The Russian Join

No matter how long I knit and hook – new tricks and techniques never fail to amaze me! Here comes today’s enlightenment when looking for a way to invisibly join yarn (and felting was not an option). Of course, there are several videos on the net but – proud as I am – I prefer to post pictures instead:

Work a pointed needle through your yarn ...
Work a pointed needle through your yarn …
... and pull it through ...
… and pull it through …
... make sure to leave a loop ...
… make sure to leave a loop …
... pull the new yarn through ...
… pull the new yarn through …
... repeat what you did before ...
… repeat what you did before …
... admire the 2 loops ...
… admire the 2 loops …
... now pull those two strands und smooth them (firm but careful) ...
… now pull those 2 strands und smooth them (firmly but carefully) …
... and finally trim the ends.
… and finally trim the ends.

That’s it! Okay, you knew that all along but I didn’t. And I am so happy with it!

Look at the scarf I am working on: can you tell where one strand ends and the new one starts?

Russian Join häkelmonster.com

Well, I can’t – that’s for sure. And I was wondering whether you have tricks and techniques that saved you more than once and that you’d be willing to share?

Some Knitting

Lately, I didn’t do much with regard to knitting or hooking as my hand still hurts and is slowing me down. However, when obtaining a German copy of “More Last-Minute Knitted Gifts” by Joelle Hoverson (sent to me by the publisher) I could not resist. I had to knit the beautiful baby hat and those wrist warmers.

Joelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comThe first hat turned out to be way bigger than I wanted it to be (very cute nonetheless), the second one – made of schoenstricken llama yarn with a little glitter – will be just perfect for my baby goddaughter.

Joelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comJoelle Hoverson haekelmonster.comThe wrist warmers are knitted in Wolkenspiel Abendrot (= sunset) hand dyed merino. I fell for the red when I saw it. The pattern was easy to follow – I changed the top and bottom though as I am not a huge fan of k2/p2.

IMG_4030In case you’d like to see more of the book and its patterns: A detailed (German) review with more pictures is on schoenstricken.de.

I am really tempted to knit the elf’s hat from the book cover now 🙂

Edinburgh

It’s been a while – I know. What can I say? Life has been (and still is!) busy and somehow I never got around to write lately. However, there has been a lot I wanted to write about!

First and foremost, the five days I spent in Edinburgh together with Julius, a friend from school and her daughter (Julius’ classmate) in late August.

We would stay in Portobello in a beautiful apartment, hang out at the seaside looking for sea shells, listen to pipers, and take endless walks with naked feet and windbreaker.

IMG_3562We would go to Edinburgh’s old town by bus, climb up Arthur’s Seat, “a hill for magnitude, a mountain in virtue of its bold design” to quote Robert L. Stevenson (author of ” Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” but you probably new that all along), and admire the Edinburgh castle. We would have tea at Stevenson House, listen to the Scottish Chamber Orchestra’s dress rehearsal for a fireworks concert (the fiery finale to the Edinburgh International Festival) and the kids would count all signs saying “yes” or “no” (to separation of GB) that were glued or put up literally everwhere.

IMG_3506We had rain and sun and cold and warmth – we absolutely loved being in Edinburgh!

IMG_3731There’s a tiny “but” though …. As always, when travelling in a group you have to submit yourself to majority decisions – and sadly the majority was not interested in yarn. So Julius, my faithful son, was the only one to accompany me to Ginger Twist Studios.

IMG_3520A perfectly wonderful store with a lovely owner. She was working on wrist warmers (just like mine: no thumb hole), we would chat a little about Martina Behm’s Leftie Shawlette, about twitter, our following each other and of course about her beautiful hand dyed yarn, and I so wanted to sit with her and knit for a while!

IMG_3516 IMG_3518However, the rest of our small group – the friend and her daughter – were standing outside in drizzling rain (…) and so we left, promising to come back … but never did. Somehow, the weekend was too short to return to the little store – I am already planning on visiting Edinburgh again.

Even more after the second yarn store I had on my list, Kathy’s Knits, was closed on Sunday and Monday of all days (we left Tuesday morning). Looks like my research prior to departure wasn’t all that well, I know …

IMG_3697Next time we’ll go as a family. The man and the son will visit the castle and that should give me plenty of time to look for yarn 🙂

Julius wants me to add that he went for a swim. Voilà:

IMG_3910