Popknits, Paris and girls weekends
September 3, 2009 by woollymammothknits
The preview of the Fall/Winter 2009 issue of Popknits is now live, and a pattern of mine is in it! The Champs-Élysées Beret (see picture) was inspired by vintage fashion and of course the city of lights - ah, Paris! It's a classic beret with a simple lace top and a wide cabled brim. The preview of the issue can be seen here. This issue will be published on September 16, so check out the pattern then! Popknits' slogan is "vintage knitting redux", so no wonder it's one of my favorite knitting magazines. I couldn't be more excited to have this pattern published in the magazine. Check out the mag and the archives on Popknits.com. Here's a sneak peaky picture of the beret:
Speaking of Paris, it's only a couple of hours by train from here, and I really can't wait for us to go again and take Eleanor there. It's been almost three years I believe since we were last there, and I kind of miss it, it's one of my favorite cities in Europe (Paris, Rome and of course Amsterdam :-) And London, too!).
Meanwhile, Noortje is getting to wear her knitted stuff! We got lots of compliments on this cardigan: (pattern available here: Juniper Baby Jacket)
And some more sweet smiles (I love these! :-) I think she looks a little mischievous in the second one:
My next project for her will be a little girly dress. Noortje has grown a ton since my last blog post and she is learning new things all the time. She now laughs out loud, squeals occasionally (which is the funniest little sound), "talks" endlessly with us, with her stuffed animals and especially with her Baby Einstein Octoplush and reaches for and grabs things. It really is amazing to watch her.
This past week we had a real girls weekend here at home. Brandon sadly had to go on a trip for work, leaving Eleanor, Sophie and I to receive my mom, who came to stay with us for a week. We had a lot of fun, and in the meantime Brandon got to see his parents while he was away, so that was very nice as well. Of course, we got thoroughly spoiled, because both sets of grandparents gave us so many cute baby girl clothes!
Also very fun are Noortje's and my meet-ups with the girls from our NCT class. The NCT class was the childbirth class Brandon and I took and that really helped us prepare for Noortje's birth. As a wonderful bonus, we've made some friends who are also new parents, and Noortje and I hang out with them every once in a while. Sometimes I wish I could bring my knitting, but then I know I'll usually end up nursing our little girl so there's not much of a chance to knit anyway. I have managed to knit a little while nursing her at home however - it was slow going, but still, very nice!
Random things I've enjoyed the past few weeks:
The business of being born, a documentary about birth and homebirth in the US. Nothing new for us, but still interesting to watch, and wonderful to see all the happy homebirths. I feel very fortunate to have grown up in a society where natural birth is the norm and homebirth is considered so normal, and so common (30% of babies born at home in the Netherlands). It's one of the reasons why we were so happy to be able to have a homebirth ourselves.
Smiley's People, the miniseries with Alec Guinness. Fantastic! Must read the book now and also watch the prequel, Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
Taal is zeg maar echt mijn ding, by Paulien Cornelissen. For my fellow Dutchmen/women: I highly recommend it! It's a wonderfully funny and insightful book about trends in the Dutch language and made me giggle and snicker many times. And, I'll admit it here, I now finally know where the word "horeca" comes from! How I never knew before, I have no clue, but it was a revelation :-)
All right, enough rambling for now!
Baby smiles and new patterns
August 9, 2009 by woollymammothknits
One of the most amazing things about being a mom is seeing our little girl smile:
Eleanor is eight weeks old now and we have settled into a bit of a routine. She sleeps through the night (and has since she was five weeks old - lucky us :-), eats well, grows super fast and is a very happy baby. I have even found some time to knit here and there and have been working on a project for a magazine, that's almost finished now, and a new pattern I cooked up: Coniferous. It's a cabled beret and as so often with my designs is inspired by vintage fashion. I've added it as a free pattern to the site, as well as to my Ravelry store that I recently opened. Here's a picture:
I've also added another free pattern, for the baby cardigan with the fair isle hearts border that is pictured a few entries below. I've named it Kissable because Noortje looks so kissable in it :-)
Eleanor Rose is here!
June 17, 2009 by woollymammothknits
Born at home on 12 June 2009 at 1:03 am, our beautiful daughter Eleanor Rose Wilgus has arrived to join our little family! The birth went wonderfully well and was unexpectedly fast. Just 4 hours of active labor and then Brandon and I got to hold her in our arms, which was an incredible moment. After a brief transfer to the hospital on account of Eleanor having a slight fever just after the birth, we are now all happily home again and Eleanor is healthy as can be. It's just been 5 days but it seems as if she's already growing! Naturally, we're quite busy at the moment learning the ropes of baby-care so I have had to put my knitting needles down for a while, but I do look forward to knitting again soon (especially, of course, lots more baby things!). This is our beautiful girl:
We couldn't be happier, and Sophie is so excited about having a little sister as well!
And another baby pattern: Juniper Baby Jacket
June 9, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I finished another baby cardigan and plan to write up the pattern and publish it here on the site as soon as I have the time (which might just take a little while depending on when our little one decides to make his/her appearance! :-). It'll be a free pattern sized for newborns and possibly other sizes. Here's a sneak peak:
And just like in my last update, I'll just say I hope to be able to update with some awesome news soon! :-)
And another baby pattern: Juniper Baby Jacket
June 4, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I've just added another pattern to the website. This one's a sweet little baby jacket that I designed for our little one to wear outdoors this summer, as the weather can still get pretty cool out here in England, even in the summertime. This pattern costs $3.00 and is available in sizes 3 months, 6 months, 12 months and 18 months. Here's a picture:
It can be purchased here.
I hope to be able to update again soon with some wonderfully happy news! :-)
Super-quickie update! New free pattern: Blue Moon Hat
June 2, 2009 by woollymammothknits
This will be a super short update, because it's late and I'm almost 39 weeks pregnant! So, I must go to bed (even if I can't sleep... it really is getting hard to get a good night's sleep at this point). We couldn't be more excited to finally get to meet our little one so soon - and hopefully really, really soon! :-)
Anyway, this update is really just to let you all know I just added a new free pattern to the site. It's a hat pattern that wasn't really planned, but just sort of sprang into being. Once in a blue moon this happens to me (most of my designs are carefully mapped out and planned) so here is the "Blue Moon Hat"!
It can be downloaded here.
I've also finished two more baby designs, that I hope to add to the site soon, as well as a few other designs projects that are awaiting consideration for publication (so those won't be on the site for a little while). One of my designs, meanwhile, has been accepted for publication, and though I cannot say yet where or what kind of project it is, I am of course very excited about this! It's almost as though my "nesting" has included a bit of a knitting frenzy as I've been trying to finish up projects and proposals that I know I won't have time to get to for a couple of weeks after the little baby gets here :-) I'm definitely super ready for him or her to come and meet us now, though! Happy knitting!
The strange case of the missing yarn
April 29, 2009 by woollymammothknits
For Christmas this past year, one of the wonderful gifts I got from my husband was ten skeins of yummy Wool of the Andes bulky yarn. Since then, as I discovered last week, somehow four skeins have gone missing. I don't know how this is possible, as I'm sure I have not yet knit them into anything, and I've spent several days turning everything in the house upside down trying to find them. This is not a big house and things generally don't disappear in it, so it's been driving me crazy really. However, I have come up with the solution: I will buy four new skeins of Wool of the Andes bulky (hoping the dye lots won't be too different). I think it is some sort of a law of the universe that as soon as you give up searching for whatever you have lost, and buy the item or items in question a-new, the original item will turn up. So if that law holds true (we'll see when my Knit Picks order arrives), I will then have fourteen skeins of yarn! Not a bad deal :-)
In the meantime, in-between the searching and also spending time with my sweet brothers, who came to visit us in the UK for the first time, I did finish another design. I have submitted it to a magazine so I cannot yet blog about it, but as soon as I can, I definitely will! Also, a fellow raveler (or should that be ravelry-er? I'm not sure), CanaryKnits, featured a design profile of my work on her blog this past week. How cool is that? I literally blushed reading it and feel enormously flatted she would profile me for her weekly "indie designer day" feature. You can read it here: Canary Knits: Indie Designer Day.
Just about 6 more weeks to go till our little one arrives! I better get back to the baby knitting :-)
Our jungle fighters want socks
April 16, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I found the website with the vintage "Essentials for the Forces" WWII knitting patterns that I blogged about in my previous entry. It's at the Victoria and Albert museum's website and all the patterns (socks, mittens, vests, hats and more) are available for download as .PDF files. It has a bunch of other 1940s patterns besides the military ones as well. I especially love "Your Victory Jumper", "Two Knitted Turbans" and the knitted toy lion and tiger patterns. Here's the link: 1940s patterns to knit. And here's a copy of the postcard I mentioned before that I picked up at the Imperial War Museum in Duxford:
I love the "Please knit now" line... different times when every woman (and probably quite a few men!) knew how to knit!
That reminds me, last week we saw a famous play in Norwich with Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in the main roles. The actors (two of our favorites) were fantastic, but the play itself was even more amazing. It was Waiting For Godot, which I'd never seen before, only heard of before, and, to be completely honest, did not quite know what to expect of as the premise sounded rather existentialist and all. I have to admit at this point that I had never been to a real, non-community-theatre-level play before; I'd only been to a few operas and musicals. So this was a whole new thing, and the experience blew me away. Written shortly after WWII, the play touches on all the big issues in life and in society, especially as the author, Samuel Beckett, must have experienced them at the time. If any of you have the chance to go see this play (with or without superb big-name actors :-) I highly recommend it!
And more knitting-related, I just finished another design and pattern today! I've submitted it to a magazine, so I cannot yet blog about it, but in due time I will for sure.
Another new pattern: Snowdrop Sweater Jacket
April 11, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I've just added another new pattern to the site. This one's a little sweater jacket called Snowdrop, knit in a super bulky yarn (the sample was made with Rowan Big Wool). It's not really the thing for the coming season, but it's always fun to knit ahead for Fall/Winter, so there you go :-) It's another vintage-inspired pattern and it is available for $6.50 here: Snowdrop Sweater Jacket. It has an oversized collar that can be worn up or down, here's a picture of each style:
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My parents are staying with us for a few days, we're celebrating Easter with lots of colored (and chocolate, yum!) eggs and Dutch Easter bread. Today after our first (of several :-) Easter breakfasts, we visited the Imperial War Museum at Duxford. The museum has one of the most amazing collections of aircraft, and of course I got all sorts of tickled when Brandon spotted a "knit for the troops" advertisement card from WWII at the gift shop! I'll have to scan it and post it here, it's pretty neat. The caption reads "our jungle troops need socks!". Which reminds me, there are some old war-time patterns available online somewhere, I'll have to see if I can dig up the link to the website that has them. If I find it I'll post it here as well!
New (free!) pattern: Little Whale Baby Hat and Booties set
April 2, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I've added a new free pattern to the site, called "little whale baby hat and booties set". It's my first baby pattern and I hope many more may follow! I definitely have lots of inspiration for more baby projects so hopefully I'll be able to add more soon. Here's a picture of the hat and booties:
The patterns for the hat and booties can be downloaded here: Little Whale Baby Hat and Booties.
I actually added the pattern already this past weekend, but I didn't get to blog about it because it was a last-minute website update before we were off to Bath. We spent two nights there to celebrate our two year anniversary, and had the best time! Bath is much like an open-air museum from Georgian times. The architecture is amazing and we loved seeing some of the sights. Highlights were no. 1 Royal Crescent, a Georgian house completely decorated in period furniture, the Assembly Rooms (especially also the Fashion museum, which gave me lots of new knitting ideas. I just love Regency dresses! :-) and the Pump Room, where we had a fantasic lunch in style with live piano music. The food was altogether delicious (for anyone visiting Bath I highly recommend Tillie's Bistro and Martini, the latter of which served melanzane (aubergine or eggplant) just the way it is served in Naples, Italy, yumm!) and our stay at Apsley House Hotel (once the Duke of Wellington's house in Bath, where he kept his mistress!) was absolutely wonderful as well. Most of all, it was great to have a little romantic get-away to celebrate and enjoy each other, especially knowing how busy we will get once the little one arrives... it'll be a while before we'll get to do something like this again!
Just 12 more weeks to go!
March 20, 2009 by woollymammothknits
As of yesterday, I'm 28 weeks pregnant. I still find it a bit hard to believe myself sometimes, the past few months have gone by so quick! I almost wrote "we're pregnant" just now, because even though physically it's just me that's pregnant, it feels like this really is a team effort. Brandon has been and continues to be so completely involved in everything, it's fantastic. We're even taking prenatal (or ante-natal as they call it here in Britain) classes together to learn about giving birth and caring for a newborn and all that. The classes are a lot of fun, we've got a great group of 7 couples, and we're learning at ton. It makes me feel very confident about the whole process, which is nice.
And, I have begun baby-knitting at last! I've designed a new pattern, which I think I'll call the "baby whaley hat and booties set" (or something of that nature). It's a baby hat and a set of baby boots (I know, doh :-) and the hat has a little whale embroidered on it (courtesy of my sweet husband). I'm finishing knitting up the second of the booties; as soon as I've got the pattern written out I'll post it here and add it to the pattern page. It'll be a free pattern, too. Here's a picture of my progress so far:
All of our travelling last month was great, but also pretty tiring! After our trip to Rome we spent 2 days at home, then went to Holland for 2 days to visit my family and take our doggy there as she'd be staying with them. From there we flew to Atlanta, drove to Kentucky and back, flew to Miami and back to Atlanta again, from there back to Holland for another day and half and then via the ferry back to England... phew! Quite the whirlwind. It was absolutely wonderful to see all our family on both continents. The baby shower was great as well and of course we got a ridiculous amount of amazing gifts! What was really nice too is that this was our third long trip to visit my in-laws and during the first two trips, although I felt very comfortable with them and very happy to get to know them, I still felt that these were "Brandon's family and friends". This time around I no longer felt that way at all; instead I really felt that they are all my family and friends, too. So that was really neat. In addition to all our family and friend-visiting, we got to enjoy some baking in the sun in Miami (28 degrees celsius in February, unbelievable) on our Valentine weekend-getaway. After a miserably cold English winter and a summer that wasn't much better, we really needed it. Still, I'm also very happy to be back home again now. We'll be taking it pretty easy for the next few months!
New pattern: Nevez Lace Scarf
February 1, 2009 by woollymammothknits
I just added a new pattern to the pattern page. It is a little lace scarf that is perfect for the cool weather in late winter and early spring. It's best made with hand-dyed yarn, although it would be very pretty in a solid color as well. Here's a picture:
It can be purchased for $1.99 here.
The past few weeks have been very fun. We had our 20-week ultrasound and everything is going really well with the baby, so that was fantastic news. After that we took a trip to Rome for 5 days, which was true walk down memory lane. It had been over a year since we left Italy and we really missed some of it (especially the food, the weather, the people...). We stayed in our favorite hotel, the Hotel Fontanta (I highly recommend it if you visit Rome!) with a view of the Trevi fountain. We had wonderful pasta every night, and although I was a bit sad not to get to enjoy a chianti, I know the reason why I didn't is wonderful of course :-) The weather was lovely (compared to England... we even got to picknick outside in the sun one day) and the sights were marvellous of course. Walking down any street in downtown Rome is like travelling through time. And since time-travel is one of my favorite things to daydream about from time to time, I always enjoy it so much; the place is really dripping with history.
One funny little thing that happened was, just as we were exclaiming such things to each other as, "oh how we've missed this!" and "Why don't we go live in Italy again one day", we saw the owner of the shop we were in getting more and more upset on the phone. One glance at the paper in front of her told us what the drama was all about: her Enel energy bill... right. It's easy to forget the sometimes incredibly frustrating sides of otherwise very bella Italia, and especially of crazy Naples (the trash, the stray animals, the maniacal driving and the Enel, Telecom Italia and other bills). So we just decided to enjoy our vacations to Italy, but not really attempt to move there in the future :-) As for our Rome trip, one of the absolute highlights was seeing Aida at the Rome opera theatre. It was only my second real opera (after Boris Godunov in London a few months ago) and Aida is one of my favorites. It was beautiful. Anyway, so all in all it was a wonderful vacation!
And now we're off for yet another trip: visiting our family in the States. It's been over a year, too, since our last visit and we so can't wait to see everyone again! My mother-in-law and sister-in-law have planned a baby shower for us, so that's very exciting as well. Naturally, I will report back here as soon as we're home again.
Knit Picks stash additions - I love Christmas gifts!
January 13, 2009 by woollymammothknits
We have had a busy month this past December here in the U.K.! Unfortunately I was sick with a heavy drawn-out head cold for the first 10 days or so of the month, but after that things looked up greatly. We had friends of ours from Naples come stay with us for a few days, which was a lot of fun, and after that my parents arrived to spend Christmas with us. It was the first Christmas my husband and I got to spend at home together, and it was wonderful to have my parents there! All in all I didn't get to knit much the past few weeks, besides my very first felted item (a potholder :-). I did however get some fantastically delicious Knit Picks woollies for Christmas from my sweet husband, as well as a whole bunch of other wonderful gifts. I got a ton of Wool of the Andes Bulky in a beautiful rusty red, as well as a bright red tweedy color of Shamrock, both 100% wool and enough to knit at least two sweaters. I couldn't be more excited!
New Years unfortunately was a bit of a non-event. Not only did my husband have to work the night shift, but it also seems this holiday is not celebrated as much as I'm used to here in rural England. There was no special past year's review type show on tv, no special pastries to be eaten (so I made Dutch oliebollen to fill that void), and at midnight all remained dead quiet: no fireworks and no neighbours pouring into the street to wish each other a happy New Year with a glass of champagne in hand. All in all a bit odd, but not bad. Of course, our puppy was happy as a clam not to have to hear the fireworks, so that part was definitely good. Our first big project in 2009 was to get the baby room ready, and we just completed it a day or two ago. It's turned out beautifully, even sweeter than I had imagined. We've got soft yellow walls and white baby furniture, with sweet fantasy animals on the curtains and bedding. It's all Ikea, we're such Ikea addicts :-) Of course, I had to leave the room while Brandon was building all the furniture, I don't think I've ever heard him curse so. But it's only natural, for as every European knows, Ikea furniture is one of the most frustrating things in the world before it's sitting beautifully in your room in one piece. Then it's great, but ah, the put-it-together-with-silly-drawn-instructions and sometimes missing pieces stage! Anyway, we got past that, and the room is all together now. I can just picture the little "kleintje" in there in a few months from now!
Random question: has anyone else been bitten by the Twilight bug? After two years of noticing the books in stores and being slightly intrigued every time (yet prevented from actually buying them on account of Anne Rice-induced vamp snobism :-) I finally went and got the series. Needless to say I enjoyed every bit of it, as well as liked the movie a lot when we saw it yesterday.
And although this is almost 2 weeks late: a very happy, exciting, wonderful, knit-filled new year to you all!!!
Knotions Winter 2008 issue is live! And my Take A Bow hat pattern is in it :-)
November 17, 2008 by woollymammothknits
The title above says it all! The new issue of Knotions Magazine is out and one of the patterns in it is my hat pattern Take A Bow. Like so many of my designs, it was inspired by vintage fashion, in this case the cloche hats of the 1920s. I'm so excited about my first publication! All the patterns in this issue of Knotions are wonderful, so check them out! Here's the link to my hat pattern: Take A Bow. And here's a pic:
We just got back from Holland this past week. It's great to be home again! It was wonderful to get to spend so much time with my family, but with my sweet husband in Afghanistan (albeit only for a few weeks) I couldn't help but worry myself sick half the time. It's just so good to have our little family "pack" back together again. The trip back to England was quite eventful in itself, too, as our ferry across the Channel got stuck in a terribly storm and we couldn't get into the port of Dover. We stayed out in the mad weather for hours in the middle of the night and I've never been so seasick in my life. Being pregnant and in the first trimester didn't help either I'm sure! Thankfully we finally got our feet back on land (blessed land! hehe) around two in the morning, and made our way back home the next day. It's funny, being such a fan of the Patrick O'Brian books, and married to a sailor nonetheless, I love the idea of going to sea, especially in the beautiful old tall ships of Nelson's days. But nothing could cure me of daydreaming about such things easier than that nightmarish trip on the Channel did!
Meantime, I'm working on a new pattern, that I hope to finish in the next week or two. I have not yet begun with my baby knitting but will no doubt get started on that soon, too :-)
And last but certainly not least: YAY YAY YAY for Obama!!! I was so happy I cried when I heard the news (early in the morning, as thanks to the early pregnancy I sadly didn't have the energy to stay up through the night like I did with previous US elections). What a victory!
New pattern, another Holland trip and some big big news!
October 16, 2008 by woollymammothknits
Shame on me for not updating in over a fortnight. But to my defense, we've been ridiculously busy the past two weeks or so. I feel like we've been running around like chickens without heads (as we say in Dutch, "als een kip zonder kop" :-) for at least some of the time, and I've gotten hardly any knitting done lately. Hopefully that will change soon. I did, however, finish a new pattern, a vintage-inspired lacy cardigan named "Chunky Fudge Lace Cardigan" (it has to do with fudge brownies :-). It's knit in a chunky weight yarn and will be warm and snug for the coming winter. Here is a picture, and this is the link: Chunky Fudge Lace Cardigan
It is available for $6.50 and I'll send it to you as a .PDF file by email within 24 hours when you purchase it.
In other news, my sweet husband unfortunately has to go on a trip for work soon. Thankfully it won't be for that long, but I still always feel that it is too long, plus the location of said trip worries me. Cheesy though this may sound to some, I think one day apart is too long! Sophie (our doggie) and I will take a trip to our family in Holland while he is away, and while I can't wait to see our family again of course, I only wish my Brandon could spend these weeks together with us there as well. This is also partly why we've been so busy these past weeks; it's amazing how much prep work both trips take.
But I'm rambling, and what I've really been wanting to share is some amazing, incredible, big big news, that we got just about 2 weeks ago now. We are expecting our first baby!!! Of course, it is still very, very early, but we are just so happy! We had only just begun trying, it was my first month off the pill, so we really lucked out. I'm so excited to begin this journey towards welcoming a new family member (or, as we tell Sophie, a new pack member) into the world, and of course you know what this means, too: it's time for lots and lots of baby knitting! :-)
New hand-dyed wool, and of books and films and such
September 28, 2008 by woollymammothknits
I finished a new design, a vintage-inspired cardigan, that I will add to the site soon (as soon as I've got all the small details of the pattern worked out). I'm very excited about this as I think it's my best design yet. I have also been doing some more wool dyeing and have added the information about two new colorways to the yarn page. The new colorways are called "Pumpkin Spice" (in honor of that crazy holiday, Halloween) and "Pomegranate Sunset". Here are some pictures:
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In non-knitting related news, this past week my sweet husband and I got to see Dr. Strangelove on the big screen! It is one of my favorite movies of all time and it was fantastic to see it in the theater, during the Cambridge Film Fesitval. Afterwards we had dinner at our "local" (meaning our local pub, in Brit speak :-) which was cosy and yummy as always.
Book-wise I have dived back into the world of Nelson's Navy as I (finally) finish the last book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey-Maturin saga. It has been a few years since I read the other books and it had finally dawned on me how ridiculous it was to read 19 1/2 books out of a 20 book series and then somehow not finish the last one. What can I say, I got distracted :-) Anyway, it's a lot of fun reading the last book now, it is a bit like visiting with old friends. Such a pity that this really is the very last adventure of H.M.S. Surprise, but perhaps I'll re-read all the books one day. What is also nice is that throughout the series there are countless mentions of knitting - the wives knit stuff for the husbands, the young girls learn to knit, knitted garments, etc. Fun!
Ravelry
September 15, 2008 by woollymammothknits
I just got hooked up to Ravelry as a designer! For those who are not yet members of Ravelry, I highly recommend joining up: it is a fantastic knitting community with tons of knitting resources. There are lots of crocheters on the site as well for those interested. Anyway, I had been a member since July (I finally figured out what Ravelry was after seeing it referenced in posts on knitting forums for ages :-) but now I'm officially listed as a designer, too. My username on Ravelry is linw, and this is the link to my designer page: http://www.ravelry.com/designers/linda-wilgus. Here's the link to my profile, too: http://www.ravelry.com/people/linw. If you are a member of Ravelry, look me up!
I have also begun taking pictures for the yarn page in a different way. I had started out with a home-made "light studio" made out of a box with tissue paper (there is a tutorial for this online somewhere, just google "home made light box" or light studio) but that did not produce the wished-for results. In the end I decided natural light is better, as it shows the colors off more, so from now on I will be taking pictures outside and in more of a close-up. Like this:
I also just received ten skeins of a yummy homespun, undyed (and unbleached) worsted weight yarn, that I plan on dyeing in some crazy colors over the next week or two. Results will be listed on the yarn page!
First published pattern on the way
September 13, 2008 by woollymammothknits
I'm so excited! I just heard my first pattern will be published in the winter issue of Knotions Magazine. It is a hat pattern that was very fun to make (and knit). I hope everyone will like it! I will add the link to it on the pattern section of the site once it's up.
We got back from Holland the day before yesterday, we had a blast there. My parents celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary, as well as my dad's 60th birthday, and had all the family over for a party. It was wonderful to see everyone and catch up. We spent a day in Amsterdam as well and stayed the night at the same hotel we had stayed at for our wedding, so that was quite special. I didn't get nearly enough knitting done, but now that we're home again I have lots of time to catch up. I'm also finishing up two cardigan patterns (both vintage-inspired) that I hope to be able to add to the site in the next few weeks. It's so overcast and dark out here these days, it's sometimes difficult to find a good moment to take pictures of designs.
Last but not least, I had a great find at the local thrift store in my parents' town: four 100g. skeins of "french country wool" ("Franse landwol") in a heavy worsted weight. It's a beautiful dark blue color and I can't wait to knit with it. My mom doesn't knit very frequently, but seeing this yummy wool she said she was tempted to pick up the needles again. Random thought: I think I will have to knit something special for her for Christmas this year.
Updates and off to the low countries
September 04, 2008 by woollymammothknits
I have just updated the links section of the site, and am in the process of getting set up on Ravelry as a designer. I'm very excited about this; I love Ravelry and before I began designing, I would've never imagined that I would be listed as a designer on the site someday.
In other news, I will be away from my computer for about a week starting tomorrow. The reason is that my sweet husband, Sophietje, and I will be travelling to the low countries to visit my family. I can't wait! I will of course have to bring lots of knitting along for the trip as well :-). One thing that I feel is a bit sad is that I am unable to knit in the car, as it makes me very queasy. My husband and I tend to talk endlessly while driving, which is wonderful, but I always feel it's a bit of a pity that my hands are idle for hours and hours on end. Oh well, nothing one can do about it! I used to be unable to knit on airplanes too because of airlines' over-the-top safety regulations (yes, really, I will take over this plane using nothing but a nail clipper!). But I have since acquired a superb pink Denise kit (I have to mention that it's pink because the color tickles me for some reason) that is said to be allowed on airlines. I'm a little apprehensive about attempting this, but at the same time, a transatlantic flight without knitting is no fun either. I suppose that if I were to bring a self-addressed, stamped envelope to drop my project in in case of an emergency, it is worth the try. But that will come in the future sometime, next time we go visit my in-laws, for this coming week, we'll just be driving.
First blog post on the new website!
August 29, 2008 by woollymammothknitsThis is my very first post on my new website! I'm thrilled to finally launch the site. It took me some time to figure out all the mechanics of the HTML and everything (it'd been a few years since I'd done any of this), but here it is at last! In this blog, as in my old blog (or should I say my same blog in the old location?) I will document my adventures knitting around the world, announce the arrival of new patterns and ramble about other assorted topics. For the sake of continuity, I have also copied my last post from my old blog below this one.As of today the site has three free patterns listed, including the little shrug that's featured on the front page. I have been knitting up a storm lately and have also finished three patterns that I have submitted to various magazines, so I cannot post them on the blog just yet. They are a cardigan, hat, and scarf pattern. If they are accepted by the magazines then I will put up a link here once they're published, and if they don't get accepted I will simply put them on the site, of course! It's great to have a little corner of the web where I can showcase my patterns from now on. Last but not least, I have finished another pattern, but have not yet gotten around to do the sizing for it. It is a cotton empire summer top that is as of yet nameless (hopefully I can think of a name before I post the pattern!). Here's a picture:
I love this button:
I hope you will enjoy what you see here on my new website! I frequently update the site with new patterns, yarns and other things, so check back often!
Cardigan without leaf ties
August 18, 2008 by woollymammothknitsI just finished Stephanie Japel’s Cardigan with Leaf Ties, except, I made it without the leaf ties. I got a bunch of delicious Knit Picks Andean Silk for Christmas from my husband, and after some deliberation decided to knit it up into the cardigan with leaf ties. What a fun project!Unfortunately, the only thing I didn’t like were the leaf ties. I did really like how they looked in the picture that came with the pattern, and I liked the leafs and I-cord when I knit them on a (much) smaller needle than recommended, but the I-cord that went around the neckline just kept bunching up and pulling on the neckline in a weird way. I don’t think it’s my way of picking up stitches that did it, as I normally never have this problem... anyway, after letting the project sit for some time while deciding what to do with it, I finally decided to frog the collar and instead, knit on a narrow 2×2 rib collar and have it close with a button. I really like how it turned out. I will definitely be wearing this one a lot!This is a picture of the finished cardigan:
And this is a picture of when I was adding the leaf ties... I tried to straighten out the neckline for the picture but you can see that it was still pulling a little:
