I found this funky vintage wool yarn at Tradera (Swedish ebay) and bought it because I liked the look of it. After winding it, I still like the look of it. (Which is not always the case – most of the ugliest yarn I ever bought is still in my yarn stash.)

Knitting it into something that looks good will require some more work, though. The yarn varies not just in colour but also in thickness, and it’s got a kind of a curl to it, like it’s been spun around a wire that’s later been removed. In straight up stocking stitch it just made stripes, not the variegation I had expected, and the stitches looked uneven. It really didn’t do the yarn justice.

So I tried all sorts of other things, to mix up the stripes: combining it with a solid colour in slip-stitch patterns; slip-stitch patterns with just the funky yarn, both on stocking stitch and on reverse stocking stitch. And then – just simple garter stitch, which worked better than any of the other stitches. Broke up the stripes just enough to soften the impression, but without muddling it all up (like what happened with the 2nd attempt of combining it with black).

Yesterday’s embroidery club session focused on three-dimensional embroidery techniques.

French knots are the simplest example of those. Sometimes they come out really well for me, and sometimes every other knot loses shape.

Bullion knots – like French knots, but elongated into tiny sausages – were even harder. They kept coming out like small, uneven worms. I think I had the wrong yarn for this – they’d be easier with a smoother, less grippy yarn.

The woven stitches worked better, and the woven wheel stitches looked really nice in fluffy wool yarn.

Tried and mostly failed to get a photo of myself and my newly finished cardigan, without too many of the bathroom fixtures or other crap in view. The more I tried, the worse the results got. After a while I was overthinking it so much that I sometimes didn’t even manage to get into position before the timer triggered. I think it just isn’t doable.

The cardigan fits super well, though!

The new light fixture is so great. I put stronger lightbulbs in there than I thought we’d need, and now I’m glad I did so. I can sit and sew late at night, with black thread on graphite fabric, without even straining my eyes or wearing glasses.

The last decent-sized bundle of yarn I had in my yarn drawer turned out to be unusable for the purpose I bought it for. First it turned out to be low quality. Badly cleaned, with ridiculous amounts of plant matter in it. And I ran into three knots and breaks in just two hanks of yarn.

Plus then I found out it was scratchy, too. I had barely cast on knitted a couple of rows when it was already making my fingers sore. If I can’t even stand to hold the yarn while knitting, I’m not going to be wearing anything I make from it. Bummer. It was such a nice colour!

Shawls are perfect background knitting. No need to try anything on, no ripping up sleeves because they fit wrong. No swatching to get the right gauge. Just knit.

This one was lovely to knit. The yarn was super soft and cosy, and the pattern was interesting. Simply brioche knitting all the way, with two increases on every right-side row, randomly placed. Not too much thinking, but also not completely mindless. Perfect for commuting, meetings, watching TV etc.

The only bad thing about it is that I ran out of yarn so I had to stop.

I’ve finished knitting the sweater and the cardigan and the shawl (although the latter two are waiting for the details before I post photos and finally call them done) which means I don’t have a single major knitting project ongoing.

Before I can start a new project, I’m going to need more yarn, and the sewing & crafts fair seems like the best solution to that. Buying online seems risky, since I’m picky about my yarns. The spring sewing fair is coming up in about a month, so I’ll hold out until then and make do with smaller projects in the meantime, with yarns from my stash.

Right now: another pair of wrist warmers. The first ones I did in sock yarn just to have something, but now I wish I’d picked something softer. I’m making this new pair in an alpaca yarn that I found in my yarn drawer. On the plus side: super soft. On the minus side: it’s black and very fine, which makes it difficult to see what I’m doing. I can see the difference between knits and purls, but counting rows is hard. Good thing I’m not doing anything fancy, just plain ribbing.

Embroidery club. Didn’t remember to take a photo of what we were doing, but here’s a detail from a piece of embroidered artwork that was hanging on the wall at the venue.

This is the best part of the embroidery club – seeing other people’s work up close, and being inspired by work that is so different from anything I myself have done. Of course it’s also nice to get a nudge every other week to do some stitching, and to have company while doing so.

I’ve been to a local “knitting café” a couple of times, but never got hooked. I figured out why, after some time: I don’t enjoy hanging out with people I don’t know and won’t have a chance to get to know either. At the knit café it’s a crowd of new, random people every time. Some might come back, but overall it’s mostly strangers. The embroidery club on the other hand is folks I know.

I’m finished with the blingy skirt, and it came out really nice.

Front panel:

Back panel:

Side view:

Lots of different pieces with different styles.

This is the one I did last, when I was running out of ideas. A bit of an afterthought, and yet it turned out to be Adrian’s favourite.

This piece is the only reminder of the silk fabric that inspired the colour scheme.

Eric liked the latticework designs best.

Some are inspired by archaic Nordic decorations, like old Estonian embroidery and Swedish rock carvings.

Some focus on particular stitches, such as French knots…

… and variations on chain stitch.

The cardigan is done except for buttons. It fits better now, with the redone neckline.