Blowtorch Crafts

Yodahat felted, with a lamp for model:

Via Four Little Sparrows.

Knitting hats for christmas, in eskimo yarn. Fat yarn makes for fast knitting, and i might be done in time for a change.

Blue hat with organza ribbon, bow in back:

Stripey hat for dad, same colours as last year’s scarf:

Yoda hat for baby (pre-felting):

And a space invaders hat for me:

Another hat, in super fat eskimo yarn this time. This yarn goes very well with moss stitch:

There will be more eskimo hats towards christmas. They are lovely and warm, and very fast to knit.

My second eva hat, in paris cotton yarn:
Well, actually I have modified it, but the basic recipe is hers, and I will give due credit.

Renate got a yellow hat for her birthday, only ten days late:

Done making Evas hat:

I started a vest during easter, and will try to get it done by october 7th:

Eva’s hat is coming along nicely, but it is very large! If it doesn’t fit the head of my ex boyfriend, I will have to frog it. And i hate frogging.  I’ve started another one for myself, in black alpaca.

Over the last few days autums has arrived – as always, unexpectedly. And I start longing for warm, knitted clothes. I am not a fast knitter (I hope to finish my alpaca vest within the next month or so), and resigned myself to buy a knitted jacket. When the weather is warmer, I am addicted to zippered hoodies, but at the moment they are just not warm enough. Which is kind of strange, seeing as they are in constant use all through the winter. Maybe I just need time to adjust. But I digress :)

Anyways, I wanted a knitted jacket, preferably a hoodie, and I wanted it right away. But allthough all the shops are filled with knits, they are all acrylic or some other sort of synthetic mix. And I really hate synthetics. Comes from having a Rudolph Steiner upbringing and wearing raw wool next to the skin all through my childhood I guess.

So, there is nothing else for it: I’ll have to knit one myself. But how on earth will I manage to make one before spring arrives? How do I make one that is quick to knit, but not too bulky, and still warm? I haven’t been able to find anything I like at my trusty resource Garnstudio either. Well no, that is not actually true. I like this, and this, and this… but neither are really what I need. And since I am a slow knitter, I have to choose my projects carefully.

Ah well. Enough with the whining. Any tips, hints or suggestions are welcome, though :)

I am learning to knit with five little needles instead of a circular needle. And it’s difficult! I can’t seem to get into rhythm… But the result will be worth it! I am making Eva‘s hat (this is her picture):
Mine is nowhere near finished yet:

I am making this in army green pt3. Please note all the extra aids I need in order to do this: hairbands on every needle as well as a stitchmarker. Hopefully, it will be easier as I get used to this method… The going is even slower than usual.

This is what I am working on at the moment:

It’s a shawl with a small fold-down collar in a lovely alpaca yarn, which I bought on sale from garn.dk, and I am really pleased with it. It’s so soft!

Speaking of alpaca, I have of course bought yarn in Russia, along with a few buttons. The lady in the shop got awfully impatient with me, though, so I only got a few:

I have also finished a little hat, in black silk alpaca with a picot edge:

I have finished a hat and mittens for a friend, all in double crochet in Drops Ice yarn (thick cotton). I think she must be mad – who wants cotton mittens? But she picked the yarn herself, she must take the blame:

I am trying to reconstruct the pattern for the crocheted felted mittens (on request), and will hopefully manage it before I leave.