Friday, September 28, 2007

Nocturne

It is beautiful and quiet moonlit night. I'm alone at home, only the furry ones to keep me company and all three of them are sound asleep. I have been away for little over a week down south in Helsinki and after all that hustle and bustle of a city, this moment feels perfect.

Thank you so much for all the nice comments on Enid! The yarn for the sweater (Maisa Tikkanen yarn) I bought from Joensuu last summer and I'm not sure if the yarn is for sale anywhere else but in Taito Pohjoiskarjala Shop. Modified Enid I knit for myself (and modelled it too) but this next one is for one of my daughters. And I'm calling this sweater Nocturne after tonight.

As you can guess I'm designing while knitting, top down again (I love this construction) with striped sleeves. This is a sketch which I may or may not follow, anyway this is the starting point. I'm not sure of the sleeves yet; they might be all stockinette or there might be few purl rows or even something totally different than in the drawing. And I'm not sure either now to do the hem. I have still plenty of time to ponder about those because I have just only completed the yoke.
I'm using Grignasco Tango with 3 mm needles getting 2,75 stitches per one centimeter. Tango has 50% wool, 25% alpaca and 25% viscose. And when I started knitting with it, it reminded me of something and I had to go and check... this feels a lot like Rowan Felted Tweed.

I really had lots of difficulties on deciding what to knit after Enid. I tried the Tangled Yoke Cardigan by Eunny Jang from IK Fall 07 but somehow I did not get it right the first time and postponed it till future. I went and bought yarn for the Adult Tomten by EZ inspired by BrooklynTweed, red and grey with Christmas in mind, did the swatch but it did not feel right either, and I postponed it till future. The same thing happened with Tilted Duster by Norah Gaughan from IK Fall 07. I think I might have tried even something else, everytime making a swatch and then putting it away... very frustrating. Then finally I just cast on with the grey Tango and asked my daughter if she would like to have a new sweater... She did not say no, and I'm quite happy now getting to use my favorite size needle for sweaters, which is 3 mm with this yarn.

I tried to take pictures of the moonlit lake but they did not turn out well, so here a few pictures that I took last week when I visited the National Museum in Helsinki. Surprisingly one is allowed to take pictures there.

13 comments:

  1. Your knits are so inspiring and Nocturne will be darling on your daughter. The pictures from the museum are so interesting. Bobbin lace is exquisite and not many people do it today.

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  2. Anonymous23:39

    How fun - a trip and then time to yourself back home. I'm glad a project finally spoke to you - I enjoy watching your creative process and the beautiful end products.

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  3. The museum lace displays look complicated! How old are they?

    I'm glad you found a project to move forward with.

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  4. I love the bobbins.
    It's frustrating when you try to work out something with yarn that just isn't right, isn't it?

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  5. Anonymous00:59

    Charming bobbin lace pillows ;-)
    I teach classes in bobbin lace, and once I took a class myself in Finland. The teacher was a lady of about 80 years, and she had very poor hearing. She didn't understand a word I said, but she managed to teach me several finnish patterns, that I've later on used in my classes. Craft is a universal language!

    I'm wondering about the second last picture, what are those wooden things used for??

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  6. Are the last two photos of holders for the thread to wind for bobbin lace? The first two made sense to me but I got lost after that. The woodworking is beautiful!

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  7. Anonymous03:09

    Oh, those handmade tools for hand-making things to wear - they are so beautiful. I think those are distaffs - the flat, colorful, carved things, for wrapping the loose, processed flax around so it pulls off neatly and evenly for spinning into thread. I made a distaff from a tree-top once, about 12" (30 cm) with little side-branches that I tied all together. It looked like a cage or a lantern. I love textile museums. You can visit the one in Lowell, Massachusetts, USA someday, I hope.

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  8. Oh, your daughter is going to love that sweater! Looks like it will be a fun knit-

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  9. I love that lace pillow, Lene - both of them in fact - the one which revolves to wind on the narrow lace, and the big domed one with the heavier bobbins for torchon lace. I must visit that museum!

    And I'm so glad you finally found a project with which you were happy. I'm still trying, swatching, and frogging, over and over. If we call it creative experiments, it might be nicer...?

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  10. Anonymous01:50

    I really like the stripes on the sleeves! Your daughter is so lucky. Maybe she will let her mother borrow the sweater sometimes. Are you and she about the same size?

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  11. Anonymous23:21

    Lene, Looks like you are onto another garment that is unique to your style and looks wonderful! I like to name my creations (that are made exactly as the pattern, of course)! I am an "advanced" beginner. Enjoying so much what I am seeing and reading on the blogs. Only the very best to you. Jeanie

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  12. Anonymous17:02

    I have a ball of the Tango in a beautiful sky blue. I have been saving it for either, a small tam, or maybe a pair of fingerless mitts. It's very nice. Good luck with your project:)

    Ang

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  13. Anonymous06:58

    The pictures make me long to unearth my lace pillow and fall into to the rhythmic clacking of the crossing and twisting bobbins.

    I hope Nocture behaves herself, it sounds as though she might have a bit of a night imp in her.

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