2008 Olympics Part II: Flow top

Second project that was born on a wimp, got the yarn, spend the night thinking what pattern to knit and got on with it. To me it wasn't about knitting Olympics and finishing this one on time, I just wanted to know whether I will have enough yarn to finish and will it fit me or not.

Pattern: Flow by Noragh Gaughan from Berroco Noragh Gaughan vol 2
Yarn: 3 skews of SweetGeorgia Yarns Buttercrunch in natural indigo dye (sheds a lot when at work)
Size: 38 but knitted 30 due to a huge gauge difference
Needles: 4.5mm
Modifications: I didn't have enough yarn to finish the neckband and armbands, so I omitted them which still looks great with this yarn

2008 Olympics Part I: German Stockings

I am having a great knitting weekend, some WIPs are getting finished in reasonable time!
As I wrote before I've decided on knitting German Stockings for this years summer Olympics but half way through realised it wasn't as challenging as I thought. So I've started an additional project (Flow top, Ravelry link). Both are now done!!!

Here is first instalment: German Stockings

Pattern: German Stockings by Cookie A.
Yarn: 1.5skews of Mama Blue Knitting Goods Simple Merino Sock in colour Naked on a Tuesday
Needles: Addi 2.5mm
Time taken to knit: 8 days

Eye candy Saturday

Does this get your knitting mojo back?

What I did this summer

Well... I am not blogging again. This past month was pretty hectic, not only from work point of you, but also socially. We had 3-5 afterwork things a week and I did make it to most of them. DB and me also travelled up north to visit the Peak district and Chatsworth (the house of Mr Darcy ;)). I was not really taken by it, but grounds are stunning, a must visit for everyone.



Knitting-vice I finished one pair of socks, started another pair, bought quite a bit of yarn, and selected my Ravelry-Olympic project. It's German Stockings by Cookie A. Something I long wanted to knit and something I know I will wear a lot because Anna socks have been worn extensively though winter.

I leave you with Kusha Kusha scarf pics ( did I tell you I LOVE it)
Enjoy the rest tof your knitting weekend ;)

Project: Kusha Kusha Scarf (Kit-78) by Setsuko Torii
Yarn: 1 skew of Habu Silk Stainless A-20/21 1/20 in black and 1 skew of

Habu Super Fine Merino A-177 in colourway 56
Needles: 3.25mm, 3.5mm, 4mm and 5mm

Jasmine

Hey, I am back from Russia! There are two new projects I ought to blog about but first is long anticipated Jasmine. I am not happy with the knit, don't get me wrong, the model itself is great, it is me not knitting the right size. It ended up being huge, something in between 1 to 2 sizes too large. Please note, it is pinned on all pictures and on one stretches to fit properly. Too bad as I am not going to wear it, anyone interesting in having it?

Привет, я вернулась из отпуска в России! За это время начала 2 новые вязалки, но цначала фотки Жасмин. Мне готовый вариант не нравится: слишком болшой. Сама модель очень хорошая, но мой связанный размер на 1-2 размера слишком большой. На всех фотках кофта присборина, а на второй ещё и сильно натянута, что бы показать как я бы её хотела, и она и была бы свяжи я свой размер. Я не буду носить, кто-нибудь хочет забрать?

Pattern: Jasmine by Kim Hargreaves (Nectar)
Yarn: 6.2 balls of Rowan 4-ply Cotton in colour shale for size 40"
Needles: 2.5mm and 3.00mm

Модель: Жасмин от Ким Харгреавес (из сборника Нектар)
Пряжа: 6.2 мотка Rowan 4-ply Cotton в цвете Shale на размер 40"
Спицы: 2.5мм и 3.00мм

Splash of colour

I love bright colours: oranges, raspberry pinks, all shades of yellows and greens. Over the course of my life I've lived in different professionally decorated houses: form 18th century rococo museum type to Kelvin Klein minimalistic ones. I am not comfortable in any of them, I feel out of place, it is either way over the top or scarily clean. I like airy and colourful flats, where I do not feel guilty for leaving a cup of coffee on a table, where I can store all my books and just a right amount of clutter ;) Currently the flat I'm renting is quite frankly boring and since I cannot do any proper changes, I am left to play with decorations. So yesterday I got 9 lovely prints from a great etsy shop I've been eyeing for some time now. I will frame them in a pine wood frames (2 inches deep), all identical size and display above the sofa.
Я очень люблю яркие, насыщенные цвета: все оттенки оранжевого, малиново-розового, жёлтого и зелёного. За свою жизнь я успела пожить в разных домах, все они были префессионально декорированны от Барокко 18-го века до полного минимализма. И во всех них я не чувствовала себя камфортно, тк все они были доведины до совершенства: либо слишком напыщенные, либо до ужаса стерильные. Сама я предпочитаю много света и цвета, квартиры в корорых я могу оставить кружку из под кофе на столе, поместить все мои книги и кучу моих мелочей ;) В настоящее время я снимаю очередную квартиру и в ней нельзя делать ничего в ремонтном плане, но можно играть с декором. Вот так вчера я ноконец-то купила 9 принтов, которые оформлю в одинаковые рамочки из светлого дерева где-то в 5-ть см глубиной и повешу как группу(как на картинке) над диваном в вязальном углу зала. Купила их в давно мной посещаемом магазинчике на (см ссылку выше)

Waiting /Ожидая

Recently my life is all about waiting: for the rain to stop and summer to come (seriously it is like +15 in June!), for my flies to hatch, so I could get on with my life, for my holiday break in a week form now, for buttons to arrive (Jasmine is done but there are no buttons), for my extra pounds to drop off...
В последнее время всё, что я делаю-это жду чего-то. Жду когда же прекратится доздь и потеплеет (+15 для июня слишком холодно), жду когда вылупятся мушки и я смогу начать экперимент, жду начала отпуска через неделю, жду пуговицы для Jasmine, жду когда же начнут таять мои кг.


I am knitting in a meantime, my long going-never-lasting-shawl. It was supposed to be a present for my grandma, but I know I would not be able to finish it in time. I do NOT like the yarn, have to push myself cursing at every row (it is 144 now).
А пока я жду я вяжу мою никогда-не-увижу-ей-конца-шаль. Задумывалась она ещё для бабушки в подарок, но теперь уже точно не успею закончить. Меня просто бесит в работе пряжа (помните я ещё долго не могла модель на неё подобрать), вяжу и хаю каждый ряд (так уже до 144 дошла)

At least I finally received some lovely yarn to make B-Side Cardigan
А ещё я получила вот такую красивую пряжу на кардиганчик (по ссылке сверху можно посмотреть)

pre WW

Last week I had my mum and bro visiting for a day (actually they came for UEFA Cup final in Manchester, but after the game made it down to Cambridge). I am not really keen on being photographed as I am never happy about the way I come out, but my bro had an interesting lens. These are my pre-WW pictures. I am in my week 2 (have a weighting on Tuesday), and so far it looks like I've lost 2.5kg (5.5lb)!!!

Hеделю назад ко мне приезжали мама и брат (вообще-то они приезжали на матч Зенит- Rangers), даже сделали несколько фотографий. Решила их поставить дабы документировать как я выглядела до "очковой диеты". Уже минус 2.5кг!






The last pic is me at work in one of the 25C CT rooms for fly husbandry. I am holding a tray with Alzheimer model flies, see how happy I look. Love my new lab!
А это я в комнте-инкубаторе со своими мушками, больными Алзгеймером; я даже выгляжу на ней счастливой, первая моя такая фотка!



Also last night Russia won at Eurovision! I am a huge fan of the show(although it is considered bad taste, frankly I don't care;)) and Russia never won before, I am very-very happy. Next year competition will be in Moscow and I will definitely try to go in person.

А ещё я так рада, что Россия победила на Евровидении, я большая фанатка конкурса (хотя это и считается показателем плохого вкуса), раз на следующий год будет в Москве, попробyю сходить (ну если время урву)

WW and going bi-lingual (possibly)

This again is a non-knitting post, just an update on what I am up to. Well.... I did a lot of misery eating during my rough times and put on 10kg, which is a LOT of weight. I kind of was in denial about it as I naturally prefer hugging clothes. But 2 weeks ago it struck me that I was completely out of breath after running up the stairs. It wasn't just about the way I looked it was about not being fit enough for my job (I run and stand a lot). It was time to do something.

A friend of mine told me about Weight Watchers, she wanted to go herself, so we ended up signing up together. Yesterday was my first proper weighting (after 1 full week on the points system), and I've lost 1kg (2lb)! So, I am definitely sticking to it.

Another thing is, I was thinking of carrying this blog in two languages (English and Russian) but seriously is there a point in doing it?

Changes

No I haven't fallen of the Earth... only just. I went through quite a bit of changes in my life since my last post, such as completely leaving my PhD, and then fortunately starting afresh in a new lab. Its been over 6 weeks at the new place, so I am starting to feel as my former self (although I doubt I will be the same as these things change you). I haven't been knitting at all since February until last weekend, didn't have any incentive or energy to do anything really. But I am hoping to come back soon.

This a picture of me with my parents' cat last month.

Hazy Shade of Christmas

It's been almost 20 days since Christmas already! Time truly flies! Today is Russian old New Year, a weird celebration of New Year based on the old calendar. So I’ve decided to finish of with 2007 by blogging about my last two FOs from it.

First one is a shawl for my boyfriend's mum. She loves that particular colour so when it came to choosing a shawl pattern I opted for something simple. This way it is the yarn which dominates the knit not the pattern itself.


Model: Icarus from IK Summer 2006
Yarn: 0.87 balls of Sundara Yarns Lace in Hazy Shade of Christmas
Needles: Addi lace circulars 3.25mm


Second one is Mad Colour Wave socks. I was not sure about the colour for some time, but now I actually think it works!


Model: Mad Color Wave
Yarn: 1 skew of Sunshine Yarns Twisted Sock in Colorado Sunset
Needles: 2.5mm

I also want to thank you guys for your comments on the previous post. The sawl was ripped and re-born as Muir. So far I’ve completed 2 full repeats out of min of 10 and it looks great. Thank you ever so much!

Not sure

Not sure that this works… What do you think?
I’ve tried over ten patterns with this strange yarn, but none of it worked. This one is the best of the lot, but I am still not fully convinced. The swatch is washed by the way

Coming to a halt!

Happy New year everyone, I hope this year will be very productive! Since it is Holidays and I do not have to go to Uni that much, I have time to sit and organise my knits. I have a number of hibernating WIPs, some of them I had an urge to complete before 2008.
So, I knitted like mad, finishing almost everything (a part of lacy-bobble bolero, which is a summer material). The big bulk was Demi.
Started in early January 2007(back completed) it struck me as being hard and consequently laid forgotten in the bottom of my WIPs basket, until 5 days ago. I picked it up, started working on the front and absolutely fell in love. The pattern now seems so easy and interesting (maybe my skill had vastly improved over last year). I finished the front, realised the back armpit decreases were wrong, frogged, re-knitted; knitted the neck band, left sleeve and almost entire right sleeve (30 rows left)…. ran out of yarn! The pattern calls for 7 balls, well it looks like it is 7.1. While waiting for that ball I will have to put the whole sweater back in the basket and start my Christmas knitting. Shame really…
What Christmas Knitting? That is right; while everyone else feels relieved it is over, I have yet to visit my family in mid-February, so presents are yet to be done. I will post soon on it, telling what pattern I will be knitting (or have already started)