Mad about knitting

Large Color Explosion Drawstring Knitting / Crafting / Gift Bag 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Vegancraftastic

 
Depending the country I've been living in, knitting has been either casted boring, old fashioned or something anyone under 60 wouldn't consider. I do not know if this strerotype is because of our dear grand-mums and great aunts used to knit and sew all the time, passing the skills and also the odd coloured and ill fitted jumpers and other products.

My Granny was typical war time warrior woman, nothing got wasted, everything was recycled way before it became fashionable to be ethical consumer. She use to crochet bath rugs etc from empty coffee bags and other durable materials. How we used to hate them, and hide them when our friends came around, they seemed so cheap and tacky then. Now-a-days they would be fashionable, and ethical items, I just saw a those rugs and shopping bags being on sale in local handycraft shop!       
                                                                                                   

                                                                                       Easter Bunny Egg Cosy,
                                                                                       http://www.etsy.com/shop/colourspace

 


The fact is knitting and crocheting are small miracles- you only need yarn, needles and some knots and loops and hey presto- a jumper is born. In it's own simplicity, knitting is easy way to create something on your own, something that has your touch, your mark from the start to finish.

This week I'm celebrating this form of art, and self-expression, by introducing you to some fellow crafters and their needle work. All of these artist can be found from Etsy.com.

 

 

 

Beautiful, crazy adorable, cocoon and hat- photography prop- http://www.etsy.com/shop/LoveThatCrochet

  

 As you can see, one can produce felt, crochet, knit, bowls, hats, shawls, socks, jumpers,egg warmers with one piece of yarn. It is pure magic!

 

 

 

 

Celtic Knot Felted Bowl, 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/iceblueberries

 

Buckthorn Jumper,
http://www.etsy.com/shop/keepandshare

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

                                                                                                  

 

Hand Knit Ecru Lace Shawl, http://www.etsy.com/shop/WrapArtist,

 

Rain, sharks and new yarns

It’s raining again. And we have another lot of visitors. It looks like Crete Aquarium will become the hot spot and saving grace for rainy days! It seems to suit everyone from Grandma to teenage cousins. This weeks picture is from shark section, they are just mesmerizing creatures. I can not get my head around the fact, that their skin looks so soft, and even, whilst glimmering with all shades of brown and grey, and in reality it is as soft as sanding paper…

I managed to finish off the second shawl, made with Garnstudio’s Drops yarn and pattern. I’m not 100% happy with it though, I think I’ll need to make it slightly longer to suit my customer. I’m waiting for her judgement re this matter. I also had a look into Garnstudio’s new yarn, Baby Merino. I’m glad to see baby yarns are not just in different shades of pink and blue, they’ve actually added some deeper colours on shade map too, even including black! I’ll have a look if I can get my hands on some of the new yarn shortly.

I’ve also started making a new pair of slippers, this time with Novita Huopanen mix, which is their superb felting yarn. This yarn is mixture of black and white, and so far it looks good. I’m waiting impatiently to see how it works when felted. I’ll keep you updated.

Thunderstorms and lace patterns

This week has been busy and full of rain and thunderstorms. They say there is normally not much rain in the summer months in Greece, but this week has proven it wrong, there's been 4 days of clouds, mist, coldness and rain. We've enjoyed it, but I can see the problem being there for tourists, when they've paid for week's sunshine filled holiday, and got only few days of glorious beach life.

I've finished one of my orders on this week, and I'm half way through the other shawl, lace pattern made with Kid Silk yarn and another GarnStudio pattern. I have more time to knit now, as everyone is hurdled indoors, away from rain, stucked in front of telly and boxes of chocolates and crisps.

We've also had a rare visitors from UK, our family is here for a week, which has meant they've whole heartedly entertained my son and dog, and I've whole heartedly abused this rare opportunity and turned into a statue like host, refusing to leave my corner of sofa for any other given reason than picking a new ball of yarn. To be honest I've also given in to few temptations, a chocolate ice cream was loudly calling me as well as did the few pizza slices. Not my fault by any means, I blame visiting family for it.

Riikka's week

This week has been busy, we've had some visitors, suffered in a small heat wave and also I've worked hard to promote our Etsy shop by joining in I love etsy.com, Ravelry etc and in the mean while I've also tried to hunt down pattern ideas for my banana- silk yarn I've had in my stock since 1969 (approx of course...but that's how it feels and I do not like to leave yarns unknitted (is that a word)). So far hunt has been desperate, and unfortunately not that successful. But I'll be strong and conquer this matter eventually. Please let me know if you have some ideas for patterns or etsy shops!

I have also started with my latest knitting order, lace styles shawl. The attached picture is from the project being half way through. I've followed pattern by Garn studios, and also used their yarns for this as that was what my customers wished as we had to match the colour of yarn to her new dress. I do have to admit, shawl is stunning, I'm nearly done with it so will keep you updated. This project has been slightly hot to deal with, yarn is a mix of Cotton Viscose and Alpaca, and with this heat wave it has been a pretty good exercise to knit it, I sure that on my diet terms this means I can take second helping of chocolate cake!