The clock is ticking and skull from my head

I have been cross stitching but most of them have been secret projects so no pics earlier.

I took part in a Birthday exchange last year. Due to my new work and 500km move to a new city I did not have the time or the energy to fulfill my commitments. :( So, I have been making amends this year. First one I made is a birthday present to Mia. I saw this clock design in the newest Cross Stitcher (issue 289) and was so motivated that I stitched and finished it in two days. I finished this on 8th of February. I changed the colour from blue to red and used an old clock mechanism. I just cut the hands to a right lenght.

"Mia´s teatime"

I also made one small side project to cheer my friend up. I made her a keyring. The skull is from my head (pun intended ;)) and the blackwork pattern is from an old freebie print I have.

"Skull from my own head"

Today I finished a "travel project" I've had for years. Lizzie Kate´s "Christmas is forever" almost got finished during the Christmas time but the light blue thread ran out. I have a light blue thread for a secret project and I thought maybe it will be ok. It was exactly the right yarn so off I went and finished! I haven't decided what this will be.

Sunny early spring days to all!

  

A gardigan for my niece

I was shopping with my friend and saw this beautiful pink yarn on sale. Eventhough my goal is to reduce the amount of yarn I have I still bought four skeins (200g). I justified it with a promise to knit them right away. :)

For a while I have been meaning to knit a gardigan for my dear niece. So I already knew in the store that the yarn is going to be a pretty little sweater for her. The yarn is perfect in weight, colour and it is also machine washable.

It took me a few hours rummaging through the internet before I found the perfect pattern, Sunnyside. I knit the "girlie" version of it with the picot edge.

Sunnyside

Yarn: Novita Wool, colour 534, took about 110g of yarn.

Needles: 3,5mm

Still some of that yarn left so I'll be knitting her some socks. :) And maybe a hat too.

New hats and an old shawl

I needed more hats so I made some. :) I finished the first one on 18th of January, I started it last November but for some reason it became a UFO for a while. I wanted a hat that is loose so it doesn't flatten my hair. The pattern is from my head. Here comes: "Pearl"

"Pearl"

Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Karisma, colour 52, 100g (yarn doubled)

Needles: 6mm

I was in need a very basic black hat. One that doesn't have Toyota or Playstation written on. ;) I stumbled upon a "Snowtracks Cap"-pattern and made my version of it. I made the smallest size and also shortened the pattern since I have a small head and I wanted it to "fit like a glove". Link to the pattern in the name below.

"Snowtracks Cap"

Yarn: Schachenmayer Extra Merino, colour 99 black, 100g (yarn doubled)
Needles: 3,5mm and 4,5mm

In May 2012 I finished crocheting this shawl. I've had it at the office to fight against the air conditioning so I forgot to take a pic. Pattern is from Garnstudion website.

"Frosty Heather Shawl"

Yarn: Garnstudio DROPS Delight, colour 05, 200g

Hook: 3,5mm

And one more pic of my new start. I am knitting a baby sweater for my dear niece. The pattern is Sunnyside (pattern here).  I got this much done last night. Most of the time went to find the perfect pattern for the sweater. :)

Stay warm, winter is here! :)

 

Beauty and the Beast socks

I'm in a Facebook group called Addicted to Sock Knitting. Last year there arised an idea of a sock yarn club but you took all the yarn from your own stash. 12 yarns, one for each month. The Knit-from-stash Sock Club was born and Heatherly Walker was so kind that she will offer 14 patterns for the year 2015. We get the pattern of the month on the last day of previous month via Ravelry.

First pattern is called "The Hornet" (will be on sale in Ravelry in February). I call my socks "Beauty and the Beast" socks since I watched a lot of that romantic police TV-serie while knitting these. :) And the other one is the beauty since it's perfect, the other one has a funky one-row blue stripe on the ankle therefore that one is the beast. Still gorgeous though, like Jay Ryan as the Beast. ;)

Yarn: Schachenmayer/Regia's Stripemania Color, colour:Leaves 6363
These took about 135g of yarn.

Peek-a-boo, guess hoo?

My needles still have the speed. And this time a crochet hook also got part of the action as I finished the "Peak-a-boo, guess hoo?" soft toy on Tuesday.

Materials, as seen before, 50g of Hjertegarn Lima (colour 710) and about 20g of sorted Novita 7 Veljestä yarns. Pattern again the honeycomb and rest from my head. :)

... and mitts to match

Wow, I'm on a roll! :D I wanted mitts to match the Honeycomb Hood that I finished on Saturday. So yesterday I made these. :) I got the idea from the hood and then figured it out as I knitted. Maybe I'll write the pattern if I remember how I made these. ;)

So here comes Honeycomb Mitts by Srinity:

(someone is in need for a manicure...)

Yarn: Hjertegarn Lima, colour 710 (you can see the real colour here better than in the hood pic)
Took about 45-50g of yarn

 

Honeycomb Hood finally finished!

A project that has been marinated for a few years (started on November 2009) is finally finished! Yay! I am a speedy knitter, right? ;)

Pattern: Honeycomb Hood (from Patternfish)
Yarn: Hjertegarn Lima, colour 710
Took 230g of yarn

I made the front edging my way. I wanted a bigger hood part and nicer edge so I picked 40 stitches from the center (1st every other row), knit one row (right side), purl the second. On the first purl round and every row after it I picked one stitch from the side of the scarf and knit/purled it and then turned and continued. I did 14 rounds of plain stitch and 5 rounds of garter stitch to prevent the edge from rolling. Then I bind the stitches off very loosely.

  

At the Crafts fair in two citys

I have lost my crafting mojo almost completely. Well, I have knitted a couple of hats this Autumn but still I feel that I just won't get anything done. That is why I decided to go and see if I could find my mojo from the crafts fairs.

On 22nd of October I went to Oulu Crafts Fair. It was really close that I didn't... After work I jumped in to my car and started the journey. For the first time I had the feeling that the car might not take me there... and it didn't. I drove about an hour and the car started to make a weird noise. I took it to a garage in Iisalmi and they said that I should not drive it at all, water pump and some bits and pieces were broken. I had to leave the car there. :( So I sat in my car thinking what next. It was 6.00 pm on Friday and nothing could be done. So of course I called my mum to the rescue! :) She came to pick me up and I spent the night at her place. She lent me her car and early in the Saturday morning I was on the road again. I had the best time in Oulu. Saw my dear cousin and her family, spent time on the crafts fair and met my friends. 

On Sunday I took my mum's car back to her and then my friend came with her husband to pick me and my (Ford) Puma up. I left the car to my friend's husband to be repaired. After all that I was done with that piece of crap (pardon my French...). On 24th of October I picked up my brand new car, Seat Ibiza, and said goodbye to my Puma. My new car is great! I can go on a trip and not be nervous if I get to the destination. And I have driven a lot already. Early in November me and three of my friends jumped on the Ibiza and drove to Helsinki to see Five Finger Death Pucnh and Avenged Sevenfold. And yesterday I drove to Tampere with my new friend Eeva to the biggest crafts fair in Finland. It was a looong day. I takes four hours to drive there, then we spent six hours at the fair and drove back four hours. Totally worth it! :)

Here are pics of my loot from the fairs. :)

From Oulu:

I love that old wooden yarn winder (is that right word in English or what do you call them?).

From Tampere:

I am going to make my own advent calender. I am just wondering how I can surprise myself since I fill it myself. Maybe if others did it... a pile of 2€ coins would fit in nicely in the boxes. :D Well, maybe I will go and buy some really delicious candies. :)