Black winter warmth

Oh my, the time just keeps on flying by! And it feels like I'm getting nothing done.

But here's a cowl I finished already before Christmas. It was another testknit for Nadja, just like the Rock Rose Cardigan last summer. 

Pattern: Cloud Nine Loop 
Yarn: Sofil Carina
Needles: 4 mm

The pattern is really beautiful. Warm and airy and soft. And it was easy to follow too, so if you want a quick and easy project, here's one for you! This one ended up as a Christmas present for my mom, but I might just make another one for my self someday.

My biggest problem was really to get this photographed. I mean... Winter = dark, black yarn = even darker!! But I hope you'll still be able to figure out what it really looks like.

Last but not least, a behind-the-scenes-photograph. And yes, apparently I forgot to comb my hair that day... Nice of the photographer not to say anything... :)

Roses on rocks

For the past three weeks I'll just been knitting, knitting and knitting. A deadline really is the best way to get things done! You see, I signed up as a testknitter for a new cardigan pattern, and the testknit had to be finished yesterday. And eventhough I still have some things from the winter to show you, I decided to let this one go first:

Pattern: Rock Rose Cardigan by schneckenstrick
Yarn: Novita 7 Veljestä, beige
Needles: 4 mm
In Ravelry

I'm very pleased with the result. This is a perfect cardigan for a chilly summer evening! The pattern was also very well written and easy to follow. Only the rose pattern was actually quite annoying to knit at first, but then I got used to it.

The cardigan is knitted from the top down and it's compleatly seamless (me likes!). In fact, this time I made only two minor modifications: I added some waist shaping and some length to both the sleeves and the cardigan itself. What was even more perfect, was that I also managed to use up some of my stash of yarns! Yay!

So far I've only been knitting sweaters using a rather thick yarn (or well, Tender lavender being one exception to the rule), so I was actually quite terrified at the beginnin. After two weeks of knitting I was sure I wouldn't be able to finish it in time. But there I was yesterday, ready to shoot pictures of a brand new cardigan!

I'm not that sure of the buttons, though. I found them in my mom's old stash and they are perhaps a little bit too "bling" for my taste. But I'll see. They were after all the easiest part of the cardigan, so it won't be hard to change them later if I feel like it.

As a bonus picture I'd like to present a quite new friend of my: Miss Owly. She's making sure I always know what time it is. Sweet, isn't she? And I'm just crazy about owls. Funny thing I actually don't have that many things with owls. At least not yet... :)

Hoot hoot!