Daytrip to Denmark

Malmo is situated in the south of Sweden and we have a bridge that connects us to Copenhagen and you can also reach Denmark by ferries between Helsingborg and Helsingör. There is a ticket called "Öresund runt" that allowes you to go by train and bus this trip, once on the ferry and once on the bridge and there are trains on both side of the water. A loot of people who do this trip stops by Lousiana, a famous artcentre between Helsingör and Copenhagen. We where six and we did the yarnstores.
We started at Helsingborg at "Tant Thea" who opened an hour early becourse of us

This shop opened recently and it was my first visit there. A really nice selection of various yarn, I bought a lace yarn from Wales called Fyberspates in a very nice green shade.
After that we took the ferry and had some coffea and danish, newbaked, still warm...
In Helsingör we visited two yarn shops first "Tot og tråd"
Eva looks this happy when she buys yarn:


There we all liked this poncho and had a discussion on why you can´t buy just the pattern, but you have to buy yarn too. We would all accept to pay a larger amount if omitting the yarn. Compare this with sewingpattern there we can collect as many as we like...
Then we went to "Spinneriet" She imitiately offered us coffea and as swedes we never say no to that. "Spinneriet" means "The Spinnery" and part from yarn she sells wools and rowings and in a lot of different breads and colors and combos of fiber

And yes there where som spinningwheels too

I´ve been thinking for a long time to start spinning and one of my knitting friends who was on this trip has offered to teach me so I bought some wool to try on.
The old word for female prison in swedish is "Spinnhuset" meaning "the spinning house" probably a way to keep the inmates occupied...
After Helsingör we went to Copenhagen, we ate on the train due to time pressure and knitted.
In Copenhaguen we visited 3 shops, Wilferts, Garniture and Joruns. Joruns was my favourite and if it wasn´t for the fact that they only accepted "DAN cards" I would have bought some of here shatlandic wool.
Dan cards is a local danish creditcard and it´s more common than one will think that shops only accept it.
It was the first really hot day and we where really tired so I did not take any photos at the last shops.
It seams like all the ladies went to IKEA for the expedit shelves

Yves Saint Laurent

YSL has always been my favourite designer and I had to se the retrospective exibition at Petit Palais that will close at august 29.
You are not allowed to take pictures in there and there´s no way you can sneake to do so.
There´s 307 models and some videoclips that are playing both from fashionshows and from films with Catherine Deneuve that he made clothes for. The clothes are displayed in themes that could be from the same collection or famous people, or other themes. One entire wall is covered with black manequins on a black background and showing all ( about 40) variations on the smoking for women. It´s in the same room with the theme "the last ball" that are showing spectacular eveningfashion in all kinds of colors. There are also a room with his swatches. He swatched fabrics and nailed them to papers and kept them in boxes by color for inspiration and boy did this guy know how to swatch!
There are also 14 different pictures of him from that famous nude shot displayed.
All signs are in french, english and one more language that I don´t recall.
When visiting the show I can see influenses of what I sewed as a teenager but not so spectacular. I would love to see it again! and if you are in Paris you should go and see it and it´s actually worth a trip...

Some advise if you are going. A lot of people want to see this and the lines are long!

I was there on saturday and there was an estimated waiting time for 2 hours. I took a chance and went back on sunday 30 minutes before opening and I was number 8 in line for people without tickets. A lot of people was reading my minds and there where long lines when they opened and the people with tickets was sent in first about 70 of them before my line had a chance so I came in 10 minutes after 10 so my advise is to buy tickets in advance and be there early!
The photo is of the line when I came out and some of these people will have to wait for three hours.

Twinkle sews

I´m crazy about the clothes in this book I can even live with that the patterns are on a CD and need to be put together before being cut out

Yesterday I went to Stof and Stil and bought these fabrics for one project from the book, the front piece is actually more purple than this photo showes

Books and Paris

Let´s talk books first.
I bought some nice knittingbooks. Knitting 24/7 by Veronik Avery, I´m not sure if I should pronounse it in french or english, either way her designs are great, a lot of different things to knit and there are one or two that I actually not want to knit.
Twinkle sews is a great book too, I borrowed it from the library to be bought later. It´s 25 patterns for skirts, blouses and dresses in hot, fun, funky looks and I love most of them, actually I love all of them but some dresses are not for me...
The best thing is that there´s a cd with the book with all the patterns in size 0, 4, 8, 12 and 16 and that´s her sizing, I compared with a Ottobre and 16 is a smallish 46.
So you print out the pattern, glue it together, cut and sew.
I so like the consept of including the full size patterns like this ( Of course I copied them to my computer...)
Then let´s talk Paris. PR weekend last year was short for me so I´m going on friday for three nights, I was planning Versaille, lot of walks etc ( Yes! fabricshopping ) and since my broken toe is almost fit for fight again things where looking good until I accidentally put my other pinkietoe under the horse foot two days ago. Well it´s better today and Paris has subway and a lot of nice parks so enjoy knitting and reading.
One thing that I´m going to do is visiting Petite Palais. There´s an YSL exibition there. He was my fashion icon growing up and still is...and they are showing clothes from his different collection and as I understood it a second part of the exibit is clothes of Catherine Deneuve who always was sitting in the front row on his shows and I think was a personal friend of his.
If you envy me...it´s OK

Jazz, le grande finale!

Even if I knit a lot I don´t have that many sweathers and cardigans but now I have one more. I sewed the ties on today

Jazz!

I almost finished my Jazz cardigan. I had to reknit the sleevecuffs, they where way to big! Instead of the 38 stitches I did 20 and now I´m sewing, I hope to finish it by tomorrow, have to knit some I-cord for ties.
Jazz is soaking in the cats waterbowl...or was it the other way around...
I´m always amazed what soaking and in some cases blocking does to a knit!

Here we SWAP again!

Patternreview is having a SWAP contest and of course I have to join! I´m good at joining! Last time; the mini wardrobe I actually finished the pants, a Burda drawstringpants from 2004 that looks like the Marakesch (marocko ) pants from Hot Pattern. Since I trust Burda for pants ( raise the waist 1 inch mid back ) I used this pattern again and I absolutely hate the color!!!
Anyway this swap is a new page and you should make 4 tops, 4 bottoms, 1 topper and 1 free of choise. All tops must go with all bottoms and the topper etc etc. This time my plan was to make denim jeans and a denim skirt that I should try to distress, then I´ll add a petticoat, not to cupcake like and a drawstring pant, the one as above in an off white color, maybee mid calf lenght.
For the tops I will make tunic dresses in different fabrics a little mix and match, including some embroidery etc ( read Odd Molly ) and going through my stash I will have to buy a lot of fabrics for this. I´m going to Paris last weekend of May so that´s something to look for
The topper will be a shrug from Onion and the optional garment the cardiwrap "everyone" is doing these days.
Contest starts June first and last until end of August. 10 garments in three months. I can do that! maybee

Please summer please come!

My balcony was not the cosiest place after this winter, everything but an Ivy had died.

The floor had to be done and plants needed to be bought and planted


Still not finished but improving

This vase is Mine

I´m trying to be more domestic and since I love to have plants and flowers in my appartment but was lacking vases I bought this one. "Mine" started out with plates and glasses that I never liked, to thick, but the bowls and this one I like.

The designer is Ulrika Hydman-Vallien, who is more famous for her tulips painted on glass. If you payed attension when watching "Friends" Monica had one in her livingroom. Mine usually contains tulips; my favourite flower!

Madli´s shawl

Madli´s shawl is blocked and finished



I really like these estonian lace shawls, but the tradition say that you knit the borders seperately and sew them on using kitheners stitch. Things like that has a tendancy to not be finished in my home so I pick up stitches and turn the chart upside down instead.
The shawls originate from Haapsalu in Estonia and was like Bohus knitting invented and knitted to provide an income. Haapsalu was a famous spa resort for the rich and famous southwest of Tallin. It´s also where I´m going on my summer vacation! ( After Paris last weekend of may...)
Then I might pack the "Triangulas summer shawl" that I´m working on the border right now. Beautiful lily of the valley pattern in white

Skirt from thrifted skirt

Hotpatterns had a free pattern ( via fabric.com) a 8 gore skirt with elastic waist and a simple hem, fast and easy. I bought a skirt in a thrift shop that was kind of dirndl style, lots of fabric that I used.
The skirt is really easy to sew and will look great in different fabrics, I´m thinking of adding pockets and making it into a six gore skirt, but not tonight, I´m knitting Estonian lace, a new one, the rusty one is finished and blocked and will be published one of these days

Calculating and knitting

25 grams and 48 cm

Estonian lace is fun, challenging aka nupps and beautiful

Cedar leaf shawlette

Jazz progress

Think Pink!

This picture was in the correct position when I uploaded it! So please turn your head!
It´s also Onion 2031, red chambray

I did the elastic both on shoulders and arms a little different and I have not ( yet...) added any thing Odd Mollyish to this

The button is the same as in Hannas X-mas blouse

I also started to knit a Cedar Leaf Shawlette, download from Ravelry, I´m using a cotton/ linen blend yarn

Onion 2031

I spent friday in Copenhagen and bought two of the latest Onionpatterns. This is one of them

Since my plan is to sew more denim I went to Stof och stil here in town and bought 10 oz denim that I turned into a dress, flatfelled seams and topstitching and it looks loke this:

It turned out to be a little to big at the neckline so I cut a V to take away some fabric. I think I would like to wash this before using it and after finishing it I went back for red chambray and I+ve almost finished a blouse too from this pattern.

OK I confess!

There´s been a sewing and handicraft fair this weekend and attended saturday: I actually worked for "sticka" the knitting assossiation in our booth where you could learn basic stuff or ask questions about almost anything. It was a really good fair! No scrapbooking, a lot of different shops attenting I´m showing one picture of a yarnstore, but there where shawls, yarns, fabrics, quilting, sewingmachines and you name it and I bought a shuttle for netting. I always say that I do anytheng exept netting but now I´ll give it a try...

I always liked kumihimo but thought the eqiupment being to expensive and tried some things using a paper disk. This variation is homemade and costs ca 150 crowns. OK I´m in!

If I bought anything? ....... of course I did! I bought yarn for 4 shawls, 2 of them handpainted one in brick and one in lilac from "fröken garn" a store in town that recently moved to new location shairing it with a pattern and fabric store... good combo!

Chanel 2.55 denim

Chanel 2.55

I´ve been obsessed with the Chanel 2.55 bag lately and decided to make one myself. I recearched through the internet and found some measurements and a lot of pictures, mostly fakes I guess... and Today I bought some chains, unfortunately not enought, so I have to go back tomorrow and I also have to go to my notionstore. These two store are in different parts of town....and I´m lazy!
I used denim and quilters cotton for the lining. The construction of the pocket is cool. There Coco kept her lipstic I´m keeping my cellphone

Wardrobe contest

PR is having a wardrobe contest and I´m gonna join! I might not finish it but that´s different thing...
My choise is these four fabric

and the cat supports my good taste

he also likes my riding boots, so good taste is a matter of taste

Anyway I´m planning to sew cargopants from the green fabric, a active wear kind of jacket from the offwhite texture fabric, a sleeveless top from the crinkled patterned fabric and a kind of drawstring top from the retropattern.

A good mileage

I´ve been knitting on the "Ballet" sweather for 2,5 years and now that I was seing the end of it I decidet that I did not like it, and deperately needed to practice my cast on skills I found the Hanne Falkenberg "Jazz" pattern ´what I thought was to much contrast

was now blending beatifully. The pattern is called mosaik knitting and you knit two rows in each color and as always with her pattern do as she says!

The cardigan is knitted in one piece from sleeve to sleeve and finishing bay making the cuffs

...and here´s number three!

Soaking

and drying

All good things are three

The second citron is finished, the weaving linen yarn ran out and the ruffle is in Drops safran


and then I couldn´t help myself...I bought a ball of variegated lace yarn and started a new one