Fraternal Twins

On the right is the second sock I cast on last night. It's quite amusing to see how it looks so different from its sister. I expect the colours of each sock will be reverted soon so at the end they should at least look a bit related, though It won't bother me even if it doesn't.

This picture was taken this morning. Actually I've made a pretty good progress today (it also means I made NO progress for my TCP/IP assignment... urgh...). The afterthought heels have already been set up for both socks and am knitting both feet two-at-a-time. Hopefully they can be finished before it becomes too warm to wear woolly socks.

Another thing I want to share is... I am considering a trip to Pfaffenhofen this summer -- don't make me to say it. There is one and only one reason for knitters around the world to flock to this little Bavarian town. Although Loop (a yarn shop in Islington, London, in case you asked) does carry the yarn now, but going to the shop is another thing. It is sock knitters' Mecca. Plus Claudia will have a summer sale in August, which gives an additional economical incentive to materialize this idea!

DH can't go with me as he has to save his annual leaves for a tentative trip back to Oz later this year to visit in-laws. I honestly don't want to go alone nor do I want to rush a quick same-day return. I am now trying to lure my friend E who happens to have shown preliminary interest in Munich. Will see if we can make a short girls' trip to Munich. :)

FO: Green Marlene Socks

Another FO off the needles in January!



My knitting goal for 2011 is to knit 12 pairs of socks (well, my real goal is to knit 20-24 pairs... but it may be too ambitious to voice out). The project information can be found at the bottom of this post. For more detailed (and boring) progress notes, click here.



In short, it's an enjoyable pattern. The lace pattern is easier than it looks. The only problem is its lack of elasticity. The twisted rib makes it not too stretchy. If I made this pattern again, I'd definitely cast on 4 or 8 more stitches to expand the lace panels and give more leg room.



Project name: Green Marlene
Pattern: Marlene by Cookie A (can be purchased at $4 on Vogue Knitting Online Store)
Started: 9 December 2010
Completed: 29 January 2011
Needle: US2 (2.75mm) Knitpick Symfonie.
Yarn: Wollmeise Sockenwolle 80/20 Twin
Colourway: WD Frosch (it means Frog in German)
How much? 0.54 skeins = 251.8m (275.4 yards)

The Wollmeise goes to...

Sorry to be a bit late. I am supposed to do it last night but my home broadband was down all night. Luckily the internet has been back this morning.

I used the Random Integer Generator to draw a winner out of 8 participants who left me messages in the Good Karma Giveaway post.






The winner is Silja who picked the Wollmeise Twin in Arlene. Please contact me via email or ravelry message. I will try to get the skein posted this week via First Class post unless you prefer other mode of delivery.

Thanks all for participating and sharing project ideas! For others who haven't won this skein, please don't be too disappointed. I promise I will have another giveaway later. :)

Good Karma Giveaway

As promised earlier, I want to do a giveaway. Today is the day!

Can you guess what they are from their back?

Hint number one: Something starts with W, ends with -meise.

Hint number two: They're from Bavaria, Germany.

Hint number three: Each skein is at least 150g in weight and has an amazing yardage of over 500 metres.

Hint number four: Not buttery soft. But they make the most sturdy socks in the most vibrant colours...

..........

......

..

Yes. They're Wollmeise. I am planning to give away one skein of Wollmeise from my stash.

The first candidate is Wollmeise 100% Merino Superwash in Versuchskaninchen, which means Guinea Pig in German. Claudia (The owner and dyer of Wollmeise) names many of her test skeins as Guinea Pig, so there are many different Wollmeise Guinea Pigs out there. This one is in my favourite fuchsia pink (the close-up pic above shows the true colour better than the top one). In fact it looks EXACTLY the same as my another skein of Wollmeise Twin in Fuchsia colourway in my stash.

This is the third Fuchsia Wollmeise in my stash. The other two skeins have a total of 1000+ metres, enough to make 3 or maybe 4 pairs of Fuchsia socks for me. Therefore I know I will never use this skein.



The second candidate is Wollmeise Twin in We're Different Arlene. A subtle variegated yarn in browns, purples and a bit of burgundy. The real skein looks slightly darker and more subtle than the above close-up photo. I have a big skein of Wollmeise Lace in the same colourway which is destined to be a lace weight cardigan for my mom some time in future. Usually I don't enjoy knitting in the same colourway again, so I know I will never use this skein of Arlene.

Therefore, they deserve a better home with a better knitters to knit them up.

Before telling you how to bring one of them home, there's one important thing:

Since it's a giveaway, I really hope the yarn can find a good home in which it can be knit up instead of being sold away. I'd appreciate if you agree not to sell it or swap it away for another skein. If you happen to find that the colour isn't what you are looking for (I can understand, sometimes it happens), please pass the karma on. Give it away to someone who loves it. Or you can let me know so we can draw another lucky winner who may enjoy having it. By leaving a message to participate in the draw, you agreeing to abide by this little Karma rule. Okay? All good?

Here's what you can do to claim your skein:

1) Leave me a message. Tell me which skein you like to get. If possible, please briefly tell me what you're going to make with it -- just for my curiosity and to make more fun. You're not obliged to tell in order to claim the yarn. But why don't we share some project ideas with others?

2) I will use a random number generator to draw a lucky winner next Sunday (30/1) when I come back from my holiday.

3) I will cover the first class non-recorded postage wherever you're from, as long as Royal Mail sends to your country. If you want to make sure the little beauty arrives safely, I am happy to send via recorded mail, but I'd appreciate if you can cover the additional cost. Sounds fair?

Okay. All good?

Hola 2011!

Belated Happy New Year!

Ahem... I know... It's really embarrassing to say Happy New Year in the third week of the year. I wished I could have written my first blog earlier but I have many good excuses reasons for that.



We went to Egypt for 9 days. It was awesome! I was deeply impressed by inspired by the Egyptian Hieroglyphics. The trip was full of fun even Egyptians basically don't knit and I couldn't find any souvenir yarn to take home.

After I came back in early January, I started studying and working on my Computing assignments. I am taking 4 courses this year. Three of them have monthly assignments. They are not impossibly difficult but there are quite a lot to read, research and write. Anyway, after working quite hard for 10 days, I managed to finish and hand them in last weekend. Yeah!



We then went to buy some skiing apparels for our skiing trip. I did skied twice or thrice in Japan and indoor sites. But they were all half-day trips. This is going to be my first skiing holiday. We will arrive the French Alps on Sunday noon and stay there till Friday afternoon. Hope I am not going to break my legs or arms... fingers crossed.



I also went to see a GP for my thumb, which I hurt a month ago. It still hurts. Any attempt to straighten my right thumb only results in agony. No. I meant AGONY. The doc has written me a letter to refer me to a hospital clinic for further consultation. Haven't picked up my letter yet. So don't know how long I have to wait though.

At the moment, I try not to spin. Or not too spin too much. I had been a good girl and stayed away from my wheel for quite a while, until...



... a beautiful maple lace weight spindle from Wildcraft arrived. The shaft is made of maple timber. A piece of red maple leaf is embedded in the resin in the top whorl. Simply gorgeous. I couldn't spindle.



I took a few grams of Corriedale (or maybe Falkland?) scraps out and spun right away. The spindle is so feather light (about 24 grams) and spins like a breeze. Great balance. If it was my first spindle, I probably wouldn't have bought my wheel out of frustration.



Last but not the least, I finally cast on my first project in 2011. It's a Hedera in Wollmeise Twin WD Kornblume (it means Cornflower) for the Knit Love Sock knitalong on Ravelry. My green Marlene was almost done, but I wasn't too happy about the size so I will rip off the toes off to reknit and add one more pattern repeat. Will try to do it later though. Now I am feeling like to start a new project! :)

FO: Crocus Echo Flower Shawl

Drumroll please... My Echo Flower Shawl has been blocked and ready to go!



I used 0.85 skein of Wollmeise Twin in colourway Ballerina which I got from a "We're Different grab bag" earlier this year. I was a bit puzzled by the name of the colourway as Ballerina always makes me think of baby pink. To me, the purples make me think of the crocus I saw in spring.



No matter what, it's a very pretty and sophisticated colourway. Look at the subtle gradual colour changes. Isn't it lovely?



At first I thought I got plenty of yardage. After all a skein of Twin has at least 150g and 500 yards, it's a lot compared with other fingering yarn. So I planned to make a larger shawl by doing nine Echo Flower Repeats instead of seven specified by the pattern. To my surprise, this pattern is a real yarn eater -- bet it's the "3 into 9" increases taking up loads of yarn. After checking some project notes written by other ravellers, I realized I might run out of yarn if I did the 8th repeat, especially I was using larger needles (size 7, 4.5mm) than many others. I only did 7 repeats finally. Though the size turns out alright, it turns out I still have 23g leftover after binding off. Should have enough to do the 8th repeat.



It's a shame that I don't have time to take some better photos of it before letting it go. Tomorrow will be the last posting date for Christmas. I have to get it wrapped and packed tonight. Hope my MIL will like it.

Am feeling a bit fed up with shawls. Guess I should go back to my Lopi Sweater...