knitting patterns, knitting stitches, knitwear designs, yarns and more...
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Good Bye Istanbul!
See ya! and Happy Knitting!
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
My favorite LYS (Local Yarn Store)
I am buying all my yarns from Dikiş Kutusu (The Sewing Box). The main reason is because they are caring ONLY high quality yarns and knitting accessories. The lady owner, Ms. Vildan, is so helpful with lots of recommendations and instructions, you could say she will do the knitting herself for you!
Ms.Vildan, the yarn store owner and the most talkative (in a good way) knitter. If you are short of inspiration, just drop in and you will leave with a bag full of stash and ideas.
Monday, March 19, 2007
don't be too envious please :)
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Knitted Bags
So, here are my projects (finished and unfinished).
First pic is of a small black purse (my “failure” in felting) knitted by request for my mother-in-low. It is embellished with silk ribbon embroidery (my first attempt of silk ribbon embroidery)
And ENTRELAC bag for my mother. I can’t wait to see her face.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
1st March - Celebration of Spring in Romania
Today is the first day of 7 days of continuous celebration dedicated to Spring and women. Women are gathering together without men (now it is men's turn to stay home and take care of the kids and household generally) and are having fun in parties.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Amazing! Every knitter should get one!
I have just gotten my amazon.com order. Our new postman is so lazy, this week he needs to rest (I got this shocking information from a “blonde” voice when I called the post office). I had to go myself to a post office in Bağlar Mevki (damn it, this city called
Monday, February 26, 2007
next (project) please
Friday, February 23, 2007
My first felting project is a big failure but it has helped me discover the best yarn in the world!
But frankly speaking, there are some yarn brands here which are outstanding. Usually I am very grumpy and very critical in the yarn stores; but I can’t find any small reason to complain about yarns of some local brands. Their quality, the easiness of knitting, the feel and look, the color selection, the resistance of fiber – they are truly amazing. It is pity that Turkish yarns are not popular worldwide. At the beginning of my knitting I was feeling a kind of unlucky because I can’t easily purchase Berroco, Rowan , Debbie Bliss or some other famous brands. Getting in
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Self striping yarn project FINISHED! READY! FO!
It was first time when I used self striping yarn. Knitting with self striping yarn has many pros but cons too. Pros: you don’t need to know to change colors, to knit Intarsia or Fair Isle. BUT, if you want to knit a cardigan or a sweater, hijole you got a big head ache to match the stripes from one sleeve with the other sleeve, and the stripes from both sleeves with the stripes from front and back. Lucky me, my project was intended from the beginning to be sleeveless, otherwise I would have had to take painkillers while knitting...
So, from my experience, I recommend self striping yarn only for knitting bags, totes, tanks, blankets, throws, scarves, shawls, pillows.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
just gorgeous, just simple Stockinette stitches only
Monday, February 12, 2007
Thinking of ENTRELAC
I was so proud of my last knitting achievement so I took and showed it at a yarn store: the shop owner liked it so much. She said it wasn’t for the very first time when she saw entrelac but she had never tried before because of the lack of enough instructions. I was asked, when available, to share the “knowledge of entrelac making”. That day I felt I am growing bigger because, frankly speaking, I started to seriously knit just 2 months ago. I have neighbors who have been knitting for 40 years, but entrelac is still a mystery for them. Not because of lacking skills, but possibly because there is no will to learn something totally out of ordinary, here, in Turkey. Sometimes this reality makes me sad, because the “raw material” has very high quality but the willing is missing yet.
Of course there are a few exceptions as well. While teaching the yarn store owner entrelac technique, I learned some tricks from her. I will share with you some of them in my next posts.
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Finally I’ve done it! My first entrelac knitted piece.
Monday, January 22, 2007
a good start not only for my knitty side
Now my living room walls are vanilla color. Before they were lila and all the decorative items were matching lila. Now I have to change (changes again) them all. I wanna knit some decorative cushion covers. I did some researches, read a lot, and my colors harmony skills improved a lot. This will help me for my knitting. I have so many plans, suddenly my agenda got so busy. I really do feel so good.
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
ka-chow
Then, my 7 years old niece got infected by the knitting virus... such a young victim... She was constantly demanding yarn, knitting needle and a knitting "instructor". It was such an "experience" for her, at the end she got so tired and decided to wait till her physical condition will improve ... maybe after 5 years.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
stitches for your poncho and not only
I like this pattern stitch a lot. It's easy to knit it, it only requires a bit more attention. It will be great for my wrap: there is a small grocery shop near my home from where I buy my daily bread. Usually I am so lazy and go only with slippers. Now it's cold outside, I need a wrap for my shopping at a run.