started knitting. The black stripes were not clearly defined – in some rounds I had blotches of dark grey or black appearing before the black stripe. The notion of playing with the stripes still appealed, however, so I slipped alternate stitches in the first round of black (starting k1 sl1, k1 sl1) and in the first round of the following colour with (sl1 k1, sl1 k1), which gave me dotted black lines. striped handknit socks close-upBecause I started the toe exactly where a new colour began, I was able to make an identical second sock.

striped handknit socks     striped handknit socks side view

This yarn, incidentally, is ALDI yarn! ALDI discount stores are now trading in several countries. In Germany, there are yarn or craft specials several times a year. Sock yarn is probably available twice if not three times. It is always packed in bags of 4 x 50g balls (with a set of five cheap 2.5mm DPNs) , usually two balls are plain and two are striped or patterned. The yarn comes from Max Gründl/Four Seasons Gründl or more recently Vendita (which seems to be a subsidiary company) and is as hard-wearing as Regia. Unfortunately, there were no such specials during my European trip. This yarn was already in my stash.

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More European Knitting

26 Fri Jun 2015

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Yarn

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

blanket, Cologne, Germany, Lana Grossa, Lizard Ridge, socks, stripes, travel, yarn

There were times when I was by myself in Cologne so of course I cracked on with some knitting and not just socks and shawls. I had to buy some more grey for the Lizard Ridge blanket (pattern by Laura Aylor) I’ve started. I am now on my 28th pair of socks which sounds like quite a few pairs but really isn’t enough when it comes to leftovers. This was easily remedied, however, as you can buy Regia sock wool in local department stores and Lana Grossa’s Meilenweit (similar yarn) in many local yarn shops.

Here are the pieces I managed during our European trip. Some of them were knitted during the car journey to and from the north of Germany to see Mr Soknitsome’s sister. Mr Soknitsome shares one trait with many Germans. He likes to drive fast on the Autobahn. When he does that, I like to concentrate on my knitting!

Blanket squares - grey and pink stripes Blanket squares -grey and green stripes

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European Knitting

19 Fri Jun 2015

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Travel

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Cologne, friends, Germany, gift, knitting, Ravelry, shawls, Stitch 'n' Bitch, yarn

The five weeks I spent in Europe were lovely. Time passed quickly and although I (and later Mr Soknitsome, too) spent time with many family members and friends, there were, sadly, people we didn’t get to see.

One of the highlights at the start of my trip was the chance to join my old Stitch ’n’ Bitch group in Cologne. I had already cast on a TGV shawl a few days beforehand. It really was super simple knitting and perfect for chatting at the same time. The pattern had been given to me by a former member of the group, DianaGKnits. She felt it was perfect for Schoppel Zauberball (many of the projects on Ravelry use this) and we had once spent ages in a wool shop in Cologne choosing Zauberball colours.

I used Noro Taiyo which is a linen, silk, wool blend. Cool to work with in summer and quite soft. Noro yarns are good for a few colour surprises so I had already rewound the ball, checking for any joins and to make a note of the colour sequence.

After Stitch ’n’ Bitch I continued knitting on this sockStriped sock on knitting needles

and kept TGV for my trip to my parents in Edinburgh. I finished it there, which was perfect timing as Mr Soknitsome and I then travelled on to north Germany. It was pretty cold there and I was really glad to have a scarf to keep the draught out of the neck of my jacket!

The pattern includes some variations and I did the slightly pointier ends (in the ribbing section). I also used almost two-thirds for the garter section and one-third ribbing instead of half and half. I wanted to make the shawl a bit deeper and I think this worked.

Would I knit this again? Most definitely. This can worn as a scarf or small shawl. It’s truly reversible, it doesn’t need blocking and is a great project when you need some ‘mindless’ knitting!stripey shawl with ribbed ruffle

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Knitting in the mountains

30 Wed Apr 2014

Posted by soknitsome in Travel

≈ 13 Comments

Tags

Alps, Bavaria, Germany, heights, hiking, holiday, knitting, mountains, snow, weather

Mr Soknitsome and I have just enjoyed a few glorious days in southern Bavaria. We stayed in Hohenaschau, part of Aschau im Chiemgau, between Lake Chiemsee and the Chiemgau Alps. The spring here has been quite mild and things were looking pretty green but there was still plenty of snow once we were up above 1600 metres (5200 ft). Since it turned considerably cooler and the sky was looking pretty grey, we never reached the summit of Hochgern, the first mountain we hiked up. Nevertheless, we enjoyed great views and a challenging hike. collage of mountain viewsNaturally, we woke up to stiff legs and I was determined to walk ‘on the flat’. Mr Soknitsome suggested we went around the Haindorfer Berg. We did. It was still a bit hilly in parts and I was quite glad to get back. Being the energetic man he is, Mr Soknitsome went off for a run. I exercised my fingers and did a spot of knitting. On the following day we hiked up to the Priener Hütte (1400m/4600ft), where we enjoyed an early lunch outside in the sunshine with a great view. So what next? Yes, the summit. We plodded through snow, along ridges and up the steep climb to the summit of the Geigelstein. At just over 1800m (5900ft) it is the second highest mountain in the Chiemgau Alps. It was all very well reaching the top but there wasn’t much of it and the drops down were sheer on three sides. I don’t like heights at all and was fretting about the journey back down – steep, slippery and scary! Although I sometimes wonder if Mr Soknitsome thinks I’m exaggerating and underestimates my true fear of heights (I was already commenting on the ascent about how much I wasn’t looking forward to the return), he showed his steady and dependable side and made the descent just 2 steps in front of me, digging his heels into the snow to make footprints for me to step into. A couple of times I slid and thudded into him but it was funny, thankfully. Once we got down to the alpine hut we took a different path back. The views were great – we stayed up high for ages…so eventually the walk down was very, very steep.mountain summit in snow

We spent most of the following day with Older Daughter and her boyfriend. They caught a train down from Munich and we all took a boat over to the Herreninsel (also known as Insel Herrenchiemsee). There’s a palace and formal gardens as well as a woodland walk. The palace was a monastery that Ludwig II of Bavaria had converted along the lines of the Palace of Versailles. We finished the day with a traditional meal in a local inn.Herreninsel palace and gardens

The weather turned out to be much better than we had expected. Mr Soknitsome’s bag of reading material remained closed. Apart from lots of sock knitting during the six-hour journey there and back, I did very little knitting. But here’s what I was working on. It’s a Penny Candy Tee.

yarn and knitting with mountains in backgroundThe place we stayed in has these baskets of scarves which you can add to during your stay or buy as a knitting kit to take home.

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Smitten

23 Sun Mar 2014

Posted by soknitsome in Yarn

≈ 12 Comments

Tags

Germany, lace, love, patterns, projects, shawls, wool, yarn

This is my Ishbel.

I was never going to make one of these.

There are 12,958 of them on Ravelry.

wine red lace shawl over grey clothing - front

wine red lace shawl over grey clothing - back

By chance, last October, I discovered that I could buy a KnitPro wire blocking kit at a yarn shop near my parents. The charming Mei of Be Inspired Fibres announced on her Facebook page that she had a few sets. I was booked to fly to Edinburgh the following week. How serendipitous was that? Mei pointed out they might not fit in my suitcase. I measured my suitcase and she was right. But once I got to Edinburgh I decided it was the perfect excuse for going to say ‘hello’ and to check out the shop anyway. My dad came with me: he was very curious about what I wanted and whether or not they could be transported back to Germany. He  declared he could wrap them up so I could hand them in as an additional piece of luggage. Perfect. Of course that meant I had free suitcase space!

Mei has wonderful yarn that I’ve not found locally in Cologne. I’d already looked at her website but the shop has more. There was some lovely Scottish Shilasdair wool but I wasn’t sure how much I’d need for a jumper (not having a particular pattern in mind) so I decided to be cautious and just buy a shawl’s worth of delectable 4 ply (fingering).

The colours of the Fyberspates Vivacious were all delightful. The yarn is 100% merino and wonderfully soft and squishy. I clutched a skein of Spiced Plum close to my heart and gazed adoringly around the rest of the shop. Mei had several shawls hanging up – one of which I really liked and guessed to be Liz Abinante’s Travelling Woman. Travelling Woman was the fifth pattern I ever added to my favourites on Ravelry. The name appealed for one thing! But I had guessed incorrectly. It was actually Ishbel designed by Ysolde Teague. Yes. That shawl. The one I was never going to knit because there are so many of them.

Mei told me about the pattern. It has clear instructions for adapting the size – both of the plain stocking stitch body and the lace border. A skein of Fyberspates Vivacious would give me a decent-sized shawl. So that was that. Decision made. Shawl knitted. I’m smitten.

wine red lace shawl - back-lit

wine red lace shawl - close-up

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A well-travelled pair

06 Thu Mar 2014

Posted by soknitsome in Projects, Travel

≈ 8 Comments

Tags

airport, bus, Cologne, Germany, puberty, socks, Sweet Tomato Heel, train, tram

Sock One was born in the International Airport at Kuala Lumpur. striped sock - heel close-upIt developed a little in Bangkok Airport before growing up considerably while crossing the Indian ocean and after arriving at its new home in Cologne, Germany. We hit puberty on the A31 heading towards the North Sea. Having been there before, puberty knitting the Sweet tomato Heel in the car with no instructions, was a doddle. Sock One finally reached adulthood back in Cologne.

striped socks on feetSock Two was born in Cologne and spent its childhood on high-speed ICE trains and in buses and trams. It only got as far as Ludwigshafen, 160 odd miles to the south of Cologne and Kassel, 150 miles to the north east but 250 miles by train! Its development was slow but steady. There were no growing pains and Sock Two  turned out to look a lot like Sock One.

We finally reached maturity yesterday and this well-travelled pair took a car, a tram and a bus journey – on my feet!

striped socks in T-bar shoes

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Monday, Monday, so good to me

17 Mon Feb 2014

Posted by soknitsome in Community

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

AIWCC, Cologne, community, Germany, knitting, Monday, patterns, projects, shawl, socks, Stitch 'n' Bitch, work

I don’t have a Nine-to-Five-Sitting-in-an-Office job so I don’t dread Mondays like some people do. My Monday mornings are usually a mix of domestic chores, organising teaching notes or marking, and checking appointments for the week.

Today was one of those particularly nice Mondays when the American International Women’s Club of Cologne (AIWCC) gets together for Stitch ‘n’ Bitch!

American International Women’s Club of Cologne (AIWCC) Logo

We are a very varied group of crafters. Most of us knit, some of us crochet. Several do other kinds of needlework too, like counted cross-stitch embroidery, but these are less compatible with chatting! Although numbers drop during the summer months we usually expect between ten and fifteen people each time. There were a round ten of us today. We get together once a month – some might feel that’s not very often but it helps to make our get-togethers special.

Today’s Stitch ‘n’ Bitch was extra special for a number of reasons: a member who’d moved back to the US last December came along as she’s in town this week. It was great to catch up in person. I was also given some lovely knitterly birthday presents today (I’m a Valentine’s baby). Monday, Monday, so good to me!

 collage - sock book pincushion and shawl pin

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These should have been Geek Socks
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bright striped socks on feet - side view
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